Is This Your Plan to Retire? (ePub)

The last thing author Charles Kuster intended to do was write a retirement planning book. After a 40-year career in strategic communications, he was no stranger to writing and publishing. Then, two events made him question his own preparedness for retirement life.

First, a few friends accepted early retirement offers following a corporate merger. Kuster noticed how each was initially giddy about their new freedoms. But after a few months, conversations became negative. Half sought re-employment and one went into marriage counseling. Kuster concluded that these sudden retirees were fine leaving employment but were not ready to be retired. They had nothing to retire into. Kuster realized he was headed down the same path.

The second triggering event was becoming primary caretaker of his aging parents. He describes his parents as "low-maintenance" for the early third of their retirements. But as medical challenges stacked up, Kuster started to recognize how his parents' existence could have been greatly improved, had several key strategic decisions been made and supported. He realized that modern retirement ought to be managed as a 20 or 30-year process, and not as an event. How could opportunities be capitalized on and inevitable obstacles mediated, he wondered?

Like any journalist, Kuster went seeking answers. He spoke with numerous people at various stages of retirement. He discussed trends and issues with hospital employees and retirement community administrators. He spoke with teary-eyed nurses who told sad tales of elders who had little support from family. He also spoke with lawyers and financial planners.

And, he sought out people making the most of their retirements. Instead of just being lucky, Kuster realized most successful retirees spent a great deal of time and effort preparing. Several common keys-to-success emerged.

When Kuster shared his new-found perspective with friends, the usual response was, "You ought to put that in a book."

The result - this book - is an honest, thoughtful, and sometimes painfully personal look at what getting older means. Instead of simply waiting until retirement to prepare, the book explains why prior strategic planning is so important, in lieu of people living longer and more active lives. It features poignant accounts of both common struggles and exciting successes.

One of the appealing aspects of the book is it offers new concepts for readers to consider. One especially powerful one is the importance of developing three harmonized plans - a legal plan, a financial plan and the most important of all yet often neglected - a lifestyle plan.

OTHER CORE CONCEPTS DEVELOPED INCLUDE:

Why you need to own your plan and communicate clearly with family and advocates;

How to address health, financial and social obstacles;

How to manage retirement as a process and not an event;

How to harmonize the three most important elements of retirement planning;

How to select and lead your advocates;

How to capitalize on new support services and products.

Anyone in his or her early-50s will find this book insightful and enjoyable to read. It offers great guidance on how to wisely prepare for retirement and then squeeze the most fun, fulfillment, and satisfaction from that point on.