Wade Pfau, an authority in the field of retirement income planning, provides a whirlwind tour of capital markets, annuity & insurance products and illustrates how "risk pooling" can optimize the decumulation phase of the lifecycle. This book should be required reading for all misguided financial advisors who believe that a diversified portfolio of stocks & bonds is all that's needed to maximize the probability of financial success during the golden years of life. MOSHE A. MILEVSKY, PHD, Professor of Finance, York University, Toronto
Wade Pfau is among the most trusted names in personal finance. He's clear, fair, and bases his advice on solid research. You never have to get trapped by a financial huckster again. Wade's books and blogs are your reality check. Mine, too! JANE BRYANT QUINN, personal finance columnist, and author of How to Make Your Money Last: The Indispensable Retirement Guide
A must-read for anybody who wants to truly grasp the concepts of retirement income solutions and the role of annuities in building a retirement income portfolio. Pfau goes into detail about explaining the various types of annuities, their pros and cons, and how they compare to other retirement income solutions. Once again, Pfau comes through with a very helpful and insightful book that will help many people develop effective retirement income solutions. STEVE VERNON, research scholar, Stanford Center on Longevity, and author of Retirement Game-Changers: Strategies for a Healthy, Financially Secure, and Fulfilling Long Life
Dr. Wade Pfau brings a level of honesty, intellectual rigor and impartiality seldom witnessed in financial product analysis. Coinciding with the publication of "Safety-First Retirement Planning"--almost to the day--Americans will for the first time have a larger percent of our population over 65, than under 5 years old. Collectively, we are not prepared for the societal burdens that comes with this longevity success. Dr. Pfau, more than any other contemporary academic, has articulated a vision for individual savers to take control of their retirement longevity risks. Dr. Pfau simultaneously proves that the risk is today and with careful planning, the risk can be managed. WADE A. DOKKEN, President, WealthVest
Dr. Pfau's book takes a needed look at a key issue in retirement: what products will support a retiree's income strategy. Without prejudice and with impartiality, we are provided readable research that supports solid retirement planning ideas. STEVE PARRISH, JD, RICP(R), ChFC(R), CLU(R), RHU(R), AEP(R), Co-Director, The American College New York Life Center for Retirement Income
It is becoming imperative to include annuities in retirement portfolios as life expectancies expand and sources of secure income disappear. Wade's thought leadership on the topic is bringing critical insights to advisors and investors, enabling them to leverage annuities in the financial plan to realize better retirement outcomes. DAVID LAU, Founder & CEO of DPL Financial Partners
2019-11-03
A financial manual focuses on securing a rock-solid retirement.
In his book How Much Can I Spend in Retirement? (2017), the author gave readers a comprehensive analysis of the "risk premium" of the stock market, which relies on the notion that "while the stock market is volatile, it will eventually provide favorable returns for most retirees and will outperform bonds." The three major categories of risk in such a setting, according to Pfau (Reverse Mortgages, 2018, etc.), are market volatility, spending shocks like major medical expenses, and the longevity of the retirees themselves. A promoter of the probability-based approach to retirement planning, he looks on these risks with the sang-froid of the practiced gambler. "They see the stock market as a straightforward way to obtain superior retirement outcomes," the author writes of his fellow believers. "Safety-first advocates disagree." In his new work, Pfau offers a correspondingly detailed analysis of a fundamentally different approach to retirement investment, the safety-first method, whose supporters "are generally more willing to accept a role for insurance as a source of income protection to help manage various retirement risks." Using the simple analogy of mountain climbing, the author points out that the probability-based approach to retirement is mainly concerned with accumulating enough financial security to reach the summit whereas alpinists will readily admit that the descent is always more dangerous. "The objective of a retirement saver is not just to make it to the top of the mountain, which we could view as achieving a wealth accumulation target," Pfau writes. "The real objective is to safely and smoothly make it down the mountain, spending assets in a sustainable manner."
Throughout his densely packed account, the author helpfully lays out for readers the various aspects of his topic in a fierce amount of specific details. His book comes replete with useful charts and graphs and extensive suggestions for further reading. All of this supporting material is buttressed by Pfau's own considerable skill at clarifying even the most abstruse subject facing retirees, whether it be the various kinds of annuities the author backs for his income-pooling conception of retirement income or the complexities of navigating those instruments, in the form of things like rollup and withdrawal rates. More and more Americans are retiring, and they are living longer than ever before. But the contours of that retired life have been fundamentally changing for decades; the days of people guaranteeing their financial securities with one simple retirement plan are largely gone. Pfau's manual uses as its starting point this complicated new landscape. He carefully takes readers through the arcana of terms and plans and the realities they'll face in their retirement years, explaining everything with a straightforward prose that will be a boon to those dealing with this challenging time. The author's goal is to help individuals lay the foundation for not only financial competence in retirement, but also the ability to spend comfortably in those years. Pfau wants this group to achieve what he characterizes as the four financial goals of retirement: lifestyle, liquidity, longevity, and legacy.
A formidably detailed and invaluably clear guide to not just achieving retirement security, but also maintaining it.