Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: How Much Can I Spend in Retirement?: A Guide to Investment-Based Retirement Income Strategies (The Retirement Researcher Guide Series)

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From Canada

Torkmada

Comprehensive and unbiased

Reviewed in Canada on April 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book provides a comprehensive review of retirement spending options and how best to fund them. Other material (books, articles, podcasts, interviews) from Dr Pfau have tilted to a more conservative approach than I would use myself. However, in this book he reviews the various different approaches of how to use assets to fund retirement spending and assesses the expected performance of each from different vantages and provides the pros and cons of the different strategies. Instead of advocating a specific approach (as many other books are prone to do), Dr Pfau chooses to present the information to the reader to help them discern an approach that may be most appropriate for them. In his discussion of where bonds fit into the picture, instead of simply stating "Have a risk-appropriate amount of bonds", the book outlines a methodology for assessing how bonds should be considered during retirement.

Quite interestingly, he mentions a distinction between "Safe" and "Optimal" withdrawl rates.

Helpful

Edward C Middleton

Covers all the topics and gives a good layout of what you need to think about and ...

Reviewed in Canada on November 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

Very informative and thought provoking. Covers all the topics and gives a good layout of what you need to think about and plan for. I found it very easy to read but for those not into DIY retirement planning it will be a bit of a learning curve but doable. Non of the concepts are hard but will be new to many. A definite read for all retirement planners as it is up to date on all current discussions.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

PTDW

I kind of expected to have an answer on the question in the title...

Reviewed in Canada on July 26, 2018

I believe the book would have been better if you either change the title to say that you know how much is needed for retirement, and you refuse to share.
Or alternatively you could say that you also don’t know how much is needed for retirement.

I don’t remember who said it, but the words “there was some smart things and some new things in the book. What was smart was not new, and what was new was not smart” (or something like that)

Helpful

From other countries

Harry

A more technical book on retirment income planning

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

I've read several books on this subject recently. This one is the most technical, so happy I read it last! Suitable if that's what you want and are comfortable with a fair degree of analysis and modelling, to enable you to make your own decisions about managing your retirement portfolio with more confidence and greater understanding of the risks involved. If not, there are other books covering similar ground but in less depth.

avid learner

great guide to a complex topic

Reviewed in Australia on February 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very clear, thought-provoking, and helpful.

Justus Pendleton

Good summary of research that devolves into an ad for McLean Asset Management

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a pretty good "one stop shop" for summaries of much of the current state of the art thinking about Safe Withdrawal Rates. The vast majority of the book is providing summaries of freely available papers. That's not necessarily a bad thing because not everyone wants to track all the papers down or read them for themselves. But if you HAVE done that...the book is primarily a review rather than bringing anything new to the table.

As a "survey" the book is pretty good. But when it comes to actually answering the question in the title, I think it falls down. To turn it into an action plan you basically need to call McLean Asset Management. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Pfau makes the excellent point that we can't treat portfolio spending in a vacuum. Things like the amount of a person or Social Security have an impact. Great! How can I apply that to my personal situation? He doesn't actually provide any details. Just a cursory summary of a journal publication that says

"A risk-tolerant retiree may prefer a withdrawal rate of between 5 and 7 percent with a guaranteed income of $20,000."

Okay...but what if my family has $30,000 in Social Security? A range between 5 and 7 percent seems huge. Did that take into account the low-yields and high-valuations he spent so much time talking about earlier? The reader is left with more questions than answers. (You're supposed to rely on McLean Asset Management to work through these details.)

Similarly, Pfau introduces the concept of the funded ratio -- which is a great tool -- but doesn't give the readers any idea of how to calculate it for themselves. (You're supposed to rely on McLean Asset Management to calculate it for you.)

The penultimate chapter of the book is just an overview of the process of working with one of the financial advisors at McLean Asset Management. For instance, "After you complete the RIO Questionnaire, we will analyze your answers to determine where you stand with respect to various aspects of retirement income planning."

The first seven chapters provide a reasonable summary of various topics but the reader is never provided with the tools necessary to put it all together. The final two chapters are about hiring McLean and why an advisor can add value, which I found disappointing.

144 people found this helpful

Jennifer Lacey

Shameless self promotion

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is NOT written for someone trying to get a general understanding of how to spend their savings in retirement. It is unnecessarily complex and redundant. On top of that it concludes this complexity and verbosity by being a shill for the company the author works for, McLean Asset Management. I can only assume that they want to have you try and plow your way through this tome, give up, and call their office in desperation. If you only remember one thing from this book, it is 4%, the generally safe withdrawal rate for your hard earned nest egg.

9 people found this helpful

Kathy

there is an amazing amount of details on retirement planning and execution

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

I have the Kindle version, which doesn't work well for me with this book. There are many tables and graphs, but due to the way the book was formatted, the text and graphic are seldom located near each other. As a result, the text describing a table (or graph) is usually a few pages from each other -- forcing the reader to constantly switch pages back and forth. This, combined with the books substantial technical and granular detail, make for challenging reading. Despite the Kindle layout, there is an amazing amount of details on retirement planning and execution. I would not consider this a "how to" book on retirement -- more of a compilation of technical research topics related to the subject.

23 people found this helpful

Tg4mlded

Safety First + Probability Based = Integrated Retirement Income Plan

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2019

Verified Purchase

I recently retired and was overwhelmed by the complexity of efficiently converting assets into reliable income streams for a 30 or 40 year retirement. Further, in general, I have little faith in the financial services industry when it comes to smart, efficient, impartial and fairly priced retirement income planning and execution.

Dr. Wade Phau caught my attention. He is a recognized expert in the emerging field of Retirement Income Planning. Safety-First Retirement Planning: An Integrated Approach for a Worry-Free Retirement is his latest installment in his Retirement Researcher Guide series.

In general, retirement income planning can be divided into 2 camps: Probability Based, and Safety First.

Dr. Pfau did a detailed and impartial dive into the Probability Based approach in his previous installment: How Much Can I Spend in Retirement?: A Guide to Investment-Based Retirement Income Strategies.

In Safety-First Retirement Planning: An Integrated Approach for a Worry-Free Retirement, Dr. Pfau delivers a detailed and impartial analysis of the Safety First approach. It is not a slam-dunk read. It is very detailed, full of spot-on discussion and guidance specific to the role of annuities (and other insurance products) in retirement income planning. Prior to reading, I generally dismissed insurance products as inappropriate for my retirement income plan. However, with an open mind, I tackled the book with the intention of taking time to truly understand the concepts. It took me a few weeks to truly digest the material, but the book has opened my eyes to the roles that high quality and properly priced insurance products could play in a complete retirement income plan.

In fact, to gain a solid foundational understanding of both the Safety First and Probability Based approaches to retirement income planning, I believe one should tackle both volumes with full attention as one’s retirement income plan will likely be integrated pulling teachings from both camps.

5 people found this helpful

Mark Lingenfelter

Excellent review of prior studies but expected more in the end.

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent review contained in chapters 4, 5, and 6. Was anticipating and hoping for practical application after chapter 6!
Rather verbose/redundant at times but may be helpful if not well versed in the subject.
The last chapters serve as advertisements for financial management and his company McLean Asset Management. (I did not pay the $495 to complete the RIO Questionnaire suggested at the end.)
(I echo the entire comments by reviewer Justus Pendleton.)

23 people found this helpful

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From Canada

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