Retirement and Estate Planning

The 401(k) Millionaire

By Knute Iwaszko and Brian O'Connell

"If you, a regular Joe like me, are not a movie star or an overpaid professional baseball player or a lottery winner or a high-powered executive, what are your chances of becoming a millionaire? Better than you think—much better. And you don't have to strike oil to do it. The secret? It's not glamorous, but it is simple, and almost foolproof, because the math is in your favor. It's my story, and the story of others who are quietly amassing 401(k) fortunes—and the simple plan to make your story my story."

A surefire plan for financial independence—through bull and bear markets.

Knute Iwaszko—by turns a chemist, a salesman, and an innkeeper—made a million dollars without robbing a bank, without an inheritance, and without a Silicon Valley startup. He made it in a reliable but thoroughly new-fashioned way: by maximizing the potential of his 401(k) plan—and now he's going to tell millions of people how they, too, can become millionaires. This book will thoroughly explain the ins and outs of how 401(k) plans work, including tax benefits, contribution requirements and limits, withdrawal limitations, and risk management—and then fully describes "Knute's Unbeatable, Unbreakable Rules for Making It to a Million": a foolproof formula that gives readers a step-by-step regimen for maximizing the potential of their 401(k) plans.

With simple, accessible language and clear, detailed steps for financial success, The 401(k) Millionaire is required reading for anyone who wants to make the most of his or her money.

Getting Started in Annuities

By Gordon Williamson, CFP

Annuities are among the most popular retirement investment options. This handy volume provides a thorough examination of annuities, revealing exactly what they are, the kinds available, how they work, and what advantages they have over other investments.

On of the most popular retirement investment options, annuities are also among the most difficult tocomprehend. This handy volume provides an in-depth, easy-to-understand look at these complex instruments, revealing exactly what they are, how they work, and what advantages they have over other investment vehicles. Along with performance tables, sample portfolios, and a helpful Q & A section, you'll find up-to-date details on tax law changes.

Gifting to People You Love

By Adriane G. Berg

Overseeing your money for future generations is a critical step in managing the financial future for your children and heirs. "Even though you will be reading about law and money, this book is really about love and trust," writes Adriane G. Berg, financial expert and attorney, in this basic, essential guide on how to make the most of your gift-giving to minors, including small and large gifts, college savings, trusts, bequests, and investments.

Here, in one clear, easy-to-read volume, all the basics are covered, including:

• how to make the tax laws work for you
• how to set up trusts and avoid probate
• the benefits of family limited partnership
• how to decide between college-friendly investments and lump-sum planning

Indispensible and timely, Gifting to People You Love will help adults make the wisest choices for themselves and thier families.

The Greedy Hand: How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy
and What to Do About It

By Amity Shlaes

Shlaes, a Wall Street Journal tax journalist, makes an impassioned case for the complete revamping of the American tax system. She traces its history, offers a witty commentary on how taxes wrongfully affect everything in your life, from your clothes to your marriage, and finally provides a commonsense action plan for what government officials can do to fix it all. Shlaes makes very pointed arguments about such heated issues as social security, the marriage penalty, and estate taxes.

The Greedy Hand is an illuminating examination of the culture of tax and a persuasive call for reform, written by Amity Shlaes of The Wall Street Journal. This book is a cultural examination of the way taxes influence our behavior, how they force us into an arbitrary system that punishes families and individual enterprise. Shlaes unveils the hidden perversities of our lifelong tax experience: how family tax breaks do little to help the family, and can even hurt it. She demonstrates how married women pay a special women's tax rate, higher than anybody else's. She shows how problems that engage and enrage us - Social Security issues, or the inadequacies of our schools - are, at heart, tax problems. And she explains why the solutions Washington offers merely prolong a vicious cycle. Finally, Shlaes shows us a way out of this madness, endorsing a number of commonsense reforms that will give all Americans a fairer and simpler tax system.

Maximize Your IRA

By Neil Downing

There's no doubt about it: The Individual Retirement Account is a hot topic this year in the world of money and investing. Here's a plain-language guide with answers to all your IRA questions — What, exactly, is a Roth IRA? How does it work? And how can it best work for you? What about the new Education IRA? Are there better ways to save for a child's college education? And what's making the traditional IRA so popular again? You'll also discover new ways to use traditional IRAs.

This is a friendly, honest look at the benefits -- and the drawbacks -- of IRAs. It's an IRA owner's manual, packed with tips about how to choose an IRA that's right for you, and manage your IRA from your working years right on through retirement. It also helps you navigate the tricky rules for withdrawing money, making minimum required withdrawals, cutting your tax bill, and converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

You'll also find helpful hints and step-by-step instructions to help you make the most of your IRA and ensure a secure retirement.

Find out:

• Where to open an IRA
• How to invest your IRA dollars
• Ways to lower or avoid fees
• Getting access to your money when you need it
• Avoiding early-withdrawal penalties
• The benefits and pitfalls of Roth IRAs
• And a lot more.

This book also offers handy resources — including addresses, toll-free telephone numbers, and World Wide Web sites — that you can use to get booklets, newsletters, computer software and other information, much of it free, and all about IRAs.

Social Security, Medicare, and Pensions

By Joseph Matthews with Dorothy Matthews Bermann

An essential handbook shows everyone over the age of 55 how to maximize benefits and cut through the bureaucracy to get what they're entitled to. It explains the rules surrounding Social Security retirement and disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income, Civil Service retirement benefits, Medicare, Medicaid and Medi-gap health insurance and more.

This book shows you how to get the most from your retirement and pension income and medical coverage. Find out what benefits are available and how to claim them as quickly and as easily as possible.

Topics include:

• Learn how to fill out and file every important document
• Social Security retirement and disability benefits
• Social Security dependents and survivor benefits
• Veteran and Federal civil service benefits
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Beating the high cost of medical care
• Learn how to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid
• Find out exactly how much your benefits will be at the age you plan to claim them
• Timing your retirement to claim your benefits at the best time for you—not just the soonest

Social Security, Medicare, and Pensions is a handbook that covers just about every topic relating to your retirement and medical benefits. It is an excellent resource when you need some help finding out what benefits are due you.

Splitting Heirs: Giving Your Money and Things to Your Children without Ruining Their Lives

By Ron Blue

Finish well. That is what we are called to do in Scripture, but where will our money and possessions finish? The Bible has the principles that provide answers to the challenge of parenting and passing along an in heritage. Within the next decade, over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS will change hands from one generation to the next. Individuals with adult children will need to transfer that wealth without ruining their heirs' lives. Ron Blue, an authority on personal and business finance, will help:

• Identify exactly how much money would be transferred were the reader to die today
• Identify the need for creating a will
• Identify tax-wise financial planning
• Teach the way to leave money without creating an unhealthy dependence

Storm Shelter

By Ron Blue

Offering insights into coming economic upheaval, the author of Master Your Money shares advice on making wise personal financial decisions from a Christian perspective, outlining basic guidelines involving spending less, avoiding debt, maintaining liquidity, and setting long-term goals.

Storm Shelter shows how to solve all your money mysteries — regardless of your present financial position. Financial expert Ron Blue gives practical, Scripture-based advice that enables you to prosper through tomorrow's uncertainties.

Included are:

• Real-world examples of financial strategies that work—and others you'll want to avoid
• A detailed plan for your financial security
• Questionnaires to help you evaluate your current fiscal situation, determine your goals for the future, and understand how you can best achieve those goals
• A six-step method for effective investing
• Cost-saving tactics covering everything from food bills to education purposes

Storm Shelter shows how you can prepare for the future by building a financial strategy resting on the firmest of foundations.