About the Book
A comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide to maximizing the benefits of IRAs and retirement assets. Retire Secure, Second Edition offers unbeatable recommendations for addressing the #1 fear facing most readers: Running Out of Money. Retire Secure, Second Edition also shows baby boomers nearing retirement how they can save tens of thousands to over one million dollars by paying taxes later. This practical guide delivers straight forward accumulation and distribution strategies for IRAs, Roth IRAs, the new Roth 401(k) and other retirement plans. More specifically, Lange gives readers tips on how to prepare for expected tax changes in 2010, details on converting to Roth IRAs, New Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) rules, and when IRA and retirement plan owners should consider second to die life insurance. Further, this book describes Lange's exceptional estate plan--a plan that has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and many other fine financial journals. This definitive guide enjoys glowing endorsements from Charles Schwab, Larry King, Ed Slott and 60 other financial authors and experts.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Larry King. Acknowledgments. How to Read This Book. What Retire Secure! Doesn't Cover. Additional Resources for the Reader. A Note Specifically for Financial Professionals. The Big Retirement Question. A Summary of Tax Reduction Strategies. The Clear Advantage of IRA and Retirement Plan Savings during the Accumulation Stage. Spend Your After-Tax (Nonretirement or Non-IRA) Money First during the Distribution Stage. My Best Advice-Read This Book. An Outline Overview of the Whole Process. What's New! Consider Establishing a One-Person 401(k) Plan. Roth IRA Conversions Available to Everyone in 2010. The New Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b). All Non-Spouse Beneficiaries of an IRA May Be Entitled to the "Stretch" Benefits of an Inherited IRA, 401(k), and 403(b). Unexpected Roth IRA Conversion Opportunities for Non-Spouse Beneficiaries of Inherited Retirement Plans. Direct Roth IRA Conversion from 401(k) and 403(b) Plans. Introduction by Ed Slott. Part One: The Accumulation Years: The Best Way to Save for Retirement. 1. Fund Retirement Plans to the Maximum. 2. Traditional IRAs versus Roth IRAs. 3. Traditional 401(k)s and 403(b)s versus Roth 401(k)s and Roth 403(b)s. Part Two: The Distribution Years: Spend the Right Funds First and Other Critical Decisions You Face in Retirement. 4. Optimal Spending Strategies for Retirees. 5. Minimum Required Distribution Rules. 6. Should You Transfer Your 401(k) Account to an IRA at Retirement?: Rollovers versus Trustee-to-Trustee Transfers and Other Strategies. 7. Roth IRA Conversions. 8. Annuitizing Your Financial Accumulations: Does It Make Sense for You? 9. Withdrawing Retirement Plans Funded with Company Stocks and Net Unrealized Appreciation. Part Three: Estate Planning: It Is Never Too Early to Start. 10. Eddie and Emily: A Retirement and Estate Planning Case Study. 11. How to Reduce Your Federal Estate Tax Burden. 12. The Most Certain and for Many the Best Way to Provide Financial Security for Your Children: Survivorship Life Insurance. 13. Laying the Foundation for Estate Planning: Using the Minimum Required Distribution Rules after Death. 14. Using Disclaimers in Estate Planning. 15. The Ideal Benefi ciary Designation of Your Retirement Plan: Stretching and Disclaiming: Lange's Cascading Beneficiary Plan. 16. Changing Beneficiaries for Retirement Plans and IRAs. 17. Trusts as Beneficiaries of Retirement Plans. 18. How Donors Can Do Well by Doing Good. 19. A Point-by-Point Summary of the Whole Process. Thank you, Readers. Appendix: Life Expectancy Tables. About the Author. Index.
About the Author :
James Lange is an attorney and CPA with thirty years' specialized experience in IRA and retirement plan distribution strategies and estate planning. His recommendations have appeared in the Wall Street Journal thirty times, and he has been cited in the New York Times , Newsweek , Bottom Line , Financial Planning , and the Tax Adviser . Lange's Cascading Beneficiary Plan TM , with the flexibility and control it offers the surviving spouse, has become a benchmark in estate planning. Nationally recognized as a Roth IRA and Roth IRA conversion expert, Lange is a frequent speaker who trains financial advisors all over the country. he is the founder of The Roth IRA Institute. Lange is also the author of the first edition of Retire Secure! , also published by Wiley.
Review :
"Jim Lange's advice on Roth IRA conversions could yield substantial benefits for millions of IRA owners. His recommendations on estate planning show you how to protect the surviving spouse while preserving options to "stretch" the inherited IRA to children, grandchildren or a trust-- whatever the surviving spouse decides." -Jane Bryant Quinn, Newsweek/Bloomberg.com " Retire Secure! (2 nd Edition) shows how to maximize retirement income while explaining IRA and retirement plan rules in language you can understand (and that is no easy task). Every retiree should read James Lange's chapter on Optimal Spending Strategies for Retirees ." -Gregory Kolojeski, President, Brentmark Software, Editor, www.rothira.com "You've worked hard to build-up your retirement funds - now, finish the job and read the new edition of Lange's Retire Secure! . You should carefully examine each of his main points, and take full advantage of his suggestions to stretch your money as long as possible before paying taxes. In these troubled times, Lange's ideas are particularly relevant." -John A. Tracy, Ph.D., CPA; Author, How to Read a Financial Report and Accounting For Dummies "In Retire Secure!, CPA and tax attorney James Lange provides clear guidance for understanding the process of making your money last during distribution. The author is an experienced advisor and it shows. His expertise and thinking also provides quality information on available tax-efficient ways to save for retirement." -Phyllis Bernstein, CPA/PFS; Former Director, AICPA Director of Personal Financial Planning; Author, Managing Client Expectations in an Uncertain Market and Financial Planning for CPAs "Read this book before you meet with any tax or financial advisor about how to get the most out of your IRA, 401(k) or other retirement plans. Retire Secure! will help you ask the right questions and find out if your advisors really know what they're talking about." -Paul Merriman, Financial Educator; Founder, Merriman Berkman Next Author, Live It Up Without Outliving Your Money "Written for the sophisticated and successful lay person (and a great guide for professionals working in this field), Retire Secure! is like a master class in the subject with the instructor taking the student by the hand through each step of the process. Jim Lange, a practicing CPA and attorney, provides both key real world questions and answers-as well as numerous examples, illustrations, and practical side-bar comments." -Stephan R. Leimberg, CEO Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). "Jim Lange is a clear and concise communicator. He takes the complicated and makes it simple. Retire Secure! is a must read for anyone wanting a secure financial future." -Diane L. McCurdy, CFP; Author, How Much is Enough? "There are few areas of financial planning more complex than making decisions about retirement plans. Retire Secure! (2 nd edition) not only explains many of these issues in plain English but Jim provides the reader with common sense guidance in making choices. As advocates of the important role that philanthropy plays in raising financially responsible children, we especially appreciate the inclusion of a chapter on charitable estate planning with IRA and retirement assets." -Eileen Gallo, Ph.D and Jon Gallo, J.D.; Authors, Silver Spoon Kids and The Financially Intelligent Parent "Jim has done a brilliant job making a complicated topic easy to understand. His "Mini Case Studies" and "Key Ideas" in Retire Secure! are smart and spot on." -Bill Losey, CFP, Author, Retire in a Weekend! The Baby Boomer's Guide to Making Work Optional "Jim Lange has updated and improved his material in the second addition of this fine book. We have always said that the planning comes before the doing. He tells you how to plan your retirement, to maximize your wealth and to minimize your taxes." -Garry D. Kinder, CLU, RFC, Author, Lecturer and Financial Industry Consultant, The KBI Group "IRA and other retirement plan assets comprise a huge and growing component of so many people's wealth, yet the growth in these important assets requires sound, practical, and most importantly understandable advice. All had been lacking until this excellent book, Retire Secure! , by James Lange. James brings to the fore practical tact usable by both attorney and accountant on how to deal with these critical assets. Topics that he delves into, including using trusts to protect beneficiaries are topics that few lay people are aware of and most professionals don't address. Protect yourself and your family with the insightful comments of Retire Secure! -Martin M. Shenkman, Attorney; Author, Livings Wills & Health Care Proxies and Inherit More "My daddy always said it is not what you make, but what you keep that makes you rich. Lange's updated book is an excellent resource for keeping more money by reducing your taxes. Follow his plan for a secure retirement and you won't get lost." -Katherine Vessenes, JD, CFP, RFC Vestment Advisors; Author, Protecting Your Practice , Building Your Multi-Million Dollar Practice "Like the original, the updated 2nd Edition of Retire Secure! does a fine job of explaining why, when and how folks should move money into, out of, and between the myriad tax-advantaged employer-sponsored retirement savings plans and IRAs. The key points are summarized clearly, but a more thorough, equally clear explanation is also offered for those who want it. The book is well-organized, with plenty of practical examples. It will be a valuable resource to people in both the accumulation and distribution of their retirement assets-and to their advisors, as well." -Michael T. Palermo, Attorney, Certified Financial Planner(TM); Author, AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning "This new version of Retire Secure! is even better than the first. It shows you more great ideas to help you achieve the most important financial goal of your life. Make your money last and go further than you ever thought possible." -Brian Tracy, Speaker, Sales Trainer; Author, Getting Rich Your Own Way "In today's volatile market, the peril of building wealth on short-term growth strategies has never been more evident. James does a great job of explaining the "hows" and "whys" of a long-term view with an eye to building money and protecting it when you are ready to spend it. Learning the keys of distribution planning, and how it leads to retiring with peace and security makes Retire Secure! a 'must read'." -Peter M. Vessenes, RFC, CEO, Vestment Advisors, Inc.; Author, Building Your Multi-Million Dollar Practice "Book authors can deduct many expenses other people cannot. The next step is to hold on to what you have made. This book is the roadmap, plan and guide to making that money last." -Dan Poynter, Author, The Self-Publishing Manual "Everyone planning for retirement should read this book." - Dr. Allan Meltzer, American Economist/ Political Economy Professor at Carnegie Mellon University "Advisor James Lange has written the definitive up-to-the-minute guide for retirement planning. Retire Secure! is absolutely "essential" reading for all practitioners in the estate and retirement planning field, as well as for those brave souls who take this task on as a do-it-yourself project." -Jack Gargan, Founder, International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC); Author, The Complete Estate Planning Guide " Retire Secure! should be in everyone's home who has money to invest. This book will help everyone prepare for their retirement years. It is well written and in language that anyone can understand. It shows you exactly what you need to know to set your lifetime goals, and it gives you an understanding of everything you should know about your finances. This book is for everyone and I recommend it. This book will be put on my shelf for my children and grandchildren to read." -Frank Thomas, Former Pittsburgh Pirate " Retire Secure! is one of the best educational tools and reference manuals ever available! Retire Secure! serves as a text for a comprehensive financial planning course on retirement, or a must-read for any person looking for complete and accurate information to make intelligent decisions about his or her own financial affairs. Retire Secure! will certainly have a long shelf life." -Al Coletti, CLU, ChFC, RFC, Chairman, The Institute for Financial Education, The Design Capital Planning Group, Inc. "If you are a financial planner and think you know everything, think again. This book will show you new ways to help clients and make you more referable in the process. An absolute must for every practicing financial planner in America." -Bill Cates, President, Referral Coach Institute; Author, Get More Referrals Now " As I write this in November 2008, there are undoubtedly many people who wish they had read and applied Retire Secure! earlier. James Lange has written a strategy for a secure retirement. It is an extremely well-written book, and I heartily recommend it." -Bill Good, Chairman, Bill Good Marketing, Inc.; Author, Hot Prospects: The Proven Prospecting System "A roadmap for tax-efficient retirement and estate planning." -Charles R. Schwab, Chairman and founder The Charles Schwab Corporation "A clear, concise, and well-written book that explains where and how to save for retirement so that you don't outlive your assets, pay too much in taxes, or have too little to pass on to your heirs. In non-technical terms, James Lange compares and contrasts various strategies for the accumulation, preservation, and the distribution of wealth. No one should invest in a retirement plan, or take a distribution from one, until he or she has first read Retire Secure!" -Gary S. Lesser, JD; Author, Roth IRA Answer Book "James Lange has provided the public and practitioners with a straightforward explanation on how many tax deferred vehicles function and valid comparisons from one to another. Thankfully, there is no get rich quick message, but a concise approach to retirement savings necessary for American taxpayers today and in their future. As a practitioner, I recommend this publication as a great primmer. The examples are competently constructed and easy to understand." -Hubert Bromma, CEO; The Entrust Group "James Lange once again has done an outstanding job with his new book. It is packed ith information and advice which will greatly benefit not only the professional, but he layman as well. I highly recommend it". -Mehdi Fakharzadeh, MBA, CLTC, RFC
