The 5 Years Before You Retire: Retirement Planning When… (2024)

I had expectations based on the title that this book would assume you knew something about investing for retirement. That was incorrect. While stating that this is aimed at those 5 years away from retirement, the book starts with the same make a budget chapter that most simple beginner personal investment books start with. Ugh. But Birken throws in some timely advice later that save the book in my estimation. She provides a handful of interesting and new-to-me tips on Social Security, Medicare, Medigap, and ACA, and dives into some other interesting (to the age bracket she's aiming at) topics including reverse mortgages, long term care insurance, and withdrawal rates. She doesn't really go into any great depth in any of these topics, but you might see something you didn't know before - especially on ACA for those considering early retirement. The author highly recommends hiring a financial planner (for general planning purposes, but also to deal with the question of how and when to claim social security since there are many options there) as well as an accountant for dealing with changes in tax. In the end, the book doesn't deal with the topics from a do-it-yourselfer point of view, but does put the reader in the right frame of mind to start considering the issues. Reasonable for an overview or review.

A good basic primer on retirement. There is sufficient discussion and worksheets to get you at least thinking about it.

I really believe none of us plan early enough. You might be put off by the title, since it does not sync with your personal timeline. I think you owe it to yourself to be the youngest person in the room with a retirement strategy. Your goal is to be able to retire comfortably (both monetarily and emotionally) before everyone you know.

For example, everyone tells you to retire mortgage free. Under a 5 year timeline, that will likely be an unrealistic goal. Plan ahead.

You don't have to retire, you just want to be able to retire on your terms and not be forced to retire with less than optimal options. This is a good start to that end. I guess I am too much of a planner.

Have a GoodReads.

This book is really great for its intended audience - I would give it ten stars minimum, maybe more. Lots of practical information here for those of us heading for their retirement sooner rather than later. (For those of you who are not currently in the 5 years before you retire, you still might want to take a peek, just to think ahead a bit.) I'm no financial advisor, so I can't vouch for every bit of advice the author offers, obviously. But she clearly knows her stuff, and perhaps more importantly for the reader, she offers a lot of processes for you to work through specifically about your own situation and come up with answers that you can live with.

I learned about this book because it was cited in a book I'm editing by the fabulous Susan Robison, so I got it from the library. Now that I've read it, I'm going to buy a copy, because otherwise the library is never going to get this book back, and that wouldn't be fair to all the other folks who need this excellent resource.

Ok fine, I might be too young for this one.

Very easy to read without technical financial jargon. I read this book far under the age of 60 and highly recommend others do the same to get a sense of things to consider that we otherwise wouldn't think about until it's too late regarding retirement and financial wellness in general. I'm so glad I received this book recommendation.

I realize that this book's relevance and usefulness is not limited strictly to people who plan to work exactly another five years, but that seems to be the current plan. I started reading it a year ago, and as a new school year starts up, I'm counting on four more years of teaching.

But a key theme of this book is that life does not always go according to plan, and this book is tremendously helpful in performing reality checks of different kinds. Line-by-line budgeting has never been my strength, and certainly not my joy, but this book has helped me do financial planning on many levels without having to record every cup of coffee I buy.

It does a good job of explaining so many things that range from somewhat to completely fuzzy, including Medicare, Obamacare (which has changed since the printing of the book), some aspects of Social Security, retirement accounts, investment accounts, insurance, and more. I'm still no expert, but I do have a better grip on all of these. The book also advocates alternate plans, like contingencies in case of disability or RIF. I have already made some decisions and taken some actions based on this book.

So, while it will always be in my nature to follow my heart moreso than my head, at least my head is still functioning, and I can pay the necessary attention to it. This is a very useful book, and remains useful, even if I tweak the plan (or it gets tweaked by outrageous fortune). It now moves to the "read" status, having attained the distinction of being on the "currently reading" list longer than any other since I joined Goodreads.

Replace 80% of the value of your paycheck in order to maintain your lifestyle.

Social security calculates the 35 highest earnings years of your career.

Medicare A $148.5 month covers hospital. Deductible is $1484

Medicare B $148.5 month covers outside of hospital (dentures, dental, eyes, hearing aids, foot care, acupuncture)

Enrollment: 3 months before 65th birthday and ends 3 months after 65th birthday

Much better to buy than to rent housing.

At 64 years and none months enroll in Medicare A and B and Medicare prescription drug plan.

At 65 years of age purchase a Medicap policy.

Every year you delay receiving social security from age 67 to age 70 you will receive an 8% increase

At 72 years you must begin taking required minimum distributions from IRA's.

Any lapse in the time line may result in fines.

This is a good guideline for those who are "thinking" of retiring in the next 5 years. It speaks at a very high level so if one is looking for something with more details and scenarios, there are other books and resources that will provide that. For someone who is just starting out planning and researching their retirement or do not know where to start, this is a good resource. I read this book in just a few hours, skipping sections that do not apply to me or I was already informed about. I am glad that I was able to get this from my library. With a publication date of 2014, it is outdated as there are changes to the Affordable Care Act (i.e., "Obamacare") and TrumpCare.

Very quick read that helps you develop a 5 year plan to retirement. And for everyone else, it points out the questions you need to know about what you want your retirement to look like, what are your best strategies to make it happen and also shares some hard truths that the tag end of the baby boom generation might not want to hear.

I started reading this book last year when I had become (voluntarily) unemployed; I finally finished it this year when I again became (involuntarily) unemployed. This is a useful guide--it contains some information that I will probably never use, but other insights that were real revelations that will probably help me. I only wish I had read it five years ago! ;-)

Good book if you want to keep it simple.

decent starter

Good basics on retirement - did glean a couple of things from the book but most of the book was stuff I already knew.

A must read as you near retirement.

I read a lot of financial books, and listen to a lot of financial podcasts, and I really cannot remember how long it has been since I learned this much from a book. So much of what is in this book is key to know... and I hazard to guess information that it is not understood by the average person. This is a book to read every year or two as you get near retirement.

The book is very well researched with lots of links and information found from studies from various industry organizations.

How social security is determined, how taxes on social security are determined, some key ins and outs of Roth conversions, the ins and outs of Medicare and Medicare part B & D and Medigap coverage. What is covered for long-term care, hospice, home health care, and long hospital stays.

An entire chapter after this is on planning for health care in retirement. Long-term care costs and LT insurance costs information. HSA insurance and strategies. As well as health care options for those who retire before 65.

Medical expenses in retirement can be staggering. In 2020 Fidelity calculated the average cost of a 65 year old couple would be $295,000 in today's dollars and Medicare premiums will make up 39% of this ($115,050)

Another chapter on staying put in your existing home and moving along with associated costs.

The book also has a bunch of URLs of original sources and additional information.

Note the book is FREE on Kindle Unlimited (a subscription service)

This is an excellent book on financial planning for people approaching retirement. Simple (though not simplistic), concise, straight-forward, and covers the important topics. I've read several books on investing, I have an MBA in Finance, and have read a few on retirement planning. This book goes over the basic topics you need to think about and gives you some guidelines, checklists and forms to help you plan, and points you in the right direction for further help. Unlike many investment or financial planning books today, the author doesn't have an "agenda" with a simple "do it this way and you will succeed" kind of formula. I borrowed it from the library, but I plan to purchase the new revised edition that will be released in May 2021.

If the book was more current, I’d be inclined to give it a 5 star rating. That said, I thought it was well-organized and well-presented. Many aspects of the subject matter are rather boring. Others, like Medicare, seem incredibly complicated. Birken manages to cover the array of topics in a friendly but reasonably direct way. In addition to the learning I took away directly from the book, reading it has prompted me to dig deeper into elements that I need to learn more about. It’s also helping me to focus on the planning process at the best time...while here’s still time to do something about it.

Lots of information packed into this short book. Not in depth on any one topic but made me think of thinks the other dozen or so books I've read on retirement hadn't. I know that I really need to study Medicare in depth but after reading a couple of books that discussed it, even briefly, the haze is starting to clear. I think it helped that I read this during the Medicare open enrollment period and was bombarded with TV commercials. Rather than tuning them out I actually stopped and listened to see if I could figure out what made one product better than the other. That's one positive step anyway.

Must-Read

The most comprehensive, practical near-retirement planning book I've ever read. Clear, easy to understand explanations with links to various related websites, and quotes from other authors with website and book recommendations. This book has won the enthusiastic designation of my go-to retirement bible from now all through the years leading up to retirement and beyond. VERY helpful, you really must get it, read it, share it, and refer to it often even if you are more than 5 years from planned retirement. Much of the financial information is timeless. Highly recommend!

I listened to the audiobook so I was unable to take advantage of the worksheets etc..

This book is very easy to read. It is excellent for people who have given no thought or planning to retirement. It will really help them understand everything they need to know about things like social security and medicare. So many people just assume that they don’t need to put any thought into those benefits but this book makes it clear that there are mistakes to be avoided. And for people that have already done planning for retirement the book provides something of a checklist to make sure they haven’t missed anything.

I really liked this book and how the author addressed the key points that most people need to consider when retirement planning. Even though some of the material is dated, she explains where the information came from so you can see if anything has changed since the book was written.

All of the opinions she gave were reasonable and conservative and seemed to be generally good advice. She brought several things to my attention that I hadn’t previously considered. I like the audio version of the book so much that I bought a paperback version for my reference.

Lots of good information but after reading the book I get the distinct impression the government wants us to keep working until we die. Taxes, income stream and health care are so much simpler in our earlier years working. Once we retire, either early, on time or late everything gets complicated. But it sounds like once you deal with the frustration and learning curve many people can have a good retirement.

While I'm more than 5 years from retirement, I thought I'd give this a try to see if I was missing anything in my current financial plan. If you already have a good financial planner working with you, then you should already be familiar with everything discussed here. I agree with a lot of it but there are certain suggestions that simply are not for me that I can't agree with. It's a good review if you don't have a planner but consider for yourself whether certain suggestions are for you

The book starts off decent and remains so whenever it maintains a mile-high view, providing general suggestions like ‘deal with a fiduciary whenever possible’. It falters quickly whenever it dives into specifics presenting information that is frequently inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete. I’m also not sure the book ever really delivers on its stated premise, even if all of the information in it were accurate.

Great reminders on things to think about

Although I have more than five years before retiring, I wanted to get in the mindset to be prepared. With the market being so volatile, the spreadsheets will come in handy to plan for retirement. Great tips that I have started to put into practice!

This is not the kind of book you read through once: I skipped around, and I think I have read all of the chapters. I will continue doing both of her budget exercises while I work and then again when I retire. Learned some useful things. A general introduction to things one should be aware of/think about before retirement.

Lots of good information. What I learned from the book: hire a financial advisor and a CPA, and talk with someone from the social security office regarding your benefits, mainly because the government is always changing social security benefits. There was so much information and everyone's situation is different, so my suggestion don't try and figure it out all on your own.

Clear information and guidance. Found 3 years before I retired, but still very valuable information. This book kickstarted my efforts. Found a very good fee based financial planner and went from there. Highly recommend this book.

No depth

Reasonably complete overview of the issues you need to address in order to retire. There is no real depth here, but the book does provide a checklist for further research or discussion with your advisor.

Some helpful advice but not for anyone who’s serious about retiring - this book is more for irresponsible people who didn’t set anything aside; however, it reads too quickly and I doubt the people who could benefit from it will get anything out of it.