Product Description
Once you hit that magic age of 64 (give or take a few years) and stop working, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?
How can you accumulate enough assets to allow you to continue to live a comfortable lifestyle?
How can you use your retirement years most productively?
How can you stack the odds in your favor in terms of maintaining both physical and mental health?
These are the questions facing millions o... More >>
When I'm 64: Planning for the Best of Your Life
Tolkin tells the story of his successes and failures in the business world, and the lessons he has learned along the way. He doesn’t regret any of his failures because they taught him a thing or two about life and people.
He stresses the importance of a diversified portfolio, investing in the things you are passionate about, finding trusted mavens and sages to guide you in your decisions, and to always have a purpose in life that drives you other than just aiming toward the retired life of golfing or sitting around or taking vacations.
He says not to depend solely on social security or on employer retirement monies. He talks about investing in IRAS and in things that grow your income.
Tolking also shares the story of his marriage and the heartbreaking and sudden loss of his first wife Estelle and how a few years later, he connected with Carole, who became his second wife. He feels like he has been blessed to live two lives, one with Estelle and one with Carole.
Tolkin does a nice job of getting you to think about your plans for retirement (he says the best time to start preparing is in your 30s and 40s). He says that with a little planning and a little luck, the rest of your life can be the best of your life.
This is all good, and the author talks a lot of good sense. But you get the impression that this life is all there is. There is no discussion about life beyond this life, or to put it in other words, planning for your post mortem retirement years. In a sense, there is discussion of these things in that Tolkin is concerned about leaving a legacy and monies for his grandchildren.
But what about God and the afterlife? Regardless of theological pedigree, this is the rest and best of your life. It’s more than just putting money away and leaving a few bucks for your kids, it’s about loving God and serving others.
The lack of any discussion regarding spiritual or divine or metaphysical reality makes any book about the rest and best of your life come up short.
But because I am perhaps asking too much, and because the author says what he does say very well, I will give this book 5 stars
Rating: 5 / 5
The author was a successful lingerie manufacturer until he retired in his sixties. While some might be tempted to put the book down at this point- most of us don’t own businesses, much less successful businesses- the author uses his interesting life story to illustrate his points about success, the necessity of failure, the importance of good relationships, risk, mavens, happiness and what makes for a successful retirement.
Many people have failed to adequately plan for their retirement, but the author argues that it’s never too late. He goes on to say that the stereotype of the retiree playing golf and watching television until he or she dies is not only unrealistic- he makes the financial case for continuing to work at least part-time after retirement- but also unattractive. In his experiences, he has found that people who are not actively engaged in something that they are passionate about are the ones who will not only become less healthy but who will also die more quickly.
The crux of his book is the concept of “Marrying Time to Money”. The phrasing might be a little awkward, but the idea is sound. Decide- preferably before retirement is on the horizon- what your interests are and design a retirement strategy that makes use of those interests. In this way, you won’t just accumulate assets, you’ll also be cultivating an avocation- or vocation- that keeps you engaged. In his case, the author successfully invested in art, coins and Faberge pieces.
The author spends just as much time- if not more- on his failures, particularly his inability to see that his company’s most valuable assets were not his clothing business but his real estate holdings. Although the author is well-leveraged now, he would be considerably wealthier if he had made the necessary change at the right time.
The author had a happy life and is now living a happy retirement. This is not a get-rich-quick-in-the-twilight-years how-to, but rather a guide on how to maximize both your interests and your economic potential at the same time.
Easy to read.
Rating: 4 / 5
Marvin Tolkin is the kind of neighbor you wish for – a man so comfortable with where he is in the realms of post working years – that he is able to take away all of the anxiety about thinking about those years when most people think they must stop working. But in today’s economy, when elder people are being sought for the work force to replace those holes created by the untrained or the unenthusiastic or the victims of our multiple wars, this little book is a special guide for making those plans for a life of leisure a reality.
Tolkin has been there and knows how to guide us all there – to that place where health and finances are secure in the time when most people are facing near poverty of thought and finances. He does this not by a series of rules and regulations, but by sharing his own common sense approach to ‘retirement planning’. He is a fine writer with a terrific sense of humor – a factor that helps the non-believer jump on his wagon and reap the benefits. This is a dandy little book that likely will become a best seller – given the fact that the baby boomers must cope with the messages within the covers of this book. Read this for enjoyment, for wisdom, and for sound and caring advice! Grady Harp, April 10
Rating: 5 / 5
There was not a single item of advice for “retirement” planning in this book that I have not heard before, yet there was not a single item that I considered superfluous, redundant or unworthy of inclusion. Successful financial planning is a mindset that is very perishable, constant reminders of the need is necessary, especially when you are under fifty. Until you hit that landmark age, sixty-four is always in the distant future, something you think about but would rather not worry about. And if you worry about it, you will plan for it.
Tolkin has had an interesting life, which he shares and uses as a fundamental primer for his bullet points about planning for the future. He is an optimistic/realist, dismissing the nonsensical investment schemes that so many tout and so many fall for. He has fallen for an occasional fraudulent investment scheme and invested in many successful ventures. His two prime points of advice are as sound as investment advice can ever get. “Invest only in things that either you or a trusted maven know about” and “You are going to fail sometimes, so accept it and move on.”
By any objective standard of measure, I have done a good job in my financial planning, so I tend to dismiss any advice that I already know. In this case I did not, by being serious about what I read and using it as the stimulus to rethink what I am doing, I have identified a few small tweaks that have increased my savings rate. Not because I followed any specific suggestions put forward by the authors, but because I thought through what I am doing. The best investment advice tends to be generic, and there is a great deal of that in this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
Marvin Tolkin has given us a new and refreshing way to look at and plan for retirement. Instead of thinking about retirement as “the rest of your life”, he suggests that you think of it as “the best of your life.”
Marvin offers a totally different way to look at retirement. Instead of taking the typical financial planner’s perspective, he takes a holistic approach. Most financial planners are concerned with allocating resources among stocks, bonds and other investments. Marvin suggests that you plan for your retirement by investing in things that interest you. Stocks and bonds do not generally give you any personal sense of satisfaction. Collecting stamps, gold coins, art and other such collectables can offer a good financial investment as well as a personal satisfaction.
He gives some fairly good advice about alternative investments. Seek out and find experts. Take their advice. Focus on the higher end, more expensive products where there is likely to be higher demand, more appreciation. One of the concepts he talks about is “marrying time to money”. His view is that you should only invest in things that you are passionate about – things you love spending time doing. If you naturally are passionate about something, you will study it, devote the time and attention to looking after the investment and even if the investment does not totally pan out, you will at least have enjoyed the ride.
Marvin develops his philosophy of retirement by telling his own story. In some respects this is helpful, in others it has it disadvantages. Marvin was a highly successful businessman and therefore had many advantages that many people do not. He got to travel extensively. He had the cash flow to invest in real estate. He also was able to invest in collectables that would appreciate in value.
Many people will look at his plan and not be able to transfer the lessons or principles from his life to their own.
In addition to the financial planning, Marvin talks about staying active, living with a purpose. In my view, this is as important as the financial information. I have seen countless people retire and then sit around waiting to die. Watching TV or playing golf everyday can get boring in a hurry. Marvin suggest that you must stay active, physically and mentally to enjoy your retirement.
There is a lot of really good advice in this book. It is written in an easy to read style and the layout is reader friendly. It is never too early to start planning for your retirement. But if you are over 40, this would be a great book to read. The quality of your retirement will be directly related to the time and energy you spend planning for it. This book could be a very helpful guide.
Rating: 4 / 5