A. Synopsis
Baby boomers are waking up to the fact that retirement is not some far off dream, but a reality that will be happening soon. They are also waking up to the realization that many of them have little or no retirement savings, that the ground rules for retirement have been changing, and many may not have sufficient funds to have a comfortable retirement. The prospect of massive numbers of American workers being concerned about their retirement is driving many changes. Two of these major changes are a desire to learn about investing and a shift towards starting to invest. These changes can be seen in the increasing coverage of financial issues in the print, radio, and TV media as well as the growing number of mutual funds available today.
Unfortunately, the amount of knowledge and sophistication about financial matters for baby boomers has not risen precipitously; many baby boomers still look upon investing as if it were a foreign language, something they know little about and are not very comfortable with. The reason for this is quite simple; they have never learned the fundamentals to money management, which includes budgeting, savings, and investments, or how to apply them. For the 25 or 30 years since graduating college, baby boomers have heard much more about consumption than saving and investing; on average, only one in three Americans save money each year. As long as boomers think about consumption and not saving, credit cards and not investing, and today instead of tomorrow, few will have the money to retire successfully. And few would be able to today, as the average baby boomer's net worth is current about $50,000.
Survey after survey shows that a major fear, if not the major fear, of a majority of Americans is running out of money while in retirement. This can happen due to any number of reasons, including poor planning and unexpected expenses, such as health-related expenses. Social Security will almost certainly be there in some form and will act as a safety net, but the long-term problems that this program is having and size of the monthly check may make this program a thin reed to depend on. Studies show that, for current retirees, 31% of their money comes from Social Security, 18% comes from guaranteed pension plans, less than half of these pension plans are indexed to inflation, and their median retirement income is less than $20,000! That level of retirement income does not bode well for a successful retirement.
The 85,000-word book, The Procrastinator's Guide to Financial Security, tackles these concerns in teaching baby boomers the knowledge needed to ensure a comfortable retirement. The first chapter lays out the basic steps that baby boomers need to follow in order to take control of their financial lives and ensure the financial future that they want, while the remaining chapters expand upon these basics. The book teaches:

• Getting out of debt, the problems with credit cards, and setting up a budget;
• Avoiding scams and half truths that can short circuit wealth building programs;
• The problems with the current Social Security system;
• Current options in funding retirement as well as a step-by-step set of calculations to determine how much money one will need in retirement;
• Mortgage strategies for the best financial decisions vis-à-vis refinancing and paying off a mortgage early;
• The different options that parents have towards accumulating college tuition for their children;
• Helping aging parents with health-care related issues as well as estate planning and wealth transfer issues;
• How the financial markets work;
• What stocks, bonds, and mutual funds are and how to invest in them;
• Developing a successful investment philosophy; and
• Investment strategies designed to build wealth.

B. Annotated Table of Contents
I - The Baby Boomers' Retirement Conundrum

Baby boomers are waking up to the fact that retirement is not some far off dream or idea, but is a reality that will be happening soon. They are also waking up to the realization that many of them have little or no retirement savings, that the ground rules for retirement have been changing, and many may not have sufficient funds to have any sort of a comfortable retirement. This chapter shows the steps that baby boomers must take to ensure this comfortable retirement.

II- Traditional Retirement Planning
For decades, Americans depended on two programs to take care of their retirement needs - company pension plans and Social Security. However, neither can be depended on to support a comfortable retirement any longer.

III - Current Retirement Planning
This chapter discusses the importance of boomers planning their own retirement. Given that a comfortable retirement will not happen on its own, they should start funding their different retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA's), and annuities, as soon as they can. The chapter includes discussions of how to properly invest in these retirement plans and compute the amount of money needed to retire on.

IV - Reducing Debt
Probably one of the greatest reasons why people don't start an investment program is because they are in debt. The main culprit in debt imprisonment is credit cards; this chapter offers ideas to help people pay down their credit cards more quickly and exposes some of the tricks that credit card companies use to get people to use their cards more often. Also included are discussions on how to reign in spending as well as how to establish and maintain a budget.

V - Buyer Beware
Both sophisticated and unsophisticated investors are introduced to investment situations that sound a little too good to be true, and what to watch out for. These situations can come in the form of cold calls, radio and TV promotions, magazine articles, and newsletters. This chapter examines the sorts of come-ons that many people get and what to look for in such inducements.

VI - Home Buying
Everyone needs a place to live. Unfortunately, some people tend to make poor financing choices in refinancing and paying off a mortgage. As the right home can help to grow a retirement nest egg, this is an important area for boomers to be savvy in.

VII - College Tuition
This chapter reviews the different options that parents have towards accumulating the money needed for college tuition. The pros and cons of the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) accounts, Educational IRA's, pre-paid college tuition plans, as tuition trusts (also known as Part 529 trusts) are discussed as well as the recently enacted educational tax credits.

VIII - Family
As baby boomers and their parents age, an increasing number of these parents will be needing assistance. Baby boomers may need to help their parents with health-care related issues and/or may need to work with them on estate planning, insurance, and wealth transfer issues.

IX - Beginning Investing
This chapter introduces reasons to invest and talks about the reasons to invest. Learning to invest leads to control of one's financial future. A good investment program should be geared to the long term and put into common stocks; given the historical track record of common stocks, even small investments can grow into large sums of money.

X - Developing an Investment Philosophy
Too few investors develop an investment philosophy; often, they do not know how to invest as well as why or what they are investing in. This chapter emphasizes the tendencies for investors to buy investments with little thought or research, to try to find the perfect investment, and to fail to analyze or examine much of what is reported in the media. In addition, the importance of using time to work towards an investor's advantage is rarely well understood.

XI - Markets
To the uninitiated, the stock and bond markets are mysterious places with little rhyme or reason. This chapter helps the reader to understand how the stock and bond markets work, defines stock market indexes, and discourages timing the market.

XII - Stocks
One of the major misconceptions about stocks is that they are little different than lottery tickets. This chapter starts off by showing that stocks represent partial ownership in a company; investors will do better by developing a good understandings of specific companies rather than trading in and out and looking for quick profits. The chapter discusses the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) as one of the fundamental tools in determining whether a stock is a good buy or not.

XIII - Bonds
This chapter helps to explain the inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices as well as well as bond rating services, the tax advantages of municipal bonds, and the different ways of calculating bond yields. Three specific areas related to bond investing are covered in depth, and these are bond ladders, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), and convertible securities.

XIV - Mutual Funds
This chapter gives investors the information that they need to build a successful mutual fund portfolio; while most people have heard of mutual funds, few know how to go about finding the correct mutual funds to invest in. The idea of not chasing the latest hot fund, of diversifying into different parts of the market, or of looking for a fund that has not undergone a recent change in managers is alien to many investors.

XV - International Investing
Over 50 percent of the world's total securities capitalization is found outside of the United States, so it is vital that investors understand the rewards and risks of investing internationally. A portfolio made up of 20 to 30 percent international stocks or mutual funds has been shown to be safer and generate higher returns than a portfolio made up exclusively of American stocks. This chapter discusses the attractions and pitfalls in investing in internationally, including currency exchange risk.

XVI - Investment Strategies
Along with the explosion in financial information has come an explosion in "successful" investment strategies. Everyone seems to be searching for the plan that will get him or her wealthy overnight. Lost in all this turmoil are ideas and strategies that have proven their worth. This chapter does not have a map towards instant riches, but rather a collection of investing approaches that are designed to grow wealth over time while helping to reduce risk.

C. Press Clippings

I will be getting clippings of reviews of my book - the first time that they were sent, they may have gotten lost in the mail around September 11, so AMACOM is sending them to me again. Again, we'll probably need to turn it into .pdf files. I'll send these to you when they get to me.

D. BUY THE BOOK

1. www.amacom.com [JEN, CONTACT Rosemary Carlough at rcarlough@amanet.org TO SET UP THE LINK OR CALL AT 212-586-8100]
2. www.amazon.com
3. www.barnesandnoble.com
4. www.borders.com

II. Financial Planning

There are basically two types of financial planners, defined by how they get paid. The first type makes money wholly (or mainly) by selling investments that have a commission, while the second makes money basically by selling information; the second sort is often called a "fee-only" planner. I am a "fee-only" planner because this is how I believe I can do the best job for my clients; I can remain totally unbiased in my analysis and about my recommendations as I get no commissions from them. Thus, I do not set up accounts; rather I work with clients to help them set up accounts, usually at discount brokerages and/or mutual funds, where they can act on my advice.

It is relatively easy for people, who are financially savvy, earn large salaries, and/or have a high net worth to find a financial advisor. There are few financial planners who target those who are not financially savvy, do not earn large salaries, and/or do not have a high net worth. I welcome clients who are not financial neophytes; however, I especially look forward to working with people who have trouble getting their financial life in order and do not know how to get started planning their financial future. I have been working with people in thisboth capacitiesy for nearly 10 years.

My investing philosophy is to grow a client's money with the emphasis on minimizing losses rather than maximizing gains. The recent collapse of technology-related and aggressive growth stocks shows the problems with this latter approach. I can do this best by being a value-oriented investor. Value and growth are two types of management styles. A stock that is classified as a value stock is one that, for some reason, may be temporarily out of favor and its share price has been beaten down. In other words, value stocks sell at a discount. Growth stocks are those that whose revenue and profits are expected to grow steadily each year; its price is high up due to these high expectations. Many studies have shown that value stocks have greater upside potential and lower downside risk than growth stocks. Put another way, if you buy a stock that is cheap, that is selling at a discount, it has a greater chance of going up in price and producing much higher returns than something that is already expensive going up in price and producing high returns. And, if a stock is inexpensive, it has a greater chance of maintaining its value, if anything goes wrong, than something that is expensive.

My consultation fee is $80 per hour. It normally takes from between 4 to 8 hours to prepare a plan; this, of course, varies depending on you and your circumstances. The steps involve:

• We have an initial meeting, either in person or on the phone, to determine the basic financial services desired by you
• I send you a financial questionnaire, which you (and, if applicable, your partner) fill out; this questionnaire has questions on assets, goals, risk tolerance, and monthly cash flow. I have found that asking you to fill this out on their own has the twin advantages of allowing you to think through your goals and risk tolerance in a calm, peaceful setting and saving you money (as my time is not involved). The information gleaned from the questionnaire serves as the basis of my analysis;
• Often, we will be in contact, through meetings, phone calls, and/or e-mails, to gather additional information or to clarify your answers to the questionnaire;
• Based on the information, I create your financial plan;
• Once it is finished, I will either meet with you to present the plan and go over its recommendations or I will send it to you and answer questions and concerns either by e-mail or a phone call. At this point, we can discuss your questions, concerns, and/or if you have any additional analyses desired, as well as determine my level of subsequent involvement;
• I am available for 'reasonable amount of time' over the first month to help you set up your portfolio and answer subsequent questions.

If you are interested in working with me, click here (JEN, THERE SHOULD BE A LINK HERE TO THE 'CONSULTING' PART OF THE WEBSITE)

III. Tax Preparation

I have been preparing tax returns for over 15 years and am conversant with most aspects of the tax code that the majority of people regularly face. I prepare tax returns electronically using the most current version of TurboTax Home & Business, and so can prepare forms for sole proprietors as well as regular employees. My fees are moderate and depend on the number of forms you are required to file as well as the amount of analysis I need to do from the information and year-end forms you provide. If you are interested in my preparing your taxes, click here (JEN, THERE SHOULD BE A LINK HERE TO THE 'CONSULTING' PART OF THE WEBSITE)

IV. Newsletter

Since 1996, I have been writing a weekly newsletter; the information in this newsletter teaches both the basics of investing as well as more "sophisticated" topics, such as investing strategy and tax changes. The material in these articles served as the basis of my book. I sent out the newsletter by e-mail. It is free to anyone who wants it, and I do not presume that people who sign up will necessarily become clients; it is simply important to me that people obtain and learn this information. If you are interested in signing up for my newsletter, click here (JEN, THERE SHOULD BE A LINK HERE TO THE 'CONSULTING' PART OF THE WEBSITE)

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