The Number: What Do You Need for the Rest of Your Life and What Will It Cost?

by Lee Eisenberg

Book Overview

Backed by imaginative reporting and insights, Eisenberg urges people to assume control and responsibility for their standard of living, and take greater aim on their long-term aspirations. Not an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743270320
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Philosophical guide to saving for retirement

Great read by somebody not in the financial industry. He is a journalist and editor, so the book is thoroughly researched. He is funny as heck, so, the book will keep you entertained as you read. While is he not a financial specialist, he really knows the business well. He helps you understand the business so that when you deal with the wall street guys and insurance guys, you will be a smarter and more informed client. It's a great wakeup call for anybody in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, who are approaching retirement and need sound guidance on what to do and how to figure out the right path. Most importantly, it's a good test for your own values, so you can figure out for yourself what is important to you and how to spend the rest of your life. So, it deals not only with money, retirement, and investing, but also with how you invest your time - or the amount of time you have left here on earth. Very well done, give it to somebody you care about or somebody who needs financial direction for retirement, saving, life insurance, etc.

Boomers should all read this book

I have worked in the financial planning industry for twenty five years and seen on a first hand basis the savings habits of baby boomers. This book defines the ultimate dilemma faced by so many of the baby boom generation. There is alot of talk about this problem but this is the first book that I have read that nails it exactly.

A Light yet Substantial Look at a Tough Topic

Most books on retirement make my eyes glaze over. I look at the repeated advice of saving money, diversifying investments, and being frugal and usually fall back into my seat in a dead sleep. This was not true about The Number because Eisenberg addressed a wider range of "retirement" issues than simply investing. The fact that Eisenberg is an excellent and engaging writer helped him keep me interested through the entire discussion. Eisenberg starts out with a talk about The Number and how our retirement needs are the last great taboo. He then brings us through a look at how badly most people are managing their number and shares some startling statistics on debt and lack of saving. These will either make you feel smug or that you are not in it alone. The best part of the book was the last section where Eisenberg addresses the question of "What is this number for anyway?" He delivers excellent essays on different ways of living after retirment from riding a motorcycle to living in a planned retirement community. He gives an introduction to the new field of Lifetime Planning instead of simple financial planning, and forces each of us to consider what we would like to do in the "second half of our life." In short, the number is well written and fun. The book forces us to think of uncomfortable issues, but it does it in a pleasant and engaging mannger. Great stuff!

A Professional Opinion

I am a professional (and fee-only) investment advisor, and the author Andrew Tobias is one of my heroes. His genius for explaining financial stuff is why I recommend his books to our clients. Similarly, I just finished reading The Number, and I am both amazed and captivated by it - I see many of these exact behaviors in our advisory practice. Basically, Eisenberg nailed it. I think he opened a subject of tremendous import for the next several decades. Boomers, advisors, sociologists, psychologists, and politicians will be studying these words for some time. Now, I'll be recommending his book to our clients!

Essential reading for boomers hoping to retire

From the public schools of the 1950's and 1960's, baby boomers learned how to read, write and solve mathematical problems. Their meticulous teachers taught them science, geography, history, art and music. But forty and fifty years ago, the public school curriculum lacked instruction in financial literacy... and it shows. With over 25 million boomers broke today, the potential cost to this generation and its successors is incalculable. In this erudite and accessible book, author Lee Eisenberg reveals his own youthful limitations in financial planning and finally an awakening in middle-age. His journey, and the lessons imparted by many sage teachers, is an exceptional gift for boomers who have avoided understanding what it will take to retire, monetarily and psychologically. The good news: it's not too late. The bad: most boomers urgently need to demystify the mysteries of money. "The Number" maps an intelligent path to long-term solvency and a second chance for freedom-loving boomers to actualize their creativity - to trek again those unfettered byways they've always craved. And this well-crafted tome presents many thought-provoking excursions into the lives and careers of those who have found a satisfying and sustaining balance between monetary pursuits and personal fulfillment. This is the right book at exactly the right time as roughly 8,000 boomers are turning 60 every single day for the next nineteen years.