The Volatility Shield: How to Vanquish the 4% Rule & Maximize Your Retirement Income

by David McKnight

Former NFL great Ted Hardy took an early retirement at age 50 after selling his sporting goods chain for a cool $3 million net after tax. At the time, Ted’s money manager made a simple If you stick to your withdrawal plan and get reasonable average annual returns, you’ll never run out of money and you’ll die with millions. Nineteen years later, Ted’s stepson and financial power of attorney Jack Wheeler is called into town to sort out Ted’s finances after Ted suffers a major health crisis. Confident that Ted still has millions in his stock market portfolio, Jack makes plans to place him in the best long-term care facility in town. But after examining Ted’s investment statements, he makes a shocking Over $5 million is missing from Ted’s portfolio. As Jack investigates the disappearance of his stepfather’s money, he learns financial truths that challenge conventional wisdom and reveal a gaping hole in his own retirement picture.

Genres: Personal Finance, Finance

114 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2019

Reviews

[John Rickgarn]

Great read with an epic story

If you have been blinded by Ramsey and Suze and other “gurus” and their distain for whole life insurance, give this a read! I believe as a society so many would benefit from this if they kept an open mind and questioned the status quo.
At just 100 pages this is a great, quick read that tells an uplifting story.

[Jonathan Marshall]

A financial lesson intertwined with a story that has plenty situations we can all relate to. Very well written & couldn’t put it down once I started it the first time. I am in the middle of reading it a second time, because I enjoyed it so much.

[Scott Stillman]

This is an interesting little story that helps bring advanced complicated topics into a perspective that most anyone can understand. It's kinda cool to see many of the aspects of what I do on paper.

[Eric Mabry]

While I agree with the underlying principal the Volatility Shield is sharing, I wish I’d never read it.

Hallmark movie producers met with life insurance salesmen and then hired F level actors. Completely cringe.

[Tony Carmona]

If you want to understand more about life insurance and retirement distributions, this book explains it s a story like setting for a deeper understanding.

[Shamar Seaforth]

Great way to introduce people to whole life insurance and the benefits.

[Dave Moyer]

A gift from a friend, every parent should give this book to their child as a college graduation present.

[Saji Ijiyemi]

Outstanding Story Telling👌🏽

Loved the way David used the power of stories to unfold the power and the advantages of the Volatility Shield account. I highly recommend this book.

[Joseph]

McKnight has something here, but my approach is different.

[Brett Chaffins]

Excellent story that educates on the benefits of a tax Free retirement strategy.

[David Tsymbal]

A good finance book that tells a story of a man who made 1 choice that completely changed and saved his financial future in old age. A moving and heart warming story that's a super easy read.

[Kelly]

Nod to the brilliance of this book. Teaching dry material in the form of a narrative…excellent. Luckily, I knew nothing about the book going in and I didn’t see the insurance twist coming.

[Lauren Bachman]

This was another book (in addition to Power of Zero by the same author) recommended to me by a financial advisor. Like with Power of Zero, this book tries to convince readers to buy into permanent life insurance policies. While I do think this book does a better job of explaining the benefits of permanent life insurance, I can recognize that it remains a sales pitch at the end of the day.

In all, I would prefer a resource that lays out the facts of LIRP, both the positives and negatives, in a way that makes for a more comfortable, well-informed decision as opposed to just exemplifying how "great" these policies are.

EDIT: If you prefer a book about financials with a chapter on insurance, I recommend "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing" in the most recent edition. It discusses life insurance without having an agenda or trying to convince you to buy into it. While it is one small chapter out of the entire book, I think it is more valuable simply because it truly is impartial.

[Jordan Adams]

Quick read that has great information I never knew about retirement planning told through an uplifting story