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Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well
Retire happy and healthy without keeping a million bucks in the bank!
The financial-service industry wants you to believe that in order to avoid financial destitution, you need to put aside huge amounts of money that you -- let's say it together -- ""should have begun saving years ago.""
Not true, states Ralph Warner, Nolo co-founder and the author of Get a Life . Although a sensible savings plan makes good horse sense, many other actions and decisions will determine whether you enjoy your retirement years.
Get a Life shows you how to beat the anxiety surrounding retirement, and to develop a plan to make your golden years the best of your life
- developing family relationships
- maintaining and creating friendships
- improving health
- keeping active
- developing a robust curiosity for the world
- realistically calculating how much money you need and how to secure it
The 5th edition provides the latest research and studies that show physically and mentally active retirees live longer and enjoy happier lives.
Get a Life shares with readers sensible ways to ensure a fulfilling retirement ways that have little to do with accumulated wealth and everything to do with quality of life. Warner stresses the importance developing family relationships; maintaining and creating friendships; improving health; keeping active; developing a robust curiosity for the world. Conversations with a variety of active, older individuals also featured.
The financial-service industry wants you to believe that in order to avoid financial destitution, you need to put aside huge amounts of money that you -- let's say it together -- ""should have begun saving years ago.""
Not true, states Ralph Warner, Nolo co-founder and the author of Get a Life . Although a sensible savings plan makes good horse sense, many other actions and decisions will determine whether you enjoy your retirement years.
Get a Life shows you how to beat the anxiety surrounding retirement, and to develop a plan to make your golden years the best of your life
- developing family relationships
- maintaining and creating friendships
- improving health
- keeping active
- developing a robust curiosity for the world
- realistically calculating how much money you need and how to secure it
The 5th edition provides the latest research and studies that show physically and mentally active retirees live longer and enjoy happier lives.
Get a Life shares with readers sensible ways to ensure a fulfilling retirement ways that have little to do with accumulated wealth and everything to do with quality of life. Warner stresses the importance developing family relationships; maintaining and creating friendships; improving health; keeping active; developing a robust curiosity for the world. Conversations with a variety of active, older individuals also featured.
364 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1998
9 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Ralph E. Warner
58 books1 followerRalph "Jake" Warner, co-founder of Nolo in 1971, was a trailblazer in the do-it-yourself law movement. He helped make legal guidance widely accessible through books, software, and online resources. A prolific author and editor, Warner wrote titles like Retire Happy and Save Your Small Business. He earned his law degree from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley and his undergraduate degree in history from Princeton.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 31, 2016
This book isn't about retirement--it's about aging. It talks about retirement and retired people, but most of them are still working. The only difference between them and people who aren't "retired" is that they're old. Retirement and getting old are completely different things. I retired when I was 32 years old. There are people who get old and never retire. The way I see it, if you're still working, then you're not retired; if you've permanently left the work force, then you're retired. It's fine to go back to work, or change careers, or whatever, but that's not retirement just because you're old.
What this book is really about is how to age gracefully. It talks about things like keeping busy, staying in shape, keeping in touch with family and friends, having fun, nursing homes, travel, and investing. Most of the book is just bland advice about how to stay active and stuff when you get old. That's not exactly a mind-blowing, new piece of advice, so it's amazing that it takes so many pages to say it. A lot of this is spent on telling the stories of old people who mistakenly call themselves "retired."
Despite its subtitle, this book says very little about how much money you need to retire. Its advice is somewhere between mediocre and decent. It advocates low-cost index funds, which is nice, but some of the other advice is not all that great. It suggests you cut up all your credit cards, and count on inheritance money from relatives dying off.
What this book is really about is how to age gracefully. It talks about things like keeping busy, staying in shape, keeping in touch with family and friends, having fun, nursing homes, travel, and investing. Most of the book is just bland advice about how to stay active and stuff when you get old. That's not exactly a mind-blowing, new piece of advice, so it's amazing that it takes so many pages to say it. A lot of this is spent on telling the stories of old people who mistakenly call themselves "retired."
Despite its subtitle, this book says very little about how much money you need to retire. Its advice is somewhere between mediocre and decent. It advocates low-cost index funds, which is nice, but some of the other advice is not all that great. It suggests you cut up all your credit cards, and count on inheritance money from relatives dying off.
August 16, 2014
Lots of interesting lessons from successfully retired people. Common themes include staying active (volunteering for causes you're passionate about, part-time work that you enjoy), having a strong social network (having good family relations, spending time with friends, continuing to make new (especially younger) friends), life-long learning, and keeping healthy.
The first chapter, "What Will You Do When You Retire?", warns against retiring without having pondered the question. Most people assume they'll enjoy having endless free time to play golf, fish, or whatever else, but quickly end up bored or disappointed. The author suggests it's important to develop hobbies and discover activities you're passionate about in advance.
Chapters are separated by the author's interviews with successful retirees, discussing their day-to-day life and any advice they might have. The stories are varied, yet share some interesting commonalities - most live simply and frugally, de-emphasize financial matters, stress the importance of making younger friends, and many say they feel they barely have time to spend on all their interests (volunteering, working part-time, traveling, hobbies).
There are also many chapters on financial matters, which I quickly skimmed. The information seemed sensible, but I've already read a lot about the financial side of retirement, and found the first half of the book much more interesting.
All in all, it's given me a lot to think about, and gotten me to look forward to retiring.
The first chapter, "What Will You Do When You Retire?", warns against retiring without having pondered the question. Most people assume they'll enjoy having endless free time to play golf, fish, or whatever else, but quickly end up bored or disappointed. The author suggests it's important to develop hobbies and discover activities you're passionate about in advance.
Chapters are separated by the author's interviews with successful retirees, discussing their day-to-day life and any advice they might have. The stories are varied, yet share some interesting commonalities - most live simply and frugally, de-emphasize financial matters, stress the importance of making younger friends, and many say they feel they barely have time to spend on all their interests (volunteering, working part-time, traveling, hobbies).
There are also many chapters on financial matters, which I quickly skimmed. The information seemed sensible, but I've already read a lot about the financial side of retirement, and found the first half of the book much more interesting.
All in all, it's given me a lot to think about, and gotten me to look forward to retiring.
December 4, 2020
Super underrated book but I loved it and decided to keep it on my short list of personal finance books I continue to own. There are plenty of books and discussions on getting to retirement, but not enough on why retire and what to do in retirement. As wise people have said, you shouldn't retire FROM something, but TO something. This book helped me visualize many potential next chapters in my life with so many concrete examples and stories from happy and successful retirees. Highly recommend!
August 5, 2022
A nice different perspective on retirement and the focus you should have getting ready for it. The book focuses on the fact that hobbies and relationships are just as important in satisfaction in retirement.
April 7, 2021
So many retirement books focus only on financials. Blah blah blah, investments and savings. Boring!
This book focuses more on getting out and being active during the retirement years. I liked that.
This book focuses more on getting out and being active during the retirement years. I liked that.
May 22, 2021
I really enjoy the idea behind this book. We already live according to most of these suggestions so apart from not having really saving enough for retirement, I'm pretty much ready for it :)
January 11, 2016
Get a Life is for anyone between 30 and retirement, when it's not too late to change your life for the better.
This book really put money into the proper perspective, as a tool for enjoying life and enriching those around you. I'm fortunate to have read it at 30, a time that's not too early to dismiss retirement as "old people stuff" but not too old where I think it's too late for me. I've been managing my money well but now I see how all the other aspects of my life are woefully lacking. Things that all the money in the world can't buy.
I (before reading this book) and many others think of retirement entirely in terms of money. How much can I save? What to spend all my money on? Money, money, money.
A great retirement is measured by how fit your body and mind is to enjoy it, close friends and family to spend each precious moment with, activities that stimulate the mind while growing your network with younger friends, fulfilling your passions in life, and finally enough wealth to not stress about life's necessities.
I was heading down the typical male path of financial wealth with a ending in misery but no more. I'm determined to improve my life for the better and now I know the way. I recommend this book to all my good friends.
This book really put money into the proper perspective, as a tool for enjoying life and enriching those around you. I'm fortunate to have read it at 30, a time that's not too early to dismiss retirement as "old people stuff" but not too old where I think it's too late for me. I've been managing my money well but now I see how all the other aspects of my life are woefully lacking. Things that all the money in the world can't buy.
I (before reading this book) and many others think of retirement entirely in terms of money. How much can I save? What to spend all my money on? Money, money, money.
A great retirement is measured by how fit your body and mind is to enjoy it, close friends and family to spend each precious moment with, activities that stimulate the mind while growing your network with younger friends, fulfilling your passions in life, and finally enough wealth to not stress about life's necessities.
I was heading down the typical male path of financial wealth with a ending in misery but no more. I'm determined to improve my life for the better and now I know the way. I recommend this book to all my good friends.
April 30, 2012
Admittedly, I didn't actually read the book. I only skimmed it, which was enough to let me see what it was truly about. I found the headings appropriate for people in a place of their lives when they need direction. The topics covered health and finances but overall, it was fairly boring and the cover was the only snazzy item about it. I liked it for a newcomer to the world of organizing your desires but for an already successful person I wouldn't recommend it. I would pass the book by.
March 10, 2012
Written before the 2008 crash, but much of the information is still current. Mr. Warner's premise that having an active life and staying involved is more important than wealth rings true. He gives good hints on how to achieve emotional wealth and an enjoyable retirement. I was pleased to see I'd already taken a lot of his recommendations before I myself retired.
August 27, 2008
This book separates you from your financial concerns about retirement for just long enough for you to recognize that your own individual style and tastes will determine how much you will need for retirement.
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June 18, 2009Most books on retirement focus on the finances -- how much you will need to not run out. This book points out that unless you take care of health, relationships, plan for what you will do with your time, all the money in the world will not provide a "good" retirement. Good ideas and examples.
March 13, 2015
There were some good ideas in this book which emphasizes the non-financial aspects of preparing for retirement but it was repetitive and a little boring.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews