PLANNING YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE: Tax Shelters, Annuities, IRAs, Keoghs, Stocks and Other Investment or Retirement Opportunities

Last August's sweeping tax-law revision made most retirement/investment advisories obsolete, including this unamended entry--which falls short on other counts, as well. The new statute, as most are now aware, extends the advantages of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to all workers and doubles (to $15,000) the deductible contributions which can be made each year to Keogh Plans by the self-employed. (And other rules were liberalized as well.) At the same time, Congress effectively eliminated collectibles--precious metals, gems, stamps, coins, or other tangible items specified by the IRS Code--as allowable assets in IRAs; this provision neatly undermines the author's implicit recommendation that personal pension programs incorporate gold, diamonds, and other hard hedges against inflation. Omissions apart, Raphaelson, a Chase Manhattan officer, offers unexceptionable (if largely inconclusive) counsel on determining whether retirement income will be sufficient to maintain customary living standards in an uncertain economic clime. Covered are such sources as Social Security, annuities, life insurance policies, and do-it-yourself possibilities (without reference to recent tax breaks). In addition, he provides brief pro-and-con reviews of investment opportunities that can create nest eggs--e.g., securities (foreign as well as domestic) and mutual funds, plus non-traditional commitments like bullion. Notwithstanding the subtitle, there's nothing on limited-partnership tax shelters or unit trusts, and the scanty material on real estate focuses on condominiums and outdated information on the tax implications of residential property sales or exchanges. Altogether, a non-essential manual that can safely be skipped; something solid and up-to-date is sure to be along shortly.