A praiseworthy primer, Bonacorsi meshes personal and financial gears to get retirement wheels rolling.
Financial planner Bonacorsi squares expectations with resources to help readers shape a sensible retirement plan.
The author tenders an interactive course in individualized retirement planning by presenting concerns that must be addressed, then giving readers worksheets to fill in with honest answers. He cautions that this will not result in a detailed plan. Instead it is intended to be a critical step toward retirement understanding. In a voice that is comfortable, encouraging and direct, Bonacorsi approaches retirement the way a coach would approach a coming contest–this is what is going to be thrown at you and these are the tools you need to respond. There is much to be considered and only by taking in the factors in manageable doses will readers be able to design a plan that reflects reality. Certainly, putting dreams out on the table is a good place to start. Then comes the nit and grit of financial considerations–somehow those goals will have to be underwritten. Even before then, “first you need to see how your income and savings stack up against your bills.” This is bedrock stuff, and Bonacorsi makes it as black and white as possible, while fielding little nuances like inflation and tax rates. The worksheets alert readers to financial surprises and help locate bumps, mostly healthcare, in the road ahead. Particularly valuable is the author’s overview of Medicare, which will make a few eyes bulge. Thought it was free, did you, after paying for it all those years? “Estimates are that a retiree will need $250,000 and up to pay Medicare premiums, deductibles, copayments, and uncovered drug costs.” Don’t despair, there are alternatives. Bonacorsi closes this slim, digestible–if modestly rattling, though it’s better to know where you stand–volume with some preliminary guidance on how to go about planning your estate.
A praiseworthy primer, Bonacorsi meshes personal and financial gears to get retirement wheels rolling.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-931807-71-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Though the administration may be remembered as the worst in American history, the people seem mostly silent. One wishes that...
New York Times columnist Rich delivers a savaging sermon on the US government’s “rampant cronyism, the empty sloganeering of ‘compassionate conservativism,’ the reckless lack of planning for all government operations except tax cuts”—and so much more.
Anyone who knows his work will know that Rich is no fan of either George Bush, a man “not conversant with reality as most Americans had experienced it,” or the Bush administration. In this blend of journalism and mentalités-style history—that is, the study of the mindsets that underlie and produce events—Rich looks closely and critically at the White House’s greatest hits, from the 2001 defense of gas-guzzling as essential to the American way of life to “Heckuva job, Brownie” to the ongoing morass of Iraq. By Rich’s account, of course, that parade of missteps is organic; Bush and company cannot help but err. In an effort to disguise that track record, the Republicans have exercised single-minded control of the grand narrative of the last five years, at least in part because they have exercised quasi-totalitarian control over the news media. (They are nearly forgotten already, but one needs to remember Judith Miller, Jeff Gannon, Karen Ryan and various columnists and commentators paid off to repeat the party line.) Not for nothing did a White House adviser reveal to one journalist that his bosses were set on creating their “own reality,” one that all Americans were expected to share; not for nothing did that reality include spinning amazing lies about everything from the death of football- and war hero Pat Tillman to the kidnapping of Jessica Lynch to the government’s preparedness for Katrina. And yet, and yet . . .
Though the administration may be remembered as the worst in American history, the people seem mostly silent. One wishes that Rich had explored that particular mentalité along with the others he so fluently discusses.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2006
ISBN: 1-59420-098-X
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2006
Provides a framework, but could have pushed further.
A business-strategy tome heavy on generalizations.
There is an overabundance of books on business strategy. What tends to differentiate one from another? Truly new insights–which are admittedly hard to come by–or detailed case studies that demonstrate the strategies in action. Unfortunately, Rx for Business: Thinkivity lacks both. While Evans is clearly well-versed in business strategy, she covers little that’s new. Most of the information about strategic planning has been addressed elsewhere and with greater authority. Evans claims “Thinkivity” is “a revolutionary system that has helped top executives at S&P 500 companies turn strategy and long-term goals into tangible financial results for their organizations.” Yet none of these executives are quoted in the book and few companies are referenced. American Express and Hewlett-Packard, the only two firms used as examples, appear very briefly in anecdotal form. It would be generous to refer to them as case studies. The book offers a decent discussion of strategic planning, and the author is skilled at explaining the value of workflow design. Probably the most useful content in terms of innovation is the chapter on “What If” strategy. Here, Evans offers advice for becoming “pilot, navigator, and ground control”–as the business leader explores various “what if” ideas, he or she is guiding efforts, keeping things moving in the right direction and making pieces work together. In this section, Evans includes questions to ask, a sample idea-generation agenda and evaluation methodology for assessing each idea, all of which are helpful. The other useful tools in the book are sample mission statements, process flow diagrams, a strategic-planning worksheet and a sample strategic plan. Such tools are not uncommon in business-strategy books. This book follows Rx for Business: Qualitivity (2006), Evans’ first book about the synergy between quality and productivity. This second book in the series does a reasonably decent job of offering a structured approach to strategic planning, but it doesn’t present anything groundbreaking.
Provides a framework, but could have pushed further.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-595-47820-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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