A well-reasoned argument in favor of the reverse mortgage as a component of a retirement strategy.
A researcher and financial analyst explains the role of the reverse mortgage in retirement planning.
In this debut finance book, Pfau draws on accumulated research and a deep understanding of the intricacies of reverse mortgages to advocate for their role in a balanced fiscal strategy for retirement. The book covers the basics of retirement finance, explaining the common investment vehicles employed to provide funds for an individual no longer drawing a salary, and then focuses on the mechanics of using a reverse mortgage as one component of the income stream. Pfau explains the regulations governing reverse mortgages, from penalties designed to prevent a homeowner from making unwise decisions when converting the dwelling’s value to cash to the protections in place that ensure a nonborrowing spouse can continue to live in the house as needed. The book takes a calm and moderate approach to fiscal planning for retirement, offering numerous examples of the actual returns a homeowner can achieve in comparison to other investment vehicles and avoiding an alarmist tone regarding the viability of job departure or the future of finance. The result is both informative and well-reasoned, providing substantial information about reverse mortgages while emphasizing the fact that they are one component of responsible financial planning and not a panacea in themselves: “coordinating withdrawals from a reverse mortgage reduces strain on portfolio withdrawals, which helps manage sequence of returns risk.” Pfau acknowledges that although a house represents a significant fiscal asset, it also plays an emotional role in its owners’ lives that must be addressed in planning for its eventual disposal. He clearly explains that the reverse mortgage, which allows homeowners to remain in a place they love while still benefitting from the equity stored in it, can be a practical solution that addresses both monetary and personal criteria. “Further Reading” sections at the end of each chapter provide additional information for readers in search of more details about both the research cited and the workings of the financial instrument.
A well-reasoned argument in favor of the reverse mortgage as a component of a retirement strategy.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-945640-00-1
Page Count: 159
Publisher: Retirement Researcher Media
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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