Full Description
This is a guide for anyone in the academy - faculty member, administrator or professional staff - at whatever point she or he may be along the career path. Whether you are a newly-minted Ph.D. landing your first job, at mid career, or even already retired and concerned about how long your money might last, Ed Bridges offers you a straightforward, easy-to-grasp, and structured way to think about money, learn how it works, understand the priorities for your stage in life, determine your objectives, and develop a personal plan most likely to achieve them.Why a book specifically for those who work in higher education? The chances are that your retirement funds are mostly invested in TIAA-CREF funds, and that the plans created by the different institutions where you have worked, or will work, impose sometimes conflicting limitations of how you can manage your retirement money. This is potentially complex terrain with which many professional financial advisors are unfamiliar. This book provides ample guidance for you to manage your retirement funds, but if you do prefer to seek professional advice, it sets out the criteria for choosing a reliable advisor, and may even be a book from which your advisor can benefit if he or she is not fully conversant with TIAA-CREF's offerings, and the quirks of academic retirement plans.What makes this book unique is that Ed Bridges shares with you his self-education about the risky business of investing and retirement planning. As he writes, "In schooling myself, I adopted the mind-set that I had used as a social scientist for the past forty-six years. I distinguished between fact and opinion and scrutinized the evidence behind every author's claims; moreover, I searched for research that might corroborate or refute these claims. In the process, I learned a great deal about the route I should have taken to retirement from the time I accepted my first academic appointment to the time I submitted my intention to retire. Join me as I relive my long journey so that you may avoid my wrong turns and succeed in reaching your ultimate destination, a worry-free retirement, despite the risks and uncertainties you will surely face when you retire."The book includes simple questionnaires and worksheets to help you determine where you stand, and think through your options.
Contents
Preface Introduction. A Preview of Retirement Part One. Saving for Retirement1 Getting There. A Look in the Rearview Mirror 2 How Much Do I Need to Save? 3 Do Investment Costs Matter? 4 Should I Invest in Index or Actively Managed Funds? 3 5 What Should My Mix of Assets Be? 6 Why Should I Diversify? 7 What Investing Principles Would Serve Me Well? 8 How Do I Build an Investment Portfolio? 9 What Role Should TIAA-CREF Retirement Annuities Play in My Investment Portfolio? 10 What Role Should TIAA-CREF Retirement Class Mutual Funds Play in My Investment Portfolio? Part Two. Preretirement Considerations 11 Can I Afford to Retire? 12 Should I Purchase an Annuity? 13 When Should I Start Taking Social Security? 14 Do I Need Long-Term Care Insurance? 15 How Much Should I Set Aside for Health Insurance? 16 How Do I Put My Financial House in Order? 17 Should We Sell Our Home and Relocate? 18 Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for Me? 19 How Should I Use a Financial Planner? 20 Can I Count on TIAA-CREF's Financial Services? Part Three. Creating a Pension Plan21 How Do I Maximize My Retirement Income and Financial Security? 22 What Are My Income Options With TIAA-CREF? 23 Should I Incorporate a TIAA Traditional Payout Annuity Into My Pension Plan? 24 Should I Incorporate a TIAA-CREF Variable-Income Annuity Into My Pension Plan? 25 Should I Use Systematic Withdrawal as a Major Source of My Pension Income in Retirement? Part Four. Remaining Solvent26 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, What Is the Greatest Threat of All? 27 How Can I Protect My Nest Egg Against Huge Losses? 28 How Can I Protect My Nest Egg Against Fraud? Part Five. Beyond Retirement29 What If I Finish in the Black? 30 Money, Happiness, and a Fulfilling Retirement Appendixes A Illustration B Possible Questions to Ask When Seeking Financial Advice C Experiences With Vanguard's Financial Planning Services D Planning Tools & Calculators E Special Issues for Women F Must Reading for an Informed Investor G Determining Minimum Distribution Requirement H Operating Expenses for CREF Variable Annuity Accounts, 1997-2008 I Total Investment Costs for the CREF Variable Equity Accounts J Publications K TIAA-CREF. Strengths, Shortcomings, and Needed Changes L Formula for Calculating Annual Income Increases/Decreases From Variable Annuities M Historic Returns. Worst Case, One Year N Annual Income Changes for TIAA-CREF Variable Annuity Accounts, 1996-2005 O TIAA-CREF Variable Income Changes, 2001-2003 P Annual Review of Your Savings and Retirement Plan Investing Terms References About the Authors Index
