Not a week goes by when new books of virtually every literary genre hit the shelves. Among the latest, Retirement Ready by Martin Hawes, offers sound advice, to those facing retirement or who have entered the early stages of life beyond a career.
In his new book, well known financial author, financial columnist and TV & radio commentator, Martin Hawes shares strategies which transformed his own retirement planning, all based on his personal experience.
Whilst advising on retirement has long been part of his professional life, he admits to fearing that a slide into retirement could bring a stop to learning or growing.
Subsequently, two factors made him confront this stage in life – a significant shift in life and location plus the possible, albeit unwelcome, thought that retirement could be forced on him by circumstances beyond his control. This, despite him now being 72 and not yet ‘retired’ in the conventional manner.
Keen to simplify life, Martin’s book addresses a number of critical questions which may well shape a retiree’s future – downsizing a home, balancing spending, deciding on an investment approach, leaving a legacy for children and much more. Each chapter ends with Martin’s personal management plan for that particular aspect of retirement from the seemingly simplistic (which, in fact, may be otherwise) to the more complex.
The book also reveals he made errors in his retirement plan particularly around health insurance. However, by sharing his experience, he hopes others will navigate more easily the maze of confronting retirement decisions and learn valuable lessons to ease them into retirement without making a myriad of mistakes.
Furthermore, he writes that retirement is no longer a state that can be easily defined.
“We think we know what it means but, today, everyone’s ideas may differ. Indeed, the old form of retirement is nowhere near as common as it was – in New Zealand, about 48% of people aged 65-69 are working but many of the 48% will think they are in some form of retirement.”
As he points out, retirement means different things to different people and because people themselves are all different with different situations, he knows that may mean doing things differently. Subsequently, the advice in this book is both compelling and, indeed, helpful reading.
Retirement Ready by Martin Hawes | RRP $39.99 | Published by Upstart Press | Available from most bookstores
