How It All Started: Retire Secure!

Back in 2003, one of my advisors, Dan Kennedy, told me that to have a seat at the high stakes table of influencers, I needed to write and publish a book. Dan pictured a short book filled with stories that were meant to inspire readers to call and ask if my firm and I were available for services. The book that I ended up writing, Retire Secure! involved two years of blood, sweat, and tears and included the best advice gathered and collected from my twenty years of practice as a CPA and estate attorney.

The book included my best thinking on wealth accumulation, wealth distribution, and estate planning. It included an update of some material that I published in a peer-reviewed article with an explanation of my mantra “Don’t pay taxes now, pay taxes later—except for the Roth.” The book included lots of graphs and charts that backed by countless spreadsheets and mathematical proof that my recommendations, especially regarding Roth IRA conversions, were sound. There is no question that writing and publishing a book provides tangible evidence of credibility—your work can be cross checked and verified by your peers—which mine was.

Retire Secure! was published by Wiley in 2006 which was a good publisher for me. The book was distributed in Barnes & Noble and other bookstores throughout the country. Buoyed by testimonials from Charles Schwab, Larry King, Ed Slott and 50 other financial luminaries, the book did quite well in terms of sales and attracting clients. I did a second edition with Wiley in 2009. I self-published the third edition in 2015. All books did well and in conjunction with my (former) radio show, this newsletter, and subsequent books, I have a small national following.

Dan thinks I am nuts and that I spend too much time educating readers and workshop attendees both in my writing and in my speaking. He may be right, but I love what I do. (Please see the inside of the newsletter to learn about our October in-person workshops for professors in Oakland.)

NOW AVAILABLE:  Retire Secure for Professors and TIAA Participants

Dan then recommended I author a book for college professors because I had hundreds of professors as tax and estate planning clients. After writing a few books that didn’t explicitly address professors, I finally got started on Retire Secure for Professors (that was the working title), and the plan was to publish in 2022. Though all but two chapters of the book are relevant for most IRA and retirement plan owners, I wanted to do a specialty book for professors.

I was going to follow up with a book for TIAA Participants which, in fact, would have contained nearly identical information. (Most professors I know have or had TIAA as part of their retirement plan.) So, I decided to combine the professor and TIAA books into one book titled Retire Secure for Professors and TIAA Participants.

Then, there were a slew of new laws and new tax rates. Much of the content had to be updated. That job was a bear, but we finished and now we have our magnum opus—our best book by far. And I say “our” because I had a lot of help from the number crunching CPAs who are part of our team, estate attorneys from the law firm, a CPA/writer freelancer, and my long-time editor. It is 450-pages long, not including introductory material and appendices. We are particularly proud of our detailed and extensive Table of Contents. It makes it easy to find what you are looking for or gives you an idea you had not thought about.

Retire Secure for Professors and TIAA Participants will be available on Amazon on October 2, 2023. If you are an assets-under-management or professor client, you should have already received a copy. All other clients will receive a copy within the next two months. If you are not a client, we highly recommend you buy the book—as of now, you can get a digital copy of the book for $1.99 on Amazon.

May We Ask You for a Favor Please?

Retire Secure for Professors and TIAA Participants, our magnum opus, will be available to the public on Amazon on October 2^nd.

Now, we have a favor to ask. Reviews of the book posted on Amazon propel sales and help us reach the broadest audience possible. To post a review, you must purchase a book. Currently the digital copy is available for $1.99. Would you kindly buy a copy from Amazon, read at least a chapter of the book, and post an honest review? You would be doing me, your fellow IRA and retirement plan owners, professors, and TIAA participants a huge favor. For step-by-step instructions on how to post a book review on Amazon, please go to https://PayTaxesLater.com/AmazonReview.

Coming Soon:  Retire Secure for Parents of a Child with a Disability

If you have been reading these newsletters, you know that Cindy and I have a wonderful daughter who has a disability. Erica has dysautonomia and in her case, it is unlikely that she will ever be able to financially support herself. With the official diagnosis, Cindy and I were able to begin the arduous process of getting her qualified for SSDI. But we also knew that SSDI would never amount to enough money to provide for her in a way we would be comfortable with.

So, I figured out a “solution” for the best way to provide for Erica, even long after we are gone. Our deliberations and planning stoked my passion to help educate parents of a child with a disability about how to provide for their child financially.

This book is a bit different in another way too ― I have two co-authors. This dream team has been hard at work writing Retire Secure for Parents of a Child with a Disability. I must add that Erica fully supports this project and hopes that other children and young adults with disabilities will benefit from the book. So, next month be on the lookout for information about that book, and its imminent publication date.

My Passion:  Helping Others Achieve Financial Security

Little did I know that Dan’s advice would spur such a book writing passion. I love that my books have the potential to really help people, and more recently parents and their children with a disability.