Ben Stein - Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably!

YES, YOU CAN
STILL RETIRE
COMFORTABLY!

ALSO BY BEN STEIN

THE GIFT OF PEACE

HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WIN

HOW TO RUIN YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE

HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE hardcover (also available as an audio book)

HOW TO RUIN YOUR LOVE LIFE

HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE (tradepaper, which comprises the three HOW TO RUIN titles above)

THE REAL STARS: In Todays America, Who Are the True Heroes?

26 STEPS TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD (with Al Burton)

WHAT YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MONEY AND SUCCESS

BY BEN STEIN AND PHIL DEMUTH

CAN AMERICA SURVIVE?: The Rage of the Left, the Truth, and What to Do about It

HOW TO RUIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

YES, YOU CAN BE A SUCCESSFUL INCOME INVESTOR!:
Reaching for Yield in Todays Market

YES, YOU CAN GET A FINANCIAL LIFE!:
Your Lifetime Guide to Financial Planning

YES, YOU CAN SUPERCHARGE YOUR PORTFOLIO!:
Six Steps for Investing Success in the 21st Century

All of the above are available at your local bookstore, or may be ordered by visiting:

Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House South Africa: www.hayhouse.co.za

YES, YOU CAN
STILL RETIRE
COMFORTABLY!

THE BABY-BOOM RETIREMENT CRISIS AND HOW TO BEAT IT

BEN STEIN AND PHIL DEMUTH

NEW BEGINNINGS PRESS
Carlsbad, California

Copyright 2005 by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth

Published by: New Beginnings Press, Carlsbad, California

Distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Distributed in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Editorial supervision: Jill Kramer Design: Tricia Breidenthal

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews without prior written permission of the publisher. The intent of the authors is only to offer information of a general nature. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the authors and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stein, Benjamin, 1944
Yes, you can still retire comfortably! : the baby-boom retirement crisis and how to beat it / Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4019-0318-3 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4019-0318-5 (tradepaper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4019-0317-6 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4019-0317-7
1. Older peopleFinance, Personal. 2. RetirementUnited StatesPlanning. 3. Retirement incomeUnited States. 4. Baby boom generationUnited StatesRetirement. 5. Baby boom generationUnited StatesEconomic conditions. I. DeMuth, Phil, 1950- II. Title.
HG179.S8314 2005
332.024014dc22
2005004740

Hardcover ISBN 13: 978-1-4019-0318-5
Hardcover ISBN 10: 1-4019-0318-5
Tradepaper ISBN 13: 978-1-4019-0317-7
Tradepaper ISBN 10: 1-4019-0317-7

11 10 09 08 6 5 4 3
1st printing, August 2005
3rd printing, March 2008

Printed in the United States of America

For our generation

Contents

M oney is an astonishingly powerful mind changer. Lots of itor at least enough of itmakes you happy, while a shortage makes you miserable. Theres some magic to having enough thats as basic as the need to take in water and oxygen. The mojo of having more than enough, of having an amount necessary to be comfortable, is intoxicating.

Just think about how you feel when you open a brokerage statement that says your investments have been doing well, and compare that with how you feel when it says theyve been doing poorly. Imagine what it means to open an envelope and find a check instead of a bill.

Years ago, one of your authors, Ben Stein, got a call asking him to do a commercial for which he was to be paid what seemed like a lordly sum. He had lunch with a friend right after he took the call, and his friend asked if hed had a face-lift. No, Ben replied, I just got offered a lot of money to do something pleasant and easy.

Money, she said sagely, can make you look younger. Or, she added ruefully (because she was short of money), it can age you.

We, your authors, are just ordinary people like you. We worry about money all the time, and whether we have enough of it. As we get older, were concerned about whether weve invested wisely. (We often havent, but were getting better with age we hope.) Most of all, we think about whether well have enough to live comfortably when were too old and infirmor just too worn-outto work, and whether the people we love will have enough. Weve seen magnificent examples of retirement preparednessespecially in our parents, all of whom died far too youngbut weve also seen disasters among people were very close to.

This has prompted very serious study on our part to save ourselves and others. We want to begin our salvation at home, but wed like to spare as many people as possible sleepless nights and torment. We love this country more than words can say, and were devoted to our fellow American citizens, as well as those of the UK, Canada, and all good countries. We want to offer some help based on our own terrible experiences and terrifying observations, as well as what weve seen that works. That help is within these pages. If you read and learn from it, your chances for a successful retirement will rise markedly.

As you make your way through this book, please bear in mind an admonition from a famous 12-step program: No one among us has been able to maintain anywhere near perfect adherence to these principles. Like the organizations that save lives from alcohol and drugs, this program is meant to be suggestive and to provoke thought. The closer you can come to doing the actions we suggest after thinking it over, the better off youll be.

Weve seen the future, and it scares us; weve seen the past, in our parents prudent behavior, and it was inspiring. One of your authors (yep, Ben Stein again) especially saw spectacular results in his parents lives from the regular purchase of carefully selected variable annuities (VAs) in stocks. If we harp on regular purchases and on VAs, its because weve seen that they work miracles when carefully chosen and well understood. If you notice our emphasis on diversification, you can rest assured that weve also seen that practice achieve wonderful success. Above all, if we can teach you that a little self-discipline from a young age can transform your future by allowing the passage of time and compound interest to do the heavy lifting, we will have justified the few shekels you spent on this book.

Please take care not to torture yourself as you read if youve been way off course so far. Believe us, weve made every mistake possible. But each day starts a new wave of possibility, and we hope that you can ride that wave into a glorious, golden sunset. If you have any problems with the math and research here, e-mail Phil DeMuth. He did all the hard work for this volume (and if Phil finds that he has made any dumb mistakes, hell post corrections on our Website,