Retirement Planning QuickStart Guide by Ted Snow is a well-organized and accessible guide for anyone who wants to take charge of their retirement planning. Its strength lies in its comprehensive approach, offering actionable steps across various aspects of retirement readiness. While it might not provide in-depth investment analysis, it equips you with the knowledge and tools to build a solid foundation.

"Retirement Planning QuickStart Guide" is a user-friendly handbook designed to help beginners build wealth, achieve long-term financial security, and prepare for life after work.

The book provides step-by-step instructions and valuable insights on retirement savings, investment strategies, and creating a solid financial plan. With the author's expertise as a Certified Financial Planner and MBA, this guide offers a simplified approach to retirement planning, making it accessible and practical for individuals looking to secure their financial future.

Naturally, it's also an introduction to the author's financial services for further help if desired.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC to review.

I've never imagined that I could dream of "retirement" - and reading this book didn't help. I'm not in the social class where I can expect to inherit money upon the deaths of my parents or other family (in fact, I pay a lot of my mom's bills). I can't afford to buy a house or property. I foolishly paid off over $75K of student loans. I now know to put the max allowed by law into my 401ks (and front load at the beginning of the year, in case of layoffs).

After reading this book - I still have no idea how to organize the distribution of my 401ks - and it's still unclear to me if I can put money into a Roth IRA as additional savings. I don't really know where to start and the sales pitch from financial planners all sounds like snake oil (and expensive snake oil, to boot!).

I was told by a financial planner that I don't need a will since I am single without children or property. I have no idea if that's true but retirement appears to be a leap from the Golden Gate Bridge, not a glossary of terms related to caps and annuities.

Demystifies the black art of finance and pensions but the tax info is aimed at American readers

This book is written for American readers. The general info on financial planning and investments is useful for all readers but there is a lot of information relating to American tax set-ups etc which isn’t of use if you’re outside the USA.

This said financial and pension planning have become increasingly complicated over time so anything that helps to demystify them and help people to make the right decisions is very welcome. I found the clear explanations and information helpful and useful. The book left me with a better understanding of:

- the different types of investments, e.g. stocks, shares, bonds, property and cash etc,
- financial terms, such as bull and bear markets etc,
- the rationales behind the types and uses of the various types of insurance and when they’re needed,
- how to work out how much we need to save to have the retirement we want and how to spread the saving over our working lives,
- pensions, including the pros and cons of annuities and drawdown and how to use them,
- portfolio management, including stock allocation and when and how to rebalance your portfolio,
- how to prepare for retirement - it’s never too early to start and the sooner you do the more leeway you’ll have to adapt should unexpected changes crop up.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

An excellent starting point if you're just starting to think about retirement, and the sooner the better too. A well-organized and thoughtful guide with lots of info not only for beginners, but for anyone with existing retirement plans to go back and review those plans again. A great gift idea for any age. I wish someone would have given me this book while I was in my 20s!

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I honestly haven't put enough effort into this important topic. I have so much reading to do that sometimes serious topic books feel overwhelming to me. I didn't feel this was the case here.

This is a quick but detailed book on retirement planning that I would have loved to have had many years ago. Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read and review.

This was a well written retirement guide for beginners to seasoned planners. The book is full of information to help you make the choices that are right for you at every stage of your retirement planning. A lot of the information I was already familiar with as I am near retirement, but I felt there was still plenty to learn!

The book was broken into three parts; the early years of retirement planning, getting ready for retirement, and your financial life after retirement. There is a lot to take in and at times I found myself overwhelmed with all the information, but this book would still be an important reference on anyone’s retirement planning shelf.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher or the opportunity to read and review it. I gave it four stars.

This is a great introduction to retirement planning. I would recommend this to everyone. The boo is broken into three different parts including designing your retirement, transitioning to retirement, and life after retirement. It's chock full of helpful information to consider at various stages in your life. The author also includes helpful resources including spreadsheets that will help you plan your retirement. An incredibly important planning guide to add to your library.


Thank you NetGalley and the author for providing a free electronic copy of this book for my honest review. Am incredibly grateful.

Such a useful and practical book with helpful tips- some of which will surprise you. If you are 35+ years of age, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book. You're older self will thank you!

This book is much more useful for Millennials than it is for Gen X-ers who are closer to retirement. Parts 1 and 2 deal with many of the fiscal issues that you need to set up thinking toward retirement. Part 3 is really more geared for those whom retirement is more imminent and covers estate planning and long-term care projections. This book is for those who easily grasp the ins and outs of finance and want a technical, detailed manual for what to do.

A good guide to aspects of retirement planning that I had not considered, like cash being a good investment as well as more long term investments. I would recommend the book highly and thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.