Gift of books could offer choice guidance

By Janet Kidd Stewart

Your Money

December 9, 2007


Searching for a meaningful holiday gift for someone who doesn't want or need more stuff? Consider giving a road map for a more successful financial future.

Books about retirement and saving may rank pretty low on the "wow" factor when it comes to gift-giving, but they can be thoughtful, particularly for people hitting key turning points in their financial lives.

The obvious candidates are people approaching retirement age, but many others could benefit from some time spent thinking about the long-term future.

Which books to choose for which person on your list?

That's where the thoughtfulness comes in. Here's a guide to some of 2007's titles, sorted by where savers are in their financial journey.

-- Retirement ready

Know someone who has just retired or is contemplating it soon? A good primer on the actual mechanics of retirement and Social Security is in order.

"Getting Started in a Financially Secure Retirement" (Wiley, $20) as well as "The Wall Street Journal's Complete Retirement Guidebook: How to Plan It, Live It and Enjoy It" (Three Rivers, $15) are two guidebooks. The former offers in-depth discussions on such topics as long-term care insurance, while the latter is a breezier guide that includes tips, but also anecdotes about people living in retirement.

If you know your gift is going to a Journal devotee, it's a no-brainer.

-- In the thick of it

What about those in the crunch period, who are supposed to be saving a bundle for retirement because their incomes are higher now than they've ever been, but who may also be struggling with high expenses?

These people may need some advice on structuring long-term portfolios and selecting investments to go in them.

It was published in 2005, and it isn't a book specifically about retirement, but David Swensen's "Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment" (Free Press, $28) would be a good pick for a sophisticated reader who is inclined to manage retirement savings without trying to beat the market.

Swensen, Yale University's chief investment officer, concludes that the actively managed mutual fund industry "fails America's individual investors," and he advocates low-cost index investing and exchange-traded funds.

Then there's "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life" (Simon & Schuster, $26). Yes, this is the same guy you may have seen screaming about stocks on CNBC. The book has the same almost-scary energy as the show and tries to blend some typical retirement advice in with Cramer's stock-buying philosophy. And it has some departures from conventional wisdom, such as his opinion that retirement money should be invested far more conservatively than funds earmarked for other purposes.

-- Just getting started

For younger savers, giving them a book on retirement probably carries the highest risk-reward ratio, with the risk being high that the recipient would much rather have an iTunes gift card. But this is the group with the longest lead time to retirement, so if you help them set good savings and investing patterns now, chances are pretty good you'll be remembered fondly long after the music fades.

"Save Now or Die Trying: Achieving Long-Term Wealth in Your 20s and 30s" (Wiley, $25) has a depressing title, especially for a gift, but it may be just the kick in the pants someone on your list needs. Author Mark Bruno guides newbie savers through the basics of budgeting to opening individual retirement accounts.

An accessible alternative is Gail MarksJarvis' "Saving for Retirement Without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery" (Pearson, $18). (Full disclosure: The author is a Your Money columnist.) This book is best for people who need some inspiration and a little knowledge to get started down the right path toward retirement savings.

A few others worth mentioning don't focus specifically on money and saving, but ultimately make a difference in retirees' bottom lines because they help them live better or become more fulfilled in work later in life: "Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life" (Public Affairs, $25); "Retirement Places Rated: What You Need to Know to Plan the Retirement You Deserve" (Wiley, $25); "What Color is Your Parachute? For Retirement" (Ten Speed, $17); and "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" (Ten Speed, $17).
