Fully UPDATED for 2022 and TAX LAWS PLUS the SECURE Act.
Mark Orr has been a practicing Certified Financial Planner (CFP) since July 2000 and earned the RICP designation (Retirement Income Certified Professional) in 2017. He has been building easy-to-understand, written retirement income plans for clients across the USA. It is from that long and varied professional experience that formed the seeds of his 2nd book. It's written for people who are within 10 years of retirement or are already retired and looking for a better "plan."
With lots of educational retirement planning information spread throughout the book, it culminates into three example client lifetime income plans that show how combining Social Security, any pensions, investments and insurance can help you enjoy an increasing lifelong income while reducing the top five retirement risks.
Those top five retirement risks, that too few people are actually planning ahead for are: living too long, inflation, stock and bond market risks, rising health care costs and the likelihood of higher taxes.
World famous speaker and motivator, Tony Robbins and author of the best-selling 689-page book: "MONEY Master the Game," among other topics, stresses the importance of "setting up a lifetime income plan." He makes a great statement about retirement in his book, "Income... is the outcome that matters." Tony is 100% correct.
The premise in Mr. Orr's book is "It's really all about creating a dependable and increasing lifetime monthly cash-flow that gives one true financial freedom and peace of mind in during what will likely be a 30-year retirement. Rather than "Asset Allocation" that most planners talk about, he devotes the bulk of his practice (and writing) to "Income Allocation" and "Strategy Allocation." These can dramatically reduce the 5 top risks people will face in retirement.
It is really pretty simple. There are only two possible doors to go through at retirement. Door #1: is that your MONEY will outlive you. Door #2: is that YOU will outlive your money. There is NO 3rd door! The book describes how to form a 30 plus year monthly cash-flow retirement plan based not on speculation, hopes or dreams, but as much certainty and predictability as possible.
The "Retirement Income Planning" book explains all of the smart and safe retirement planning strategies and ideas to accomplish that. It covers all of the bases that you need to know to help avoid making a planning mistake and help make sure that you go through Door #1.
But unlike many books on the subject that are written by writers (not actual practicing planners), taking care of real people with real money and ongoing retirement dreams is what Orr brings to the table. Nobody can sue a book author for making silly statements or giving foolish or unfounded financial advice.
As a planner in the trenches, every day - it has got to be right from the get-go. Annual client reviews make sure that the plan is real and not pie-in-the-sky. Orr makes no unrealistic projections, no gimmicky, unproven planning strategies and certainly offers NO BS.!
If you want to get educated on the "real world" of retirement income planning - get this book and compare it to any other book on the subject. Put it to the test. You'll be glad that you did.