So, is this another financial advice book? Not exactly. This book is designed to help you understand what kind of advice you need. My goal is to help you better understand the financial world you must live in and what you must do to make your way through it.
In particular, I want to help you determine:
- What you can decide for yourself- almost certainly more than you’ve been led to believe.
- Where you need help- probably in different areas than you think.
- What trustworthy sources are out there- fewer than you might hope.
This book is not for those who are “too rich to care.” Nor will you get much value from this book if you have no financial resources at all and worry about simply getting by from one day to the next. This book is for the vast numbers of people who are in the middle; those who struggle with the trade-offs between saving for retirement and saving for a down payment on a house. It is for those who can’t decide whether to pay off a student loan early or “double down” and borrow more to start a business. It is for those about to retire who need to figure out when to take Social Security, how much to withdraw from their 401(k) accounts, and whether to downsize their home or take out a reverse mortgage to supplement their retirement income. It is for anyone who has a complicated financial life in which it’s not only challenging to find answers, but it also isn’t clear what questions to ask.
You won’t find any easy solutions to your financial problems in this book. You may find, however, that this book will give you the ability to ask the right questions, and as a result, begin to make better choices.
Think of the world of money as a dangerous and unknown mountain wilderness full of unseen perils, inhabited by wily predators of all sorts. You have found yourself stranded and lost, and in addition to simply surviving and figuring out where you are, you also want to make your situation as comfortable and stress-free as possible, so you have the time, energy, and resources to make the best of the rest of your life.
Click here to get your copy of Money Mountaineering.
Actuary and author Peter Neuwirth at Rizzoli Bookstore in NYC. Photo by AnnaGibbs.com.
About Actuary and Author Peter Neuwirth, FSA, FCA: Pete is an actuary specializing in retirement plan issues. He is a 1979 graduate of Harvard College with a BA in Mathematics and Linguistics. After leaving Harvard, he went to work at Connecticut General Life Insurance, now CIGNA, and for the next 38 years, he worked continuously as an actuary holding significant leadership positions at a variety of firms around the country, including most of the major consulting firms (Aon, Hewitt Associates, Watson Wyatt, Towers Perrin and finally Towers Watson).
Additionally, he has spent 5 years as a chief actuary at a regional benefits consulting firm (Godwins), 7 years running a small actuarial firm (Coates Kenney), and one year in a large accounting firm (Price Waterhouse). At the end of 2016, he retired from Towers Watson to focus on writing and researching financial wellness issues.
Peter continues researching various financial wellness issues, including using home equity to generate retirement income. In 2018 he taught a graduate seminar on this subject for the actuarial science department at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is currently associated with the Academy for Home Equity in Financial Planning at the University of Illinois.
In addition to his books “Money Mountaineering” and “What’s Your Future Worth?”, his research has been published in professional journals, including the Journal of Deferred Compensation, Contingencies, and Journal of Financial Planning. His articles have also been published in numerous online actuarial web publications. He is a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, Enrolled Actuaries, and Western Pension and Benefits Conference. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries.
Book a speaking engagement with Pete: Contact Hope Katz Gibbs, director of communications, 703-346-6975 / hope@hopegibbs.com