Michael Bivona, CPA
Retiring? Beware!!
If you start working in your twenties and retire at age sixty, there’s a good chance you’ll spend as many years in retirement as you did working. Michael Bivona, a certified public accountant who retired almost twenty years ago, shares how he saved enough money to retire comfortably. He also explores the importance of continuing to be productive and having fun even after you stop working. Drawing on his professional expertise and experiences, he helps you:
- develop retirement plans
- realize the full value of Social Security payments
- explore your passions and stay healthy
- celebrate life with the people you love
Bivona also shares his love for dancing, traveling, and writing, helping you come up with your own ideas about all the things you can do once you stop working. Life may be short, but retirement can last longer than you think–and you need to make the right moves to enjoy it to its fullest.
Retiring? Beware!! Don’t Run Out of Money and Don’t Become Bored
by Michael Bivona, CPA
iUniverse
reviewed by Carol Anderson, D.Min., ACSW, LMSW
“My writings are not meant to advise people in financial matters or how to keep busy during retirement; my objective is to show how my wife Barbara and I planned for our retirement and managed to succeed in most of our planning.”
This 250-page book regarding retirement examines a variety of issues through 13 chapters. The beginning of the book offers a look into developing retirement plans and issues of the new millennium regarding retirees. This is revealed through statistics such as the increased number of baby boomers, financial changes in the world, and the financial crash of 2000 and the impact its had on people today. Chapters Three and Four, which constitute much of the readings, are about the author, his family, and their leisure activities such as dancing, tennis, golf, boating, writing, collecting books, reading, exercising, and traveling. The next chapters are professionally focused, including a discussion regarding part-time jobs and a significant look into financial considerations such as Social Security, investments, risks of investments, reducing debt, expenses, tax reductions, reverse mortgages, and medical and supplemental insurance, as well as annuities and long-term care insurance. The rest of the book discusses physicians, volunteering, AARP membership, and other beneficial organizations for seniors, preparation of wills and other related documents, and downsizing. The last chapter is a summary regarding “health, attitude, and finances.”
A significant part of the book reads more as a journal or travelogue into the lives of the author and his wife. In great detail, we learn how they have enjoyed many leisure activities, their travels, and some history of the places they’ve visited. There is in-depth coverage of their dancing. Also covered are “words that should be memorized and understood before playing golf” and the history of their boats and boating expeditions, including examples of poor seamanship. The book contains dialogue with others such as dance instructors, quotes from others’ work as well as their previous writings, and photos of their activities and writings. The author continues with a discussion of John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s plane crash while they were on vacation, their trips to New Orleans and Washington, D.C, and other expeditions, which offers another glimpse into their interests and beliefs. This is a journal about completing their bucket lists, although quotes from other sources such as websites, and a listing of websites for the reader to utilize regarding these hobbies, may be beneficial. Often there are examples of how the author and his wife accomplished their goals, rather than an overview of how anyone may succeed in retirement.
However, the second part of the book offers a more detailed look into the financial realities of retirement which offers readers helpful insight into examining ways to live within their means. Here, the author explores computer assistance, identity theft, and some pertinent information about Social Security and retirement funds. Information regarding stocks and bonds and his seven cardinal rules regarding investments helps those readers who can benefit from schooling in the basics of financial planning. The ending chapters are also beneficial for those retiring and who need a basic understanding of other issues that may affect them, such as joining senior organizations, creating a will, and obtaining other documents necessary for the family. These chapters are beneficial for those persons who need guidance navigating the difficult process of retiring in the best possible way. In the end, the potential reader needs to keep in mind that this is really two different stories, both personal and professional.
Retiring? Beware!! by Michael Bivona, CPA, Published by IUniverse, was a finalist in the“Annual Eric Hoffer Awards for Short Prose & Independent Books.” After a rigorous first round of judging, less than 10% of over 1,000 entrants were privileged to have the “2015 Eric Hoffer Award Finalist-Excellence in Independent Publishing” assigned to their books and digital presentations.