The Retirement Myth, What You Must Know to Prosper in the Coming Meltdown of Job Security, Pension Plans, Social Security,  The Stock Market, Housing Prices and More.

What kind of books do you like? Action? Romance?  How about Scary?

Investigative reporter, Craig S. Karpel, writes with a captivating style.  He weaves hundreds of stories together into a picture of what is ahead for the "baby boomers."          

Mr. Karpel pulls together the facts and figures, the interviews with key people and stories from every day people to paint a picture of what we are moving toward.  

We have gotten used to some things we thought would last forever.  For instance, we are used to inflation "increasing" our equity in our biggest investment.  We know of people that have sold the family home for a large enough profit to put away some money and still buy a retirement home.  I don't know how many of you have seen the PBS in depth on Philadelphia (2003).  With dropping property values, dropping rent, dropping population and continued upkeep costs, there are large areas being leveled by the city when the properties become abandoned.  What happens when your biggest investment drops in value?

One of the investments recommended by the book is Interpersonal Biotechnology. (page 197)

"B. Douglas Bernheim leans toward me: 'Would you like to know an investment strategy you can implement in the near future that will provide excellent insurance against uncertainties of later life?'

"A hot tip from a Stanford economist. I palm my phone, poised to call my broker.  Embeddos? Swaptions? Inverse floaters? Fax Hong Kong!  E-mail Zurick!

"'Have children,' says Dr. Bernheim.  'Make sure they love you so they will take care of you when you are old.  See to it that they become productive, so they can afford to.  That's what people have done from the beginning of time and still do throughout the developing world.  The reason people had eight or nine children was so that three of four would survive till they were old and needed to be supported.'  he leans back.

"'Are you following your own investment advice?' I ask.

"He beams. 'Three daughters.'

"'How old?'

"'Sixteen, eight, and four.'

"'So you're . . laddering your maturities,' I suggested.

"'You could say that.'

"'I met an eighty year old guy in Florida who said I should make sure to have some sex in my book,' I tell him.

"Dr. Bernheim laughs.  'Well, now you've got it.'"

I looked for the Future Elders of America on the web that Mr. Karpel founded and didn't find a thing.  I even looked for FEA.  I found pages of those but I gave up after about 60 entries that didn't match.

A search for Craig S. Karpel turned up references to articles in Esquire, Harper's and Playboy.  The Article on the Bilderbergers that I was interested in was in German, so never mind.  There were places to buy the book and libraries ready to lend it. 

Did you know web based e-mail is searchable?  (Another scary thought.)

<<Dear Mr. Mattson, Is there a dojo--or anyone qualified to teach Uechi-ryu to kids--in the Cleveland, Ohio area? Best wishes, Craig S. Karpel. >>

The book is well worth a look at especially if it keeps you from becoming one of the  DUMPIES (destitute unprepared mature people).

Richard