The Sole Practitioner in the Twenty-First Century

Book Description

As the baby boom begins to withdraw from the labor force, ensuring a secure retirement income becomes an increasingly important issue, the number of people over age 65 is expected to double by 2030. That trend will continue, accompanied by worries about stock market volatility, corporate malfeasance, a rapidly changing economy, and the viability of Social Security. In Coming Up Short, two experts on retirement policy analyze 401(k) plans, the fastest-growing type of employer-sponsored pensions and a vital source of retirement income for the American middle class.

Alicia Munnell and Annika Sunden chronicle the development of 401(k) plans, now the dominant form of private pensions. In accessible language, they explain how such plans work and discuss their popularity. For employees, these plans are appealing becuase they have more control over their own retirement funds, and the plans are portable. For employers, the plans are generally less costly than defined benefit plans.

Despite those advantages, there are some significant downsides to 401(k) plans. These plans shift all the risk and responsibility to employees, who must decide whether to join, how much to contribute, how to invest, whether to "cash out" when changing jobs, and how to manage their nest egg in retirement. These are difficult decisions, and while in theory 401(k)s could be an effective savings vehicle for retirement, in practice many people make mistakes at every step along the way.

Coming Up Short discusses why these mistakes are made and proposes various reforms to ensure that the aging population will have adequate retirement income. Comprehensive and up-to-date, Coming Up Short is an essential resource on 401(k) plans for financial service professionals, policymakers, academics, and individuals planning for their own retirement.

Customer Reviews:

Exploring the emergence and impact of 401(k) plans.......2005-05-13

In Coming Up Short: The Challenge Of 401(k) Plans, co-authors Alica H. Munnell and Annika Sunden collaborate in exploring the emergence and impact of 401(k) plans, the fastest-growing type of employer-sponsored pensions, with respect to the American public and national economics. Written with an especial eye toward the risks and challenges of a post-Enron scandal nation, Coming Up Short covers the special case of company stock, leakages from 401(k) plans, withdrawing from 401(k) funds at retirement, how to make pension plans do their job, and much more. Researched in-depth and filled with charts and graphs revealing its findings, Coming Up Short is a highly practical resource for not only financial service professionals, students and policymakers, but also lay individuals planning their own retirement. Highly recommended.

Where will tomorrow's money come from?.......2004-09-29

In this concise volume, the authors first lay out a bleak assessment of the future of private retirement funding in the United States, and then provide a clear roadmap to reform with straightforward remedies that will lead to better funding and more secure futures for retirees. This is not a diatribe against 401(k) plans, but rather a clear explanation of the shortcomings both in current law and in the strategies (or lack thereof) employed by individuals in such retirement savings vehicles. A good choice for an anyone with a 401 K plan, a great choice for anyone interested in the public policy of retirement.

Comes up just a little short.......2004-06-29

The authors, currently academic economists, trace and bemoan the demise of traditional defined benefit pension plans and make the case that 401(k) plans, which have significantly supplanted the "DB plan" on the employee benefit plan menu, will not, without a number of changes, adequately take the DB plan's place in providing retirement income for an important number of today's American workers. Citing a broad range of studies and the developing literature on 401(k) plans, the book explains in a workmanlike way the legal underpinnings of 401(k) plans (accurately enough for the authors' purposes), how 401(k) plans might operate, in theory and, most importantly, how they seem to operate in practice. (I say "seem" because, as the authors point out more than once, good data is hard to come by.) There is a large gap.

That is, there is a gap between what 401(k) plans could, theoretically, provide in the way of retirement income and what it looks like they will in fact provide. Employees (and, it is fair to say, employers) don't contribute enough to 401(k) plans in the first place. Employees, who are almost invariably asked to decide how to invest their 401(k) plan accounts, don't invest wisely. (In the case of investments in "Company Stock," the employer's own stock, employees often aren't even given the chance to invest wisely.) Finally, at the end of the road, premature withdrawals and the failure to annuitize account balances means that the opportunity to maximize what there is of the 401(k) plan's retirement benefit potential is often squandered. The discussion of annuitization, that is, the conversion of a single sum account balance into a fixed stream of income for life, may be the most useful material in the book.

Although the Munnell and Sunden offer several suggestions for "reform" of the pension system ("change" would have been a more appropriate word to use here), they conclude that their real goal is "to stimulate a debate that we hope will generate other ideas and options." To the extent that the book accomplishes this purpose it will be useful. However, long on data and data analysis and short on thought provoking discussion, I'm not sure that's going to happen.

Another difficulty I have is that I uncertain who is going to read "Coming Up Short." What's the market? It is certainly not written for the typical employee who wants practical information that he or she can use in understanding and making the most of his (or her) employer's 401(k) plan. (Not that we need another book on that subject right now.) Moreover, the politicians, bureaucrats and other inside players in the employee benefit plan game -- actuaries, accountants, lawyers, consultants, record keepers and the financial industry, primarily mutual funds and insurance companies -- are already well aware of the shortcomings of 401(k) plans as retirement plans. After all, neither by law are 401(k) plans required, nor by employer choice and design (except in rare instances) are they intended, to be retirement plans. The challenge for those of us who are interested in pension or retirement income politics is to first take one step backward and to acknowledge that 401(k) plans are not retirement plans.

Balanced and Informative Report.......2004-05-20

Dire predictions over the future of social security divert attention from a more immediate reality. The fact is that social security benefits only replace about forty percent of pre-retirement earnings for the average worker retiring at sixty-five. Future retirees, our current generation of baby boomers, will need to develop other sources of reliable income to maintain their standard of living. The obvious supplemental program for workers atempting to build wealth is the voluntary 401(k) salary reduction plan. Technically this is a "defined contribution" plan, different from a defined "benefit" plan, with greater potential to accumulate wealth. Unfortunately a quarter of eligible workers fail to sign-up for it. Many do not begin to seriously save until they are fifty. Fewer than ten percent contribute to their maximum permitted level. And those who do contribute make basic investment errors at every step of the way according to the authors.

Among the authors' other findings:

Many employees expose themselves to excessive risk by aggressively stuffing their plans with their company stock. A misplaced sense of worker loyalty or a desire to emulate the success of their corporate leaders may partially explain why participants ignore the first rule of risk reduction, diversification. On the other hand a recent study concluded that twenty-eight percent of all participants had no stock exposure despite the undisputed historical outperformance of stocks over bonds.

Few employees buy an annuity with their plan assets. But an annuity contract addresses the biggest risk faced by retirees, namely that they will outlive their nest egg. It is telling that the main purchasers of annuities are large sponsors of defined benefit pension plans whose paramount purpose is to guarantee retirees a life-long stream of income. Surrendering control of a significant sum of money after years of accumulation is a wrenching decision. The choice of an annuity is particularly difficult for those who believe they are skilled at managing their money or who want to maximize their bequests once they pass on. Retirees may also fear extraordinary healthcare expenses that would not be covered by an annuity. My guess, however, is that participants who have never considered an annuity might be swayed here to consider a partial commitment to one.

The authors see the need for a set of default choices based on sound financial planning experience that addresses each of the shortcomings they discuss. Participants overwhelmed by their options need some structured simplicity in the process. These are choices that can be confirmed or declined. Workers can only benefit from more professional guidance and education, but employers should not risk liability if the desired investment results are not achieved. COMING UP SHORT has a grasp of the current research on its subject and clearly (albeit dryly) outlines the issues. Experienced financial planners will find this book sobering but will not likely be surprised by its findings. Policy makers will find this a balanced and objective study. Lastly, 401(k) participants who just skim it will be motivated to do more on their own behalf.

Customer Reviews:

Catchy title, but disappointing.......2006-08-14

This book was a major disappointment. Despite several interesting vignettes, the book reads more like a textbook than a book about the Amish.
The author is a Geauga County (Ohio) agriculture official and goes into great detail about planting seeds; plowing; farming methods; startup costs; and, profits. You hardly get anything on the Amish themselves. However, he does tell you what they served him for dinner when he helped out around their farms. Rivetting stuff!
If you're looking for something about Amish life, this isn't the book for you. But, if you're interested in farming, you may find this book helpful.
By the way, the author never does tell you why cows learn Dutch.

A heart-warming read.......2005-08-04

"Why Cows Learn Dutch and Other Secrets of Amish Farms" was written by Randy James, a Geauga County extension agent who works among the Amish people there. He tells true stories of his interaction with Amish farmers, changing only the names to preserve their anonymity. The illustrations, including the cover art, were done by Crist C. Miller, an Amish man who lives in Geauga County.

James's lament throughout the book is "How can I possibly help these people who seem bent on living in the past?" How can they continue to do everything the old way when so much modern technology is available to help them out? He never asks why they live as they do; he respects their ways and in fact finds them fascinating, calling their farms "focused yet flexible, vertically integrated firms."

We get to go along with the congenial author on his adventures among the Amish as he directs a team of horses in plowing a field, helps make maple syrup on one farm and milks cows at another. He explains their farming methods, how their often old-fashioned machinery works and what role animals play.

The Amish world is not idyllic, as a lot of tourists think. There is a definite toll on the body and the pocketbook because they can't use most modern equipment. Their economy is dependent on the rules the community chooses to live by. For example, because many Amish communities allow no refrigeration, their milk is only grade B and sells for less money, even though it requires the same amount of work and the same rules of cleanliness. Other communities do allow refrigeration, and so their milk is grade A and brings in more money.

As part of his job, James figures out the costs of everything to help the farmers make decisions about their future. For one family, he discusses the economic merits of dairy vs. vegetable farming. For another, he plans an entire budget, adding up everything a young man will need in order to buy and operate a farm. "The economics are critically important," says James, "because the 'plain' farm family lifestyle the Amish so cherish is predicated on the operation of a profitable farm."

In addition, James talks about Amish society: how children are educated, how the church is structured and how the family dynamic changes when elders retire.

Farming enthusiasts will love this book, as will anyone interested in the Amish culture. It's an interesting and heart-warming read and a fascinating look into a world filled with strong but gentle people.

Book Description

A reliable, comprehensive, relevant view of HPLC and its applications

The development of HPLC-PED represents the successful marriage of two powerful analytical technologies and has resulted in the best technique for sensitive and direct detection of biological compounds with poor optical detection properties. PED has been used extensively for the determination of carbohydrates and other polar aliphatic compounds, and as a result, numerous methods have been developed to enable the analysis of a wide variety of samples. Over the years, many articles, anecdotal information, and misinformation have permeated the scientific community, with the possible consequence of confusion or uncertainty with regard to PED on the part of the analyst. Pulsed Electrochemical Detection in High-Performance Liquid Chromatography presents a reliable, comprehensive, and relevant review of HPLC-PED and its applications.

The book is divided into three major parts: background material necessary for a more thorough understanding of the principles and relevance of PED; an in-depth discussion of PED using voltammetry and other electroanalytical techniques and presenting the advantages, applicability, and optimization of all existing PED waveforms; and practical aspects of HPLC-PED, including a summary of the major applications and a look at future developments in the technique. Appendices include a pulsed voltammetry (PV) program specifically written to optimize pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) waveforms and all the known applications, categorized and listed in tabular form.

For analytical chemists; biochemists; carbohydrate chemists; biotechnologists; undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students; and lab technicians working in a range of areas including the pharmaceutical, medical, and food and beverage industries, this eminently readable guide is the first reliable book-length treatment of how to use PED coupled with HPLC.

Book Description

The authors of this monograph have developed a large and important class of survival analysis models that generalize most of the existing models. In a unified, systematic presentation, this monograph fully details those models and explores areas of accelerated life testing usually only touched upon in the literature. Accelerated Life Models: Modeling and Statistical Analysis presents models, methods of data collection, and statistical analysis for failure-time regression data in accelerated life testing and for degradation data with explanatory variables. In addition to the classical results, the authors devote considerable attention to models with time-varying explanatory variables and to methods of semiparametric estimation. They also examine the simultaneous analysis of degradation and failure-time data when the intensities of failure in different modes depend on the level of degradation and the values of explanatory variables. The authors avoid technical details by explaining the ideas and referring to resources where thorough analysis can be found. Whether used for teaching, research or general reference, Accelerated Life Models: Modeling and Statistical Analysis provides new and known models and modern methods of accelerated life data analysis.

Book Description

Americans are fascinated by the undeniable mystique of the elite world of Navy fighter pilots. In Bogeys and Bandits, Robert Gandt takes readers on a thrilling ride in the FA-18 Hornet, one of the fastest, sleekest, and deadliest aircraft in the world. Gandt lived and worked with several pilots learning to fly the Hornet: the identical twins from Middle America; the computer nerd with a penchant for speed; the grandson of a Tuskegee Airman, trying to live up to a proud legacy; and two women dealing with the post-Tailhook world of the Navy. Gandt weaves superb technological details of the Hornet and an insider's look at the highly demanding training program with portraits of the day-to-day lives of these very real people aspiring to fulfill a dream. Bogeys and Bandits will hold readers breathless as they soar through the skies in the cockpit of the fastest and deadliest fighter plane in the world.

Customer Reviews:

GREAT READING.......2005-08-18

Awesome read! I'm female and loved this book so guys would love it more. Read about would it takes to became a Naval Aviator!!
LOVED IT!

Really great book - exciting and action-packed!.......2004-05-02

I loved this book and recommend it as the best in its category of books about Navy pilots. A lot happens to each of the pilots-in-training that are covered. I learned a lot about how pilots are trained and what their day-to-day life is like (very busy!). A lot of the parts were very interesting, such as when the author talks about pilots who quit the Navy after all the expensive and difficult training has been given to them, and about going in front of review boards in danger of losing your wings after a particularly scary performance in the air, or even giving up your wings voluntarily if you grow to fear the "smoking hole in the ground" too much (what you'll end up as if you crash your jet and can't eject safely.) Could easily be made into a great movie.

Shift your career into high gear.......2003-04-28

Bogeys and Bandits gives the real life accounts of the training of F/A-18 Navy fighter pilots. The book jumps around each of the characters as they progress through their training -- from accomplishing difficult missions to getting medically disqualified. To anyone that wants to be or dreams to be a pilot or astronaut, this is a must-read. Perhaps the only downfall is that the story begins with all the characters already set for jet training. Personally, I would have liked to know how the characters also got into the training program for jets. Overall, the book is very fast paced and will surely enthrall you with the unbelievably exciting training and manuevers that these men and women have to go through to become FIGHTER PILOTS.

very very good writing, on one of my favorite subjects.......2002-11-03

Really an enjoyable book! I have to confess I was actually in a squadron with two of the characters, though in one case the name was changed to protect the guilty party :) 'Nuff said, but I would like to thank the writer profusely for "rubbing it in" to her poor thin skin. She had it coming........ :) Actually Jugs (her REAL callsign) was kinda a nice gal in some ways, but the Gender Thang is something that is going to haunt the US Navy for a while to come. I don't know what the answer is, and I say that as a former WAVE. Hello to any of my shipmates reading, who shared those "best of times, worst of times" and "Have a Bandit Day".........

The Roar of the Hornet.......2002-09-26

It's got to be every kid's dream - to be one of those gods who fly the fast metal, the hot jets, the fighter planes that command the skies.

And then to go that Top Gun step beyond and be one of the two thousand pilots in the entire world who are qualified to land a jet on an aircraft carrier.

This book tells how it's done, and it's a collection of yarns and descriptions and portraits and moments, some poignant, some routine, some heart-stopping, some heart-pounding that puts the reader through the process.

The author is an old aviator and knows his stuff. He's not fooled. You or I would get a lot of tall stories if we tagged along with a notebook, but Robert Gandt knows what's going on, and he gives us the good guff as he follows a class of "nuggets" learning how to fly, fight, strike, and carrier qualify with the F/A-18 Hornet.

Along the way he looks at some if the issues facing the US Navy. Race, education, sex, safety. And warfighting. This is deadly serious stuff, and these people are the cream of America's crop just to have got to the stage where they are even considered for fighter training.

It's a hell of a lot of fun, to live that little boy dream, but also a hell of a lot of work, and I take my hat off to the aviators Gandt describes. I also took my shoes off and put my feet up for a day while I read the book, and though the world outside was calm and sunny, inside my head the windows were rattling and the floor shaking with the roar of these high performance aircraft flying off the pages of this most excellent book. Strap yourself in before you read it!

Average customer rating:
Bogeys and Bandits: The Making of a Fighter Pilot

Manufacturer: Viking New York (1996)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IB9YU8

Customer Reviews:

riveting, honest, intellegent.......2005-10-23

Time on Fire is a riveting book. Evan Handler is honest and intelligent. He captures his experience and dives in with great detail to the many facets of his process of walking the devastating road of cancer. He holds nothing back. He exposes those around him. He exposes himself too, everything bold, down to every frail and frightened thought. Sometimes his descriptions were so graphic that I found myself cringing and covering my eyes. Sometimes I wanted to "walk out of the room" because maybe what he wrote about was too intimate for me to be watching. Sometimes I found myself cheering because he said what we wish more people would say. Sometimes I cried because he endured and witnessed more pain than anyone should have to. Mostly I marvel at his ability to put it all out there, to remind me that we are all human and that includes a whole spectrum of history, desires, reactions and responses.

I recommend this book to people in health care, allopathic and naturopathic! (The people you serve are precious, living souls who matter, and it matters how you are with them!) It's a wake up call. I recommend this book to people who are searching and walking within the medical system and the alternative medicine scene for healing. (Take responsibility for your health care!) There are messages there for those who are in positions of support to people with serious or chronic health challenges (like make sure YOU have a good support system for yourself!).

I do recommend this book highly.

Just discovered this amazing, touching and very funny book!.......2005-04-29

I recently met Evan Handler at a book event in Los Angeles. Little did I know what a talented writer he is. Soon I was glued to the pages of his "Time on Fire." It is very well written. Somehow he manages to find humor in facing the horrors of leukemia treatment.

It's David Sedaris with cancer! Plus Evan's will to survive shines through.

Would be interesting to see the play on which this memoir is based.

Evan mentioned that he is working on a new book, and I look forward to the read.

Time for my Annual Reading of this book..........2000-07-02

Once a year, I revisit this story, as every nurse and physician should. Take an active role in your treatment, and be an informed consumer...these days, healthcare is a business. Don't let the residents and fellows treat you like a pincushion. This book changed the way I do my job.

"Dante's Inferno" meets "Friends".......2000-05-19

An amazing book. Funny and terrifying. It makes me think of Catch-22 -- a strong, independent character forced to survive in an insane and dangerous world.

I've read this one several times, and it's a can't-put-it-down adventure each time.

Warm and Wonderful.......2000-04-23

Though I read his book a few years' ago, I still remember insights of Evan Handler. His recounting of his experiences with current therapies -- traditional and non-traditional -- and health care providers are memorable.

Whenever I think of the word "hope" I remember this: "I've heard the phrase -- "false hope" -- used by doctors and nurses again and again, in very self-congratulatory ways, as if, by exterminating it, they were providing a great philanthropic service to the community...I will state, unequivocally, that there is no such thing as false hope. It's an oxymoron. It can't exist. Hope has no connotations of certainty. Hope carries no assurance of success. Hope is the one thing in the world that can never, ever, be false. Hope is just what it says. A longing. A desire. Is there such a thing as a false, aching desire? I think, too often, that some doctors are protecting themselves from the aching desires, the hope, of their patients. It must be very painful to fail to save the life of someone who never concealed his passion to survive. His hope. Much more painful than the death of a patent willing to hide the intensity of his wish. If only they could learn what a potent source of energy they're wasting."

His comments about receiving needles are especially pertinent because hospitals, with their cost-cutting, have been training greater numbers of employees how to draw blood. Hospital administrators should read Handler's account of the artistry of a good phlebotomist and the torture inflicted by a poor phlebotomist.

I found his book to be a genuine and realistic account of his experiences and a gift to his readers. He is an excellent writer.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on July 1, 1998. The length of the article is 5361 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: First-person microethics: deriving principles from below. (analyzing ethical principles in books about disability and death)
Author: Arthur W. Frank
Publication: The Hastings Center Report (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 1998
Publisher: Hastings Center
Volume: v28 Issue: n4 Page: p37(6)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books