Retirement Planning Today

[Midpack]

Just got a mailer from the local university offering a course called "Retirement Planning Today, An Educational Course for Adults - Ages 50 to 70." I googled it and see it's offered at colleges & universities all over the country. Cost $60, two 3-hour classes with a 235 book. Before I enroll, just wondered if anyone here had first hand experience with this class, and is it worth it?

[REWahoo]

At $235 a book, I think I know how the textbook author plans on funding his/her retirement...

[Notmuchlonger]

Work Less Live More is a bit cheaper



But no I have not taken the class..

[unclemick]

Hmmm - other than reinforcing my 'don't read books mantra' I can't venture an opinion not having taken the course - but if you are single and dig 50 - 70 yr old chicks ?

That $235 book price reminds me of P Chem in 1964 - for 3 qtrs we edited the prof's handouts and worked the problems - till those of us who survived to the 4th qtr had to buy the book at full retail.

Eggers, Gregory, Halsey and Rabinovitch - the turds.

heh heh heh - perks of profdom - they pick the textbook.

[CyclingInvestor]

I think you may have misread the description. A quick Google showed the course at many
colleges like :

Lake Michigan College - Retirement Planning Today

that show a 235 page book included in the course cost of $55.

[jazz4cash]

I'd be very surprised if this is not a lead-in to a sales pitch, based on credentials of the instructor. Seems unlikely the varied needs of a diverse group could be addressed in any meaningful way in 6 hours. Six hours is a good amount of time to convince attendees they REALLY need to come in for a personalized plan. The way I read is the course including textbook is $55 per household WITH refreshments, so that's not so bad but I usually soak up the free seminars offered by the credit union and various affinity groups.

[bssc]

I would be worried if I was 50 and just thinking of retirement planning.

[Gumby]

If you were 50 and just thinking of retirement planning, you wouldn't know that you should be worried. Ignorance is bliss.

[OAG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Just got a mailer from the local university offering a course called "Retirement Planning Today, An Educational Course for Adults - Ages 50 to 70." I googled it and see it's offered at colleges & universities all over the country. Cost $60, two 3-hour classes with a 235 book. Before I enroll, just wondered if anyone here had first hand experience with this class, and is it worth it?

Since you seem to be planning on going, would you mind giving a good, factual, unbiased report with extracts of the text upon completion?

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Wood Since you seem to be planning on going, would you mind giving a good, factual, unbiased report with extracts of the text upon completion?

I will second that.

heh heh heh

[megacorp-firee]

I actually took one of these courses with my DW. If I remember correctly it was in the $75 range for the course. Nothing for books. It was essentially a 3 day ABCs of financial/retirement/estate planning. It is good if you know nothing about all of these areas. For most on this forum I would think it would be a review and could even be 'tilt' you a little, as they use rules of thumb and talk about annuities as though everone should have one (or at least consider them). I took this course to ensure that I knew 'what I didn't know' ( '... you never know what you don't know'). It turns out, except for some estate nuances, I did not learn anything new. But now I had one more verification that I was probably on the right track. A cheap educational experience for me.

Oh yeah ... there was also a sales pitch at the end. One was for follow up estate planning and the other was a FA that tried to sell me a 'guarenteed' 22% return .... I didn't know I could run that fast ...
p.s. they didn't even feed me dinner!

I would save my money if I were you. Especially if they are going to hit you with a big book fee. my 2 cents.

[myself]

Was that post meant to say $235 book, or 235 page book?

In any case, like megacorp-free, my DW and I did something similar. Paid to have a CPA verify our taxes for last year, and this year. It was an expensive lesson to learn that I was doing it right. But sometimes paying an occasional fee helps out with the self-validation (i.e. who really wants Uncle Sammy on their backs? ).

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by myself Was that post meant to say $235 book, or 235 page book? In any case, like megacorp-free, my DW and I did something similar. Paid to have a CPA verify our taxes for last year, and this year. It was an expensive lesson to learn that I was doing it right. But sometimes paying an occasional fee helps out with the self-validation (i.e. who really wants Uncle Sammy on their backs? ).

Sorry, it was 235 pages, I left that out.

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Sorry, it was 235 pages, I left that out.

In that case, I believe it's exactly what I went thru. Go for it ... it's a cheap form of entertainment (or 3 nights out of your life, depending upon how you look at it). In either case you will the 'know what you don't know' ... or find our you are in pretty good shape... both good places to be

[chinaco]

$60 seems worth it. This gives inexperienced people a forum to discuss the issues with each other and an "Expert" (Orman type crap).

Everybody has to start somewhere.