This guide provides excellent pre-retirement planning suggestions. Has traps, obstacles and helpers outlined for quick review and advice. Has a number of "tools" in the form of worksheets to assist in planning for both before and after retirement events. Presents a number of post-retirement ideas with several suggestions of how to manage and/or increase your income in retirement. Authors are somewhat short on information for the mid 50's retiree concerning how to access 401k and IRA funds without penalty between 55 and 59 1/2. No info on what forms are needed and where they are available, or what needs to be filed and where. Has one slight reference in the appendix on how to accomplish withdrawals without penalty. Having read a number of retirement planning books available on the bookshelf, I found this volume excels in providing useful information not found in similar guide books.

Although this book deals with many aspects of retirement and retirement planning, what distinguishes it from the dozens of similar books I have read is a truly outstanding calculator for determining how much money will be available then and how much needs to be saved or invested to eliminate any shortfall. It includes pensions, social security, and savings and investments. It factors in life expectancy, income sources that will automatically increase with inflation and those that won't, savings and investment growth rates, withdrawl rates that must increase with inflation(which--unbelievably--some calculators don't consider). It allows for early retirement (that is, it doesn't factor in social security until it's available). Similarly, it allows for staggered commencement of retirement income sources (for example, a pension that starts at age 65 while you may start social security at age 62). I've not found another calculator that does ALL of these things! I couldn't recommend it more highly.

This guide really lays out, step by step, how to think and act to plan your retirement. I found this a surprisingly quick read, comprehensive, easy to understand and specific -- from spending, lifestyle, insurance, investing issues. The book makes a great gift for friends or parents because too many of us are not paying attention to the easy "Action Items" that each chapter ends with. Highly recommended!

After reading this book, my respect for the great leader Dr. King, as well as his phenomenal wife grew. I never knew she was a such a success story apart from Dr. King. I also admire her for literally laying down her life to be a support to her husband. The courage she demonstrated encouraged me so. I am also the wife of a Black Baptist preacher and I now know that there are no limits for me and any strong Black male leader must have a strong Black woman standing behind him.

This review is about the book My life with Martin Luther King Jr. By Coretta Scott King. This book touched me because my grandpa used to know Dr.King and this book tells me all the stuff my grandpa never told me. Like when Martin protested to all the whites, the Ku Klux Klan, or [KKK] told Dr.King to stop protesting or he would never see his family again, but Martin was not afraid,and with that the KKK bombed his house as a warning, luckally no one was hurt. The "I have a dream speech". Won Dr.King the noble peace prize, That angered the KKK and in his hotel The KKK guned him down in front of his family, and after the funeral the Mayor made it a law to treat blacks equally. Martin Luther King had one but had lost his life in the process.
I reccomend this book to all people [Blacks & Whites alike] that had a goal in life and did not stop until they achevied it.

I thought the book was wonderful!!! It gave me insight to what life was like living with MLK Jr. You felt the pain when things went wrong. You felt the happiness when things went right. Coretta Scott King did a great job of letting everyone know the imtimate details of her and her husbands life. If you haven't read it , check it out. Trust me, as a teen, it was a book that grasped my interest. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!!!

An excellent visual coverage of the controversial exhibition of Young British Artists. Includes a few essays at the beginning of the book, and a few photo examples of each artists work. I would have liked a bit more information on the artists, under each of their names for easier reference. Overall an excellent catalogue of one of the best exhibitions of the decade. Artists included are Jake and Dinos Chapman, Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin.

Great piccies...plenty of authority types spouting about art...a key catalogue on yBa's...especially recommended for art students desperately seeking quotes from the stuffed shirts of art, on Saatchi's girls and guys...don't get hung up on the media controversy...it's only art...it can't bite you...and if you don't get it, then 'Sod You Gits!'...as Sarah Lucas says.

I went, if you didn't, buy this. Lots of love, Liz Delag xxx (young, British and an artist...shouldn't I be famous by now?)

Recommended for any serious artlover, especially those with good taste. Oh yes.

This is the first of the Pentecost books (followed by Pentecost and the Chosen One and Pentecost of Lickey Top).

After his father's death, Snake is bamboozled by his alleged Cousin who, backed up by a Frog, claims he whas fallen heir to Snake's dear home, the Oily Green Pool.

Determined to have his pond back, Snake sets out in search of the lying batrachian. He ends up in a old farm, the home of a family of harvest mice, the leader of whom is Pentecost. The mouse agrees to help Snake find Frog if in return he finds them a new home, as the farm is going to be detroyed by the over-spilling City.

The story goes on to describe their journey across the English countryside to the Oily Green Pool and the Lickey Hills, meeting numerous beasts on the way, either friend or foe, but often "playing both ends against the middle".

The Song of Pentecost is a lovely animal fable, where in the end everyone learns from their mistakes or repents from their treacheries, but I must say I was a little bit disturbed by the religious, often moralizing metaphors. I was also deeply shocked by the end.

I honestly think that this is the best childrens' book I have read. The characterisation is brilliant - every character invokes emotion of some kind in the reader - and you really believe in them all. Fundamentally I suppose it is a story of succeeding in the face of adversity, but it is far, far more than that. I couldn't recommend a book more highly, not just for children, but for adults too - it is absolutely wonderful.

This is probably the most interesting book I read as a child. I left my copy out in the rain when I was young, and it's taken me several years to find another copy, but it was worth the search. It is an excellent book about the pilgrimage of a group of mice who are looking for a new homeland. Only as I got older did I realize that the story had been a religious metaphor about searching for the Promised Land. Really neat story - different from a lot of children's books. Not a spoiler - parents should just review the end before letting little children read this book.

I remember reading this anthology as a child, and I remember wishing that i was different like one of the children in the book... it's a great escape for kids, i suggest it to anyone with a young reader

I read this book as a child, and it occured to me recently what an intriguing book it is. I spent a long time trying to track it down, and finally found it! It is a marvellous, eclectic collection of stories, including an excellent offering from Ray Bradbury.

mutants are "freaks of nature" that have special and unique characteristics or powers that "normal" people don't. As you read, you ask yourself if its a gift or some kinda punishment. There is one story about a boy who is born with wings, I would say is one of the best short story I have ever read. Buy this book!

This book shows a new side of John Maynard Keynes -- one which is not particularly well known. It shows the man behind the economic genius and does this quite well. I loved this book.

Escoffier's book, part of a series called Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians, admirably recaps the career of John Maynard Keynes, practical man, entrepreneur, aesthete, homosexual (well, probably)and, least I forget, the most important economist of the twentieth century.

The series, so far as I can tell, aims to provide biographies of prominent gay people targeted at bright adolescents. Escoffier's book fulfills its mandate, but does much, much more. In a very small compass it describes the period 1900-1945, discusses the political and economic questions that took up much of Keynes' life, and paints a rather engaging portrait of the Bloombury group. It is also a surprisingly balanced biography of Keynes. Without wanting to denigrate the series, I fear that the rubric under which the book appears will frighten off potential readers who are neither queer nor under 20 years of age.

That would be a mistake. Other than the massive three volume biography, and Heilbroner's witty synopsis of 40 years ago, there is a real paucity of good information about John Maynard Keynes, and an excess of misinformation, maybe even disinformation. This biography can be read in an afternoon, possibly at one sitting, yet it is good enough to recommend to anyone who wants to understand that political and monetary hopes and disappointments of the first half of the twentieth century. Escoffier is not afraid to call them as he sees them, but the result is surprisingly fair and balanced, even if I would not have phrased some things the way Escoffier did . His stress on exploitation as the hinge on which the Edwardian economy turned gave me pause, but it is not necessarily incorrect. So far as I can tell, Escoffier's views on a number of questions are quite different from those of Keynes, nor is this book a work of hagiography, which makes the overall fairness of the result even more remarkable. In short, I really do recommend that you read this book if you have any interest in any of its topics: Edwardian Britain, the Treaty of Versailles, economics, Bloomsbury, government finance (the Bush administration seems to be radically "keynesian" in a way John Maynard might not have approved), or being queer in the first part of the 20th century.

As I first time reader of Fielding I found this book unexpectedly comical. In the same line as going to church to hear a boring old pastor and finding your self humoured throughout the sermon. The charactors keep their distance through the third person narrative which allows the reader to judge, pity and find in the case of Fanny and Joseph perfection which is annoyingly unreal.

As for Parson Adams he well may be a saintly man but surely someone other than myself finds his lack of tact, condenscending tone and total innocence extremely irritating.

This is an incredible book about real friendship,chastity and honesty written in the most humorous fashion.Fielding brings out the true values of friendship beteween Parson Adams and Joseph and true love between the latter and Funny.He points out the sad but true "false" nature of the upper class and brings out questions about real life.I like this book because it encourages chastity and esteems honesty.

I am currently teaching from this book, and I am saddened that it is geared towards Spain.

Other than that, it is fun and lively and well-thought out. Great for those who haven't had Spanish in a while.

I found this book really useful as I used it in school. I have now bought the teachers edition to help my husband learn as we are moving to Spain in the next year. I really recommend this book. *****

One wouldn't suppose that a kidnapping tale could be funny. Well, it wasn't a roll on the floor laugh-fest, but this novel did offer plenty of head-nods to irony. Suzie Q, the luckless kidnapping victim is fresh and clever and has a wry sense of humor about her. While gagged, tied up, and freezing to death she still has plenty of Irish pluck. Suspenseful and interesting, ironic and frightening, this book is wonderfully done and a pleasure to read!

I really enjoy this book it kept me on the egde of my seat the whole time I was reading it. I really thaught that Suzie Q. was ganna escape on Gerards motorcycle. I think that she could have gottin' away on his motorcycle. I like the way the book ended with her getting rescued and Dodie going to jail. I hope you enjoyed my review

I love mysterys most of the ones I read are more like thrillers I didn't know what to epect when I picked up Suzie Q all I know is that I couldn't put it down. It's a great book

This book is not for the serious history buff nor for those who are seeking a macro view of historical events. But what this book does provide is the insite into an individual solder's life during our darkest hour. Other books on the Revolutionary War delve deep into the problems faced by Washington when the initial 6-month enlistments were to expire. Those Continental Troops who did not re-up are now viewed with scorn. However, Joseph was one of those troops who left after his enlistment was up and returned home without regret. The viewpoint from this individual solder provides balance from those Officers who were sustained in relative comfort. However, one has to begin to question some of the stories such as seeing Molly Pitcher in battle and his personal meeting with General Washinton near Yorktown. Regardless of the accuracy of his saga, Yankee Doodle Boy is easy reading and adds a sense of what it was really like to battle fatigue as much as the redcoats.

After reading this book, I know that the best way to learn about something is to get the viewpoint from someone who experienced it. Joseph Plumb Martin was a great writer, and told me what it was like to be an average soldier in Washington's army. He writes in a style that's easy to understand, even for a 7th grader like me, and he has a very good sense of humor. By the time I finished "Yankee Doodle Boy," I could have sworn I was there with Joseph. You can't say that you've read about the American Revolution until you read this book!

History doesn't get much better than hearing it first-hand from someone who lived it. Joseph Plumb Martin has paid us an invaluable service by recounting his seven years of enlistment in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. This is a great book which should be read by all Americans. Highly recommended.