
Title : Senior Living Communities: Operations Management and Marketing for Assisted Living, Congregate, and Continuing-care Retirement Communities
Author : Benjamin W. Pearce
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Should be required reading for all in elder care!!
I used Mr. Pearce's book as a guide in preparing my presentation at our dept. mgr. retreat last week (giving him credit of course!). As a result, a board member and a fellow dept mgr. ordered their own copies of this book. All-inclusive, professional approaches. I'm surprised--and grateful--that Mr. Pearce shares his expertise so openly. It's refreshing to observe an author whose goal is to raise the bar for quality of care for the elderly, and help his competition achieve same through his generosity in sharing his own experience/knowledge. I'd give away every book in my library before I'd give up this one!!

Title : Secure Your Future: Financial Planning at Any Age (Successful Business Library)
Author : Chuck Tellalian
Rating : 3 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Shows how debt affects net worth
The very good chapter here on determining your net worth helps emphasize the effect of debt on your planning and projections.
Michael Pellecchia

Title : You'RE Retired Now What: Money Skills for a Comfortable Retirement
Author : Yolles
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : An excellent personal finance book for retirees/pre-retirees
You're Retired Now What? is an excellent personal finance book for retirees and pre-retirees, alike. It contains an abundance of valuable information and is written so that the average person can understand it. I highly recommend this book for any retiree or pre-retiree.

Title : General Washington's Christmas Farewell: A Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783
Author : Stanley Weintraub
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Goin' South......
Don't be put-off by the cheesy title of this book. Yes...it's obviously a marketing ploy meant to tie in to the holiday season. In any case, Mr. Weintraub has crafted an interesting book. We follow Washington from West Point to Mount Vernon, as he tries to get home for Christmas. Most notably, he stops in New York City, Philadelphia, and Annapolis. In NYC he says farewell to his officers. He also puzzles his subordinates by going to visit a bookseller who is a known Tory sympathizer. (Unknown to Washington's underlings, the man was part of the commander-in-chief's network of spies who kept the general informed of the goings-on during the 1776-1783 British occupation of Manhattan.) In Philadelphia, amongst other things, Washington orders some new spectacles from the noted scientist David Rittenhouse. In Annapolis, Washington returns his commission to Congress, thus making formal his resignation from public service and return to private life. The book is only about 175 pages and can easily be read in a day or two. However, Mr. Weintraub manges to provide a lot of information. Some of it is interesting on a "serious" level - for example, we see Washington at the start of the journey insisting that his departure from public life will be permanent. He made several speeches on the way home, and he constantly stressed that Congress needed strong legislative powers so that it could hold the bickering colonies together. By the time he reached Annapolis, Washington had come to the conclusion that it was going to be an extremely difficult process to turn a loose confederation, which no longer had the "glue" of battling a common enemy, into a true nation. Washington was not being an egomaniac, just realistic, when he came to understand that he was the only person who could be a unifying force. Therefore, when he gave the speech in Annapolis in which he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief he changed the language so as to leave the door open for a later return to public service, if such a thing proved to be necessary...which it did. Washington was remarkably unambitious for someone who was held in such awe. He was, indeed, the man who could have been king. (In his own day, everyone wanted to touch him, as though he were holy. Many years later, people had relics - as though he were a saint. Lincoln had a splinter of Washington's coffin contained in a gold ring he wore. President McKinley had several strands of the great helmsman's hair.) Americans owe Washington an eternal debt that he turned his back on dictatorship. On the lighter side of this book, we see Washington the man - sans wig, so to speak. We see him losing his temper, his pride in his dancing ability, his love of fine wine, etc. We also get to hear about his expense account, where it seems as though he put down every possible item, down to the last pound, shilling, and pence. (He even included tips he had given out to people who had waited on him.) I especially enjoyed the little personal touches that Mr. Weintraub saw fit to include - such as letting us know that the 6'4" Washington slept in a 6'6" bed. The author also tells us about the time that Washington fired a Mount Vernon gardener for getting drunk. Then, when the man expressed remorse and wanted his job back, Washington agreed...but he made the man sign a contract specifying that he could only be in his cups at certain times of the year. For example, he was allowed 4 days of drunkenness at Christmas! The book, on rare occasions, becomes tedious when Mr. Weintraub gives us excerpts from speeches delivered by sundry parties during the various "farewell" dinners. But, for the great majority of the time, this book will hold your interest with its nice balance between the public and the private Washington.

Title : A Peaceful Retirement
Author : Miss Read
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Another gentle and charming book from my favourite author
A change in direction with not only retirement but marriage proposals as well for my most loved fictional character. With all of the Fairacre books, a book I have read over and over - only with particular sadness as it appears that this may be the final book. I found the illustrations a bit off putting - part of my love of Miss Read's books are due to J Goodall's beautiful illustrations - not that these are bad, just not what previous readers may be used to. My only complaint is that it is too short!
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Title : "Which?" Guide to Pensions: Finding Your Way Profitably Through the Pensions Maze ("Which?" Consumer Guides)
Author : Jonquil Lowe
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : A good, all-round, general introduction.
You can't normally go wrong with a Which? guide and this one is no exception. I have recently set up my own business and needed to learn all about company pension schemes and legislation.
This guide was an excellent starting point, covering all the major options available to me and clearing up a lot of the jargon. It even contains sections on maximising the performance of your pension.
This is the 1999 edition, but still contains reasonably current advice on Stakeholder pension plans. Considering the often tiresome nature of the subject matter, this is all highly informative stuff.

Title : Social Security Benefits Handbook (Social Security Benefits Handbook)
Author : Stanley A. Tomkiel
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Updated review of this book
Mr. Tomkiel was kind enough to respond to my concerns regarding his text comments on SSI prorating. He indicated in his note that he had again researched the issue of SSI prorating. Although it appears he had the same difficulty obtaining an immediate, correct answer directly from SSA, he was able to confirm that his research on prorating is correct. I commend his efforts to not only understand my confusion after my own conversations with the SSI, but to research the issue himself, once again, with their representatives. Mr. Tomkiel is obviously well versed on this topic, and is an impressive example of an author committed to his topic and his readers. Thank you Mr. Tomkiel for your time, effort, and kind response. My initial review stands corrected.