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What If Boomers Can't Retire?
Book

What If Boomers Can't Retire?

How to Build Real Security, Not Phantom Wealth

Thornton Parker
Berrett-Koehler, 2001

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Visionary

Recommendation

This book’s message is both unusual and upsetting. Author Thornton Parker questions conventional wisdom about financial planning for retirement. He draws on his varied background - including jobs in government and private sector financial planning - and discusses the influence that baby boomer retirement investments have on the stock market. He examines how the stock market creates wealth, why stock prices get inflated and who benefits. Contrary to what most experts in the investment, retirement and mutual fund industries tell their clients, Parker believes the "phantom wealth" that boomers have accumulated with their stock market investments is a time bomb. He suggests some changes, but given the greed and power he detects behind the creation of phantom wealth, his voice is probably not loud enough to make a difference. If his scenario unfolds, retirement certainly will not mean golden years for aging boomers. getAbstract recommends a look at Parker’s proposals to investment advisers, HR professionals and people planning their retirement. If he’s right, ignoring his warnings could lead to a distorted economy and increased income gaps between rich and poor.

Take-Aways

  • The "stocks-for-retirement" (SFR) strategy is not working.
  • Once the public understands the ill effects of the stocks-for-retirement model, investors will demand that corporations change the way they manage stock prices.
  • About two-thirds of all stocks sit in retirement accounts or support retirees.

About the Author

Thornton Parker has more than 45 years of experience in fields ranging from computer science and intergovernment relations to policy development and transportation. He co-founded a company to help small manufacturing companies make more efficient use of their utilities.

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