The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After Fifty ─ Answers to Your Most Important Money Questions

From Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz and the experts at Charles Schwab and Co., Inc., here at last are the hard-to-find answers to the dizzying array of financial questions plaguing those who are age fifty and older.

Five years after the greatest financial meltdown of a generation, people are still struggling to make sense of it all. And if you’re like most people moving into the phase of life where protecting—as well as growing-- assets is paramount, you’re faced with a number of financial puzzles. Maybe you’re struggling to get your kids through college without drawing down your life’s savings. Perhaps you sense your nest egg is at risk and want to move into safer investments. Maybe you’re contemplating downsizing to a smaller home, but aren’t sure of the financial implications. Possibly, medical expenses have become a bigger headache than you expected and you need help assessing options. Perhaps you’ll shortly be eligible for social security, but want to optimize when and how to take it.

Whatever your specific financial issue, one thing is certain--you could really use some good advice. As the financial world becomes increasingly complex, what you need is deeply researched advice from professionals whose credentials are impeccable, and who prize clarity and straightforwardness over financial mumbo-jumbo.

Fortunately, this book has been created to meet your needs. Carrie and the Schwab team has been helping clients tackle their toughest money issues for decades, and through Carrie’s popular “Ask Carrie” column, her leadership of the Charles Schwab Foundation with its focus on financial security for all Americans, and her work with the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, she has become one of America’s most trusted sources for financial advice.

Here, Carrie will not only answer all the questions that keep you up at night, she’ll provide answers to many questions you hadn’t considered but should.

CARRIE SCHWAB-POMERANTZ is president of the Charles Schwab Foundation and senior vice president at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., where she has spent the past thirty years serving clients and advocating for investors. Under her leadership the Foundation has established several notable financial education programs, including a curriculum for teens developed in collaboration with Boys & Girls Clubs of America that has been cited by the U.S. Treasury’s National Strategy on Financial Literacy as a best public-private sector initiative. She also spearheaded a program with AARP Foundation to provide financial education and coaching to people age fifty and older. Her popular personal finance column “Ask Carrie” is syndicated weekly through Creators News Service. She’s a Certified Financial PlannerTM certificant and the coauthor of the popular book about family finances It Pays to Talk.
JOANNE CUTHBERTSON is also a Certified Financial Planner(TM) certificant and publishing director at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. She has worked in financial and technology publishing for three decades.