The New Retirement: How It Will Change Our Future.

Janet Collins is a freelance writer in Sechelt, British Columbia.

In the book trade, timing is everything. Unfortunately, between the time The New Retirement was published and now, there has been a radical change in the economic landscape. Even so, there is much of interest and value in the pages of this book.

The New Retirement isn’t so much a how-to primer for those contemplating retirement, but rather an examination of how the influx of retirees in the near future will drastically change the concept of “golden years.”

If the future holds but one certainty, it is that the baby boomers will have a retirement that is very different from that of their parents. Not only is the younger generation healthier and living longer than their predecessors, their sheer numbers guarantee a financial future unlike anything experienced before.

Like many, I thought recent increases in health insurance rates and growing labour shortages were an indication of things to come. However, as Cooper rightly points out, only a small percentage will retire in the next five years, with the bulk of boomers making the transition in the 2020s. It is then that the full effect to retirement of the masses will be felt most—especially in Canada, where the boomer generation is the largest. While the earlier retirees in the group benefit from the financial markets first, the larger later group will be seeking their retirement funds amid an onslaught of demand for stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles. Will there be money enough to go around? What can individuals do now to ensure a healthy financial future?

As a global economic strategist, Cooper is well equipped to offer advice about where boomers still in the workforce should invest, and how all new and upcoming retirees might want to plan for their financial futures. She is also well aware of some of the too-good-to-be-true options—after all, she once worked for the infamous Fannie Mae. Of special note is the repeated comparison between U.S. and Canadian scenarios, which provides helpful information for Canadians who believe circumstances and options are the same on both sides of the 49th Parallel. Recommended.