Looks like it might be a good read. Does it mention what regulatory bodies one should contact if one detects broker malfeasance? Not that the regulatory bodies have done much to begin with! In any case it is good to have as much information as possible BEFORE handing your money over to a stranger. Here is title I found invaluable during my search for a credible broker. "Brokerage Fraud: What Wall Street Doesn't Want You To Know" Tracy Pride Stoneman and Douglas J. Schulz, renowned securities expert witness (www.securitiesexpert.com) about the brokerage industry. "Douglas J. Schultz and Tracy Pride Stoneman have co-authored what could well be the first truly in-depth examination of the many ways, and potential ways, that the investing public gets ripped off in Brokerage Fraud...This book is based on their many cases, thorough knowledge of securities law and industry procedures. They are the people you want on your side if you ever have a complaint about your financial adviser." A link that might be useful: www.brokeragefraud.com/

Unfortunately, the lack of a comprehensive universal healthcare plan in the US makes early retirement for many people impractical. As stats from AARP are finding, a growing percentage of retirees are finding their healthcare costs, even under Medicare, are chewing up an average of 34% of their income. And early retirees don't get Medicare. You get it at 65, or unless you're disabled (you cannot do at least 3 of the standard Assisted Daily Living criteria). The reality is, people are extremely spoilt by employers picking up the majority of healthcare premiums. I used to pull medical insurance premiums for clients. If I could find a basic HMO policy for a healthy 45 yr old at less than $700/mo, I thought I was doing really well! If you weren't healthy, or in your late 50's, expect a premium more in the vicinity of $1000/mo. That comes along with all kinds of deductibles and "don't pay that, sorry" exclusions, BTW. Expect another $50-200/mo costs for those extras. Standard cap on benefits is $1M - anything over that, let's say, a serious degenerative disease, forget it, insurance money cuts off at that point. Also doesn't include dental or vision. Or long term care insurance. I'm not saying it can't be done. But many, many people grossly underestimate how much health insurance of ALL types, actually costs in the real-life marketplace. Insurance underwriting is very democratic. It doesn't care if you've saved $15M for retirement or $15K. Medical improvements can keep you alive a lot longer these days, even with serious diseases. Insurance companies know this, which is why life insurance costs are dropping like a rock, while all medical insurance premiums are rising like hot air balloons in a high wind. Big costs lie ahead for Boomers as they age, and that skew to the actuarial tables means the Gen X & Y'ers won't get a lot of slack cut on their premiums. The first time you have something wrong with you, they know you're an expensive risk forever afterwards. So you'll pay for it, one way or another.

That is the beauty of our country's secondary education system, there's a fit for everyone and there's really no "right" or "wrong" school scenario for everyone. So, as parents and future college students, you just need to do the best you can to find a school that fits your child's interests and personality. As parents, I think we need to just resist the urge to intervene and make right every adversarial situation a young adult comes into contact with. They are adults at 18 and need to learn how to fend for themselves. That's what I actually like about college - it gives them 4 more years to grow up and mature before they're really on their own. As far as the FASFA, at the schools we applied to, it wasn't necessary for merit based awards - ie awards for grades/test scores. There was a long list of private grants/scholarships if you qualified for specific criteria - ie you had a family member that was a nurse, or an iron worker or a member of a specific union etc. We didn't qualify for any of those $$ although I did read each one carefully looking for a fit! I do believe that you need to complete the FASFA to apply for any of those, even if they stated it was a merit award and not soley need based. At a state public school here in Ohio, the awards are either financially driven (requiring a FASFA) or merit based. My son did get a merit scholarship, but taking into account the money he got from his athletic scholarship, I knew based on our income, he would not get any need based money. I'm sorry, but that form is a PIA and really didn't want to disclose all of our financial situation when I knew we wouldn't qualify. When I went to college a gazillion years ago, my parents filled out the FASFA because my brother and I were both in school and my mother was a school teacher and my dad a bricklayer. We thought while we were definitely not poor, with two kids in college, we were also not feeling flush with money. Of all the things I saved in the college scrapbook, I saved the response I got when I applied. Back then tuition/room& board was about $3300 a year for a state school. My FASFA came back and said my parent could afford $5800 a year for college expenses - and that was with my brother also in college. I truly do not know how they could come up with that number with two parents who had definitely middle class incomes, but again, they had no debt and no mortgage, so if you're financially responsible, you get no help. Granted if I had gone to a private school with a much higher tuition, we may have gotten something but, I was happy going to the state school, so while I did have alot of student loans, they weren't as much as if I had gone to a private school.

We did as much financial planning for retirement as we could. We're terrible savers, actually, but as DH has a good pension and health benefits we knew that was our 'fallback'. It was just a question of whether we could live on 80% of his current salary, especially as costs rise and inflation threatens to return. Fortunately, he had been contributing large pre-tax amounts to his retirement plan two years prior to retirement, so it turned out we were living on a net 80% amount anyway, pretty much. So that took a load off our minds, as well as negating any need to withdraw from his retirement savings on a regular basis. He was cashed out of his vacation time so we got a nice large check (minus a 35% hit for tax withholding). That's what we're using for our heavy schedule of trips over the next couple of years. Yes, we're doing the cliche of traveling before we get too old to do it, LOL. We just finished a trip to New Mexico which was exhausting but a lot of fun; I posted a thread on it in the Travel forum. Still to come is the CA wine country, a Buddhist retreat, and a big Alaskan cruise. Next year will be quieter, though, with just vague plans for a railway trip to the Smithsonian in Wash DC; a drive down Central and Southern CA to visit some relatives; and possibly a visit to my DH's relatives in Canada to discuss some family issues with his mom. DH and I are one another's best friends. We love spending time together, even though we have friends we will see separately. We're very fortunate to have no disagreements about what we want to do in life, whether day to day or special goals. And even luckier to be able to afford our lifestyle, because many of our friends and family have struggled to stay afloat these past few years. Our home is paid for and comfortable enough, and as long as I can keep up with the gardening, it's a great place to live. Location is good, amenities are close-by, neighbors are wonderful. My family is only 20 min away and they all live within 2 miles of one another, although everybody owns their own home. We have made plans for what to do as we get older or disabled. One of them is to systemically (no rush, we hope!) investigate the various senior living alternatives in our urban area. There's a lot of them, and we'd like to know what's available to us beforehand, at all the various price points. Part of our financial planning included sufficient insurance, so unlike many Boomers we have not only good retirement health insurance but also our own long-term care insurance. As it turns out, having that insurance gives us a few more options when it comes to retirement and continuing care facilities. We have some health issues, so this was a big reason why I didn't want my DH to postpone his retirement any longer. It's been great to see him more relaxed and rested. Our only issue is his mother lives with us, and he gets frustrated dealing with her, although in a different way than I do. She's a nice lady, but the epitome of what one should NOT be in retirement - dependent, lost, ignorant, fearful, unwilling to do anything for herself or make any effort to enrich her life. She has no family nearby except us, is slowly losing all her old friends but refuses to make new ones, and dementia is narrowing her world every day. Tragically, this is a type of dementia she could have possibly avoided, but she has become incapable of comparative analysis and logical thinking through sheer disuse. At least she can function on a daily basis, but even that is slowly beginning to falter as she becomes more forgetful and absent-minded. We feel fortunate to know many elderly people around her age that are the opposite - alert, vital, interesting, and active. These are the people who are our role models for aging gracefully.