Two for Tuesday ~ Non-Fiction from Motivational Press

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Motivational Press for providing review copies in exchange for honest reviews.

Title ~ 4 Star Retirement, 2 Star Budget

Author ~ Jim R. Olson

Publisher ~ Motivational Press

Published ~ 3 April 2013

Genre ~ Non-Fiction

Pages ~ 134

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

A fairly comprehensive over-all guide on retirement.  With laws changing all the time this book is more of a general consideration when it comes to what age to retire and so forth, but has excellent ideas and advice for what to do before and after retirement.

My husband and I are in our mid-40s and have been discussing the various aspects of his retirement (I’m a SAHM) these last few years. Even though he’s still a decade away (or more) it pays to start getting our ducks in a row. While he’s had a 401(k) for years and will have a small pension when he retires, I was happy to see information about things such as IRAs and social security as well.

Another great thing about this book is there are many ideas of what to do after retirement. Sure, most people (us included) probably think of retirement as an extended vacation, but do you know that your ‘extended vacation’ could last 30 years? It’s possible (my grandfather’s retirement was 30+ years) especially if you keep yourself in decent shape. So, a 30 year ‘vacation’ not only has to be funded, but there has to be sufficient things to keep a person occupied for that time. So, hobbies can be delved into and even used to generate post-retirement income. Travel is another option, too. This book focused a bit too much on traveling by RV, but that is something many retirees do as well as play golf, another subject that had a bit too much attention. My husband & I aren’t interested in either of those, but there are many other options discussed, too. Ones I never even thought of, so I’m happy I read this book.

The writing is an easy to read format and the only thing that is a tad confusing is the many taxes that have to be considered and investment options, but that stuff confuses me on a daily basis anyway. I recommend this book as a stepping stone for retirement planning as it had excellent advice.

Title ~ The Silent Scandal

Author ~ Brittney Kara

Publisher ~ Motivational Press

Published ~ 31 May 2013

Genre ~ Non-Fiction

Pages ~ 150

My Rating ~ 2 bites and a nibble out of 5

This book is about how big corporations are corrupt and ruining people with their greed. We are surrounded by toxic substances in our food, water, air and products. From the tone of this book, it’s a miracle anyone is alive today. I get that the author is passionate about getting facts out to people about toxins in our environment and I don’t dispute that toxins are out there in abundance. However, while there were some things I didn’t know about when I dived into this book, many of the things mentioned are already widely known.

Also, I was hoping for more ways and means to live a healthier lifestyle that don’t include the extremely expensive products this author is hawking for the company she works for. The majority of the population has no extra funds to buy expensive products, us included. If I had known this book would be more about selling her product than providing solid practical advice I would have skipped it.

Yes, there is a lot of good information in here, but it is wrapped up in an alarmist attitude filled with repetition interspersed with plugging the author’s employer and their products. And I’d like to add, regarding the section about how to remove the toxins in your home, why aren’t plants mentioned? Even if a person does nothing else, adding plants to a home will greatly enhance the air quality. The more plants the better. Yet, no mention is made of this simple solution.

All-in-all I did learn a few things I didn’t know, but I’m sure I could have found out elsewhere without all the exclamation marks and product pushing.