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A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life
Free Press
January 2006
288 pages ISBN: 0743270312 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Do you know your Number? What happens if you don't
make it to your Number?
Do you have a plan? The often-avoided, anxiety-riddled discussion about
financial planning for a secure and fulfilling future has
been given a new starting point in The Number by Lee
Eisenberg. The buzz of professionals and financial industry
insiders everywhere, the Number represents the amount of
money and resources people will need to enjoy the active
life they desire, especially post-career. Backed by
imaginative reporting and insights, Eisenberg urges people
to assume control and responsibility for their standard of
living, and take greater aim on their long-term
aspirations. In 1999, Eisenberg was in the midst of downshifting from
having served as the Editor-in-Chief of Esquire and other
high profile positions. He was "half-in, half-out of the
workplace" with an enviable consulting position at Time,
Inc., and a family comfortably settled in the suburbs.
That's when he received an unexpected offer from the
Wisconsin-based Lands' End which, in the end, he couldn't
resist. It meant uprooting his family and moving to the
rural heartland, and taking on the challenges of an
entirely new way of life. Before the move, he admits, "I
was worried about the Number." Once in Wisconsin, Eisenberg
confesses that the "Number was leading us around by our
noses." From Wall Street to Main Street USA, The Number means
different things to different people. It is constantly
fluctuating in people's minds and bank accounts. To some,
the Number symbolizes freedom, validation of career
success, the ticket to luxurious indulgences and spiritual
exploration; to others, it represents the bewildering and
nonsensical nightmare of an impoverished existence creeping
up on them in their old age, a seemingly hopeless
inevitability that they would rather simply ignore than
confront. People are highly private and closed-mouthed when
it comes to discussing their Numbers, or lack thereof, for
fear they might either reveal too much or display
ineptitude. In The Number, Eisenberg describes this secret
anxiety as the "Last Taboo," a conundrum snared in
confusing financial lingo. He sorts through the fancy
jargon and translates the Number into commonsense advice
that resonates just as easily with the aging gods and
goddesses of corporate boardrooms as it does with ordinary
people who are beginning to realize that retirement is now
just a couple of decades away. Believing that the Number is
as much about self-worth as it is net worth, Eisenberg
strives to help readers better understand and more
efficiently manage all aspects of their life, money, and
pursuit of happiness. * According to Eisenberg, "Number chasers" fall
into four personality types:
--"Procrastinators" enter their forties and fifties
ensconced in a cloud of avoidance and denial about the
years ahead of them, or simply do not understand investing
in their futures. --"Pluckers" often lazily or
arrogantly pull ephemeral, albeit specific, Numbers from
thin air with little attention to developing a realistic
and coherent plan to achieve their goals. --"Plotters" crunch every practical aspect of their
financial history, hoping to cement their Number in black
and white, even at the expense of not having fun and
leisure. --"Probers" visualize their Numbers not as an end but as
the means to pursuing dreams and passions, and completing
inner and outer journeys to self-fulfillment. * The current "Debt Warp" is the "silent Number
killer that afflicts young and old" that has been brought
on by our "whip-it-out credit-card culture." * The "Lost Years" describes a person's 20s, 30s,
and 40s wherein sensible financial foundation-building bows
to oblivious and careless spending, and the tug-of-war
dichotomy between the "old Rest of Your Life" and the "new
Rest of Your Life." * A surprise "Lifestyle Relapse" attack around
retirement age can be induced by debt, aging, long term
care, and self-absorption. Living longer and spending more,
people will eventually experience dire consequences in
response to the debt-drenched, expense account-driven
lifestyles to which they have grown accustomed. * The six tenets of the "Eisenberg Uncertainty
Principles" outline the dubious state of living in a
carpe diem-addicted, indebted culture with little financial
guidance or responsibility. * "Downshifting" is an important skill one needs
to know how to do in the expanse between leaving a career
and before death in order to maintain financial stability
and a happy life. Eisenberg's book is not an investment guide, but rather
something wholly original: a revealing look behind our most
common financial and emotional conflicts and how we can
begin to get a grip on them. Eisenberg gives each reader a
unique and unprecedented tool with which to virtually craft
his or her future. This encompassing book is a priceless,
step-by-step prelude to initiating, or continuing,
discussions with a qualified financial advisor. The bottom
line for The Number is that Eisenberg offers each
reader a fresh and promising beginning to the rest of his
or her life.
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