You must be aware of the value, potential return and risk of your human capital: your job, career and what you do for a living. Human capital is the most valuable asset that you will own over your lifecycle. You need to balance financial decisions with the characteristics of your human capital. The key trends identified in the first edition of the book namely, the decline of Defined Benefit (DB) pension provision, the continued increase in human longevity and the risk of personal inflation, are as relevant today as they were five years ago. The financial crisis has taught us that all types of capital -- human, financial and even social -- are key to a secure financial future. If your career has "stock-like" growth and risk characteristics, Milevsky helps you balance your "portfolio" by tilting investments towards safer "bonds." If your job is more secure but offers lower financial upside, you'll learn to tilt your investments towards stocks that compensate for your lower earning potential. Either way, Milevsky shows you how to integrate investments, insurance, annuities, and retirement plans to generate the safe and reliable income you'll need.
This Edition's updates include:
- New 2012 data, charts, figures, and references
- More coverage of incorporating "human capital" into financial planning
- Advice reflecting the aftermath of the financial crisis
- Easier, more usable techniques, and less math!
Praise for the First Edition of Are You a Stock or a Bond?“Milevsky offers an original and clear re-thinking of the most fundamental concept in one’s financial lifetime: the management of risk, in all of its not-so-obvious dimensions.”
—Nick Murray, Author,
Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth
“This book is another example of Milevsky’s ability to make the complex understandable...an excellent primer—for both advisors and their clients alike—on the ‘How Tos’ of effective retirement income planning.”
—Jim Rogers, CFP, 2008 President, The Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)
“In this new book, the author presents a holistic framework for investors and advisors to think about critical issues that impact investment decisions, such as human capital, mortality risk, and longevity risk. But even more importantly, Milevsky presents practical solutions that we can all follow to achieve financial security throughout our lives. This book is a must read for everyone in the financial services industry.”
—Peng Chen, CFA, Ibbotson Associates
“This is an extremely timely and valuable book. Our financial lives have never been more complex, and the challenges for many are daunting. Milevsky provides a new perspective that can really help people make better financial decisions and attain a greater level of financial security.”
—Matt Greenwald, President, Mathew Greenwald & Associates
“The author has written an instant classic that will help people become better educated retirement customers and also help financial advisors improve their professional skills.”
— Francois Gadenne, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA)
“Milevsky delivers one of the best books to date on personal financial planning—a refreshing blend of content, conceptual correctness, and clarity. Buy it. Read it. Do it.”
— Richard M. Ennis, Chairman, Ennis Knupp & Associates; Editor, Financial Analysts Journal
The most valuable asset you’ll ever own is your human capital. Understanding this is the secret to building a more secure financial future, a safer retirement income, and a more rewarding economic life.
In this book, Moshe Milevsky, Ph.D., inspires you to identify and helps you quantify your human capital, take advantage of it, and incorporate it in every financial planning decision you make.
First, you’ll learn how to think about the long-term financial and risk attributes associated with your career path—and balance your financial capital and human capital to maximize overall returns and minimize overall risks. Next, you’ll learn how to integrate investments, insurance, annuities, and retirement plans to generate the safe and reliable income you’ll need.
Fully updated to reflect the newest data in today’s difficult, uncertain markets, Are You a Stock or a Bond? will help you plan toward generating a lifetime of income that you can’t outlive.
Master smarter, more effective ways to diversify and allocate assets Diversify and manage risk over space and time, and adopt the new tools of product allocation
Avoid financial blunders millions of people make every year Invest holistically, for the long term, with clarity and objectivity
Build your own rock-solid personal pension Give yourself monthly income you can rely on, even if you live to 120
Understand which risks to hold and which to hedgeMake smarter bets about investments, inflation, and your own personal longevity
