CHAPTER ONE
The New Rules of Retirement Saving
“Invest in the future because that is where you are going to spend the rest of your life.” ~ Habeeb Akande
I
did it wrong. That’s not easy for a person like me to admit. I’m an actuary. And actuaries are mathematical experts at managing risk. Yet I was blind to some of the biggest financial risks I’d ever face. There’s a good chance you’re doing it wrong, too. This book is an attempt to fix that. What is the “it” I’m referencing? Saving for your future. I know. Not the sexiest topic (except to actuaries like me). But it may be the most important thing you change this year. So what did I do wrong? I saved for the future in the wrong way. It wasn’t my fault. Not completely, anyway. I had a lot of people — experts among them — encouraging me to save this way. Now, at age sixty-five, I can see the tremendous mistakes I made. Here’s how I got into this predicament. I graduated from Purdue University in 1972 with a degree in mathematics and physics. I was so eager to start my first job that I
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