The 7 Best Retirement Books

Do a casual search of synonyms for “retirement,” and one of the top matches you’ll find is “withdrawal.” On one side of the coin, this may lead many down a rabbit hole of searching “What is the best withdrawal rate in retirement?” (Psst, we have an answer for that.) Or “How much can I spend in retirement?”

On the other, this may lead many down a more existential road, and most simply put: What do I want (or need) from my retirement?

“We need better pathways to purpose for people in this stage of life, and it’s going to require investment,” says Marc Freedman, co-CEO and founder of CoGenerate. The author of How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations talked about this, and the importance of purpose later in life, during his interview on The Long View podcast.

The answers to these questions and the potential paths to take will be different for everyone. To find the best retirement books to help anyone get started, I reached out to Morningstar writers and reviewed titles from recent guests on The Long View.

The 7 Best Retirement Books

1. Retirement Planning Guidebook: Navigating the Important Decisions for Retirement Success by Wade Pfau

Investors, start here.

Pfau’s guidebook makes preparing for retirement less daunting, with chapters dedicated to the major decisions that come with this life stage, such as:

• Personal retirement income style
• Medicare options and Social Security benefits
• Tax management
• Long-term-care risk

And more.

2. Can I Retire?: How Much Money You Need to Retire and How to Manage Your Retirement Savings, Explained in 100 Pages or Less by Mike Piper

Cut the jargon, keep it simple, and pick up this short read from personal finance author Piper to get the answers to some of the most essential retirement questions about annuities, Roth IRA conversions, taxes, and more.

3. Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track by Mark Miller

One of the biggest worries looming over the heads of preretirees boils down to four words: Do I have enough? Miller’s book guides the reader through the biggest questions, decisions, and topics of retirement planning: timing, Social Security, Medicare, savings, and home equity. Readers can put these pages into practice, even if they’re only a few years away from their retirement, to improve their situations (and peace of mind). If you want more tips from Miller, he contributes regularly to Morningstar.com.

4. Keys to a Successful Retirement: Staying Happy, Active, and Productive in Your Retired Years by Fritz Gilbert

Another question in the back of many preretirees’ heads: What will I do with all the free time? Gilbert’s book meshes personal finance with personal life advice to emphasize how retirement can lead retirees to newfound freedom by embracing their mental health as much as their financial health.

5. More Than Enough: A Brief Guide to the Questions That Arise After Realizing You Have More Than You Need by Mike Piper

Piper’s book answers retirement questions for the super-savers who “have not only saved ‘enough,’ they have saved ‘more than enough.’ ” This introduces another set of financial and nonfinancial considerations, including charitable donations and estate planning.

6. Spend ‘Til the End: Raising Your Living Standard in Today’s Economy and When You Retire by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns

Kotlikoff and Burns go beyond the “rules of thumb”—or rather, “rules of dumb”—to show readers how to spend and enjoy their money in the present while also saving up for the future. The book also includes advice about career planning, finding the right place to live, and the basics of investing.

7. The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America’s Economic Future by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns

How can a generation avoid financial crisis? First: Don’t panic. Second: Join this duo as they explore the future of Social Security and Medicare, proposing their own solutions and policies to improve these programs for the next generation, coupled with individual strategies for investors.