The Bucket Plan®: Protecting and Growing Your Assets for a Worry-Free Retirement

by Jason L. Smith

Worry less. Plan more.

Do you want a secure retirement, free from worry, stress, and confusion? The Bucket Plan is a must-read book for anyone serious about creating a practical and sensible financial plan for his or her retirement years.  The financial planning process outlined in this book is based on a three-bucket philosophy of strategically positioning assets to plan for and mitigate the risks and dangers that can occur in retirement. 

Readers will learn:
• The three biggest dangers for your financial future and how The Bucket Plan helps protect from them
• How to find, assess, catalog, and position assets
• A surefire way to avoid taking on too much investment risk on money you may need in the near future
• Much, much more
​
When readers strategically allocate their money using Jason Smith’s three-bucket philosophy, they can create a plan that mitigates risk and offers an opportunity for growth into the future, allowing them to feel more secure about retirement.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Self Help

160 pages, Hardcover

Published August 29, 2017

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I won this book through goodreads, I was afraid it might turn out to be a sales pitch for some sort of investment. It is not. The book is accessible to those without a lot of financial knowledge and really does a good job of living up to its title. I am retired and believe I have a decent financial plan for myself. Even though I have planned for retirement for many years and have made a point of not having all my eggs in one basket, Jason Smith alerted me to several possible problems, mostly around inheritance. I will be reviewing vesting on everything I own.

[Maryalene · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a freelance personal finance writer, I have interviewed Jason Smith in the past for some of my articles and received a complimentary copy of The Bucket Plan.

This is a tough one to review because I think the content is, without a doubt, five stars. However, the style and readability come in at one star for me.

First, the content: While I have seen some people say the book offers nothing new, I have interviewed literally hundreds of financial planners over the years on retirement topics and only a handful has espoused anything similar. So I do think Smith can claim to have a unique method of planning.

I loved that this book included a discussion of sequence of returns risk which is something that seems to be missing, or glossed over, in many personal finance books. I also appreciated all the charts and examples provided throughout the book. Those made it simple to see how to put the plan into practice.

Now, as for the style...the book is written so that it takes you through The Bucket Plan process with two of Smith's real-life clients, Jerry and Irene. The vast majority of chapters are written as conversations between Smith, Jerry and Irene. I'm assuming these conversations were recreated as they don't sound natural. Chapter Two, which outlines the basics of The Bucket Plan, was particularly difficult as it was 30 pages of straight dialogue.

While I appreciate what Smith was trying to do here -- create a relatable example of the plan in action -- I think the book would have been much more readable if it had been written in an informational style with client anecdotes sprinkled in. I love the first chapter which was written in a voice speaking directly to readers. However, I got bogged down once the narrative switched to conversations with Jerry and Irene.

My only other quibble with this book is that it would have been nice to have more discussion about how to set up your buckets (i.e. is a regular savings account the right place for the now bucket, does the soon bucket need to be a completely separate account from the later bucket, etc.). I also wish there were printable sheets available for those who want to DIY their own plan, but I can understand that the author would probably rather have readers use a financial planner.

Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone doing retirement planning -- especially those age 55+ -- I think the content is top-notch even though the style was not to my liking.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a First Read. It's an eye opening book that will strike fear into you and spur you to prepare for retirement. The book makes excellent points about not just looking at annual rates of return for investments but realizing how timing, distributions, and sequence of withdrawals affects the ending balance of investments. The book emphasizes the importance of having Now, Soon, and Later buckets to have adequate funds for immediate expenses while hedging against inflation and market volatility. The charts and illustrations were very helpful. The discussion of beneficiaries, probate, and life insurance was also very useful. I think the one thing that would've made this book better would be to categorize the different types of investments into buckets to help people evaluate their options and plan their investments.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Focus on what you want, when you want it, and plan to achieve it are the overarching goals for this book on planning for retirement. The content has the usual look at assets, expenditures, and making sure partners understand their financial position. Six sections cover the money cycle, Bucket Plan™ philosophy, asset questionnaire, income cap assessment, volatility tolerance, and design the Bucket Plan™. He provides several examples and worksheets. A majority of the statistics quoted throughout the book do not have sources or calculation parameters. There is no index or bibliography.

I was randomly chosen through a Goodreads Giveaway to receive this book free from the publisher. Although encouraged, I was under no obligation to write a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received The Bucket Plan by Jason Smith from Goodreads Giveaways.

The Bucket Plan can be used by anyone. Very helpful with great ideas. This book is not a sales pitch.

The Bucket Plan consists of 3 buckets. They are now, soon, and later. Follow the money cycle of accumulation, preservation, and distribution. This book will help you be ready for planned and unplanned expenses throughout your life. You will learn how to create an Asset Sheet. Then you will answer the questions for the Income Gap Assessment and the Volatility Tolerance Assessment. Now you can design your Bucket Plan.

I recommend this book to anyone that wants to improve their financial health.

[Robert Wallace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think if you have zero understanding of what a budget is or don't know a thing about investing, then this book is ok. Still, it's chapter after chapter of teasing about telling you about something that he finally gets to in the last chapter or two. It's really a long conversation that has little value or practicality. In the end, he directs you to contact one of the Bucket advisors to assist you in your retirement planning. That is, the book doesn't really give you any specific guidelines or details.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one. Love to read economics finance and anything money guiding in nature. It starts off strong but the telling is tedious and eventually reader figures out this guy has nothing new or special to offer. I did read every word though! (kept hoping the magic would spring upon the page).

[Bill Boehner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book be mostly a marketing device for his approach to managing retirement funds. It is a bit self serving. He sets up stress scenarios that his methodology addresses. Some of it is common sense. Some of it is basic. Nothing earth shattering here. His way is better and different from everyone else’s. It’s not really.

[Rick Overholt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains the bucket system quite well

Great examples of why we need a bucket system, and how much to allocate for each bucket. I already had bought into that concept, and was looking for info on WHERE to invest the buckets - particularly the NOW bucket. How does one find a non- volatile return that beats inflation in 2021?

[John Maddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. I thought it was a little redundant at first but remembered the book is catered towards someone who may know nothing of finance. Makes it very easy to understand and the image evidence to back up some of the purposes of the bucket plan are picked perfectly. Written as a conversation between advisor and client which makes it super easy to follow, keeps the reader engaged.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource. This short, engaging, easy to understand little book is geared for the soon to be or newly retired, yet the information and planning strategies are great financial education tools for all ages. One of the best financial planning resources I've run across.

[Faith Chenesai · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opening book that helps to prepare for retirement by putting money in different buckets. It would have been good to see how Jerry and Irene’s Soon and Later buckets were invested, even though it was tailored to their needs.

[Trudy Nye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason L. Smith provides a good place to start thinking about financial planning for retirement. It may be too basic for some, but probably not for most. Ed Slott, who wrote a foreword for this book, is a good author to read for further information.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is 3.5. Informative content. Got this book at a workshop for how to minimize taxes in retirement. The author provided a case study and offered clear and concise explanations. Also there were various forms for personal use.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Informative tips. will give it to my son to read. he is 25 and in the united states air force.

[Mary Sterk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a clear path towards a strong retirement plan. A great read for anyone approaching or already into retirement.

[Amanda Crumley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received The Bucket Plan by Jason Smith from Goodreads Giveaways. Great book, Will read over amd over with my husband for our retirement plans !!

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smith's plan for having ample money in three buckets is logical and well-explained.

[Edwin Pang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic approach to financial planning that offers you a starting point to delve deeper into retirement planning.

[Anthony Orso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great content, solid arguments and good planning tools. I did not care for the style of writing and wish it spoke to the specific investment vehicles that could be used with each bucket.

[Ed Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple plan to prepare for retirement

This book helps to clarify and categorize your financial health and goals, providing a concrete system to use in planning.

[L · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somewhere between a fairy tale and a sales pitch.

[Alexander Gil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book on how to put your assets in order so they you can retire well.

I love the three buckets approach.

The money cycle made complete sense and change my approach to what I’m doing.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read on how to handle your money in retirement.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concepts. Data now out of date - but the fundamentals still apply.

[Michael A]

Great strategy to consider. I already use something similar with my clients.

[Erik Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The central ideas of the book I give five stars. The easy-to-do exercises for determining net worth and income-replacement needs, for instance, were extremely helpful in making retirement planning concrete.

The style of the writing I give two stars. The conceit that the whole book is a conversation with two clients is odd, and its execution is distractingly cringey in its awkwardness.

The editing is also very loose. The word count could be reduced by a third without any harm to the finished product.

Nevertheless, it’s an easy book to breeze through and pick up some important and useful concepts.

[CJ Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is for investors with little or no experience with retirement planning.
For me, a little too generic. I was looking for more investment information, such as, which types of investments fall into each of the buckets. Or how to determine which types of investments fall into the buckets.