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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Social Security and Medicare
What senior citizens need to know in changing times.
How will the economy affect Social Security? How will new legislation affect Medicare? These and many other urgent questions are addressed in the third edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Social Security and Medicare . Completely revised and updated with the latest 2008 statistics by an expert in the field, this guide incorporates the latest information on these important social programs-how they work, how they are changing with the current administration, and what the future holds.
•Completely new chapters on Medicare and the Medicare Drug Programs
•Thoroughly revised resource section
•Completely new chapter on the effects of the current financial climate on benefits
How will the economy affect Social Security? How will new legislation affect Medicare? These and many other urgent questions are addressed in the third edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Social Security and Medicare . Completely revised and updated with the latest 2008 statistics by an expert in the field, this guide incorporates the latest information on these important social programs-how they work, how they are changing with the current administration, and what the future holds.
•Completely new chapters on Medicare and the Medicare Drug Programs
•Thoroughly revised resource section
•Completely new chapter on the effects of the current financial climate on benefits
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 6, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 14, 2012
I've been paying into it all my working life, meaning ever since 1969, and in theory it's going to be a good part of my retirement plan, but when it comes down to it I don't really know all that much about how Social Security works, and even less about Medicare. And when I want to do some rudimentary investigation on a topic, I know I can always turn to the Complete Idiots or the For Dummies books - one, or more likely both, will have something that deals with most topics that I'm likely to want some practical advice on.
From my limited experience with both, I've generally preferred the For Dummies books, but in this case I went with what my local library (which I happen to work at) had in stock - apparently we didn't get the For Dummies book on this topic. Or we had a copy but it went out and never came back, always a problem with books on popular topics - you should see the rip-off rate for books on taking the GED.
So, how did the Complete Idiot's book do? I'd say it covered the material in a workmanlike manner - some parts seemed like a transcription straight from the Social Security Administration's literature, and there didn't seem to be much effort made to make a fairly dry subject more interesting. But then given the subject matter, I don't know how successful that could be anyway. I felt like the basics were covered, but I might have appreciated maybe a little more detai than is given here. The author has included a short section on managing your assets when you're retired but it doesn't really give enough detail to be helpful, beyond her suggestions where to go for more information, and I might have been happier if that space had been used to cover the main topic more in depth.
Nonetheless, the book does a decent job of giving the basic facts. It'll never be anyone's idea of a good read, but then this wouldn't be a topic you'd expect that from.
From my limited experience with both, I've generally preferred the For Dummies books, but in this case I went with what my local library (which I happen to work at) had in stock - apparently we didn't get the For Dummies book on this topic. Or we had a copy but it went out and never came back, always a problem with books on popular topics - you should see the rip-off rate for books on taking the GED.
So, how did the Complete Idiot's book do? I'd say it covered the material in a workmanlike manner - some parts seemed like a transcription straight from the Social Security Administration's literature, and there didn't seem to be much effort made to make a fairly dry subject more interesting. But then given the subject matter, I don't know how successful that could be anyway. I felt like the basics were covered, but I might have appreciated maybe a little more detai than is given here. The author has included a short section on managing your assets when you're retired but it doesn't really give enough detail to be helpful, beyond her suggestions where to go for more information, and I might have been happier if that space had been used to cover the main topic more in depth.
Nonetheless, the book does a decent job of giving the basic facts. It'll never be anyone's idea of a good read, but then this wouldn't be a topic you'd expect that from.
May 15, 2014
UGH - gotta read this so I can be informed! NOT FUN!! Necessary though! I want to retire asap!! So I'm not reading this - hopefully they'll have classes on this when I'm ready to take retirement - BORING info - not sure how current this info is either!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews