Planning for retirement is complex and challenging. My guest today, Rodney Brooks, shares his insights on retirement and we discuss his new book Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap: Racism & Discrimination Put Us Here, But This is How We Save Future Generations on the challenges African Americans face in retirement planning.

We discuss:

How he first become interested in writing about personal finance and retirement

After writing about retirement, how his life in "retirement" is going

What likely surprises people should be prepared for in retirement

The benefits of working longer

What regrets people have shared with him about their retirements

His new book Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap: Racism & Discrimination Put Us Here, But This is How We Save Future Generations

The size and scope of the wealth gap and the health gap

The unique challenges African Americans face in planning for retirement – and Black women in particular

His views on the most important things people need to do to plan for a successful retirement

How people can learn more

Rodney Brooks joins us from Maryland.

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Bio

Rodney Brooks is a veteran journalist, writer and author specializing in  retirement planning and other personal finance issues.  He’s written for many national publications, including USA TODAY and The Washington Post, His columns currently run in U.S. News & World Report and AARP’s Senior Planet. Brooks is a contributor for National Geographic, Next Avenue, and many others. He has also written about professional athletes and their finances for the Undefeated, an ESPN website.

He is author of the book Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap:what has put us here, but how we can save future generations.

He is co-author of Retirement Planning Essentials: A Guide to Living Well Without Running out of Money. He is also the author of Is One Million Dollars Enough: A Guide to Planning for and Living Through a Successful Retirement..

Prior to retiring in 2015 after 30 years, Brooks was Deputy Managing Editor for Personal Finance and retirement columnist for USA TODAY, where he coordinated all personal finance on all platforms for USA TODAY.

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For More on Rodney Brooks

Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap:what has put us here, but how we can save future generations.

Website: rodneyabrooks.com

Cornell Alumni profile

Follow on Twitter @Perfiguy

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Wise Quotes

On Retirement Today

"I don't really consider myself retired because retirement has changed and retired people people do many things in retirement. They don't sit home or watch westerns on TV like our daddies did. People keep busy and that's hard for a lot of people. My son-in-law asked: So, when are you really gonna retire?  I said I don't really anticipate it because what would I do."

"People aren't really prepared for figuring out what to do, if they don't have things planned out yet. I had a friend,  a good friend, who called me up and said Rodney, there's nothing to do! Well, think about that before you retire. I always tell people make sure you have a plan for how you're going to spend your time. If you're not going to work, have a plan to do something. Volunteer. You'll get real tired if you play golf every day or do all those home projects you thought you would get to [one day]. You'll run through those, but get bored really quickly."

On the Health Gap

"African Americans suffer disproportionately from 8 of the top 13 leading causes of death in the United States,  for a bunch of reasons. Black Americans have higher rates of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes,