'The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life'

By Jesse Kornbluth
Founder, HeadButler.com

In a recent poll, 40 percent of the Americans interviewed said that they had no savings at all. And those Americans are not unusual; only one in four workers over 55 years old has invested assets of more than $100,000. Which isn't to say we're sitting on our hands -- instead of saving and investing, we borrow.

Since 1990 -- just 15 years ago -- household debt in America has zoomed up 80 percent. Our personal debt in this country in 2002 was as much as the gross national product of Russia and Great Britain combined. If you're an average American, that means your credit card debt alone is probably $9,000 or more. (Having fun paying 18 to 21 percent interest on that?)

No wonder boomers fear they'll outlive their money.

Oddly, you worry just as much if you're rich. Researchers report that the more money you make, the gloomier you feel about the longevity of your money. The richest Americans distrust the stock market and keep chunks of their assets in cash. And those 3 million officially "rich" Americans are seriously wealthy; they have as much money as the 100 million at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Yeah, yeah, but let's get down to cases. Or rather, your case: How much money do you need to live?

This is not a question that most people relish. You very much want people to ask, "Where did you get that dress?" or "How did you get that magnificent set of golf clubs?" or "Is it true that your kid is arguing a case before the Supreme Court?" But money is a taboo -- especially when the questions about your money suggest another, even more awkward question: "And will that be enough money for the rest of your life?"

Author Lee Eisenberg, you will be relieved to know, came late to the ultimate question -- the one about "the number" -- which he tackles in The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life (Simon & Schuster, 2006). In his youth, he lived as we all do: getting and spending, seizing the present, and pushing away thoughts of the future. It took decades for him to understand that, yes, he needed a chunk of money if he planned to live to a ripe old age -- and, more to the point, he needed to think about the quality of that life. And so he wondered: "Could it be that the reason we don't plan is because we don't have anything meaningful to plan for?"

Ouch! Unpleasant stuff. Wouldn't you rather that -- instead of a 255-page rumination -- he presented you with a fill-in-the-blanks equation? One where you'd fill in the blanks, do some math, and you'd know?

Eisenberg gives you that formula -- on page 251, the next-to-last page in the text -- and if you want to skip everything else and find your number, be my guest. What will you miss? A bunch of people bloviating about money. Or are they just gassing on? Could it be that they're forcing you to think about your relationship to money? (OK, a hint: When you stop working, you should be prepared to live on 4 percent of your assets per year.)

If it's any consolation, it's not your fault. Many people push investment ideas on you. Few suggest that you save. One who does: Andrew Tobias' "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need," a title that isn't at all hyperbolic.

But, save you must. The rewards of compound interest from savings are better than sex. Well, maybe not, but I surely got your attention there. As Eisenberg notes, "A typical 22-year-old who deposits 6.9 percent of her annual salary in a tax-deferred plan will have close to $1.5 million by the time she reaches retirement age."

That's assuming that our crazy national debt doesn't sink us, and that the stock market doesn't fall off a cliff and stay in a ditch for years, and that your personal needs don't suddenly include unexpected payments of $40,000 a year for your kid's graduate school. That's assuming that you start planning for your dotage when you're young -- or, if not, starting immediately. That's assuming that you're willing to ask tough questions and look the answers squarely in the eye.

"An unexamined life may or may not be worth living," Eisenberg writes, "but it's almost always more costly than an examined one."

Your move.

Jesse Kornbluth is a New York-based journalist and founder of Head Butler.com, a cultural concierge site and free daily e-mail featuring information on new and classic books, movies and music.

Check out Kornbluth's reviews of Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac and The Nick Adams Stories.