About
Updated October 2026
Retirement In Order publishes books and fill-in organizers for four situations: aging solo, caring for a parent, money and divorce, and planning for the end of life. All 12 books are written under the pen name M. E. Hart and sold on our own store.
Who's behind it
Why this exists
Most retirement advice is written for a married couple with a financial advisor. We write for the people that picture leaves out.
Aging solo. With no spouse or nearby children, there's no default person. If you can't make your own medical decisions and haven't named anyone in writing, a court may have to appoint someone. The solo books cover who to name and how to ask them, long-term care with no one to arrange it, and health coverage between your last paycheck and Medicare.
Caring for a parent. Your parent's bank, insurer and doctor's office usually won't talk to you until your parent signs a form saying they can. The caregiving books start there: which forms, in what order, while your parent can still sign them. They also cover what caregiving costs your own paycheck and Social Security.
Money and divorce. If your marriage lasted 10 years or more, you may be able to collect Social Security on your ex-husband's record, and it doesn't reduce his check. That rule is in our books, along with the accounts he handled that you never saw and how to catch up on savings when you're starting late.
Planning for the end of life. A will says who inherits. It never says which bank, which drawer, or where the passwords are kept. The end-of-life planner is that list, filled in by you, so nobody has to rebuild it from memory.
What we believe
Retirement should feel like a beginning, not a pile of paperwork. Get the practical part written down, for yourself now and for whoever has to find it later, and the rest of these years are yours.
How we approach it
Official terms get translated the first time they show up. “Initial Enrollment Period” becomes the seven months around your 65th birthday when you can sign up for Medicare.
The organizers are forms you fill in: names, phone numbers, where the paper is kept. The articles answer their question in the first paragraph and put the detail after it.
The organizers record where things are and who to call, never passwords, PINs, or full account numbers. A lost copy doesn't hand anyone a login.
Dollar figures carry their year. When Medicare, Social Security, or the IRS publishes new numbers, the articles get checked against them again.
Our editorial standards
Miss a Medicare deadline and the Part B late penalty, for most people, lasts for life. That's the cost of a wrong date on these topics, and it's the standard we write to.
Buying from us
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