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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money
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Category: Money Management

Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money by Robert K. Heady, Christy Heady

You're no idiot, of course. You know how to plan a budget, calculate your savings, and even do a straightforward 1040 tax return. But when it comes to taking full control of your finances, your confusion starts compounding. Don't lose interest yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money, Second Edition gives you the most up-tp-date information you need to make sense of today's confusing monetary environment. You'll learn everything you need to know to make a sensible financial plan and make your money work for you. In this completely revised and updated edition of the best-selling Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

Table of Contents

Part 1 Getting the Most for Your Money 1
1 Grab Good Financial Planning by the Tail 3
Recognize That Time Is Money 4
Why Put Off Today What You Can Do Tomorrow? 5
Ignore the Statistics and Stick to Your Plan 6
Excuuuuse Me! 7
Okay, Here's the Money Part 7
2 Managing the Debt Monster 9
Determining If You Are in Debt Trouble 10
Measuring Your Financial Health 10
Developing a Budget 11
Adding Up the Pluses and Minuses 13
Understanding Why Sticking to the Minimum Can Hurt 16
Controlling Your Debt Once and for All 17
Using Your Savings 18
Getting Outside Help 19
Battling Debt's Biggest Culprit 19
Becoming a Debt-Buster 20
Filing for B-A-N-K-R-U-P-T-C-Y 20
3 Creating Easy-to-Follow Shopping Habits 23
What Supermarkets Don't Tell You 24
Smart Shopping 101 24
10 Ways Not to Spend Money ... Starting Today 26
The Online Shopping Experience 27
Fiber-Optic Wars 27
Flying the Friendly Skies on the Cheap 29
4 Everyday Money Language You Should Know 31
Watch Those Conflicting Reports! 32
Watch the Rates: They're the Big Clue! 32
Know Where to Go for All the Good Stuff 34
Learn How to Understand the Mumbo Jumbo 38
Determine What Kind of Investor You Are 39
Ask the Right Questions--Get the Right Answers! 42
Part 2 Why You Need Wall Street 45
5 Secrets to Simple Investment Strategies 47
Creating Your Investment Profile 48
Knowing the Pluses and Minuses of Taking the Plunge 49
Investing in Stocks: A Crash Course 51
My Name Is Bond 55
Getting Started with Mutual Funds 58
6 So Who Really Wants to Be a Millionaire? 63
Learn to Be Selfish 64
Establish Your New Routine 64
You Better Shop Around 66
It Doesn't Hurt to Have Some Exposure Across the Big Blue 66
Don't Just Buy--Diversify! 67
Reduce Your Exposure to Uncle Sam 68
Build a Portfolio of Mutual Funds 68
Consider DRIPs 69
Use a Discount Broker If You Don't Need the Full Service 70
Know When to Sell Your Investments 70
Part 3 The ABCs of Really Smart Banking 71
7 Top Money-Making Secrets Your Friendly Banker Won't Tell You 73
How Banks Stay in the Black 74
How Banks Work the Rates 77
Loan Rates That Jump in the Night 80
How Fee Robbery Got Its Start 81
A Buck Here, a Buck There ... but Wow, It Adds Up! 82
How Check-Cashing Outfits Rob You Blind 85
The Bigger They Are, the Worse It Gets 85
How Bad Can It Get? Really Bad! 86
How You Can Negotiate 87
8 Interest Rates 101 89
Understanding How Banks Are Cashing In on Your Ignorance 90
Learning the Rate Basics and the Lingo 90
Knowing How Banks Create (and Play with) Their Numbers 93
Understanding How Banks Brew Up Their Rates 94
9 How to Get the Best Deal on a Checking Account 101
Checking Account Basics 102
Dropping Interest Rates: How Low Can They Go? 105
Identifying What Kind of Checking Creature You Are 110
Understanding Fees: You'd Better Shop Around 112
Avoiding the Trap: There's No Such Thing As a Free Checking Account 113
A Savings Tip That Might Not Save You Anything 118
Protecting Yourself Against Forgery 119
10 Investing Safely with Uncle Sam 121
Two Choices: Your Money's Safe or It Isn't 122
He Who Laughs Last 122
You Shouldn't Overdo the Safety Angle 123
Uncle Sam Is As Solid As the Rock of Gibraltar 123
Treasury Money Funds Are an Option 126
Any Savings Bonds Today? 127
"I" Is for "Inflation" 129
FDIC Protects Your Bank Deposits up to $100 Grand 130
How to Beat the $100,000 Insurance Limit 131
How Much Money Can You Afford to Lose? 132
How Long Can You Be Without the Money? 133
So Really ... How Safe Are Banks? 133
11 Savings and CD Accounts: Beating the Averages 135
Understanding Savings Account Basics 136
Shopping for Savings Accounts 137
Knowing Where the Money Is--In a 2 Percent Rut 141
12 Why Credit Unions May Be the Best Place to Park Your Money 145
How Credit Unions Work 146
How to Join a CU--It's Easy! 146
How CUs Beat the Banks' Rates 148
Credit Unions Also Offer $100,000 Insurance Protection 148
Part 4 Credit and Loans--Borrowing Money When You Need It 151
13 How Strong Is Your Credit Rating? 153
Big Brother Is Watching You 154
Getting Your Credit Score 154
Making the Biggest Mistake of All: Not Starting Early 160
Learning the Three Cs Are Just an Old-Fashioned Pipe Dream 165
Determining If You're Good, Bad, or Gray 165
Boosting Your Chances of Getting Approved 167
How Credit Inquiries Can Haunt You 168
Guarding Against Mix-Ups 168
Protecting Yourself from Fraud 170
Helping Hands 170
Maintaining Good Credit 171
Knowing Other Ways to Strengthen Your Credit 172
14 The Right Credit Card for You 173
Credit Cards: Personal Debt Enemy #1 174
Credit Cards: Just Try Not Having One 175
Credit Cards: Different Types 177
Ouch: Those Fees Hurt! 185
The Biggest Secret of All: Watch Your Habits! 187
15 To Lease or Not to Lease 189
Knowing the Biggest Rip-Offs 190
Determining If You Should Buy or Lease 193
Used Cars: Buying Right and Selling Right 197
Getting the Best Financing 200
16 Mortgage Shopping: Let's Make a Deal 205
Learning the ABCs of How Mortgages Work 206
Calculating What It's Gonna Cost 214
Finding the Cheapest Mortgage the Quick, Easy Way 217
Determining Who Lends the Money 220
Paying Through the Nose in the Early Years 224
Paying Faster May Not Pay 224
Identifying the Right Time to Refinance--You Could Save Thousands of $$$$$ 225
Cracking Down on "PMI" 226
Putting the Tax Savings in Your Pocket 226
The Point Is, Points Add Up! 227
With Reverse Mortgages, the House Is Paying You! 228
17 How You Can Win--Or Lose--With Home Equity Borrowing 231
Home Equity in a Nutshell: Your Nest Egg Is on the Line 232
Why Banks Love Home Equity Loans 233
Pros and Cons of Home Equity Loans 238
Home Equity Scam Operators 240
18 Protect Your Credit--And Your Privacy--Before It's Too Late! 243
Identity Theft Is on the Rise 244
Your Money and Your Life 244
Everything Is up for Grabs or for Sale--You Name It 244
Isn't Somebody Doing Something to Protect You? 245
Your Social Security Number--The Heartbeat of Your Privacy 245
How to Say "No" Politely 246
Identity Theft Is Everywhere 247
What to Do If You've Already Been Victimized 248
Part 5 Getting a Handle on Your Paycheck 253
19 You, Your Employer, and Your Paycheck 255
The Pink Slip Arrives 256
How to Get More Out of Your Paycheck 257
A Great Employee Benefit 258
The Fabulous 401(k) 260
20 How Much Do You Really Know About Your 401(k)? 265
401(k) Is the Way to Play 266
The Inside Goods 266
Read the Fine Print 267
Go for the Gusto 270
Avoid These Mistakes 272
Part 6 Taking Care of You and Your Financial Future 275
21 Getting the Right Insurance Coverage for Your Needs 277
Making Sense of Insurance Mumbo-Jumbo 278
Insuring Home Sweet Home 279
Understanding Car Coverage 283
Knowing the Do's and Don'ts of Buying Life Insurance 285
Insuring Your Paycheck 292
Identifying Some Insurance Products You Don't Need 294
22 Tackling Your Taxes 297
The Latest Changes 298
The Most Common Tax Mistakes 298
How to Find a Tax Pro 304
23 Retiring R-I-C-H! 309
Why It Pays to Sock Money Away 310
Why We Avoid Thinking About Tomorrow 310
Retirement Accounts Explained in Simple English 313
Pension and IRA Changes 316
Another Way to Save for Retirement 316
What to Do Now That You're Retired 318
The Early Bird Gets 319
Count on You! 321
A Final Word 321
Index 323

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