Your Money - The Missing Manual

Keeping your financial house in order is more important than ever. But how do you deal with expenses, debt, taxes, and retirement without getting overwhelmed? This book points the way. It's filled with the kind of practical guidance and sound insights that makes J.D. Roth's GetRichSlowly.org a critically acclaimed source of personal-finance advice.

You won't find any get-rich-quick schemes here, just sensible advice for getting the most from your money. Even if you have perfect credit and no debt, you'll learn ways to make your rosy financial situation even better.
* Get the info you need to make sensible decisions on saving, spending, and investing
* Learn the best ways to set and achieve financial goals
* Set up a realistic budget framework and learn how to track expenses
* Discover proven methods to help you eliminate debt
* Understand how to use credit wisely
* Win big by making smart decisions on your home and other big-ticket items
* Learn how to get the most from your investments by avoiding rash decisions
* Decide how -- and how much -- to save for retirement

List of contents

The Missing Credits;
About the Author;
About the Creative Team;
Acknowledgements;
Introduction;
About This Book;
Part I: Blueprint for Financial Prosperity;
Chapter 1: It's More Important to Be Happy Than to Be Rich;
1.1 How Money Affects Happiness;
1.2 It's Not About the Money;
Chapter 2: The Road to Wealth Is Paved with Goals;
2.1 The Road to Success;
2.2 Tools and Resources to Help You Achieve Your Goals;
2.3 Coping with Mistakes and Setbacks;
Chapter 3: "Budget" Is Not a Four-Letter Word;
3.1 Mapping Your Financial Future;
3.2 Building a Budget That Works;
3.3 Sticking to a Budget;
3.4 Automating Your Budget;
3.5 Why Budgets Fail;
Chapter 4: Defeating Debt;
4.1 The Power of Positive Cash Flow;
4.2 The Basics of Debt Reduction;
4.3 Curbing Compulsive Spending;
4.4 Start Now;
Part II: Laying the Foundation;
Chapter 5: The Magic of Thinking Small;
5.1 Why Frugality Matters;
5.2 Frugal Tactics Anyone Can Use;
5.3 The Tyranny of Stuff;
5.4 Leading a Rich Life on a Budget;
Chapter 6: How to Make More Money;
6.1 Working for Others;
6.2 Working for Yourself;
6.3 Other Ways to Make Money;
6.4 A Pep Talk;
Chapter 7: Banking for Fun and Profit;
7.1 Choosing a Bank;
7.2 Finding Accounts That Meet Your Needs;
7.3 Making the Most of Your Accounts;
Chapter 8: Using Credit Wisely;
8.1 Credit Cards;
8.2 Your Credit Report;
8.3 Your Credit Score;
8.4 Final Thoughts on Credit;
Chapter 9: Sweating the Big Stuff;
9.1 Counting the Dollars;
9.2 Buying a Car;
9.3 Finding Deals on Vacation and Travel;
9.4 Cash Is King;
Chapter 10: House and Home;
10.1 The Eternal Question: Rent or Buy?;
10.2 Buying a Home;
10.3 Owning a Home;
Chapter 11: Death and Taxes;
11.1 An Introduction to Insurance;
11.2 What You Need to Know About Taxes;
11.3 A Brief Overview of Estate Planning;
Part III: Building a Rich Life;
Chapter 12: An Intro to Personal Investing;
12.1 Why Invest?;
12.2 The Tools of Investing;
12.3 Being on Your Best Behavior;
12.4 Common-Sense Investing;
Chapter 13: Retirement: The Final Frontier;
13.1 What Will Retirement Look Like?;
13.2 Figuring Out How Much to Save;
13.3 Why You Should Start Saving Today;
13.4 A Brief Guide to Retirement Accounts;
13.5 Early Retirement and Other Dreams;
13.6 The Final Frontier;
Chapter 14: Friends and Family;
14.1 Financial Blueprints;
14.2 Friends with Money;
14.3 Love and Money;
14.4 Church, Charity, and Community;
14.5 True Wealth;

About the author

J.D. Roth is an accidental personal-finance expert--a regular guy who found himself deep in debt. After deciding to turn his life around, he read everything he could about money and finance. In 2006, he started the award-winning website Get Rich Slowly, which Money Magazine named the Web's most inspiring personal-finance blog. Over the past four years, Get Rich Slowly has grown into an active community where thousands of readers a month share ideas on how to improve their financial lives. J.D. lives with his wife and four cats in a hundred-year-old house in Portland, Oregon.

Summary

Offers practical tips advice for getting - and keeping - your finances in order. This title covers the various money-management bases, from saving and spending to getting out of debt to investing and planning for retirement. It helps you learn about several useful websites that can help you manage your money.

Product details

• Authors: J D Roth, J. D. Roth, J.D. Roth, Jd Roth
• Publisher: O'Reilly
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.04.2010
• EAN: 9780596809409
• ISBN: 978-0-596-80940-9
• Dimensions: 145 mm x 215 mm x 15 mm
• Weight: 238 g
• Series: The Missing Manual
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance / General, Personal finance