Kiplinger's practical guide to your money Keep more of it, make it grow, enjoy it, protect it, pass it on
Book - 2008
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
New York, NY :
Kaplan Pub
c2008.
- Language
- English
- Edition
- 4th ed
- Physical Description
- xiv, 573 p. ; 23 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes index.
- ISBN
- 9781427797285
- Introduction
- Part 1. Take Charge of Your Money
- Chapter 1. First, Take Charge of Your Money
- Where Are You Now?
- Your Cash Flow
- Your Net Worth
- Why You Must Set Goals
- Nitty-Gritty Budgeting
- Plugging the Holes in Your Budget
- A Budget for Today and Tomorrow
- Chapter 2. How to Boost Your Savings
- Certificates of Deposit
- Interest-Earning Checking Accounts
- Money-Market Deposit Accounts
- Money-Market Funds
- Asset-Management Accounts
- Chapter 3. The Smart Use (and Common Abuse) of Credit
- How to Get Out of Debt
- Finding the Best Credit Deals
- Credit a la Card: Finding the Best Credit Card Deal, Travel and Entertainment Cards, Debit Cards
- Other Lines of Instant Credit: Overdraft Protection, Credit Card Cash Advances, Retail Installment Credit
- Borrowing with Collateral: Equity in Your Home, Life Insurance Policies, Stocks and Bonds
- Other Kinds of Loans: Unsecured Personal Loans, Debt-Consolidation Loans
- How Lenders Size You Up
- If You Are Denied Credit: What to Do
- Other Laws that Protect Your Rights: The Truth in Lending Act, The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, The Fair Credit Billing Act
- Chapter 4. Banking Today
- Sizing Up Banks and S&Ls
- Banking Online
- Sizing Up Credit Unions
- Sizing Up Brokerage Firms
- Part 2. Your Home
- Chapter 5. Buying a Home
- Three Reasons to Own
- How Much Can You Afford?
- What Kind of Home Should You Buy?
- Starting from Scratch
- Buying a Condo or Co-op
- How to Get Your Money's Worth from a Real Estate Agent
- Get a Home Inspection
- Chapter 6. How to Be a Mortgage Maven
- What It Takes to Get a Mortgage
- Loan Lingo: Interest and Points
- Loan Lingo: The Different Kinds of Mortgages
- Serious Mortgage Shopping
- How Much Will the Payments Be?
- Creative Financing for Difficult Markets
- Should You Refinance Your Mortgage?
- Chapter 7. Selling Your Home
- Hiring a Real Estate Agent
- How to List Your Home
- Selling without an Agent
- Tax Angles for Home Sellers
- Chapter 8. Rent to Your Heart's Content
- A Lease You Can Live With
- Get Renters Insurance
- When the Landlord Won't Fix It
- Chapter 9. Owning a Vacation Home
- Buying the Place
- Renting It Out
- Should You Buy a Timeshare?
- Selling a Timeshare (Alas!)
- Chapter 10. Homeowners Insurance
- Coverage for the House and Contents
- Liability Coverage
- How Policies Differ
- Finding the Best Deal
- A Guide to Homeowners Policies
- Take Inventory
- Making a Claim
- Other Types of Home-Related Insurance: Title Insurance, Flood Insurance, Umbrella Liability Insurance
- Part 3. Your Car
- Chapter 11. Controlling the Cost of Your Car
- Choosing the Right Car
- Getting a Good Deal: Set a Target Price, Consider a Twin, Shop Late in the Month, Check Inventories, Look for Incentives, Hire Some Help, Join a Club
- Don't Win the Battle and Lose the War
- The Lure of a Lease
- Chapter 12. Insuring Your Car
- Liability Coverage: In Case You're at Fault
- Crash Protection
- Medical Payments: Coverage You May Not Need
- Protection against Uninsured and Underinsured Drivers
- Comprehensive Coverage
- No-Fault Insurance
- How Your Rate Is Set
- Getting a Good Deal
- How to Make Sure You Get Paid
- Part 4. Your Money and Your Life
- Chapter 13. The Money Side of Marrying
- What to Know Before You Marry
- Prenuptial Agreements
- Considering Joint Ownership
- When Seniors Tie the Knot
- Chapter 14. The Dollar Side of Divorce
- Community-Property States
- Non-Community-Property States
- Angles on Alimony
- Child Support
- Staying Out of Court
- Do It Yourself?
- Chapter 15. Your Kids and Your Money
- Raising Money-Smart Kids
- Teaching the Value of Money: What Preschoolers Can Learn, Elementary-School Age: Start Good Habits, Teenagers: Make Allowances
- Kids Owe Taxes, Too
- Ways to Give Money to Children: Using Custodial Accounts, Putting Your Trust in Trusts
- Chapter 16. Paying the Price of College
- Where to Stash Your College Cash
- State-Sponsored College Savings Plans
- Zero-Coupon Bonds
- U.S. Savings Bonds
- Coverdell ESAs: The Roth Alternative
- When College Bills Are Due: Hope Scholarship Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit
- Getting Financial Aid
- Sources of Aid: Pell Grants, Federal Loan Programs, Private Loan Sources
- Scholarships of Broad Interest
- Chapter 17. Funeral Finances
- Put It in Writing
- Pay Now, Die Later?
- A Better Way to Pay Ahead
- When the Funeral Is Now
- The Cost of Burial
- Finances after the Funeral
- Chapter 18. The Money Squeeze of Aging Parents
- Do They Need Your Help?
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Where Will They Live?
- Should They Move In?
- Options for Elderly Housing: Independent Living, Assisted Living, Continuing Care, and Nursing Homes
- When Your Parents Need You
- Helping at a Distance
- Part 5. Protecting Your Life and Health
- Chapter 19. Buying the Right Life Insurance
- What Have You Got?
- When Should You Buy Life Insurance?
- How Much Do You Need?
- The Life Insurance Menu
- The Case for Term
- The Case for Whole Life
- Variations on Whole Life
- The Itch to Switch
- The Best Policy at the Best Price
- Second-to-Die Insurance
- How Safe Is the Insurance Company?
- Making Sure the Right People Collect
- Picking the Payoff Method
- Mass-Market Life Insurance
- Chapter 20. Buying Health Insurance
- Fee-for-Service: Health Coverage the Old-Fashioned Way
- Managed Care #1. Preferred Provider Organizations
- Managed Care #2. Health Maintenance Organizations
- When COBRA Kicks In to Protect You
- How to Check Up on Your Health Plan
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Health Savings Accounts
- What If You Can't Work? Why You Need Disability Insurance
- Medicare
- Tips for Buyers of Medigap Insurance
- How Medigap Insurance Plugs the Holes
- Long-Term-Care Insurance
- Health Insurance for Pets
- Insurance for Healthy Teeth
- Chapter 21. Think Twice About This Insurance
- Life Insurance on Kids
- Credit Life Insurance
- Hospital Indemnity Insurance
- Dread-Disease Insurance
- Student Accident Policies
- Credit Card Insurance
- Part 6. Investments for Today and Tomorrow
- Chapter 22. How to Have Investing Smarts All the Time
- You're Going to Need a Plan: Set Exciting Goals, Adopt a Clear-Cut Strategy, Pay Attention, Control Your Risks, Make Investing a Habit, Don't Get Stuck in a Rut, Don't Fool Yourself
- How Not to Get Ripped Off
- Hiring Help: How to Pick a Financial Planner
- Chapter 23. How to Make Money in Stocks
- What Makes a Good Stock?
- Where to Find Out About Stocks
- Getting a Little Technical
- What's Your Plan?
- How to Find the Right Broker: Full-Service Brokers, Discount Brokers, Online Brokers
- Opening Your Account
- If You Need to Tangle with Your Broker
- Investing with a Club
- Stupid Stock Tricks
- Chapter 24. What You Should Know About Bonds
- A Primer for Bond Buyers
- Why Quality Counts
- Buying and Selling Bonds at a Discount
- Before You Buy Any Bond
- How "Zeros" Can Add Up
- Uncle Sam's Bonds: Treasury Bills, Treasury Notes, Treasury Bonds
- U.S. Agency Securities: Close Enough to the Real Thing: Ginnie, Fannie, and Freddie: Mortgage-Backed Securities
- Collateralized Mortgage Obligations: Take a Pass
- U.S. Savings Bonds
- The Enduring Allure of Municipal Bonds: Different Ways to Buy Munis, Advantages of Funds and Unit Trusts, Zero-Coupon Municipals, Insurance on Your Munis, Swapping Munis to Save Taxes
- Chapter 25. Making It Big with Mutual Funds
- How Funds Work
- Sales Loads and Other Charges
- How to Pick a Winning Fund
- Different Strokes for Different Folks
- How to Tell How You're Doing
- Should You Be Open to Closed-End Funds?
- Exchange-Traded Funds
- Money-Market Funds: Keeping It Short
- Unit Investment Trusts
- Chapter 26. Investing in Real Estate
- The Lure of Leverage
- Tax Breaks in Real Estate
- Exchanging Rental Properties
- Selecting Profitable Rental Properties
- Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
- Real Estate Limited Partnerships
- The Risks in Raw Land
- Chapter 27. Walk On By: Investments You Can Live Without
- Gold's Lost Luster
- Silver: Not as Good as Gold
- Collectibles: Buy What You Like
- Stock Options: Opt Out
- No Future in Commodities
- Chapter 28. Taxes You'll Pay (or Not) on Your Investments
- Tax Angles on Savings Accounts
- Working Around the Kiddie Tax
- Learning to Love Your Basis
- Capital Gains and Losses
- Saving Taxes on Stocks
- Saving Taxes on Bonds
- Saving Taxes on Mutual Funds
- Taxes on Life Insurance Proceeds and Annuities
- Deduct Your Investment Expenses? Maybe
- Part 7. Your Retirement and Estate Planning
- Chapter 29. Money Enough to Retire On
- How Much Will You Need?
- Where Will You Get It?
- How Much Time Do You Have?
- Checking Up on Your Pension: Defined-Contribution Plans, Defined-Benefit Plans
- The Growing Role of the 401(k)
- Employee Stock Ownership Plans
- Profit-Sharing Plans
- Individual Retirement Accounts
- Roth IRAs
- Variable Annuities
- Retirement Plans If You're Self-Employed: Keogh Plans, Simplified Employee Pensions, SIMPLE IRAs
- Social Security: Don't Sell It Short
- What to Do with a Lump Sum at Retirement
- Using Home Equity for Retirement Income
- Chapter 30. Where There's a Will, There's an Estate Plan
- Six Steps to a Good Will
- Estate-Planning Basics
- The Role of Probate
- How Large Is Your Estate?
- Your State Wants a Share, Too
- Putting Your Trust in Trusts
- The Overselling of Living Trusts
- Good Reasons to Change Your Will
- Appendix
- State Securities Regulation Offices
- Federal Reserve Banks
- Guide to Recordkeeping
- Glossary
- Index
