The everything personal finance in your 40s & 50s book A comprehensive strategy to ensure you can retire when you want and live well
Book - 2009
Have you gotten a late start on your retirement preparations? Are you worried about your fiscal future? This valuable guide helps you to: create and stick to a budget; invest wisely; pay for college while still saving for retirement; help your kids with debt (without putting yourself in debt); talk to your parents about wills and money; make the most of your working income.
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
Avon, MA :
Adams Media
c2009.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Other Authors
- Physical Description
- xii, 291 p. ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes Web resources (p. 281-285) and index.
- ISBN
- 9781598698602
- Top Ten Keys to a Successful Financial Plan
- Introduction
- 1. It's Never Too Late to Start Planning
- The Planning Process
- Financial Planning Is More Important than Ever
- Financial DNA
- Assessing Your Situation
- Managing Cash
- Budgeting Tips and Guidelines
- 2. Set Your Goals, then Stay on Track
- Where Do You Want to Go from Here?
- Planning with Achievable Goals in Mind
- Planning in Real Life
- Family Money Meetings
- Planning for Life Transitions
- Technology Makes Planning Easier
- 3. Credit and Debt Management
- Maintaining Good Credit
- Become Debt-Free on Your Own
- Getting Help with Debt
- Bankruptcy 101
- The Liquidity Solution
- 4. Planning for the Unexpected
- Life Insurance: Something for Everyone
- Health Coverage: Don't Leave Home Without It
- Long-Term Care Insurance: Should You Self-Insure?
- Disability Insurance
- Protect Your Hearth and Home
- Auto Coverage
- Umbrella Liability
- 5. Retirement Income to Fulfill Your Dreams
- Career Versus Retirement Lifestyles
- Retiring Early into Part-Time Employment
- Domestic Relations
- Easy Budget Advice
- Expenses Change with Time
- Making Reasonable Assumptions
- Planning with Younger Children
- Finding Real-World and Online Advice
- 6. Retirement Accounts
- Catching Up if You're Over 50
- Juggling Your Plans
- The Bottom Line: Employer Plans
- The Bottom Line: Personal Plans
- The Bottom Line: Roth Plans
- The Bottom Line: Special IRAs for the Self-Employed
- 7. Employer Benefits
- Pensions: An Endangered Species
- Employee Stock Options: The Hot Incentive
- Restricted Stock: Golden Handcuffs
- Employee Stock Purchase Plans: Getting Your Share
- Comparing Job Offers
- Where to Find the Best Advice
- 8. Investing 101: Bonds
- Investing Your Cash
- Understanding the Mechanics-and the Risks
- Bond Yields and Taxes
- Bond Mutual Funds: Putting a Pro to Work
- Index Shares: The Copycat Approach to Investing
- Curves Ahead: Yield Curves and Bond Strategies Made Simple
- 9. Investing 101: Stocks
- Advantages and Risks of Stock Investing
- Foreign Investing
- Economics of Stocks: Account Considerations
- Stock Mutual Funds
- Spiders
- Tax Planning with Stocks
- 10. Finding the Perfect Investment Recipe
- Find Your Risk Tolerance
- Online Resources and Trends
- Getting Advice: Whom Can You Trust?
- Target-Date Funds
- Managed Accounts and Money Managers
- Annuities
- 11. Buying Investments
- The Ins and Outs of Buying
- What to Look For and How to Compare
- Beware the Tax Man
- Patching Up Old Mistakes
- Keep It Simple: Record-Keeping
- 12. Kids and Money
- Passing along the Planning Ethic
- Grade School Thrift Lessons
- Finance and the Adolescent
- The First Job
- When to Cut the Strings
- Kids on Campus
- Parent Planning: Balancing Accounts and Assets
- Getting a Jump on College
- Tweaking the Asset Allocation for College
- How Wedding Plans Affect Your Financial Plan
- 13. Inheritances and Estate Planning
- Do It Right: A Lot Is at Stake
- Taking Care of the Basics
- Life Insurance: The Right Amount
- Keeping the Family in Mind
- Leaving an Inheritance: Avoid the Pitfalls
- Forewarned: Avoid the Biggest Mistakes
- 14. Working for Yourself
- A Freelance Approach to Your Career Track
- Investing in a Franchise or Buying a Business
- Starting a Business
- Recovering from the Usual Mistakes
- Pricing in Employee Benefits
- Keep the Books Straight for Uncle Sam
- 15. Real Estate
- A Home of Your Own
- Planning for the Vacation Home
- American Dreamin': Renting Versus Buying
- Common Mistakes and Myths
- Investing in Real Estate
- Helping Your Children Settle Down
- 16. Taxes in Your 40s and 50s
- Are You Paying Your Fair Share?
- Who Says Taxes Are Certain?
- Who Needs to File?
- Self-Employment Tax Options
- How to File: The Right Option for You
- The Records You'll Need
- 17. The Sandwich Generation: Planning for Parental Care
- Starting the Conversation
- Elder Law You Need to Know
- The Documents You'll Need
- Role Reversal and the Family Money Dynamic
- Planning for Parents Who Live with You
- Is a Reverse Mortage a Smart Solution?
- Medicaid Planning
- 18. Do You Need an Advisor?
- What You Need in Your Planning Toolkit
- Setting Expectations
- Advisor Fees and Conflicts
- Finding the Perfect Advisor Match
- 19. Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Divorce and Separation
- Where to Start
- Special Advisors
- Tax Planning when the Accounts Have to Be Divided
- Planning for the Kids
- Restarting Your Financial Plan
- Dodge the Most Common Financial Blunders
- 20. Planning after the Death of a Spouse
- The Nuts and Bolts of an Estate Plan
- Finding the Right Advisors
- Planning Priorities and Timelines
- Making the Right Adjustments to Financial Accounts
- Collecting the Benefits You're Due
- Bringing Children into the Process
- Appendix A. Glossary
- Appendix B. Web Resources
- Index