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| The Unofficial Guide Reader's Bill of Rights | |
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| The Unofficial Guide Panel of Experts | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Managing Your Money | |
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| The ABC's of Counting Your Pennies | |
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| Why It's So Important to Save Money | |
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| Put Your Money to Work for You | |
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| Compounded Growth | |
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| Dollar cost Averaging | |
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| Rule of 72 | |
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| How Inflation Reduces Your Spending Power | |
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| Figuring Out How Much You Actually Spend | |
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| Setting Up a Budget | |
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| Just Say No | |
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| Establishing an Emergency Fund | |
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| "When I'm Sixty-fourt..." | |
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| Figuring Out Where You Can Cut Costs | |
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| Getting Motivated and Staying on Track | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Credit Cards | |
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| Using Credit | |
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| Shopping for a Card | |
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| How Credit Cards Can Work Against You | |
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| How Credit Cards Can Work for You | |
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| Creative Credit Card Money Saving Strategies | |
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| So Much Plastic | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Taking Care of Business | |
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| Taking Advantage of Banks | |
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| Taking Advantage of Credit Unions | |
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| Credit Unions Versus Banks | |
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| How to Get the Best Deals | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Creating and Protecting Your Wealth | |
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| Building Your Assets | |
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| Risk and Your Risk Tolerance | |
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| Figuring Your Risk Tolerance | |
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| What You Can Do to Reduce Risks | |
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| Developing an Investment Plan | |
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| Building a Diversified Portfolio | |
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| Types of Investments | |
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| Stocks | |
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| Bonds | |
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| Mutual Funds | |
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| Real Estate as an Investment | |
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| Tax Savings | |
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| Leveraging: Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck | |
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| Enlisting the Aid of a Financial Advisor | |
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| What's It Going to Cost You? | |
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| Putting Your Advisor to Work | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Safeguarding Your Assets and Your Family | |
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| Health Insurance | |
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| Fee-for-Service | |
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| Managed Care | |
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| Coverage Through Work and Other Options | |
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| Pre-existing Conditions and the Law | |
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| Working into Your Golden Years | |
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| Shopping for a Policy | |
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| Disability Insurance | |
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| Long-term Care Coverage | |
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| Homeowner's and Renter's Insurance | |
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| How Much Is Enough? | |
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| What Kind Should You Buy? | |
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| Life Insurance | |
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| Finding the Coverage That's Right for Your Needs | |
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| Learn to Comparison Shop | |
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| Auto Insurance | |
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| Bringing the Costs Down | |
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| Types of Available Coverage | |
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| Getting Covered | |
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| Protect Yourself | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Buying Big-Ticket Items | |
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| Getting a Car | |
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| What's the True Cost of Owning a Car? | |
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| Finding the Best Overall Car and Truck Values | |
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| Tips for Buying a Car or Truck | |
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| Whether to Lease or to Buy--That Is the Question | |
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| Added Incentives Sometimes Make Leasing a Good Buy | |
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| Getting the Best Lease Deal for Your Money | |
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| How Leasing Calculations Work | |
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| Protecting Yourself | |
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| Surfing the Net | |
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| The Cost Impact of Accidents | |
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| To Catch a Thief: More on Insurance Rates | |
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| Should You Buy a New or Used Car? | |
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| Strategies for Negotiating Price and Extras | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Finding Your Home Sweet Home | |
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| Should You Buy or Should You Rent? | |
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| Getting Representation | |
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| Buy! Buy! Buy! | |
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| Sell! Sell! Sell! | |
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| Using the Internet to Find an Agent | |
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| The Home-Buying Process | |
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| Using the Internet to Find a Home and Get Insurance | |
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| Strategies for Buying a House "On Sale" | |
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| Frequent-Flyer Mile Programs | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Buying the Home of Your Dreams | |
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| Shop for Your Mortgage Wisely | |
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| Getting Professional Representation | |
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| Builders' Contracts: Understandng the Fine Print | |
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| The Lowdown on Resale Contracts | |
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| Qualifying for a Mortgage | |
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| Computer-Aided Credit Scoring | |
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| How Much Can You Borrow? | |
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| The Best Mortgage for You | |
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| Types of Mortgage Loans | |
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| Mortgage Loan Options | |
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| The Risk of Foreclosure | |
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| Getting the Best Mortgage Rate | |
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| What's Negotiable in a Mortgage? | |
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| Paying for Convenience: Buyer Beware the Mortgage Broker | |
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| When to Pay Discount Points | |
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| Home Loans on the Internet | |
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| Down Payment Gifts | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Debt | |
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| Digging Out of Debt | |
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| Figuring Out How You Got There | |
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| Getting Out of Debt | |
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| Dealing with Creditors | |
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| Big Brother Is Watching | |
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| Protecting Your Credit Rating | |
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| Debtors' and Creditors' Rights | |
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| The Brink of Foreclosure: How You Got There and How to Step Back | |
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| Bankruptcy | |
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| Getting Back on Track | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Counting the Beans | |
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| Taxes | |
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| How Much Do You Pay in Taxes? | |
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| Investment Tax Law | |
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| Capital Gains | |
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| Long-Term Capital Gains | |
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| Short-Term Capital Gains | |
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| Dividends | |
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| Taxes and Timing Your Investments | |
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| Reinvesting Your Shares | |
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| Selling Your Shares | |
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| FIFO | |
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| Average Cost, Single Category | |
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| Average Cost, Double Category | |
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| Specific Shares | |
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| Tax Savings and Education | |
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| Taxes and Retirement | |
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| 401(k) Plans | |
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| Traditional IRAs | |
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| Roth IRAs | |
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| Which IRA is Best for You? | |
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| Aggressive Mutual Funds: In Your Taxable Accounts or Retirement Portfolio? | |
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| Divorce and Taxes | |
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| Property Transfers | |
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| Alimony Versus Child Support | |
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| Alimony Recapture | |
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| Exemptions | |
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| Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) | |
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| Health Insurance | |
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| How to Handle Assets with Potential Capital Gains | |
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| More Tax-Savings Strategies | |
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| Placing Investments in Your Children's Names | |
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| Charitable Contributions | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Your Financial Future | |
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| Investing in Your Future and Your Children's Future Education | |
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| Benefits of a College Degree | |
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| Finding the Right Collge or University | |
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| Preparation | |
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| Strategies for Saving for a College Education | |
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| Investing In and For College | |
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| Investment Strategies | |
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| Tax Packages | |
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| Traditional IRAs | |
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| Education IRAs (EIRAs) | |
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| Hope Scholarship Credit | |
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| Lifetime-Learning Tax Credit | |
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| Student Loan Interest Payment Deductions | |
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| State Tuition Plans | |
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| Working While You Go to School | |
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| Community Service Loan Forgiveness | |
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| Qualified State Tuition Programs | |
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| State Education Savings Plans | |
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| Prepaid Tuition Programs | |
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| Government Financial Aid | |
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| Finding Private Loans and Scholarships | |
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| Best-Kept Secrets | |
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| Graduation Date Guarantee | |
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| Joint Degrees | |
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| Low-Cost Loans | |
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| Free Tuition | |
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| Other School Tuition Programs | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Investing for Retirement | |
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| Why You Should Save for Retirement | |
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| The Costs of Retirement | |
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| How to Plan for What You'll Need | |
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| Roth IRAs, Traditional IRAs, and SEP IRAs | |
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| Roth IRAs | |
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| Traditional Deductible IRAs | |
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| Nondeductible IRAs | |
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| Simple IRAs | |
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| SEP IRAs | |
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| 401(k) Plans | |
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| Keogh Plans | |
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| Should You Borrow from Your 401(k)? | |
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| Reverse Mortgages | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Estate Planning | |
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| Common Estate Planning Terms | |
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| Your Taxable Estate | |
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| The Importance of Estate Planning if You Have Children | |
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| Titles | |
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| Tenants in Common | |
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| Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship | |
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| Tenants by the Entirety | |
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| How Title Affects Estate Taxes | |
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| Will | |
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| Making It Legal | |
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| Living Wills | |
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| Revocable Living Trusts | |
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| Selecting Trustees, an Executor, and a Guardian for Your Children | |
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| Insurance and Estate Planning | |
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| Legal Representation | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Financial Threats | |
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| Dealing with Job Loss | |
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| Unemployment Benefits | |
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| Protecting Your Assets | |
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| Postemployment Insurance Options | |
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| Health Continuation Coverage Benefits Under Cobra | |
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| Guaranteed Individual Health Coverage Under HIPAA | |
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| Life and Disability Insurance Coverage | |
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| Savvy Investments Strategies for Periods of Unemployment | |
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| Strategies for Finding a New Job | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Dealing with Divorce | |
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| The Costs of Divorce | |
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| Myths About Divorce Settlements | |
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| Figuring Out What You Own | |
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| Issues that Get In the Way | |
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| The Difference Between Men and Women | |
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| Dividing Assets When You're Splitting Up | |
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| Asking for Help | |
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| Mediation Versus Arbitration | |
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| Calling a Lawyer | |
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| Above All, Be Prepared | |
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| Looking Out for Number 1 | |
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| Getting Back on Your Feet | |
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| Saving on Taxes: Keeping Uncle Sam a Distant Relative | |
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| Doing Your Homework | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Fraud Protection | |
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| Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft | |
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| Protecting Your Finances on the Internet | |
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| E-mail Advertisements | |
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| Protecting Your Online Transactions | |
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| Protecting Yourself Against Fraud on the Internet | |
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| Investing Online | |
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| Fraud and Your Financial Planner or Salesperson | |
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| Protecting Your Assets from Telemarketers | |
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| Protecting Your Assets from Check Fraud | |
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| Just the Facts | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Resource Guide | |
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| Recommended Reading List | |
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| Index | |