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| What Does "Financial Security" Mean to You? | |
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| Put Your Money to Work for You | |
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| Become an Educated Investor, Not Just a Consumer | |
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| So What Went Wrong When the Market Went Bust? | |
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| The Miracle of Compounding | |
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| An Easy Way to Figure Compound Interest | |
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| The "Blow-Your-Mind-by-Adding-Time" Chart | |
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| The 10 Percent Habit | |
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| Time, Risk, and Your Sanity | |
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| The Fed's Balancing Act: Dampening Inflation Without Dumping on Us | |
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| Your Personal Time Frame | |
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| How Do You Really Feel About Risk? | |
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| What Is Return? | |
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| What You Made, What You Paid | |
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| Fear of Heights: The Higher the Return, the Greater the Risk | |
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| The Tools of the Trade | |
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| The Three Broad Investment Classes | |
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| Variety Is the Spice of Life | |
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| Quiz Thyself to Know Thyself: Risk Tolerance Quiz | |
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| Got the Time? Take the Time Horizon Quiz | |
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| Are You a Grasshopper or an Ant? Selecting Your Investment Objectives | |
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| Just-in-Case Cash | |
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| How Can I Bring Home the Bacon, Fry It Up in a Pan, and Have Some Left Over? | |
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| How Gold Do You Want Your Golden Years to Be? | |
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| What Have You Got Right Now--and What Are You Going to Need? | |
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| So What Will Social Security Do for Me, Anyway? | |
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| Getting a Handle on Your Retirement Benefits by Pestering Human Resources | |
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| Help, I'm Self-Employed! | |
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| Creating Your Own Fabulous Pension Plan | |
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| A Super-Easy Way to Figure Out How Much You Need to Save | |
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| Use the 401(k) Plan, Stan | |
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| Get an IRA! | |
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| Trust Us, You Really Don't Want to Wait | |
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| But My Circumstances Will Change ... Won't They? | |
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| Stagger Your Debt | |
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| Your Personal Balance Sheet: A Snapshot of Your Finances | |
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| Get a Grip with a Personal Income Statement | |
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| A Happy Couple on the Right Track | |
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| Your Typical Young Guy Living Hand to Mouth | |
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| Shore Up Your Foundation | |
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| A Closer Look at Employment Benefits | |
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| Retirement Plans 101 | |
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| Defined Benefit Plans | |
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| Defined Contribution Plans | |
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| If Your Employer Matches, Invest the Max | |
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| Should You Put All Your Eggs in the Company Basket? Ask the Folks at Enron ... | |
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| What About Stock Options? Go for It | |
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| Managing Your 401(k) | |
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| No Company Plan? Create a Pension with an IRA | |
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| When Is a Roth IRA the Right Choice? | |
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| Converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA | |
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| The Two Best Investments for Your IRA: Stocks and STRIPs | |
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| What to Do When You're Small and Solo | |
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| Meet the New Kid on the Block | |
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| Cutting Expenses Is Investing! | |
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| Become a Hunter/Gatherer | |
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| Your Tax Bracket Is Higher Than You Think | |
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| Figuring Your Marginal Tax Rate | |
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| Risk-Free Saving Where You Least Expect It | |
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| Buying Bulk Is a Great Investment | |
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| Your Car: Leasing vs. Ownership | |
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| Choosing a Bank | |
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| Life Insurance | |
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| Knocking Down Real Estate Taxes | |
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| Credit Cards | |
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| Little Things That Add Up | |
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| Solving Debt and Credit Problems | |
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| What Does Your Credit Report Say About You? | |
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| CRA Horror Stories | |
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| How to Check Your Credit Reports | |
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| Credit Cards: You Only Need One | |
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| How to Really Get Your Act Together | |
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| A Checking Account? Who Needs It! | |
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| Debit Cards--a Better Choice? | |
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| How Much of Your Income Should Go Toward Reducing Debt? | |
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| Good Debt vs. Bad Debt | |
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| Trim Your Taxes | |
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| What Are All Those Different "Incomes" Anyway? | |
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| Spankin' New Tax Bracket and Lowered Tax Rates | |
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| Uncle Sammie and Your Marginal Income Tax Rate | |
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| Employer-Based Health- and Child-Care Funds | |
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| Medical Savings Accounts: Are They a Good Deal? | |
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| Bush Gets Busy | |
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| Gains and Losses on Securities Transactions | |
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| Did You Say Tax-Free Interest Income? | |
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| Home Equity Loans Are Deductible | |
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| Timing Can Make a Big Difference | |
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| Investing 101 | |
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| What Are They Up to on Wall Street, Anyway? | |
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| A Little Background Music, Please | |
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| What's with All the Animal References? | |
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| But What Do All Those Numbers Mean? | |
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| The Key to Your Stock Knowledge: Price-Earnings Ratios | |
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| Look into My P/E Crystal Ball | |
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| Should You Play with the Big Kids or Just Get a Piggyback Ride? | |
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| Asset Allocation/Rebalancing | |
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| How Much Stock Should Be in Your Portfolio? | |
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| Dollar Cost Averaging, or How to Own Stocks and Stay Happy | |
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| So You Want to Play with Stocks | |
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| Tips for Trading Like a Pro | |
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| If You Buy It, You'd Better Love It | |
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| The Biggest "Do" of All | |
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| Researching Individual Stocks | |
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| All the News That's Fit to Print: Company Annual Reports | |
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| How to Use a Broker to Place a Trade | |
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| When Should You Buy Stock? | |
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| Diversifying Your Stock Portfolio: How Many Holdings Are Enough? | |
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| Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Fixed-Income Securities | |
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| What Are Fixed-Income Securities For? | |
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| When Do You Get That Groovy Interest Income? | |
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| Corporate Debt--An Unwise Choice for Small Investors | |
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| Okay, Corporate Debt Is Out--What Should I Buy? | |
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| The New I Bonds | |
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| CDs: A Viable Alternative to Government Debt | |
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| Navigating the Mutual Fund Universe | |
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| What Exactly Are Mutual Funds? | |
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| Open-End and Closed-End Funds | |
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| Avoid Load Funds | |
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| Index and Tax-Advantaged Funds | |
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| Exchange-Traded Funds | |
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| What's Out There in the Fund Universe? | |
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| Why Funds Are a Great Investment Option | |
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| How to Pick a Winning Fund | |
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| Check Out These Funds | |
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| Money Market Funds | |
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| Variable Annuity: a Mutual Fund Wrapped Around an Insurance Contract | |
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| Lifestyle and Tax-Efficient Funds | |
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| Pick a Date to Rebalance Your Mutual Fund Holdings Annually | |
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| Rolling with Life's Changes | |
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| Work Smart, Not Just Hard: Getting the Max from Your Job | |
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| What to Ask a New Employer | |
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| Transferring Retirement Accounts | |
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| So You're Your Own Boss | |
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| Retirement ... at Last! | |
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| How the Retirement Age You Choose Affects Social Security | |
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| Pay Tax on Social Security Benefits? Sad, but True | |
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| Can You Work and Still Collect Social Security? | |
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| Advantages to Delaying Retirement | |
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| When and How to Apply for Your S.S. Benefits | |
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| How Does Medicare Work? | |
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| What About Lump-Sum Retirement Benefits? | |
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| The Ramifications of Romance | |
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| When You Need a Prenup | |
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| The Marriage Tax | |
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| Joint Bank Accounts | |
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| Should You Keep Separate Investment Portfolios? | |
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| Untangling Your Assets During Divorce | |
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| QDROs--How to Split Retirement Assets When You Split | |
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| Negotiate with Your Head, Not Your Spleen | |
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| Other Divorce Options | |
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| Home Ownership: What You Need to Know | |
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| The Down Payment | |
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| Timing Is Everything | |
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| Re-Fi Mania | |
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| Evaluate Your Mortgage-Worthiness Before a Banker Does | |
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| Compare Renting to Owning | |
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| Over Time, Owning Should Save You Money | |
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| Renting Pluses | |
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| How Much of Your Income Should You Spend on Housing? | |
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| Fixed Rate vs. Adjustable Rate Mortgage | |
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| I.O. for U.? | |
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| The Costs of Closing | |
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| Second Mortgages--Pros and Pitfalls | |
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| Pluses to Paying Off Your Mortgage | |
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| Should You Shorten Your Mortgage? | |
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| The Relocation Package | |
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| Renting Out Your Home When You Move | |
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| Real Estate Agents | |
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| Closing the Deal | |
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| Educating the Little Rascals | |
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| Put Your Financial Security First | |
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| Setting Up Educational Funds | |
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| Qualified Tuition Programs (Section 529s) | |
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| Pros and Cons of 529 Plans | |
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| Tax Breaks for Education Expenses | |
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| Other Options | |
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| Sorting Out All the Options | |
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| Sorting Out the AGI Level Morass | |
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| In Whose Name? | |
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| Covering Your Assets | |
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| Don't Insure What You Can Afford to Replace | |
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| Life Insurance Simplified | |
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| Determining Your Insurance Needs | |
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| Annuities | |
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| Your Kids Don't Need Life Insurance | |
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| Insuring Your Home and Other Assets | |
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| Keeping Uncle Sam's Greedy Mitts off Your Estate | |
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| Why You Don't Want to Die Without a Will | |
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| Probate: The Process of Administering Your Will | |
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| Big Changes in Estate Taxes! | |
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| Unified Is Bifurcated | |
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| The Estate Tax Repeal ... Not So Appealing? | |
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| Tax-Saving Alternatives | |
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| Other Ways to Reduce Estate Taxes | |
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| What If You Inherit Money? | |
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| Investing Online | |
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| Getting Started with Online Investing | |
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| Once Upon a Time There Was a Big Fat Computer | |
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| Hey, How Do I Turn This Thing On? | |
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| You Need a Surfboard ... We Mean, a Browser | |
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| Banking and Shopping Online | |
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| Now Can I Trade? Selecting an Internet Broker | |
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| What's New in Online Trading and Tracking | |
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| Speed and System Backups | |
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| How to Use an Online Broker | |
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| How an Online Broker Works | |
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| Researching Investments Online | |
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| Tracking Your Portfolio | |
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| Three Isn't Necessarily a Crowd | |
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| Advanced Investment Plays | |
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| Hedging Your Options | |
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| Puts and Calls | |
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| How Did This Get Started? | |
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| Risk-Loving Speculator Seeks Cautious Hedgehog | |
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| In the Money | |
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| Reading an Option Table | |
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| Selling Short vs. Trading Options | |
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| Risky Business | |
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| Option Strategies That Protect Your Stock Positions | |
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| Stock Index Options | |
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| The Braveheart of Wall Street | |
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| LEAPS | |
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| Fancy Futures | |
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| What Is a Commodity? | |
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| It All Began with Farmers | |
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| How a Future Differs from an Option | |
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| How Margins Work | |
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| Using Futures to Offset Uncertainty | |
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| Financial Futures | |
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| Options on Future--Oy! | |
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| Spread Strategies for Speculators | |
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| Gold Nuggets | |
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| Realizing Real Estate Dreams | |
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| Why Own Real Estate? | |
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| The REIT Stuff | |
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| Types of Real Estate Ownership | |
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| So, You Want to Own Real Estate | |
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| Purchase and Rental of Homes and Apartment Buildings | |
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| How Rental Income Hits Your Tax Return | |
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| Location, Location, Location | |
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| Financing Real Estate Investments | |
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| Alternative Investments | |
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| How Regular Folk Discovered Alternative Investments | |
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| Hedge Funds | |
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| Venture Capital and LBO Funds | |
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| The Private Equity Fund of Funds | |
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| Pros and Cons of LP Investments | |
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| Unit Investment Trusts | |
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| Along Came a SPDR | |
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| Appendixes | |
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| Useful Investing Info | |
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| Glossary | |
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| How to Avoid Turning the Stock Market into Your Own Personal Emotional Roller Coaster | |
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| Index | |