Personal Investing: The Missing Manual
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Release Date: May 2010
Pages: 252
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Your financial goals probably include a comfortable retirement, paying for your kids' college education, and long-term healthcare. But you can't reach those goals by putting your money in a savings account. You need to invest it so it grows over time. Three seasoned personal finance experts show you how in this jargon-free guide.
- Investing demystified. Get clear, real-world examples of why investing is crucial to your financial goals
- How to invest. Learn how to evaluate four types of investment so you make the right decisions
- Hidden gems. Discover lesser-known, low-cost investments that provide tax advantages
- Retirement, Education, Healthcare. Find chapters devoted to the fine points of each of these big-ticket goals
- Flexibility. Learn how to change your investment strategy as you age
- Choices. Find an investment plan that's right for you -- whether you're a conservative investor or go-for-broke risk-taker
Table of Contents
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Prepare to Invest
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Chapter 1 Why Should You Invest?
- How Inflation Hurts
- Why Scary Numbers Aren't That Scary
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Chapter 2 Set Your Investment Goals
- Building Your Bucket List
- Retirement, College, or Other Goals
- The Big Kahuna: Retirement
- Other Long-Term Goals
- Putting It All Together
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Chapter 3 Invest with Open Eyes
- Clean Up Your Finances
- Spend Money Wisely
- Expect Base Hits, Not Home Runs
- Sidestepping Pitfalls in Investor Psychology
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Choose and Buy Your Investments
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Chapter 4 How Investments Work
- The Big Four: Typical Investments
- Taxing Decisions
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Chapter 5 Funds
- The Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry of Funds
- What a Fund Invests In
- Evaluating Fund Performance
- Keeping a Lid on Fund Expenses
- How to Pick Funds
- Finding Funds
- Deciding When to Sell
- Managing Your Funds
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Chapter 6 Stocks
- Buying into a Business
- Investing in Growth
- Investing in Quality
- Investing in Good Value
- Watching for Trends
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Chapter 7 Bonds
- Why Invest in Bonds?
- How Bonds Work and How You Use Them
- Buying Bonds
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Chapter 8 REITs
- Is REIT Investing Right for Me?
- Types of REITs
- Picking Individual REITs
- Finding the Right REITs and REIT Funds
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Chapter 9 Manage Your Portfolio
- What's Investment Portfolio Management?
- Return vs. Risk
- Asset Allocation
- Choosing an Asset Allocation Plan
- Asset Allocation Made Ridiculously Easy
- Reviewing Your Portfolio
- Rebalancing Your Portfolio
- Getting Back On Track
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Manage Your Investments
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Chapter 10 Investing for Retirement
- The Key Retirement Decisions
- Making the Most of Retirement Accounts
- Managing a Retirement Portfolio
- Making the Most of Social Security
- Withdrawing Money During Retirement
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Chapter 11 Investing for College
- College Costs How Much?
- Tax-Savvy Ways to Save for Education
- How to Pick a 529 Savings Plan
- Saving for More Than One Child
- The Best Way to Spend College Savings
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Chapter 12 Investing for Health Care
- Types of Health Insurance
- Choosing an Employer-Sponsored Plan
- Choosing an Individual Health Insurance Plan
- High-Deductible Health Insurance Plans
- Negotiating with Health Care Providers
- Paying for Long-Term Care
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