
Personal Investing: The Missing Manual
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Release Date: May 2010
Pages: 252
Read on Safari with a 10-day trial
Start your free trial now Buy on AmazonWhere’s the cart? Now you can get everything on Safari. To purchase books, visit Amazon or your favorite retailer. Questions? See our FAQ or contact customer service:
1-800-889-8969 / 707-827-7019
support@oreilly.com
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
-
Prepare to Invest
-
Chapter 1 Why Should You Invest?
- How Inflation Hurts
- Why Scary Numbers Aren't That Scary
-
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
-
Chapter 3 Invest with Open Eyes
- Clean Up Your Finances
- Spend Money Wisely
- Expect Base Hits, Not Home Runs
- Sidestepping Pitfalls in Investor Psychology
-
-
Choose and Buy Your Investments
-
Chapter 4 How Investments Work
- The Big Four: Typical Investments
- Taxing Decisions
-
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
-
Chapter 6 Stocks
- Buying into a Business
- Investing in Growth
- Investing in Quality
- Investing in Good Value
- Watching for Trends
-
Chapter 7 Bonds
- Why Invest in Bonds?
- How Bonds Work and How You Use Them
- Buying Bonds
-
Chapter 8 REITs
- Is REIT Investing Right for Me?
- Types of REITs
- Picking Individual REITs
- Finding the Right REITs and REIT Funds
-
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
-
-
Manage Your Investments
-
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
-
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
-
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
-