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Managing Your Money All-in-One For Dummies
In the end, it may be that even after all that, you are still saddled with too much
debt to keep your head above water. In that case, we give you the lowdown
on whether, when, and how to declare bankruptcy and thereby give yourself a
fresh start while protecting as much of your assets as possible. There is such a
thing as a second chance, but if you need it, you need to do it the right way.
Book IV: Saving and Investing
Debt is only one side of the coin. We'll call it tails. Heads, then, is all about
keeping some of the money you have worked so hard to earn. It's amaz-
ing how diligently people will work -- only to unthinkingly fritter it away
and have nothing to show for it at the end of the month. If you're like most
people, you have to change your thinking about saving money, and this book
lays the groundwork for how to become a saver.
There are lots of ways to save money, and some are easier and work out
better for you than others. The classic and historically most successful
method is to invest your money in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and now
there are cutting-edge ways of doing that online. We also cover the smartest
ways to save up for giving the next generation that most important arrow in
the financial quiver: a college education.
Book V: Protecting Your Money and Assets
Once you do get a grip on your finances and manage to start your nest egg,
you may notice that your egg attracts predators and has become vulnerable
to new dangers. One growing danger is that of identity theft, and you need to
know how to avoid falling prey to those who would use information against
you in order to take away what's yours. And where do you keep your money?
In the bank, right? Well, banking itself has gone through the online revolution,
and it's a very good idea to know options and pitfalls in this area.
The main way most people avoid financial disasters in their lives is by buying
insurance, which (knock on wood) pays things off when bad things happen.
Besides health insurance, which we cover in Book II, there are three other
main forms of insuring yourself against catastrophic losses: homeowner's
insurance, auto insurance, and life insurance. We tell you what and what not
to look for in all three categories.
There's one other "predator" out there that drools over the thought of
your moolah: That would be the government, which seems to want a piece
