Personal Finance for Dummies

By Eric Tyson

Book Overview

Take stock of your financial situation From budgeting, saving, and reducing debt, to making timely investment choices and planning for the future, Personal Finance For Dummies provides fiscally conscious readers with the tools they need to take charge of their financial life. This new edition includes coverage of an extensive new tax bill that took effect in 2018 and the impact on individuals, families, small businesses, and on real estate and investing decisions. Plus, it covers emerging investing interests like technology and global investing, cryptocurrencies, pot stocks, the lifestyle changes occurring with millennials, and more. Evaluate and manage your financial fitness Assess your credit report and improve your score Make smart investments in any economic environment Find out about international investing The expert advice offered in Personal Finance For Dummies is for anyone looking to ensure that their finances are on the right track--and to identify the areas in which they can improve their financial strategies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1119517893
• ISBN13: 9781119517894
• Release Date: October 2018
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

If you make money, you need this book

They don't teach personal finance in schools. In this book, author Tyson teaches what every high school in the nation should teach anyone who plans to earn money. This book provides excellent advice on how to save your money and how to set your savings and spending priorities. In particular, Tyson takes into account the tax advantages and disadvantages of various approaches, and he gives an easy to implement way to maximize the tax benefits that the government provides to encourage wise financial decisions. It is true that the author likes Vanguard's mutual funds and his book clearly recommends them (along with some others). He's in good company: Consumer Reports also recommends some of Vanguard's mutual funds, and Vanguard consistently has the lowest costs in the mutual fund industry. Finally, a word of advice: Avoid, avoid, avoid any book that recommends dubious tax evasion schemes like starting your own fictitious business for the purpose of taking tax deductions on personal expenses. Instead, buy this book and follow Tyson's recommendations on taking advantage of legitimate tax benefits associated with wise saving and spending.

The most informative book on the subject I have ever read!

I work as a financial professional, counseling individuals regarding the options in their employer-sponsored retirement plans. Although the counsel I can give is limited to their retirement plan, several have asked me for advice in other areas of their financial lives. I do not hesitate to recommend this book. Whether you are starting from square one in getting your financial house in order, or your checkbook is balanced to the penny every week, there is information in this book that will benefit you. The "For Dummies" format is perfect for this subject, and Eric Tyson does an excellent job of breaking into layman's terms the most complex of finance and investing concepts. Also, an excellent section on selecting a financial planner is provided. I have often seen the devastating effects that the wrong financial advice has wrought in people's lives. The list of criteria to apply when seeking a financial advisor is one of the most valuable tools I have seen on the subject. This book is one of the most valuable resources I have ever seen in helping the average person get control of their financial lives. Applying its principles will pay immediate as well as long-lasting rewards.

Required Reading

When I bought the first edition of this book, I was a poor post-graduate loaded with bad debt. At the time, I knew nothing about CD's, funds, stocks, bonds, insurance, 401(k)'s, home-buying, budgeting, saving, debt-reduction, taxes, or any other basic issues of personal finance. All I knew is that I never could seem to "get ahead" financially. Tyson's book led me from this sorry state through four years of self-education and growing self-confidence about controlling my own financial future. Even now, debt-free and market-positioned, I still reference this book when I encounter a new facet of my financial life. No "get-rich-quick" scheme, Tyson lays out a solid framework for anyone interested in getting and maintaining control of their own financial situation throughout a lifetime. The ideas he lays out help a person not only educate him/herself concerning money, but also instill confidence that a financial situation can be corrected or controlled personally.Although this book would serve as a valuable reference to ANYONE interested in their own financial future, it would especially be useful to a young person just "starting out" or to any person who feels overwhelmed by their own financial situation.