Kiplinger's Practical Guide to Your Money: Keep More of It, Make It Grow, Enjoy It, Protect It, Pass It on

Our education prepares us for just about everything in life -- except handling money. We're painfully reminded of that deficiency every day. We first notice it when we open a bank account, apply for credit or shop for a new car. We confront it again and again when we think about investing, buying a new home, or trying to sock away money for our kids' college. It becomes downright alarming when we try to figure out what we'll need to make our own dreams come true -- and how we'll ever manage to accumulate all that money.Whatever their financial stage of life, readers will find useful, real-world advice in this comprehensive guide from the company that pioneered personal finance journalism.

You don't need to know electrical theory to change a light bulb. Why should you need to know financial theory to make money-smart decisions?

You don't, says Ted Miller, editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. As a journalist with more than two decades of experience at the pioneer magazine of personal-finance journalism, Miller understands that many otherwise knowledgeable adults have a hole in their education: They've never been taught the basics of money management, saving or investing. And they've never learned how to address so many important financial decisions that come their way.

Not that there isn't plenty of financial information out there. In fact, Miller believes, there's so much that people are often frozen into inaction because they can't get what they need when they need it. Kiplinger's Practical Guide to Your Money cuts through the excess and provides the essential information you need to make money-smart decisions throughout your life. You'll learn how to:

*Figure out how much you have, and how much you owe, to determine your personal bottom line
*Avoid (or eliminate) excessive debt and use credit wisely
*Set ambitious financial goals
*Invest to reach those goals
*Make the best deals when you buy a car or a home
*Develop sound plans for building the nest eggs you'll need for your kids' college education and your own retirement
*Teach kids the value of money and help aging parents with their money and living arrangements
*Protect yourself and your family with the right amounts of life and health insurance at every stage of your life

In short - how to be a competent, confident, smart money manager.