Personal Finance For Dummies [Paperback]

Eric Tyson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2009

Now updated-the proven guide to taking control of your finances

The bestselling Personal Finance For Dummies has helped countless readers budget their funds successfully, rein in debt, and build a strong foundation for the future. Now, renowned financial counselor Eric Tyson combines his time-tested financial advice along with updates to his strategies that reflect changing market conditions, giving you a better-than-ever guide to taking an honest look at your current financial health and setting realistic goals for the future.

Inside, you'll find techniques for tracking expenditures, reducing spending, and getting out from under the burden of high-interest debt. Tyson explains the basics of investing in plain English, as well as risks, returns, investment options, and popular investment strategies. He also covers ways to save for college and special events, tame your taxes, and financially survive the twists and turns that life delivers.

• The bestselling, tried-and-true guide to taking control of finances, now updated to cover current market conditions
• Provides concrete, actionable advice for anyone facing great economic hardship
• Helps you avoid or get out of debt and budget funds more successfully
• Eric Tyson, MBA, is a nationally recognized personal finance counselor and the author of numerous For Dummies titles, including Home Buying For Dummies, Investing For Dummies, and Mutual Funds For Dummies, among others

There's no need to stress over an uncertain economy-just read Personal Finance For Dummies and protect your financial future!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This book cuts through the hype and jargon, giving you the real story on credit cards, savings, taxes, real estate, spending reduction, mutual funds, retirement, and insurance -- all in a fun and easy-to-understand style. Also recommends the best financial products to meet your specific needs. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

...by far the best book I have read on financial planning. -- Althea Thomson, PBS Nightly Business Report --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 6 edition (November 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470506938
• ISBN-13: 978-0470506936
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Tyson is a best-selling personal finance book author and has penned five national best sellers. He is also the only author to have four of his books simultaneously on Business Week's business book bestseller list.

His Personal Finance for Dummies, a Wall Street Journal best-seller, won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Business Book of the Year. Eric's syndicated newspaper column is read by millions of readers weekly. He is a former columnist and award-winning journalist for the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle. His website, www.erictyson.com, rocketed into the top one percent of financial websites within its first year of operation.

Eric's work has been featured and quoted in hundreds of local and national publications and media outlets including Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Money, Worth, Parenting, USA Today and on the NBC Today Show, ABC, Fox News, CNBC, PBS Nightly Business Report, CNN, and on CBS national radio, NPR's Marketplace Money and Bloomberg Business Radio. He's also been a featured speaker at a White House conference on retirement planning.

Tired of working as a management consultant to Fortune 500 financial service firms which more interested in maximizing short-term profits than in providing sound financial products and services, Eric founded in 1990 the nation's first financial counseling firm which works exclusively on an hourly basis. He started his new company with a simple mission: to provide objective, cost-effective personal financial advice, especially to non-wealthy Americans. Through family and friends, Eric had seen many otherwise intelligent people make horrendous mistakes in managing their money, in part, because the failure of our schools and colleges to teach personal finance.

In addition to his counseling work, Eric also hoped to make an impact in the writing and media fields. Much of the personal finance writing and reporting he saw and heard was biased, jargon-laden and, in some cases, filled with bad advice. For example, rather than telling people the hard truth - that one must live within one's means as a prerequisite to building wealth - many publications offer up hyped and unrealistic "get rich without making sacrifices or taking risk" type approaches.

In addition to his writing and counseling, Eric also taught the nation's most highly attended personal financial management course at the University of California. He has spoken at many corporations and non-profits. His educational background includes having earned his bachelor's degree in economics at Yale and an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Eric is the only best-selling personal finance author who has an extensive background as an hourly-based financial planner and who does not accept speaking fees, endorsement deals or fees of any type from companies in the financial services industry or product or service providers recommended in his articles, books and his publications.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#59 in Books > Business & Investing

#86 in Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing

#59 in Books > Business & Investing

#86 in Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

464 of 467 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading June 3, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

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.

224 of 229 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most informative book on the subject I have ever read! July 30, 2003

By R. G. May VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

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.

118 of 122 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book October 3, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Personal Finance for Dummies is one of the better Personal Finance Books written post 1995. Although there is a wealth of information, there are also a lot of holes. Nevertheless, a great book for anyone interested in Personal Finance. I also strongly recommend "More Wealth without Risk" and "Financial Self Defense" by Charles Givens and "The Truth about Money" to help fill in some of the holes that Mr Tyson missed.

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you make money, you need this book October 3, 2006

By M TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

83 of 87 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine book. June 5, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I really enjoyed Mr Tyson's book. Very well written and enlightening. For even more strategies and also a easy read, I highly suggest Financial Self Defense by Charles Givens. Givens goes into areas left untouched by Tyson. Tyson and Givens books should be on everyone's bookshelf serious about their financial future. Read and grow rich.

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid overview of the basics February 24, 2001

By Eric Gudorf

Format:Paperback

This book is the financial equivalent of a weight loss book that rejects fad diets and instead advises you to stick to the fundamentals, such as getting regular exercise and eating more lean foods like fruits and vegetables. In this book, Tyson lays out the basics of personal finance, namely, eliminate "bad" debt, reduce frivolous spending, invest wisely, and start saving for future expenses such as retirement, home ownership, and children's education. He has no agenda to push, so he is free to warn his readers of the risks of taking investment advice from those who do. And it is written in a clear style that is easily understood by even the least financially savvy reader.

Of course, some of his advice will meet with resistance in consumer happy America. For instance, he recommends never buying consumer items such as cars on credit, because the car itself (unlike a house) has no investment potential, and the interest you are paying on the loan is not going to further your own long term financial health. In theory, this makes perfect sense, but in practice, most people simply cannot afford to buy their first car with cash (not if they want a new one) and a used car can be a maintenance nightmare if the previous owner didn't take care of it properly. Other advice is questionable, such as buying your groceries only at "club" stores like Sam's Club. Well, that's nice if you're feeding an army, but most young, single people don't want to buy their peanut butter by the barrel and lug these huge packages up several flights of stairs to their apartments, and will gladly pay a bit more for the convenience of getting goods in quantities they can actually use.

But these minor nitpicks aside, this is a fine introductory work.... There are so many books out there on investing and personal finance, and it is a relief to find one that sticks to basic, common sense fundamentals instead of trying to entice you into the latest investment fad. In short, this is a terrific place to start for a person who wants to get started on the path to smart long term money management. Read more ›