Acknowledgments xi About the Author xiii Introduction xv Part I: Track Your Money 1 Chapter 1: Who I Am: My Journey 3 Chapter 2: The First Step 15 Lesson 1: The Psychology of Money 15 Lesson 2: Looking into the Mirror 20 Lesson 3: Changing Your Habits 23 Lesson 4: Building a Support Team 28 Lesson 5: Staying the Course 31 Chapter 3: Evaluate Your Financial Situation: Getting Organized Through the Balance Sheet 37 Lesson 1: Know Your Starting Point 38 Lesson 2: Evaluate Your Debt and Focus on Your Goals 39 Lesson 3: The Breakdown of the Balance Sheet in Steps 41 Lesson 4: Understanding Your Net Worth 45 Chapter 4: Craft a Plan: Create Your Budget 49 Lesson 1: The Importance of Crafting Your Plan 49 Lesson 2: Organizational Tips for Tracking Your Money 56 Chapter 5: Getting out of Debt: The Triumph Before the Real Storm 61 Lesson 1: Say No to Spending 61 Lesson 2: Amortization Schedules for Debt Payoff Success 62 Lesson 3: Stay on Track 66 Part II: Grow Your Money 69 Chapter 6: Setting the Stage for Your Investments 71 Lesson 1: Compound Interest 72 Lesson 2: Investing 101: Understanding Stock Market Basics 78 Lesson 3: Understanding Types of Asset Classes 82 Lesson 4: Breaking Down Equity Asset Classes 87 Lesson 5: Diversification 89 Lesson 6: Target Date Fund Diversification 93 Lesson 7: Single Asset versus Mutual Fund versus Index Fund versus Exchange-Traded Funds 94 Chapter 7: Formulating Your Investment Plan 101 Lesson 1: Where to Buy Asset Classes 101 Lesson 2: Types of Investment Accounts 102 Lesson 3: Fees: What They Are and Why They Matter So Much 121 Lesson 4: When to Invest 128 Lesson 5: How Much to Invest 129 Lesson 6: Risk Profile for Investing 130 Lesson 7: Investing Framework 132 Part III: Protect Your Money 137 Chapter 8: Build Your Moat 139 Lesson 1: Protecting Your Money Through Insurance 140 Lesson 2: Protecting Your Money Through Tax Diversification 149 Lesson 3: Protecting Your Money Through Tax Planning and Tax Preparation 150 Lesson 4: Protecting Your Money Through Wills and Trusts 151 Lesson 5: Protecting Your Money Through Durable Powers of Attorney 154 Lesson 6: Protecting Your Money Through Credit 156 Chapter 9: Budgetdog, My Money Mindset, and My Passion 161 Chapter 10: Logan Lee, an Unimaginable Reality: My WHY 167 Conclusion 173 Glossary of Common Investing Terms 177 Resources 187 References 189 Disclaimer 191 Index 193.