Introduction 1 Book 1: Taking Charge of Your Finances 5 CHAPTER 1: Assessing Where You Are Financially 7 CHAPTER 2: Building and Sticking to a Budget 25 CHAPTER 3: Cleaning Up Your Credit Reports 45 CHAPTER 4: Becoming a Saver 65 Book 2: Managing Home and Personal Finances 83 CHAPTER 1: Selecting the Best Home Purchase Loan 85 CHAPTER 2: Handling Mortgage Meltdowns 101 CHAPTER 3: Insurance on You: Life, Disability, and Health 117 CHAPTER 4: Covering Your Assets: Home, Auto, and Umbrella Insurance 141 CHAPTER 5: Getting Quality Healthcare for Less 151 CHAPTER 6: Saving for Education Costs 163 CHAPTER 7: Handling Student Loans 181 Book 3: Dealing with Debt and Credit 191 CHAPTER 1: Tackling the Debt You Owe 193 CHAPTER 2: Starting or Restarting Your Credit in Real Life 213 CHAPTER 3: Getting Help with Your Credit 233 CHAPTER 4: Combating Identity Theft 247 CHAPTER 5: Considering Bankruptcy 275 Book 4: Boosting Your Income with Triple Compounding 295 CHAPTER 1: Understanding the Basics of Triple Compounding 297 CHAPTER 2: Investing in Yourself 317 CHAPTER 3: Investing in Your Income-Generating Extensions 327 CHAPTER 4: Investing in Online External Assets 345 CHAPTER 5: Investing in Offline External Assets 367 Book 5: Dealing with the Tax Man 381 CHAPTER 1: Tax Return Preparation Options and Tools 383 CHAPTER 2: Getting and Staying Organized 397 CHAPTER 3: What Kind of Taxpayer Are You? 411 Book 6: Retiring Comfortably 439 CHAPTER 1: Checking the Benefits of a 401(k) 441 CHAPTER 2: Retiring Your Way: IRAs 455 CHAPTER 3: Paychecks from Your House: Reverse Mortgages 463 CHAPTER 4: Determining How Much to Save 477 CHAPTER 5: Managing Money in Retirement 489 Book 7: Planning Your Estate and Will 511 CHAPTER 1: The Fundamentals of Estate Planning 513 CHAPTER 2: Where There's a Will 537 CHAPTER 3: What You Can and Can't Do with Your Will 557 Index 571.