The MoneyTrack Method E-Book

Pam Krueger

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 465

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2008

Beschreibung

Based on the popular public television series MoneyTrack, The MoneyTrack Method offers you the principles, techniques, and approaches that allow real people of all incomes to become successful investors. Steering you away from the get-rich-quick mentality that sinks so many, this book shows you how patience and planning pay off, as well as how good investing habits lead to better overall financial health. Filled with in-depth insights and real-world examples, The MoneyTrack Method outlines the time-tested principles of smart investing, and shows you how others have already applied them.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER 1 - Investing 101

Investment Basics

CHAPTER 2 - Financial Security on $12 an Hour

Dividend Reinvestment and Direct Stock Purchase Plans

Characteristics of Successful Investors

Mind over Money

How Gender Influences Our Behavior

The Paralysis of Analysis

Dollar Cost Averaging

Becoming a Disciplined and Unemotional Investor

CHAPTER 3 - Don’t Bank on an Inheritance for Financial Security

Preventing Battles to the Death over Your Estate

Legal Documents You Can’t Live or Die Without

Hoping for the Best and Planning for the Worst

Will It or Won’t It?

Killer Living Trusts

Avoiding Family Feuds

Estate and Inheritance Taxes

The Risk of Needing Long-Term Care

Investing Your Inheritance

Honoring the Memory of Your Benefactor

CHAPTER 4 - Retirement Reality Check

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Making Your Savings Last as Long as You Do

Making the Best of Your Investment Options

Getting Started before It’s Too Late

Where’s My Social Security Check?

When to Pull the Plug

Working or Hardly Working in Retirement

Too Much Money Can Be a Problem

Finding Money to Invest

CHAPTER 5 - Taking Control of Your Investments Online

Living a High-Tech Lifestyle Even If You Live in a Truck

No-Brainer Portfolio

Dogs of the Dow

Controlling the Cost of Investing by Educating Yourself

Resolving to Take Control of Your Finances

Whose Identity Is It Anyway?

Guidance for Online Investors

Watch out for the Newsletters, Too

CHAPTER 6 - Investing Like the Pros, Not the Gurus

Its Not Just a Game

Sorting through the Gurus’ Advice

Why Aren’t They Sitting on the Beach Somewhere?

Passive versus Active Investing: What’s Right for You?

The ABCs of ETFs

Day Trading for Fun, Profit, and Losses

Improving Your Odds as an Investor

CHAPTER 7 - Me, Inc.

Salary Isn’t the Only Thing that Matters

If You Don’t Take Care of Yourself . . .

Crunching the Numbers

Health Insurance Check-Ups

Benefits You Don’t Get through Your Employer

Opening and Closing Your Own Business

Taxing Your Knowledge about Taxes

CHAPTER 8 - Myth Busters

Myth #1: Small Investors Shouldn’t Invest in the Stock Market

Myth #2: Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) Are Always a Good Investment

Myth #3: Investing in the Stock Market Is Gambling

Myth #4: The Stock Market Will Crash When Baby Boomers Retire in Waves

Myth #5: As You Close in on Retirement, You Need to Shift to Conservative ...

Myth #6: Your Spending Will Decrease in Retirement

Myth #7: You Can Figure Out Your Asset Allocation with a Simple Rule of Thumb

Debunking the Myths

Math Is No Myth

CHAPTER 9 - Let’s Get Real about Real Estate

Your Home Is Your Biggest Investment

Evaluating Your Home as an Investment

Home Equity Loans: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Flipping and Flipping Out over Real Estate

Putting on the Ritz with REITS

Reverse Mortgage Uses and Abuses

Investing in a Vacation Home Is No Day at the Beach

CHAPTER 10 - Financial Makeover

Meet the Daniels Family

Credit Makeovers

How Credit Affects Your Ability to Buy a Home

Savings Makeover

How Much Money Should I Save?

Rule of 72

CHAPTER 11 - The American Dream

Is the American Dream Still Doable?

Do I Need Financial Advice?

How to Choose a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA)

How to Choose a Stockbroker

Pitfalls to Avoid as You Look for Financial Advice

Creating Your Own Version of the American Dream

Financing the American Dream

Target Date Retirement Funds

Envisioning Your Ideal Lifestyle

Living the American Dream Somewhere Else

The Dream of Early Retirement

Tweaking Your Version of the American Dream

CHAPTER 12 - Changing Lanes

Will Trading Stocks Get Me to My Goal Sooner?

When Should I Switch Lanes with My Investment Vehicles?

When Your Circumstances Dictate Changing Investments

Using the Stars to Screen Mutual Funds

Which Lane Gets Me to Where I Want to Go?

Changing Your Mindset about Investing

CHAPTER 13 - Advice from the Ultimate Investment Pro—Warren Buffett

Investing Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

The Secret Millionaire’s Club

Buffett-Style Investing

Deciphering Your Investments

Develop Your Own Investment Style

Analyzing Stocks Like a Pro

CHAPTER 14 - Kids and Money DON’T KID YOURSELF

Parental Influence on Investor Attitudes

Teach Your Children Well

Damon Williams, Investment Guru in Training

Making Allowances for Children

Learning about Investing from Grandparents

Section 529 Plans

Savings Bonds Used for Educational Purposes

The Times, They Are a Changing

Sane Money Advice from the Host of Mad Money

CHAPTER 15 - Tying Up Some Financial Loose Ends

Good Debt versus Bad Debt

Student Loans

Renting versus Owning a Home

Update on Corporate Fraud and Corporate Ethics in America

Socially Responsible Investing

Choosing the Right Financial Adviser

Conclusion

About the Author

Index

Copyright © 2008 by Pam Krueger. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Krueger, Pam The moneytrack method : the real person’s guide to successful investing / Pam Krueger. p. cm. Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-44940-0

1. Investments. 2. Finance, Personal. 3. Speculation. I. Title. HG4521.K78 2009 332.67’8—dc22 2008021331

To Harold Apfelbaum, Don Blandin, Neil Alford,Cynthia Zeiden and Katie Horgan, and the entireMoneyTrack team, all of whom add magic toeverything they touch.

Foreword

As president and CEO of the Investor Protection Trust, I spend a great deal of time talking to people from all walks of life about investing and the “R” word: retirement. I have come to understand that regardless of differences in economic background or level of education, most of us share similar hopes and suffer the same fears about life in retirement—and I include myself in this group. With increasing responsibility being put on the shoulders of Americans to prepare for their own long-term financial security—including 20 plus years in retirement—it is crucial that all Americans know the essentials of saving and investing, and how to use that information to make wise investment choices and avoid investment fraud. We all recognize that investors need to know certain key facts and concepts, but it may be even more important to their long-term financial security that investors learn the behavioral process of investing—such as checking the background of a stockbroker or investment advisor before investing. Americans do not know what they need to about the process of investing and are often not taking even the most basic actions necessary to make good investment decisions.

Planning is a first crucial step in the process of investing. Without a plan, Americans are saving and investing blindly, and are unlikely to build a nest egg that can provide them with long-term financial security. The first step in planning is to set specific and inspiring financial goals and develop a plan to reach those goals. To quote Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

The Investor Protection Trust has initiated a number of educational programs to help people understand the process of investing. I strongly believe in the power of education as a means to protect and empower all investors. Along with many other investor education initiatives, IPT supports the MoneyTrack national public television series because it does a great job of educating investors in an entertaining way, using humor and real life stories to illustrate important and sometimes complicated investment concepts. The program, created and co-hosted by Pam Krueger, also focuses on investment scams, helping investors recognize and avoid them as they invest for their future financial security. Let’s face it—scam artists are very good at what they do. Many of them prey on people they know. The key to avoiding investment scams is to recognize them up front.

Pam Krueger brings the same practical, humorous, and down-to-earth approach to The MoneyTrack Method as she does to the MoneyTrack series. In this book, Pam has managed to distill the advice of the investment pros and present it in an entertaining fashion. The book guides readers through lessons that feature real people dealing with real financial and investment issues. We read about people who’ve became successful investors, as well as the people who have been victimized by investment scams. The MoneyTrack Method offers positive, independent, and objective advice that can be hard to find in the media these days.

I believe The MoneyTrack Method will help us as we strive to reach our common goal of educating and protecting investors so they make wise and safe investment decisions. I also believe the “Scam Alerts” found throughout the book will help countless readers learn to recognize and avoid investment scams. Readers will come away from this book having learned about the process of investing. They’ll also know how to check out the background of a stockbroker or investment adviser as well as the investment itself.

Because of educational initiatives like the MoneyTrack program and The MoneyTrack Method, we can continue to raise the investor IQ of our nation and make it a whole lot harder for the scam artists to make a living. The MoneyTrack Method provides investors and potential investors with the information they need to invest wisely and safely for their future financial security.

DON M. BLANDIN President and CEO, Investor Protection Trust

Acknowledgments

I would really like to thank Don Blandin, President and CEO of the Investor Protection Trust for developing so many outstanding programs that are helping ordinary investors make smarter investing decisions, and also for placing his faith in me by allowing me to be part of his vision. I am also grateful to all of the investing experts who’ve been on MoneyTrack Season Two, including Warren Buffett, John Bogle, Ben Stein, and many others with whom I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time dreaming up new ideas for turning dry investing lessons into real stories about real people. The MoneyTrack team at Beyond Pix and my co-host, Jack Gallagher, also deserve special recognition. (Who else would allow me to include the dog, Chloe, on a TV show about money?) Special thanks should go to Les Abromovitz who has the sharpest mind in the world of personal finance. I would also like to express my gratitude to Debbie Englander, Kelly O’Connor, and their colleagues at John Wiley & Sons, for their hard work on my behalf. Finally, Cynthia Zeiden should get all the credit she deserves for making sure MoneyTrack is seen on as many PBS stations as possible on this planet and any others we may discover.

CHAPTER 1

Investing 101

If you’re like most people, Investing 101 is the course you knew you should sign up for but avoided taking. Even the introductory course on investing might frighten you or make you so sleepy that you shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery. Nevertheless, the fact that you have avoided learning about investing doesn’t stop you from complaining about how you don’t have a dime put away for retirement or that your bills are piling up in that fruit bowl on your kitchen counter. Perhaps you’re the type of person who whines that you don’t have any money to invest, or even to buy a second fruit bowl, after paying your bills.

Investing doesn’t have to be scary or complicated. On the MoneyTrack program that I co-host with Jack Gallagher, our motto is, “Keep it simple—and keep it real.” Even when it comes to investing, we try to simplify complicated topics. Jack’s role on the show is to make sure none of my advice or the advice from our experts goes over the viewer’s head. You can be sure he wouldn’t let this book make it into print if any of the investment topics we discuss are over anyone’s head, especially his own.

Even though we feature guests such as high-energy CNBC stock expert, Jim Cramer, on our program, we take a low-key approach to money topics. There are no sound effects, except for an occasional groan in response to Jack’s jokes. Since Jack is a former standup comic, he can’t resist adding humor to every program. He also lightens up the educational presentations we conduct in conjunction with state securities regulators across the country. The securities regulators in each state ensure that investments and financial advisers are on the up-and-up.

Aside from experts, we feature real people each week with real money issues and questions. Our goal on the program and in this book is to show you what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to money and investing in the real world. As you learn about investing, you can be assured that no one is trying to sell you anything. is sponsored by the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust, whose primary mission is to provide independent and objective information so consumers can make informed investment decisions.