THE MONEY BOOK OF MONEY: Your Personal Financial Planner

Among other virtues, this comprehensive, comprehensible personal-finance manual for singles, ""mingles,"" and families (including those with more than one set of children) offers sound, up-to-date counsel on the implications of both tax reform and de-facto deregulation of the fast-changing marketplace for financial services. Drawing on material originally published in Money magazine, Klein works within a comparatively conventional format, starting with the recommendation that households first inventory their assets, establish realistic goals, and prepare budgets. He then offers a series of savvy briefings on launching and maintaining a savings/investment program, making the most of an employer's fringe benefits, obtaining credit, securing the best possible deal on housing, buying insurance of all kinds, putting kids through college, assisting aged parents, negotiating a divorce settlement, reducing IRS liabilities, planning for retirement, and otherwise meeting the financial challenges encountered at successive stages of life. And once past the life-cycle chapters, Klein offers more detailed rundowns on specific aspects of personal Finance. His survey of investment opportunities is somewhat sketchy. On the plus side of the ledger, however, the coverage of alternatives to traditional depository institutions, shopping for loans, and dealing with professional advisors provides a wealth of cautionary intelligence, Also valuable are Klein's pound-wise pointers on purchasing big-ticket consumer goods, which deliver fascinating lowdowns on retail markups. In brief, then, a Fine buy for upper-income individuals seeking reliable cradle-to-grave financial guidance in an attractive and accessible package. The text includes tabular material that puts key points in clear perspective, worksheets, and an appendix with listings (complete with addresses and telephone numbers) for 70 organizations of interest to consumers, investors, and savers.