Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Format (B × H): 215 mm x 274 mm, Gewicht: 442 g
ISBN: 978-1-118-61445-7
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
Between the ongoing recession, the collapse of the housing market, and the crumbling of the middle class, many Americans are left wondering what happened to the American Dream. They're also wondering what happened to their money. For millions of people, just making ends meet is challenging enough. So when it comes to saving and investing, it seems like the deck is stacked against you.
The bad news is that you're right. If the economy were a card game, the dealer would hold all the aces. But the good news is that you don't have to play by the house rules. Renowned for his unvarnished insight on finance and investing, money manager Mark Grimaldi has a reputation for telling it like it is. He doesn't sugarcoat the negative and he doesn't have time for the financial industry hype that leads to bad investing decisions. Here's the truth: the economy is in bad shape, but that doesn't mean you can't save responsibly, invest profitably, and retire comfortably.
In The Money Compass, Grimaldi teams up with accounting professor G. Stevenson Smith to offer a wealth of smart investing advice for today's investor. This plain-English guide to good investing presents practical strategies and actionable advice for safely navigating today's financial markets. It shows you how to manage credit and debt responsibly, how to use the tax code to your advantage, which kinds of trendy investing advice you should ignore, and where to put your money for solid returns.
In addition, the authors explore the hard macroeconomic realities that explain how we got here and where we're going next. They look at the primary causes and consequences of the recession, the housing crash, the slow collapse of government programs, long-term unemployment, and how it all impacts you and your money. Plus, Grimaldi and Stevenson forecast the next big economic shock and show you how to profit from it.
The economic game is rigged to keep you poor and keep Wall Street rich. So it's time to write your own rules. Whether you're white collar, blue collar, or somewhere in between, The Money Compass gives you the commonsense guidance you need to chart a course to a comfortable financial future--even in the roughest economic waters.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
Weitere Infos & Material
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter 1 Introduction: The Invisible Hand of Confiscation 1
The Fourth Branch: K Street Government 2
More Income Tax and More Debt, Too 4
Monetization of the Debt: Say What? 8
The Last Biggie: Repeal of Glass-Steagall and Gamblers Gone Wild 11
Summary 13
References 14
Chapter 2 Greenspan and the Growing Bubble 15
Simple Plans Often Become Complicated 17
Moving On. 19
The 36-Day Election 24
My Takeaway Is More than Fries 28
Summary 30
Reference 30
Notes 30
Chapter 3 Drop the "U" Out of "Housing" and You Get What America Got 33
2000 to 2006: The Perfect Storm 35
Oops, Almost Made It 38
2007: All Fall Down 40
2008: The Year of Reckoning 44
The Fat Lady Sings: "It's Not Over" 46
2009 to 2012: The Road to Recovery? 48
Looking Ahead 49
50-Year Mortgages 50
What to Do Next? Let's Buy a House 51
Summary 54
Reference 55
Notes 55
Chapter 4: Credit Cards: Let Me Have It NOW! And They Did 57
The New Law 58
Let's Skip a Payment 59
The Contract 60
How Is That Interest Rate Figured? 62
The Credit Card Tax 67
Tipping a Hat to Debit Cards 68
Getting Back 70
Summary 74
Notes 74
Chapter 5: Who Are Target-Date Retirement Funds Targeting? 77
A Ticking Time Bomb 84
The Dawdling SEC 86
What Can You Do? 87
Chapter 6: Four-Oh-One-Kay Tales 89
The Truth about Your 401(hey)! 90
Meet Mr. Uninformed and Mrs. Navigator 91
Mr. Uninformed and Mrs. Navigator, 10 Years Later 93
A Little More Sizzle 95
One Exception 97
Four Reasons to Invest in After-Tax Accounts 97
Summary 99
Chapter 7: Exchange-Traded Funds 101
Is Mr. Bogle "Indexing" the Problem? 101
What Is an Index Fund? 102
Why Invest in an Index Fund? 103
Giving Up Downside Protection 104
Giving Up the Ability to Lock In Profits 105
Why Not Buy and Hold? 107
So What's Wrong with ETFs? 107
How Much Should You Pay for an ETF Trade? 110
The Benefits of Professionally Managed ETFs 110
Ranking ETFs the Grimaldi Way 111
Summary 112
Note 114
Chapter 8: Who Took My Money Now?
The Collapsing Education System 115
The Feds and State Government 116
The Vendors 117
School Administrators, Relatives, and Cronies 119
The Boosters 121
Teachers, Sex, Unions, Drugs, and More Fraud 123
Parents 128
Students 129
So What Are You and Yours Losing? 130
Are There Choices? 131
Summary 134
Notes 135
Chapter 9: Staying Poor in America 137
Rich or Poor? 138
What Else? Business Models Have Changed Our Way of Earning a Living 141
Other Factors Making Americans Poor 143
Spend It if You Got It or Pretend to Be Rich Until You Are Poor 144
Governmental Solutions 146
Private Solutions 147
Summary 150
Notes 151
Chapter 10: The Federal Debt Bomb: Hold Your Breath (at least try) 153
Government Choices and Me 156
What Am I Going to Lose in These Policy Choices? 164
So How Do I Keep from Losing My Shirt--or at
Least Survive an Inflationary Environment? 169
Summary 171
Notes 171
Chapter 11: Navigating the 2014 Recession 173
Beginnings 174
Behind the Accolades--Accurate Forecasting 177
The 2014 Recession 180
Recession Rules to Live By 181
Navigate Carefully 184
Appendix The Grimaldi Forecasts 186
January 2008 Navigator Newsletters 186
February 2008 Navigator Newsletters 189
March 2008 Navigator Newsletters 189
June 2008 Navigator Newsletters 191
November 2008 Navigator Newsletters 192
May 2009 Navigator Newsletters 194
Chapter 12: Changing Job Patterns and You 197
How Could This Happen? 200
Did You Leave the Middle Class on Purpose? 202
The Job Recovery from the Great Recession 203
Societal and Economic Effects 204
A Possible Solution? 207
Summary 210
Notes 210
Chapter 13: Gratuity Government: Should I Take the Free Butter? 213
Taker Trends: Get Wise and Do Less for Yourself 215
Entrance to the Land of the Takers 216
Transfer Payments and a Hypothetical Monthly Budget 223
Summary 225
Notes 226
About the Authors 227
Index 229
