The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think about the Rest of Your Life

By Lee Eisenberg

"The Number" is the amount of money you need to have socked away in order to be confident that your postretirement life will meet your expectations. Everyone's Number is different and while it is important to save enough to last - Eisenberg says Americans need to also determine how they want the rest of their life to look. "It's not just 'how much' but 'what for'" he says. He provides a charmingly written consideration of an aging generation's retirement worries and of the investment business designed to profit from them. Heartfelt discussions of goals, health and health care, "downshifting" to enjoy life while spending less money and the meaning of postretirement life pepper its pages. His perceptive analyses of real and fictional people's financial hopes and strategies will inspire readers to reconsider their Numbers and their methods for investing. Sheryl Garrett, founder of the Garrett Planning Network, George Kinder, co-founder of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning, and many other leading financial planners are profiled in the book. Eisenberg provides additional thoughts on his web-log (www.thenumberbook.com).

Just Give Me the Answer$: Expert Advisors
Address Your Most Pressing Financial Questions

By Sheryl Garrett, CFP®, with Marie Swift and The Garrett Planning Network, Inc.

June 2004  Dearborn Trade Publishing
ISBN 0-7931-8339-1
$18.95 paperback

Hiring a financial planner is often something people associate with the wealthy. But according to Sheryl Garrett, everyone should be able to work with a financial professional and take control of his or her financial fitness. In Just Give Me the Answer$: Expert Advisors Address Your Most Pressing Financial Questions, Sheryl Garrett along with Marie Swift and Members of The Garrett Planning Network have provided the answers to the most pressing financial questions consumers ask as they pass through various life stages. Sprinkled with real-life stories and specific examples, Just Give Me the Answer$ is a one-stop resource for anyone looking to get -- and keep -- their financial house in order.

Money Without Matrimony

By Sheryl Garrett, CFP®, and Debra A. Neiman, CFP®, MBA

This book provides financial planning tools and strategies that enable unmarried couples to solve the financial, legal, and discriminatory dilemmas inherent in their living situation. The authors take a real-world approach to the issues, providing specific advice and direction for the more than 5 million couples across the unmarried spectrum. It is an invaluable guide for anyone, of any age, who is unmarried and lives with or is considering living with a partner.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing

By Benjamin Graham with updated examples by Jason Zweig

One of the greatest investment advisors of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. This revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today's market, draws parallels between Graham's examples and today's financial headlines and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham's principles of value investing.

Zero Debt

By Lynette Khalfani

If you want to be debt-free and achieve financial freedom, you need an action plan to guide you. This book is your step-by-step plan and it's simple and easy to understand.

Your Money Matters: 21 Tips to Achieve Financial Security in the 21st Century

By Jonathan D. Pond

One of the best-recognized names and faces in the financial advice world reveals how to greet the new century with money in your pocket. This book by Jonathan Pond breaks new ground by taking a human look at meeting life's financial challenges. Pond's tips present important lessons essential to achieving financial peace of mind and new ideas for prospering in the new century.

You've Lost It, Now What? How to Beat the Bear Market and Still Retire on Time

By Jonathan Clements

This book has a feisty and easy-to-understand style that gives you a road map for the years ahead. It takes you step-by-step through the process of rebuilding your investments and explains how after reaching retirement you can squeeze the maximum out of your savings.

Personal Financial Planning for Gays & Lesbians

By Peter M. Berkery

This book discusses managing personal risks, savings and investing strategies, planning and reducing income taxation, preparing for retirement and estate issues. Co-published by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a non-profit educational organization supporting gays and lesbians, this book helps individuals and couples confront and overcome legal and social realities with solid strategies for achieving financial goals.

JK Lasser's Gay Finances in a Straight World

by Peter M. Berkery and Gregory A. Diggins

Focusing on financial planning in a system that was not designed for persons with a same-sex orientation, this book helps them identify financial planning issues common to society in general, and to the gay community specifically. The authors help gays and lesbians plan for the life events likely to affect their financial status and successfully develop financial strategies that will help them successfully navigate these events.

Widowed: Beginning Again Personally and Financially

By Sharon Trusty, Barry M. Corkern and Sally Chandler Crisp

Part self-help, part narrative exploration, this book is the result of an unusual collaboration between a widow and her financial planner.

The Widow's Resource

By Julie A. Calligaro

This book provides answers to the financial and legal questions that a widow will face within the first six to nine months of her husband's death. It contains sample letters and to-do lists on perforated pages that tear out of the book for easy use.

Suddenly Single: Money Skills for Divorcees and Widows

By Kerry Hannon

This book provides divorced or widowed women with essential information that can transform their lives. The book should be viewed as an essential survival kit for all suddenly singles.

Retirement Bible

By Lynn O'Shaughnessy

A complete guide to the personal finance issues surrounding retirement, from 401(k)s to estate planning and trusts. The author discusses how to save money on taxes, calculating for a comfortable retirement, IRAs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investments.

Does Your Broker Owe You Money

By Daniel R. Solin, Esq.

This book discusses how investors can avoid being victimized by brokers and how to get their money back if they incurred losses on account of broker misconduct. An excellent primer for those wanting to get "the inside skinny" of the brokerage business. Shows investors the various forms of broker fraud, and helps them determine if they have a claim. Gives you the tools to assess if you have a claim and advises you on what your next steps should be.

Protecting Your Wealth in Good Times and Bad

By Rick Ferri, CFA

Protecting Your Wealth is an essential guidebook to a secure savings and investing strategy. Step by step, this book walks you through the process of developing and implementing a sound lifelong plan to grow and protect your hard-earned assets.

You Don't Have to Be Rich: Comfort, Happiness and Financial Security on Your Own Terms

By Jean Chatzky

Chatzky, who is with NBC's Today Show and Money Magazine, creates an insightful book that can show you how to make financial decisions to make you truly happy no matter your financial means. Practical advice. Highly inspiring.

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence

By Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

This is a best-selling book on how to get control of your money and your life. The authors help you take a look at how you handle your money, and whether it is a reflection of your values.

All About Index Funds

By Rick Ferri, CFA

Little known just five years ago, index mutual funds have become one of today's most popular vehicles for investors. "All About Index Funds" explains the ins and outs of these easy-to-use investments, and reveals how they can give you the advantage of a highly diversified portfolio for as little as $500.

The Millionaire Next Door

By Thomas Stanley and William Danko

Contrary to what many may believe, most millionaires are not flashy. This book gives you a good look at the profile of a typical millionaire, how they got there, and how you can learn from their habits. Who knows, you might even become the next Millionaire Next Door.

Saving Money: An Easy, Smart Guide to Saving Money

By Barbara Loos

Formerly published under the title I Haven't Saved a Dime, Now What?!, this book has been repackaged, and sold under the Barnes & Noble Basics label. It is designed to walk you through the often puzzling and worry-producing world of money.

Seven Stages of Money Maturity: Understanding the Spirit and Value of Money in Your Life

By George Kinder, CFP®

This is a book that searches for the spiritual meaning in wealth, and tells the stories of three composite characters throughout the book. You learn how to evolve through the seven stages (innocence, pain, knowledge, understanding, vigor, vision, and aloha) necessary to achieve financial and emotional security. Named as " one of the most influential people in the financial planning industry (Investment Advisor magazine, June 2003), George is the founder of The Kinder Institute of Life Planning, a personal empowerment and training organization that offers the highly-acclaimed Seven Stages of Money Management Workshop.

101 Tax Saving Ideas

By Randy Gardner, JD, CPA, CFP®, and Julie Welch, CPA, CFP®

This useful and expertly written book is a great guide for ideas on how to save money on taxes, not a dry, technical tax manual. It could very well save you some money on your next tax return. Updated every year, the book is a reliable resource, chockfull of tax-saving ideas.

Who Gets Grandma's Yellow Pie Plate?

By Marlene Stum

This is a sensible, down to earth guide on how to handle the distribution of family items from one generation to the next. The goal is to have the process be a celebration of the deceased person's life, rather than allowing emotions to harm or destroy family relationships.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Best Investment Advice for the New Century

By Burton Malkiel

This is an investment classic, originally published in 1973. It has just been updated, and now takes into account the dot-com meltdown. Among other topics, Malkiel gives an entertaining history of past market bubbles, and explains why it's not worth trying to beat the market. There is also a life-cycle guide to investing in the market.

The Only Investment Guide You Will Ever Need

By Andrew Tobias

This guide has been updated many times and available for more than 20 years. This is an easy-to-read book covering many of the basics of personal finance, from investments and life insurance to Social Security.