What you don't know can seriously hurt you: wrong decisions about which Social Security benefits to apply for cost some individual retirees tens of thousands of dollars in lost income every year. How many retirees or those nearing retirement know about such Social Security options as file and suspend (apply for benefits and then don't take them)? Or start stop start (start benefits, stop them, then re-start them)? Or just as important when and how to use these techniques? Get What's Yours covers the most frequent benefit scenarios faced by married retired couples, by divorced retirees, by widows and widowers, among others. It explains what to do if you're a retired parent of dependent children, disabled, or an eligible beneficiary who continues to work, and how to plan wisely before retirement. It addresses the tax consequences of your choices, as well as the financial implications for other investments. Many personal finance books briefly address Social Security, but none offers the thorough, authoritative, yet conversational analysis found here. You've paid all your working life for these benefits. Now, get what's yours.

    "Budget" brings to mind rationing, a kind of money diet. If you're like many people, budgeting is something you do with a kind of deflated spirit: budgeting means bargain bin quality and the sad sense that what you want is going to be just out of reach. This book will try a different approach to budgeting all together. It's a pity that the idea of living within one's means should be experienced as such a deficit - this book will try to show that when you apply the principles of minimalism to budgeting, you are neither in a state of self-denial or trying to survive a financial scrape. In fact, a minimalist budget is a particular approach to abundance and fulfillment that may seem counter-intuitive to most. This book will offer an expanded notion of what it means to budget. We'll look at how money is not the only resource that needs to be managed, and a "life budget" that acknowledges your emotional, behavioral, social and even spiritual capital is more likely to lead to smarter decisions. We'll explore shopping and spending habits, identify problem areas, think about debt and make achievable goals for home, work and more. We'll look at concrete ways to put some of these principles into action, and look at resources that will keep you focused and motivated. At the same time, this book is also about the philosophy of minimalism, not thriftiness. If you can pair your budget plan with a more nuanced understanding of your relationship with money and how it ties into how you want to live, the changes you make will be more authentic and longer lasting. Minimalism is not about doing with less than you need. Rather, it's about finding what you need and fulfilling that need exactly, without excess. It's a subtle and easily overlooked point: to have exactly enough is not suffering. Budgeting is therefore about understanding what you need to have enough, and how best you can allocate your resources to that end. Life is short. Money and material things can make our time on this earth better, and they can help us move closer to what we find meaningful and worthwhile. But they are not meaningful and worthwhile in themselves. Money is a tool and how we spend it is an expression of our values and what we think is important. How much would you pay for peace of mind and the calm you get from knowing you are living well? How much of your life do you give away when you work? Of all your expenses, have you remembered to include the time you waste stressing about money? These may seem like vague or overly philosophical questions, but they get to the root of how we earn, spend and think of money. Once we understand these roots, our efforts to save here and there not only become easier, they become more meaningful. Here's What You'll Learn After Reading This Book: A deeper understanding of what makes for a long-lasting budgetIdentifying the core: time and valuePractical money-saving tips in areas such as food, clothes, health, home, cleaning, children, debt and financesHow to set goals that best match your personal budgetHow to put everything you've learned into practice and make your own personal budget, from week one to six months and beyondAnd much more!

    Very, very angry! So-called financial experts have kept certain principles from you for years. Secrets. Important secrets that, had you known them, would have made your life much simpler and much more profitable.Becoming Your Own Banker reveals secrets kept from you all these years because of the mindset that is predominant in the entire financial world.Written originally as a textbook designed to accompany a 10-hour course, Becoming Your Own Banker is designed for the layman, not the financial professional.Learn how to put these secrets to work in everyday terms...not financial double-speak. Here is some of what is revealed to you:How To Create Your Own Banking SystemFive Methods of Financing AutomobilesHow To Design an Insurance Plan that Solves the Banking FunctionPotential Sources of CapitalPlaying The "Cash Flow" GameThe Cost of AcquisitionThe Retirement Trap...and so much more! There are 84 jam-packed pages containing financial blueprints that, if applied, can open up a whole new world for you and those you care about. Discover for yourself, these important secrets and make your life much simpler and much more profitable.