Everything you thought you knew about saving, managing risk, and securing your financial future has changed. The world is very different in the wake of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Retirement accounts have been eviscerated, risk appetites diminished, and questions raised about age-old personal finance strategies such as "buy and hold" and the efficacy of relying heavily on stock mutual funds. In The Wall Street Journal Guide to the New Rules of Personal Finance, Dave Kansas offers guidelines for understanding the new regulations for finance firms, the rising importance of international investing, and the very different environment that now exists for home buyers. With valuable chapters on debt reduction, diversification, retirement planning, real estate, commodities, and other vital topics, this essential volume is designed to help the individual determine which tenets of an investing strategy remain sound and which deserve re-examination. It is the ultimate guide to profitably investing your money in a world that has fundamentally changed.

Covers banking services, credit, home finance, financial planning, investments, and taxes.

Traces the history of money and discusses stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures, and options.

Three years after the economic meltdown began, many of us are still reeling from its devastating effects. Maybe you're among the millions of homeowners who fell behind on their mortgages or you lost your home to foreclosure. Maybe you lost your job and have struggled to find a new one, meanwhile struggling with a drastically reduced income. Or perhaps you're one of the roughly 1.5 million Americans filing each year for bankruptcy. Or maybe you emerged from the meltdown relatively unscathed, but you've been recently divorced or widowed. Now, along with all the other accompanying emotional hardships, you must deal with a household budget that is dramatically changed. Maybe you experienced an unexpected health crisis that drained your savings or retirement account. Or perhaps you've simply grown tired of having so much debt. As tough as these situations are, they aren’t hopeless.. You have options. When the old \ rules for managing your finances no longer apply, you can take control of your situation, wipe the slate clean, and start over. Here, in the accessible, empathetic, and easy-to-understand style the Wall Street Journal Guidebook series is known for, veteran WSJ personal finance reporter Karen Blumenthal walks you through everything you need to know to leave the past behind you and get your financial life back on track. This includes how to: -Build a trusted team of professionals to help you navigate your new financial landscape -Get your credit record - the support beam of your financial scaffolding - back in order -Recalibrate your budget and weigh your big ticket expenses -Determine whether you can afford to stay in your home -Adjust your debts to your new situation -Assess your health coverage and other necessary insurance -Invest for your future retirement and other needs -Craft a sustainable plan for long-term financial health Whether you're recently divorced or widowed, or have declared bankruptcy or lost your home to foreclosure, or simply want to start with a clean slate, you can make a fresh financial start. Covering housing, insurance, health care, investing, debt, taxes, wills, and more, this book shows readers at all life stages and income levels how to adapt and adjust their finances to their new circumstances and get on the path to a better financial life.

Unravel the Mysteries of the Financial Markets—the Language, the Players, and the Strategies for Success Understanding money and investing has never been more important than it is today, as many of us are called upon to manage our own retirement planning, college savings funds, and health-care costs. Up-to-date and expertly written, The Wall Street Journal Complete Money and Investing Guidebook provides investors with a simple—but not simplistic—grounding in the world of finance. It breaks down the basics of how money and investing work, explaining: • What must-have information you need to invest in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds • How to see through the inscrutable theories and arcane jargon of financial insiders and advisers • What market players, investing strategies, and money and investing history you should know • Why individual investors should pay attention to the economy Written in a clear, engaging style by Dave Kansas, one of America’s top business journalists and editor of The Wall Street Journal Money & Investing section, this straightforward book is full of helpful charts, graphs, and illustrations and is an essential source for novice and experienced investors alike. Get your financial life in order with help from The Wall Street Journal. Look for: • The Wall Street Journal Complete Personal Finance Guidebook • The Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Workbook • The Wall Street Journal Complete Real Estate Investing Guidebook

Almost Everything You Need to Know About Leading the Good Life Too many decisions. Too many choices. What today’s smart consumer must have is a money-and-time-saving guide for conducting the “business of life”—both the big challenges, such as getting top-notch health care for the family and the best education for the kids, and the pleasurable ones, like plotting the family summer vacation. Nancy Keates and her expert colleagues atThe Wall Street Journalprovide all-new material that gives the lowdown on: The Savvy Traveler: How to cut to the chase and not only avoid the indignity of cramped plane seats and overpriced tickets, but also get the best and safest seats at the same time. The Fine Art of Dining and Drinking: Landing the hottest table in town—at a discount; picking wine without becoming a wine snob; and learning about “barley matters”—the newest, hottest beers. How to Speak Geek: Demystifying tech trends, with smart advice on not only what high-tech gadgets to buy but how to shop for them. Everything You Need to Know About Buying, Selling and Financing a Car: How to get the best and safest vehicle at the best price. Real Estate: Will the bubble burst? Here’s how to be an informed buyer and seller along with the basics of remodeling and designing your home. How to Be an Informed Patient: Choosing a hospital, playing private investigator with your M.D., and learning about the tests you really ought to have (even if you have to pay for them yourself). Getting Real Bang for Your Education Bucks: What you need to know from preschool through college and graduate school. The Great Balancing Act: Managing work and family, and finding out how to avoid the overstretched child and parent syndromes. Financing Your Life: It was easy in the 1990s, but the world has changed dramatically. Here’s how to deal with the new world of saving, investing and borrowing money. Shopping: The New Sex? Throw away your Kama Sutra. The number one thrill in shopping is getting a good deal—here’s how to play the game and get the best stuff at the best price. The Wall Street Journal Guide to the Business of Lifeis both an instruction manual for living life to the fullest and a fun read about what really matters in the day-to-day. It has all the basic insight and information you need to navigate through life along with hilarious side trips such as “The Three-Decorator Experience” and “Cruises: Sailing New Waters.” From the Hardcover edition.

As you think about retirement, you’ve got facts to face, planning to do, decisions to make and numbers to crunch. With the experts at The Wall Street Journal to guide you, you’ll learn how to tailor a financial plan for the lifestyle you want. • Answers your biggest question—How big does my nest egg need to be?—by linking it to your particular hopes for how you want to spend your days in retirement • Shows how to translate your dreams and interests into daily activities, whether traveling, opening a business, volunteering or going back to school • Provides a timeline for decisions to make and steps to take ten years, five years and one year before you retire • Offers tips on investing wisely and working with the right financial adviser • Tells you how to maximize your benefits from Social Security and Medicare • Guides you through the intricacies of 401(k)s, IRAs, annuities and other financial tools and resources Today, the average person can expect to spend two decades in retirement—why leave it to chance? For all of its changes and challenges, a well-planned retirement could very well be the best part of your life.