A guide to achieving financial stability and prosperity encourages new ways to think about and manage money, discussing such topics as balancing a budget, planning for entertainment, and getting out of debt.

TV analysts and money managers would have you believe your finances are enormously complicated, and if you don't follow their guidance, you'll end up in the poorhouse. They're wrong. When University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack interviewed Helaine Olen, a financial journalist, he made an offhand suggestion: everything you need to know about managing your money could fit on an index card. To prove his point, he grabbed a 4" x 6" card, scribbled...

"The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under--but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams....

"A practical guide to getting personal investing rightSomewhere along the way, something has gone very wrong with the way individuals save and invest. Too often, households are drawn in by promotional suggestions masquerading as impartial investment advice. Consumers get saddled with more risk than they realize. Authors Zvi Bodie and Rachelle Taqqu understand the dilemma that today's investors face, and with Risk Less and Prosper they will help you...

Gives parents a creative plan for teaching their children how to manage money wisely, including teaching them about debt, eliminating an attitude of entitlement, and being honest about the consequences of easy spending.

Shares anecdotal insight into the illogical influences behind poor financial decisions and how to out maneuver them, covering topics ranging from credit-card debt and household budgeting to holiday spending and real estate sales.

A "personal finance book that translates financial jargon and enables readers to ask the tough questions to protect their money and their financial well-being."--