A WOMENS GUIDE TO INVESTING

This highly practical, information-packed guide provides essential investment information that women of all ages need - not just how and when to invest and whom to trust, but the difference investing makes. Topics include setting goals, smart investment decisions, and planning for the future.

Virginia B. Morris and Kenneth M. Morris are the authors of the popular The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money & Investing and The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Personal Finance, and more recently, Standard & Poor’s Guide to Money and Investing. Virginia is editorial director of Lightbulb Press and the author of more than a dozen books on financial subjects. Her articles regularly appear in a wide variety of magazines, and she is a frequent guest on radio and television financial programs. Kenneth is the CEO of Lightbulb Press. In this capacity, he created many of the first easy-to-read communications for the brokerage, mutual fund, and insurance industries.

The New Reality
+ Women and Investing
+ The Power of Investing
+ The Gender Issue
+ The Value of Advice
+ An Investment Spectrum
+ Some Details of Ownership
+ Investing on Your Own
+ Married, with Investments
+ Investing with a Partner
+ Investing with Children

Principles of Planning
+ Financial Planning
+ Take a Closer Look
+ Managing Debt
+ Creating a Plan
+ Tailoring a Plan
+ Getting the Money Together
+ Choosing Growth or Income
+ Basics of Investing
+ Understanding Investment Risk
+ Managing Risk
+ Time and Risk
+ Keeping Ahead of Inflation
+ Building Your Portfolio
+ Allocating Your Assets
+ Diversification
+ Investing, Tax-Wise
+ Leaving a Legacy

Introduction to Insurance
+ Insuring the Future
+ Types of Life Insurance
+ How Much Life Insurance?
+ Qualifying for Coverage
+ Ownership and Beneficiaries
+ Advanced Planning with Life Insurance
+ Disability Insurance
+ Long-Term Care Insurance

Coping with the Unexpected
+ Coping with the Unexpected
+ Out of Work?
+ Divorce: Financial Self-Defense
+ Financial Settlements
+ Widowhood
+ Marrying Again, Marrying Later
+ Taking Care of Others
+ Dealing with Fraud

Introduction to Investing
+ Making Investments
+ Equity and Debt
+ Stocking Up on Stocks
+ Taking Stock
+ Bonds: The Basics
+ Bonds Issues
+ Mutual Funds: Investing Together
+ Mutual Fund Marketplace
+ Specialized Funds
+ Buying Mutual Funds
+ Expanding Your Fund Portfolio
+ Fund Performance
+ Figuring Your Return
+ Searching for Yield

Working With Advisors
+ Financial Advice
+ Sources of Help
+ The Price of Advice
+ Set Your Standards
+ Conduct an Interview
+ Build a Partnership
+ Starting to Invest
+ Resolving Problems

Planning for the Expected
+ Moving Ahead Toward Your Goals
+ To Buy or Not to Buy?
+ Qualifying for a Mortgage
+ Building Equity
+ Refinancing
+ The Cost of College
+ College Investing Primer
+ Education Investments
+ Strategies for Paying
+ Applying for Aid
+ Investing for Retirement
+ It Pays to Give at the Office
+ You're in the Driver's Seat
+ IRAs
+ More Tax-Deferred Alternatives
+ Deferred Annuities
+ Immediate Annuities

Glossary and Index
+ Glossary
+ Index