The Wall Street Journal. Complete Personal Finance Guidebook (Wall Street Journal Guidebooks)

If you're looking for a book covering all the basics of understanding personal finance, this is it. Jeff Opdyke, a financial reporter for the Wall Street Journal, brings us a short read that encompasses everything the average person cares about: taxes, insurance, retirement planning, budgeting, borrowing, and banking. If you can honestly admit to yourself that you don't have as thorough an understanding of personal finance as you should, then this is a great introduction.The "Complete Personal Finance Guidebook" covers some aspects of basic finance that you may never have known or thought of. For example, which type of account should you stash your emergency fund in: a savings account or a money-market account? Isn't a money-market account risky? Not necessarily. Both funds are considered extremely safe, and are both insured by the FDIC. However, money-market accounts will earn you a higher interest rate on your emergency fund, and will be penalty-free as long as you meet minimum balances and don't touch the money often (which you shouldn't if it were truly an emergency fund).Mr. Opdyke covers basic financial rules you thought you already knew. Think you have a perfect credit report? Have you checked lately? A report by the Federal Trade Commission found that 25% of all credit reports contain errors. A 2003 amendment called the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act allows you to check your credit report free of charge once a year. Furthermore, the credit-reporting agencies are required by law to correct errors you find. If you want to be responsible about your finances, you need to take advantage of your credit report and find errors to avoid credit-related problems down the road.A large portion of the book is dedicated to investing. This includes everything from how stocks and bonds work, what the market indices track, how to invest in college, and--probably most significant--how to invest for retirement. 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, and all the basics of retirement investing are here in plain English.Finally, Mr. Opdyke dedicates chapters to insurance and taxes. The insurance section is a great introduction to all the types of insurance most people care about like auto, home, and medical. The taxes section is extremely brief, and you will need to go outside of this book to learn more about how taxes work. Taxes is an extremely complicated subject, and this book only provides the most basic introduction.The only downside to this book is the outdated numbers. New tax laws have taken effect since this book was published, inflation has created new caps for annual IRA and 401(k) contributions, and new tax brackets have been created. Whenever Mr. Opdyke mentions a specific number for something, it's probably best to verify it online to see if it has changed.If you're tired of living in ignorance when it comes to finances, this book is smarter than any other investment I can think of. Invest in this book, and you will come out more improved and responsible over your finances, guaranteed.

Super cool book.As I'm being non-native american it sometimes not easy to read finance books. But this one is very different. I completely understood everything that was in this book. Very easy very helpful.Would suggest it for everyone who graduated rom college and ready to start adult life.cons: this book published on 2006, so some data in it may be outdated. For instance author suggest Microsoft Money to keep track of debts and credits, but Microsoft Money was discontinued in 2010.Other then that all information is very easy to understand and useful.

As a soon to be college graduate, this was a great introduction to personal finance. It is quite comprehensive and has a lot of great, practical advice. This is, however, a "jack of all trades, master of none" type of books. It gives a good overview of all pertinent subjects, but to truly understand and apply any one subject will require more research. It wasn't as dry as you would assume; there were some decent jokes and jabs thrown in to make it an easy read. I would say the biggest issue with this book is the fact that it is a bit out-dated; it was published in 2005. As of this writing (Spring 2015) some of the advice isn't relevant due to extremely low interest rates. Once rates go back up, then it will reflect the market a bit better. Overall great read and I would recommend it to anyone who is about to enter the work force or has very little of personal finance. If it makes a difference to anyone, this book was recommended to me by my friend's dad who has a PhD in economics.

One of my friend recommended this book. In a week I finished the book. As the book states, it does not come with some super ideas (hard or impossible to implement), instead it gives some helpful hints on many different subjects.Especially after reading about "Debts" (bad debts), I reconsidered my credit cards and paid (not closed) 2 of them right away, I noticed I was paying huge amount of interest. The book paid itself in the first couple days.And of course my 410K: I will try to invest more in that one, the facts about pre-tax issues were very helpful.

Contains a good amount of information for a beginner and has plenty of intermediate and advanced stuff mentioned throughout. Don't pay attention in great detail to any of the examples they provide, particularly where numbers are mentioned. As this book was published in 2005, much has changed, but general concepts are likely to never change. Treat it like Cliff notes - good info, but not real meaty since each section is 20-40 pages or so. I would have given it 4 stars if it was revised with newer examples, closer to 2012. I would buy a revised version. Can't go wrong for the price and as I've always said, if you find one useful piece of information for $12, that can save you hundreds or thousands over time... you can't go wrong.

The ultimate guide to finance, hands down. If personal finance is a house, this is the foundation. This should be the first book you read on your journey to financial independence. The information is very palatable while still entertaining. I can not recommend this book enough for anyone interested in personal finance. It can help everyone from the teenager working minimum wage to the newlywed couple all the way to the established professional. If you read one book on your road to building wealth, make it the Complete Personal Finance Guidebook. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is a great book for anyone looking for an easy read with a lot of valuable information. I appreciate a book that tackles personal finance without much complex financial jargon. I'm a layman who is happy to have read this book.

Great for the nuts and bolts of so many real life issues that we face. It recently worked as a great reference when I was studying up on the most importance aspects to consider when purchasing a home. This is a good one to have in your home library!