Personal Finance

This subject guide will lead you to books and web sites which will help you in handling your personal financial situation. It includes debt management, financial education and planning.

Last updated: August 12, 2013

Databases

• Business Plans Handbook

  Sample plans taken from businesses in the manufacturing, retail and service industries.

• MasterFILE Elite at EBSCOhost

  Complete articles from magazines and journals covering nearly all subjects including general reference, business, health, education, general science, and multicultural issues. This resource also contains full text for more than 50 reference books and an Image Collection of over 510,000 photos, maps and flags.

Catalog Links

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  The 1-2-3 Money Plan : The Three Most Important Steps to Saving and Spending Smart

  by Gregory Karp

  When it comes to personal finance, many books are just too complicated and too hard to act on. Finally, there’s a book that truly keeps it simple, offering advice that anyone can use and anyone can profit from. “The 1-2-3 Money Book” organizes every essential money task into three specific steps, telling readers exactly what to do, and how to do it.

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  The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things With Money

  by Carl Richards

  As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon-the distance between what we should do and what we actually do-“the behavior gap.” Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better.

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  His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind.

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  The Cure for Money Madness : Break Your bad Money Habits, Live Without Financial Stress, and Make More Money!

  by Spencer Sherman

  Sherman presents the tools that have helped thousands of people find greater peace of mind—and make more money.

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  A Dictionary of Finance and Banking

  This is a reference book and must be used in the library. With over 5,100 entries on all aspects of finance and banking, this fully updated reference is definitely a worthwhile investment. Over 200 new entries have been added to this edition and it has been fully updated to reflect recent developments such as structured finance and the subprime lending crisis.

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  The dictionary defines terms from personal and international finance—including money markets, private investments and borrowing, foreign exchanges, and public and government finance—and now offers expanded coverage of central banking, monetary policy, and financial institutions. Feature entries have been included in this edition for the fuller explanation of topical and complex areas, e.g. Financial Times Share Indexes, and bankruptcy law. Recommended up-to-date web links for many entries, accessed via the Dictionary of Finance and Banking companion website, provide valuable extra information that will be regularly updated. With clear and accessible definitions, this jargon-free dictionary is a perfect companion volume to the other financial titles in this best-selling series—A Dictionary of Business and Management, A Dictionary of Accounting, and A Dictionary of Economics—and provides accurate and valuable information for students, practitioners, private investors, and readers of the financial pages alike.

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  Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending

  by Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton

  Two rising stars in behavioral science explain how money can buy happiness—if five core principles of smarter spending are followed. It offers new research on the science of spending.

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  The New Coffeehouse Investor : How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street...

  by Bill Schultheis

  An inspirational, low-stress way to achieve financial security, this updated guide explains why people should stop trying to predict the economy and remember three simple principles: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and save for a rainy day.

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  The New Frugality : How to Consume Less, Save More, and Live Better

  by Chris Farrell

  From the personal finance correspondent for public radio’s Marketplace Money, a new plan for a new economic reality—the philosophy and practice of living frugally. As a once-in-a-lifetime downturn deepens, our go-go economy has become an uh-oh economy. But as trusted finance reporter Chris Farrell explains, there’s a silver lining to this cloud: It is accelerating a trend already under way in America toward what he calls the New Frugality

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  —a fresh way of thinking about how, what, and why we consume. In today’s economy, a “sustainable” lifestyle isn’t just one that’s good for the planet—it’s one that is based around core values and one that sustains your bank balance as well. In this friendly, approachable book, Farrell explains both the theory and the practice of living frugally. Frugality, he reminds us, does not mean old-fashioned penny-pinching. It means spending your money on quality rather than quantity—buying the best you can afford but the least you need. Drawing on his expertise as a financial reporter and his years of conversations with his public radio listeners, he provides down-to-earth, practical advice for every aspect of your financial life, including: * how to always maintain a “margin of safety” in your spending * the frugal home: renting vs. owning * the two best ways to save for college * wise debt vs. foolish debt * why giving your money away can be “newly frugal”. The New Frugality amounts to a paradigm shift in the way we spend and save. The good news is a frugal lifestyle is one of less waste, lower environmental impact, greater peace of mind, and, over the long run, deeper satisfaction.

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  The Seven Pearls of Financial Wisdom: A Woman's Guide to Enjoying Wealth and Power

  by Carol Pepper and Camilla Webster

  As women’s earnings, freedom and influence increase, the old sequential patterns of education, marriage, motherhood, and retirement no longer apply. Today women cycle repeatedly but not in any traditional order through these stages: wealth building, romance and marriage, motherhood, power, crisis and loss, retirement, legacy building.

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  In The Seven Pearls of Financial Wisdom, experts Carol Pepper and Camilla Webster offer women one invaluable pearl of wisdom for each of these key areas, helping them move beyond outdated financial-planning ideas to enjoy their power, transforming both their money and their lives.

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  The Debt-Free Spending Plan: An Amazingly Simple Way to Take Control of Your Finances Once and for All

  by JoAnneh Nagler

  Anyone suffering under the crushing weight of debt knows how impossible it can seem to find a way out. The Debt-Free Spending Plan is simple. It assumes you need help now, and gives it to you. The plan is clear, easy, and takes just five minutes a day - and it doesn’t matter if you make $14,000 or $14 million. With straightforward daily spending strategies and effortless expense tracking tools, you will soon find yourself on the road to financial freedom - all before the next billing cycle.

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  The Smartest Money Book You'll Ever Read: Everything You Need to Know About Growing, Spending, and Enjoying Your Money

  by Daniel R. Solin

  Solin offers the smartest guide to money management and financial planning yet. From managing your debt, boosting your savings, and owning (or renting) a home to buying insurance, maximizing investment returns, and retiring when you want to, The Smartest Money Book You’ll Ever Read is your road map to financial freedom-and to enjoying yourself along the way.

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  The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

  by Dave Ramsey

  Okay, folks, do you want to turn those fat and flabby expenses into a well-toned budget? Do you want to transform your sad and skinny little bank account into a bulked-up cash machine? Then get with the program, people. There’s one sure way to whip your finances into shape, and that’s with The Total Money Makeover!

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  By now, you’ve heard all the nutty get-rich-quick schemes, the fiscal diet fads that leave you with a lot of kooky ideas but not a penny in your pocket. Hey, if you’re tired of the lies and sick of the false promises, then take a look at this-it’s the simplest, most straight-forward game plan for completely making over your money habits. And it’s based on results, not pie-in-the-sky fantasies. With The Total Money Makeover, you’ll be able to: Design a sure-fire plan for paying off all debt-meaning cars, houses, everything Recognize the 10 most dangerous money myths (these will kill you) Secure a big, fat nest egg for emergencies and retirement! Where Financial Peace gave you the solid saving and investing principles, this book puts those principles into practice. You’ll be exercising your financial strength every day and quickly freeing yourself of worry, stress, and debt-and that’s a beautiful feeling. Book jacket.

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  Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny

  by Suze Orman

  This groundbreaking book from the author of “5 Steps to Financial Freedom” investigates the complicated and perilous relationship women have with money.

Web Links

• Annual Credit Report

  This site helps consumers obtain a free credit report once a year from the three major credit reporting companies.

• Clark Howard

  A good site for making smart purchases and getting your money's worth.

• CredAbility

  This is a well-known non-profit credit counseling agency.

• MarketWatch

  This site, which is an affiliate of the Wall Street Journal, provides financial information, including business news, analysis and stock market data.

• Motley Fool

  The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company that offers financial solutions for investors through various stock, investing, and personal finance products.

• MyMoney.gov

  This U.S. government website is designed to teach the basics of financial education and make better financial decisions.

• Quick Links for Consumers and Communities

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) has compiled this list of links that cover foreclosure prevention, identity theft and privacy, banking tools and resources, consumer protection assistance and other financial education topics.