Leanpub Header

Skip to main content
Go to Leanpub.com

Personal Finance

Achieving your financial goals

Jason Anderson

This textbook provides an in-depth analysis on personal finance that is both practical and straightforward in its approach. It has been written in such a way that the readers can gain knowledge without getting overwhelmed by the technical terms. Suitable for both beginners and advanced learners.

Minimum price

Free!

$5.00

You pay

$5.00

Author earns

$3.50
$

...Or Buy With Credits!

You can get credits with a paid monthly or annual Reader Membership, or you can buy them here.
PDF
EPUB
WEB
About

About

About the Book

This textbook is an excellent resource for anyone looking to gain a better understanding of personal finance. It provides comprehensive coverage of the subject, applying practical approaches and strategies to help readers make informed financial decisions. The book presents a clear, step-by-step guide on how to manage one’s finances and build a secure financial future. It focuses on topics such as budgeting, savings, debt management, insurance, investments, and retirement planning. This textbook is sure to become a valuable addition to any library devoted to personal finance.

Share this book

Categories

Textbooks

Feedback

Email the Author

Author

About the Author

Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson, MBA, MA, CPA, CFP®, is a Finance Lecturer for the School of Business at the University of Kansas. He previously worked as a College and Career Consultant (Education and Career Planner) at CommunityAmerica Credit Union, where he helped develop a first-to-market program in college and career counseling for members. These efforts culminated in what is now known as CollegeRoadmap, a suite of digital college planning tools now licensed to financial institutions nationwide. He has multiple years’ experience as an administrator and adjunct professor in higher education across University functions leading significant campus center operations and outreach. He also runs a college and student loan planning firm called Gradmetrics.

Contents

Table of Contents

Book License

Why I Wrote this Textbook

About the Author

Chapter 1 - A Short Introduction to Personal Finance

  1. What is personal finance?
  2. Why is personal finance important?
  3. The importance of starting early
  4. Setting financial goals
  5. Topics covered in this textbook
  6. A note regarding length

Chapter 2 - Budgeting and Cash Flow

  1. What is budgeting?
  2. How do you create a budget?
  3. Popular budgeting philosophies
  4. Popular budgeting tools
  5. Personal financial statements
  6. Who can create personal financial statements?
  7. What is cash flow?
  8. Why it is important to be cash flow positive
  9. Needs vs. wants
  10. Conclusion

Chapter 3 - Financial Institutions and Regulators

  1. Banking
  2. Investment and insurance companies
  3. Broker-dealers and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs)
  4. Tax preparers and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  5. Regulators
  6. Consumer protection entities
  7. Credit bureaus

Chapter 4 - Credit

  1. What is credit?
  2. Should I utilize some forms of credit instead of others?
  3. Why do banks, landlords, and companies care about credit scores and/or reports?
  4. What is a credit report?
  5. How often should I check my credit report?
  6. The Three Credit Bureaus
  7. Reviewing your credit reports regularly (annually)
  8. The making of a credit score
  9. How do I get a high credit score?
  10. Why is a high credit score important?
  11. Fraud and your credit report
  12. Bankruptcy and default

Chapter 5 - Federal Income Taxes

  1. Where to go for information
  2. Does everyone need to file federal income taxes?
  3. Important federal income tax forms
  4. Withholding taxes (Form W-4) and estimated taxes
  5. The structure of Form 1040
  6. Standard deduction vs. itemized deduction
  7. Where to go to get your taxes filed
  8. Working with a tax professional
  9. When are taxes due?
  10. A comprehensive resource for filing individual income taxes
  11. A brief discussion of paying taxes for a business
  12. Where to go for help
  13. State and local income taxes

Chapter 6 - Purchasing and Spending

  1. Spending basics (a review)
  2. Smart spending strategies
  3. Couponing
  4. Buying in bulk
  5. Choosing the right grocery store
  6. Buying used versus new
  7. Using discount services
  8. Comparison shopping
  9. A positive spending philosophy to consider
  10. Parting words on spending

Chapter 7 - Housing Decision (Rent vs. Buy)

  1. Should I rent?
  2. Should I buy a house?
  3. Rent vs. buy summary
  4. Saving for a down payment on a home
  5. What is a reasonable down payment?
  6. How much should I spend on housing?
  7. How the mortgage process works
  8. Common mortgage types
  9. What you qualify to buy vs. what you should buy
  10. The most affordable places to buy a home
  11. Is a house a store of value?
  12. A house can help you retire

Chapter 8 - Insurance

  1. Insurance is all about managing risk
  2. What is a deductible?
  3. Personal Insurance
  4. Auto insurance
  5. Renters insurance
  6. Homeowners insurance
  7. Umbrella insurance
  8. Disability insurance
  9. Health insurance
  10. Life insurance
  11. What is an annuity?
  12. Business insurance

Chapter 9 - The Time Value of Money (TVM)

  1. Chapter licensing information and attribution
  2. A gentle introduction to the Time Value of Money
  3. How and why the passage of time affects the value of money
  4. The lump sum payment or receipt
  5. Single-period scenario
  6. The impact of compounding
  7. Putting this knowledge into practice
  8. More resources on TVM calculations
  9. Inflation
  10. Compounding interest
  11. The Rule of 72
  12. Investing and risk

Chapter 10 - The Economy and Stock Market

  1. What is an economy?
  2. What is supply and demand?
  3. Why does an investor need to understand the economy?
  4. Tracking economic indicators
  5. The stock market
  6. What the stock market is not
  7. Why people invest in stocks
  8. What stock markets are in the United States?
  9. Proceeding with humility and a desire to learn

Chapter 11 - Investing and the Personal Risk Profile

  1. Risk management and personal risk profile
  2. What is investing?
  3. Types of investments - stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and more
  4. Benefits of investing
  5. Investment strategies
  6. Important investment terms
  7. Steps to smart investing
  8. Investing resources and getting additional help with investing
  9. Conclusion

Chapter 12 - Retirement and Estate Planning

  1. Retirement planning four steps
  2. Saving for retirement
  3. Social Security in the United States
  4. Popular retirement savings vehicles
  5. Working with a financial professional to plan retirement
  6. What is an estate plan?
  7. The essential estate planning documents
  8. What is a beneficiary?
  9. What is probate?
  10. What is a trust?
  11. Who you should work with to build an estate plan

Chapter 13 - Career Planning

  1. Personality and career choice
  2. Uncovering your MBTI®
  3. Taking the Holland Codes quiz
  4. Taking the next step
  5. Digging deeper - CliftonStrengths®
  6. Reflecting on the past
  7. Gaining practical work experience
  8. Will your career have a return on investment?
  9. How to check the ROI of a career
  10. Using the university career center

The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

Now, this is technically risky for us, since you'll have the book or course files either way. But we're so confident in our products and services, and in our authors and readers, that we're happy to offer a full money back guarantee for everything we sell.

You can only find out how good something is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!

So, there's no reason not to click the Add to Cart button, is there?

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

In fact, authors have earned over $14 million writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Free Updates. DRM Free.

If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).

Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.

Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.

Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub