Chapter 3

Getting Your Financial House in Order before You Invest

In This Chapter

arrow Saving money for emergencies

arrow Managing your debt

arrow Setting financial goals

arrow Funding retirement and college accounts

arrow Understanding tax issues

arrow Exploring diversification strategies and insurance

Before you make any great, wealth-building investments, I recommend that you get your financial house in order. Understanding and implementing some simple personal financial management concepts can pay off big for you in the decades ahead.

You want to know how to earn healthy returns on your investments without getting clobbered, right? Who doesn’t? Although you generally must accept greater risk to have the potential for earning higher returns (see Chapter 2), in this chapter, I tell you about some high-return, low-risk investments. You have a right to be skeptical about such investments, but don’t stop reading this ...

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