Thursday, January 29, 1998

'The Money Book' should be on your bookshelf

By DOUG WILLIAMSON / Abilene Reporter-News

If you only read one book in your lifetime, other than the Bible, "The Consumer Reports Money Book" should be your choice.

In its third edition, its 539 pages are a perfect reference piece for virtually every financial need a person may encounter.

Among the topics discussed are:

-- Banking -- type so bank accounts, fees, credit, loans, alternatives to banks.

-- Insurance -- a good how-to on buying life, medical, auto, homeowners, travel and disability policies.

-- Health care -- how to spend your money wisely on HMOs, PPOs, Medicare and supplemental coverage.

-- Money management -- budgeting, financial planning, saving.

--- Investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real estate on your own or through a broker.

-- Retirement planning -- 401(k)s, IRAs, Keoghs, Social Security, pensions, early retirement, wills and trusts.

-- Taxes -- tax planning strategies, a full discussion of recent changes in the tax laws and a very useful month-by-month guide to tax preparation.

The book's authors -- Janet Bamford, Jeff Blyskal, Emily Card, Aileen Jacobson and Greg Daugherty -- are respected journalists in the personal finance field.

They bring these complex topics down to common, everyday English we all can understand. Here's an example from the section on wills and trusts:

"Willis and trusts are instruments that enable you to pass you assets on to your heirs and to control the ways in which these assets are used. Yet, despite their importance, they are widely neglected by many people, for a variety of reasons.

"About two of every three Americans die intestate -- that is, without having made a will. Some of them procrastinate because of an unwillingness to face their own mortality; some because they have made no firm decision about the disposition of their assets; other because they feel that what little they own does not justify the trouble of making a will; an still others because they assume that their assets will automatically pass to their natural heirs. All these procrastinators, however, are exposing their assets and the welfare of their heirs to serious risk."

The book then goes into a thorough discussion of wills. It looks at how to designate a guardian, distributing your assets, designating and executor, what a will cannot do, drawing up a will, changing your will, the probate process and avoiding probate.

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The Consumer Reports Money Book. (St. Martin Press, 1997, $29.95, 539 pages)