Personal Finance in Your 50s All-in-One For Dummies®

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Table of Contents

1. Cover
2. Introduction
   1. About This Book
   2. Foolish Assumptions
   3. Icons Used in This Book
   4. Beyond the Book
   5. Where to Go from Here
3. Book 1: Managing Your Career and Retirement
   1. Chapter 1: Finding a New Job after 50
      1. Recognizing the Need for and Value of Experienced Workers
      2. Tallying the Benefits of Staying in the Workforce
      3. Reorienting Yourself to Today’s Job-Search Realities
      4. Deciding What (Else) You Want Out of Work
      5. Pursuing Your Passion and Finding Purpose
      6. Putting Proven Success Strategies into Practice
      7. Dealing with Ageism
   2. Chapter 2: Dealing with Changes in Employment
      1. Filing for Unemployment Benefits
      2. Getting Your Financial House in Order
      3. Financing Any Additional Education and Training
      4. Writing Off Your Job-Hunt Expenses
      5. Accounting for Social Security Benefits Reductions When You Work
      6. Taking Advantage of Additional Public Benefits
      7. Providing Benefits for Yourself
   3. Chapter 3: Joining the Ranks of the Self-Employed
      1. Working on Contract
      2. Launching Your Own Business
      3. Becoming a Social Entrepreneur
      4. Exploring Franchising Opportunities
   4. Chapter 4: Tracking Small Business Revenues and Costs
      1. Establishing an Accounting System for Your Business
      2. Keeping Good Tax Records for Your Small Business
   5. Chapter 5: Estimated Taxes and Self-Employment Taxes
      1. Form 1040-ES: Estimated Tax for Individuals
      2. Keeping Current on Your Employees’ (and Your Own) Tax Withholding
      3. Schedule SE: Self-Employment Tax
      4. Form 8889: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
   6. Chapter 6: Developing a Retirement Plan
      1. Deciding When to Retire
      2. Knowing How Much You Really Need for Retirement
      3. Eyeing the Components of Your Retirement Plan
      4. When Setting Up Your Couples Plan
      5. Crunching the Numbers
      6. Making Plans for Nonfinancial Matters
   7. Chapter 7: Grasping Retirement Accounts and Their Rules
      1. Eyeing the Characteristics of Retirement Accounts
      2. Identifying the Different Types of Retirement Accounts
      3. Rolling Over Retirement Balances
      4. Choosing Beneficiaries for Your Retirement Accounts
      5. Taking Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs
4. Book 2: Getting Your Affairs in Order
   1. Chapter 1: Ensuring That Your Last Wishes Are Honored
      1. What Can Happen When You Don’t Plan Your Estate
      2. Reaping the Benefits of Planning Your Estate
      3. Looking Out for Common Pitfalls
      4. Realizing What Happens If You Don’t Have an Estate Plan
      5. Creating Your Will or Trust
   2. Chapter 2: Planning Your Bequests
      1. Calculating Your Assets
      2. Determining Your Intended Heirs and Beneficiaries
      3. Thinking about Your Family Circumstances
      4. Estate Planning for Second Families
      5. Estate Planning for Your Business
      6. Appointing the People Who Will Carry Out Your Estate Plans
      7. Finding Professionals to Assist You
   3. Chapter 3: Providing for Your Children and Dependents
      1. Choosing a Guardian
      2. Managing Your Child’s Assets
      3. Providing for Your Child’s Needs
   4. Chapter 4: Writing and Signing a Will
      1. Deciding Whether a Will Serves Your Needs
      2. Exploring the Types of Wills
      3. Elements of a Will
      4. Executing a Valid Will
5. Book 3: Dealing with Insurance
   1. Chapter 1: Seven Guiding Principles of Insurance
      1. Keep It Simple
      2. Don’t Risk More than You Can Afford to Lose
      3. Don’t Risk a Lot for a Little
      4. Consider the Odds
      5. Risk a Little for a Lot
      6. Avoid Las Vegas Insurance
      7. Buy Insurance Only as a Last Resort
   2. Chapter 2: Buying Insurance
      1. Understanding What Makes a Balanced Insurance Program
      2. Customizing Each Policy to Meet Your Unique Needs
      3. Choosing Your Professional Adviser
      4. Choosing an Insurance Company
   3. Chapter 3: Getting the Most Out of Medicare
      1. Starting Medicare: A Broad Overview of Enrollment Deadlines
      2. Understanding Part A
      3. Exploring Parts B and C
      4. Qualifying for Prescription Drug Coverage with Part D
      5. Eyeing a Medicare Supplement
      6. Resolving Some Sticky Issues
   4. Chapter 4: Introducing the Personal Umbrella Policy
      1. Discovering the Umbrella Policy’s Major Coverage Advantages
      2. Coordinating an Umbrella with Your Other Insurance
      3. Determining How Many Millions to Buy
6. Book 4: Handling Budgets and Investments
   1. Chapter 1: Protecting Your Employment Income
      1. Assessing Your Need for Life Insurance
      2. Protecting Your Employment Income: Disability Insurance
      3. Investing In and Protecting Your Health
   2. Chapter 2: Managing Budgets and Expenses
      1. Pointing Out Some Retirement Worries You May Have
      2. Spending Your Nest Egg
      3. How Spending Really Changes in Retirement
      4. Managing Your Expenses
   3. Chapter 3: Guiding Investments and Distributions in Retirement
      1. Guiding Your Investments through Retirement
      2. Looking Closer at Annuities
      3. Choosing Your Pension Options
      4. Eyeing Withdrawal Strategies for Your Investment Accounts
   4. Chapter 4: Making Your Best Choices under Social Security
      1. The Lowdown on Social Security
      2. Determining When You’re Eligible for Benefits
      3. Taking a Closer Look at Spouses’ and Survivor Benefits
      4. Identifying When You May Need to Receive Benefits
      5. Noting How Working Reduces Benefits
      6. Preserving Your Benefits
      7. Being Aware of Potential Income Taxes on Your Benefits
      8. Changing Your Mind: A Do-Over
      9. Looking at What the Future Holds for Social Security
7. Book 5: Planning Your Estate
   1. Chapter 1: Yes, You Have an Estate
      1. What Is an Estate?
      2. Why You Need to Plan Your Estate
      3. Why Your Estate-Planning Goals Are Different from Your Neighbors’
      4. The Critical Path Method to Planning Your Estate
      5. Getting Help with Your Estate Planning
   2. Chapter 2: Bean Counting: Figuring Out What You’re Worth
      1. Calculating the Value of Your Real Property
      2. Calculating the Value of Everything Else: Your Personal Property
      3. Dead Reckoning: Subtracting Your Debts from Your Assets
      4. Giving Gifts throughout Your Life to Reduce Your Estate’s Value
      5. Calculating Adjustments in Your Estate’s Value Due to Life Changes
   3. Chapter 3: Probate and How to Dodge It
      1. Probing Probate: What You Should Know
      2. Knowing the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Probate
      3. Streamlining the Probate Process
      4. Appointing Your Person in Charge
      5. Thinking Things Through When Someone Asks You to Be a Personal Rep
      6. Understanding Will Substitutes
      7. Sorting through the List of Will Substitutes
      8. Identifying Some Less Common but Worthy Will Substitutes
   4. Chapter 4: Understanding Trusts
      1. Defining Trusts, Avoiding Hype
      2. Trust Power — Making Your Beneficiaries Smile
      3. Sorting Out Trusts — from Here to Eternity
   5. Chapter 5: Minimizing Estate-Related Taxes
      1. Figuring Out Where You Are Today
      2. Fortune-Telling: Picturing the Future as Best You Can
      3. Hmmm … Deciding on Strategies and Trade-Offs
      4. Putting Together a Comprehensive Estate-Related Tax Plan
8. Book 6: Tapping Into Your Home’s Value
   1. Chapter 1: Making Important Housing Decisions
      1. Analyzing Moving
      2. Tapping Your Home’s Equity: Reverse Mortgages
      3. Looking at Tax Issues Regarding Your Housing Decisions
   2. Chapter 2: Reverse Mortgages for Retirement Income
      1. Grasping the Reverse Mortgage Basics
      2. Shopping for a Reverse Mortgage
      3. Deciding Whether You Want a Reverse Mortgage
   3. Chapter 3: Deciding to Sell
      1. Figuring Out if You Really Need to Sell
      2. Knowing the Health of Your Housing Market
   4. Chapter 4: Exploring the Economics of Selling
      1. Estimating Proceeds of Sale
      2. Assessing the Financial Feasibility of a Move
   5. Chapter 5: Determining Your House’s Value
      1. Defining Cost, Price, and Value
      2. Determining Fair Market Value (FMV)
      3. Using a Comparable Market Analysis
      4. Bidding Wars
9. About the Authors
10. Connect with Dummies
11. Index
12. End User License Agreement

Guide

1. Cover
2. Table of Contents
3. Begin Reading