Practical Guide to Personal Financial Awareness

This book is a down-to-earth guide for managing your finances that provides a mindful and holistic approach to personal money matters. Financial content is presented that is appropriate for high school through retirement. The book is also a personal story documenting one man's journey to financial awareness and the trials and tribulations along the way. Having successfully navigated the rough and often murky waters of personal finance, Lorenz provides many real-world examples combined with life lessons learned. This book is an overview of personal finance concepts that can help the average person deal more effectively with money situations in their lives, whether it's buying a car or home, investing for retirement, paying for college, or improving their credit score. The book is packed with relevant and interesting anecdotes describing financial situations that many have been or will go through. These are interspersed with important financial concepts and useful tips, delivered in an easy-to-read conversational style. This is a financial literacy book that covers a wide range of personal finance subjects and can help the average person gain control of their finances. It is both entertaining and educational and is an interesting blend of money education and mindful awareness. Topics include income, expenses, cash flow, assets, net worth, credit scores and credit reports, budgets, home, and vehicle buying, as well as college/student loans, investing, taxes, insurance, retirement, and financial scams. Chapters include Web research exercises to find and use online financial tools, as well as guided examples to determine your personal financial indicators (PFIs). With over thirty hands-on exercises, the book can be considered an "encyclopedic personal finance workbook." Readers can use the Personal Financial Spreadsheet (PFS), which is available for download from this Website, and customize it to their needs. A print version of the PFS is also included in the book.