If your personal financial knowledge is limited, you're probably not at fault. Personal Finance 101 isn't offered in our schools - not in high school and not even in the best colleges and graduate programs. It should be. (Of course, if it were, I wouldn't be able to write fun and useful books such as this - or maybe they'd use this book in the course!) People keep making the same common financial mistakes over and over - procrastinating and lack of planning, wasteful spending, falling prey to financial salespeople and pitches, failing to do sufficient research before making important financial decisions, and so on. This book can keep you from falling into the same traps and get you going on the best paths. As unfair as it may seem, numerous pitfalls await you when you seek help for your financial problems. The world is filled with biased and bad financial advice. As a practicing financial counselor and now as a writer, I constantly see and hear about the consequences of poor advice. Of course, every profession has bad apples, but too many of the people calling themselves ''financial planners'' have conflicts of interest and an inadequate competence level. All too often, financial advice ignores the big picture and focuses narrowly on investing. Because money is not an end in itself but a part of your whole life, this book helps connect your financial goals and challenges to the rest of your life. You need a broad understanding of personal finance to include all areas of your financial life: spending, taxes, saving and investing, insurance, and planning for major goals like education, buying a home, and retirement.....You want to know the best places to go for your circumstances, so this book contains specific, tried-and-proven recommendations. I also suggest where to turn next if you need more information and help.