Eric Tyson - Financial Security For Dummies

1 Chapter 2 TABLE 2-1: Annual GDP Change for the United States

2 Chapter 11TABLE 11-1 Chronic Conditions Affecting Activity

1 Chapter 6FIGURE 6-1: A drop in GDP followed by recovery. FIGURE 6-2: GDP trend from 1948 to present. FIGURE 6-3: An example of a payroll survey. FIGURE 6-4: Labor force participation rate. FIGURE 6-5: University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment. FIGURE 6-6: Overall versus core CPI.

2 Chapter 11FIGURE 11-1: Insurance needs worksheet.

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Table of Contents

5 Begin Reading

6 Index

7 About the Author

1 iii

2 iv

3 1

4 2

5 3

6 5

7 6

8 7

9 8

10 9

11 10

12 11

13 12

14 13

15 14

16 15

17 17

18 18

19 19

20 20

21 21

22 22

23 23

24 24

25 25

26 26

27 27

28 28

29 29

30 30

31 31

32 32

33 33

34 34

35 35

36 36

37 37

38 39

39 40

40 41

41 42

42 43

43 44

44 45

45 46

46 47

47 48

48 49

49 50

50 51

51 53

52 54

53 55

54 56

55 57

56 58

57 59

58 60

59 61

60 62

61 63

62 64

63 65

64 66

65 67

66 68

67 69

68 70

69 71

70 72

71 73

72 74

73 75

74 76

75 77

76 78

77 79

78 80

79 81

80 82

81 83

82 84

83 85

84 86

85 87

86 88

87 89

88 90

89 91

90 92

91 93

92 94

93 95

94 96

95 97

96 98

97 99

98 100

99 101

100 102

101 103

102 104

103 105

104 106

105 107

106 109

107 110

108 111

109 112

110 113

111 114

112 115

113 116

114 117

115 118

116 119

117 120

118 121

119 122

120 123

121 124

122 125

123 126

124 127

125 128

126 129

127 130

128 131

129 132

130 133

131 134

132 135

133 136

134 137

135 138

136 139

137 140

138 141

139 142

140 143

141 144

142 145

143 146

144 147

145 148

146 149

147 150

148 151

149 152

150 153

151 154

152 155

153 156

154 157

155 158

156 159

157 160

158 161

159 162

160 163

161 164

162 165

163 166

164 167

165 168

166 169

167 170

168 171

169 172

170 173

171 174

172 175

173 176

174 177

175 178

176 179

177 180

178 181

179 182

180 183

181 184

182 185

183 186

184 187

185 188

186 189

187 190

188 191

189 192

190 193

191 195

192 196

193 197

194 198

195 199

196 200

197 201

198 202

199 203

200 204

201 205

202 206

203 207

204 208

205 209

206 210

207 211

208 212

209 213

210 214

211 215

212 216

213 217

214 218

215 219

216 220

217 221

218 222

219 223

220 224

221 225

222 226

223 227

224 228

225 229

226 230

227 231

228 232

229 233

230 234

231 235

232 236

233 237

234 238

235 239

236 241

237 242

238 243

239 244

240 245

241 246

242 247

243 248

244 249

245 250

246 251

247 252

248 253

249 254

250 255

251 256

252 257

253 259

254 260

255 261

256 262

257 263

258 264

259 265

260 266

261 267

262 268

263 269

264 270

265 271

266 272

267 273

268 274

269 275

270 276

271 277

272 278

273 279

274 280

275 281

276 283

277 285

278 286

279 287

Welcome to Financial Security For Dummies!

I know from my work as a personal financial counselor and educator that many Americans lack a sufficient background in the financial basics. My first book in this series, Personal Finance For Dummies, sought to address and help close that gap, and the feedback from that book suggests it clearly has helped.

I’ve seen over time, though, that folks who know many of the basics can still suffer financially at important junctures and when hit by unexpected events. So, this new book, Financial Security For Dummies , is like an advanced version of or a sequel to Personal Finance For Dummies.

Most people value financial security and stability, of course, unless they like danger, risk, and turmoil! Living within your means, saving and investing in wise, proven investments, and securing catastrophic insurance are all keys to sound personal financial management.

Unfortunately, your financial security can be undermined by things outside of your control. Upsetting events can include macro-events like the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) or financial crisis (2008) as well as individual life changes or personal crises, such as job loss, divorce, caring for elderly parents, and so on. Part 1addresses these two major types of crises or catalysts.

You may find that at some point, you need to access funds in the event of a crisis. It should give you peace of mind to know that there are ways to get help. Part 2looks at all crises (economic and personal) and discusses safety nets that people can tap and emergency measures they can implement.

You may be looking to navigate the barrage of information coming at you while an economic crisis is in motion. Part 3contains content that is central to the book and vital for you to understand as you deal with turbulent times.

To maintain financial stability, you need to keep your financial house in order. Part 4identifies the key personal finance tasks and steps to take to maximize your future financial security and minimize problems when disruptions inevitably occur.

What does the future hold? No one knows for sure, but there are ways to be prepared. Part 5delves into discerning what pundits may be telling you about current and future economic issues and finding out how to keep yourself and your finances on track when things look gloomy. It also touches on what future crises may be in store and how to keep your cool.

Whenever I approach writing a book, I consider a particular audience for that book. Because of this, I must make some assumptions about who the readers are and what those readers are looking for. Here are a few assumptions I’ve made about you:

You want the best for you and yours and would like to make the most of your money. While you understand there are no guarantees, you’d like to best prepare your financial situation to weather a wide range of adverse conditions.

You’d like to gain a better understanding about how the financial markets and economy work so you can intelligently process news and information that hits, especially in the midst of a crisis.

You’d like to be positioned to be able to invest at least some of your money when otherwise attractive investments have declined in value.

If any of these descriptions hits home for you, you’ve come to the right place.