Face it, you're losing the money game. Your paycheck vanishes down a black hole. You've got next to nada in your savings account. You don't know a jumbo loan from a Jumbo Jack.
Meanwhile, your friends and colleagues are cleaning up financially. They're buying homes, investing on-line, plowing money into mutual funds.Ready for some schooling? If so, you'll be joining a consumer revolution that's transforming the financial world. As millions of baby boomers and Generation Xers hit their peak earning years, they're seizing hold of their personal finances and doing it for themselves.
You can, too. But you've got to start somewhere. And there's a wealth of resources out there on personal finance, the management of your money and assets -- tax planning, buying insurance, retirement finances -- to meet your long-range goals in life.
Here's a sampling of popular how-to books and consumer-friendly Web sites:
CBS MarketWatch cbs.marketwatch.com
News junkies will love the stylish writing and hard-hitting reporting on this Web site, a joint venture of CBS and Data Broadcasting.
It overflows with corporate and Wall Street updates, personal finance advice and special reports. Financial columnist Thom Calandra, a former San Francisco Examiner business writer, is a big draw.
Like most financial sites, CBS MarketWatch offers handy investment tools, including an investor's primer, portfolio charts, company research, economic data and links to the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database.
Most services are free. Hard-core on-line investors can pay $34.95 a month for real-time stock quotes and in-depth research data, or $79 a month for sophisticated trading and investment software.
-- Yahoo finance quote.yahoo.com
Cheers for this freebie site.
For speed clickers, the clean and simple Yahoo site is a breeze. No annoying designs by Web masters who've never had a linear thought.
Links and services galore here. Want to check your mutual funds? A couple of taps, and you're there. Crave the latest business news? Just click to www.thestreet.com and the Motley Fool at www.fool.com, two on-line news sites. Feel like trading gossip on hot stocks? Check out the investment chat rooms.
My wife and I may buy a home on the Peninsula next year. Within a few seconds, Yahoo's custom mortgage service from E-Loan told me that a 30-year, fixed-rate loan for $320,000 at 6.9 percent would cost us about $2,100 in monthly payments. Ouch.
-- Microsoft Money Central moneycentral.com
This site's got it all: Investment portfolios. Insurance. Retirement and wills. Market research from Merrill Lynch.
Articles and advice are grouped into clever subjects. One recent report, called "A Financial Guide to Marriage: For Love or Money," had tips on raising kids, saving for college, coping with divorce and caring for parents. Good stuff.
You must pay for some services, such as recommendations from Wall Street analysts. Monthly subscriptions go for $9.95, with a 30-day free trial.
"The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Personal Finance" (Simon & Schuster, $13.95) by Kenneth M. Morris and Alan M. Siegel.
By far the best road map on personal finance for beginners. Sharp writing. Clear definitions. Hands-on advice. Sounds scary, but I found myself thumbing through chapters while eating dinner.
Special kudos to Ken Cook Design, a San Francisco firm that designed the book. Crisp layouts, simple charts and vivid photo illustrations help the reader digest some complex subjects.
"Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your 20s and 30s" (Simon & Schuster, $11.00) by Beth Kobliner.
A cool guide for young folks rollerblading out of school. The 33-year-old Kobliner, a Brown University graduate who studied literature, is proof that anyone with a college degree and some brain matter can master their finances.
This well-written primer is filled with helpful tips on money management, from escaping credit card debt to picking a mutual fund. Also good for older readers getting started on all things financial.
"The Consumer Reports Money Book" (Consumer Reports Books, $29.95) by Janet Bamford et al.
"Making the Most of Your Money" (Simon & Schuster, $30) by Jane Bryant Quinn.
"The Money Book of Personal Finance" (Warner Books, $24.95) by the Money editors.
"Personal Finance for Dummies" (IDG Books, $16.95) by Eric Tyson.
You can't go wrong with any of these money encyclopedias. You can hire a financial adviser for $100 an hour -- or read these and teach yourself the basics.
The books by Consumer Reports and Money magazine boast chapters by many authors. The book by Bryant Quinn, Newsweek's personal finance columnist, is the most enjoyable read. And Tyson's book has the cutest graphics.
"Money Makeovers: How Women Can Control Their Financial Destiny" (Doubleday, $24.95) by Christopher Hayes and Kate Kelly.
Yes, the financial habits of women differ from men, for better or worse. This stimulating book, by psychologist Hayes and New York journalist Kelly, blends academic theory and real-life practice.
The bad news from the authors: Fear of failure and the unknown are the biggest hurdles to women's financial success.
The good news: Women can be better investors than men because of their patience, intuition, networking and goal-setting.
"Smart Money Moves for African Americans" (G.P. Putnam, $12) by Kelvin Boston.
"The Black Woman's Guide to Financial Independence" (Penguin Books, $15.95) by Cheryl Broussard.y
A former IDS/American Express financial planner and the host of PBS's "Color of Money" series, Boston offers many strategies for wealth building in this first-rate guide.
He writes, "Many African Americans are fixated on living a pious life, the Porgy and Bess syndrome: I got plenty of nothing, and nothing's plenty for me. Well, I don't think so. Having plenty of nothing means just that -- no savings, no home and no retirement accounts."
The book by Broussard, an investment adviser at Cheryl Broussard & Co. in Oakland, also is a great starting point for anyone wishing to build a strong financial foundation. Good worksheets and clear explanations.
"New Families, New Finances: Money Skills for Today's Nontraditional Families" (John Wiley & Sons, $14.95) by Emily Card and Christie Watts Kelly.
Are you a single parent? A divorced person? A grandparent? A racial minority? This book is for those who don't fit the "Father Knows Best" mold of the old-fashioned nuclear family.
Much of the financial advice is generic. But at the end of each chapter, the authors give tips tailored for nontraditional groups.
Single parents, for example, should make sure they carry enough health, life and disability insurance. Or couples with vast age differences should have separate investment portfolios best suited for their stages of life.
"Gay Finances in a Straight World" (J.K. Lasser and The Advocate, $19.95) by Peter M. Berkery Jr. and Gregory A. Diggins.
While gays and lesbians face the same financial challenges as everyone, they also must grapple with troublesome legal issues because they can't marry. Plus, they face discrimination from financial firms, the authors write.
One example: People applying for insurance must list a beneficiary, someone with a vested financial interest in their lives. Typically this means a family member or a business partner. Unlike heterosexuals, gays often find their beneficiaries are turned down.
The authors give concrete advice for gay and lesbian couples to deal with that situation among others.
This book has handy worksheets and real-life examples by Berkery, a financial writer, and Diggins, an accountant and a certified financial planner.
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.