Managing Personal Finances

Money is the subject every adult is tested on daily and almost nobody is taught. Managing Personal Finances works through it with four households whose numbers are followed from the first page to the last: Nia, 27 and single in Nashville, building her first budget and emergency fund; the Alvarez family in Columbus, balancing two paychecks, two children and a mortgage; Walt and June Henderson in Asheville, in their sixties and deciding when to retire and claim Social Security; and Dev, a freelance designer in Phoenix whose income swings from month to month. Twelve chapters cover goals, budgeting and cash flow, banking and saving, credit scores and credit cards, getting out of debt, income and taxes, insurance, housing and cars, investing, retirement, family and estate planning, and a plan that lasts a lifetime. Every rule and figure is given as it stands in the United States in 2026, and every worked example shows its arithmetic, so that a reader can run the same calculation on their own pay, debts and plans.



Al-generated content disclosure: This work was created with the help and usage of artificial intelligence. All sources are cited in the bibliography section.