Description: I. THE BASICS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. 1. What Is a 401(k)? What Is a 401(k) and Where Did It Come From? Why Do Companies Offer 401(k)s? aking Advantage of Protective Shells. 401(k) Versus Pension What''s the Difference? What Kinds of Protective Shell Retirement Plans Are There? How Can I Tell If My Company Has a Good 401(k) Plan? Why Should I Participate? 2. The Rules: Understanding Your 401(k). Who Makes the 401(k) Rules'. Understanding Your Company''s 401(k). Common Features of 401(k) Plans. Loans. Withdrawals. Nondiscrimination Testing. Limits on Your 401(k) Contributions (IRS Code 415 and 401). Investment Options. Valuation: What Is It and Why Do You Need to Know About It? 3. How Safe Is Your 401(k) Money? Keeping Track of Your Money. Safety in Times of Trouble Creditors, Divorce, and Taxes. Company Mergers. When Bad Things Happen to Good Money. II. SAVINGS. 4. Your Best Chance at Retirement Is Your 401(k). Individual Responsibility. Building a Plan for Your Future. What Do You Have? How Do You Get What You Want? Events That Might Sidetrack Your Retirement Strategy. 5. Developing Your Retirement Plan. No One Plans to Fail Some Just Fail to Plan. The Retirement Planning Process. Developing Your Retirement Plan. Eight Steps to Financial Independence. Using Software to Crunch Your Numbers. Where Else Can You Save for Your Retirement? Pulling It All Together. 6. Saving Pre-Tax or After-Tax Does It Really Matter? Understanding After-Tax Contribution. Which Is Better Pre-Tax or After-Tax Contributions? Withdrawing After-Tax Money. Pennywise and Dollar-Foolish! Better the Tax Devil You Know Than the One You Don''t. When After-Tax Contributions Make Sense. Deciding What to Do. 7. Keeping Tabs on Your Account. Knowledge Is Power or at Least a Little Control. Where Are Your Best Sources? Some Not So Interesting Reading. Check This Checklist...Frequently. Punching Out for the Last Time. 8. Using a 401(k) to Achieve Your Other Financial Goals. Sneaking Your 401(k) Past Uncle Sam. Dumb Uses for a 401(k). Don''t Use Your 401(k) as a Rainy-Day Fund. Buying Insurance. Education Funding. Buying a Home. Good Uses for 401(k) Plans. Developing an Investment Strategy. Your Other Financial Goals Calculating How Much You Should Save. 9. IRAs Versus 401(k)s Which Is Better? What Is an IRA? Understanding IRAs. Getting Your Money out of a Deductible IRA. Nondeductible IRAs. When Using Both a 401(k) and IRA Makes Sense. Things to Consider for 2002. III. MASTERING THE BASICS OF 401(K) INVESTING. 10. Everything You Need to Know About Investing Your 401(k) Money. The Road to Retirement. The Basics of Investing. What Is "Risk"? 11. The Name Game Understanding the Different Types of Mutual Funds. How Much "Risk" Are You Prepared to Take with Your Investments? Getting to Know the Major Investment Categories. Searching for the Ideal Investment. 12. Looking for Mr. Goodfund. Understanding the Funds in Your 401(k) Plan. Matching Your Investment Goals to Investment Types. Investment Options at a Glance. Reading the Labels The "Nutritional Facts" of Your 401(k) Funds. The Warning Signs: Is It Time for a Change? 13. Taking the Long View. Investing over the Long-Term: It Works! Real Rate of Return. Playing the Odds Through Dollar Cost Averaging. 14. Betting on the Right Horse. Picking Last Year''s Winner A Story of Annual Returns. What Type of Investor Are You? What Investment Rate of Return Should You Use? Match Your Investor Profile to an Investment Strategy. Too Much of a Good Thing Rebalancing. Notes to Historical Return Data. 15. Shopping at the Company Store. Employee Stock Ownership Plans. Why ESOPs Are Offered at the Company Store. Mix and Match. Stocking the Shelves with ISOs, NSOs, and ESPPs. 16. Tax-Sheltered Annuities. What Is an Annuity? The Different Characteristics of an Annuity. Annuity Payout Options. The Real Costs of Owning an Annuity. Do Annuities Fit into Your Portfolio? Some Other Things You Need to Know. The Good and the Bad. Where to Get the Good Deals. IV. TAKING MONEY OUT OF YOUR 401(K). 17. Borrowing from Yourself. Can You Borrow? How Much Can You Borrow? How Do You Borrow? What''s It Gonna Cost You? What If I Can''t Pay It Back? What Is the True Cost of Taking That Loan? Borrowing from Other Sources. If You Do Borrow from Your 401(k). 18. Cashing In or Out of Your 401(k). What''s a Hardship? Just the Facts, Ma''am. Safe Harbor Tests. The Ten Percent Penalty. Calling It Quits. A Divorce Sure Can Mess Up Your Finances. Disability. Section 72(t) Withdrawals. Retiring at Fifty-Five: No Penalty, No Worry. What Happens If You Die. IRS Publications That Are Yours for the Asking. 19. Roll, Roll, Roll It Over. What Is a Rollover? Rollover: Getting Old Money to Do a New Trick. Benefits of a Rollover. When You Can and Can''t Do a Rollover. What Can and Can''t Be Rolled. Some Picky Rules and Thoughts. Leave It! An Alternative to Rollovers. Places for Rollovers. 20. And Now It''s Time to Retire. What Is Retirement? Getting Ready. Can You Afford to Retire Yet? Ready, Set, Go! Making Your Money Last as Long as You Do. Minimum Distributions. Pension Max. V. HERE''S OUR ADVICE. 21. No 401(k)? No Problem! Not a 401(k) in Sight. A SIMPLE Solution to the Problem. SIMPLE 401(k). Keogh Plans. SEP-IRAs. Traditional IRAs. Spousal IRAs. Roth IRAs. Nondeductible IRAs. 22. Getting Help. Why People Fail to Plan. Do You Need a Planner. What a Planner Should Do for You. What a Planner Expects of You. The Areas of Financial Planning That Need to Be Included. What to Look for in a Planner. How Does a Planner Get Paid? How Much Will It Cost? Which Way Is Best? Choosing Your Financial Planner. Before Reaching for Your Wallet. Regulatory Compliance. Who''s Minding the Store? Where to Find a Planner. What the Alphabet Soup Means. 23. Social Security and Medicare. A Little History. Will the Promise Be Broken? Pay-As-You-Go. Who Knew? What Is Social Security, Really? You Must Earn Your Credits. Taxes and More Taxes. Number, Please! So How Much Is It? What Kind of Benefits? Retirement Benefits. Family Benefits. Spousal Benefits. If You Should Become Disabled. What Happens to Your Survivors? Supplemental Security Income. Ready to Sign Up? Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It''s Off to Work You Go. Medicare. Reading Material. 24. How to Avoid the Biggest Mistakes. Saving. Taxes. Investing. Retiring and Taking Money out of Your 401(k). VI. APPENDIXES. Appendix A: Worskheets. Appendix B: Help, Help, and More Help. Appendix C: Glossary. Index.

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