FINANCIAL PLANNING BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following information was compiled by Sue Ledwell, now with the Access Group, and her staff when she was at the University of Pennsylvania. It is reprinted with her permission. It is designed to assist you in educating yourself about the principles of personal finance that should begin from a broad perspective rather than focusing on a specialized topic. You can delve into the more specific topics once you have reached an understanding of the broader issues.

The following bibliography is organized with this purpose in mind. The publications included were chosen for their clarity, readability, and success at making a complex subject easy to understand. The bibliography is divided into three sections: (1) general financial planning, (2) higher education finance, and (3) investing. It is not meant to be an exhaustive listing but rather an illustrative sampling.

I. GENERAL FINANCIAL PLANNING GUIDES

A good place to start is to understand how your financial planning needs will evolve over time. A general financial planning guide should serve this purpose well. Titles in this category cover the financial planning needs of individuals throughout their life cycle. Some of the guides include a chapter on higher education financing. These chapters, however, tend to be aimed at the parent planning his/her child’s undergraduate education.

Dictionary of Personal Finance by Siegel, Shim and Hartmann.
Guide to Personal Financial Planning by Amling and Droms. (Dow Jones-Irwin Publishing)
Life after Debt by Bob Hammond. (Career Press)
Marshall Loeb’s Money Guide by Marshall Loeb. (Little, Brown and Co.)
Terry Savage’s New Money Strategies for the ’90′s by Terry Savage. (Harper Business)
Personal Financial Planning Guide for Doctors, Dentists, and Healthcare Professionals by Jonathan D. Pond. (Dell Publishing)
Personal Financial Planning Guide for Self-Employed Professionals and Small Business Owners by Jonathan D. Pond. (Dell Publishing)
Personal Financing Guide for Teachers and Employees of Educational Institutions by Jonathan D. Pond. (Dell Publishing)
The New Century Family Money Book by Jonathan D. Pond. (Dell Publishing)
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Personal Finance by R. Saul Wurman. (Simon and Schuster)
Sylvia Porter’s Your Finances in the 90′s by Sylvia Porter.
Monthly Interest Amortization Tables by Delphi Information Systems Corporation. (Contemporary Books, Inc.)

II. FINANCING HIGHER EDUCATION GUIDES

The next step involves delving deeper into determining and managing the immediate financial needs you face while you are a student. Topics include setting financial objectives, financing your graduate education, budgeting, learning about public and private sources of financial aid, student employment, debt management, etc. The following publications are a sampling of those currently available. Although some of these titles are specific to certain disciplines, the information should be applicable to you.

Guide to Financing a Medical School Education by Marguerite J. Dennis. (Barron’s Guide)
Financing Graduate School by Patricia McWade. (Petersons’ Guide)
Free Money for Graduate School by Laurie Blum. (Henry Holt and Co.)
Peterson’s Grants for Graduate Study. (Peterson’s Guide)
How to Survive Without Your Parents’ Money by Geoff Martz. (The Princeton Review)
The Graduate Scholarship Book by Daniel J. Cassidy. (Prentice Hall)
The Official Guide to Financing Your MBA by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). (Warner Books)

III. INVESTING GUIDES

You may also be interested in the investment aspects of financial planning. Topics can include increasing net worth, understanding the financial markets, and investing in growth assets, securities, and money market funds. The sampling of publications listed here provide information about investing.

Beating the Street by Peter Lynch. (Simon and Schuster)
Dun and Bradstreet Guide to Your Investments. (Dun and Bradstreet)
One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. (Simon & Schuster)
The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias. (Bantam Books)
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Markets by Richard S. Wurman, Alan Siegel, and Kenneth M. Morris. (Simon and Schuster, Inc.)