Financial First Aid: Smart Remedies for Hundreds of Curable Money Ailments - Hardcover

Written by Mary Sprouse, a personal finance authority and columnist for Money magazine, Financial First Aid is packed with a wealth of practical prescriptions for maintaining or reviving your financial well-being. From comparatively minor scrapes like lost credit cards to more serious setbacks such as imminent bankruptcy, Sprouse's expert advice and invaluable tips will not only help heal pecuniary pains, but, in many cases, avert them altogether.

Covering a wide range of potential problem areas —including insurance, home ownership, estate planning, investments, and taxes —this convenient, one-stop resource provides step-by-step procedures on how to follow up and where to turn for further assistance. Financial First Aid shows you how to:

• Manage debt
• Correct erroneous bills and credit card charges
• File a consumer complaint
• Resolve warranty disputes
• Lower a property tax overassessment
• Save up for a home down payment
• Preserve your assets when illness strikes
• And much more!

Complete with sample letters, pertinent financial documents, and helpful worksheets, as well as contact information for regulatory agencies and other important resources, Financial First Aid has just what the doctor ordered to cure—and prevent—future fiscal maladies.

Packed with a wealth of preventative measures and potent remedies for a host of money maladies, Financial First Aid has just what the doctor ordered for getting—and maintaining—your finances in top condition.

• Ailment: Digging yourself out of debt.

Rx: Work out your own payment plan, do not avoid creditors, seek credit counseling, avoid consolidation loans.

Prevention: Make a budget and stick to it, set a self-imposed repayment schedule, shave credit card costs, pay by cash.

• Ailment: Filing your federal income tax return late.

Rx: No problem. You can get an automatic four-month extension of time to file your tax return by filing Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

• Ailment: Your auto insurance premiums are too high.
• Rx: Ask for higher deductibles, avoid duplicate coverage, drop some coverage on older cars, turn down unnecessary add-ons.
• Ailment: Your mutual fund account was closed out fraudulently by someone posing as you on the phone.
• Rx: Consider using a full-service broker, use optional safety features, read your financial statements, watch your mailbox and what you put in the trash, stay informed about fraud.
• Ailment: Selling your house when the market is soft.

Rx: List your house with a knowledgeable and aggressive broker, do not haggle over the broker's commission, set a reasonable price, consider creative financing.