Liz Weston on Personal Finance (Collection), 2/e

1. Setting Up Your Financial Life

There’s a problem with managing your finances the old-fashioned way—it just doesn’t work. By the time you get a statement telling you your bank balance, you’re already overdrawn by three checks. By the time you get your credit card statement, the thief who has taken over your account has wreaked havoc. Your quarterly 401(k) statements might tell you how some of your investments are doing, but how does that account tie in with your spouse’s workplace retirement plan and your IRAs?

And then there are all the fees. Late fees. Over-limit fees. Failure-to-keep-minimum-balance fees. One slip in your money management can cost you plenty.

Monitoring your finances in today’s complex world needs to be more real-time. You ...