About the Authors

Eric Tyson is an internationally acclaimed and best-selling personal finance book author, syndicated columnist, and speaker. He has worked with and taught people from all financial situations, so he knows the financial concerns and questions of real folks just like you. Despite being handicapped by an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS in Economics and Biology from Yale University, Eric remains a master of “keeping it simple.”

After toiling away for a number of years as a management consultant to Fortune 500 financial-service firms, Eric took his inside knowledge of the banking, investment, and insurance industries and committed himself to making personal financial management accessible to all. Today, Eric is an accomplished personal finance writer. He is the author of five national best-selling books, including Personal Finance For Dummies, Investing For Dummies, and Home Buying For Dummies (coauthor), among others, which are all published by Wiley. Personal Finance For Dummies was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for best business book of the year.

Eric’s work has been featured and quoted in hundreds of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Forbes magazine, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, Parenting magazine, Money magazine, and Bottom Line/Personal magazine; on NBC’s Today Show, ABC, CNBC, FOX-TV, FOX Business, PBS’s Nightly Business Report, and CNN Business; and on CBS national radio, NPR’s Sound Money, Bloomberg Business Radio, and Business Radio Network.

Eric’s website is www.erictyson.com where you can find information on the Personal Finance courses that he teaches online.

Bob Carlson is editor of the monthly newsletter and website, Retirement Watch. Bob also is chairman of the board of trustees of the Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System, which has over $4 billion in assets. He has served on the board since 1992. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Virginia Retirement System, which oversaw $42 billion in assets, from 2001 to 2005.

His latest book is Where’s My Money: Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Your Social Security (Regnery). His prior books include Invest Like a Fox … Not Like a Hedgehog and The New Rules of Retirement, both published by Wiley. He has written numerous other books and reports, including Tax Wise Money Strategies and Retirement Tax Guide. He also has been interviewed by or quoted in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, Barron’s, AARP Bulletin, Money magazine, Worth magazine, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, the Washington Post, and many others. He has appeared on national television and on a number of radio programs. He is past editor of Tax Wise Money. The Washington Post calls Bob’s advice “smart … savvy … sensible … valuable and imaginative.”

Bob has been a guest on many local and nationally syndicated radio shows.

Bob received his JD and an MS (in accounting) from the University of Virginia, received his BS (in financial management) from Clemson University, and passed the CPA exam. He also is an instrument-rated private pilot.