Books are seldom the work of one person, or in this case three people. Ours represents the collective wisdom of the investment professionals at the Buckingham Family of Financial Services.

For all their support and encouragement we would like to thank the principals of our firm: Adam Birenbaum, Ernest Clark, Susan Shackelford-Davis, Steve Funk, Bob Gellman, Ed Goldberg, Ken Katzif, Mont Levy, Steve Lourie, Vladimir Masek, Bert Schweizer III, Brenda Witt, and Stuart Zimmerman.

Too many of our co-workers contributed to list them all. But we would be remiss if we did not mention the special efforts and contributions of RC Balaban, Jim Cornfield, David Ressner, John Corn (who made major contributions to the sections on retirement plans and college savings plans) and Aaron Vickar (who made major contributions to the chapter on insurance). Jared Kizer, the coauthor of The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need, also made important contributions. The usual caveat of any errors being our own certainly applies.

We also thank our agent, Sam Fleischman, for all his efforts.

Kevin adds: My wife, Julie, makes every day a joy. I thank her for her love and patience. I thank my parents and my brother, who have always supported me and had my best interests in mind. I owe an enormous debt to all the kind people (especially Jared Kizer and Vladimir Masek) who have taken the time to teach me what I know about investment theory.

Tiya adds: Thank you to my parents, Chak and Mira. You have supported my decisions all along the way.

I especially thank my wife, Mona, the love of my life, for her tremendous encouragement and understanding during the lost weekends and many nights I sat at the computer well into the early morning hours. She has always provided whatever support was needed. And then some. Walking through life with her has truly been a gracious experience.

Larry Swedroe