Infrastructure Planning and Finance

Infrastructure Planning and Finance
Author: Vicki Elmer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 769
Release: 2013-11-07
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1135906416

Infrastructure Planning and Finance is a non-technical guide to the engineering, planning, and financing of major infrastucture projects in the United States, providing both step-by-step guidance, and a broad overview of the technical, political, and economic challenges of creating lasting infrastructure in the 21st Century. Infrastructure Planning and Finance is designed for the local practitioner or student who wants to learn the basics of how to develop an infrastructure plan, a program, or an individual infrastructure project. A team of authors with experience in public works, planning, and city government explain the history and economic environment of infrastructure and capital planning, addressing common tools like the comprehensive plan, sustainability plans, and local regulations. The book guides readers through the preparation and development of comprehensive plans and infrastructure projects, and through major funding mechanisms, from bonds, user fees, and impact fees to privatization and competition. The rest of the book describes the individual infrastructure systems: their elements, current issues and a 'how-to-do-it' section that covers the system and the comprehensive plan, development regulations and how it can be financed. Innovations such as decentralization, green and blue-green technologies are described as well as local policy actions to achieve a more sustainable city are also addressed. Chapters include water, wastewater, solid waste, streets, transportation, airports, ports, community facilities, parks, schools, energy and telecommunications. Attention is given to how local policies can ensure a sustainable and climate friendly infrastructure system, and how planning for them can be integrated across disciplines.

Plan Your Financial Future

Plan Your Financial Future
Author: Keith Fevurly
Publisher: Apress
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2013-09-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1430260653

Implementing a financial plan to manage the future is very important. If you have not assembled such a plan, or even if you have not thought about how best to manage your financial future, the time to do so is now, and the resource you need to walk you through every step of the personal financial planning process is Plan Your Financial Future. Regardless of whether you are a recent college graduate or have spent the past several decades in the working world, Plan Your Financial Future will give you the smart, commonsense advice you need to get your financial life in order. Written by an expert and long-standing educator in the field of personal financial planning, Plan Your Financial Future is a comprehensive, objective, and pertinent guidebook for readers of all income levels who want to grow their net worth on a steady and increasing basis. Covering all the financial bases you can reasonably expect to confront in your lifetime, like insurance, investing, income tax planning, Social Security, Medicare, and more, this vital resource begins with techniques to protect a consumer's personal and business assets. It then transitions into the wealth accumulation process and outlines tax management measures, as well as the distribution of wealth for higher education, retirement, and estate planning purposes. Filled with in-depth insight and invaluable financial planning advice, this unique guide explains how to: Insure yourself, your family, and your property against the possibility of significant loss; Invest in financial or real assets—or both; Practice effective tax planning and management techniques; Distribute your estate at death to your intended beneficiaries in a tax-efficient manner; And much more. With its no-nonsense, straightforward style and holistic view of the financial planning process, Plan Your Financial Future is the one resource you need to become a more knowledgeable saver and translate those savings into the accumulation of future wealth.

The One-Page Financial Plan

The One-Page Financial Plan
Author: Carl Richards
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2015-03-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0241971675

A simple, effective way to transform your finances and your life from leading financial advisor and New York Times columnist Carl Richards Creating a financial plan can seem overwhelming, but the best plans aren't long or complicated. A great plan has nothing to do with the details of how to save and invest your money and everything to do with why you're doing it in the first place. Knowing what's important to you, you will be able to make better decisions in any market conditions. The One-Page Financial Plan will help you identify your values and goals. Carl Richard's simple steps will show you how to prioritize what you really want in life and figure out how to get there. 'In a world where financial advice is (often purposely) complicated and filled with jargon, Carl Richards distils what matters most into something that is easy and fun to read' Wall Street Journal 'Feeling tormented by your finances? Read this book. Now. The One-Page Financial Plan helps you identify what you truly want from life, get crystal clear about the financial position you are starting from today, and develop a simple, actionable plan to narrow the gap between the two' Manisha Thakor, CEO at MoneyZen Wealth Management Carl Richards is a certified financial planner and a columnist for the New York Times, where his weekly Sketch Guy column has run every Monday for over five years. He is also a columnist for Morningstar magazine and a contributor to Yahoo Finance. His first book, The Behavior Gap, was very well received, and his weekly newsletter has readers around the world. Richards is a popular keynote speaker and is the director of investor education for the BAM ALLIANCE.

The Price of Government

The Price of Government
Author: David Osborne
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2009-04-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0786736976

Government is broke. The 2004 federal deficit is the highest in U.S. history. The states have suffered three years of record shortfalls. Cities, counties, and school districts are laying off policemen and teachers, closing schools, and cutting services. But the fiscal pain won't go away, and the bankrupt ideologies of left and right offer little guidance.The Price of Government presents a radically different approach to budgeting -- one that focuses on buying results for citizens rather than cutting or adding to last year's spending programs. It advocates consolidation, competition, customer choice, and a relentless focus on results to save millions while improving public services.

Community Planning

Community Planning
Author: Eric Damian Kelly
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2012-09-26
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1597265926

This book introduces community planning as practiced in the United States, focusing on the comprehensive plan. Sometimes known by other names—especially master plan or general plan—the type of plan described here is the predominant form of general governmental planning in the U.S. Although many government agencies make plans for their own programs or facilities, the comprehensive plan is the only planning document that considers multiple programs and that accounts for activities on all land located within the planning area, including both public and private property. Written by a former president of the American Planning Association, Community Planning is thorough, specific, and timely. It addresses such important contemporary issues as sustainability, walkable communities, the role of urban design in public safety, changes in housing needs for a changing population, and multi-modal transportation planning. Unlike competing books, it addresses all of these topics in the context of the local comprehensive plan. There is a broad audience for this book: planning students, practicing planners, and individual citizens who want to better understand local planning and land use controls. Boxes at the end of each chapter explain how professional planners and individual citizens, respectively, typically engage the issues addressed in the chapter. For all readers, Community Planning provides a pragmatic view of the comprehensive plan, clearly explained by a respected authority.

The Behavior Gap

The Behavior Gap
Author: Carl Richards
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2012-01-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1101559551

"It's not that we're dumb. We're wired to avoid pain and pursue pleasure and security. It feels right to sell when everyone around us is scared and buy when everyone feels great. It may feel right-but it's not rational." -From The Behavior Gap Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets-but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make. As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon-the distance between what we should do and what we actually do-"the behavior gap." Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better. Richards's way with words and images has attracted a loyal following to his blog posts for The New York Times, appearances on National Public Radio, and his columns and lectures. His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind. He'll help you to: • Avoid the tendency to buy high and sell low; • Avoid the pitfalls of generic financial advice; • Invest all of your assets-time and energy as well as savings-more wisely; • Quit spending money and time on things that don't matter; • Identify your real financial goals; • Start meaningful conversations about money; • Simplify your financial life; • Stop losing money! It's never too late to make a fresh financial start. As Richards writes: "We've all made mistakes, but now it's time to give yourself permission to review those mistakes, identify your personal behavior gaps, and make a plan to avoid them in the future. The goal isn't to make the 'perfect' decision about money every time, but to do the best we can and move forward. Most of the time, that's enough."

Capital Budgeting and Finance

Capital Budgeting and Finance
Author: Justin Marlowe
Publisher: Unc School of Government
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Capital budget
ISBN: 9780873261883

A updated on the 2004 current, comprehensive, and detailed how-to manual for planning and financing successful captial projects. Practical planning guide creating 'shovel-ready' plans. (replaces ISBN 0-87326-144-5)

The Bucket Plan®

The Bucket Plan®
Author: Jason L Smith
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2017-08-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1626344612

Worry less. Plan more. Do you want a secure retirement, free from worry, stress, and confusion? The Bucket Plan® is a must-read book for anyone serious about creating a practical and sensible financial plan for his or her retirement years. The financialplanning process outlined in this book is based on a three-bucket philosophy of strategically positioning assets to plan for and mitigate the risks and dangers that can occur in retirement. Readers will learn: • The three biggest dangers for your financial future and how The Bucket Plan helps protect from them • A formula for calculating whether you will have an income deficit and, if so, how much money is needed to prevent it • A surefire way to avoid taking on too much investment risk on money you may need in the near future • Much, much more When readers strategically allocate their money using Jason Smith’s three-bucket philosophy, they can create a plan that mitigates risk and offers an opportunity for growth into the future, allowing them to feel more secure about retirement.

The Ultimate Financial Plan

The Ultimate Financial Plan
Author: Jim Stovall
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2011-08-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118107969

How to build a financial plan that really blends into your life The latest volume in the bestselling Ultimate series, Jim Stovall and Tim Maurer's The Ultimate Financial Plan: Balancing Your Money and Life is a one-stop, comprehensive, personal financial planning book exploring the intersection of money and life. The Ultimate Financial Plan examines the connection between actions, thoughts, and feelings when it comes to all things financial. The key to getting the most out of your wealth, the authors argue, is certainly found in the wise utilization of tools, like budgets, bank accounts, 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, education savings plans, and real estate, as well as home, auto, business, health, disability, and long term care insurance, but even more so in the contentment found in balancing money's influence in our lives with personal values and goals. An insider's look into the recently humbled "Big 3"—the banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies—and the inner workings that often set their proprietary goals and objectives above all A critical examination of the role of various financial sales people, advisors, planners, and consultants A guide to navigating Economic Bias—a conflict of interest involving money—and how it affects every financial decision we make The Ultimate Financial Plan is the application of the resources at your disposal for the purpose of living your life to the fullest, and this book will show you the quickest route to getting started on the path to ultimate success.