A respected money expert explores the risks and rewards of personal and financial life choices. Every decision, from buying a home to grabbing a daily latte, has costs and benefits-personal as well as financial. The Real Cost of Living helps you make better decisions, both big and small- decisions that involve money, but aren't all about money. Well-known personal finance expert Carmen Wong Ulrich makes personal finance personal and takes into account that we all have motivations that go way beyond number crunching. From marriage and family to career, investing, and more, Carmen examines the "real cost" of the choices we all make every day. *Is deciding whether to go back to work full-time after you have a child really all about money? Should it be? *Is prepaying a mortgage a smart-money move, or is it really about craving security and stability-and which means more to you? *How much do your bad habits really cost you? And is saving thousands of dollars enough of a motivation to get you to stop? *Are college degrees really worthwhile? And if so, how can you maximize the odds of gaining all the benefits of a degree, both personally and financially? *Is becoming your own boss the answer to your career malaise? Can you handle the costs? The Real Cost of Living is a rare melding of personal psychology and personal finance at an important time when we have discovered that having more money may not bring more happiness, but knowing what really will make you happy can be worth any cost.