Review: Women and Money by Suze Orman

I am a huge fan of Suze Orman and watch her show whenever I am at my mom's on a Saturday night (I don't have cable at my apartment).  I received this book from my family for Christmas, and it is filled with a wealth of information.  It is geared toward women and how they can save more money and be more money conscious in their everyday lives.

I absolutely recommend this book to everyone, including men.  It is so easy to read and understand.  I am the kind of person who doesn't understand savings or retirement accounts or anything like that, and Suze explains all of this and which types of accounts are best for different people.  She pretty much dumbs it down for you.

She also is really good about helping readers create a budget they can live with.  I sat down right after I read this and created my own budget, so I now put away a certain amount into savings every month.  To read how much you can have saved if you put just a bit of money away every months is definitely motivation to keep going at it.

One of my favorite topics in the book was the retirement accounts chapter.  I have a 401K through my work, but I had no idea what I was doing when I set it up.  As soon as I get this book back from my sister (who is borrowing it, yay for her!), I am going to review that chapter and make any necessary alterations to my 401K.  Basically, she helped me to understand what kind of funds (or whatever those things you put in your account are....you know what I mean??) you should be putting in at different stages of your life.  Like, say, if you are close to retirement, make sure you have your 401K set up with a stable type of fund. 

(ok, I know I'm probably using all the wrong terminology, but look!  I do understand what I basically am talking about thanks to Suze!)

I also thought the chapter about important documents everyone with familys or beneficiaries should have was extremely helpful and important.  I had no idea that a will didn't garantee your family would get your house, etc.  I know it's expensive to finally get whatever was left to you, because my uncle and my sisters have been going through something similar since my grandmother died over a year ago.  If you have the right paperwork in place, you won't have to go through all the hassle of courts and lawyers and fees.  I wish I had read this with my gramma when she was still alive.

So basically, I am being preachy about this book.  I highly recommend it to everyone, especially if you are like me and want to be in complete control over your money and your financial future but have no idea what to do or where to start.  I do wish that I had the book back from my sister right now.  I feel like this review would have been more put together if I had the book in front of me for reference :)


Title: Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny
Author: Suze Orman
Date of Publication: 2010
Number of Pages: 352
Genre: Nonfiction
Source: Gift for Christmas