The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom

Many years ago a person, who shall remain nameless, strongly encouraged me to read her books stating that "Women understand things differently then men do. She knows how to speak to women and it would be really helpful to you." I took offence, as most post-teenagers do, and avoided her like the plague.

This year I realized 3 things-- 1, I had not yet met my financial fitness education goal. 2, Not reading a (potentially) helpful book is like being sick and not trying a (potentially) helpful cure. 3, This person, who shall remain nameless, didn't understand women anyway. So what did he know about what would be helpful?

This book was years ahead of its time (as evidenced by its constant reference to the WWW instead of the internet). It show more puts internet advertising to shame before there was such a thing. Unfortunately, me being raised with the internet, it did repeat a lot of things that I already knew. However, I found the chapters on wills, trusts, etc., EXTREMELY informative and worthwhile. I remember once my aunt and uncle writing out a short will before taking a trip and leaving their kids with my parents and thinking--- This is so risky. What if the grandparents contest the will? Is that really legal? That chapter answers those questions. And yes. It was risky. Don't do that.

So-- the book is good and covers a good deal of ground that others, such as Dave Ramsey, don't. Worth a quick read. show less

Orman is well known – a certified financial planner, author of several books on managing wealth, and an Emmy-winning television host. The subtitle of this book is: Practical & Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying.

There isn’t much that’s new here. I’ve followed most of her advice my whole adult life (taught by my parents). Still it was worth it to read through and remind myself of certain aspects, and it opened a discussion with my husband as we plan for retirement.

She includes practical information and clear, understandable definitions of various terms. She also cites some anecdotal stories to illustrate various points, which helps to make the information more accessible to a wider audience.

Readers should be careful which show more edition of the book they get, however. The first one I picked up from my library was a 1997 edition and some of the tax information in that volume is no longer accurate. show less

Suze Orman has nine steps to financial freedom. The first three are very basic things about trying to determine your past and your feelings about money. She tries to get to the root of why you act the way you do about your finances. The next three steps are the practical steps about handling and investing money in the right way (get out of debt, wills, trusts etc). The last three steps are her "spiritual" steps to financial freedom. Overall, I have read enough personal finance information that I must say I didn't really get anything out of this. It would be a great place to start for people who haven't ever paid any attention to their money at all. However, I still found it fascinating because she tries to teach some basic principals of show more finance that I learned from the Bible in a way that leaves out any specific religion. In fact, she has one whole section where she urges her readers that they will never be financially free until they can give away a portion of their money every month from their first paycheck! Isn't that funny? She is basically espousing the Bibilical prinicpal of tithing as an essential part of even a secular financial plan! Worth a read if you are a personal finance kind of person (and you should be). show less

The 9 steps to financial freedom are: 1. discovering your strange hang-ups about money, 2. getting over your strange hang-ups about money, 3. knowing how much you spend and how much you need to spend, 4. wills/trusts/life and LTC insurance, 5. debt reduction and saving for retirement, 6. investing, 7. charity, 8. accepting a cycle of setbacks and gains, 9. life is not really about your net worth.

Suze Orman is a genius at constructing a narrative about personal finance that makes even estate planning fun to read.

I appreciate Orman's approach to finance - she looks at financial life as part of one's overall spiritual health. Lots of great advice here for changing your attitude to money, and making that the first step towards inviting greater wealth into your life.

The 9 steps to financial freedom by Suze Orman
Love the author's advice, have seen her on TV her own show and PBS. She's straight forward knowledge and caring.
Although a bit outdated as laws and rules have changed the basic advice is the same. Good to review yearly.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

Orman definitely knows what she is talking about and of all the finicial gurus she is the one i trust the most and i also consider her the most readable. Go Suze!