Our book review is on “Women and Money”, by Suze Orman.
Suze Orman is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting personalities in the world of financial advisors. As an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), television personality, and single woman, she is a force to be reckoned with. Given the nature of her business, Orman continually meets people seeking her financial advice, and has found that, even in this era, women continue to be woefully uninformed and remain hands-off when it comes to their own finances. Orman decided to take steps to change this and published her eighth book, the bestselling Women & Money, in 2007.
Women & Money takes a look at why women either don’t know about, or hand over control of, their finances. It then explains the key points that every woman needs to know about their money, and provides easy to follow instructions for taking control of one’s financial destiny. This is accomplished through eight chapters, outlined as follows:
Chapter 1: For Women Only serves as an explanation of why Orman felt the need to write this particular book, and introduces her recommended course of action, which she calls “The Save Yourself Plan.”
Chapter 2: Imagine What’s Possible takes a look at the dysfunctional relationships that women frequently have with money, and explains that in order to have a successful financial future, women must address their relationship with money like they would any other damaged relationship that they wished to save: acknowledge their mistakes, take responsibility, and resolve to alter the bad behaviors to make the relationship change for the better.
In Chapter 3: No Shame, No Blame, Orman reminds the reader that embarrassment and/or ignorance are little excuse for financial ineptitude, and tells her own story about how she went from being a waitress making $400 per month to being a successful broker with Merrill Lynch.
Chapter 4: You are Not on Sale addresses the tendency we women have to undervalue ourselves and how it applies to women as employees, business owners, homemakers, service providers, volunteers, etc. This chapter also advises women to raise their expectations and negotiate compensation to reflect their worth.
