The Suze Orman Show
HOW TO SAVE YOURSELF IN TURBULENT TIMES
Book excerpt from the introduction to the Paperback Edition of Women & Money.
So much has changed in the three years since Women & Money was first published. The economic crisis that took hold in 2008 (and, as I write this, has yet to loosen its grip) has dealt a chilling blow to your security. A retirement plan heavily invested in stocks is worth less today—a lot less. Real estate values have fallen, and many of you have gone through the unthinkably difficult process of losing your home. With national unemployment figures nearly double what they were three years ago, millions of people are struggling to stay afloat, while those with a job are justifiably on edge.
I certainly hope that by the time you read this the recession has run its course and our economy—and the economies of all our trade partners around the world—is on a more healthy growth track. But regardless of when the recovery begins, most of us will still have a long, hard road to travel back to financial security. It takes time to undo the mistakes and bad behavior of the past and to learn and adopt the right financial behavior. And it takes time for those good actions to take hold and build toward security. If it took you years to dig a hole, you can’t realistically expect to climb all the way out in a matter of weeks or months. That’s true of us collectively as Americans, and it is just as true for your personal finances.
No amount of finger-pointing or assigning blame to Wall Street or Washington will help. Were mistakes made? Oh, don’t get me started. But if you now find yourself in a financial fix, I need you to acknowledge your own responsibility. If you are staring at big credit card balances, they were most likely a result of living beyond your means. If you never bothered to set aside money in an emergency fund because you figured you could always use credit cards or your home equity, that was your choice. Now that both options have dried up, you need a Plan B. Same with retirement. The bear market has indeed been brutal, but you might find yourself facing even greater uncertainty if you failed to save as much as possible in your 401(k) and/or IRA over the years and if you didn’t have a solid asset allocation strategy. Or perhaps you were just one of those people who sort of muddled along and never really figured out a financial game plan, and now you find yourself way over your head.
Maybe you recognize yourself among those descriptions. But here’s where I need you to put your “can do” spirit front and center: Just as you are responsible for where you find yourself today, you are also equally responsible for moving forward. I am telling you, you have no other alternative.
You still can own the power to control your destiny. In a way, the financial crisis may have made it easier to claim your power. How’s that? My sense is that you now have more motivation than ever before to claim that power once and for all so you never again have to live life on the verge of financial breakdown. The recession was your wake-up call. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this book right now.
Women & Money contains the vital information you need to tackle the major financial challenges standing between you and security. The women who read and responded to the challenges put forth in this book after its initial publication have assumed control of their financial lives. Now it is your turn. In this updated edition of Women & Money, my advice has evolved to address changes brought about by the financial crisis. Yet the essential advice I offer in this book about how to become a woman in charge of her finances and in charge of her life remains unchanged and is as timely as ever.
In the pages that follow I will share with you how to let go of the past and harness the courage to do what is right for your future. The Save Yourself Plan lays out the steps you should take toward a future of financial security; it covers everything from dealing with credit card debt in today’s tougher environment to why you still need to keep investing in stocks for retirement if you have at least ten years or more until you need the money.
I know you have what it takes to save yourself. I am not for one minute minimizing the force and magnitude of the financial meltdown. My heart breaks for the hardship I know so many of you are living through and may continue to experience for years to come. I wish it had never happened to any of us. But it did. What I have to offer is your way out.
Suze Orman
September 2009
From WOMEN & MONEY: OWNING THE POWER TO CONTROL YOUR DESTINY by Suze Orman, copyright © 2007, 2010 by Suze Orman, a Trustee of the Suze Orman Revocable Trust. Used by permission of Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
Buy the Book
So much has changed in the three years since Women & Money was first published. The economic crisis that took hold in 2008 (and, as I write this, has yet to loosen its grip) has dealt a chilling blow to your security. A retirement plan heavily invested in stocks is worth less today—a lot less. Real estate values have fallen, and many of you have gone through the unthinkably difficult process of losing your home. With national unemployment figures nearly double what they were three years ago, millions of people are struggling to stay afloat, while those with a job are justifiably on edge.I certainly hope that by the time you read this the recession has run its course and our economy—and the economies of all our trade partners around the world—is on a more healthy growth track. But regardless of when the recovery begins, most of us will still have a long, hard road to travel back to financial security. It takes time to undo the mistakes and bad behavior of the past and to learn and adopt the right financial behavior. And it takes time for those good actions to take hold and build toward security. If it took you years to dig a hole, you can’t realistically expect to climb all the way out in a matter of weeks or months. That’s true of us collectively as Americans, and it is just as true for your personal finances.
No amount of finger-pointing or assigning blame to Wall Street or Washington will help. Were mistakes made? Oh, don’t get me started. But if you now find yourself in a financial fix, I need you to acknowledge your own responsibility. If you are staring at big credit card balances, they were most likely a result of living beyond your means. If you never bothered to set aside money in an emergency fund because you figured you could always use credit cards or your home equity, that was your choice. Now that both options have dried up, you need a Plan B. Same with retirement. The bear market has indeed been brutal, but you might find yourself facing even greater uncertainty if you failed to save as much as possible in your 401(k) and/or IRA over the years and if you didn’t have a solid asset allocation strategy. Or perhaps you were just one of those people who sort of muddled along and never really figured out a financial game plan, and now you find yourself way over your head.
Maybe you recognize yourself among those descriptions. But here’s where I need you to put your “can do” spirit front and center: Just as you are responsible for where you find yourself today, you are also equally responsible for moving forward. I am telling you, you have no other alternative.
You still can own the power to control your destiny. In a way, the financial crisis may have made it easier to claim your power. How’s that? My sense is that you now have more motivation than ever before to claim that power once and for all so you never again have to live life on the verge of financial breakdown. The recession was your wake-up call. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this book right now.
Women & Money contains the vital information you need to tackle the major financial challenges standing between you and security. The women who read and responded to the challenges put forth in this book after its initial publication have assumed control of their financial lives. Now it is your turn. In this updated edition of Women & Money, my advice has evolved to address changes brought about by the financial crisis. Yet the essential advice I offer in this book about how to become a woman in charge of her finances and in charge of her life remains unchanged and is as timely as ever.
In the pages that follow I will share with you how to let go of the past and harness the courage to do what is right for your future. The Save Yourself Plan lays out the steps you should take toward a future of financial security; it covers everything from dealing with credit card debt in today’s tougher environment to why you still need to keep investing in stocks for retirement if you have at least ten years or more until you need the money.
I know you have what it takes to save yourself. I am not for one minute minimizing the force and magnitude of the financial meltdown. My heart breaks for the hardship I know so many of you are living through and may continue to experience for years to come. I wish it had never happened to any of us. But it did. What I have to offer is your way out.
Suze Orman
September 2009
From WOMEN & MONEY: OWNING THE POWER TO CONTROL YOUR DESTINY by Suze Orman, copyright © 2007, 2010 by Suze Orman, a Trustee of the Suze Orman Revocable Trust. Used by permission of Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
Buy the Book
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