Women and Money : Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny

by Orman, Suze

• ISBN13: 9780385519328
• ISBN10: 038551932X
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2035-01-01
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau

Summary

Why is it that women, who are so competent in all other areas of their lives, cannot find the same competence when it comes to matters of money? Suze Orman investigates the complicated, dysfunctional relationship women have with money in this groundbreaking new book.With her signature mix of insight, compassion, and soul-deep recognition, she equips women with the financial knowledge and emotional awareness to overcome the blocks that have kept them from making more out of the money they make. At the center of the book is The Save Yourself Plana streamlined, five-month program that delivers genuine long-term financial security. But what's at stake is far bigger than money itself:It's about every woman's sense of who she is and what she deserves, and why it all begins with the decision to save yourself. Join the Movement to Save Yourself with this Unprecedented Offer to Readers of Women & Money: Suze Orman believes that having an account of your own is the cornerstone of long-term financial security, and so she has begun a national movement calledSave Yourselfto turn this wishthat every woman have an account in her own nameinto a reality. She is joined in this crusade by the financial brokerage firm TD Ameritrade, which has come up with an extraordinary offer for readers of WOMEN & MONEY. Follow Suze'sSave Yourself Planand open an account in your name with TD Ameritrade. Commit to an automatic deposit of at least $50 per month for twelve consecutive months, and TD Ameritrade will provide the incentive in the form of a $100 deposit into your account in the thirteenth month. In other words, you save $600 or more over the course of a year, and TD Ameritrade will reward that effort with a $100 bonus. Learn more inside the book or at www.saveyourself.com . Offer valid for one new TD AMERITRADE account (non-retirement) opened between 2/27/07 and 3/31/08, and funded by 12 monthly consecutive automatic electronic deposits of $50 or more. First $50 must be deposited within 30 days of opening account. To be eligible, you must be a U.S. resident aged 18 or older. See www.saveyourself.com for obligations and limitations and to accept this offer. This is not an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where TD AMERITRADE is not authorized to do business. Random House, Inc., does not endorse, is not associated with, and has no responsibility for the TD AMERITRADE offer. TD AMERITRADE, Random House, Inc., and Suze Orman are separate and not affiliated, and each of them is not responsible for the services and information provided by the other(s). TD AMERITRADE, Inc., member NASD/SIPC. From the Hardcover edition.

Author Biography

Suze Orman is a two time emmy award winner and the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers: Women & Money, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom; The Courage to Be Rich; The Road to Wealth; The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life; and The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. The host of "The Suze Orman Show" which airs every Saturday Night on CNBC has garnered her more GRACIE awards than anyone in the 32 year history of that award which honors women in radio and television, Named in 2007 by Business week as the top female motivational speaker in the United States and in 2008 by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world Suze is also a contributing editor to O, The Oprah Magazine and The Costco Connection. Suze's name has become synonymous with money and is undeniably the most listened to personal finance expert in America today.

Excerpts

1
FOR WOMEN ONLY


I never thought I’d write a book about money just for women. I never thought it was necessary. So then why am I doing just that in my eighth book? And why now? Let me explain.

All my previous books were written with the belief that gender is not a factor on any level in mastering the nuts and bolts of smart financial management. Women can invest, save, and handle debt just as well and skillfully as any man. I still believe that–why would anyone think differently?

So imagine my surprise when I learned that some of the people closest to me in my life were in the dark about their own finances. Clueless. Or, in some cases, willfully resisting doing what they knew needed to be done. I’m talking about smart, competent, accomplished women who present a face to the world that is pure confidence and capability. Do you mean to tell me that I, Suze Orman, who make my living solving the financial problems of total strangers, couldn’t spot the trouble brewing so close to home? I don’t think I’m blind; I just think that these women became very, very good at hiding their troubles from me. Why not? They had years of practice hiding them from themselves.

Frankly, I was shocked. It was a real reckoning. It began with a friend, a very high-powered businesswoman who handles millions and millions of dollars a year, who refused to sign will and trust documents I’d helped her to prepare. I can’t tell you why, but those papers sat on her desk forthree years—she clearly had some kind of block that prevented her from simply signing her name and having the documents notarized. Even as I write, she has still not completed them. Then another friend, a woman with some amazing professional credits under her belt, broke down and confessed that she had rung up such staggering bills over the years that she was too terrified to tell anyone and had no idea how to pay them off. Not long after, I heard from yet another friend who finally woke up to the fact that her employer was paying her significantly less than every other executive of comparable rank in her company. Her division was one of the most profitable and consistent earners for the company, but still she just accepted the minimal increases her boss would hand her every year at review time. And even now, out of some misguided loyalty, she was reluctant to leave the employer that took advantage of her year after year.

What was going on here?

Upon further investigation, I learned that so many women in my life–friends, acquaintances, readers, people from my TV audience—all had this stumbling block in common: an “unknown factor” that prevented them from doing the right thing with their money. Maybe it was fear of the unknown for some; maybe for others it was a little streak of rebellion for holding it together in every other part of their lives; or maybe it was just that they felt that things had gotten so far out of hand, they were embarrassed to ask for help and reveal just how much they didn’t know.

Women have been thrust into an entirely new relationship with money that is profoundly different from anything we have ever encountered before. The shifting roles of women at home and at work have dramatically changed where and how money interacts with a woman’s life. Yet what I see is that while women have established or expanded their roles and relationships, when it comes to navigating the financial ramifications of this new world, they are using old maps that don’t get them where they really want and need to go.

It doesn’t matter if I am in a room full of business executives or stay-at-home moms, I find the core problem to be universal: When it comes to making decisions with money, you refuse to own your power, to act inyourbest interest. It is not a question of intelligence; you absolutely have what it tak

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Excerpted from Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.