BOOK REVIEW: Women & Money: Owning the Power To Control Your Destiny
April 14th, 2008 | by rachel |
Suze Orman
Speigel & Grau - 2007
Suze Orman is no stranger to the bestseller list. Nor is she unfamiliar with the variety of money challenges that confront Americans every day. Her latest book, Women and Money: Owning the Power To Control Your Destiny, takes her years of experience as a broker and a personal finance expert and directs it toward women, their money challenges and their relationships with money.
Orman focuses her attention on many of the roles women play and how those roles affect their willingness to be involved with their own finances. She takes the time to “show” her women readers why their typical responses/excuses to financial matters are no longer appropriate. According to Orman, 40% of all companies in the U.S. are owned by women. Her contention is that women are more powerful in our society than ever before and that means they need to embrace their financial power as well.
Orman has a powerful story of her own which she shares as an example for women. That story allows Orman to focus on some of the emotional aspects that money holds for women. Additionally, she provides a healthy dose of encouragement for women that are willing to take control and learn what they don’t know about money, in general, and their own financial conditions, specifically.
For readers that have read other personal finance books, this one is not likely to tell you anything new. For women that have never read a personal finance book, this is a great one to start with. It’s well organized and very readable. Orman concentrates on providing a good foundation and some basic definitions but she doesn’t write so much that the information gets confusing. Best of all, the book contains a number of tangible resources that readers can use immediately to create and maintain a healthier, more productive relationship with their finances.
- Orman describes her “8 Qualities of a Wealthy Women”
- The “Save Yourself Plan” is a 5 month plan of action with specific assignments intended to help readers build a solid financial foundation.
- Special access to resources on Orman’s web site. These resources are designed for and correlated to her “Save Yourself” plan.
- Special attention to information that applies to stay-at-home moms.
If you have never taken the time to think about your own finances, this book is an excellent resource for doing just that. When you have finished it (and some of the assignments it recommends), your money won’t be the only thing that has benefitted from its message!