If you are tired of struggling to make ends meet but don't know a 401(k) from Special K, this book is for you. Aimed specifically at "Generation Broke"--those in their twenties and thirties who are working yet buried in credit card debt and student loans--this user-friendly guide offers a clear introduction to practical investing and money management techniques that can turn even a dismal financial situation around. Bestselling author Suze Orman has a knack for taking the fear out of money matters, and in The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous &: Broke, she shows readers how to set priorities and achieve goals, whether it is to buy a house or save for retirement or pay for a child's education. She also offers inspiration to readers to face their financial problems and get started on a solution. After all, there is good news: young people still have the time to correct problems so that they will never be broke again. Readers who find terms such as diversification and IRA rollover scary--or worse, unimportant--will learn much from this book. In these pages, Orman clearly and succinctly explains what a FICO score is and why it's so important, offers the lowdown on stocks and mutual funds, provides career advice, and offers lots of tips on dealing with student loan debt, saving money even when times are tight, debt consolidation strategies, and the safest way for newlyweds to merge their finances. She also offers information on credit cards, including why canceling cards is not a good idea, when it makes sense to use them, and the best strategies for paying them off. It may not be the only money book you'll ever need, but it's an excellent place to start. --Shawn Carkonen
All About Suze Orman
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke is financial expert Suze Orman's answer to a generation's cry for help. An Emmy-award winner, Orman is the author of four consecutive New York Times® bestsellers, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, The Courage to Be Rich, The Road to Wealth, and The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life. The Money Book was written to address the specific financial reality that young people face today, and it offers a set of real, not impossible, solutions to the problems at hand and the problems ahead.
- Listen to a special message from Suze Orman.
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Suze Orman: The Bestsellers
- The Courage to Be Rich
- The Road to Wealth
- The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life
- Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook
- The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom
- Money Cards: Words That Lead to Wealth
- You've Earned it, Don't Lose It
- The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, Audio CD
Build Your Own Suze Orman Library
The Essentials
The Laws of Money
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom
You've Earned It, Don't Lose It
Money Cards: Words That Lead to Wealth
Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook
Suze Orman's Will And Trust Kit Pep Talks: Suze Orman Audios
The Courage to Be Rich, CD
The Road to Wealth, CD
The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life, CD
The Courage to Be Rich, Cassette
The Road to Wealth, Cassette
The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life, Cassette Bestselling Suze Orman Books on DVD
The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life, 2003
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, 2004
The Road to Wealth, 2004
The Suze Orman Collection, 2003
The Courage to Be Rich
The Best of the Suze Orman Collection, 2004
Review
"An especially useful book for people who are young, in debt, and inexperienced. Fabulous!" —The Miami Herald
"Ah, how we wish we'd read something like this when we were young, fabulous, and stupid. Financial advice for the loan-saddled, credit-card-maxed-out twenty-five to thirty-five-year-old set." —The Seattle Times
"Orman does a good job of addressing in her friendly, conversational style the financial topics relevant to a younger audience." —The Kansas City Star
"Orman has made her reputation being a financial know-it-all, and she is out in full force with her latest. As always, she doesn't mince words... Orman's writing is direct, her tone friendly. Orman believes in empowering her young readers by talking to them straight... Each page draws you in with tips, questions, strategies, and lots of information. It is a lively book." —Pittsburgh Tribune Review
"Downright useful... Orman takes on the financial woes of the under-thirty-five crowd in this how-to book that tackles the mystery behind credit ratings, when to finance your dream business with credit-card debt, and how to talk to your boyfriend about his check-bouncing habit." —Publishers Weekly
"The first to target teens and twentysomethings, and she adapts her message appropriately, offering 'The Lowdown' on topics from credit scores to career moves to consolidating school debt." —Newsweek
"Written in a noncondescending manner, and Orman modifies some of the suggestions she has made for her older readers." —New York Post
"Unlike other finance books, this one is accessible and addresses real problems. In her usual passionate tone, Orman counsels how to consolidate student loans, how to squeeze a bit more money out of your paycheck if you're making just enough to get by, how to deal practically with credit-card debt, how to shop for a new or used car, what type of auto insurance to purchase, and how to focus on getting the right job." —The Hartford Courant
About the Author
Suze Orman is the author of four consecutive New York Times bestsellers, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom; The Courage to Be Rich; The Road to Wealth; and The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life; and the national bestsellers, You've Earned It, Don't Lose It and Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook. The host of her own national award-winning CNBC-TV show, which airs every Saturday night, she is a contributing editor to O: The Oprah Magazine and is the featured writer on Yahoo! Personal Finance with her bi-weekly Money Matters series. She has written, co-produced, and hosted four PBS specials based on her bestselling books, which are among the network's most successful fundraisers ever. The most recent, inspired by The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life, earned her an Emmy award. A Certified Financial Planner Professional®, Suze Orman directed the Suze Orman Financial Group from 1987-1997, served as Vice President — Investments for Prudential Bache Securities from 1983-87, and from 1980-83, was an Account Executive at Merrill Lynch. In 2003 she was inducted into the Books for Better Life Awards' Hall of Fame in recognition of her ongoing contributions to self-improvement. A highly sought-after public speaker worldwide, she was profiled in Worth magazine's 100th issue as among those "who have revolutionized the way America thinks about money."
Awards:
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
Listen, I know dealing with the responsibility of money, especially a lack of money, may not necessarily be high on your list of priorities. But something motivated you and brought you to this page, so in some way you are telling yourself it’s time to start dealing with your financial life. It’s time to make some changes.
Most likely, you are young; I hope you feel you are fabulous; and chances are, you are also broke. I’ve talked to thousands of young people like you over the years, and, for what it’s worth, you’ve got plenty of company.
But you also have a great way out of your current situation. You have time. Because you are young, you have the time to right any missteps, and the time to build a solid financial life. I also know that you have the bandwidth to take the advice in this book and put it into action. You may be intent on feeling beaten up these days, but I’m not going to play along. I admire you for your grit in coping with a lousy job market, skyrocketing real estate values, and hefty student loans. But what I also hear when I talk to you is that you have what it takes to manage the hand you’ve been dealt.
Now, having said all that, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re wondering if this book can really deliver the goods or if it’s going to be yet another personal finance book by someone who has no clue about the issues you’re dealing with. I guarantee you that this is definitely not your parents’ money book. I get your situation.
The advice in this book is customized to fit your life today. How do I know what you’re going through? Because you told me. You were quite blunt about what you want from me, as well as what you don’t want.
You want advice that deals with your reality—a set of solutions for the problems you have. You want to be told what to tackle first, and you want clear advice on how to get the job done. And that’s what you are going to get here, delivered as concisely as possible. I only dive into details that are absolutely crucial to your success. And you don’t need an iota of prior knowledge. I know you’ve been too busy or uninspired to figure out how a Roth IRA works, what a FICO score is, and why you should even care. No worries. I have written every section of this book so you can quickly and easily comprehend exactly what actions you need to take and why.
What you don’t want is yet another personal finance book spewing the same old advice that doesn’t work for you. I completely agree. You won’t catch me telling you to cut back on the lattes and “simply” save $10 a day. As if saving $3,650 a year when you are broke could ever be simple. Nor will I tell you that credit cards are the devil in plastic (on the contrary, I think they can be good for you) or that you must have eight months of living expenses saved up as your emergency reserve fund before you are allowed past go. Un-uh. I know that’s not realistic or reasonable for the majority of you at this point in your lives.
Besides, if you didn’t have credit card debt and you already had an eight-month emergency cash fund, why would you have picked up this book? You sure wouldn’t fit my definition of broke.
BROKE IS relying on a cash advance on your credit card to pay the rent or mortgage, and praying that you have enough left on your credit line to do so.
BROKE IS having a ton of student loans that make you nauseated when you think about how long it is going to take you to pay them off.
BROKE IS not opening your credit card bills because you’re terrified to see what you owe and have no way of paying. So instead, you get hit with the late fee and finance charges.
BROKE IS wanting to buy a home but having no clue where you can come up with the down payment. So you are stuck renting a small place.
BROKE IS counting every coin in your change jar as well as scrounging under the sofa cushions in a desperate attempt to find the dough to cover your bounced check and the $25 fee your bank is going to slap on you.
BROKE IS wanting to save for your kids’ college educations but not knowing how to swing it because you are already strapped trying to make the mortgage and car payment, and you haven’t even started saving for your retirement.
BROKE IS not having one penny saved, even though you have a good job. If your car breaks down, so will you. You don’t have the money for repairs, but you need the wheels to get to work.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. I’m sure if we all met up, we could have a great time seeing who has the best “Broke is” story. But even though your specific stories may differ, you all want the same thing. You want to fix your situation so you are no longer broke.
That is exactly what this book is about. Our starting point is that you are broke, by your or any definition. Our ending point is that you are not. And we aren’t just going to get you past broke, we are going to make sure you never revisit broke. This is such an important point; I see far too many people go from being broke to finally having some money, only to slip back to broke again because they didn’t know what to do with their money. I don’t want that to happen to you.
Here’s the bottom line: You picked up this book because you are broke. Keep reading and you will discover what you need to know—and do—so you will not be broke forever.
A fast-moving introduction to credit scores opens this information-packed money lesson for young adults. Wasting no time on padding her own reputation (she doesn't need to), the irrepressible author offers advice so clear that it makes sense right away even when it conflicts with conventional wisdom. She doesn't spend much energy schmoozing listeners--rather, she tells them what to do and moves on. Excellent material is included on student loans, establishment of a credit history, home buying, taxes, insurance, small business financing, paying down debt, and many other issues. Toned down from her TV persona, Orman sounds like a "regular" person and offers convenient summaries of her major points after each segment. T.W. 2006 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
