Managing money is far more than a matter of balancing our checkbooks or picking investments?witness the fact that many of us know what we ought to be doing with our money yet often just don't do it. This is the first personal finance book that gives us not only the knowledge of how to han-dle money, but also the power to break through the barriers that hold us back.

Suze Orman, best-selling author of You've Earned It, Don 't Lose it, goes beyond the nuts and bolts of managing money to explore the psychological, even spiritual, power money has in our lives. Before we can get control of our finances, we must get control of our attitudes about money, feelings that were shaped by our earliest experiences with it. Letting go of these anxieties and creating new attitudes are the first steps of Suze Orman's program.

Next comes mastering the practical elements of financial life: investments, credit, insurance, and estate and retirement planning. This book tells you everything you need to know to provide for your-self and your family?not abstract principles but specific, concrete, and easy-to-follow procedures. Here you will also find the latest tax code revisions regarding estate taxes, inheritance, and individual retirement allowances (IRAs), including vital information on the new Roth IRA and educational IRAs and how to make them work best for you. You'll also learn why you should trust your own instincts more than someone else's advice in making any financial decision.

Finally come the most unusual -- and powerful -- steps: understanding the spiritual side of money. As Suze Orman explains, financial freedom is about realizing that we are worth far more than our money. Her program concludes by showing how to leave behind financial anxieties and open ourselves to true abundance?not only of the pocketbook but also of the heart.

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Here are the 9 steps to financial freedom: 1. Step back in time to see how your feelings about money can be traced to your past. We all have "money messages" passed down from generation to generation. 2. Face your money fears and create new, positive truths. 3. Be honest with yourself. Ouit using plastic cards for money. They are addictive and destructive as drugs, giving you a quick fix by satisfying temporary desires. 4. Be responsible to those you love. Establish life insurance, wills, power of attorney, estate planning, etc. 5. Be respectful of yourself and your money. If you do what needs to be done with money, you will attract money to you. 6. You and your money must keep good company. Credit cards are never good company. Get out of debt. Respect yourself and your money by making every penny work for you. 7. Trust yourself more than you trust others. Find the "little voice" inside you; listen to what it has to say. 8. Be open to receive all you are meant to receive. When you are in control of your money and have enough to be generous, money flows to you. 9. Understand the ebb and flow of the money cycle. Money has natural cycles as it ebbs and flows through your life.

If you choose to entrust your money to someone else, and you really don't know how money works, unscrupulous people can take advantage of you. Further, you discover the thrill that comes from wanting to deal with your money instead of just having to deal with it. Get in touch with your money; delight in spending it as you did as a child, but enjoy choosing not to spend it too; take pleasure in putting some away for later.

Most of us need to spend our money differently. Not drastic action like getting by with one car. Unrealistic budget cuts, like diets, never work. Rather, decide to spend $25 to $30 less per month from fifteen or twenty of your spending categories; with each decision you make to spend less, you are gaining power over your money, and you will find creative ways to reduce your spending so you hardly notice. Rather than being dictated by a restriction, your actions are guided by the choices you make. This is the hardest step to financial freedom; you become honest with yourself about how you really stand.

Spend less by putting your money away before you see it. Pay yourself. It's not what you make, but what you keep. Time plays an essential role in building future wealth because the longer you contribute, the more you'll have and with time, the contributions you have already made, do more work for you. The thing that makes time so powerful is compounding.

Money flows through our lives like water...plentiful at times...a trickle other times. These transitions are exciting or scary, but are all part of the natural cycles of money. There are two important reactions to these cycles: (1) You must take the long view of your financial future (2) you must believe that what happens is positive and let it be. The important thing is to understand the nature of money and take the right steps to make it work for you. Recognize true wealth. People can not be measured by their net worth. Money does not make you financially free; only you can make yourself financially free.

136 of 139 found the following review helpful:

This Book Will Change The Way Most People Feel About Money.Sep 01, 1998
By acdefran@webtv.net
Suze Orman is teaching a philosophy about personal finance. I like the fact that Orman recommends that you "trust yourself" and "take control". Too many people put their financial affairs in the wrong hands; brokers, insurance agents, bankers, financial planners, accountants etc. The fact is that no one will watch your money better than you will. I also highly recommend "The Millionaire Next Door", "More Wealth Without Risk" and "Financial Self Defense". MWWR and FSD will provide the formula's and techniques not present in "9 Steps to Financial Freedom" All of these books should be in the library of anyone serious about achieving Financial Freedom.

158 of 165 found the following review helpful:

Practical, useful, multidimensional, immediate useJul 17, 1999

Just finished reading this...and then immediately went into work and changed my 401(k) contribution to the maximum. Also am looking for a money market account and will begin managing my own IRA stuff...now that I feel more comfortable doing it. Plan to lend the book to friends, and called my parents to tell them to get a copy and start getting things in order...such as getting a trust instead of a will, getting LTC insurance, etc. I liked her straightforward writing style; she has a knack for explaining the "mysterious" world of investing and finance in a way you can quickly and easily understand. She makes you feel more confident...that you can indeed manage your money. In today's often confusing world, it was very helpful to hear that you can trust your intuition and you don't have to "fall prey" to financial advisors. Also, from personal experience, I know that her advice about "good brings good" and "respect of money will bring you more money" is true. My husband got in a serious accident a year ago and at the time we were in a bad bad financial position--no emergency funds, high credit card debt, prospects of little or no income. This "kick in the pants" helped me to take control of my money and now a year later our credit cards are paid off, we have 4 months of bills in the bank, and I am maxing out my 401(k). Suze Orman's book came to me just when I was ready for the next step, and I am putting it to good use. I highly recommend!!!

105 of 108 found the following review helpful:

From paycheck to wealthMar 05, 2000
By Theresa & Mike Brennan
A very successul friend once told me that you can live off your income but you can't get wealthy off you income, you only get wealthy by investing and properly managing yourmoney.This book will kickstart you and help make you money smart.I also suggest Financial Self Defense and More Wealth without Risk to add more financial strategies to your arsenal.All three books are must reading.

60 of 61 found the following review helpful:

Pretty good book. Very readable.May 27, 2000
By Michael Mendenhall "september17th"
This was overall a pretty good book. A lot of the information I've heard before, but I like the author's writing style.

The advice is pretty standard: Pay off your credit cards, pay down your mortgage, invest for the long term. What I liked about this book is that it's readable. The examples make sense. It's easy to say "pay off your credit cards" but she shows in black and white just how much money credit cards are costing you. Her comparison of a 30 year mortgage to a 15 year mortgage was quite compelling. I had no idea how much difference paying a little extra each month toward a mortgage makes. It's a lot more than I thought.

Can you become financially free reading this book? Yes, you can. But you have to follow the steps. You have to do it. Don't read this book and then put it away thinking it was great and wouldn't it be nice if I changed my lifestyle and habits. Do it. I have, and I can say it's worth it.

I'm giving this book 4 stars. I'm not giving it 5 because I've read much of the information elsewhere. This isn't the first financial book ever written. I give it a high rating because it's very readable. It's not dull at all. I felt like the author was talking to me like a human being. It's worth buying. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. His book has some similar concepts, but I found it even more readable. His book is about acquiring income producing assets as opposed to just paying down debt and acquiring paper assets. Buy both books.

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