Customer Reviews

The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

The book sets the premise that you never learn to deal with money successfully until you overcome your fear of money...of not having enough, and fear of taking action with your money. It's about how to make money work for you so you have more than enough because you learn to devote energy, time, and understanding, to money. The three ways of getting money in this world: (1) Work for it (2) inherit it (3) invest the money you save (the most powerful, respectful way to get money there is).

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

The third edition was released in 2006, so the information is fresh and current.

I can't say enough good about this book. Suze gives EXCELLENT guidance, coupled with sensitive insight into how we all differ in our approach to handling money. She explores everything from the basics of getting out of debt, to learning how to invest your money and grow it - in a very intelligent, yet readable fashion.

I recommend grabbing a little note pad while reading, so you've got a place to jot notes and reminders to yourself for follow-up in your own life. I made a page for each topic that applied to me, then put bullet-point notes under each heading. For example, some of my page headings would be: Wills/Trusts, Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, Term Life Insurance, Long-term Care Insurance, Long-term Disability Insurance, Credit & Debt Management, Investments-Mutual Funds & ETF's, Investments-T Bills, Money Market Accounts.

Though this doesn't detract from the value of the content, I would like to see one improvement in this book: a better (more extensive) index that cross-references the 'small' sub-headings. For example, under insurance needs, it would be nice to be able to look up 'auto insurance' in the index and go to the area that gives you 'rule of thumb' for what a good policy should cover.

Overall, I like this book so much, it will be the "Birthday Gift" book I give to all my family members this year! We ALL need guidance in different ways - this book helps provide that in a very easy-to-grasp way. EXCELLENT read! EXCELLENT information! Keep up the GREAT work, Suze!

I have read several reviews here (obviously by the same person) attacking this book and insulting Suze because of i t's size.

EXCUSE ME--but the information states clearly that this is a miniture book. The price might also be a clue.

If you were "taken by surprise", then all I can suggets is learn how to read.

Good supplement to the full length paperback of the same name.

I saw Suze Orman on CNBC on January 1st. Then on Larry King and then on CNBC again and the Today Show. She sold me on her knowledge and passion for helping people. So I went out and bought both 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and THE courage to Be Rich.My first course of action was to dump the loaded mutual funds that my "friendly" advisor had sold me. He forgot to tell me how much of a commission he was making on the deal. The funds I selected have outperformed the loaded funds that "professionals" had selected for me on a 1 year, 3 year and five year period. There is no evidence that loaded funds do any better than the no loads. In fact most no load funds that I have checked outperformed the loaded funds. So much for professional advice! I also redesigned my 401 (k) plan at work using SUZES techniques and followed Suze Ormans advice on CNBC to buy the CUBES-QQQ-Nasdaq Index Trust from proceeds of selling the loaded mutual funds. Had a nice run up from $54 to $68 in three weeks. Once again, thank you Suze. Great advice! I am now looking to add other ETF's to my portfolio and have set up an account with a company that only charges $2 per transaction. I like buying EFT's. You get the thrill of the stock market and buying at intraday levels plus have the safety of mutuals. You can also bypass financial advisors and other commissioned sales people and do it on your own.I noticed that Jane Bryant Quinn was mentioned in several posts reviewing Courage to Be Rich. JBQ seems to be losing popularity and notoriety. In our area and other market areas, her weekly column has been cancelled. And her book, one and only copy has been sitting on the shelf of our local bookstore for over 6 months. Nobody is buying it. I asked the sales person at the bookstore and she told me that not many people buy JBQ's books anymore. She was poplular for a short time a few years ago. Nobody asks for her material anymore. The most popular and best financial author, she said is Suze Orman. Cheers to Suze Orman! Kudos to Jane Bryant Quinn.Thank you Suze, great advice!

Suze teaches people to become proactive in their financial lives. The fact is no one willw atch your money as well as you will. Charles Givens also beat that concept to death--you must become your own financial planner and not depend on the auto, health, life insurance salesmen. The car salesman. Your banker or loan officer etc.

I like the fact that Suze brings the mental side to money. Much overlooked by far too many people.

Great book Suze. Also recommend Suze's newest book, The Laws of Money which offers updated information and More Wealth Without Risk by Charles Givens.

My friends who are financial planners tell me that they never meet anyone who does not know the right answer about what they should be doing with their money, but yet no one of these people acts on what they know.

The author, financial planner Ms. Suze Orman, seems to be reflecting this perspective as she asks a series of probing questions about what your mental associations to money are. These questions are designed to help you free yourself from harmful associations that may be sabotaging your current thinking. For example, some people associate having money with loss of love (such as through seeing their parents divorce after one parent became much more financially successful).

If you find yourself not acting on what you know that you need to do, you should buy, read, and change your thinking based on the questions in this book. This will be a five star book for you.

If you already think you know lots about money and always do more or less the right thing, you need a different book (one that focuses on advanced techniques that you do not already know). This book will be a one star book for you, and I suggest that you avoid it.

If you have to choose between The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and The Courage to Be Rich (Ms. Orman's newest book), I would strongly advise you to read this one because it is a much better and more helpful book. You can read my comments on The Courage to Be Rich if you are interested.

In any case, if you have ideas about money that make you uncomfortable, this is a good book to start with. Then you can graduate to books that will teach you more about WHAT TO DO NEXT. I think that you will find Rich Dad, Poor Dad to be very helpful.

Have fun and be more comfortable! This can be a 2,000 percent solution for you (getting 20 times the results you get now -- since almost all investors do much more poorly than the S&P 500 over any 10 year period of time). In fact, did you know that an estimated 80 percent of day traders lose money? Did you know that 95 percent of commodities traders lose money? There must be some pretty powerful false beliefs that cause people to undergo so much turmoil to befcome poorer.

If you want to learn about the stock market, start with John Bogle's Common Sense on Mutual Funds.