Synopses & Reviews
A financial guide aimed squarely at "Generation Debt"-and their anxious parents-from the country's most trusted and dynamic source on money matters.
You've got student-loan debt that is a multiple of your entry-level salary. An obscene amount of your take-home pay goes out the window every month for rent on a dinky apartment in a cool neighborhood. Lucky you have that credit card with the ever-increasing charge limit! How else could you afford those fabulous shoes? "Hey, guys, the next round's on me!" What difference does it make? Your goals are totally unattainable and the idea that you'll ever get control of your money is ludicrous, so why even try? Okay. It's scary. Suze Orman knows you better than you know yourself. And now, the world's most trusted expert on personal finance, the #1 New York Times-bestselling author, is going to break it down for you.
Whether you're twenty-five and single, a thirty-year-old newlywed, or married with kids and a mortgage at thirty-five; whether you're broke or making ends meet; whether you're financially aware or financially clueless, Start Smart was written with you in mind.
Beginning with a quick diagnostic section that tells you where you are (vs. where you think you are) and outlines your priorities (1, 2, 3...) for getting out of the red and into the black, Start Smart acts as a sort of "route planner," identifying the easy money moves to get you on the road to recovery and within reach of your dreams.
If you've never cracked a financial book in your life, if you can't deal with the unwieldy, impenetrable tomes currently on offer, if you've zoned out every time a parent has tried to share some wisdom about money-Start Smart is the book you need. You will learn:
- how to get a grip on credit card debt
- why student-loan debt is not the worst thing in the world
- how your credit score plays into nearly every financial move you will ever make
- how to make the most of the benefits that come with your first real job
- how to buy your first home
- what you need to know before you move in together
- what kind of insurance-auto, home, renter's, health-you need and what you don't
- what to do if you're self-employed
Review
"From an expert: money basics for beginners." Library Journal
Synopsis
First time in paperback. The #1
New York Times bestseller from the phenomenal author of
The Courage to Be Rich.
The world's most trusted expert on money matters answers a generation's cry for help-and gives advice on
- Credit card debt
- Student loans
- Credit scores
- The first real job
- Buying a first home
- Insurance facts: auto, home, renters, health
- Financial issues of the self-employed
And much more advice that fits the realities of "Generation Broke."
Synopsis
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke is financial expert Suze Orman's answer to a generation's cry for help. They're called "Generation Debt" and "Generation Broke" by the media — people in their twenties and thirties who graduate college with a mountain of student loan debt and are stuck with one of the weakest job markets in recent history. The goals of their parents' generation — buy a house, support a family, send kids to college, retire in style — seem absurdly, depressingly out of reach. They live off their credit cards, may or may not have health insurance, and come up so far short at the end of the month that the idea of saving money is a joke. This generation has it tough, without a doubt, but they're also painfully aware of the urgent need to take matters into their own hands.
The Money Book was written to address the specific financial reality that faces young people today and offers a set of real, not impossible solutions to the problems at hand and the problems ahead. Concisely, pragmatically, and without a whiff of condescension, Suze Orman tells her young, fabulous and broke readers precisely what actions to take and why. Throughout these pages, there are icons that direct readers to a special YF&B domain on Suze's website that offers more specialized information, forms, and interactive tools that further customize the information in the book. Her advice at times bucks conventional wisdom (did she just say use your credit card?) and may even seem counter-intuitive (pay into a retirement fund even though your credit card debt is killing you?), but it's her honesty, understanding, and uncanny ability to anticipate the needs of her readers that has made her the most trusted financial expert of her day.
Over the course of ten chapters that can be consulted methodically, step-by-step or on a strictly need-to-know basis, Suze takes the reader past broke to a secure place where they'll never have to worry about revisiting broke again. And she begins the journey with a bit of overwhelmingly good news (yes, there really is good news): Young people have the greatest asset of all on their side — time.
About the Author
Achieving and maintaining financial security ranks as one of peoples major sources of anxiety today. Few understand this better than Suze Orman, an internationally acclaimed personal finance expert whom
USA Today called a "one-woman financial advice powerhouse" and "a force in the world of personal finance." From her earliest childhood years and the stress of her father losing his business, to her post-college job working as a waitress, to climbing the ranks in the investment world, to becoming a bestselling author, Suze has lived and learned many hard financial lessons. She has been able to translate these experiences into frank, savvy financial advice that has transformed the lives of millions around the world.
An emmy award-winning author, talk show host, magazine columnist, writer/producer, and motivational speaker, Suze is on
a mission to change the way people feel, think, and act about
their money.