A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money

The Road to Wealth
by Suze Orman

Her #1 bestsellers The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and The Courage to Be Rich changed the very way Americans think about money and earned Suze Orman an unrivalled reputation as the country's most trusted and insightful financial expert. These books, in identifying the emotional roadblocks to financial freedom, proved that Suze has a unique grasp of the role money plays in our lives as well as the gift of timing: she tells us exactly what we need to know, precisely when we need to know it.

Now, with her new book, Suze delivers a message that once again is right on time. A book designed to help us take action and overcome the obstacle of confusion, The Road to Wealth provides us with the practical answers to the questions we've been asking - or should have been asking: sound, straightforward, fiercely honest and easy to understand advice on the financial topics that most affect our lives. Here is information that points us in the right direction and erases the uncertainty that can often cost us precious time... and money.

From creating a strong, debt-free foundation to amassing assets and protecting them in periods of economic downturn; from buying a home to providing for loved ones; from investing with confidence and navigating the markets in good times and bad to securing reliable income for our later years, The Road to Wealth offers invaluable insight and information wherever we are in our lives, whatever our needs, whatever the economic climate.

"Money is not stagnant; it is ever-changing," Suze writes. "It means different things to us at different points in our lives." This fact underscores why The Road to Wealth is a timeless, essential guide for anyone on the road to financial freedom. Suze urges us to browse through the table of contents and index, consult today the pages that speak directly to our most urgent needs right now, and return to discover ansers to less pressing matters down the road. We should use the book as a second opinion, she advises, to make sure we're getting advice that's right for us. In a world of competing financial interests and information sources, it's important to know there is a guide you can truly trust. Suze Orman's The Road to Wealth is the definitive guide we've been waiting for.

When it comes to money, I deeply believe that the obstacles that keep us from having more and being more are rooted in the emotional, psychological, and spiritual conditions that have shaped our thoughts: In other words, what we have begins with what we think. This is the cornerstone of my approach to personal finance, and it was with this understanding that I wrote The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and The Courage to Be Rich. I deeply believe that with self-knowledge and emotional clarity, a life of abundance is within reach for all of us.

But once we have looked within and changed our way of thinking about money, another obstacle emerges-one that can keep us from taking the steps we know we should take. That obstacle is confusion. Many of us are confused about where to turn for information we can really rely on. We are confused about whom to ask for financial advice, and maybe even about what questions to ask. When we do get answers to our questions, we are confused because we can't be sure those answers are correct. In the face of all this, it may seem safer not to do anything with our money than to do something we do not entirely understand. But when we postpone necessary financial decisions, we are relinquishing opportunities to protect what we've earned and to enrich our future choices. Good financial information gives us the power to act in our own best interests. That's why I have written The Road to Wealth.

I've spent much of the past few years traveling around the country, holding seminars on financial topics, and listening as many, many people talked to me about their financial hopes and fears. "Tell me what I need to know," people often say to me. "Here is what you need to know," I answer. This phrase, here is what you need to know, captures the very spirit of The Road to Wealth. Here you will find answers to the questions you have been asking, as well as the questions you should be asking, delivered in the most complete, straightforward way I know. The questions and answers are intended to remove obstacles on your road to wealth. In a world of competing financial interests and sources of information, it's important for you to feel as if you have a guide whom you can truly trust. I am honored that you have chosen me to be your guide.

With this in mind, I have tried to provide sound, clear, comprehensive advice on a wide range of issues, which will take you through the course of your financial life. There is a logical sequence of information here, from creating a strong financial foundation to amassing assets and protecting them from common mistakes and periods of economic downturn. The chapters will see you through various life situations, beginning with freeing yourself from debt, for I believe that you cannot build a strong financial future on a base that is undermined by debt. The next chapters guide you through living together, marriage or life partnership, and the complicated process of buying a home for yourself and your family. It will help you to prepare for the future by choosing the right kind of insurance, saving for your children's education, investing knowledgeably both inside and outside retirement accounts, making savvy decisions about retirement income, and providing for the loved ones you will one day leave behind. I have chosen topics that, in my opinion, most affect your life, in both boon times and bad times. In doing so, I have written the practical counterpart to The 9 Steps and Courage-so that, with your head and your heart in agreement, you can take the necessary steps today so you arrive at your tomorrows happily and with all the wealth that is meant to be yours.

The Road to Wealth is a book designed to help you take action-wherever you are in your life, whatever your needs, and whatever the economic climate. To that end, your purchase of this book comes with a free subscription to the Suze Orman E-Newsletter-a bimonthly publication available online through my website, www.suzeorman.com (see page 543 for information on how to begin your subscription). The newsletter provides news, comprehensive resources, and timely counsel on all the topics covered in this book, but focuses on investing for the future. Among many other helpful tips, the newsletter will offer my current recommended asset allocation mix, a bimonthly stock market forecast, and ongoing analysis of proven investment strategies from trusted experts. As interest rates change, I'll make suggestions about refinancing your mortgage. If the laws change-as tax and bankruptcy laws are poised to do, as of the writing of this book-you will find my advice about the new legislation and its implications for your finances. The Road to Wealth will provide you with the paving stones for your financial future, while the newsletter will offer amplification of that information. In that way, this is truly an interactive financial book.

Money is not stagnant; it is ever-changing. It means different things to each of us at different points in our lives. I encourage you to skip around in this book-go directly to the topics that concern you most right now; later, you can move on to matters that are relevant to that moment. Keep this book close and consult it often. Browse through the Table of Contents and the Index. Use it as a second opinion, to make sure you are getting advice that is right for you. And always, always trust that, with the faith and confidence that knowledge brings, step by step you will get to where you want to go on your own road to wealth.

Suze Orman
New York, 2001

Copyright © 2001, Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc. All rights reserved.

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.