The Courage to Be Rich -
Suze Orman

The book, The Courage to Be Rich, by Suze Orman is more than a book about money. It's a book about emotions and feelings and living a life of abundance. It's a book that encourages you to face the feelings and emotions you have about money and to learn to respect it.

Have you heard the saying, "Don't want things you do not have, want the things you do have?" The first part of the book takes you to discover what you do have and that these things do have value. Clear away all the things that obscures your view of your financial situation, the financial clutter, of your life, and you get a new or clearer perspective of your finances.

Suze Orman uses examples and anecdotes from her own life and from some of her clients to illustrate the point she is trying to make. I found these very valuable in that I recognize myself in many of them and it makes me feel that I'm not alone in that situation after all. She gives you the courage to be honest about your financial situation and what to do to change it for the better.

Perhaps the most valuable thing she does in the book is to put a long-term perspective on money. If you say, simply change to a less expensive cologne, and save $10 per month, that adds up to $120 per year, which, if invested at 10% for 30 years will become $22,605. You can come up with a tidy sum if you clean up your expenses and can get to saving of $100-$500 per month!

As a big Robert Kiyosaki fan, I inevitable compare what he teaches to what Suze Orman teaches. I believe the main difference in their approach is due to their background - Robert Kiyosaki is a businessman and investor, whereas Suze Orman is a financial planner. As such, Robert Kiyosaki gives you general advice on how to think to get where he is, where Suze Orman will tell help you to plan how to get there. You are still only limited by your own belief of what is possible or not.

A big part of the book, Suze also discusses how and why it is important to plan financially for real life situations like marriage, divorce or death. With the main theme or law, being: People first, then money, then things.

In closing, I found the book, The Courage to Be Rich, an informative book and applicable to real people. In Robert Kiyosaki speak, she will help you to the level of a comfortable (secure - comfortable - rich) life, but I feel she lacks the rich vantage point of Robert Kiyosaki or Donald Trump. Still, get the book because you cannot plan to become rich if your plans for security and comfort are not in place yet.

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