If you’ve ever thought of taking control of your finances as a working woman and mom, Suze Orman’s “Women and Money” book is a must-read. This revised and improved edition from her 2007 original masterpiece certainly does not disappoint when it comes to establishing, or re-establishing for that matter, a healthy relationship with your money. I know it certainly helped me…
I’ve had the earlier version of this book on my shelf for many years, and have only recently decided to dig into it, especially when starting the new year. As my word for the year is “consistency”, I resolved to apply more consistency to all the areas of my life, including my finances. When I noted this “oldie but goodie” book had been recently revised and edited, I couldn’t help but order it. What I discovered as I perused its pages in just a few days was nothing short of a financial eye opener…
As a working woman and mom, with training in accounting at that, I’ve always known, in theory, how important it is to have a good handle on your money. As much as I could, I practiced applying sensible rules to managing my money, from budgeting to saving and even dabbling into investing. What I didn’t do as much of, is to take some time to pause and reflect on my relationship, past, present and future, with money. And this is exactly what this book made me do…
In the book, Suze, who in my head I picture as my financial big sis, first starts by discussing how we have been relating to money as women since the dawn of times. She accurately points to the fact that so many of us, even as educated and professionally successful as we may be, seem to experience an inner resistance to dealing with our own money. This ties back to the fact that for the longest time, women have been conditioned to defer money matters to the male figures around them, from parental figures to spouses. As a result, there has been a dissociation between women’s mindsets and money.
Reading this, and even though I was raised by a single mom, I could identify with this inner resistance, this sense that even as an educated, ambitious woman, I tend to experience a lack of closeness to and clarity about my money. The more I turned the pages of this book, the more I could relate my own experience with money to the fear that many, if not most of us, experience when it comes to being free and decisive about our personal and financial futures. Instead, we often end up treating our money as we treat ourselves, with the same fear to displease others, the same fear to not belong or fit in, or that to be rejected…It’s also the same fear that prompts us to not ask for a raise at work, sell our services for less than they’re worth, and allow our significant others to mismanage and abuse our own money… It’s the same fear that basically, as Suze puts it, prompts us to put “ourselves for sale”…
Confirming that, like so many women, I need to take a good look at my relationship with money, opened my eyes, especially as a woman in my 40’s. What this book also allowed me to realize is how important it is to use time and knowledge to our advantage to build a secure financial, and ultimately, personal future. Tips such as living below our means in order to boost our retirement savings, investing in life insurance, preparing to support kids in college through 529 plans, and setting up key documents such as wills and revocable trusts, are a much-needed wake-up call for all women and mothers. The importance of planning our financial futures early, not only for ourselves, but most importantly for our loved ones, is often ignored at the expense of pleasing others and surviving. What we often do not realize is that not taking care of our financial health does not only impact us, but our families and communities in the long run.
Overall, this is a book I highly recommend and consider a must-read for all women. More than financial tips, it urges us to revisit our relationship with ourselves and money, and set ourselves and loved ones for success. If anything, taking care of our money is a gift to ourselves and others around us.
With gratitude,
The Corporate Sister.
