After reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, I began to change how I looked at money and how I handle it. I’ve always liked learning about how to make money work for me and how I can be a good steward with the funds I’m blessed with. I saw a review The Money Class by Suze Orman here on Cannonball Read. I was curious to see what Ms. Orman’s theory of money management was seeing as how the reviewer felt it was very relevant to her life.
Ms. Orman’s money management philosophy is very similar to Mr. Ramsey’s. You need to spend less than you make, you need to save for emergencies, pay off your debts, and start investing in your retirement. The big difference between the two, and one that I greatly appreciated, is the Ms. Orman allows for fun. She believes that while you are paying off your debts and putting your finances in order, should you choose to go on a vacation, you need to save up. From my understanding, Mr. Ramsey takes a much more grim outlook that says no vacations until you’ve paid off all of your debts. While I know that going on vacation isn’t going to help me pay off my debts, it’s something that can help keep the money management process going.
As a whole I think this book functions best as a reference guide for money management. I wouldn’t read it cover to cover like it did. Whole chapters didn’t apply to me, like how to manage money during retirement. Or how to start your own company. But those sections had good advice that when applicable are valid. I did appreciate the sections on knowing where you stand financially and the steps to take to begin building a fiscally stable estate and plan for retirement.