Suze Orman’s Free Book – Fixing Your Finances in 2009

Barack Obama’s speech warning of devastating unemployment levels and a lengthy recession was no surprise to most Americans.  Many people are feeling the bite of the economic downturn in one way or another and are worried about what will happen in 2009.

Suze Orman to the Rescue

Suze Orman just released a short book called “2009 Action Plan – Keeping Your Money Safe and Sound” that provides some common sense financial advice for the year to come.  True to the name, the book is mostly about different actions you can take for certain financial situations you may find yourself in.

After an introduction into the history behind the economic downturn, the book has 7 main sections:

• Credit
• Retirement Investing
• Saving
• Spending
• Real Estate
• College
• Protecting Your Family (Job, Insurance, Emergency Fund)

Each chapter starts off with Suze explaining how things will be different in 2009 and what you need to do this year.  For example, the general Credit advice for 2009 is:

• Make it a priority to pay off your credit card balances.
• Read every statement and all correspondence from your credit card company to make sure you are aware of any changes to your account, such as skyrocketing interest rates.
• Work to get your FICO credit score above 720.
• Be very careful where you turn to for help with credit card debt. Debt consolidators are often a very bad deal. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is a smarter choice.
• Resist the temptation to use retirement savings or a home equity line of credit to pay off credit card debt.

Then she follows up the general advice with specific actions to take for a variety of scenarios that you might find yourself in.

You can download the book for free for the next week, after that you can buy it in book stores.  If you want to give it a read – Click Here.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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