Road to Wealth: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money Review

I don't recall the first time I saw Suze Orman (although it was probably QVC) but I was absolutely mesmerized by her and after looking up her qualifications and track history I vowed to do everything she told me to do with regard to my finances.  I still don't have a will yet but I've done most of what she's told me to do about insurance, savings, credit cards, and investments and I've done quite well following her advice. 

I watch Suze's show every Saturday night to get more tips and I also watch her on QVC and PBS when she is on to pick up yet more tips.  But one of my favorite ways to learn everything I need to know is to refer to Orman's book The Road To Wealth.  The subtitle claims that it is a comprehensive guide to your money and contains everything we need to know in good and bad times.  And it certainly lives up to those claims.

The Road To Wealth helped me to make the right post September 11th investment choices.  Rather than pull completely out of the stock market I charged ahead and invested the way Suze taught me and I made a lot of money.  When my dad was sick and I had questions about Medicare, FMLA, durable power of attorney, and living wills, it was all right there in the book.  People actually call me on occasion with questions and ask me to look in the book to find out what Suze says.

This book is wonderful. I find myself pulling it off the bookshelf at least once a month to get advice.  It is well-organized into subjects that come up during specific life phases and also by subjects that apply to everyone.  For example, the chapters are managing debt, financial intimacy, home ownership, insurance, paying for college, retirement planning, stocks, mutual funds, bonds and bond funds, annuities, and wills and trusts. 

Each chapter is broken down further into categories that have specific questions.  For example, the insurance category discusses basics like deductibles and copays, health insurance and how it works, COBRA and how it works, Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care insurance, the different types of life insurance and why some are better than others, disability, auto, renter's and homeowners' insurance and much, much more.

This book is over 500 pages in length and every question I've ever had about anything related to money and finances has been covered in this book.  I just turn to the applicable chapter or find my subject or question using the index at the back of the book to find the specific page number.  It is a wonderful resource that should be on every bookshelf in every household.  I keep it on the bookshelf right next to the family photo albums.  If my house was ever on fire, I'd grab it right along with those photo albums.  That's how much I love this book.