By personal finance expert and author Suze Orman Now that I have your attention, I have to tell you that the one move that will build more financial security than any other, has nothing to do with money. At least not directly. If you want to make money and make more of the money you have, my advice is to take better care of yourself. I’ll leave the physical shape-up advice to my friend Jillian Michaels and the gang at "The Biggest Loser." What I want to talk about is how your mindset — your perspective on who you are (and what you want for yourself) — is the driving force in building financial security. You must come firstThe problem — and yes, it is a problem — is that so many women can’t figure out how to make their needs and desires a priority in their life. You think of everyone else before you think of yourself. It is an especially vexing problem for the moms:
- You can’t imagine saying no when your child asks for the latest video game, or must-have designer jeans, even though you’ll end up having to charge it on a credit card you won’t be able to pay off at the end of the month.
- You can’t imagine not helping your child go to college, so you raid the retirement fund (or save less in the first place) so you have more money to help pay for school.
- Your adult son or daughter is having trouble paying the bills during this rough economy so you help with their mortgage even though it means raiding your own emergency savings.