I Love Suze Orman

Suze Orman's new book, The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke, hit the stores today. I'm excited about it, but I'm waiting to buy it used. I definitely consider myself a YFBer, but hopefully I won't fit in that last category for that much longer. I watch her CNBC show on a regular basis, but since it's on Saturday evening and late nights I am sometimes asleep or out and about enjoying the NYC night life. Two important points I've picked up on her show that are relevant to me are:

• Contribute to your 401(k) plan up to the company match, then max your Roth IRA, then contribute to a 401(k) plan. Of course if you have a 401(k) plan that has a company match and you don't contribute enough to get that match, you're passing up free money. Unfortunately, I have never had a job with a company match. I started my 401(k) plan as soon as I was eligible in 2002. I currently contribute $100 per pay check. As of yesterday's close it was up to $8,612.24. Not so bad. I am aiming for a 5 figure amount, and if I keep it up, I'll be there by the beginning of September. As for my Roth IRA, I finally opened one last year with $400. I should have pulled money out of my savings account and maximized my Roth IRA, but I didn't. I have funded $500 so far for my 2004 contribution. I'll defiantly max it by the April 15th deadline, and if I don't have the money in my general savings account, I'll pull it from my Emergency Savings. Even if I really need the money, I can always pull my principal out without penalties, no really, it's true. Then I'll start contributing for my 2005 contribution, which I hope to max.

• Anyway, back to Suze Orman, her second bit of advice that was relevant to me, is not to invest in bond mutual funds (well, at least not for my age group). Suze stresses that there because they're funds they have no maturity date, so you always get rolled into new bonds with new returns. While they're okay when the interest is low, bond funds don't do as well when the interest rates are high. Another reason not to invest in bond funds at a young age is that they are pretty conservative, and younger folks can generally tolerate more risk in hopes of a higher return.

I am going to see Suze Orman at the New York Apple Store tomorrow night. She just announced this stop on her book tour, so I'm hoping it's not terribly crowded. Also, if you want free excerpts of The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke, click here.