Women can handle money just as well as any man, so why don't they? In her book "Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny," personal finance expert Suze Orman takes a look at the often-complicated financial troubles plaguing women, including dysfunctional relationships with money and issues saving for retirement or long-term plans. Orman advocates women taking control of their money and learning how to strategize to put themselves in a healthy financial position. Here's an excerpt:

I never thought I’d write a book about money just for women. I never thought it was necessary. So then why am I doing just that in my eighth book? And why now? Let me explain. All my previous books were written with the belief that gender is not a factor on any level in mastering the nuts and bolts of smart financial management. Women can invest, save, and handle debt just as well and skillfully as any man. I still believe that — why would anyone think differently?

So imagine my surprise when I learned that some of the people closest to me in my life were in the dark about their own finances. Clueless. Or, in some cases, willfully resisting doing what
they knew needed to be done. I’m talking about smart, competent, accomplished women who present a face to the world that is pure confidence and capability. Do you mean to tell me that I, Suze Orman, who make my living solving the financial problems of total strangers, couldn’t spot the trouble brewing so close to home? I don’t think I’m blind; I just think that these women

FOR WOMEN ONLY
I became very, very good at hiding their troubles from me. Why
not? They had years of practice hiding them from themselves.
Frankly, I was shocked. It was a real reckoning. It began with a
friend, a very high-powered businesswoman who handles millions
and millions of dollars a year, who refused to sign will and trust
documents I’d helped her to prepare. I can’t tell you why, but those
papers sat on her desk for three years—she clearly had some kind of
block that prevented her from simply signing her name and having
the documents notarized. Even as I write, she has still not completed
them. Then another friend, a woman with some amazing
professional credits under her belt, broke down and confessed that
she had rung up such staggering bills over the years that she was
too terrified to tell anyone and had no idea how to pay them off.
Not long after, I heard from yet another friend who finally woke
up to the fact that her employer was paying her significantly less
than every other executive of comparable rank in her company.
Her division was one of the most profitable and consistent earners
for the company, but still she just accepted the minimal increases
her boss would hand her every year at review time. And even now,
out of some misguided loyalty, she was reluctant to leave the
employer that took advantage of her year after year.
What was going on here?

Upon further investigation, I learned that so many women in
my life—friends, acquaintances, readers, people from my TV audience—
all had this stumbling block in common: an “unknown
factor” that prevented them from doing the right thing with their
money. Maybe it was fear of the unknown for some; maybe for
others it was a little streak of rebellion for holding it together in
every other part of their lives; or maybe it was just that they felt
that things had gotten so far out of hand, they were embarrassed
to ask for help and reveal just how much they didn’t know.
Women have been thrust into an entirely new relationship
with money that is profoundly different from anything we have

ever encountered before. The shifting roles of women at home
and at work have dramatically changed where and how money
interacts with a woman’s life. Yet what I see is that while women
have established or expanded their roles and relationships, when
it comes to navigating the financial ramifications of this new
world, they are using old maps that don’t get them where they
really want and need to go.It doesn’t matter if I am in a room full of business executives or stay-at-home moms, I find the core problem to be universal: When it comes to making decisions with money, you refuse to own your power, to act in your best interest. It is not a question of intelligence; you absolutely have what it takes to understand what you should be doing. But you simply won’t bring yourself to take care of yourself financially, especially if those actions compete with taking care of those you love. Your inner nurturer reigns supreme; you do for everyone before you do for yourself. No matter how good your intentions may be, they are nonetheless draining you.

So that is why my eighth book is called Women & Money.

The challenge is to finally learn—and accept—that to be truly
powerful in your life requires making money moves that work for
you. Now, I am not suggesting you replace nurturer with narcissist.

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