Suze Orman's Financial Solutions for You

Financial guru-author Suze Orman, speaking before a group in Washington, D.C., archly begins with an observation that Americans in general have learned nothing about finances since the global economic crisis of 2008. Virtually all of the members of her audience admit to living in debt—credit card and second mortgages. Orman tells her own Cinderella backstory of being a struggling waitress (growing up with a speech impediment that impaired her employability), who after years of hardship and failure found her gift for being a financial advisor (even so, she was fired from her first firm after she discovered that they condoned unethical practices). Mostly working in a Q&A format, Orman counsels an engaged couple on their financial future, warns against reverse mortgages, and advises a man with no dependents that the pressure he feels to purchase life insurance is just the result of a hard-sell con job by the industry. Money should be your security, she says, explaining why a "living recoverable trust" is superior to a will, as well as why student-loan debt is the most "dangerous" of all. DVD extras include bonus Q&A footage. Likely to appeal to Orman's fans, this also offers good financial medicine for newcomers. Recommended. Aud: P. (C. Cassady)