Suze Orman says America is out of excuses.

        After two books teaching how to deal with money emotionally and spiritually, her latest one offers concrete tips on what to do practically with money.

        “Now this is where we should be, America,” Ms. Orman said this week, passing through Cincinnati promoting The Road to Wealth (Riverhead Books/Penguin Putnam; $29.95). “Don't dare tell me you don't know where to go for good financial advice. We don't have an excuse anymore.”

        Indeed, her new book tops 500 pages and covers all aspects of financial life, from debt management and home ownership to investing for retirement and making wills.

        “This book has always been under construction,” she said, adding that it's her greatest victory because it hit the New York Times bestseller list before she promoted it on PBS stations and without making the appearances on Oprah, QVC and CNBC for which she is best known. “Americans are buying the book without being sold the book.”

        That's because she offers the straightforward advice people are hungry for — especially as the stock market continues to be volatile and more confusing.

        Because many new investors don't remember the last prolonged weak market in the early 1970s, people now are scared to keep investing. They are sitting on the sidelines, having been burned in the last 16 months of a market that dipped into bear territory.

SUZE ORMAN ON ...

• Today's volatile stock markets: “People are more confused than they've ever been. How we used to invest in the stock market has changed.”     • Pace of changing technology: “We are literally self-destructing with speed.”     • The Federal Reserve lowering key interest rates 2.75 percentage points this year after the economy weakened, following several rate increases meant to combat inflation: “Greenspan blew it. He was using old guidelines, and inflation never came up. Inflation is still not up, and the economy is still not responding.”     • Banks not lowering the interest rates they charge customers despite their cost of money decreasing with the Fed cuts: “They're raping us.”     • Her hatred of variable annuities, especially for retirement accounts: “They are only there because of fear — fear of taxes, fear of losses. But they lock you up.”     • Her strong appeal among women investors: “I am so against women-only financial books and women-only financial advisers. That's why I will not write for iVillage (and other women-oriented Web sites or publications). I'm not interested — money is money, and how a man invests money is the same as how a woman invests money.”     • Her carefully crafted appearance in public and on television, from wearing black leather to project an image of power to men to picking shoes that portray sexiness to women: “I need America to get that money is fun, money is sexy. Money has different looks. Money is not a Chanel suit. ... Nothing I do is not planned. I have too big an effect on people now, and I take that seriously.”     • Her next project, financial books and games for children: “I need to help these kids help their parents.”

        “It's more confusing than it's ever been,” Ms. Orman said. “How we used to invest in the stock market is changed.”

        Not everything is going up, and what does rise doesn't always stay up. But what hasn't changed is her recommendations of diversity, mutual funds and dollar-cost averaging. Now it's more important than ever, she said.

        First, investors shouldn't be holding individual stocks unless they can hold at least 24 in varied industries to ensure diversification.

        Otherwise, people should be holding mutual funds, specifically funds that hold every stock out there. Ones that track the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index are examples of such funds.

        Finally, when people buy these funds, they should be putting a fixed amount of money in at regular intervals (for example, $167 a month into a traditional or Roth IRA that has a contribution limit of $2,000 a year). Doing this is dollar-cost averaging. It mitigates price volatility and ensures that investors are paying an average price.

        Still, she's recommending that people be cautious with their investing these days and not be afraid to leave about half of their savings in cash. Since January 2000, about 90 percent of Ms. Orman's portfolio has been in liquid money market funds.

        At that time, she predicted a peak in stock prices and sold off her technology-heavy portfolio. She correctly foresaw a crash in prices of many names she held, such as USData and CMGI.

        Today, she owns only about 30 blue-chip stocks, comprising a very small fraction of her holdings, with the rest in zero coupon municipal bonds for the tax-free income. She would invest more in such bonds if their yields increase.

        Staying out of stocks and stock funds while recommending everyone else stay in makes sense, Ms. Orman said, because she doesn't need to see her money grow. Her income from her books and speaking tours ranks in the millions of dollars, besides the fortune she's already made in stocks.

        “I'm in a very unique and different situation,” Ms. Orman said. “So what I tell America to do is very different than what I would do.”

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