Suze Orman: This Money Move Should Be Your Top Priority Right Now

Suze Orman says this should be your main financial priority.

It can be difficult knowing where to start when building your financial security. What should you do first? Save for retirement? Pay off debts? Build an emergency fund? According to Suze Orman, best-selling financial author and one of Barron's 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance, your top priority should be to forget your to-do list and focus on just one item. And that item should be to first solve the one financial issue that keeps you up at night. 

What keeps you up at night?

According to Orman, the one thing that keeps you up at night should be your main financial priority. While it may not be solved immediately, doing nothing will make you feel worse. The key is to do something. This can be as simple as investing an extra $10 or $50 a week or creating a budget with your family. Doing this consistently will help make you feel stronger and more secure when it comes to your finances.

When there are many things to-do on our financial bucket list, it is easy for us to be paralyzed and overwhelmed. At the same time, if we try to do too much, we can also fail. A Chinese proverb illustrates it well: "If you chase two rabbits, you will catch none." This means that if you put your efforts and energy into trying to do too many things at the same time, you won't be able to succeed. While doing nothing is bad, doing too much can be just as bad.

Focus on you

Orman recommends that you first focus on you. It isn't selfish. The only way to take care of others is to take care of yourself. By eliminating stressors in your life, you will be in a much better position to be present and help others. 

If there is a money issue that keeps you up at night, she recommends you focus on what you can do to calm those anxieties. By consistently following through to solve that one problem, you will end up becoming more effective in other areas of your life. While the financial problem may not be solved overnight, the momentum you build in taking the right actions can help you on the path toward financial security.