Suze Orman has talked about tracking spending, looking at your credit, shopping for insurance deals, finding a credit union and challenging our property-tax assessment in her article in O, The Oprah Magazine this month. Now, her final topic is saving and being prepared for the future.

Build Security

1. Boost your emergency fund to cover eight months of living expenses. Hopefully you are saving a bit of money here and there. Now you need to have at least eight months’ worth of living expenses, says the article. Check out myfdicinsurance for information on banks and ncua for credit unions. Make sure you have your money in a place that is federally insured.

2. Get the maximum 401 (k) match at your job. Call your human resources department or the company that is in charge of the plan. Increase your contribution so you qualify for the max match, says Orman.

3. Roll over 401(k)s from former employers into an IRA. I made the mistake of not taking this advice and was left with quite a bit less money in my pocket. When you leave a job, you can roll it over to a brokerage or fund firm. Roll it all over into an IRA. Pick a discount brokerage or no-load mutual fund company.

4. Fund a Roth IRA. In 2010 the maximum is $5,000 ($6,000 if you’re 50 or older) for individuals with modified adjusted gross income below $105,000 and married couples filing a joint return with MAGI below $167,000. Find out if there is a program that lets you invest small monthly sums of $50.

5. Leave your retirement funds alone. If you’re dipping into your retirement money to help pay bills now, when it runs out then what will you do? You still have money problems and then your retirement is gone. Go to moneychimp and click on the calculator tab. Under “current principal” enter the value of your 401(k). Orman says leave “annual addition” blank. For “years to grow” enter the difference between your age and 65. For “interest rate” use 5 percent. Look at the future value. The difference between that and the current value is what you’d be giving up by cashing it out, says the article.

6. Convert to a Roth IRA. Since the beginning of this year, anyone can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Money in a Roth can be withdrawn for retirement with no taxes. If you take money out of a traditional one, you will be taxed. Orman says if you have deductible and non deductible traditional IRAs, ask a CPA to determine your tax liability.

To ask Suze Orman a question, you can go to Oprah Magazine’s website.