Emmy Award winning TV host and New York Times bestselling author Suze Orman believes one of the best policies Bermuda ever introduced was mandatory pension contributions.

Greeted by a standing ovation, Ms Orman was speaking at a packed Mid Ocean Amphitheatre, at the Fairmont Southampton Princess, on Saturday on getting rid of debt, the issue of ‘need’ versus ‘want’ and for people to give themselves time to take control of their finances.

“My main message is: you can do this people,” said Ms Orman. “Make the decision that you are worth it. You are worth that one hour looking after your money. If you don’t do it, who else will?”

Ms Orman was brought to Bermuda by pension administrators Colonial Pension Services Ltd, a member of the Colonial Group International. After Bermuda, Ms Orman will talk in The Bahamas and then the Cayman Islands.

An expert in personal finance, Ms Orman urged the audience to rid themselves of the shackles of debt and warned that Bermuda was headed down the road America was now treading.

“We spend our lives as financial fakers. We all have debt of some kind. But debt is bondage and you will never have freedom if you have debt. Debt will eventually catch up with you,” she said. “You should get out of your credit card debt.

“Do you understand what you are doing to yourselves? Every time you buy something, ask if this is a want or a need. If it is a want, you walk away.

“If you spend money on needs, not just wants, you will have money left over to save for retirement. You are spending less and saving more, that is the key to your financial future,” added Ms Orman, who teased audience member Premier Craig Cannonier about the price of gas in Bermuda.

She added: “One of the greatest things that this country did was to make it mandatory to contribute to a pension. But all of you should be putting an additional ten percent, or more, into your pension.”

Ms Orman, who started working as a waitress in Chicago, told the audience: “The other thing that is happening in Bermuda is that you are starting to go the way of the US, where credit card debt is rampant and where 50 million people are in poverty.

“The poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer and the middle class is disappearing and you do not want that to happen here.”

Ms Orman is recognised as one of the top motivational speakers in the world today. In March 2013, Forbes magazine awarded her a spot in the top 10 on a list of the most influential celebrities.

Ms Orman is in her 13th year as host of the award winning Suze Orman Show, which airs every Saturday night on CNBC.

Marie Jo Caesar, chief operating officer for Pensions at Colonial Group International, said: “Her talk was riveting and the standing ovation she received even before talking was indicative of the high regard in which she is held by people.

“I hope that her talk will help to inspire some of the audience members to tackle their personal finances and to get themselves of a sound financial footing.”