Author Topic: Suze Orman is a Naysayer  (Read 11462 times)

Frau Handlebar

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Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« on: December 07, 2012, 06:55:35 PM »
In a recent blog post, I decided to take Suze to task for denying Ron & his wife's dream to travel the world for a year (in the "Can I Afford It?" segment of the Suze Orman Show). They already had so much money in savings, investments and retirement, I could tell (even before crunching the numbers) that if they just reduced their expenses, they could easily achieve their dream.

As it turns out, after only 9.5 months of saving, Ron & his wife could not only afford their dream vacation, but they could also pay off their mortgage and RETIRE. Plus, they could achieve this just by cutting their inordinately high expenses in half (to $4,052/month) and paying off their mortgage.

I'd love to see Suze recommend more Mustachian lifestyle changes instead of always assuming people's expenses need to stay the same. These people CAN afford to take this trip - they just need to make a few adjustments in the frugality department first.

Here's a link to the full post if you're interested: http://becomingmustachian.habiano.com/2012/12/how-could-i-afford-it.html

- Frau Handlebar

arebelspy

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2012, 08:52:13 PM »
Nords, I believe, has documented several of these. One military couple in particular he was trying to track down.

Suze seems to never recommend ER no matter how big your stache is.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Nords

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2012, 10:03:47 PM »
Nords, I believe, has documented several of these. One military couple in particular he was trying to track down.
Suze seems to never recommend ER no matter how big your stache is.
http://the-military-guide.com/2012/01/19/suze-ormans-debit-card-does-not-support-the-troops/ (the incident where she called PT an idiot on Twitter)
http://the-military-guide.com/2011/10/31/suze-ormans-bad-military-divorce-advice/
http://the-military-guide.com/2011/10/12/suze-orman-disrespects-the-military-again/
http://the-military-guide.com/2011/05/04/suze-orman-advises-a-dual-military-couple/

I keep hoping that someday JoAnn & Tony from Colorado will find that last post and let me know how they're doing.

Suze knows just enough about military benefits... to get it wrong.  I guess we personal-finance bloggers should take up a collection to keep Suze on the air, because she gives us more subject matter than we can write about.  Maybe she's decided that admonishing everyone to work until they're age 67 will shield her from liability, or maybe she just has no concept of how to handle early retirement.  It all gives off a distinct impression of Bag-Lady-With-Cats Syndrome.

I was going to buy the URL <Sh!t-That-Suze-Says.com> but decided it's way too much work...

Frau Handlebar

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2012, 11:18:32 PM »
Thanks for the links, Nords! Your post about JoAnn & Tony is especially interesting. I do hope that some of these people seek financial advice from sources besides the Suze Orman Show.

- FH

JR

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2012, 06:03:03 AM »
Yeah but what is their FICO??

Neighbor Don

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2012, 11:13:03 AM »
When I first started reading up on personal finance Suze was one of the first authors to get me interested in the subject. Unfortunately her advice wasn't right for me because I went further into debt. Lucky for me I'm big into self learning and finally found the light after several year, some nights of lost sleep and figuring out what's important to me in life.

Miyazaki

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2012, 06:01:24 PM »
I've actually started getting into Suze Orman recently. Sure, her advice isn't appropriate for people like us, but it can be entertaining to watch mainstream advice sometimes.

Anyway, if you listen carefully, you can hear her sarcastically say things like "Everyone, are you looking at this?! All of his income is going straight out the door!" And I have also heard her give advice to stop eating out, stop taking vacations, downgrade the car, and most importantly downgrade the house. Most people on the show want advice about how to retire at 65, so that's the advice she gives them.

What I would really love to see is a mustachian on the "how am I doing" segment, where you clearly state your goal is to "have enough money to live off your investments by age 30" (not using the word "retire", which is too hardcore for TV).

Make sure you have a will and a living revocable trust first, though, otherwise she'll slaughter you!

DoubleDown

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2012, 01:00:18 PM »
Yeah but what is their FICO??

Lmao

grantmeaname

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2012, 03:21:47 PM »
Bad Money Advice has a whole category on the woman because she gives false advice so often. If any of you don't read BMA (which is sadly inactive), I can't recommend it highly enough. It's irreverent and sometimes forceful like MMM, but he's also a brilliantly analytical finance professional who's chosen to turn his gaze towards personal finance advice. Good stuff.

Rich M

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2012, 09:59:56 PM »
Suze Orman is a good entertainer but that ends quickly.  Her advice is not for the group reading MMM.

....and here is an ironic example.  "The emotional money mistake."

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hRh0Mkm9lck" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Frau Handlebar

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2012, 10:21:11 PM »
I do like many things about Suze Orman, but she's so inconsistent! In her December 8 show, she told one lady to completely stop eating out and going on vacations... reasonable considering they were spending more than they earned. But then she recommended that her "How Am I Doing?" guest work 10 years longer than she wants to (she is hoping to retire early at 52) - for NO GOOD REASON. The woman wants to work part time and travel, and already lives what sounds like a very Mustachian lifestyle, so why should she work for 10 more years just to get more money that she DOESN'T NEED? It was such a ridiculous recommendation, I couldn't believe it! I guess it's just hard for some people (Suze) to imagine saying no to income? (Maybe that explains why Suze did the car commercial even though she already has plenty of money?)

- FH

mpbaker22

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Re: Suze Orman is a Naysayer
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2013, 04:17:43 PM »
Watching her speech at Google.  She gives an example of $100/month amounting to 1 million dollars.  I calculated it out and she's assuming an 11.5% investment rate.  Sure, it's possible, but not very likely.  And she says 1 million dollars like it's a guarantee.