Suze Orman

[steveo]

I looked for this somewhere here but couldn't see it. I find this way over the top. Its like everyone just has no chance to retire at a reasonable age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBBUEVfoIxk

[slugline]

The unspoken assumption in that segment is that the advice was best applicable to people close to traditional retirement age. Notice that Orman makes reference to ten year's worth of lost gains. The segment was filmed not long after the last big downturn in the financial markets, so anyone that was just starting retirement may have had a sour sequence of returns scenario to handle.

I watched enough of her old CNBC show to know that if you told her that the viewing audience was made of younger people starting their careers, her personal finance advice would be different, and not really on the anti-mustachian end of the spectrum, really.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I've seen her show a few times while visiting friends, mostly because we liked the part of the show when people who are financial train wrecks call in and ask whether they can afford some luxury or another. It's because I enjoy feeling superior.

I love the facepunches she gives out, but those glow-in-the-dark teeth terrify me. Is anyone besides me a little bit afraid of them?

[onehair]

I confess I like Suze Orman. In my pre Mustachian but post stupid days culminating in me and my children being evicted thanks to my at the time gold cup level stupidity, she was one of the people who got me on the right track.  Well her my mom and a co worker roasting me almost daily to straighten up and fly right.  I don't listen to her as much now but I have recommended her to coworkers who I think could use her advice.

She got me started saving money on a regular basis which likely saved me with some of the future trials I had to endure. 

[Cassie]

I enjoyed her show and was sad when she retired and it was off the air.

[mtn]

I put her in a league with Ramsay. It isn't bad advice, but it isn't necessarily good since it is for a very broad audience.

[Zoot]

The date on the video is in mid-2011; I don't remember exactly what economic conditions were at that time, but I'm guessing there was a lot more gloom and doom (high gas prices, higher unemployment, etc) that may have led to such dire pronouncements ("the possibility of them being able to retire at 59 1/2, 62, is nil.  Most people are going to have to work--if they have a job, that's a-whole-nother story--but they're going to have to work until they're about 67 or 70 simply to be able to get by").

Wonder what she would say now?  I don't recall her ever touting EARLY retirement, just saving and investing for a conventional-wisdom "on time" retirement.

[Cassie]

The one thing when people asked if they cold retire on what they had, etc she usually said that they needed more $ every month then what they were planning on spending. If they had tracked everything carefully that may not be the case.  Then she would show them how working a few more years would get them so much more in SS, etc. What I didn't like is if you talk someone out of retiring and they don't live to 70 etc or have decent health then what was the point of continuing to work. 

[FIRE me]

I looked for this somewhere here but couldn't see it. I find this way over the top. Its like everyone just has no chance to retire at a reasonable age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBBUEVfoIxk

I don't like Ms Orman at all.

But you have to consider that the upload date of the video is July of 2011. Just after the worst of the Great Recession. Many people were out of work, many people sold investments at the bottom of the market, many lost their house due to foreclosure.

Some of those unfortunate people will have recovered financially (especially those who didn't sell all at the bottom), but some will probably will have to work until they drop.

[steveo]

I actually like her but I think she is really pessimistic and people following her advice would be working for years.

I get that the video was done in 2011 however stating that everyone has to work as long as possible is simply bad advice.

[Ramblin' Ma'am]

I like her but you have to consider the intended audience. Her goal is "Help people stay out of debt and afford retirement by 65." That is still better than what most people do.

I do find that she doesn't  always people's assumptions of how much they "need" each month and she ends up advising them to work longer, instead of saying, "Why are your expenses $8000 a month?"

[Taran Wanderer]

The funny thing to me about Suze Orman is that her advice is just so basic that countless people on this forum could give it for free.  Yet she presumably gets paid a lot of money to stand up in front of people and give it.  It's pretty effective self marketing, really.  And maybe also a result of those neon teeth!

[Misstachio]

I always liked watching her show with my mom but she really lets her own mom's rather unique situation (livings til her 90s with a lot of health issues) cloud her advice. Very few people make it that far so advising someone to work ten more years on the off chance they make it to 100 seems silly.

She does give really good facepunches though and her exasperated 'oh my god what are you doing' face is hilarious.

[Ramblin' Ma'am]

I always liked watching her show with my mom but she really lets her own mom's rather unique situation (livings til her 90s with a lot of health issues) cloud her advice. Very few people make it that far so advising someone to work ten more years on the off chance they make it to 100 seems silly.

Totally agree that her advice was slanted by her personal experience. Sadly, most of my immediate family died before 70. That triggered my interest in early retirement. I don't want to work until 67 or 70 and then die soon afterwards.

[clarkfan1979]

I like her "Can I afford it?" segment of her show.