Financial Guru!

We could start robbing spazzy white guys…

Wow! Figure something out! That’s great advice. Thanks Suze. I guess she’s really not that much different than the Kristen Wiig caricature on SNL.

How incredibly brilliant!I’d like to bake her a batch of Ex-Lax brownies, hide her purse, and stick her in a building with only pay toilets and tell her to just figure something out!

That’s good advice. I like it… it sounds very… Republican.

People like Orman, Dr. Phil etc are symbols of our fucking disaster of a society. These asshats gain immense fame and fortune by telling people things they should already know.

People like Orman, Dr. Phil etc are symbols of our fucking disaster of a society. These asshats gain immense fame and fortune by telling people things they should already know.

Gosh, everyone, don’t you know that you need to forego your daily lattes & lunches out? What? You already brown-bag it & drink water from the tap? Then search the sofa cushions. What?You can’t afford a sofa? Then search your neighbor’s sofa. Figure something out!!!~My “Modest Response” to Suz’s Suggestions~

She’s a total loss as an advisor. I suppose when you only work with people who earn $500k, figuring out how to set aside an eight month emergency stash is something to reach for. I work with people who earn substantially less. I DO advise them to set aside cash, and even offer them the means to do it. But it never, ever happens in one or two months.This is a four to five year process of reversing habits that used credit cards as the emergency fund, and spending all available cash, sometimes on things that could not be recalled. Most of us do that. The philosophy behind this is that over time, you can truly reverse the credit cycle, and once you do that, your finances open up substantially. But it’s not as easy as “Hey! You gotta put eight months wages away now!”When building that fund, always remember, slow and easy wins the race. I suggest 10% set aside automatically, but it doesn’t even have to be that much. Doing it automatically means after one month (and more than likely immediately) you won’t miss the money you are saving. If you can’t do ten percent, do something, anything. Half the battle is starting.Whatever you do, do it every month. Don’t rely on large sums of money to build up that fund, because A: large sums of money rarely comeand B: large sums of money are usually earmarked for some other priority even before you get it.Suze Orman has probably never worked (as in, formed an actual RELATIONSHIP) with ANYONE who earned less than $100k.

@PPP, right on.One of the problems we have in this country is we all tend to think one day our ship will come in. We read books and look to financial advisers who are going to make us super rich instead of looking to people who will help us understand that most of us will never be rich and we’d better accept that and shoot for the more realistic goal of financial stability–in as much as you can have that when you’re not rich.I learned that lesson the hard way like many other people. It took an incredible wife with a keen sense of budgeting and the patience to not leave my broke ass. Once it clicked, though, it was the most valuable lesson I’ve ever learned albeit a little later than I would have liked.We need financial advisers who will teach us the realities like what you’re talking about. Teach us how to decide between CDs and a high-yield savings account. Teach us how to decide when it’s right to refinance our mortgages or to spend extra updating the house or putting additional money in the equity. Little things that don’t mean big money but could mean a more stable future. Of course, we’re all one health crisis away from living on the street and that’s a sad reality, but we need to stop daydreaming about riches and get real.No one would watch a show like that, though. Too boring.

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

The problem with pulling yourself up is Newtonian Physics.

Camel,There is a show like that. His name is Clark Howard, and he’s on CNN on Saturdays. You’re right…no one watches. But I think if you did, you’d like the way he approaches things. He’s not about people making more than $100k. He’s about all the rest.

@PPP, you mean he doesn’t advise to just figure something out?I tell you what, when you have nothing and you can’t find a job and you are in debt, it is close to impossible to recover from that. The emotional weight of it on top of the actual work to get out of that hole can be unbearable. Having someone command you to just be better, be smarter is infuriating. Over the next couple of years, a lot of people are going to need good advice and emotional support to help get back on track. I just hope we’re actually turning a corner right now. I’m tired of worrying that at any day, one of these horror stories is going to be mine.

Camel,Well I want to let you know that I’m hoping and pulling for you. Are you working right now?

From the first time I ever saw Suze on TV (both of our PBS channels here love to run her shows for their fundraisers) I thought she was a farce, and she’s only reinforced that idea a thousand fold since then. Now that I’ve read this quote of hers, I have even more reason to avoid her like the plague.

I’ve been trying to “figure something out” for the last 7 years. So far, in between paying for education IRA’s, funding my own 401(k), paying my bills and insuring I don’t have credit card debt, I’ve been able to “figure out” something to hold me over for 4 months assuming absolutely zero income coming in.She’s a hack in the mode of Dr. Phil and the rest…gets paid a lot of money to spout crap you should already know if you don’t have head completely up your backside. Thanks, Suze!!!

PPP gives excellent financial advice. Suze not so much.Suze needs to be repeatedly slapped with pink slips and foreclosure notices until she realizes that she is just a stupid corporate clown.The Orman method for financial success:1. Gets lots of money. (Inheritance is good)2. Invest wisely. (aka figure something out, insider trading tips are key.)3. Spend less than your investment yield.4. Profit!