Suze Orman Fan Club Blog Community

It is a tough call. Will I watch the Suze Orman Show Halloween Special or Game 3 of the Yankees vs. the Phillies World Series? I might have to save the Suze Orman show to the DVR and catch her later, but I don’t want to miss her Halloween Special.

Thankfully my debt isn’t that scary, I hope, Suze might think otherwise. I wouldn’t want to miss her reply to the woman who wants to spend $4,000 on the Elf School. Really? Can you afford it isn’t as much the question as is should you go just because you can afford it?

There will be a masked mystery guest to answer questions as well.

Tune in Saturday night to the Suze Orman Show on CNBC at 9:00 PM ET or during one of her repeats for all the fun or financial fear, whatever your poison. Don’t stay up too late and eat too much candy, but if you do, DON’T FORGET TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK.

Happy Halloween!

Sorry that I missed last week.  I got busy and missed the entire episode!  Here is the Valentine’s Day play-by-play:

Opening Remarks:
Suze will talk about why money and marriage go together.   She is talking about the benefits of being marriage.  Basically there are many financial advantages to being married; thereby leading to a discussion about how Prop 8 is ridiculous.

Guest:
The couple is about to get married.  They are having a disagreement over money: Gordon wants to pay about 50% of Chastity’s student loans, but Chastity thinks she would feel guilty taking money from him when it is not his debt.  Suze basically tells them they should do this because it makes financial sense.  It makes sense to get rid of the school loan immediately.  Suze says that Chastity can always sign a promisary note for Gordon which states that she would pay back whatever would be owed (so that she feels less guilty).

Phone Calls:
Caller #1
I don’t remember her  name, but the issue is that her father passed and the mother is obligated to pay her late-husband’s death.  Suze says: YES!

Emily
Emily and her husband are in lots of debt ($38,000) and are arguing.  Suze advises to find a new job, pay down the credit card debt and never forget this lesson!

Mary
Is worried because her partner and her are not able to get married and worry about what will happen when one passes away.  Suze mentions that she has resources available on her website .  I believe these are located in the “Will and Trust ” section.

Can I Afford it:

*Maltese puppy for $900 - DENIED!
*Trip to 2010 Winter Olympics for $10,000 - APPROVED!
*Josh Agle Print for $6,500 - DENIED!
*Sculpting Course for $750 - APPROVED!
*King Cobra Golf Clubs for $800 - DENIED! (she didn’t even let him speak)

Can I Afford it, Callback!:
Lisa’s $6,300 ticket for Bette Midler’s Gala for Environment Performance

Lisa was denied.  She did not go to the event.  Instead, she donated to the cause and feels great about saving money while still donating something to this cause.  SURPRISE SURPRISE!  Suze tells Lisa that she went to the event this past year and had a great time.  Suze was glad that Lisa turned her on to this event and in return, Suze (or maybe it was the Bette Midler entourage) is giving Lisa two tickets (worth $5,000 each) to the next performance.  Lisa was thrilled!

Phone calls:
Jennifer
Bought about nine investment properties and she is feeling guilty about not being financially responsible.  Also, the burden is taxing on her marriage.  Suze advises that they sell all of these properties.  Suze also warns that Jennifer’s credit is going to be ruined.

Nicole
Her partner and her get along, but are not on the same page when it comes to finances.  Suze tells her that she needs to open up the communication and be more honest with each other.  Otherwise, they are doomed for problems in the long run.

Email:
What a classic case of a typical Suze guest.  The guest has $40,000 in credit card debt.  She wants to cash out her husbands 401K which is valued at $25K.  Emailer also contemplates bankruptcy.  Suze tells the emailer that she is absolutely not allowed to cash out the 401K because it would be stupid.  Cashing out 401K’s before age 59.5 results in a 10% penalty PLUS it would be taxable income.  In the end, it is not worth it.  Only contemplate bankruptcy if it is an absolute last resort.

Closing Remarks:
Suze is wacky again.  She shows us that she has found her perfect match this Valentine’s Day… the desk lights up red and she says: “The desk matches my shirt.”  Then, she blows a kiss.

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Suze Orman is a financial expert, if you have problems with finances then Suze Orman is definitely the person to seek advice from. Suze Orman would be a great friend to have espescially in financial crises.

Suze Orman has written seven New York Times Bestsellers in a row:

Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan
Women & Money
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom
The Courage to Be Rich
The Road to Wealth
The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke

It is definitely worth investing in Suze Orman’s books as you will learn how to save money rather than spend it. If you want to watch Suze Orman on television she hosts “The Suze Orman Show” on Saturdays on CNBC. As well as writing many wonderful books and appearing on several television shows, Suze Orman is a two-time Emmy Award winner.

She won two Daytime Emmy Awards in 2004 and 2006 for her PBS pledge drive specials, The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life and The Money Show for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke, she is the winner of more Gracie awards than any other recipient, 2007 top female motivational speaker by Business Week, 2008 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine and contributing editor to O, The Oprah Magazine and The Costco Connection.All in all Suze Orman is miles ahead of the rest when it comes to financial advise and in this day and age we need more Suze Orman’s. I’d advise anyone to take a leaf out of Suze Orman’s book.

Visit Mickie at either of her Today.com blogs, The Osbourne’s or her blog about the Performing Arts.

Suze’s SuperBowl Special… (aka: Suze’s Money Bowl)

Opening Remarks
Suze compares the Super Bowl to balancing your finances.  While a football team has all members working towards the same goal (the Lombardi trophy), families must all work together to create their own financial goal (no debt, budget, etc.).  Suze goes on to create different financial goals: don’t use the credit card for a week, don’t eat out for a month… you keep working up and you will see that you can reach your own financial goal.

Guest
Heath plays for the Minnesota Vikings, but he was out last season with a torn ACL.  Heath and his wife, Julie, talk about how they have a large sum of money saved up and they want to know how to invest their money.  Interesting statistic: the average “life expectancy” of an NFL player’s career is 3.5 years.  Suze asks if any of Heath’s financial advisors ever took that fact into account and Heath says that they did not.  Suze goes on a mini-rant about financial advisors who do not know what they are doing.  Suze goes back to their finances.  The major announcement: FDIC will decrease their insurance at the end of 2009 to $100,000.  Suze’s advice, do not keep more than $500,000 with one bank.  Suze also advises that it really isn’t such a big deal to make interest through assets; instead, it’s a better idea to save because as stated earlier: being an NFL player does not last for a long time.  Suze also mentions: “Non-deductible IRAs” because it is a good way to keep the money diversified.  Basically, Suze goes all over the place with what to do and it is a bit much.  Suze ends the segment by telling Heath to promise to spread the financial responsibility karma off to the rest of his teammates. 

PS– I kind of love the New York Jets cheerleaders being in the Suze studio tonight.

Phone Calls
James
James plays for the Atlanta Braves.  James and his wife make too much to qualify for a Roth IRA.  What to do?  Suze gives a table on Roth IRA qualifications… it’s a bit much to put all in here.  Suze recommends a Non-Deductible IRA for James and then convert any money that he has into a Roth IRA. 

Beth
Went out and got a credit card on her 18^th birthday.  She maxed out the limit at $400 and spent this money on an Ipod.  Apparently, Beth didn’t realize that you had to pay the money back to the credit card company.  Suze is beside herself.  Beth received statements to pay back the $400 balance, but she feels like she doesn’t have to.  Beth wants to get another credit card to pay off this debt.  Suze tells Beth that she is grounded.  Beth makes $2000 per month and Suze says that Beth must save up $400 this next month and pay off that credit card in full.

Can I Afford It
Those New York Jets cheerleaders are going to say “Approved!” or “Denied” for each person.  This should be awesome.

*Ray wants to play in the World Series of Poker for $10,000 - APPROVED!
*Theresa wants an Autographed Def Leppard Photo for $300 - DENIED!
*Stewart wants a Segway Personal Transporter for $5,000 - DENIED!
*David wants a Snowboarding Season Pass for $479 - APPROVED!
*Karen wants to go to the World Cup for $5,000 -  SOOO DENIED!
*Kaylon wants a Beat Machine for $500 - APPROVED!

Phone Calls
Linda
She is a poker dealer and gets taxed on her tips.  She wants to find a way around being taxed on the tips.  Suze says she is absolutely not to do anything with the tip money because Linda mentioned that she has $3000 in credit card debt.

Kathy
Her son inherited a baseball card collection and wants to know what to do with it.  Suze encourages Kathy to find the value of the cards because the value is unknown.  After finding out if the cards are worth something, then Kathy should cash in now while she can.  You never know when the value on certain collections will go up or down.

Email
They were running late so they didn’t have time to read an email.  Instead, they talk about football and food.  Suze thanks the New York Jets cheerleaders for coming and then has them do a dance to close the show.  Wow.  Great show!

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Suze’s back and here we go!

Opening Remarks:
Let’s pay attention this week to the Student Loan crisis!  Basically,the problem is that college is so expensive, loan debt accumulates with higher interest rates, and students cannot even eliminate these loans through bankruptcy.  You wind up paying back the loans for the rest of your life.  Congress: get involved and put a stop to this viscous cycle!

One on one:
Missy is a woman who is paying back student loans and the loans are also under her parents’ name.  Missy wants to get her parents’ name off the loan since it is not their responsibility.  Suze says that this is an impossibility; unless, Missy use another loan to pay off the student loans (although Missy is ineligible for getting a loan from somewhere else).

Now you know:
Apparently, student loans can garnish up to 15% of your paycheck.  This is the last resort if you are unable to make payments.  This is a very serious issue and you should really be careful when getting student loans.

Phone calls:
Tony
He is unsure about what to do with his equity when he has a son who is heading to school.  He wants to allow his son to get the best financial aid but is not sure what financial aid agencies look at.  Bottom line: don’t even think about putting your equity into an annuity in order to get your children better financial aid.  Suze drops a plug for www.finaid.org for further information.

Linda
Deep in credit card debt, but is living a lie (she lives a luxurious lifestyle).  Basic advice is to get honest with yourself and with your friends!

Margaret
Wants to take her money out of IRAs and put into a Money Market.  Suze screams because the woman has 100% of her money in the IRA.  DIVERSIFY, girlfriend!  AND!  Her assets are down 40%!!!  Suze tells Margaret to ditch the financial advisor and start doing things with her money for herself.  After the call, Suze tells us: “Did you hear that?  40%!  And she won’t ditch the advisor because why?  She is worried about hurting his feelings?  Give me a break.  You need to be careful with your money, people.”

Can I afford it?:
*David- $359 for Kindle (gift)- DENIED
*Roni- $5,000 for Drapery Business- DENIED
*Joseph- $7,000 for trip to Rome- APPROVED
*Nancy- $320 / quarter for son’s gym class- APPROVED
*Anne- $5,000 for bathtub- APPROVED

Phone calls:
Matt
He is worried about his wife’s attitude with money.  Suze asks Matt to reassess how much he actually “likes” his wife.

Melissa
Selling her condo and moving in with her fiance.  She is worried that her fiance is being stingy because he doesn’t want to put her name on the deed; when he has paid for it all by himself.  Suze tells her to chill out because he is not being stingy.

Email:
In case anyone is interested, Lou is in a relationship with someone named Lillian.  They have been together for two years and he is waiting to earn more money before he proposes to her.  Yay for being financially responsible, Lou.

Jessica, writes an email to ask about 0% credit cards.  Suze warns that while it is a smart idea to use this as a means of investing, you should always be able to pay back the debt in full in case anything with the rate changes.

Closing remarks:
Suze hates two things: the first was people that lie.  I do not remember the second one.  If someone could please add it to the comments, that would be great.   Until next week!

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Getting into debt is a horrible feeling where you feel like you are not making any progress. It can be stressful and soul destroying. Many people spend too much at Christmas time and as a result have to pay for it afterwards. It is easy to over spend at Christmas time especially if you have children who demand that you buy them a particular toy. After Christmas you are left with debt piling up and the letter’s start dropping through the letter box. What is the answer?

Well, fortunately Suze Orman has some great advice that can help keep you out of debt if you apply it to your life. A woman wrote to Suze Orman saying that she owed $20,000 on her credit cards, $165,000 mortgage, car payments and a home equity loan and lives life to the fullest. The lady who is struggling to pay off debts manages to take her kids to all the best water parks, museums, the YMCA and Disneyland frequently. The lady is of the belief that being in the red doesn’t matter and carries on overspending.

Whilst debt in itself isn’t bad explains Suze Orman to this lady. It is the manner in how you cope with it that’s important. Although on the surface it looks like this lady cares about her kids if she ignores the debt and carries on spending the way she is then her kids will eventually suffer the consequences.

Whilst this might seem harsh, if you over spend at Christmas and carry on getting into debt then your children will suffer eventually. As Suze Orman explained to the lady if she cares about her kids then she also has to care about how she spends her money. The example this lady is teaching her kids is wrong as they will think that money doesn’t matter and that over spending is all right.

Orman makes the point that this mother will not be able to afford her children’s education and will probably rely on her children in later life when she has no retirement money. It makes sense then that over spending is wrong and looked upon as bad debt versus good debt.

Visit Mickie at either of her Today.com blogs, The Osbourne’s or her blog about the Performing Arts.

Ooh boy, Suze is gonna smack down on Bernie Madoff tonight…  My goal is to try and not sound so long winded this week, so I hope I do well!  If you don’t like it/like it, leave a comment and let me know.

Opening Remarks:
Suze asks you: “How would you feel if all of your life savings was there one day and gone the next?”  My answer: Probably really crappy, wouldn’t you think?

Guest:
Janet
A victim of the Bernie Madoff scandal, Janet lost $5 million.   This segment was cut into two parts.  The first part involved the story of what happened and what Janet learned from all of this.  Suze also tells Janet that she was one of the luckier victims because Janet still has some money to her name and owns her home outright.  The second part involved Janet’s question: “How do I get back on my feet?”  Suze’s advice: “When a major tragedy occurs, I have a rule that you should keep your money safe for 6 months following the tragedy.”  Basically, leave it in a savings account, CDs, or something like that.  Suze leaves us with her three credos for investing:
1- It is better to do nothing than to do something you do not understand.
2- You are never to talk yourself into trusting anyone
3- You’ve got to trust yourself more than you trust others.

Can I Afford It?:
*$23,000 for a 30 Minute Ride on a Russian Fighter - DENIED
*$10,000 for a Sun Room - DENIED
*$5,240 for a Pinball Machine - DENIED
*$35,000 + $300/mo for Country Club Membership - DENIED
*$5,500 for Cataract Surgery for Dog - APPROVED

Phone Calls:
Kathy
Apparently the question was totally avoided because Suze was more focused on the social aspect of the problem.  Kathy’s husband threatened to call the police on her if she opened her husband’s mail.  Suze screams that Kathy should divorce this guy, Kathy argues that he is a good man in so many other ways.  In the end, Suze comes out on top, of course, and tells Kathy that her husband better allow her to open his mail.

Email:
The writer’s husband has worked for Lowes for 22 years and owned a substantial amount of stock in the company.  The husband has the option of pulling the money from the stock and putting into mutual funds (or something else); however, the wife does not want to sell until the stock hits a certain price.  Suze screams at the writer: “Have you lost your mind?” Bottom line: “Diversify, and diversify now!”

Closing Remarks:
Suze reiterates the three credos that are listed above.

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I’m watching the preview for tonight and it looks like the show got a huge face lift.  It looks a lot more professional and sentimental with the piano music.  I don’t know if that’s the right word for it or not, so whatever— Let’s jump right in!

Opening Remarks:
Suze welcomes us to the new set.  She has the 5 biggest mistakes to avoid in 2009:
1- DO NOT stop monthly investing in your retirement account
2- DO NOT take a loan from your 401K
3- DO NOT invest in bond mutual funds
4- DO NOT invest in a variable annuity
5- DO NOT miss a credit card payment

She obviously goes into further detail on each one of these, but there you have the list of things to watch out for in 2009.

One on One (GUEST):
Brad
Used a HELOC and Credit Cards to help support his small business… and he never told his wife about this.  Because of this, the wife divorced him and the kids have let him too.  Brad is hurting because he wants his wife back but she won’t take him back until he gets out of debt and acts more responsibly with finances.  Suze’s first question: “Why didn’t you tell her you took the money from the HELOC?”  Brad mentions that he was the financial man of the relationship and she entrusted him.  Basically, he felt confident enough that he would make this money back so quickly that he wouldn’t even need to tell his wife.  Suze stops him and asks if perhpas he was really afraid to tell her.  Brad says that is true.  There is a lot of back and forth between Brad and Suze with Suze trying to understand Brad’s actions.  This segment winds up with Suze telling Brad to stop spending on unnecessary items, use his savings to pay down the credit card debt, and save every penny to get the credit card paid off… this might take two years, but Suze says he must do it.  Homeboy starts crying because he is somewhat impatient and wants his wife right now, but Suze tells him to hang in there, deal with the debt with honor and integrity, and get his life back on the right track so he can be back with his wife.

Phone calls:
Keith
Has a difference of opinion with his wife on investing.  He is torn between investing in the stock market versus paying off his mortgage.  Suze questions his beliefs; apparently, Keith has faith that the market will do well while the real estate market will fail.  Suze recommends taking half of the monthly investment money: take 1/2 and put in a mutual fund or individual stock and then take the other 1/2 and put it in a safe place like a money market or savings account.

Lori
Something happened with her car, I don’t remember what she said… I missed it!  But i guess it had something to do with buying a car and this effecting her FICO score.  Suze told the woman to not worry about it because whatever happened was not going to affect her FICO score.

Can I Afford it?:
*Steven- $3000 to donate organs- DENIED! (too many student loans, and no emergency plans)
*Sarah- $4000 trip to Galapagos Islands- APPROVED! (I guess tourists won’t be allowed to visit these islands anymore and she is fiscally responsible)
*Brad- $60,000 for 1966 Austin Healey Convertible- DENIED! (LOL- “before you can buy a boy-toy, you must set aside money for your children’s college fund)
*Frank- $4500 for dental implant- APPROVED! (teeth are important + he has the money)
*Laura- $298 for Kate Spade Shoes- DENIED! (Suze wants the girl to stay out of trouble, despite the fact she could probably afford it)
*Samuel- $1600 for Optimus Maximus Keyboard- APPROVED! (he had the money to do it!)

More phone calls:
Michelle
Wants to set up a trust and put it in her sister and nieces/nephews’ name.  She wants to do this in a way where the husband has no claim to this because he is not a great guy.  Suze says that this is possible.  Suze recommends that she put the money in trust for her behalf, but put her brother as the trustee so that her sister would be protected.

Wow… that was fast.  The phone call was like 3 minutes and they already went to commercial.  Guess that’s what happens when the opening segment took 20 minutes.

EMAIL:
Suze can’t start an email segment without commenting on Lou’s t-shirt.  Haha…

The email is a very long one.  The gist is that the writer is worried about her mother’s financial independence.  The mother owns a condo and is having a hard time renting it out.  The mother’s new husband suggests that she get rid of the condo even though it would be a loss of $50,000.  Suze suggests that the mother just drop the rent price so she gets at least something and doesn’t trash her credit.

Lou pulls out Suze Orman’s new book: “The Suze Orman 2009 Action Plan ” This book is free on the Suze Orman site and you can get more information from the link embedded here.

Face it to erase it is the theme of tonight’s episode.  Here we go!
 
Opening remarks:
Suze welcomes everyone to 2009.  She says in the year 2009– people must become more realistic and face their problems in order for them to go away.  She begins by talking specifically about credit card debt.  She tells you: DEAL WITH CREDIT CARD DEBT FIRST!!!  She warns us that creditors will clamp down more in 2009: they will either close down your credit cards, or reduce your credit limit. These things will make your FICO Score go down, so be careful! 
 
Phone calls:
Ann
She has racked up a substantial amount of debt and has not told her partner about this. Suze tries to really understand everything else going on with this girl.  Suze wants Ann to face how she feels about her relationship and to value herself before she worries about anyone else.
 
Jeanette
Has her mother living with her and wants to figure out a way to get her back on her own.  Suze advises that Jeanette pay her mother some rent to help ease her into a new living environment.  I think I was a bit confused with this one because they were all over the place.  Sorry!
 
Sharlene
Has a lot of personal credit card debt and debt from bailing out family members. She has $44,000 in credit card debt.  Suze really tries emphasizing the importance of repeating how much credit card debt she has because she really wants Sharlene to face her debts.  Suze advises that Sharlene call a family meeting and tell everyone about her credit card debt and be honest with everyone that she has helped.  It is good to lay out all of these bills because it will allow Sharlene to be honest with everyone and get real with the debt.
 
Ebony
Has $88,000 in student loan debt, and $30,000 in credit card debt.  She is a school social worker and is having a very difficult time coming out of this hole.  Ebony feels like her husband, who is living debt free, does not want to know the exact amount of debt that Ebony has.  Poor Ebony begins to cry as she is really struggling to make these payments.  Suze finds a big part of the problem is that Ebony and her husband are paying equal amounts toward the house account.  Suze says that couples should put forward equal “percentages” of their take home in order to make it fair (her husband makes $10,000 more than Ebony!).  Suze says that Ebony must sit her husband down and have a discussion about this.  She also tells her that her husband is technically responsible for helping Ebony with her debts.
 
Can I Afford it?
*Margaret, trip to French Open 2009 for $4300— APPROVED!  (she was being smart with her money)
*Lisa, Burberry coat for $1395— DENIED! (at age 22, she had $100,000 in savings!  But Suze said that she would be irresponsible by spending the money that she inherited on something like a coat)
*Rick, 1970 Volkswagen Beetle for $5500— APPROVED! (he managed his finances pretty well).
*Bettina, Condo in Mexico for $600,000— DENIED! (she has like no savings and retirement.. and she would pull $300,000 from her mutual funds/the market)
*Cara, Ugg boots for $200— APPROVED! (She was 12 and when Suze asked if she has been responsible, the girl has saved $5,000!!!)
 
More phone calls:
Sue
Has 80,000 in credit card debt, $60,000 in student loan debt (for children).  Suze tells her that the credit card companies are very likely to close down her credit limits. Suze tells Sue to face the reality and figure out a plan to make her life work.  Suze warns that if Sue doesn’t get honest very soon, then creditors are going to come after her and take everything away.
 
Email:
I guess the exciting news was that Suze is getting a new desk next week.  Anyway, here is the email:

Tim gambled on a failed bussiness and wound up with about $90,000 of credit card debt.  He is in big trouble of falling behind in paying back these credit companies.  Suze says that credit card counseling is only for people who have the money to pay it back; which is probably not possible for Tim.  Suze tells Tim that he will probably have to file for bankruptcy. 
 
Suze smackdown! comes on the screen— she screams at the Credit Card industry for raising interest rates to 30%.  She says that they are being just as stupid as Mortgage lenders were.  By raising these interest rates, it is a travesty, as it forces people to claim bankruptcy.  Suze predicts that we are going to have the same problem with credit cards as we had with mortgage lenders.
 
Closing remarks:
End of the first show of the year.  Some things never change.  Face your problems so you can erase them!

Surprise everyone.  I said that I was not able to recap the Suze Orman Show for this week but amazingly, I was able to catch this episode.  Here we go with the last Suze Orman Show recap for the 2008 year!

Opening Remarks:
Suze wants to take a look back on the entire year of 2008 because it is a year to remember.  Why?  Because everything in the investment realm has gone haywire!  2008 will set us up very well for 2009 in a way where we will have better values, intentions and actions.  Suze reiterates: “People first, then money, then things.”  Your actions must represent what is real in your life right now.  People need to help each other out.  She wants us to make 2009 a much better year all around: with credit card debt, families, etc.

Highlight reel:
Suze rolls a highlight reel of everything that went on in 2008.  Highlights included: the real estate fiasco, collapses of major banks and companies, rising gas prices, the rollercoaster stock market, and bailouts.  Suze must’ve rolled three clips of her saying, “NEVER INVEST IN THE MARKET IF YOU NEED THAT MONEY IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS.”  Suze also believes that this economy will not be back on its feet until 2015.

Where do we go from here?
Suze thinks that 401K limits will change, student loans will change, mortgages/credit cards are all going to change.  You must have an action plan for 2009 and beyond because of the new regulations!

Phone calls:
Patricia
Essentially, she asks: “My family thinks I have money, but I am broke.  What do I do?”  Suze tells Patricia to walk into 2009 valuing truth and being honest.  Patricia should be honest and upfront with her family.  Patricia has even filed for bankruptcy… she said that the rest of her family has done very well and it is just kind of embarassing.  Suze proclaims that when children are doing well, it is their obligation to take care of their parents!  Suze, I can not agree more with you.   Our parents have done so much for us as we grew up; why shouldn’t their kids help take care of them when them when they are in a bind?

Questions from CNBC STAFF:
Dan, director of the Suze Orman Show
He bought some real estate and never told Suze until after he did it.  Suze scolds him for doing this.  Anyway, Dan has to pay $300/month for years, but isn’t sure whether to foreclose or keep it up.  Dan is able to afford the $300/month so he should keep up with it rather than go into foreclosure.

Amy, executive producer
Apparently doesn’t like to be on camera.

Jill, segment producer
Has a baby on the way and wants to know strategies for saving for the child.  Suze says: Put everything into priority: have everything in order for yourself and then you can worry about saving for the child (in a 529 Plan).  The problem with the 529 Plan— you can only make one change a year from how the money is invested (ie: you can’t take the money from the market and put it into the bonds and then go back to the market).  Suze recommends that once the child hits age 13, then you can take out 25% each year and put it into safety so that you don’t lose 100% of the savings.

Can I afford it?
-Margurite: 20th Anniversary trip to Fiji for $12,000— APPROVED! (She had plenty in investments and savings)
-Beverly: Alto Saxophone for $3000— APPROVED! (Decent monthly expenses and was 75 years old)
-Mark: Used pop-up camper for $1000— APPROVED! (Suze says he seems responsible and locked student loans at a very low rate)
-Amber: Dyson pet vacuum for $500— APPROVED! (She was 23, had great take-home pay and savings and no debt whatsoever)
-Leslie: Hybrid bike for $450— APPROVED! (She had the 8 month emergency fund and had her stuff together)
-Dr. Nick: Weekly massages for $150/week— APPROVED! (He has been good with his money and really needs it to destress)

A SUZE FIRST!  EVERYONE WAS APPROVED!  Suze says: “This was a great way to end 2008!”

Busy year for Suze:
A look back at all of the appearances made by Suze Orman in 2008.  From Larry King Live, to Ellen, to Paula Deen, to the View, to Anderson Cooper, and Oprah.  Suze describes that she made the rounds in order to really get the word out to everyone on how to manage their finances.  They even included some parodies: SNL, Colbert Report, Kathy Griffin Show, the Daily Show, and many more.

EMAIL:
Lou comes on the set with three emails for Suze to choose from.  Suze picks Question #3: “Why doesn’t Suze like Whole Life Insurance?”  Suze says that she “HATES” Whole Life Insurance at least five times.  She hates them because they make money off of you.  It is one of the most expensive premiums you will buy, commissions are so high, and it is just ridiculous when you could be investing that money in other places.  HOME LIFE INSURANCE IS AN ABSOLUTE RIP-OFF AND YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM IT!

Then, Lou and  Suze look at the other two questions: 1- Why shouldn’t I take money out from my 401K? (Because it’s stupid).  2- Should I close credit cards that I don’t use anymore? (No, it harms your FICO Score).

Closing message:
It has been a rough year.  Come back in 2009 for the eighth year of the Suze Orman Show!  Happy New Year!  Stay safe!  Know what you’re doing.  People first, then money, then things!

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