Suze Orman ticks me off (paying, rate, credit, buy)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I guess the problem with people like Suze Orman, David Bach, Jean Chatsky, or any of these financial people is that their information and recommendations have to be based on todays marketplace not yesteryear..and they are trying to sell books also.....rules that applied in 2006 dont apply now, and its only five years later......I have books by suze orman, and look at her show on cnbc when it comes on saturday night, but by no means is she the finanacial know it all......your situation has to be tailored made to fit your needs/income....
I was a previous home owner who sold my home when I relocated jobs from texas to florida...I was a condo renter in florida for two years(the market there is WAY OVERPRICED) and now that Im back in Texas, Im renting a home and paying less here then I did in Florida.....the rent here is about $100 more than my mortgage payment I previously had two years ago, but Im content right now to sit back until we find the right neighborhood/home/price for us...even if it takes two years......no rush to do anything right now.
Their advice changes like the wind, while we're still dealing with the 30-year mortgage we got based on their advice 10 or 20 years ago.
Had you bought below your means, like common sense (and some financial pundits) advises, you wouldn't have a problem with that 30 year mortgage.
Generalizations ahead: If you have to rely on so-called experts to tell you how to run your financial life, you have problems. If you are incapable of filtering through the literature and making your own decisions based on your specific situation, you have problems.
It just ticks me off that people like me assume that people like Suze Orman and other financial "experts" are giving sound advice for now as well as the long haul. Their advice changes like the wind, while we're still dealing with the 30-year mortgage we got based on their advice 10 or 20 years ago.
Honestly -- about a year before the stuff hit the fan in the RE market, we had bozo financial gurus who were telling people to pull out ALL their equity and invest in the stock market, because RE equity was a waste.
Anyone listening to them ended up screwed on both sides. Stuck with a depreciating house and a jacked up payment getting ready for foreclosure AND losing a ton of money in the market.
I can't stand Suzy. She's great for the debtor crowd, but try to get advice farther than that and she's stuck on the e-fund train.
Her latest advice is "rent, don't buy". Real estate is not a good investment, she says. That's great....after people went out and bought homes based on earlier advice that renting was throwing money away. I recall a real estate advice column in the 80's where we were told to mortgage as much as possible rather than tying up cash in a down payment. Definitely don't pay off the house, that would be silly. In the 2000's, we were told to "get in any way you can", with respected financial institutions offering and approving zero-down mortgages. The average Joe trying to live the American dream believes these must be OK, else why would the bank approve them? Now that the damage is done and we've all bought real estate, we're told don't buy real estate -- not a good investment. So I guess I should've just continued to rent rather than buy a house last year like I did...now I feel like I made a bad decision.
The advice should have been all along to just pay off your house as soon as possible. It just ticks me off that people like me assume that people like Suze Orman and other financial "experts" are giving sound advice for now as well as the long haul. Their advice changes like the wind, while we're still dealing with the 30-year mortgage we got based on their advice 10 or 20 years ago.
Times change like anything else. All investment decisions involve risk and that changes with the times. Buy a home is a very individual decision really.If you look governamnt is alos saing that mnay who bought previously should not have even when government encouraged them thru incentives.
I have been following Suze's Show for 6 years. It does not mean I follow every single piece of her advice. If you have half a brain you can manage most things without talking to a Financial Guru...
But in her defense . She has been dead on correct ( many times ) for future predictions of the financial health of our economy.
OP, you may not want to swallow anything Suze says but there is some TRUTH to what she says.
If she bothers you don't follow her. But like most things and forms of constructive criticism, there is always some TRUTH in what you hear, whether you like it or not.
She is correct when she says hoard your cash ( right now ) and don't dump all your savings into paying off your CC's. Because next week you could lose your job and NEED that cash reserve to SURVIVE.
Your CC's can wait. Your hungry kids can't...( and by that I mean minimum payment in the very lean times if you think you are going to get axed )
Her latest advice is "rent, don't buy". Real estate is not a good investment, she says. That's great....after people went out and bought homes based on earlier advice that renting was throwing money away. I recall a real estate advice column in the 80's where we were told to mortgage as much as possible rather than tying up cash in a down payment. Definitely don't pay off the house, that would be silly. In the 2000's, we were told to "get in any way you can", with respected financial institutions offering and approving zero-down mortgages. The average Joe trying to live the American dream believes these must be OK, else why would the bank approve them? Now that the damage is done and we've all bought real estate, we're told don't buy real estate -- not a good investment. So I guess I should've just continued to rent rather than buy a house last year like I did...now I feel like I made a bad decision.
The advice should have been all along to just pay off your house as soon as possible. It just ticks me off that people like me assume that people like Suze Orman and other financial "experts" are giving sound advice for now as well as the long haul. Their advice changes like the wind, while we're still dealing with the 30-year mortgage we got based on their advice 10 or 20 years ago.
I agree with you 100%. Our local PBS station has been running her latest program nonstop! Every time I hit the channel I skim past it.
These experts don't know what end is up. They take a one size fits all approach, hoping they will hit middle ground, which they never do. One year she was against annuities, another for. Same with real estate.
I have to laugh even at the financial columns in papers like the Wash Post. You used to get specific advice on where to invest on Wall St. When the s*** began to hit the fan, we started to get these watered down columns with general advice--nothing about specific investments. Now it's "pay off your debts (duh), pay off your mortgage (but wait, we weren't supposed to do that, right?), don't get into debt, live frugally, monitor your kids' spending, give them an allowance so they can learn how money works," etc. If it weren't so sad it would be laughable.
Do what works for you, put blinders on. If you feel in your gut something is right, do it.
She has some good points, as someone said, for those in debt. But for investments...I put my Orman book out on my tagsale table last fall.
Last edited by RiverBird; 03-28-2011 at 01:45 PM..
Now that the damage is done and we've all bought real estate, we're told don't buy real estate -- not a good investment. So I guess I should've just continued to rent rather than buy a house last year like I did...now I feel like I made a bad decision.
Ahh.. but isn't it great that now you have someone to blame for your bad financial decisions?
I'm pretty sure Suze's advice wasn't a generic across-the-board statement. I've only heard her give that advice to people who really can't afford to buy at this time. I've heard her give this advice to people who (a) aren't going to be in the house for 5 years minimum, (b) don't have an acceptable emergency fund on top of down payment, and (c) don't have 20% down payment. What's wrong with THAT advice?
Nothing.
Excellent post! Your post points out that Suze's advice was for a person who falls into a particular financial & lifestyle category where renting would be best for them....and not necessarily everyone. Times change. Advice changes. People change.
I've never been fond of financial "experts". I've muddled my way through all these years on my own opinions and have no regrets. A paid for primary home to live in that suits us for the foreseeable future is accomplished, maintenance is minimal and affordable to have service folks take care of and there are many delightful places in the world to do snowbird/vacation rentals. Works for us.
Rent/buy is purely a personal decision and one which I suggest that external opinions are not of much use. JMO
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
