It's official we are all wrong about fire

[aja8888]

I am truly fortunate to have made it to 70 before Suze revealed the truth. I would have really hated to have to go back to work.

Ditto!

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

Ok all old slackers , dust off your resume and comply with the Orman mandate. You cannot retire before 70

There are people who will have been retired for 30 years when they reach 70.

 

[rayinpenn]

Suze Orman “you need 5 Million to retire”

Out for my morning walk and I turn on Paula Pants “Afford Anything” podcast (Not a huge fan but I burn through a lot of podcast). Interview with Suze Orman.. ask about FIRE “I hate, hate, hate fire and let me tell you why”. She then goes on to say “you never know what can happen... my cousin committed suicide because of lack of funds... I paid $30,000 a month for full time help for my mother... 2.5 Million over several years” Paula then asks how much do you think you need “ 5 to 10 million or more... 2. Million is nothing”.

Wow I cant say I ever really listened to Suze before but the negativity was unbelievable.

 

[gauss]

Perhaps she is the last line of defense for the "old economy" of financial service providers? Perhaps even a hired gun.

This may be a repeat episode in that I think I saw discussion of this here previously.

-gauss
p.s. I just realized that in some parts of the country that Columbus Day is a serious holiday on the order of Memorial Day etc. and that everyone has the day off, takes three day weekend vacations etc.

 

[Jerry1]

You can also work your entire life and wind up broke for a number of reasons, medical/LTC issues being one of the most probable yet difficult to predict. Life is risky. I’d rather take my chances with $2M and retire early than work ten more years and still end up broke and in a crap nursing home on Medicaid.

Around mid 30’s, a coworker told me a story. His dad saved money yet at the end of his life, he ended up in a bed next to a guy who did not. All the savings his dad accumulated only bought him a couple years of better care before he ended up right next to the other guy.

Saving is prudent. Planning is also. However, unless you have a lot more than I would make even working 10 or 15 more years, if you get struck with a significant health event, it won’t matter and you will have given up a decade of the life we have sans work. I’ll take my chances.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I laughed at the part where she said two million is nothing it is pennies in today's world.

 

[uncaD]

Why not $10 million? I mean you never know what can happen.

 

[Andre1969]

Let me fix this for you, Suze...“you never know what can happen... my cousin committed suicide because of lack of funds..." No, your cousin committed suicide because he/she got into a bad situation mentally/emotionally, and unfortunately, did not seek out any help. The end result, they thought suicide was the only way out. People get into bad situations all the time that stress their very being. Yet now everybody chooses this path.



"I paid $30,000 for full time help for my mother... 2.5 Million over several years” Suze, you chose to do that. And WHY did you do that? Was your Mom bad at financial planning? I could understand if there was some serious medical bills that ran up, but this sounds more like it was spoiling/coddling Mommy. Did Mommy really NEED you to spend that $2.5M, or did you choose to do it, and now want to play the martyr.



“5 to 10 million or more... 2. Million is nothing”. Umm, $2M in net worth puts you in something like the top 6%, according to those online NW calculators. $5M puts you in the top 3% roughly, and $10M has you around the entry point to the to 1%. Now yeah, if you want to quit work when you're 30 and go live in some fancy Park Avenue high-rise, $10M probably won't last you very long. But, I'm sorry...$2M is nothing to sneeze at, for most of us.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I think there's already been some discussion on this Suze Orman comment in this thread.

Some of the comments and analysis Suze makes are kind of out of touch with reality.
But the overall concept of needing to understand the risks you're willing to accept/tolerate and how you are able address them if they became reality based on the state of your retirement nestegg is a valid one.

 

[Music Lover]

"I paid $30,000 for full time help for my mother... 2.5 Million over several years”

At $30k a year, it would take 83 years to spend $2.5 million. I didn't realize Suze was that old...

 

[Lukeee]

When I first listened to her some years ago, I thought she had some decent advice. Over the years she seems to have lost / forgotten her roots... from the Suze Orman debit card fiasco and now this. Perhaps she’s positioning herself to a richer market..... regardless, I think she’s moved from helping the masses towards feeding her own bank account. My guess from that statement is that her net worth is more that $5M.

 

[Crabby Mike]

At $30k a year, it would take 83 years to spend $2.5 million. I didn't realize Suze was that old...

Not defending Suze, who I can't stand, and I haven't listened to the interview, but ... in-home full-time (24/7) help is closer to $30k/month than per year. You're going to pay $25/hour or so through a service, plus food and other expenses. It adds up fast.

 

[targatom2019]

I am truly fortunate to have made it to 70 before Suze revealed the truth. I would have really hated to have to go back to work.

Can't wait, I got 8 more months and will retire at exactly 50.

 

[rayinpenn]

My 9 years of retirement have been, BY FAR, the happiest years of my life. And, apparently my WR is low enough that my nestegg could last for eternity.

Great to hear!
I listened to that episode and i plan on giving my retirement notice on 12/6 retiring on 1/6 -I don’t mind telling you - listening to all those “this can happen” , “cousins money issues suicide” yikes.

I have to agree Suze is a quack.

 

[njhowie]

Not defending Suze, who I can't stand, and I haven't listened to the interview, but ... in-home full-time (24/7) help is closer to $30k/month than per year. You're going to pay $25/hour or so through a service, plus food and other expenses. It adds up fast.

$30k/month is the figure Suze gave in the interview. The person you replied to did not listen to it.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Wow ,I listened to almost all of the podcast. A kernel of truth: " Women undervalue themselves" IMO very true, explains a large part of gender pay issues.

As to the rest of her thoughts , could not disagree more with most.

Some interesting things she mentioned about FIRE , paraphrase " if people do this, they are no longer paying into social security and other gov. programs to fund them. OK , and how is that my responsibility ? Globalization of factory work has done this on a large scale, so blame the manufacturer for doing what is in their best interest ?

" Most people are living to 95-97 " ? WTF ?

My low opinion has sunk even lower. So Ms Orman, you keep working at what you love to do , that is great , doesn't match most of america.

 

[Lakewood90712]

24/7 in home care is about $12-14k per mo using a service in a large metro area . I have personal knowledge on that. In reality , most hire home health care workers under the table, for under 5K per mo. Ya, it's not legal , but is the norm.

30k/ mo. would be using an LVN under RN supervision. That is not at all a typical on a long term except for the very wealthy.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I'd say there are far fewer people who have saved a few million and ran out of $, than who have died while trying to save a little more, when they had plenty in reality.

I've seen forum members discuss their relatives who were in the 2nd group.

 

[robnplunder]

I'd say there are far fewer people who have saved a few million and ran out of $, than who have died while trying to save a little more, when they had plenty in reality.

I've seen forum members discuss their relatives who were in the 2nd group.

Very well said. I retired with "just" a few million. The job stress was slowly killing me. It'd definitely kill me if I waited until I got $5 mil.

 

[aja8888]

24/7 in home care is about $12-14k per mo using a service in a large metro area . I have personal knowledge on that. In reality , most hire home health care workers under the table, for under 5K per mo. Ya, it's not legal , but is the norm.

30k/ mo. would be using an LVN under RN supervision. That is not at all a typical on a long term except for the very wealthy.

For $10K/month, she could have put Mom in a really good assisted living facility and saved the $20K.

 

[Dtail]

For all the negative press that Suze gets on this site, she is still getting lots of press.

 

[dtbach]

She used to make more sense. Now she is a bit over the top.

 

[tmm99]

Some of the comments and analysis Suze makes are kind of out of touch with reality.

I agree. She must hang out with 2 digit and 3 digit celebrity millionaires. I think we need to drop one digit from her estimate.

 

[audreyh1]

At $30k a year, it would take 83 years to spend $2.5 million. I didn't realize Suze was that old...

She claimed she was spending $30,000 a MONTH! I can't help but wonder what palace her mother was staying in.

 

[FIREd]

Perspective: I have nowhere near $5M, let alone $10M. If I lose 90-95% of what I have, I will still have more than the median American household at retirement age.