Suze Orman Advises Against ER!

[tangomonster]

Okay, I know that she is not the most astute/respected financial guru, but I was surprised about her advice in the January 2013 O Magazine. In an article entitled "All in Good Time," a "decade by decade plan for securing your financial future," she had two tidbits for people in their 50's. The first was that people in their fifties MUST buy long-term care insurance. No mention about people who may have enough assets not needing it or companies going out of business/not honoring the policies.

The second was "Under no circumstances should you assume you can afford to retire early. Stop working at 60 or so and your savings, social security, and pension may have to sustain you for 25 or 30 years."

Now I understand this was a short (two page) article that is addressed to the masses----but to say that no one should retire early? What about people whose pensions are COLA and who get 90% or more of their ending pay? What about people who have saved lots of money?

Don't know what she would say about those of us who have retired early---would she say that we were crazy and did a foolish thing?

 

[W2R]

I like Suze Orman for personal finance (pay-off-your-credit-cards) types of advice. However, I don't think she has much in depth understanding of the realities of middle class life or retirement. Her idea of living expenses is up there in the stratosphere from my point of view.

She always says people need a lot more money to retire than seems reasonable to me, and I say this from a very cautious viewpoint myself.

She has been saying people should work until they are nearly 70 or longer for quite a while. Sometimes I wonder if she tells people this because of her own insecurities about her own retirement.

I also do not agree with her investing advice. But I think she is terrific in getting people to realize what they can and cannot afford, and on paying down debt.

 

[powerplay]

I don't plan to ask Suze if I should have retired. She would probably just say no.

Most of us on this forum have planned our retirements pretty well and also saved and lived well below our means. I think Suze deals with a lot of live for today people who haven't thought about tomorrow much less their future retirement.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Orman is a man-hater, especially if the caller is married to one. Her ego has gotten out of control, and she is out of touch with reality. I especially like the pre-paid cards she was pushing about a year or two ago. With enormous fees on them, I don't know how she could look anyone in the eye and say she was trying to help people.

 

[Midpack]

"Under no circumstances should you assume you can afford to retire early. Stop working at 60 or so and your savings, social security, and pension may have to sustain you for 25 or 30 years."

Now I understand this was a short (two page) article that is addressed to the masses----but to say that no one should retire early? What about people whose pensions are COLA and who get 90% or more of their ending pay? What about people who have saved lots of money?

Don't know what she would say about those of us who have retired early---would she say that we were crazy and did a foolish thing?

I don't follow Suze at all, but I think her target audience is the masses as you noted. And her quote above doesn't seem to say no one should retire early, it says no one should assume they can afford to retire early. Not assuming is probably sound general advice for the masses.

She goes on to say your savings, social security and pension may have to sustain you for 25 to 30 years, that's consistent with 4% SWR methodology, which is a baseline for many here - for early retirement.

So the article may be sound general advice for the masses, most of whom may not be able to afford to retire early. And it doesn't seem to imply she'd think ERs here are crazy and did a foolish thing, this group is not Suze's target audience of course...

 

[FIREd]

I am not surprised. This has been her message for quite some time.

 

[Tyro]

I don't follow Suze at all, but I think her target audience is the masses as you noted. And her quote above doesn't seem to say no one should retire early, it says no one should assume they can afford to retire early.

+1. I think we've all heard what folks say about ass-u-me-ing... "Never assume" is some of the best advice ever given/received.

 

[Silver]

Are you kidding me?!?! In my opinion Ms. Orman is an out-of-touch ego maniac who specializes in sound bites rather than sound fiscal management.

 

[skyvue]

What drives me nuts about her "early retirement" view/analysis is she totally ignores the idea that you take a "drawn down" strategy toward your investment portfolio and withdraw say 4% of assets each year. She only looks at whether you can live off of the income and interest generated from your investments, WITHOUT drawing down on principal.

I have seen her tell couples with $2.5 million in investments and very low expenses/lifestyle that they could not afford to retire early "for fear of the unknown"??

 

[foxfirev5]

Her advice is not relevant to this forum at all. Her good advice is so basic it adds no value and her bad advice so dangerous it could really mess you up.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Are you kidding me?!?! In my opinion Ms. Orman is an out-of-touch ego maniac who specializes in sound bites rather than sound fiscal management.

But she is typically dealing with people who have no clue that their nursing home isn't covered forever under medicare and that their eventual ss plus a current five figure savings account won't be enough to live on very long if they retire in their fifties. At least she is making some people think about it.

 

[Midpack]

Again, I don't follow her, but here she seems to recommend a nest egg of 25X annual expenses though she's not clear on tax impact FWIW. Sound like a familiar rule of thumb?

Sure is better than the Fidelity Magic Number of 8X final (work years) pay in another thread today. Fido is a good company, not sure what that article was supposed to accomplish...
Suze Orman's Retirement Formula - YouTube

 

[tangomonster]

Her advice is not relevant to this forum at all. Her good advice is so basic it adds no value and her bad advice so dangerous it could really mess you up.

You are probably right! But I guess some people (no one on this forum, of course!) need to hear some of the most basic advice.

 

[unclemick]

Her advice is not relevant to this forum at all. Her good advice is so basic it adds no value and her bad advice so dangerous it could really mess you up.

Sooo - after a twenty year careeer of ER perhaps I shouldn't her about going back to work at 69?



heh heh heh -

 

[bondi688]

Her advice is not relevant to this forum at all. Her good advice is so basic it adds no value and her bad advice so dangerous it could really mess you up.

Agree that her audience is not really the FIRE crowd.

 

[ducky911]

best thing about suze is the skits they do on SNL

 

[carnivalday]

Suze Orman's target audience is no more the majority of people who frequent here any more than the Dave Ramsey followers are (both of whom I thoroughly enjoy listening to every chance I can, since Im not FIREd yet). Both Dave and Suze are targeting people who have no clue how to handle money, who dont even know principle from interest, who for the most part havent even started to plan for retirement. When listening to some of the people she interviews, I want to pull out my hair. Mid 50's, huge debt, little to no retirement, and no clue what to do. If she is simply getting people to look at their money and income in a different way, and learn to save instead of spending and staying in debt, she has accomplished what she has set out to do. Most people here are eons past that. I think she's great.

 

[azphx1972]

I love watching Suze and listening to Dave! It motivates me to not become wrecks like the guests on their shows.

 

[Ally]

I love watching Suze and listening to Dave! It motivates me to not become wrecks like the guests on their shows.

That's the reason I sometimes stop and listen to them.

 

[Purron]

And I care about this because....?

 

[MBAustin]

Suze Orman's target audience is no more the majority of people who frequent here any more than the Dave Ramsey followers are (both of whom I thoroughly enjoy listening to every chance I can, since Im not FIREd yet). Both Dave and Suze are targeting people who have no clue how to handle money, who dont even know principle from interest, who for the most part havent even started to plan for retirement. When listening to some of the people she interviews, I want to pull out my hair. Mid 50's, huge debt, little to no retirement, and no clue what to do. If she is simply getting people to look at their money and income in a different way, and learn to save instead of spending and staying in debt, she has accomplished what she has set out to do. Most people here are eons past that. I think she's great.

+1. Suzi and Dave keep more than a few people from falling over their own fiscal cliff and that's a good thing - both for them, and for us!

 

[veremchuka]

I don't like her condescending attitude and her preachy nasally voice. She sounds like some of my father's sisters who are witches and speak in that same derogatory way. Her speaking in the 3rd person and constantly saying her name is very annoying too. I really can't stand her and fast forward through 80% of the show watching the Can I Afford It and How am I doing segments.

 

[Original Wally]

She is Smarmy. Cannot STAND her.

 

[Katsmeow]

I don't like her condescending attitude and her preachy nasally voice. She sounds like some of my father's sisters who are witches and speak in that same derogatory way. Her speaking in the 3rd person and constantly saying her name is very annoying too. I really can't stand her and fast forward through 80% of the show watching the Can I Afford It and How am I doing segments.

If you feel that way (I don't watch her so have no opinion on her at all)...why do you watch at all?

 

[Walt34]

Both Dave and Suze are targeting people who have no clue how to handle money, who dont even know principle from interest, who for the most part havent even started to plan for retirement. When listening to some of the people she interviews, I want to pull out my hair. Mid 50's, huge debt, little to no retirement, and no clue what to do. If she is simply getting people to look at their money and income in a different way, and learn to save instead of spending and staying in debt, she has accomplished what she has set out to do.

Agreed. I wish one BIL, the one married to Spendarina, would listen to Suze because he'd be far better off. I mentioned to him that I would probably be quitting my job in the Spring and he said he "has to work until he's 66". I think he's optimistic.

He has a six-figure income but he and Spendarina are also over $300k in debt, take a luxury beach vacation every year, dine out often, and she's hankering for a new car to replace the 2-year-old one, which in turn replaced a different 2-year-old one.

I asked her about that one time and she said "I got a good deal. The payment is only $15 higher for the new car." I didn't say anything about the additional three years she'd be making payments because it was clear she didn't think that far ahead. She probably has no idea what depreciation is.

These are the people who need to listen to Suze and Dave.