You can't fix stoopid...

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBAustin So no wonder the millennial author also had issues knowing what to do.

Given the lack of financial education in this country it isn't surprising. Based on what I read here and elsewhere having parents who know what they're doing with money and talking about it with their kids is a huge advantage. Much as Suze Orman gets knocked on this forum I think she does a great service to those who just go from day to day without thinking about the long-term effects about what they do with money.

Not many people, especially younger ones, want to sit down and read a stack of books on finances and investing and money management because retirement is so far over the hill they can't see it.

[Rustward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Given the lack of financial education in this country it isn't surprising. Based on what I read here and elsewhere having parents who know what they're doing with money and talking about it with their kids is a huge advantage. Much as Suze Orman gets knocked on this forum I think she does a great service to those who just go from day to day without thinking about the long-term effects about what they do with money. Not many people, especially younger ones, want to sit down and read a stack of books on finances and investing and money management because retirement is so far over the hill they can't see it.

+1

To the group: So if a newbie shows up in these forums asking a question that has already been answered a dozen times, or has been covered in that stack of books that they may not have time or energy to read, maybe we should just answer the question or provide links to the already-answered questions, huh?

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustward To the group: So if a newbie shows up in these forums asking a question that has already been answered a dozen times, or has been covered in that stack of books that they may not have time or energy to read, maybe we should just answer the question or provide links to the already-answered questions, huh?

Yes. The question is new to them or they wouldn't have asked it. There's no problem with just providing a link to an existing thread that has already hashed over a given issue or pointing them to a relevant book.

As with any other life skill or learning issue no one was born knowing that stuff.

I wish I had made a copy of a cartoon I saw. It's a drawing of an old airplane mechanic, rag in hand, a light airplane in the background, talking to a 20-something. The caption was "Don't be afraid to ask stupid questions. They're a helluva lot easier to explain than stupid mistakes".

[Sanbenito1]

Ok, here's a stupid newbie question, apparently covered elsewhere (although I've not seen it): what's so bad about Susie Orman?

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanbenito1 ......... what's so bad about Susie Orman?

It is the eyes.

[Walt34]

And those TEETH!

[W2R]

Usually I like her personal finance advice, especially her emphasis on thinking about whether or not you can really afford something before buying it.

However, I don't like most of her investing advice. For investing philosophies I go to the Bogleheads forum instead of Orman.

As for her appearance and demeanor, no problem! Her teeth don't bother me at all.

[Ready]

I enjoy watching Suze's show. My main objection to her advice comes from her telling the audience not to buy bond funds because they can go down in value. Instead she tells the viewers to buy individual bonds because you can hold them to maturity and you won't lose money.

What she doesn't address is that individual bonds need to be purchased in relatively large minimum purchases, and to have proper diversification you should have at least 12 different bonds in your portfolio. So you would need several hundred thousand dollars to accomplish this. And you need to be very savvy to know how to buy individual bonds, as they bid/ask spread can be significant if you allow a broker to take advantage of you and charge a high mark up. Not to mention that you need to individually research each bond to understand credit quality, duration, yield to maturity, etc. I have read an entire book on how to buy bonds and I'm still not comfortable doing this.

Her viewers are struggling to pay their credit card bills and student loans. If they have any money left to invest, it's likely a few hundred dollars per paycheck. She completely ignores the disconnect between someone with a few hundred dollars per paycheck available for investments and her advice to buy individual bonds that require substantial amounts of money per transaction. I have always been amazed that nobody has challenged her directly on this and asked her for an explanation.

[Sue J]

I enjoy her show just because of the people who call in. Some people are turned off by her delivery but it doesn't bother me. I find it funny how many times she references herself or the name of her show.

Most of the advice is decent enough but since the last downturn she advises almost everyone to work until 67, which I find unwarranted in many cases. She assumes that someone's expenses will be the same as when they are working and if you read this forum (far more realistic retirement experiences) you know that's not always true.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I enjoy watching Suze's show. My main objection to her advice comes from her telling the audience not to buy bond funds because they can go down in value. Instead she tells the viewers to buy individual bonds because you can hold them to maturity and you won't lose money. .......

I've noticed this, too. Her target audience is not likely to ever carry out her advice on bonds.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R As for her appearance and demeanor, no problem! Her teeth don't bother me at all.

A few years back I attended a Suze lecture at the downtown library. She mainly pitched to the majority who were female. I thought she was great. Who cares if she has intense eyes?

Not everyone is as enthralled by the 2nd number to the right of the decimal (SWR) as we are, and Suze can reach those people. Also, she is an impressive businesswoman. Waitress to mogul is OK.

Ha

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Her target audience is not likely to ever carry out her advice on bonds.

It's a shame that's not the case when it comes to her advice on credit cards...

The Approved Card

[Sue J]

I saw her a few years ago, too. She was at my son's college and students got free tickets, I used his. She took a lot of questions from the audience and went long past her scheduled time. She told us that was one of the nice things about flying privately rather than commercial, she could change her plans just because she wanted to.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha .......... Who cares if she has intense eyes?............... Ha

They say the eyes are the window into the soul. She's gotta have a wild and crazy soul.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready Her viewers are struggling to pay their credit card bills and student loans. If they have any money left to invest, it's likely a few hundred dollars per paycheck.

Bearing that in mind (since I and most others here were in that position at one time) I do enjoy the show sometimes.

But it is also easy to forget how much I've learned just from reading posts here.

[Rustward]

If you take Suze Orman's target audience into consideration, her message(s) are entirely appropriate. Most here are beyond that, but that does not diminish the value of her advice to those who need it most.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustward If you take Suze Orman's target audience into consideration, her message(s) are entirely appropriate. Most here are beyond that, but that does not diminish the value of her advice to those who need it most.

+1 From what I have seen her personal finance advice is pretty solid, but I'm not a fan of her investing advice.