Select Page

Suze Orman

Suze Orman (born Susan Lynn Orman on June 5, 1951[1]) is an American financial advisor, writer, and television personality.

Biography

Early life

Orman was born on the South side of Chicago, Illinois, in 1951 to Jewish immigrants Ann and Morry Orman.[2][3] Orman came from a working class background[4] and has said that she did not "grow up with money".[2] She was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from which she holds a B.A. in social work. In 1973, she and some friends moved to Berkeley, California, where she became a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery until 1980. From 1980-1983, she was trained by and worked as an account executive at Merrill Lynch, and from 1983-87 she was Vice President of Investments for Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, Orman founded her own business, the Suze Orman Financial Group, which she directed from 1987-1997.[5]

Career

Her books include:

  • The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom (1997)
  • You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire (with Linda Mead) (1997)
  • The Courage to Be Rich (1998)
  • The Road to Wealth (2001)
  • The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life... (2003)
  • The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke (2005)
  • Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny (2007)

Orman has a Q&A advice section in Oprah Winfrey's popular monthly magazine O, alongside Dr. Phil's advice section. She also writes a biweekly column (as of Jan 2007) on Yahoo!'s Finance page.

She hosts a weekend financial planning show for the CNBC cable television network called The Suze Orman Show.[6] Orman hosts another TV program on QVC called Suze Orman's Financial Freedom. Orman recently celebrated her fifth year on The Suze Orman Show on CNBC and her tenth anniversary on QVC with Suze Orman's Financial Freedom.

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. Her catch phrases are "Self-worth equals net worth," "People first, then money, then things," and "Truth creates money. Lies destroy it." She ends The Suze Orman Show with "People first, then money, then things" every week.

In early 2007, Orman launched a segment on The Suze Orman Show called "Can I Afford It?" During the segment viewers call in to the show and tell Orman what they want to buy — e.g., engagement ring, car, HDTV, etc. — then tell her the amount of savings, retirement savings, credit card debt, home loans, etc. they have. Then Orman determines if the caller can or can't afford the item and explains why. The segment airs every week and has grown to be the most popular one of the show.

Criticism

It was reported in a 1998 Forbes magazine article that she has misrepresented her credentials and background. For example, at the time of writing of the article, she claimed a current Commodity Trading Advisor license which had lapsed, and some of her materials claimed eighteen years' experience working with Wall Street institutions when she in reality had seven.[7]

The San Francisco Chronicle also ran a follow-up to the Forbes piece in which Orman and her publicist dodged critical questions about inaccuracies about Orman's background as reported in Forbes.[8]

Forbes was also critical of the quality of advice given.[9] The article states

Buy her book for $23...and you get such tips as: 'Use self-service gas pumps rather than full-serve.' Or, 'Use coins, not your calling card, in pay phones.' On a recent Oprah, Orman advised viewers to search through their closets for misplaced money.

Orman is also criticized for not investing in the stock market (she apparently only buys Treasury bills and Municipal Bonds) despite giving advice for younger investors to do so.[citation needed]

Personal life

Orman told The New York Times magazine in February 2007 that she is a lesbian. Her partner of seven years is Kathy Travis, a co-producer on The Suze Orman Show.[10][11][12] In the interview, Orman said that she wishes she could marry her partner partly because it would save them both a lot of money. She then says, "It's killing me that upon death, K.T. is going to lose 50 percent of everything I have to estate taxes. Or vice versa."[13]

Political activism

Suze Orman has donated thousands of dollars to Democratic causes, according to the website Opensecrets.org. She has donated money to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and to the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ See Pronunciation of Suze Orman.
  2. ^ a b Cantor, Danielle. "Successful Women: Suze Orman", Jewish Women International, Fall, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. 
  3. ^ Bloom, Nate. "Celebrity Jews: Briefly noted", The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, 2004-06-11. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. 
  4. ^ Iwata, Edward. "Personal finance guru Suze Orman is keepin' it real despite her astounding success", San Francisco Chronicle, 1999-05-04. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. 
  5. ^ http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA278785.html?display=archive Publisherweekly.com
  6. ^ http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/TV_Info/Anchors&Reporters/P5519.asp Moneycentral.msn.com
  7. ^ http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/1228/6214118a.html Forbes.com
  8. ^ Why Suze? Why All the Hype? Orman's Publicist Goes on the Defense SFgate.com
  9. ^ Barrett, William P., Sizzling Suze, Forbes.com, December 28, 1998[1]
  10. ^ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003549559
  11. ^ Suze Orman Comes Out
  12. ^ Money maven Suze Orman comes out
  13. ^ http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/022507orman.htm 365gay.com

External links