Amazon emailed me about Suze's new book, coming out at the end of December. Oh Amazon, you know me so well. I bought for full retail, read, and gave away Women & Money. Yep, all 272 pages of Women & Money. Back in 2007, that book and the Suze Orman show were new information, and I gobbled it up like advanced physics. I'm beyond the basics now, but basics still sell."The credit crunch, the stock market freefall, the staggering toll of home foreclosures and job losses: The economic crisis that struck in 2008 has left no one untouched and everybody reeling. Seemingly overnight, the financial landscape has undergone seismic changes that suddenly have you asking all kinds of questions: Are your savings safe? Should you continue to invest in your retirement account? Should you keep your home if it's worth less than what you owe or should you sell it? How do you pay your bills if you've just been laid off?"Tell me Suze! Tell me!!! Since I can't get her book until next year, I'm going to guess what Suze's 224 page 2009 plan for the "credit crunch" is. I don't have any deep insight. I haven't seen the book. I've seen the Suze Orman show a couple time this year. I haven't read the new book. I'm never going to read the new book. This just a wild guess based on Suze Orman past:
* Emergency Fund. Suze always talks about an emergency fund, but I'm guessing she's going to beef it up to one year of expenses with so many lay-offs. (new & improved for 09)
* Pay off your credit cards
* Invest in the market
* Make a budget. Write it down. Cut the fat.
* Estate planning/insurance. (Buy my software!)
* Don't take out a car lease
* Pay off your house if it makes you feel secure.
* Don't sell your house unless you need to. (new for 09)
Suze always had this "plan", but this plan never has an order. (Dave Ramsey has much more clarity in that his Baby Steps system puts some sort of priorities in place.) Maybe the 2009 "action plan" will have concrete order, but I am guessing not. These will just be chapters that represent laudable goals. If she does add some order, she might increase the priority of the emergency fund. I hope the emergency fund is really the core of the book.
* Suze won't tell you to pay off your car.
* Suze won't you to stop using credit cards.
* Suze won't tell you to avoid student loans.
She's the FICO mouthpiece, after all. I'm guessing the credit crunch won't change her general pro-debt position. It might even be magnified. She might suggest that you hold on to the credit you have as it gets harder to obtain new credit. Oh my stars! How am I going to buy things I can't afford?!
I'm guessing Suze's most novel, most important point from Women & Money will be gone. Back in 2007, Suze encouraged women to ask for a raise, to raise their prices, to demand more compensation. In a world full of lay-offs, that advise doesn't sound so wise right now.
Oh, and the first 75 pages will be new-agey mumbo jumbo about the meaning of money. Something about truth and justice and self-worth and change and the grand movements of the universe, just like all the other books. I'm hoping the core, most important point is the emergency fund.
7 comments:
LOL, that sounds about right. Even though it sounds like the same thing over and over again I just like hearing it from Suze though. Her Young Fabulous and Broke was the first book on personal finance I read.
In addition to being an annoying person presenting a phony attitude, Suze is a hypocrite. She says invest in the market but she is not in the market - she parks her money in Treasuries and CD's. Suze makes money not from her money smarts but from selling books and acting goofy on TV.
It's like Warren Buffet or Oprah giving advice - when you have billions, what does risk really mean to you?
I pulled up my copy of Women and Money last night. I downloaded it free the day she gave it away on Oprah. I had never read it and was checking to see if there was anything insightful in there. Nothing, it's the same stuff she did on her PBS special - Women and Money. I agree this is basic stuff for a beginner or someone needing to get it together but most of these financial gurus (salespeople), LOL, simply rehash the same thing over and over.
Now ponder this: How can you tell me to get out of debt and save, save, save but every year or sooner you come out with a new book to sell me? I stopped buying them and read them at B&N or the library. I find there are no new concepts. I have found great books at the public library.
I hate the way she speaks using "girlfriend" or "boyfriend".
I hate her phony, fake exterior.
I hate that she doesn't practice what she preaches.
I hate that she shills for FICO.
And I find her trite and irritating. I prefer Ramsey's harsh 'give it to you' style than hers.
Actually, PF bloggers online are more fun to read :)
Hey...Maybe she will offer her book as a download on Oprah Best Life series beginning Jan 5. I have Women and Money on my flash drive.
i've never read any of suze's books before but i really want to start! i'm going to get it from the library - which is her best one? thanks!
Nice to see not everyone is taken in by this phony. She has shilled for GM and shamelessly promotes her books, while she spins her hypocrisy. Shame on the networks for continuing to book and promote her, just because she's easy to get on the air.
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