Tips From Suze Orman
We are facing an economic crisis. For most Americans, we are about to break into the two-month mark of social distancing. On top of that, many of us are not working. In fact, the amount of people applying for unemployment now matches that of the Great Depression. Despite that, the U.S. government has not yet committed to giving citizens a second coronavirus stimulus check. With that in mind, we’re all dealing with some serious hard times financially. So, how do we fight it?
Thankfully, Suze Orman is here to help. Suze Orman is a personal finance expert who’s gained worldwide recognition for her financial expertise. She ran a CNBC show for 13 years, was a 29-time guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and a 30-time guest on Larry King Live. But more recently, Orman spoke about handling your finances during the pandemic. She had this conversation live over Facebook with The National Society of Leadership and Success.
To get the important financial information she shared, check out the video below or some quote highlights we’ve written below the video.
Emergency Funds
“If I were to give advice… you’re number one move that you have got to make is to make yourself a priority where you put money into an emergency fund that can carry you for eight months. Now, eight months… of paying your rent, paying your mortgage, paying your car payment, buying your food, paying your cellphone bill, whatever it may be. So out of all the things that you can do, the most important thing you can do is make sure you’re secured. The goal of money, everybody, is to make sure you’re secure.”
Don’t Be Afraid To Invest
“We’re in a situation where interest rates are non-existent… Please don’t be afraid. Fear is the main internal obstacle to wealth… If you have at least 5-10-15-20-30-40-50 years until you need the money that you’re going to invest, this is the most incredible thing that’s ever happen to you. If you take a specific sum of money every single month and you invest it- I don’t care if it’s a hundred dollars a month or three hundred… If you do that, then over time, as the markets go down, your money that you’re investing buy more shares ‘cause the price goes down. And the more shares that you have- in the longrun the money you’ll make. SO this is the time that you’re not afraid to invest. Where you just don’t sit on the sideline. Many fabulous things are gonna come from this. New opportunities. New types of companies. New industries. You should be deciding a sum of money, taking that money that you have to invest, and putting in and diversify it.”
Don’t Worry About Paying Off Credit Cards
“I’m an advocate of ‘Get out of credit card debt.’ Today, I’m not saying that. And the reason I’m not saying that is, I don’t know how long this is going to go on. This is going to be very difficult until they find a health solution… So my advice for right here and right now until the situation changes is this. I would be holding on to whatever cash I had coming in. And I would be using my credit cards at a good interest rate. And I would be using my credit cards to charge the things that I’m buying. The food, the gasoline: whatever I could put on my credit cards. And then, believe it or not, until you have a job or income coming in, whatever it may be. You simply pay the minimum pay on those credit cards.”
Building Credit
“The best way to build credit is little by little. You have to have a credit card or you have student loans. And you have to pay on those over time. And that’s some of the best ways that you build credit. It’s not necessary that you charge on credit cards, you carry a credit balance, and you pay it off little by little. No, that’s a fallacy. You get a credit card and you might charge something on it and pay it in full… You all want a FICO score of about 760 or above.”
To summarize: watch your balance, pay it on time, and pay it in full when we get back to normal times.
Buying Homes & Cars
“You have to be very careful. Right now, I would not be buying a home on any level. I think you’re going to see real estate go down tremendously… But I really want to talk about buying a car… If you’re going to buy a car, you should never lease a car. Leasing a car is one of the biggest mistakes you could make. It’s such a waste of money, it’s not even funny. Number two, when you buy a brand new car- The second you drive it off the lot, it drops 20-30%. Buying a used car but one that’s new for you is the absolute smartest thing you can do bar none. But how do you know you’re buying too expensive a car for you. If you cannot finance it over a three year period of time at max, you are buying too expensive of a car… Suze Orman is an extremely wealthy woman. How long do you think I keep my car for? I keep my car for a minimum of ten years. Why would I want to waste my money for 10 years?”
Love & Money
“Listen to me here, everybody, carefully. There’s two things in life that we want. We want love and we want money… When you meet somebody, whether you already have assets or you are just starting out. You don’t tend to look into their finances? You know more about them personally speaking than financially speaking… What do you know about them financially? So, I have a saying, everything in life is determined by your FICO score when it comes to money. I want you to FICO first then sex… It’s not till death do you part, its debt do you part. When you get into a relationship, you are never to cosign on a loan for anybody ever. Over a nice glass of wine, look at your credit reports. If the person doesn’t want to do that, that is a sign. There’s nothing that will bring you closer than being on the same wavelength finically, emotionally, psychologically, and sexually speaking. All of those things have to be clicking for you to have a good relationship.”
A Time To Change
Chances are, if you chose to click on this article, you needed to change something about your finances. Whether it be dealing with the pandemic, overspending, fighting off debt, or something else. We hope these words shared by Suze Orman can start you on the path to that change. Keep in mind, we only covered 6 of the talking points that Suze Orman shared. There’s about an additional 30 minutes’ worth of commentary from her in the video above. Check that out, if you like, and start your personal journey to a healthier financial life.
