I was listening to this “Financial Expert” Suze Orman on CNN the other day and some of what she said made me question her so I did some research to see what made Suze Orman an Expert. I wanted to see what she was all about. Her Wikipedia Page was very helpful but she also has a personal website with BIO info. It seems to me she has made a career for herself telling people what to do without actually having much financial experience doing it. It would also appear she has a strong Liberal Tendency which she is not afraid to share with her fan base. If a "Financial Expert" giving political opinion alone isn't enough to give you pause here is her resume in a nutshell.
• She is from South Chicago
• BA from University of Illinois in "Social Work" in 1976
• Waitress for 7 years in California
• Borrowed 50K from a stranger than lost it investing with Merrill Lynch, then Sued
Merrill Lynch to regain her funds with a claim she was scammed.
• This while training with Merrill Lynch to be an account executive.
• Worked with Merrill Lynch and Prudential for a combined 4 years before she went
on her own
• Started her own Financial advice Firm during the investment rich 1980’s
• Began writing books emphasizing Financial Help "for women”
• By 1997 moved solely into authoring Self Help and Motivational Speaking.
• In 1998 Forbes reported Suze Ormans credentials were not creditable. Ormans
Representatives claim her book publishers used inaccurate information without her
knowledge.
• She Moved to TV with PBS (Tax Payer Funded Television), CNBC and
QVC (Home Shopping Network)
• PBS has done specials on 6 of her 7 books
• Has been a host on Oprah several Times
• Announced she was a Lesbian in 2007
• Honored by Time Magazine 2008 & 2009
• Promptly honored By GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance against Defamation)
In 2004 Suze claimed to have created the terminology "good debt/bad debt" but as Inverstors Business Daily reporter Chuck Jaffee points out many articles in the 1990's used similar terminology including a few he wrote.
She has built a career for herself as a financial expert with 4 years of actual experience working in the financial industry over 2 decades ago. Since being a financial expert she has openly and publicly supported the campaign of Hillary Clinton and donated tens of thousands to the DNC. She then shifted her allegiance to Obama and stated in 2008 she believes the U.S Democratic Party does a better job of managing the economy and proposing civil rights issues. She also said she likes a lot of what she is seeing with Barrack Obama. She has since received an Honorary Degree from University of Illinois from all of her experience as a “financial expert” which I guess also qualifies her as an expert in education since She was asked to testify in the Senate Committee on Higher Education.
It seems to me she has more connections than anything else.
You decide.
Cheers,
Mike
Posts
Suze Orman is a very gutsy woman who started with nothing and made a name (and a LOT of wealth!) for herself. Her financial advice is sound, and by using her techniques I have become a multi-millionaire. However, I was doing the things she proposes people do before I'd heard of her. Although I can't attribute my financial success to her, she does echo the way I got where I am today. I have a great deal of respect for her.
ReplyDeleteHer credentials are wildly over-exaggerated. She is, a best selling author and successful T.V. personality but her financial advice is mundane, simplistic and heavily politically motivated. You can probably get much better financial advice reading one monthly issue of Kiplinger’s than you can from reading any of her books.
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