Suze Orman

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Suze Orman
Born Susan Lynn Orman
June 5, 1951 (1951-06-05) (age 57)
Chicago, Illinois
Nationality American
Occupation financial advisor, writer, television personality
Partner Kathy Travis
Website
www.SuzeOrman.com

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

She is currently the host of "The Suze Orman Show" on CNBC. She has written six consecutive New York Times Best Sellers. Orman has written, co-produced, and hosted six PBS specials based on her New York Times bestselling books, and is the single most successful fundraiser in the history of public television. In 2004 and 2006 Orman won two daytime Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Service Show Host for her PBS Specials. Over her television career Orman has won more Gracie awards (5) than anyone in the 33 year history of these awards. In 2008, she was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Orman was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, in 1951 to Russian-Jewish immigrants Ann and Morry Orman.[2][3] Orman came from a working class background and has said that she did not "grow up with money."[2][4] 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, and she lived, for three months in a van on Hearst Avenue. She soon became a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery on College Avenue. In 1980, a longtime customer gave Orman a loan of $50,000 to help her fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant. Orman invested the money at Merrill Lynch, but four months later was broke again, after she was swindled by her stockbroker.[5] [6]

Knowing that she couldn't make the money back by waitressing, and having started learning more about finances and investing, Orman returned to Merrill Lynch and entered their training program to become an account executive. After she completed the training, she was hired by the firm and remained there until 1983 when she left to take a position as vice president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, Orman resigned and opened her own financial planning firm, the Suze Orman Financial Group, in Emeryville, California. She acted as director of the firm until 1997, when she stepped down as her writing career took off with the publication of her second book.[5]

[edit] Books

Orman's 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 monthly magazine O, alongside Dr. Phil's advice section. She also writes a biweekly column (as of January 2008), entitled "Money Matters" on Yahoo!'s finance website. For many years, she has contributed on a monthly basis to Costco Connection, a magazine published by the membership wholesaler. She is also a contributor to several other magazines and publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lowes MoneyWorks, and Your Business at Home Magazine.[7][8]

[edit] Television

Orman hosts a weekend financial planning show on CNBC called The Suze Orman Show.[9] She hosts another TV program on QVC called Suze Orman's Financial Freedom. Orman recently celebrated her 5th year on The Suze Orman Show and her 11th anniversary on QVC.

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 each episode of The Suze Orman Show with "People first, then money, then things".

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 – such as an engagement ring, car, or HDTV – then tell her their amount of income, savings, retirement savings, credit card debt, home loans and other debt. Orman then determines if the caller can or can't afford the item, and explains why.

In February 2008, Orman appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and announced that her most recent book, Women and Money, would be available for free on Oprah's website for 33 hours. Over 1 million people downloaded the book.

In an online interview with the The Young Turks (talk show) on April 14th 2008, Orman stated that her net worth is more than $10 million.

[edit] Criticism

In 1998, Forbes magazine reported that Orman had misrepresented her credentials, and criticized some of her advice as simplistic.[10] For example, her book claimed that she had a current Commodity Trading Advisor license, when in fact it had lapsed, and some of her materials stated she had eighteen years of experience working with Wall Street institutions when she had had seven.[10] The San Francisco Chronicle ran a follow-up article in which a representative of Orman stated that the book's publisher, Crown, used inaccurate information without Orman's knowledge.[11]

[edit] Personal life

Orman told The New York Times magazine in February 2007 that she is a lesbian.[12] Her partner of seven years is Kathy Travis, a co-producer on The Suze Orman Show.[12][13][14][15] 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."[12]

[edit] Political activism

According to the Federal Election Commission, Suze Orman has donated money to the Democratic National Committee and to the 2000 senate campaign of Hillary Clinton (D-NY).[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Pronunciation of Suze Orman". inogolo. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  2. ^ a b Cantor, Danielle. "Successful Women: Suze Orman" (Fall 2004). Jewish Women International. 
  3. ^ Bloom, Nate. "Celebrity Jews: Briefly noted", j., San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc., 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. ^ a b Andriani, Lynn. "The Dollars and Sense of Suze Orman", Publisher's Weekly, 2003-02-24. Retrieved on 2008-01-25. 
  6. ^ Orman, Suze. (2008-06-05). Women and Money [TV-program]. PBS pledge programming: PBS.
  7. ^ Orman, Suze. "Moving Past Fear and Toward Success.", Your Business at Home Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2008, p. 36
  8. ^ Internationally Acclaimed Personal Finance Expert; Host of CNBC's, "The Suze Orman Show", KeySpeakers.com, <http://www.keyspeakers.com/bio.php?Suze_Orman> 
  9. ^ [1][dead link]
  10. ^ a b Barrett, William P. Sizzling Suze. Forbes. 1998-12-28
  11. ^ Veverka, Mark. Why Suze? Why All the Hype? Orman's Publicist Goes on the Defense. San Francisco Chronicle. 1999-01-06.
  12. ^ a b c Soloman, Deborah. "Questions for Suze Orman: She's So Money". The New York Times Magazine. 2007-02-25.
  13. ^ [2][dead link]
  14. ^ Lo, Malinda. "Suze Orman Comes Out". AfterEllen.com. 2007-02-25.
  15. ^ "Money maven Suze Orman comes out". The Advocate. 2007-02-23.
  16. ^ NEWSMEAT ▷ Suze Orman's Federal Campaign Contribution Report

[edit] External links