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This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. You can vote for Suze Orman as the most annoying money expert.
For some of us, certain names come more readily to mind than others when a phrase like the "most annoying money expert" is bandied about. For her critics, financial guru Suze Orman is one such name.
Besides being the author of best-selling personal finance books and the host of CNBC's The Suze Orman Show and QVC's Suze Orman's Financial Freedom, Suze (rhymes with doozy, not snooze) has won two daytime Emmy Awards. A pitchwoman par excellence, she has raised millions of dollars for PBS. She's also a Certified Financial Planner who has worked at both Prudential and Merrill Lynch. With well-known catchphrases such as "Truth creates money. Lies destroy it," and "People first, then money, then things," she's a popular columnist and public speaker -- a favorite with Oprah and Larry King.
Orman claims that she does not multitask, which she says leads to mediocrity. While having neither a husband nor children to distract her, Orman also claims to have no personal assistant and no permanent employees -- she's a one woman show.
She has a reputation for offering practical, easy-to-understand, and down-to-earth financial advice that's nonjudgmental towards those who have made poor decisions. But her advice can also verge on New Age mystical. For instance, Orman sometimes asks audience members to rip a dollar bill in half. Most cringe at the idea, which she claims is due to that fact that money has an energy field that other objects don't have, almost as if money were alive.
Besides the more mystical aspects of it, critics also often claim that her advice is too basic for informed or experienced investors, and sometimes contrary to common sense. But despite all that, she has remained popular by tapping into people's insecurities about money and its effect on happiness, relationships, and self-esteem.
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
2-22-2007 @ 9:03PM
Soledad said...
I do not care about Suze's hair or how she looks. I am not looking for a girlfriend. I listen what she has to say about money, it is not always an easy topic. She speaks in a simple way that even a third grader can understand. She is not a Psychologist, but any modest person can understand that money can shows problem in personality and how people behave about money maybe symptoms of deeper personal or emotional stress. I love Suze and find helpful for myself and other people who instead looking for "imperfections" see the good side of any human been.
2-23-2007 @ 3:34PM
john said...
Grow up, Orman is no one's savior, she's just another annoying talking head on a pathetic cable news channel.
Oh no! I must be living a "negative life", I'm sorry, but those of you who are Orman fans say more about how pointless her show is by speaking up than you may realize.
If Orman helps you, you have problems.
2-23-2007 @ 3:45PM
john said...
She speaks in a way that even a third grader could understand.
Right.
Think about that.
If you are unable to digest Investor's Business Daily, the Wall Street Journal, or any business publication written for adults what makes you think buying Orman's books will help you? How do you know she isn't fleecing you too? By definition, you've already admitted you're not that bright, all you can do is just hope she's not hosing you. I am always mystified to see the never ending line of self-selected victims for hucksters selling hype, whether it's financial, religious, or political chicanery.
I wonder how many of you will remember her long after she is disgraced or discredited?
8-23-2009 @ 10:15PM
Scott Blaco said...
Suze Orman is a quack! Her financial advice is a bunch of physcobabble. The "FICO" score is a idiotic indicator of your financial winning. You can have no debt a paid for house and a net worth over a million dollars and your fico score would be zero. Do not worry about your fico score. You can get a mortage without one. A mortage can be acquired with manual underwiting. If you have a steady income, and have paid your rent on time for the last two years you can qualify.
2-25-2007 @ 10:50PM
Gary S said...
I truly question the integrity of anything out of Orman's mouth after she told the the NY Times magazine on 2/25/07 that she doesn't care if she loses the one million dollars she has in the stock market(the rest of her wealth is in real estate & municipal bonds), "because if I lose a million dollars, I don't personally care."
Hardly sound financial principals. Glad that a million dollars is trivial to her financial picture; perhaps she should give that million to charity instead.
2-26-2007 @ 12:09AM
june smith said...
I enjoy Suze every Sat. night...However, last
Sat., she let the world know her sexual preferences...That did not belong on her show...
Her show is about helping people with money, not who or what sex she enjoys....It is not a Oprah show.
june smith
2-26-2007 @ 12:07AM
june smith said...
She should not be discusing her sex life on the show as she did this Saturday...This show is about money, not her personal life.
june
2-26-2007 @ 12:09AM
june smith said...
Anyone who puts money in the stock market now is an idiot....Remember 2001, we had money in it and lost $35,000. The banks are giving good interest now...
june
2-27-2007 @ 10:46PM
Jewelle said...
I don't see the need to either slam her or put the woman on a pedestal...she irritates me at times but I usually get something new out of her program...she's not just a personality, she's a licensed CFP, certified financial planner and she knows her stuff.
Just because her voice grates like chalk on a chalkboard doesn't mean you can't learn something from her.
2-28-2007 @ 8:45PM
diane mcneely said...
i know i am watching the SUZE ORMAN SHOW,,,,really. i do not need to be told at least 3 times by SUZE before the calls begin. if she can help someone great....but i can't get pass her personality on TV
or her books. they are too basic...which may be good for some people. i want info on how to survive
a changing economy....and i want to enjoy life as
long as i have it....not save it for someone else.
my one ? is this....WHY CAN'T YOU ON APRIL 15TH OR
17TH THIS YR....COME UP WITH A ZERO BALANCE? I HAVE TRIED FOR YRS AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.
2-28-2007 @ 9:41PM
Rich said...
I agree that many of her movements and mannerisms can be irritating, however, her advice is sound. I work in the mortgage industry and I am appalled at how many people lack assets and are deeply into debt. Her advice, while basic, is much needed by many people in this country. We need to stop focusing on the superficialities of people and hear what they are saying! I am very concerned about this country's debt and we as taxpayers in America shouldn't have to support those who have not prepared themselves for their futures and put themselves in a jam! Who cares about her hair, etc. Take what you need and leave the rest! Keep it up Suze!
3-01-2007 @ 9:07AM
Bobby Barker said...
I tried to watch her goo goo show and when I heard her saying "You Go Girl" all the time I couldn't deal with her. She is a senior citizen jewish woman trying that hard to speak ebonics and therefore it is impossible to watch and gain anything from.
3-01-2007 @ 9:14AM
Cliffy Budsnack said...
Wow. She is so full of ebonic catch phrases and appeals to the ebonic mentality of ebonic america that she got a Daytime award and Oprah has her on her show. Make her the Homeland Minister of Finance for our stupid KGB retard Gubbmin then. K stands for KILL. You do the math. Girlfriend. Yo.