Continue reading Kiplinger's Offering Free Retirement Advice

Kiplinger's Offering Free Retirement Advice originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Worlds apart, Cramer and Orman speak to totally different classes of investors. Jim Cramer is the fast-talking showman talking primarily about stocks and Suze Orman is a slow-talking educator preferring funds. While Cramer likes to jump around playing with bells and whistles, Orman is making sure she speaks clearly and enunciates to her audience so they can understand and follow along.

The biggest difference between the two gurus is that Orman is interested in what you do with 90% of your assets and Cramer is only interested in the 10% Mad Money. Orman talks about getting people started on actually thinking about their personal finances and financial well-being. Cramer is interested in the sport of investing. He gets a rush from the whole subject. Orman is in no rush and much more sedate. Clearly Orman offers far more sound advice in the form of broad investing principles you can live by year in and year out with a minimal amount of work. That said, watching her is like going to your history and geography class. Valuable information, but not the highest form of entertainment. Cramer is a stock trader, and that fact by itself has proven to be harmful to most investors, even professionals. But his investment broadcasts are more like visiting the sports book in Las Vegas with 100 games in play at the same time.

Continue reading Money Face-Off: Jim Cramer vs. Suze Orman

Money Face-Off: Jim Cramer vs. Suze Orman originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While there are plenty of fast-talking late-night gurus out there who want to give you the information you need to get rich (all for the three easy payments of $29.95, but wait there's more...), the New York Times's Damon Darlin has some of the best personal finance advice that graduates don't want to hear:

• Save 10% of your income right off the top.
• Buy stuff used.
• Enroll in a 401(k).
• Don't borrow money to buy depreciating assets.
• Make your own coffee.

He offers two compelling reasons to start saving early. First, there's the most obvious one. Starting the cycle of compound interest early means your money will grow more. But then there's another one that I hadn't really thought about. Living below your means conditions you to be comfortable with a less expensive standard of living, which will also save you money in your retirement years.

There's another important thing to remember, and it's probably the best reason of all for being wise in your money management. I first realized this paradox when I was talking to my friend "Jim," who, after years of poor spending habits, has run up a huge amount of credit card debt, and lies awake at night worrying about money. He used to make fun of me for my Scrooge-like spending habits and obsession with saving as much money as possible. The other day, we sat down to discuss his problem.

Continue reading Damon Darlin's great advice for recent grads

Damon Darlin's great advice for recent grads originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal discussed the emerging trend of financial planners catering to younger, less affluent folks. People need help navigating a much more complex financial world than their parents faced: 401(k)s, student loan debt, benefits, insurance, etc. I think it's great that there is help available for people, but I wonder how helpful it really is.

The problem is the costs: Most fee-only financial planners charge $100-$250 per hour, which is a huge amount when you're talking about someone making around the median income with little in the way of assets. And that's just for the financial advice. If you turn over your portfolio for them to manage, you'll hand over another 1-1.5% of that money each year, in addition to the expense ratios on the mutual funds they choose.

The problem is that financial planner services scale well: Someone with a net worth of $1,000,000 might not need that much more in the way of help than someone with $10,000, depending on the individual circumstances. So a financial planner might make sense for a high net worth person, but is probably just not a good investment for someone with less money.

I also think that most people could manage their own finances very competently with some basic research. Here are a few books that I think younger, less affluent people should read before they consider hiring a professional. If after reading these, you still think you need help, go for it:

To learn about budgeting: America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams.

To learn about investing/financial planning: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Planning Your Financial Future.

In most cases, I think you'll be able to get a lot of the benefit of hiring a financial planner from those books for a whole lot less money.

Financial planners cater to younger, less rich -- Is that good? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 May 2007 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Harry Hurt III of the New York Times ripped into Suze Orman's new book Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny. He begins with this attack:

Among the substances that need hazmat warning labels are the liquid that bronzes Suze Orman's hair, the paste that whitens her teeth for her publicity photographs, and her latest financial advice manual, "Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny."

While Mr. Hurt is certainly entitled to his opinion, he is, as he freely admits, not the target audience. On Amazon.com, the 48 reviewers so far have given the book an average 4.5 stars (granted they also gave Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki's book an average of 3 stars when 1 star would have been generous).

The point is: if the book doesn't appeal to men, who cares? It's like Elton John dismissing Playboy as boring.

New York Times rips Suze Orman originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 Mar 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Continue reading Best & Worst: Suze Orman, a one-woman show of irritation

Best & Worst: Suze Orman, a one-woman show of irritation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Dec 2006 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.