I get to attend a teleconference with none other than Suze Orman! I wanted to get you involved and possibly get your questions answered from one of personal finance’s leading experts!
We will have Suze on the call for around an hour? It’s not everyday you have her ear – well, unless you call into her show and give your whole life history and fear getting approved/denied (and she always says it blatantly, D-nied). Can you tell I’ve seen her show a few times?
So, have at it. What questions do you have for Suze? I have several of my own based on our financial goals so I’m interested in hearing the questions you have as well! Your questions can be related to personal finance, the economy, investments, possibly starting a business in this economy (just so ya know fellow bloggers, what we do is our business), whatever!
Please leave me a comment with your question and I’ll do my best to get a few in during the call!!
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Would you recommend using a Universal Life Insurance plan to save for your children’s colleg?
Upon the advice of our financial advisor, we are paying more into this plan than we need to for life insurance coverage. When we need to withdraw or borrow from this plan in 8-9 years, we can take out the money tax free. If I am understanding right, this is the main advantage to putting your money here–and you get life insurance coverage– verses investing it in a Roth IRA where it’s taxable when you withdraw it.
Hope my question makes sense. This is a question I would LOVE to ask Suze! Hope you have good conversation! Jen
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What does she think of the SNL skits of her? :)
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holy cow – where do i begin ? how lucky you are….
what is better to do lease or buy a car ?
would you buy a GM car right now ?
what is the right amount of point difference to make refinancing worth it ?
more important to save for retirement first or college first – for a 40 year old couple with 2 kids, ages 4 and 2 ???
oh and is getting a financial advisor worth it ? how do you go about that ? do they cost money ??
Honestly an hour with her sounds like such an amazing opportunity. ENJOY
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The best way to handle your credit once you’ve had fraudulent activity on it??
We had someone steal our credit card number from a place we ordered a replacement remote control and she used at other places trying to make charges (which didn’t go through) but there is activity now on our credit report. She was caught and we have the police statement and have reported it but are unsure of what to do next.
:)
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I had the pleasure of being on Suze’s show! She APPROVED me! I heart Suze.
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I love Suze Orman. I want to know if it is a good time to buy a house. I know the economy is terrible and there are lots of foreclosures,but I’ve heard some people saying it is the best time.
I am tired of living in an apartment for the amount of money that I pay for every month, I think I can put it towards a house instead.
Also, about the goverment first homeowners credit.How should I go about that? Buy the house and apply for the rebate later? Or is there a way to include this rebate in the lenders application?
Thanks a lot!!!
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I have money in a 401k from a previous employer and am now a SAHM. I have been thinking about putting the money in some kind of educational fund for my daughter. I have another retirement account. Is it possible to roll the money over and what is my best option for an educational fund?
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Hi Andrea,
Lucky you! I adore Suze! I think she has such great advice to offer. I was actually on her show once – she was a delight to talk to. Have fun!
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“I want to know if it is a good time to buy a house. I know the economy is terrible and there are lots of foreclosures,but I’ve heard some people saying it is the best time.
I am tired of living in an apartment for the amount of money that I pay for every month, I think I can put it towards a house instead.
Also, about the goverment first homeowners credit.How should I go about that? Buy the house and apply for the rebate later? Or is there a way to include this rebate in the lenders application?”
I want to know the answer to this too, thanks!
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Lucky you! I have 3 questions as we make preparations for a possible layoff in this economy:
1. Can Suze explain her recommendation for a 8 month cushion in your emergency fund. Does this mean 8 months of net pay saved, or can we subtract half of it for what we would get in unemployment benefits if we are laid off. This would mean that we would only need 4 months of net pay and we are close to that.
2. If we are laid off how much would CORBA be under the new stimulus package for a family of 4 each month. Is there a cheaper alternative for health insurance than CORBA?
3. We have a 15yr loan on our home right now with 10 yrs left. My plan is that if we are laid off we will refinance to a 30yr loan, thus dropping our monthly payment quite a bit. We still have a good bit of equity in our home. Is it possible to refinance to a longer loan after you have been laid off?
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I would like to know what her recommendation is for the percentage a person should save for retirement, and if that is off your net income or gross income. I recently realized we are saving 25% of our gross income for retirement ( we have no debt, are trying to pay off the mortgage early, saving for kid’s college, have emergency fund, etc). But 25% seems high and I feel we don’t have a lot of leeway in discretionary spending. I would like to fix up the house and we don’t have the money because so much is going into retirement!
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She dislikes universal live policy here – it’s life insurance, savings is savings, investments are investments – don’t mix the three.
Start a 529 plan for the kiddos but only when you are out of debt yourself.
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Jessica, lol! I was wondering the same thing. The only time I really watch Suze’s show is when we’re at my parents’ house (they love her!) but Kristen Wiig is hilarious in those skits! “Take your money, and buy JACKETS!” haha
Ahem. For those of you with purchasing/refinacing questions, I might be able to help a little – I work for a loan officer! ;)
As far as the point difference question: we don’t use points when we are working on our customers loans, so I can’t answer that specific question. Typically, if you can lower your interest rate at least 1% (from 6% to 5%, etc) then refinancing is worth it. Any less than 1% and you really won’t save that much, especially if you’re having an escrow account set up, because the tax & insurance reserves will have to be added into your loan amount.
This is a great time to buy, especially if you’re buying a foreclosure! One of the realtors in our office had a client buy a foreclosure recently for about 85,000…the appraised value was about 130,000! Be careful though – I don’t think you can have the house inspected prior to purchasing it (in foreclosure situations.) Some people get mad that they are being foreclosed on and trash the house before moving out…I’m not sure if anyone is required to tell a buyer this beforehand!
And finally, going from a 15-year to 30-year mortgage. I’ve worked on loans in the past where the client has done that. The lenders always want there to be a “tangible benefit” to the loan! However, you really need to have a job. Lenders have really started to scrutinize employment history, income, etc! If you really want to refinance, and there’s a good chance you’re getting laid off, I’d look into refi’ing as soon as you can. It may be harder to get approved after you’ve switched jobs, for whatever reason.
I hope this helps some of you! Andrea, sorry for “guano-ing” your comments! Your blog is awesome! :)
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I just bought Suze’s book “Young, Fabulous, and Broke!” It’s awesome. It answers some of the questions already listed in the comments above mine. It can be found on Amazon for under $5. It’s a good buy.
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What do you think of The Mutual fund stores. Should I pay a yearly fee or would it be better to pay them commision on the amount that they make for me. More money for me more money for them?
Confused.
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I have been working for same company for 26 years and I am 55 years old. They are getting rid of half the staff now and offered be a retirement package which I accepted. My question is where should I move my 401k . I have to decide what to do with it very soon.
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I owe $180000 on my home. I owe $12000 on a equity line. No car payments, no credit cards. I have a 401k and a ESOP plan with my employer and an IRA all totaling just around $150000 (took a killing because of the economy). I have about $5000 in a regular passbook saving account earning .60% (emergency money). I have $15000 in a c/d thats coming up for renewal in a few weeks, my question is, should I pay off what I owe on my line of credit or purchase another c/d with a APY of 2.15? I’m paying 5.0% right now on my line but think I might need the interest to give me a better return at the end of the year on my taxes. I am turning 50 in a few weeks, 2 kids, 1 finished college and the other in his second year of college. Single mom!
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I recently heard a radio advertisement for a company
called no more mortgage. They claim to reduce all debt including your mortgage in an average of 9 years without
any increase in payments or harm to your credit. Is this legit? Has anyone done it? Does someone like Suze Orman recommend it? They do a free financial anyalysis
first. President is Larry Ruff.
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mommysnacks Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Joseph, I haven’t heard of that company. But, I would honestly say to take the snowball approach and baby step your way out of debt.
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my daugther has a loan with sallie mae and her payments are 167.00amonth ,she cannot meet this payment righ now,she sent them 100.00 a month,she has a hardship,they have been call my house about 10 times a day,crazy,she try to talk to them to accept the 100.00 montly ,for now,they transfer to none english american customer service and she is not get the righ answer,what do you adwise her to do,she is send them a letter,later.to explaine that she sent a payment of 100.00,only,sincerely,marysecolbert.
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Question for Suze Orman
I live in Montreal Canada and my question is:
I was thinking of opening a US$ saving’s account. The purpose is to save US$ for the future. I think that the US$ will eventually go much higher. If I start now buying it will be a great saving for the future.
What do you think. Is this a good idea or not?
I am a fan from Montreal, Quebec
Waiting for your answer Suze.
Helene Cleary
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My sister has not spoken to us in almost three years. Our Mom paid off my sister and brother-in-laws home to save it in a foreclosure. They still owe just over $29,000 but the contract, a QuitDeed, stated they were responsible for all property taxed and insurance of which they have defaulted on. Mom has filed a foreclosure on that property and of course we are going to court on April 20, 2010.
My question is, Mom wants to add my name to the deeds of all three homes she owns. Should she do this? Right now Mom’s name is the only name on the three homes. I live with her, take care of her, do all the shopping and taking her to the doctor. My sister was great to us until our younger brother moved back with us after a very nasty divorce and he had open heart surgery just six months after moving here and that is when the you know what hit the fan. My sister has always been a very jelous person but lately she has just become a you know what. I have a lot of mixed feeling about this, both of my brothers told Mom not to put their name on any of the deeds that since I am not married and have no children and I live with her my name is the only name that should be on the deeds.
Thankful but puzzled. Please Help!
Cathy C.
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I hope you learn a lot and have a blast meeting one of my mentors! I would ask her how she feels about universal life contracts. We know how she feels about term life insurance, but there is a little known program called term life insurance that seems, well, when executed properly too good to be true. I have read four of Douglas Andrew’s books on this insurance, and just wonder what our money genius Ms. Orman says about them. Take care and take notes! Truly, Sarah
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ps sorry, it’s so late…I meant universal life contracts by Douglas Andrew, not term insurance…forgive
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my husband and i are disabled. i have been disabled since nov 09 My employer did a reduction in force and let me go – i was over the 12 week mark of MLOA. My question is we cannot afford our house mortgage. We are way upside down. If I go into foreclosure, will they take my savings that I have pulled from my retirement to live on ? If so can I payback my daughter the amount that i have borrowed and will they be able to get that ? thanks
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