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While gathering information for our weekly book event listings, LAist couldn’t help but notice the title of Suze Orman’s new book, which she’ll discuss on Friday night at Vroman’s in Pasadena: Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny. The heart of Orman’s sage advice for women is “Get your own account in your own name.” She has even made arrangements with Ameritrade to give every woman $100 if they make 12 consecutive monthly deposits into their new savings account.
Now. It may sound fine on the surface. It may seem like a lovely financial planning guide with sound advice for saving wisely, retiring wealthy and all of that. Harmless, right? Sure. If you are a chauvinist male who feels that women simply cannot be bothered to understand the intricacies of things like a savings account, an IRA, an ATM card.
Yet, such a book has been written and is selling. Adding insult to injury, this book has been written by a woman. So LAist must ask a few obvious questions: Is the modern woman so un-initiated in the ways of finances that she needs a book written just for her to spell it all out? Or is this just a thinly veiled attempt to sell more books to a targeted audience?
If the reader reviews are any indication, it seems that the book is a hit with women. Who are these women and where do they live? How old are they and could someone tell them it’s 2007? It seems highly unlikely that any self-respecting Angeleno gal would find herself in a situation where she is not in possession of at least one, if not several “accounts in her own name.”
It is one thing for a woman to decide, upon co-habiting, that she wants to relinquish bill paying duties to her partner. Fine. We don't totally get that, but perhaps we're independence freaks. Filing taxes and worrying over portfolio growth isn’t always a path lined with roses. We see that. Yet, it is hard to believe that any woman in our fair city didn’t, at one time or another, have her own account. Ever.
Yet since the book made it past the publisher’s gates, we must say that it seems a throwback at best (a huge subversive slap in the face at worst) to write a book that makes money matters “easy for the average woman to understand.” We’re also forced to wonder: Are there women out there – in our beloved LA -- who have no idea how to manage their own finances? Pay their own bills? LAist wonders what kind of planet these women are living on. And what galaxy it is in.
Or, if our hunch is correct and LA’s ladies have their money matters in order, doesn’t a book like this kind of…piss you off?
Photo by otherthing via Flickr
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Suze Orman the Ann Coulter of Money Matters? Either her or Nancy Grace...all are shrill blowhards who appeal to people's worst emotions.
how many ways can she say the same thing, i think she's done a good job of making herself wealthy. Maybe she can find some way of using her "skills" to actually help women rather than just selling them something.
Whaddayawant? She's a virgin.
Comment #3 is more offensive than anything Suze Orman has to say.
And really...even in the world of attention-grabbing blog headlines, comparing Orman to Coulter is offensive and silly. (Or to Nancy Grace for that matter.) Suze Orman seems sweet enough, though she has a talent for stating the obvious. But what is obvious to the city-savvy of us is not necessarily obvious to women living in the heartland. So, once again, you're guilty of that out-of-touch west coast elitism which has no connection to life in the rest of America. (Maybe we should secede.)
On the other hand, Ann Coulter is a mean-spirited, hate-filled bigot out to make a buck. She is quite literally evil. You could hardly say that about the money matters lady. The worst she's guilty of is a questionable haircut.
If you look at the growing demographics in your fine city, and cross tabulate them with the ethnically religious beliefs you would get understand the need for women of LA to have their own money.
The latin machismo attitude is still alive and kicking, even in progressive LA. Until the myth of christian male dominance is crushed the world will sit at the top of mount doom and teeter between the dark ages and true freedom.
Help save the world by educating women and helping them to earn their own money.
I am a traditional middle age woman and do not live in California and I find Suzi Orman patronizing.
Jesus. I am grateful to Suze Orman for taking my thoughts away from trying to get through my gawdawful day of trying to pay the bills, take care of my family, the animals, finish school, get through the work day and pay a little attention to myself and what might be coming for me as a middle aged woman who hasn't thought much about myself and my own financial freedom. Not everyone was raised in a household that taught finances, not everyone has someone else that they can turn to to get the answers. I have improved my credit rating, stopped spending, bought a house with a decent mortgage rate and am looking at at least $3000 additional savings for this year, alone - and I make less that 16.00 an hour. I wouldn't have been able to even think about that if it wasn't for Suze Orman - take her advice, or not - but get the hell off her back - for some she's been a lifesaver. And, to compare her to The Snake is unjustified and juvenile. Idiot. Ann Coulter is pure evil, and if she actually was a woman, I would be ashamed of calling myself one, as well.
Comparing Suze Orman to Ann Coulter is idiotic. Aside from the fact that Coulter is a homophobic, hate-spewing bigot while Orman recently came out publicly as a lesbian, Orman gives good advice on money matters.
The author of this article has focused on the broadest, most reductive tidbits from Orman's books, but on her show and in her books Orman covers all sorts of topics that are much more complex (for example, living trusts vs. inheritances, diversifying your investment portfolio, etc.). While this advice may seem obvious to someone who already knows it, a lot of people are hearing it for the first time.
Witness the growing number of Americans who are drowning in credit card debt and have no savings. And for a variety of reasons women statistically tend to save less than men. Clearly, money matters are NOT easy for the average person (male or female) to understand. Clearly, Orman (and every other self-styled financial guru) needs to be repeating the mantra: Save! Save! Save!
Women still make somewhere between 70 to 80 cents on the dollar compared to what men make. And last time I checked the #1 reason women go on welfare was separation or divorce from a male partner (i.e. the husband or boyfriend moves out taking his paycheck and assets with him while his female partner, who often has children to support, is left with no savings or visible means of support). If up to that point a woman has left most of the check-balancing and bill-paying dues to her male partner, the financial shock of losing a male partner can be devastating. This applies even to educated, middle-class women.
Orman's books are mostly targeted to novices and advanced beginners in the world of finances and investing. While I find her style shrill and at times bullying, her advice seems sound. Moreover, she makes complex topics understandable and accessible for a lot of people. Instead of taking poorly reasoned potshots at Orman, I would encourage the author of this article to move beyond her personal experiences and look at the broader picture.
People need sound advice about saving, investing and spending money, and there's nothing wrong with tailoring that advice to a specific demographic. The reason Suze Orman is so successful is because her advice resonates with women.
I'm a 27-yr old female born and raised in Los Angeles and I can at least empathize that there are women (and lots of them) out there that need this kind of advice re money matters. I haven't read this book but I'm sure advice such as "get your own bank account" is just step one in a list of things one should do to becoming financially independent. This book seems to offer sound advice for any woman who may be getting married or thinking of marriage. Stay financially independent to whatever degree possible. I think the writer of this blog has been living in a bubble. There's nothing wrong with recognizing that women in relationships, esp that of marriage, are probably too financially dependent on their husbands. And when that's the case, when problems arise in the marriage, women end up feeling trapped and that they have very few options. What do you tell the woman who's been devoting the last 25 years of her life to raising her children and making a home that after divorce her husband doesn't make enough to give her alimony she can live on so she must go out into the work force with few relevant skills? Something like "get your own bank account" is simple advice but still important.
"Can someone tell them it's 2007?" Geez, talk about patronizing. Just because a woman isn't financially in-the-know doesn't make her an idiot or a weak minded individual. Yes, everyone could benefit from being financially independent. There are plenty of men out there who could also learn a thing or two from Suze Orman's book. You obviously have been living in LA way too damn long. Open your eyes. Not everyone is like you.
The key difference between Coulter and Orman: Coulter has a clue what she's talking about, and caters to those beyond an eighth grade education.