Suze Orman Quotes

A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life.

- Suze Orman

The only way you will ever permanently take control of your financial life is to dig deep and fix the root problem.

- Suze Orman

People have got to learn: if they don't have cookies in the cookie jar, they can't eat cookies.

- Suze Orman

When you're happy you find pure joy in your life. There are no regrets in this state of happiness - and that's a goal worth striving for in all areas of your life.

- Suze Orman

When you lose something in your life, stop thinking it's a loss for you... it is a gift you have been given so you can get on the right path to where you are meant to go, not to where you think you should have gone.

- Suze Orman

True generosity is an offering; given freely and out of pure love. No strings attached. No expectations. Time and love are the most valuable possession you can share.

- Suze Orman

A wise woman recognizes when her life is out of balance and summons the courage to act to correct it, she knows the meaning of true generosity, happiness is the reward for a life lived in harmony, with a courage and grace.

- Suze Orman

If you wait to see how much money you have left at the end of the month to put toward savings, the answer may be zero. So, set up an automated monthly transfer from your checking to savings account. Once you lock into that commitment, you'll be forced to scale back spending to make ends meet.

- Suze Orman

Ignore the annual percentage rate when shopping for a mortgage.

- Suze Orman

The advantage of online banking is that you can pay bills superfast, and your account is automatically credited or debited for each deposit and payment, making it easier to stay on track.

- Suze Orman

Your goal should be to pay off your credit card bills in full at the end of each month and set aside money toward your emergency savings.

- Suze Orman

I have always advocated doing everything possible to pay off credit card balances; it's good financial management and the ticket to a strong FICO credit score.

- Suze Orman

I'm a big advocate of a work-for-pay setup rather than an allowance that isn't attached to chores - it's a great way to impart the value of money to your children.

- Suze Orman

I want to be clear here: It does not matter what you say in your will or trust; the beneficiary document attached to your IRA accounts and your life insurance policy overrides what you say elsewhere. If you want to change the beneficiary, you must change the beneficiary document.

- Suze Orman

A revocable living trust allows your heirs to avoid probate entirely and keeps you in complete control of your finances while you're alive. You can always make changes to what's in the trust and to how you'd ultimately like it managed or disbursed.

- Suze Orman

Cash - in savings accounts, short-term CDs or money market deposits - is great for an emergency fund. But to fulfill a long-term investment goal like funding your retirement, consider buying stocks. The more distant your financial target, the longer inflation will gnaw at the purchasing power of your money.

- Suze Orman

If you make any trades during the year, keep a record of each transaction for at least three years.

- Suze Orman

I have never been a fan of bond funds. Unlike a direct investment in an individual bond that you can hold to maturity and be assured you will get your principal back (assuming no default), a fund has no finite maturity date and most funds are actively traded.

- Suze Orman

To make the most of your money, I recommend sticking with mutual funds that don't charge a commission when you buy or sell.

- Suze Orman

Even if you were to fall into extreme financial hardship and file for bankruptcy, you need to understand that your student loan debt will not be discharged in bankruptcy. It is the Velcro of all debts.

- Suze Orman

Opposites may attract, but I wouldn't put my money on a relationship of financial opposites.

- Suze Orman

There is no law saying you have to die before your assets can be passed to loved ones. In fact, gifting earlier can be a lovely way to witness how your money helps your family thrive.

- Suze Orman

The prenup needs to be drawn up months before the wedding, not days - it's not something you slap together and sign in the car on the way to the ceremony. A shotgun prenup might not hold up in court.

- Suze Orman

I generally encourage people to make good on debts when they have enough money to repay them. But once a delinquency has been reported to a collection agency, paying it off won't help your FICO score. The damage has already been done, and the blemish will remain on your credit report for seven years.

- Suze Orman

While a reverse mortgage can indeed be a viable way to generate income, it is very important to understand that after you take out a reverse mortgage, you will still be responsible for paying the property tax, the insurance premium, and all the maintenance costs for your home.

- Suze Orman

Pay off your mortgage before retirement, and that's one less bill you'll have to worry about when you're on a fixed income.

- Suze Orman

The key to making money is to stay invested.

- Suze Orman

If you are worried about job security and do not have an adequate emergency fund (ideally eight months' worth of living expenses stashed away in a federally insured bank or credit union), you need to focus more on saving money than paying down the balance on your credit cards.

- Suze Orman

Money is such an amazing teacher: What you choose to do with your money shows whether you are truly powerful or powerless.

- Suze Orman

The new American dream is one of responsibility. What is the bottom-line number that you're going to be able to pay back toward a student loan responsibly if you're doing it yourself after you have a job? That dictates the amount of money you can borrow. That dictates the school you can go to, if you can even go to a four-year college at all.

- Suze Orman

Thoughtful financial planning can easily take a backseat to daily life.

- Suze Orman

It's impossible to map out a route to your destination if you don't know where you're starting from.

- Suze Orman

If there is anyone dependent on your income - parents, children, relatives - you need life insurance.

- Suze Orman

When someone chooses to value herself over the things she can buy, true transformation begins.

- Suze Orman

For seven years after college, I was a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery in Berkeley, and from there I got a job at Merrill Lynch as an account executive, from where I went to vice president of investments for Prudential-Bache Securities. I started my own firm in 1987.

- Suze Orman

Never cosign a loan. Once you have cosigned, you cannot get out of it - even on your deathbed.

- Suze Orman

Take free money. No matter how in debt you are, if your employer offers a matching contribution on a 401(k) or other retirement vehicle, you must sign up and contribute enough to get the maximum company match each year. Think of it as a bonus.

- Suze Orman

The most important loan to pay is your student loan. It's more important than your mortgage, car and credit card payments. You cannot discharge student loan debt in the majority of cases.

- Suze Orman

Structured settlements are a common way for people who have been injured to receive an insurance payout. The periodic payments provide ongoing income and reduce the risk of blowing a lump sum through poor financial choices.

- Suze Orman

Credit card issuers and HELOC lenders are like fair-weather friends: They cozy up to you in good times, but when the economy heads south, they abandon you faster than Usain Bolt runs the 100 meters.

- Suze Orman

Every financial worry you want to banish and financial dream you want to achieve comes from taking tiny steps today that put you on a path toward your goals.

- Suze Orman

Recast your current problems into proactive goals.

- Suze Orman

If you pay off your mortgage before retirement, you take a huge financial load off your shoulders. You also become eligible to take out a reverse mortgage once you turn 62.

- Suze Orman

Understand and accept the cycles of money. The setbacks you may have today or next year will not keep you from financial freedom. If you hold on to your goals and dreams, you will get there.

- Suze Orman

When it comes to tackling your financial goals, whatever they might be, there's no time like the present.

- Suze Orman

Remember: If the IRS suspects you haven't reported income, it can challenge returns from the past six years. So if you are self-employed or have multiple income sources, hold on to six years of files to be absolutely safe.

- Suze Orman

The less you have to think about how to spend every dollar, the more likely you are to spend wisely.

- Suze Orman

I have a million dollars in the stock market, because if I lose a million dollars, I don't personally care.

- Suze Orman

You should keep a copy of your tax return indefinitely, but you need to save supporting documents for only three years.

- Suze Orman

Learn how to prioritize all your debt. And did you know student loan debt is the most dangerous debt any of us can have?

- Suze Orman

Credit card companies are jacking up interest rates, lowering credit limits, and closing accounts - and people who have made timely payments are not exempt. So even if you pay off your balance - and that's tough when interest rates are insanely high - there's a good chance your credit limit will be slashed, and that will hurt your FICO score.

- Suze Orman

For all your long-term investments, such as retirement accounts that you won't touch for at least ten years, you need a mix of stocks and bonds. Stocks offer the best shot at inflation-beating gains. But stocks don't always go up. That's where bonds come into play: They have less upside potential, but they also do not pack the same risk.

- Suze Orman

In January we start saving money, getting out of credit card debt, funding our retirement accounts, and we're doing wonderful. Then, every single year like clockwork, starting in November, all of you fall into this trap that says, 'I have to buy this gift... I can't show up at this party and not have something for everybody.'

- Suze Orman

When you are grateful - when you can see what you have - you unlock blessings to flow in your life.

- Suze Orman

Every time you overhear something hurtful, I want you to do something kind for someone else.

- Suze Orman

They got married, they got divorced, and half their money goes out the window.

- Suze Orman

So many financial dreams are thwarted by the failure to act upon good intentions.

- Suze Orman

No one's ever achieved financial fitness with a January resolution that's abandoned by February.

- Suze Orman

Sometimes poverty is the greatest gift you can ever be given. Sometimes loss is the key that leads you to gain.

- Suze Orman

Money you know you need or want to spend in the next few years is savings. Money you keep handy for an emergency belongs in savings. Money you hope to use soon for a down payment on a house belongs in savings. And all savings belong in a low-risk bank savings account or money market account.

- Suze Orman

I want to conquer the unknown. I really, really want to live on the water and captain my own boat. I have dreamed of going around the world on a boat.

- Suze Orman

If you're financially responsible, your children have a much better chance to grow up financially responsible.

- Suze Orman

Learn to recognize true wealth. Money itself will not make you financially free. That comes as a result of only that powerful state of mind which tells us that we are worth far more than our money.

- Suze Orman

I simply want you to give to yourself as much as you give of yourself. By taking care of yourself financially, you will truly be able to take care of those you love.

- Suze Orman

We never had it as rough as the kids have it today. Look at the price of a gallon of gas or a piece of real estate or a college education.

- Suze Orman

You must trust yourself more than you trust others. Pay attention to your inner voice - it will tell you if how and in what you are investing is right for you.

- Suze Orman

Money you won't need to use for at least seven years is money for investing. The goal here is to have your account grow over time to help you finance a distant goal, such as building a retirement fund. Since your goal is in the future, money for investing belongs in stocks.

- Suze Orman

If you're saving for the long run, it's actually a good thing when the market is down because the more shares you have, the more you can potentially make when markets rise. And over time - decades, not months - the markets rise more than they fall.

- Suze Orman

Give a portion of your money to others. By releasing an anxious grasp on your money, you will open yourself to receive all that is meant to be yours.

- Suze Orman

Owning a home is a keystone of wealth - both financial affluence and emotional security.

- Suze Orman

Late payments also hurt your FICO score. And never, ever take out a cash advance on your credit card.

- Suze Orman

Those carrying a credit card balance should scale back to making the minimum payment each month so they have more money to put into savings.

- Suze Orman

Make this the year you tackle that credit card debt once and for all.

- Suze Orman

The world does not need another credit card.

- Suze Orman

If the only way you can build an emergency fund is to pay the minimum due on your credit card, that is what you need to do.

- Suze Orman

I get so frustrated when people tell me it's unrealistic to create an eight-month emergency savings fund, or have money saved for a home down payment, or pay off their $5,000 credit card balance.

- Suze Orman

It wasn't until I stood in my truth and told everybody that I had $250,000 in credit card debt. At that point, everything turned around for me. I had to reveal the truth about what I didn't have, more than pretend about what I did. That was interesting.

- Suze Orman

A cash advance on a credit card is one of the worst types of borrowing because the interest rate is typically 21 percent or more.

- Suze Orman

I love, love, love that you want to use your debit card. But to keep your credit score solid, you still need to keep a few credit cards and use them at least once every few months.

- Suze Orman

If you're going down the street and you're going the wrong way, remember - God permits U-turns.

- Suze Orman

The foundation of a financial fresh start actually has nothing to do with money or specific financial dos and don'ts.

- Suze Orman

The foundation of a financial fresh start actually has nothing to do with money or specific financial dos and don'ts. The first, and most difficult, step is to absolve yourself and your spouse or partner of any guilt.

- Suze Orman

The middle class has disappeared. We have a highway to poverty and no roads coming out.

- Suze Orman

In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential... it's no different in the financial realm.

- Suze Orman

The chances of a bank going out of business are extremely slim, but it's always a good idea to spread around major sums so every penny is backed by insurance.

- Suze Orman

I am a big believer that orderliness begets wealth. A pile of bills and statements - whether paid or not - is a sign that someone is clueless about what's coming in and going out. When you consciously open, read, and file away your bills and statements, you are connecting with your money and taking control of your life.

- Suze Orman

It's fine to seek professional help, but I urge everyone - no matter how big their portfolio - to truly understand every suggestion they're given before acting.

- Suze Orman

A reverse mortgage is available to anyone who is at least 62 years old and owns a home outright, or has a small mortgage balance remaining.

- Suze Orman

Many people are in the dark when it comes to money, and I'm going to turn on the lights.

- Suze Orman

Make it a priority to have at least eight months of living costs set aside in a federally insured bank or credit union account.

- Suze Orman

I love the Roth IRA. Tax-free income in retirement is a truly great deal.

- Suze Orman

Time is key to building your financial security.

- Suze Orman

People often panic when the markets go down and sell off their stocks - but then they aren't in the game when the markets are doing well.

- Suze Orman

Find $50 a month for savings. No excuses!

- Suze Orman

Never invest emergency savings in the stock market.

- Suze Orman

It may take you months or even a few years to build up an adequate emergency savings fund. That's okay.

- Suze Orman

The way to build your savings is by spending less each month.

- Suze Orman

Yes, your kids should go to school. No, you shouldn't bankroll their degree whatever the cost. You've spent your life creating a sound financial plan; don't upend it by suspending your retirement savings or taking out a home equity line of credit to pay for a pricey college.

- Suze Orman

Every portfolio benefits from bonds; they provide a cushion when the stock market hits a rough patch. But avoiding stocks completely could mean your investment won't grow any faster than the rate of inflation.

- Suze Orman

The world needs another vehicle to get people to pay in cash.

- Suze Orman

Money is kind of just like air - if you don't have air, you can't breathe. If you don't have money, I don't think you'll want to breathe - you won't want to live.

- Suze Orman

It pays to be a fee fiend.

- Suze Orman

The last thing family and friends want is for you to spend money on them that you don't have or that you can't really spare.

- Suze Orman

Your credit score affects the interest rates you're offered on credit cards and loans, can be used to vet your job application, and in some states may influence your insurance premiums.

- Suze Orman

Like your home's closets, your financial clutter needs an overhaul every now and again, and the payoff will go far beyond the psychic satisfaction of neatening up.

- Suze Orman

We tend to focus on assets and forget about debts. Financial security requires facing up to the big picture: assets minus debts.

- Suze Orman

Estate planning is an important and everlasting gift you can give your family. And setting up a smooth inheritance isn't as hard as you might think.

- Suze Orman

If you can't afford the upkeep of your home, it makes no sense to do a reverse mortgage. You will just end up having to sell eventually when you realize you can't afford the home, and whether you have any equity left after the sale depends on the size of the reverse loan that must be settled.

- Suze Orman

If you make time each month to give your money some attention, you'll start the next year in fabulous financial shape.

- Suze Orman

If you wait until your children are high school seniors to spring it on them that there's not a whole lot of money for school, they won't have too many options.

- Suze Orman

Credit unions are often a better deal than banks and tend to pay higher yields on deposits.

- Suze Orman

I am a big believer that orderliness begets wealth.

- Suze Orman

I do not think I am successful just because I have money. I'm successful because I love who I am and I have no regrets, and I'm successful because I have a great heart and I have compassion and I care and I would be happy with or without money.

- Suze Orman

One journalist estimated my liquid net worth at $25 million. That's pretty close. My houses are worth another $7 million.

- Suze Orman

A pile of bills and statements - whether paid or not - is a sign that someone is clueless about what's coming in and going out.

- Suze Orman

Never, ever invest money that you will need prior to three to five years - minimum.

- Suze Orman

Private student loans should be avoided at all costs.

- Suze Orman

Anything that gets people to think harder about their financial security and take some responsibility is a good thing.

- Suze Orman

Success is not how many zeroes your bank account has. It's about making the most of the life you have.

- Suze Orman

Rather than saying, 'My checking account is a wreck,' change it to 'I will learn how to track my spending and balance my checkbook.'

- Suze Orman

I get mad when people give me presents. I don't want them, I don't need them.

- Suze Orman

Here's my gift-giving rule: Respect your current financial situation.

- Suze Orman

Consider a 15- or 20-year fixed-rate mortgage instead of a 30-year, if you can afford the monthly payments - they may not be as high as you think.

- Suze Orman

Prenups are so unromantic - a sign of distrust, not love. Time for a reality check, my friends. First, drawing up a prenuptial agreement together is a sign of incredible trust and financial openness - you're fooling yourself if you think you can achieve complete intimacy without it.

- Suze Orman

Financial advice needs to change according to what is happening in the economy.

- Suze Orman

If you're not staying on top of your money, you are putting your financial well-being at risk.

- Suze Orman

My greatest pleasure is still flying private. I spend between $300,000 to $500,000, depending on my year, on flying private.

- Suze Orman

Everybody in America started to define themselves by all these things they had around them. And all of a sudden it came tumbling down. So the old American dream has died, and that is a good thing.

- Suze Orman

What I've learned is that the audience is constantly rotating. Just because it feels like I've said it, there are millions and millions of people that have still never heard of it.

- Suze Orman

Grace is above praise and blame. I never read the bad stuff people write, but I never read the good stuff, either. Ever. I know who I am, and I know that God looks down on me and smiles. I know that - without a shadow of a doubt.

- Suze Orman

Happiness is not a luxury. It is a necessity. When we are happy, we are in the best possible place to be good to ourselves and those we love.

- Suze Orman

It's easy to underestimate the real cost of home ownership.

- Suze Orman

A wise woman knows how to summon her courage and do what is right, rather than what is easy.

- Suze Orman

Once your kids are grown and you know that you're completely healthy, consider canceling your life insurance policy.

- Suze Orman

The less money you owe, the less income you'll need and the less you'll have to save for tomorrow.

- Suze Orman

If a child, a spouse, a life partner, or a parent depends on you and your income, you need life insurance.

- Suze Orman

Raise your auto and home deductibles to $1,000 or more, and your premium cost falls at least 10 percent.

- Suze Orman

If you have debt I'm willing to bet that general clutter is a problem for you too.

- Suze Orman

Get rid of debt now.

- Suze Orman

If you're going to live in the house make it your goal to just pay off your mortgage.

- Suze Orman

Opt for a fixed-rate rather than an adjustable-rate mortgage.

- Suze Orman

Look everywhere you can to cut a little bit from your expenses. It will all add up to a meaningful sum.

- Suze Orman

You must recognize, embrace, and be honest about what is real for you today and allow that understanding to inform the choices you make. Only then will you be able to build the future of your dreams.

- Suze Orman

When you give, give from the place of the heart because it is the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do.

- Suze Orman

The American dream is dead for the majority of America.

- Suze Orman

To enjoy a long, comfortable retirement, save more today.

- Suze Orman

Sometimes your mind lets you do things with your money that make no sense.

- Suze Orman

We women know how to take care of everybody so well. But the one person we have written out of the equation is us.

- Suze Orman

Courage is not always about action. It takes courage to do nothing rather than do something that you do not believe in or understand.

- Suze Orman

I want to work with the Philippine people and make life better there; there are systems I can work with.

- Suze Orman

In order to create lasting security you must learn to stand in your truth.

- Suze Orman

You have got to be the masters of your own financial future.

- Suze Orman

I think they've been baby bummers.

- Suze Orman

Cut back your spending now.

- Suze Orman

Who would you want to be giving you advice? Somebody who doesn't have any money?

- Suze Orman

Don't let what others think or say get in your way; their actions reflect on them, not you.

- Suze Orman

Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should buy it.

- Suze Orman

I always knew that I would have to make it on my own somehow.

- Suze Orman

Focus on what you have.

- Suze Orman

Put your financial life on autopilot as a form of 'forced' saving.

- Suze Orman

There is nothing more beautiful than a confident woman.

- Suze Orman