Remember that no matter how bad economic times get, you can always flip the collar of your shirt or jacket up for a fashionably jaunty look.

Although I hated to find out because is could've gone either way, I read to page 4 to find out she ate six hot dogs, not puppies.

What I took from this article was simply that Suze Orman is a human being with contradictions...that she can't always follow her own advice, that she doesn't always make the best decisions, and she (like all of us) get angry at stupid people who can't seem to make any good decisions in life.

My favorite part of the article was the account of her appearance on Oprah in which she lost her marbles on a couple who were living off 29 credit cards, had been laid off, didn't have health insurance, and were under water on their home. She went off on them, and it was harsh, but sometimes people need to be harsh to get the message through the thickest of skulls.

I do take offense, however, to her views of college professors, who she say are so underpaid they can't have any self-worth...some of the best professors I've ever had the privilege to learn from are indeed underpaid - but they're some of the foremost leaders in their field, and they chose my university because they believed in the educational atmosphere, not because of the money. My interpretation of this is that since money is her bread and butter, Suze Orman is afraid to admit that happiness can truly be achieved without money.

Wow, that article really is scary. That is a woman that is completely, totally, 100% obsessed with money. If I was a teacher, I most certainly would be hopping mad about that insult to my profession. (I wonder if it is any coincidence that Mr. Rich/Poor Dad also has a similar contempt for teachers.)

And she seems to have an "ends justifies the means" attitude to getting people to take her advice. See the anecdote from the book at the end about what a lucky, financially comfortable guy her father was at the end of his life vs. the different story given to the reporter that he threw his life away (? actually, that part is a bit unclear) and didn't know how his wife was going to be cared for.

@DanR2: Well, now "hot" has been added to the post on the main page. I enjoyed the previous ambiguity.

"Though she is larger than life and wealthy, her primary message is not about larger-than-life ambition or a sky-high entrepreneurial spirit. Orman's advice rarely sounds like "Go West, young man." It sounds more like, "Everyone should have a liquid eight-month emergency fund.""

I like that quote. I heart Suze Orman.

@pecan 3.14159265: The smallish state university I went to had a pretty good business school known for it's logistics dept. The profs there (that weren't adjuncts) were paid around the 75-140K range, depending on tenure. Not too shabby for Northeast Florida. I found this info in researching the school for a project as it is all public record as a state entity. When you consider a starting public school teacher in the same county as this college is 29,500 *sigh*...

I just can't over how crispy she looks. Does she sleep in a tanning bed?

@calquist: Still? After seeing how scary she is and how frighteningly obsessed with money she is?

@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah, I don't understand her beef with teachers. The article even pointed out multiple times where she helped out people for free just for the sole purpose of helping them. If that is true, I would think she would be able to relate to teachers who obviously aren't in it for the money (except for my driver's ed teacher. that oaf who couldn't even drive himself because of DUIs made over $100,000, but that's a different rant).

In this day and age of "Real housewives of ...", it's refreshing to know that my daughter can look up to Suze Orman when she gets older.

@pecan 3.14159265: The only thing scary about her is how she pack away those hotdogs. Dizzamn!

I found the story about her father rushing in to a fire to retrieve the cash register a little bit disturbing. The whole piece seems to paint a picture that Ms. Orman is prone to mania and has an ends-justify-means approach to her public image. After all, if I tell a story about my father's satisfaction in death and it uplifts people, what does it matter that he killed himself?

She, like many Americans, is uncomfortable with her money obsession. Her coping mechanism is to bloviate at length about the perils of debt and knock down obvious targets like families with 29 credit cards. Her brand of advice and "spiritual healing" is a valueless cocktail of basic, common facts and showmanship. I worry about a nation that views Ms. Orman as an expert in anything more complex than self-recriminating, contradictory nonadvice.

After all, the important thing with debt is never the mechanics - it's why we choose to take it on, time and again, despite the obviousness of the consequences. It seems Ms. Orman has little insight beyond petty aphorism.

Imagine a world with an endless supply of hot dogs! You could have a hot dog anytime you wanted! They'd be so abundant, they'd become our currency! 20 hot dogs would equal roughly a nickel. Depending on the strength of the yen, I'm not quite sure...

There were a lot of things in this article that made me feel uncomfortable about her. She gives off this snake oil vibe, yet I cannot argue with the advice she gives.

@pecan 3.14159265: I'm a prof, and thank you very much for your thoughtful defense of the profession.

And, frankly, *lack* of self-worth has never seemed to be a problem with most of the other profs that I know!

Anybody else hungry for a hot dog right now?

LMAO, I had no clue that Suze likes 'Hot Dogs', I wonder if her partner likes them too.

Bottom line is that she people to take a proactive learned approach to managing their finances. And frankly if you have 29 credit cards and your house is in foreclosure, then you should be obsessed with money and your finances. That should be all you think and dream about 24 hours a day until you get solvent.

I've been following Dave Ramsey a lot this year. Is he good?

Suzie Orman reminds me of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books.

I don't trust anyone who smiles all the time while taking your money.

i read some of orman's works. not too impressed. she has some ideas that make more sense than her counterparts - especially for young adults - but i guess i was just looking for more substance from her books & if that's what you want, i don't recommend wasting your time.

@pecan 3.14159265:

Wow - thats a bit of a strong statement. My mother-in-law is a prof. While it is true that she is not getting rich, she has a tenure secured job, a pension, good benefits, and works about 6 hrs a day, nine months out of they year. Her pay checks may not be huge, but if you look at it hourly she makes a great return on her effort. I would not classify this as a bad job at all...

If we are going to thorw eggs at people, there is a long line of people in front of Suzie Orman who deserve it. I get that she is not perfect, but what has she done that is so objectionable?

@1234tu: I see a lot of dichotomy in Suze Orman's words..she acknowledges that professors are underpaid, which would indicate that she believes they should be paid more - but then she says because they are underpaid, they have no self-worth...

She equates self-worth with money. Plain and simple. It's very sad when you get down to it, because self-worth is about fulfillment and value found in activity and family - whether it's volunteering or a paid job. I think Suze Orman has missed that point entirely.

@mac-phisto: Her books are good for telling you exactly what to do. Her chapters are basically Step 1, Step 2. And if you know nothing about personal finance (which is probably why you are reading Suze to being with) those steps are perfect for you.

@pecan 3.14159265: I don't always agree with what you have to say, but I appreciate the heck out of this. As someone that has another 6 years (at least) of grad school and tens of thousands to come in loans my desire to go into teaching is often questioned. The reward is in the passion, knowledge and inspiration that you are passing on to future generations. If I could, I would do it for free.

I'm tired of all the PBS hucksters.

I'm waiting for the two hour ShamWow infomercial with the guy that does the cleaning tips or Sunggie infomercial from Deepak Chopra on how to properly relax on your couch.

I can't view the NYTM article without registering with the site. I don't want to see Suze that bad. Actually, I don't want to see her at all, so I thank the NYTM for stopping me from looking.

@calquist: I can't "heart" anyone who judged self worth solely on money.

@1234tu: Become popular?

@TinkishDelight: My mother in law is a teacher, and some of the people who have had the most influence in my life are professors, people who are lifelong learners, and have imparted endless wisdom and patience.

I want to be a college-level teacher myself eventually, and I applaud you for being in grad school. I, too, will need to take on tens of thousands of loans, but I feel like the world needs more teachers.

I've met some truly brilliant people in my life, and not just in intelligence...these are the most caring people I've ever met, people who would come and drive to you campus in the morning if your car broke down and had no way of getting to school, people who would slip you $10 if you were having financial problems and just needed to get through the day, people who would invite you to have dinner at their home because you couldn't afford a meal, things like that. That's the inspiration that counts, and it's just sad that people see it as unfulfilled goals or unworthy of time.

@masterasia:

The F Word is good, but I hate Hell's Kitchen and the American version of Restaurant Nightmares.

@TinkishDelight:

Six years of grad school? How about trying out a little teaching first for a year or two and see where passion lies? If still there, continue on.

@akronharry: I'm presuming TinkishDelight wants to teach on a college level. You can't really teach on a college level without a masters degree...at least you can't sustain teaching without one. Some colleges will start young teachers with only a bachelor's, but only do it because the teachers are already enrolled in a master's program or have the intention of doing so.

I like how everyone seems to try and dig up dirt on this lady and come back with how she likes hot dogs. I don't care what people think but if everyone would have taken her advise, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today. Seems to me that all this is, is a witch hunt.

Hot dog eating contest, eh...

what, I can't embed a Hulu clip? sigh.
[www.hulu.com]

@calquist: well, i know quite a bit about personal finance, which is why i found them lacking in substance. i guess i'm just not her target audience - i tried her out b/c she's one of the few gurus that targets younger folks. i was especially intrigued by her recognition that debt isn't inherently bad - most advisors are all OMG DEBT *GASP!* which i've always felt was very condescending &/or hypocritical.

Suze Orman is just a bitch. Is it that hard to understand? Speaking of hot dogs, I have one for Suze to choke on.

Why all the derision for Suze Orman? I haven't read the whole NYTM profile ('cause I'm a self-loathing grad student with no time) but as I see it she's basically doing the same thing as Consumerist does, just with a different spin and for a different audience: she's trying to encourage people to be informed and smart about the financial decisions they make. She's dramatic, sure, but she's also hella funny imho.

And as for the self-worth of college professors, she's saying she wouldn't want them to be the ones to teach personal finance, and as a soon-to-be humanities PhD who'll be lucky to earn 50K per year, I wouldn't want to learn from me, either! I'll stick to teaching about class privilege through literature and leave the nitty gritty to Consumerist and Suze Orman.

Why all the derision for Suze Orman? As I see it she's basically doing the same thing as Consumerist does, just with a different spin and for a different audience: she's trying to encourage people to be informed and smart about the financial decisions they make. She's dramatic, sure, but she's also quite funny imho. And as for the self-worth of college professors, she's saying she wouldn't want them to be the ones to teach personal finance, and as a soon-to-be humanities PhD who'll be lucky to earn 50K per year when I start, I wouldn't want to learn from me, either! I'll stick to teaching about class privilege through literature and leave the nitty gritty to Consumerist, Suze Orman, and business professors rather than teachers of any sort.