Podcast Episode - The Price Of Freedom

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In this episode, Suze talks about the financial and emotional costs of freedom. She reminds us to stay focused, strong, and safe./

Podcast Transcript:

July 5, 2020. Suze O. here and welcome to the Women and Money podcast as well as the men smart enough to listen. July 4th was yesterday. Did you all have a good time? Did you all feel like celebrating? Did some of you feel like you didn't have anything to celebrate about? Some of you were happy that I spoke to yesterday and some of you were absolutely miserable. And so, we're all going through still an emotional time because crazy things are still happening in the United States of America. For me, it was an interesting time because, as you may know, I live with KT on a little island that's 2.5 miles long, half a mile wide. Not many people on this island and for almost four months, nobody who wasn't on the island when the island closed down could come on the island. It was in quarantine, all workers were sent off, no people could come, it was closed, everybody. And that meant for us as well as other people that none of our relatives or people that we loved, or people that we normally see all the time, would be able to come here and see us. And for KT in particular, and if you don't know who KT is by now, shame on all of you. Where have you been? KT is my spouse, the love of my life. You get to hear her every once in a while on the podcast, but KT, in particular, has a twin. And when I say she loves her twin sister, oh my God, she loves her. And I can't blame her because Lynn is one of the most extraordinary people out there. She's almost like KT, a little thinner, but that's beside the point. Lynn and her husband, Tom, and my other brother in law, John, who have all been living together in Florida, were able to come over on July 1. And when we saw each other at the airport, when their little plane landed, at first we couldn't hug each other because they had just come off the plane and they had to go home and take off their clothes and change their clothes to make sure that everything is OK. Because there's all of you know, you know, I'm older now and I have trouble with my lungs, no secrets with that, and so I'm very high risk. And so, we didn't get to hug when we first saw each other, but then we made it back to the house and then Lynn walks into the kitchen and I'm walking from the bedroom into the kitchen and she starts to cry and I start to cry and we embrace. We physically hold each other for the first time and, whoa, that was a big deal, a big deal. So I also get how it is to not have freedom, to just be together and be with everybody and to go out and to do all of these things. However, there is a price for freedom at this point in time, and that is because many people really don't care about paying attention to the virus and what's going on, and how it's now ramped up to almost 50k people a day being detected with it, and what that means for everybody. Many in the hospitals now again are approaching capacity, which makes me feel so horrible for all the nurses and the doctors and the ENTs and everybody working in those environments because here we go again. The front line and nobody is out there to instruct them or help them. And so so many people have not wanted to respect wearing a mask or keeping socially respectable distances because they wanted their freedom at all costs. All of us now, I'm afraid to say, are going to pay a huge financial price for that freedom. So I now want you to all listen to me. I have been very clear on my instructions on what I want you to do with money. How I felt about the stock market, how I even feel about COVID. I still believe that sometime in late September, early October we'll be getting good news again on COVID and hopefully, that will turn it around for a long time. And that's one thing, all right. But right now, COVID is raging. And because COVID is raging, that affects everybody because you're going to see other layoffs happening, you're going to see businesses not opening up, you're going to see it affecting everything, financially speaking. You're also going to see, I'm afraid to say, a lot of social unrest where people's rights, their God-given rights that really have been taken away from them, are going to be opposing those who feel like they're just instigators and they just want to cause trouble and their cause isn't relevant. And that, I'm afraid, is going to cause an incredible coming against one another in every possible way over these next few months as well. And when that happens, that's going to cause fear in many people. And when you have fear coming out and it affects everybody, fear is the main internal obstacle to wealth and that eventually, starting right now, I'm afraid to say, I think is going to affect the stock market. The stock market has been acting very interesting lately and that it has been going up and down and has been trading between where I said it would trade probably 22k, 26k, all around there. But it's also doing something which in my opinion, is showing that it's not really so healthy because when it goes down, it goes down. But then when it goes up, it doesn't quite go up as much as it went down. And then we have lower down days than we do higher up days. And that just starts to concern me because that just shows that the faith in the market for everybody is starting to be like, I'm not so sure how I feel about this. I feel like there are big cracks in the foundation of the markets here. So what does that mean to you? I think we're going to go through another very rough time with the stock market between now and probably January or February of next year. So, we're going to see ups, we're going to see downs, we're going to see ups, we're going to see downs, and all over the place. So again, if you have time on your side, you have five, 10, 15 years or longer, and you want to continue to dollar cost average at this point in time, I don't have a problem with that. But you are going to have a tendency, if I think what's going to happen is going to happen, you're going to want to get out of the market. If you're taking advantage of dollar-cost averaging when the market goes down because you're putting your money in once a month, you might just want to, you know, on a really good down day, that's the day that you dollar cost average in. OK? You just might want to think about that. But if you're dollar-cost averaging for the long run, you'll make it through this time. And I think this time will be from about now, all the way until January, so I'm not saying it's going straight down from here. We could have big up days next week and so forth, but I think overall the trend is going to be down. This is not the time to be lump-sum investing on any level, everybody. If you have a sum of money, let's say you have $50k. You are not to put all $50k in the stock market right here and right now, do you hear me? Now, other people may tell you other things, but that's what I'm telling you. I would not be doing it in a lump sum right here and right now. I would not be committing more than 2% of my investing capital to one particular stock. Not here, not now. Again, if you want to go little by little, you want to take advantage of the fact that you can buy one share, two shares now, whatever it may be. Or you can buy slices of things, OK, but small amounts of money here. If you are somebody who needs their money within one year, you should come out of the stock market in my opinion. You never belonged in the stock market. Money that is needed within one year should never have been in the stock market. Actually, money that you need within three years really shouldn't be in the stock market. You should be only investing in the stock market if you have at least five, 10, 15 years really. I would like to see your target be 10 and 15 years until you need that money, then I'm not upset or worried about you. But I'm telling you that we're all about to pay, in my opinion, the price for freedom, financially speaking. So, that's financially what I want you to do. But I'm actually a little bit more afraid that we're about to see things over the next few months that none of us have ever dreamt in our wildest, wildest imagination. We're about to see things that we never, ever thought we would be seeing, experiencing, watching, hearing about, and all of that. So you have an entirely different role now that you need to start playing in your own life, and you need to really become the masters, not only of your financial destinies, but you need to become the masters of your own emotional, psychological, physical destiny. You know, sometimes I talk to people, and it is so obvious how their minds, how their minds are absolutely destroying all the goodness around them. All the positivity and all the possibilities, all the probabilities. And their mind just won't go there because they need to understand the past. They need to understand what's happening right here and right now. Stop with this, trying to understand that which is not understandable. You can look at this world right now, and you can see that many of the actions of the things that are going on around us just are not understandable. Maybe some of the people in your life and what they've done to you, or maybe what they're doing is just not understandable. Stop trying, especially in these next few months, for you to understand that which makes absolutely no sense at all. Not only are you destroying yourself when you do that, but you will destroy anybody wanting to be around you because now is the time to keep good company. Now is the time to be around people who are positive. You thought it was that time before, like the first few months and what was going on in March. I think that time is coming up right here and right now, believe it or not. Sure, you're going to be able to go outside and you're going to be able to have that freedom. There's going to be another type of freedom, emotionally speaking, psychologically, and spiritually speaking, that I think we're all going to start to feel because there are so many things that we need to do in our life so we don't have a way to do it anymore. How we going to pay our bills, how we going to get a job? How are we going to do this? How are we going to do that? If the United States really isn't hiring, if the businesses aren't opening, if money isn't coming in because our Senate just can't pass anything to help everybody. So, this is going to be going on energetically everywhere, got that? So you need to stay away from people who are not positive, get them out of your life, there is no room for them in your life. Until they decide to change, they're only going to have a negative effect on you. So your job now is to be kind, be kind to yourself, be kind to others. To be strong, be strong for yourself, and strong for others. To be courageous. If you're afraid and you don't know what you're going to do, just be courageous and you will find a way. You have to be healthy, you have to stay healthy and watch what you eat. And you know, everybody that I've seen, many of the people that I've seen come back on the island have gained so much weight, I can't even believe it. I, on the other hand, have lost 20lbs but it seems nobody's noticed. But that's beside the point. But it's, you know, it's like you've got to eat healthily, your body is your temple, and what you put in it is what will be reflected in. And it's really not just a manner of are you heavier or are you not, are you thinner? It's are you strong? And so, therefore, you've got to be true to yourself. You have got to be virtuous and don't let your mind do you in. And I know this is supposed to be a financial show. Many of you are probably just tuning and going, what is this all about? What is this Suze person about? This Suze person is about the wholeness of who you are. Money and you are one. Money is simply a physical manifestation of you. And when you are not kind, when you are weak, when you are afraid, when you are not healthy, when you are not true to yourself, when you're not being virtuous, when you are taking sides, and when you're letting your mind do you in, I am here to tell you, your money will go out faster than you have any idea of what hits you. You will not be able to hold on to anything because you will spend more than because you feel less than. You will buy things to make yourself feel better. You'll do this, you'll do that, and I'm telling you, you will then seriously be in a financial, chaotic mess. And the price that you will pay to be doing all those things will be your financial freedom, your emotional freedom, your psychological freedom because when you don't have money, you are in financial jail. There is nothing worse than being unhealthy, not having your health as well as not having any money to do anything with. So that's what today's podcast is about. Short, sweet, and powerful. But it's very important that you contemplate in your own lives, what is the price of freedom? Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm Robert, and we're from Suze Orman's Women and Money podcast team here to tell you that Alloya's member credit unions are so proud to have brought you this episode. You know, Robert, credit unions live by people helping people philosophy. Absolutely, Sarah. And that means when you bank with a credit union, you can trust that they have your best interest at heart. The fact is, regardless of circumstance, a credit union will have your back and keep your money safe, that's the credit union promise. Go to www.MyCreditUnion.gov to find a credit union that fits your needs. That's MyCreditUnion.gov. In providing answers neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman is acting as a Certified Financial Planner, advisor, a Certified Financial Analyst, an economist, CPA, accountant, or lawyer. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman makes any recommendations as to any specific securities or investments. All content is for informational and general purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and financial advisors regarding your particular situation. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman accepts any responsibility for any loss, which may arise from accessing or reliance on the information in this podcast and to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for loss or damages, direct or indirect, arising from use of the information.

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