Podcast Episode - There is Something I Want to Say to You Older Folks

For this special Christmas Day episode, Suze and KT reveal a major change in their lives and pass along some great advice about getting older.

Listen to Podcast Episode:

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Podcast Transcript:

Suze: December 25th, 2025. What do you want to say?

KT: Happy Christmas. Happy Christmas. Happy Christmas. It's here.

Suze: It's here. She says Happy. I say Merry, Merry Christmas..

KT: And happy Hanukkah for those of you that enjoyed that week of lighting candles, playing the dreidel game. Suze, tell them what the dreidel is.

Suze: I was just gonna say, and we hope all of you had a great Hanukkah because we did. And what's so strange about the dreidel game that KT just talked about, which is literally just a game,

KT: Little wooden tops, and you spin them.

Suze: And depending on what comes up on the top when it lands, you either win money, you, whatever it is.

Every time she did it she won.

KT: I won.

Suze: I'm telling you she fixed it. I don't know how she did that, but it's impossible that that little top landed on winning every single time. But anyway, what else were you gonna say, KT?

KT: I've been working the past few days, everyone, in our storage unit here in Florida, and we'll tell you why in a moment, but

I get a phone call yesterday. It's late in the afternoon, Christmas Eve. Suze said, KT, come home, come home, I miss you. I said, all right, I have to make one stop at FedEx. I stopped at FedEx. I'm shipping all these things, and the two guys I work with, Rodney and Gavin, look at me and say, KT, you don't look very happy. It's Christmas.

I said, you know what, boys, I don't even have a tree yet. I don't have a Christmas tree. I think I'll stop and get some clippings and put them in a vase like Suze and I do all the time and put lights on it and, and try to make it a Merry Christmas. And they said, KT, forget about it. It's already, you know, Christmas Eve, it's over. Anyway...

Suze: Wait, before she goes on.

On the island, because it's not easy to get Christmas trees on and off an island, we had this big tree, as all of you saw over all the years that was artificial, and that was that, right?

KT: Colo and I would decorate it.

Suze: As you also would see, but in Florida, which is where we are, we don't have that tree. And so therefore, go on, KT.

KT: OK, so I said, all right, so I go home. I get home.

And the door in the foyer of our condo is closed and it smells delicious. It smells like mulling spices and cloves and cinnamon, and, and Suze's greeting me at the door, which is rare, and she said, KT, I'm so glad you're home. I said, Susie, it smells delicious. It smells like Christmas.

And she said, KT, Merry Christmas, and she opens the door and there in front of me is a beautiful live Christmas tree decorated with little baby lights, little crystals hanging on, crystal ornaments and photographs all over the tree, and I burst into tears. I was crying and crying, and I told her how I was telling the boys at FedEx I don't have a tree.

Anyway, Suze, when I was working all day, did this by herself, a huge surprise...

Suze: To both of us, I didn't know how to wrap lights on a tree because the one in the island,

KT: Everything was automatic.

Suze: Yeah, you opened up the things and there were the lights. I mean, it was quite something.

KT: So Suze did this by herself. No one could believe she put this all together. She had a stand. She had a beautiful red satin...

Um, we'll have to send a picture to everyone. We'll send, we'll post a photo tomorrow. We'll post it tomorrow.

Suze: That was my...

KT: Wait, can I tell them the photos? The photos on the tree, everyone was significant and meaningful, and I'm not gonna share the details, but she wrote a personal note on the back of each photograph.

And I cried and cried and cried and I said this is the best Christmas gift of all time and the house smells like pine.

Suze: I was so happy because I was able to give her something that she really, really wanted. So that's how Christmas started began.

KT: That's how it began on Christmas Eve, which is really the most significant night that we celebrate being Italians.

Suze: You know, KT, I don't know if we ever even finished the beginning of this podcast, which is, Welcome everybody to the Women in Money podcast as well as everybody smart enough to listen. We just went straight into Christmas, KT, and maybe all of you noticed that the

title of this podcast is There's Something I Want to Say to You Older Folks. And the truth of the matter is KT and I are older folks now. I'm going to be 75. KT's going to be 74. So many of you out there

are older than us, are our same age, are 10 years younger than us, and a few of you who are smart enough to listen are a lot younger than that.

KT: Do you feel older? Do you feel like an older folk?

Suze: It depends how my body feels, honestly.

KT: How about your heart?

Suze: Oh, my heart is as young, as young

KT: And feisty

Suze: and loving as possible.

KT: We're having a honeymoon.

Suze: Yeah, we are.

KT: And what, what about, um, what about your head? How you think?

Suze: Oh, of course I think like a two year old. Are you kidding me? But, but there's a reason why I wanted to call this podcast that.

Because when you get older, sometimes, no matter how much you love something,

No matter what's going on in your life that you hope goes on forever.

Sometimes there's a time that things just need to come to an end.

KT: It's called change.

Suze: And it's called change. And as many of you know, for the past 14 years, KT and I have lived on the most magnificent private island.

In an extraordinary home that I built for KT from the ground up, I designed every aspect of that home to be called pure perfection for KT, and that was a gift. The island, truthfully, everybody was a gift to KT.

We had Colo there as you know we had a dock we had a boat we had fishing equipment we had it all. The name of our home, our boat,

even our everything around us is what KT?

KT: Purnata.

Suze: Tell everybody what Purnata means.

KT: Purnata means perfection.

Suze: And in actuality it was a perfect life, a perfect time, and we lived in pure perfection.

Suze: All right, KT, you're on.

KT: So after 14 years of living perfection, honestly, and loving every minute except for hurricane season, loving every minute of our experience together...

Suze: The truth is we really loved hurricane season too.

KT: You were petrified of hurricane.

Suze: Yes, but I loved the wind. I love that doesn't mean I wasn't afraid, but I was.

KT: She liked the Mother Nature. We never knew when she was gonna deliver and what she was gonna deliver. So anyway, we both looked at each other, and after all these years, after over a decade of our life, we knew it was time for change.

And as difficult as it might seem and as people wonder like, well, why? Sometimes you just need change, everybody, so we sold our island home and it just closed last week with a lot of tears and a lot of work to take all of your life and move.

Suze: And which is why KT was in the storage unit where many of the things went, but Colo, everybody, and I know you're all wondering about, but what is Colo gonna do? Did he come with you? Is he living there with you? What about Colo?

KT: Yeah, everyone doesn't care that we, we sold our home. They're saying, Well, what'd you do with Colo?

Suze: The truth of the matter is Colo is staying on the island that he actually has been on for over 20 some odd years now.

And he's going to stay with the home. He loves the new owner. He loves the new owner's wife. It is so perfect for him, and you know what he loves more than anything?

KT: His wife!

Suze: His wife Annie is going to be with him.

KT: And she's there now having Christmas with him, right? And so he really doesn't miss us that much.

Suze: No, but they're gonna work it out that they can have a life together as time goes on.

And so Colo, I know that you're listening to this. You know we miss you. You know we love you. KT is now crying.

KT: Colo, Suze got me a real tree, and I, I wish you were here to decorate it with us.

Suze: It's decorated. I did a great job.

KT: I know, but Colo, we decorated our tree together for so many years.

Suze: All right, so while she's now crying, because obviously you can all imagine,

what it's like leaving a home like that, but the truth of the matter is.

That we're so happy now in our little condo, and what I love most about it, everybody, is that over the years.

KT and I have owned many, many homes. At one point, not so long ago, we had five homes. We had a magnificent home in South Africa where I worked. We actually had two in New York, one in the Plaza Hotel, everybody.

KT: San Francisco

Suze: San Francisco, magnificent.

And the island, it was...

KT: The island was like the cherry on top

Suze: And the condo in Florida, which is where we are now, which we got in 2004 simply because my mother, who lived in Chicago, refused to move here unless KT and I moved here. So one day we went fine.

KT: Tell them what we did. We, we called my sister Lynn and said, find us a condo we can just fly down and buy something on the beach, something small, something easy. So she said, OK. We flew from New York. We, we were working like every day doing shows and really busy. We flew down early in the morning, got off the plane, came and looked at with a realtor at a couple condos, found this one, said, done.

Suze wrote a check, got back on the plane at lunchtime, and went back to New York to work. That was our little Florida condo, and that's why her mom decided and agreed to move out of Chicago to Florida.

Suze: And to our surprise, honestly.

We fell in love with Florida.

KT: We loved it here.

Suze: We were in shock.

KT: First of all, everything was easy driving here.

Suze: We didn't need a driver here.

KT: We didn't need a driver. We actually shipped our San Francisco car here, so we had a car. Long story short, we couldn't believe how easy it was to drive around and park. For all of you New Yorkers, you know what it means to try

and park a car in New York City.

Suze: But what was fascinating is we go out to eat sushi, $32. The exact same meal—because we always order the same thing—was like $200 in New York. So little by little we fell in love with it and we changed our residency from California to Florida because we now are in Florida all the time.

And truthfully, wanna hear something that was great...

KT: It's warm.

Suze: Besides that, what we saved on California income tax paid for the condo outright the next year, so it was fabulous, everybody, in every possible way. And again, California is really where we lived most of the time, but not anymore as soon as we moved here.

Then as time went on, just so you know our history of homes, because we were never in California anymore really because we loved it here so much, we sold the California residency.

KT: And the Suze Orman Show was always taped in New York City.

Suze: But we were never in New York long enough to become New York residents because we were Florida residents. So then as time went on...

We ended the Suze Orman Show in 2015.

KT: So after Suze said, KT, we're gonna get rid of everything, sold New York, sold California, sold South Africa. So here we are in Florida, and Suze decides we need to travel, we can't just stay in this little condo so she buys a big yacht. And I think all of you that know us know that we lived on...

A beautiful large Azimut. We had a captain, a big yacht, and we had it right here in the Florida condo in a little marina that this condo has. So everyone, we traveled all throughout the Bahamas loving our life on a yacht, our little condo in Florida. And when I say little, it's little. It's a little two-bedroom and one room is now her recording studio, which we're in right now. We love it.

And we lived on that yacht and then discovered our little private island which then we bought land, built the home, and that's what we've done, I guess, in the past 25 years together. So now it's time for a new chapter. It's 2025. It's our 25th anniversary. Suze's turning 75. It's the...

the perfect time for something different, different new.

Suze: However, the little boat that we had is over here as well in a little marina here, so life will go on in certain ways...

KT: But we can't wait to explore again and travel.

We cannot wait to do that. We're actually really excited. As much as you, my friends, everyone's saying, KT, how can you leave your island? How can you and Suze leave such an amazing one-of-a-kind lifestyle? And I said, you know what, it was just time. And I keep using a metaphor that you'll all relate to.

Remember when you're in high school and it's time to either go and get a job or go to college or do whatever you're doing, but you left high school and those friends that you grew up with for four years and loved every minute of it and you're still pretty

much single and it's time for something new that is exciting but at the same time you're so sad to leave what you knew and loved all those years. That's what it feels like. It's new and it's time.

Suze: Yeah, and the reason why

I wanted to call this podcast that there are things that I wanna say to you older folks, is that now that we've actually done this.

I have to tell you, KT and I feel young again.

KT: Honeymoon.

Suze: Young in a different way, like we're gonna be forever young, and I finally, I know everybody's gonna think we're crazy.

That I achieved a dream that I've always had.

Do you remember what that dream is, KT?

KT: It makes me laugh because it's kind of funny that you're, she's setting it up like this romantic dream but wanna hear what it really is?

Suze: That if we, that if we had to.

If we hadn't amassed everything that we have, and you can imagine it doesn't even matter, but if we were like just, just...

KT: Just me and Suze, we can live on our Social Security checks...

Suze: In this little condo without—because we don't own anything.

KT: We have no expenses. We have no debt. We have a free life.

Suze: Are we gonna live like that? Are you crazy, everybody? There's a few luxuries that we are not going to give up. Trust me on that one.

KT: But just the knowing that she can do that, being the money lady, that means a great deal to Suze, not to me, but to Suze.

Suze: However, more than that.

Both of us are so happy like yesterday and early this morning.

I have to tell you when we were talking to KT's brother and we said we feel so young again, we feel so free, but here's the point of what I want to say to everybody out there.

There comes this time when it makes sense, emotionally, physically, and financially to downsize. It just does, and we have significantly now downsized our life, and I mean significantly, and in the way that I tell all of you.

And I've written in the Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+ that as you're getting older, those are the things that I want you to think about doing and actually doing, and I want you to know that KT and I both follow the advice that I have been giving to all of you.

And we've done that so that we can feel forever young, so that we can make the most out of every moment of the rest of our lives. And with that said, that brings us to the end of this podcast.

I want to end this podcast,

with an audio recording that was actually done on November 20th, 1960, 65 years ago on the Ed Sullivan Show.

And it's from a woman by the name of Sophie Tucker. Now many of you are going to remember who she is. Many of you may never have even heard of her.

But the title of it is There's Something I Want to Say to You Older Folks. So with that, we wish you all a very merry Christmas, a very happy Christmas. We wish you all a life that you really feel forever young.

Clip of Sophie Tucker: Something that I want to say to you older folks.

You young people, you can listen too.

Because what I'm going to say will someday apply to you.

I know that a lot of you older folks are comfortably retired. You've no ties of any kind, and work is no longer required.

So you're sitting around in idleness, each day becomes a bore.

And you're beginning to stop thinking.

That there's nothing worth living for.

You'd like to get into some little business, but you feel you're too old to begin.

Well, I'm going to tell you about a business I'm sure all of you can be in.

You be in the business of staying young.

Make staying young a career.

Don't sit around and sigh and let the world pass you by, but get with it. Stay with it as long as you're here.

And don't be living in the past. You plan a future.

And look forward to each added year.

I tell you there's no greater thrill, no greater satisfaction when you can say, yes, I'm up in years, but I'm still an it.

You be in the business of staying young.

Make staying young a career.

And ladies and gentlemen, I practice what I preach. I've been in the business of staying young ever since I hit the 50 mark.

And believe me, it's a wonderful business in which all of you can embark.

It gives you that happy feeling of starting life anew.

And like any business, it requires your time and attention too.

Its compensations are many and it pays big dividends and you'll find as you go along, you accumulate a fortune in new friends. You'll profit by accomplishment, find something new to do. Just give it a try and remember all you risk is a bit of you.

There's a place for you in this world and jobs that can be done. Just make up your mind. You're never too old to try and help someone.

It will help you face those coming years with courage and a smile.

If each day you can honestly say,

I'm doing something worthwhile.

Age can be a frightening thing. If you let yourself fear it, you can't help it if you're up in years, but you don't have to be down in spirit. Take pride in your appearance. Try to look up to par. That's the only way of having people forget how old you really are.

My friends, I've told you time and again in songs that I have sung that I will always be engaged in the business of staying young.

I know I'm not indestructible. Time is exacting its toll.

But I had a goal I wanted to reach.

And I think I've reached my goal.

So you get busy and be useful every day that you're on Earth.

And with your talents and your efforts, go ahead and prove your worth and be grateful that you're living in the world of youth today.

And you too can be useful if you think and live that way.

So you be in the business of staying young. Make staying young a career.