Podcast Episode - Ask KT & Suze Anything: When Did You Decide To Stand In Your Truth?

On this special Suze Birthday episode of Ask KT and Suze Anything, KT switches things up and asks Suze questions about her life and what led to some of her biggest decisions.

Listen to Podcast Episode:

---

Podcast Transcript:

KT: Welcome everybody to the Women and Money podcast, and everyone's smart enough to listen and smart enough to say happy birthday, Suze. Today is her birthday, everybody. It's June 5th. It's a Gemini day—all 24 hours of it. Today we have a very special day planned.

Suze: What are you doing? Because I'm looking at her, everybody, and in front of her are her typical questions.

KT: Well, little pile of paper, but this is one piece of paper.

Suze: So she's up to something.

KT: I'm up to something really fun. So we're gonna start first with something Suze wants to share with all of you, and then we're gonna get right into it. Get ready, put on your seatbelts, everybody.

Suze: I can't wait to see what we're going to do here, but anyway, on May 25th—maybe you heard that podcast, maybe you didn't—but at the end of that podcast was my incredible thank you to my co-writer Carla Fried, and it was her birthday that day, and I just loved that because I love her so much. And then I got this email that I'm going to read to you back from her.

Where she says it's sort of unfair. I need a podcast so on June 5th I can share how lucky I have been. I am the word person and I don't have the right ones to express my gratitude. The work is fun and challenging and important. To have a role in helping you work your magic and reach so many people has been an honor.

And just as meaningful has been the forging of a personal friendship as well. We have been working together for 22 years, and I have no other experience of feeling just as lucky today as I was 22 years ago. You are a constant gift, love, C.

Now, the reason I wanted to start this podcast off with this is because Carla, you now did have a podcast—you had this podcast so that you could share with everybody how lucky you have been.

But the truth is the two of us together are really the dynamic duo, and I hope we get to go on for a whole lot longer. So my birthday gift back to you for me was reading that on the podcast. However, there's another gift that we have for all of you who listen to the Women and Money podcast.

As you know, I have been telling all of you for over 20 or 30 years now you have to have the must-have documents, and as most of you know, the must-have documents are a living revocable trust, a will, an advance directive, and durable power of attorney for health care, and a financial power of attorney.

And really from the bottom of my heart, there is nothing more important that all of you can have in place right here and right now. Now, normally if you go to musthavedocs.com, which is where you can purchase these documents, it's usually $99. But here's the gift to all of you:

Whether you know it or not, I turned 74 today. So therefore between today June 5th all the way through the end of June 12th, you have one week. You can go to musthavedocs.com/birthday and get the must-have documents for $74. Now I have to tell you that's a big deal, and what you need to know about those documents is they are—if you went to see an attorney—$2500 minimum of state-of-the-art documents. Good in all 50 states, you can do it in the luxury of your own home. Every time you want to come back and change something, you're not going to be charged. When there are updates, you automatically get them. So honest to God, everybody, over all these years, millions and millions and millions of you have gotten the must-have documents, and there has really never been a complaint about them. So want to take advantage of it.

My birthday gift to all of you. Go to musthavedocs.com/birthday.

One last thing, while it is my birthday today. Tomorrow is Ethan, my cousin, who I love more than life itself, it is his birthday. So Ethan, happy, happy birthday.

KT: OK, so we have a series of questions here that we're going to delve into.

Suze: Where'd you get them from?

KT: I made them up. I made them up. We have a series of questions that we're going to share.

Suze: Are they about money?

KT: No, they're about you. It's about Suze Orman. How much that what they don't know anything about you. They know you're the money lady, but let's find out how much of a money lady...

Suze: What does that mean, 'they don't know anything about me?'

KT: Nobody knows anything about.

Suze: I've written 10 books about me.

KT: All right, let's start with the first one. Suze, what is the most valuable money lesson you wish you've learned when you were much younger?

Suze: Truthfully, that money doesn't define you. You define your money. I spent so many years, KT, really wanting to impress people with money that I didn't have, and I would do everything I could to use that money, including everybody, stealing money from my father's pockets. So that I could take that money and go and buy things for my friends because I felt that everybody was better than me cause their parents had more money than me, a nicer house than me, nicer clothes, all of this stuff. I wish I had known that who I was was enough. And that money really had nothing to do with any part of the definition of Suze Orman.

KT: Mm, very good. So that leads to my next question. How has your perspective on money and happiness changed as you've gotten older?

Suze: You know, KT, I've actually written about this and talked about this many times. But growing up I really thought that the key to happiness was money because my parents would fight all the time about money and it was about money. They didn't have enough, I mean, and it went on and on forever, so I really thought that money was the key to happiness.

And there I am years later and now I'm a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch or a financial executive or whatever they called us at the time, and I was making a lot of money. I had like $120,000 in a savings account. I was making over $10,000 a month. I mean, for me, I was making a lot of money and I was so miserable. I can't tell you.

So now I'm stuck with this dilemma, if money isn't the key to happiness, then what is? And KT, that's exactly what sent me on like the spiritual journey, so to speak, like, what's the key to happiness, everybody? What, what's it all about if it's not about money? And that was the beginning of Suze Orman truthfully.

KT: How old were you then?

Suze: About 30, yeah I was probably 31, 32 right in there.

KT: OK, so looking back, what's the one financial decision you made that you're especially proud of?

Suze: Wow, um. The one that I made that I'm really proud of, which was probably the hardest one was I decided at the age of 65 right around there to find out who was Suze Orman.

When she didn't have a standing ovation, when she didn't have her own TV show, she didn't write a column for Oprah or whatever it may be. She wasn't on QVC and all that. What was interesting is I'll never forget...

Looking at the camera, at a live TV show on QVC, having just done a million dollar hour. And selling out. And Rick Domeyer, who is the host, and I still love him so much, right, looked and said, 'Don't worry, everybody, we'll order more and she'll be back in a month.' And I looked right into the camera. I said, no, I won't. I said this is my last show. I'm done. And it was like everything just became very silent.

KT: We thought you were kidding...

Suze: ...and because you were in the green room watching this, right...

KT: I said, 'what did she just say?'

Suze: But I meant it and that's when I also was like, OK, I'm not going to renew for the Suze Orman show, on CNBC. I was like, it's over everybody.

KT: She had an epiphany that this was the time to just stop everything and find out who...

Suze: ...and sell all of our homes. We had 4 or 50 homes. All of them got sold, and that's when KT and I essentially moved to this little island in the Bahamas to learn how to fish, and everybody thought that we had had a nervous breakdown and it really was the greatest moment maybe, in my life.

KT: My life too.

Suze: Well...

KT: In my life, it took a little while because I, I, she didn't share this with anybody. It just happened. It wasn't premeditated on any level. It just, it was...

Suze: Spontaneous...

KT: Spontaneity, which is what she's famous for.

Suze: But it felt right, everybody. It felt like that was the truth. And I was going to stand in it and I was going to find out the answer to that question because truthfully, KT, you know why. I had watched Barbara Walters and Larry King. And some other people not being able to stop, they let what they were doing define them. And I didn't want what I was doing to define me. I wanted to define what I was doing, and it was such an incredible thing to go from being known as the money lady to us being known KT as the fishing ladies. What an accomplishment that was.

KT: All right. Here's another one...

KT: So Suze.

Suze: Where did you get these? You just wrote them all down?

KT: I wrote down a whole bunch of different ones and I'll mix them up a little bit. After you made those big decisions, how do you celebrate financial milestones?

Suze: Like what? Like, give me an example, KT.

KT: Well, like having like one of those million dollar hours on QVC. How do you celebrate that? Share that with everyone. I was there. Those are milestones.

Suze: Well, you know, it was always a thing on QVC that if you could do a million dollars in an hour, that was really a great show because most people, they did maybe $300,000 or $680,000 right in there, but a million dollars in one hour and KT was there in the green room watching and there I was on set. And we had a million dollars and I came back when the show was over and said, we just did a million dollars. We have to go celebrate. This is a big deal, KT and I'll let you tell everybody how we celebrated.

KT: All right, first of all, it must have been about... maybe 11:30 at night that we were in Pennsylvania at the QVC studios driving our own car back to New York and we would pass on the highway over and over again those golden arches, the forbidden golden arches, those hot crispy french fries, that double cheeseburger with no ketchup...

Suze: But onions go on. So tell them...

KT: So Susie said, KT, I know what I want. I want, I want to stop at McDonald's and that became our million dollar hour treat and celebration. And we would pull in and she would be so happy and we would go through the window, place our order, eat in the car, get all dirty and messy spilling all kinds of things, and she was as happy as could be.

Suze: So that's how I celebrated. It was a long, long time because the million dollar hours then came quite often. Yes.

KT: OK, so here's a good one. Just a just a a most well, I don't know...

Suze: Wait before you say anything, I wish you could see I should take a picture of this—KT's little paper in front of her with all her scribbles, her handwriting and everything. So, I'll take a picture of this, but I want that one when I'm going to... all of you may not know this, but I have saved everything for 25 years now that KT has ever written, whether it's a little heart or 'here's your lunch,' whatever it may be and I have—it's a lot I have, right—because even if she wrote my name: Suze, on a card, I would save it like an envelope. So I'm going to have to save this one.

KT: Let's go down memory lane. What's the—I hope I'm part of this one, the answer—what's the best birthday present you've ever received and was it money related?

Suze: Well, no, it never would have been money related. The best present... For a birthday?

KT: Your birthday that you've ever received, could have been more than one if you think about it.

Suze: Oh boy, probably the one that surprised me the most because they're all the best was you taking me across from where we live. There's another little beach going...

KT: We have a beach on the east side and we have a beach on the west side of this skinny little island.

Suze: Right? So KT took me to the east side and it was like this little treasure hunt that I had to dig up these things, and finally I found one and I dug it up and it was a book.

KT: Well, it was a treasure chest, all right, and it was buried in the sand.

Suze: That's right, that's right,

KT: and there were gold coins scattered around it and you were so—you said I found them. I found them. I found the gold. We were playing pirate and tell them what was in it.

Suze: So then when I opened it up, right, there was a book that KT had literally had printed—a professional book, a real book, bound book, bound, right—with, with not sayings but letters and, and birthday wishes and memories from all of my friends and it was and family and everybody and it was an extraordinary feat to get that together and create that so. That was great, but you know what else I really loved?

KT: Well, what else?

Suze: The coin.

KT: Oh,

Suze: and I think out of all this stuff, KT, that coin—KT, you tell them about our experience with the military.

KT: So, so Suze and I, um, when she was touring and we were on the road and constantly going out, she said KT, I want to do something to give back to our country, just something that she felt very compelled that she needed to do, it was to help the military members and the families of all branches of the military. So wherever we went on tour, we would ask to be invited and allowed to go on a base and give a talk, a free talk.

This is when Suze was in the highest, highest demand of speaking engagements. So whenever we would visit the bases, the head commander or the general on duty would thank Suze, yeah, and present her with his coin,

Suze: Right? So every armed forces, all of the divisions, each, but each squadron has their own coin.

Including the President of the United States...

KT: Presidential coin, right?

Suze: ... who I got one from, but anyway, and when you've done something that money can't buy. Then the head, the admiral or the head officer of that base presents you with their coin and the...

KT: ...highest honor of a thank you that you can receive

Suze: and, and it's the actual only thing that I collect. KT will tell you I am not a clutter person.

Like I would throw everything away if I could. Like sometimes she has to stop me, and she's afraid that when she leaves the house for a while, when she comes back, certain things will be gone cause I'm like, Hey, if you're not using it, I'm giving it away so somebody else could use it. But anyway, then I found out about this tradition.

It's called you're coined. Like if somebody comes up to you and presents their coin to you, because all the people in these divisions, they all had coins of their squadron, and if they presented a coin to you and you didn't have a coin, you'd have to buy them a drink.

KT: Coin check it was called.

Suze: And if you did have a coin, they'd have to buy you a drink.

KT: Everyone would throw their coins down in the canteen when Suze walked in, which meant Suze Orman bought everyone drinks, and she loved doing this.

Suze: So KT designed as a gift to me, one of my presents, my own coin. And it was so incredible and then I actually had thousands made.

KT: Yeah, we had it minted by the United States military.

Suze: And on one of my shows on QVC for the Women and Money book, it came with that coin, but it was always so great for me to be able to go on a base and coin check people with my own coin and present my coin to the head Officer, as well we would exchange them as I did with President Obama.

KT: We'll make sure when we're finished with the podcast we'll post a photo of her coin front and back, all right, and what it means, and you can go look at that on Sunday.

Suze: Why not today?

KT: Because they should look at it on Sunday. It'll take me a little while to photograph it and get it put up. Take me a little bit.

Suze: Slowpoke.

KT: Yeah. All right, so Suze...

Suze: KT.

KT: Ready? Here's a good one. What song comes to mind when you think about celebrating your birthday?

Suze: Oh, KT, I have a favorite song these days, right? And you know, I play it all the time and it's—we dance to this, we dance to this—and it's by Rose and Bruno Mars, and it's, it's called APT because it's the apartment thing that they do.

KT: "...You want me like I want you. Baby..."

Suze: "...don't you need me like I need you now." That's my favorite line—I play it over and over again.

KT: So Suze, how would you describe your perfect birthday menu—breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Suze: Well, I have to tell you it would be things that I never get to eat. And if I could eat anything in this world, right? I would eat in Uno's pizza, OK, right, that would probably be dinner. I, um, I would eat from Oakland, this one place that does hot sausages that I loved more than life itself. It was called a Top Dog or something like that. I would have a hot sausage, spicy as could be, and I would have... probably for breakfast, oh, I would have a huge waffle or pancakes with lots of butter and syrup. I would have all those things, all those things that I'm not allowed to.

KT: She's as healthy as ever, everybody. So here's another fun one. Suze, if you could wear anything from your wardrobe since the year 2000, since the millennium, what would it look like? What would that outfit be, Suze? What are some of your favorite memory lane, fashionista?

Suze: Is it for if we dress up to go out?

KT: Oh, no, no, just every day, every day. What are your favorite things to wear?

Suze: Oh, my favorite things to wear are my cowboy boots that are over 30 years old now, by the way. Um, and I have them in black as well as regular suede. I think you have, yeah, they're Satori's and they don't make these anymore, right, but I love them and so I would probably wear... boy, it just depends if I'm thin or heavy.

KT: Let's say you're perfect. Let's say you're the perfect size. What would you be putting on from that incredible closet of yours?

Suze: I'd put on really tight, blue jeans, believe it or not, and my, my suede cowboy boots, my brown Rick Owen jacket that I still have—leather jacket, the leather jacket. I would have my colorful scarf, right, that Bonnie gave you that I stole...

KT: You stole from me.

Suze: I stole it from you and I love that and some cool pair of sunglasses.

KT: And what about jewelry? Same, same, same.

Suze: I don't really care about my jewelry.

KT: Well, no, you have to tell everybody—they don't know that you wear the same jewelry.

Suze: My earrings and my ring, my wedding ring and my little thin necklace I wear around my neck. I don't wear a watch anymore.

KT: But you used to wear all—she had the most exquisite watch collection. Loved watches.

Suze: Yeah, now it's like I'm just like, oh what a waste of time and money. Anyway.

KT: Suze, what's the most surprising thing about getting older that no one talks about?

Suze: Well, I think people talk about it all the time and I remember KT we used to go with my mom and we used to go to that flea market, right, and she used to just love it and she would sit there and eat a hot dog and you know, and dill pickles and things like that and we'd be able to hear all these older people talking. And they always talked about their doctor appointments and this and that and we just would look at each other and say please don't let us get to the point where all we talk about are our doctor appointments and so people talk about it a lot, but what's surprising is you never think you're going to be that person that talks about it all the time and I can't believe truthfully everybody.

How often we talk about doctors and our appointments and our health. May you all grow old and stay healthy. May you all grow old and stay strong. May you all grow old and have enough money that you never have to think about it, and it's always there for you. And may you all grow old and have your strength and your balance and your ability to sit down and get up and jump and run and do everything that you've done... when you were a child.

May that be true for all of you. The truth is. It's not easy getting older, especially if you have health problems, which many of you know I've encountered over the past 5 years, actually longer than that if I think about it, and so that's it, that's hard. You see people getting older and you see what that's like, and you helping them and things like that, but you never think that's gonna be you.

KT: Suze, which birthday did you decide to stand in your truth no matter what the consequences?

Suze: Well, that was easy. It was my 50th. You know, it was my 50th birthday when I really met KT. And KT and I really came together, so to speak, as one, and I decided because I was in a relationship with somebody else and had been so for like 8 or 9 years, and the truth be told, it was a horrific relationship for both of us. It was not a comment on whether she was a good or bad person, just together we did not belong together, and I don't know why I didn't have the courage to just leave it.

You know, it—long before me, long before KT—and it really didn't matter because I was so busy. I was never home. I was never with her. It was not a big deal. I had my own apartment in New York. Everywhere I went, I went by myself with Mary Burn, who was my assistant and we would have the best time and so I wasn't missing anything. I wasn't lacking anything so I thought in my life until that night at dinner I met KT, and the only reason I was there at her house for dinner is the woman I was with at the time said, we're going to this woman's house for dinner, da da da da. Long story, but we go and I meet KT.

And it was that meeting of KT and seeing a spark of life that my life was missing. I didn't have that spark in my personal life. Happy, just happy. I had that spark in my professional life and I lit when I went on stage. I like was so alive on TV and everything, but when all of that shut down and then I came home to my own apartment, I was alone. I was in these magnificent suites all by myself, and there was very few that I had to share that with. And then KT and I started to talk, you know, by a fluke set of circumstances, and that's when I realized that I was settling in my life.

And I was not standing in my truth, and I decided I was not going to start my 50th year in a lie. And the lie would have been if I stayed in the relationship and therefore, that's when I really stood in my truth and boy am I happy that I did.

KT: Me too, Suze. All right, let's do a fun one. What was the most meaningful birthday gift you ever gave yourself?

Suze: Oh boy. Well, you're all gonna laugh at me for this one. I know KT knows it, which is why she's probably asking this question.

KT: I do know it.

Suze: ...Is that when I was younger, my parents, as I've told you, had a whole lot of financial problems. They just did for many reasons and a lot of the birthday parties that I would go to or whatever, my friends, their parents had money. And they would bring in these little horses, little like, you know, a little pony, and you'd get to dress up with this, this like vest, a cowboy vest and a thing, and you got to sit on the little pony and have your picture taken, and I remember thinking wow. I wish I could do that.

So here I am years later in my mid-twenties now. Working at the Buttercup Bakery, $400 a month, and I decided I was gonna save. And I was going to do that. And I can't remember how much it was, even I wish I could, but I found somebody who brought to the Buttercup bakery this little pony. And I had the little vest and only fit over one of my, you know, shoulders, right, and the little fringe cowboy vest, yeah, and the hat, and I had my picture taken on it and I just felt so complete like I can have anything that I want.

Now why I would want that again as I think about it is beyond me, but it was a goal and I accomplished the goal. KT, do you have that picture somewhere?

KT: We do. So we need to—I have to—it's probably in storage, so we'll have to, everyone has to be patient and hopefully on Sunday I might post a whole lot of photos in memory of Suze's birthday podcast.

Suze: All right.

KT: As we wrap this up, this little birthday podcast...

Suze: Thank you for doing this podcast. Did you have fun?

KT: I did. I hope everyone likes listening to it, but as we...

Suze: Did we get to half of your questions?

KT: No, I only—I asked about a third. I have so many more, but you have to wait till next year, everybody, for her half birthday, which is December 5th. So on today, your birthday June 5th, 2025, 6/5/25, what is it that you want to wish?

Suze: Hm. Well, if there was ever a time that the world needed peace and understanding and acceptance of everybody. No matter your race or your religion or your beliefs. If there was ever a time that everybody was kind to one another and all this fighting throughout the world stopped. And that Ukraine finally had peace, that Gaza finally had peace, that people had a home again. Nobody was starving. The people all over the world always had enough to eat. And to be healthy and everything, boy, I wish that could come true today. Yeah, now probably won't, but it sure could be at the start of it. KT, thank you so much.

KT: Happy birthday, Suze.

Suze: But, I have one question for you.

KT: What is that?

Suze: What is it that you love most, about this day?

KT: Is that we're in love.

Suze: Well, I guess that sums it up, everybody. Thank you all, cause I know you're all going to wish me a great birthday and I'm going to get thousands of emails and wishes, and so it's always impossible for me to answer all of them. So I thank you all in advance and just never ever forget, that one of the greatest days of my life happens to be the days that I get to communicate with you, help you with your money, help you with your problems that you have... and help you live. The happiest life of all. So until Sunday, thank you, and there's only one thing we want you to remember when it comes to your money:

KT: People first..

Suze: then money...

KT: then things.

Suze: Now you stay safe.

KT: Happy birthday.

Suze: Bye bye.