On Suze School, we get Suze’s take on what may happen in the markets this year, how healthy they are, as well as a deep dive on why financial decisions aren’t based on how old you are, but on your individual economic situation. Plus, tips on how you can stay confident even in uncertain times.
Listen to Podcast Episode:
Podcast Transcript:
Suze: January 11th, 2026. Welcome everybody to the Women and Money podcast and everybody smart enough to listen. Suze O here and today is Suze School, and this is the podcast that many of you have been waiting for. You have wanted to hear about what’s gonna happen to money, what should you be investing in? Where is the economy going? You have been waiting and waiting cause it’s a new year.
I opened up this year not making new projections. I opened it up with telling you things that I really wanted you to know that had nothing to do really with if the stock market went up or the stock market went down. It had to do with how you make more money out of the money you already have, which is really the focus of the Women and Money podcast.
This isn’t a podcast, everybody, if you’re just joining us for the first time, where all we talk about is what you should invest in, what you should be buying, you should be selling, the economy. We talk about you. It’s personal finance. It’s what do you personally need to know to make your life better. The things that nobody really wants to deal with: a trust, a will, what kind of retirement account, should you refinance your house, should you even buy a house? Not is real estate going up, is real estate going down. No. Of course, we talk about some of those things, but not everything that has to do with you being financially successful is about buying and selling stocks.
Just know that the other day I was interviewed by Kiplinger’s magazine. I don’t know when it’s coming out, but that’s all right. They asked me something to the effect of what is it that I would want everybody to know? Something like that. I don’t remember the exact phrasing. And I said, the most important thing everybody should know is that you can never fix a financial problem with money.
So many of you think that your problem out there is all about not having as much money as you need or want or knowing what to do with your money or whatever it may be. You and your money are one. I’ve said this before, I’ll say it forever. So if your money is a financial chaotic mess, it means you are a chaotic mess cause you’re the one who controls your money.
The other thing that I found a little bit fascinating is that as I was reading some of the posts on the Women and Money podcast wall—there is a community app called Women and Money, and you can download it by going to Apple Apps or Google Play. There are little boxes where you can search the podcast, you can do all kinds of things, but there’s a wall where many people post, and I was reading a few of them.
People were saying, Suze, can you make this more for retired people? I feel like everything is still for people who are just working, and I’m now getting older. Don’t talk to me about getting older. I’m gonna be 75. Right? But that I’m getting older and I need advice. What do I do now that I’m no longer working, now that I’m in my retirement years? What should I do?
Listen to me very closely, everybody. What you do with money is not based simply on age. It’s based on your economic situation.
There are many, many people in retirement that don’t worry about money because they’ve done everything I ever asked them to do over 30 or 40 years and now they have a lot of money. Their home is paid off, everything is fine. Now they just kind of wanna know how do they keep it safe, what do they do, things like that. We talk about that all the time if you think about it.
Maybe you’re 33 and other 33 year olds are doing really great and you’re trying to keep up with them. I don’t know. But you’re a different 33 year old based on your economic situation, cause maybe you haven’t been able to find a job or whatever it is. So stop feeling like I’m in retirement, you need to talk to retirement people more than you’re talking to others.
Some of you on the actual app agreed with everybody. Yeah, I wanna hear more about what should I do now with my money that I’m in retirement. I was like, can you tell I got a little aggravated at all of you? I wanted to say, really? Do you think I haven’t been talking directly to all of you? Of course I have.
If you are in your retirement years and you’ve done everything that I’ve ever asked you to do, you would be investing then like a 45 year old, a 55 year old. You wouldn’t be investing because you were older if all your bases were covered. So it depends on your individual situation what you need to know.
There are basic rules. Own your home outright if you’re going to stay in it forever by the time you retire. Make sure that you’re totally out of debt. Downsize to decrease your expenses so that you can afford things. Cut out things if you don’t have enough money. Maybe look into getting a guaranteed income source through an immediate annuity. There are so many things.
Especially for those of you 50 and older, my book, The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+—I wrote an entire book for all of you. Are you kidding me? By the way, I think if you go on the Women in Money app and you look at the Suze shop, I think that book is there still for $10 and that includes shipping. Might want to check that out.
Just know if you’re needing something, I’ll eventually get to it cause I do cover everything you need to know sooner than later when it comes to money regardless of your age. But today, I do want to give you an overview of what I think is happening in the economy and also kind of tell you why I just wanted to wait and not come out of the gate 11 days ago with this is what I think, here’s your new forecast for the year. I just wanted to see what was gonna happen.
I wanted to see what we’d be affected by—Venezuela, because it was obvious that was going to happen. What was going to happen with ICE? What was gonna happen if something went wrong, and it did. So I just wanted to see how would it affect the markets. Were the markets going up? Were they going down? What were they doing? What was AI doing? I just wanted to see things get a hold for me to be able to then say, OK, this is what I think, and now I’m gonna share it with you.
I want all of you to listen to me now. There is so much noise right now about the markets, about politics, about interest rates, about what should I do, what shouldn’t I do, AI, oil prices, elections, headlines. In my opinion, they are all designed to scare you. They scare you so badly, you don’t even want to open your statements. You become this little thing that sticks their head in the sand and goes, I can’t deal with anything. I can’t watch TV. I don’t want to see the news. I don’t wanna do this. I don’t wanna do it. I just don’t wanna know. And you turn on HGTV.
Here is the truth that I want you to hear loud and clear from me. I personally believe that the foundation of this market remains strong and that the trends that matter most are still, in my opinion, working in your favor.
I want to talk about the United States of America for a second, cause a lot of people are emailing and saying, Suze, don’t you think we should invest overseas? Don’t you think you should be recommending global investments? And the answer to that is no, I don’t think so.
I think that the United States is still the place of the most extraordinary opportunity out there, and it has nothing to do with politics. You have got to leave politics out of the decisions that you make with money. Have I not said to you that anger is the number one internal obstacle to wealth? When you are angry, when you are afraid, when you are ashamed, you buy at the wrong time, you sell at the wrong time. Your emotions rule you versus you ruling your emotions and therefore you ruling your money.
I personally believe that right here in the United States of America, when it comes to investing, I’m going to keep my money at home. There’s a lot going right in the markets and in companies, but there’s a lot going wrong for many, many people out there. It is true that many of you are losing your jobs, you’re losing your health insurance, you’re losing all kinds of things. I get that.
But sometimes what goes on broad-based doesn’t necessarily reflect in the market. The economy is one thing. The stock market is another. How you live and how it’s affecting your personal lives is different for every single one of you.
Anything that you hear me say can change if things in the world change because we’re living in a very volatile time. When I tell you I like an ETF or a stock or something like that, rule of thumb is you are not to go out and rush and buy it. You are to throughout this entire year dollar cost average into everything little by little.
This market is not gonna go straight up. It’s still gonna be a serious roller coaster. So when I give you pricing, I’m talking about probably by the end of the year. They will not be there next week or two weeks from now.
The number one rule of investing is you only invest with money that you do not need for at least five years or longer. When I say investing, that means in the stock market. This is long term. Even if we have a bad year this year, it’s OK. Years from now, if you keep dollar cost averaging and have the patience to just stick it out, you should be fine.
When I look at everything, I’m seeing a very broad-based expansion in the market. I’m not just seeing that a handful of tech stocks are pulling everything higher. When growth spreads across financials, industrials, consumer spending, materials, health care, small companies, value stocks, that tells me this is not a fragile market. This actually is a healthy one.
Lower interest rates possibly, lower mortgage rates maybe a little bit, lower gas prices most likely, a weaker dollar probably. All of that helps companies earn more money. When companies earn more, stock prices tend to follow. That’s history.
Let’s begin with the Standard and Poor’s 500 index. I thought last year it would finish between 7,000 and 7,400. It almost got there. On Friday it closed at 6,966. I would not be surprised if in 2026 we saw it hit 7,600 or even 8,000. However, only time will tell.
A lot of you are invested in the Standard and Poor’s 500 index through ETFs like VOO, SPLG, even VTI. You already are exposed to that. That’s why I’ve said it wouldn’t kill you to have 50% of your money in something like VOO or SPLG and then go deeper into individual stocks.
Artificial intelligence is not a trend. It is a transformation. The semiconductor sector is the backbone of AI. These companies are the infrastructure of everything happening out there. If you own broad-based funds like the S&P 500, you already own this theme.
The American consumer has not disappeared. I find that investing in consumer discretionary stocks or ETFs like XLY may make more sense than traditional consumer staples like XLP, though there are strong staple names like Procter & Gamble, Walmart, and Costco.
Financials may benefit from AI and efficiency. ETFs like BKX or KRE are possible areas. Industrials and transportation stocks hitting new highs tell me economic activity is still moving.
In energy, I currently favor utilities—ETF XLU—over XLE. Health care has quietly rebuilt itself. Major indexes are approaching new highs. Biotech is showing opportunity. The ETF XBI may be my favorite right now when it dips.
Individual names I still like: Palantir, long term; IONQ; SMH around 389; Nvidia; Amazon; QQQ at 626 with potential higher by year end.
Do not let what’s going on in the world scare you out of making your money make more money. You do not need to trade to make money. You do not need to predict. You do not need to panic. You need diversification, patience, and a long-term plan.
Real estate may rise modestly depending on location. Mortgage rates could come down around 5.9%. Rents may be negotiable in some areas.
Bitcoin—up, down—hold on. I like buying through the ETF IBIT. Gold and silver, I’m less enthusiastic. If you buy gold, consider an ETF like GLD rather than the physical commodity.
I still love dividend-paying stocks for income, especially in retirement, combined with growth investments.
There are so many more things we’ll talk about this year on the Women and Money podcast. Until Thursday when Miss Travis joins us again, and until tonight’s episode of Landman—one of our favorite series—there’s only one thing I want you to remember: people first, then money, then things.
Now you stay safe. Bye-bye.
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