Podcast Episode - Ask Suze Anything

Listen to Podcast Episode:

In this podcast, Suze answers the questions you asked about why she decided to write her book, The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+: Winning Strategies to Make Your Money Last A Lifetime.

Podcast Transcript:

Suze Orman here and you are listening to the Women and Money podcast. Welcome to another Ask Suze Anything. This is where you write into AskSuzePodcast@gmail.com, that's S-U-Z-E, and you ask me a question. And if that question is chosen, I will answer it here on the podcast. And you just never, ever know when I will answer you directly. Also, I do just want to say this. If a long time ago around June and July, you sent in a question and I didn't get back to you for whatever reason, it was because I was out of the country, actually. You might want to write it again. And if you really, really want me to answer your question one on one, just keep sending it in. You just never know what that will do; I like it when people are persistent at something.So, let's start. But I'm going to do this podcast just a little bit differently today because as I've been going through the emails, I've realized that I keep telling all of you that I have a new book coming out February 25th called The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+: Winning Strategies to Make Your Money Last A Lifetime. I keep telling you all that on February 29th, the PBS special titled after that book comes out and it's fabulous, you can see it nationwide. And I keep telling you that if you would like a money makeover with me one on one, just go to www.SuzeOrman.com and if you purchase the book there, you'll be entered into a sweepstakes. And then what happens if your name is chosen? We will do, on the phone, a one on one money makeover. But you only have until March 3, 2020, to do this. And so I've been telling you that over and over again because, of course, I want to promote this book. I love this book. This is the first new book that I have written, really, in nine years. And so here are the emails that I'm getting and the one question that you keep asking me over and over again.Suze, I have all of your other books, why is this book different? Suze, your other books, some of them deal with retirement, can you tell me why this book now, how is this different? And tell me what I need to know Suze. So since you're asking me and this is Ask Suze Anything, I am going to take the liberty to talk to you about this book. I will be very honest with you. In 2011, after I wrote The Money Class, I never thought that I would write another book. I, honest to God, believed from the bottom of my heart that after 10 books, what else could I possibly say? And the publishers were like, please Suze, please write another book. Because when I write a book, it usually becomes the number-one New York Times bestseller. It generates all this money for all these people involved with the book, the publishers and everybody else as well as me. But they so wanted it. And I kept saying no, I'm not writing another book, I've said it all, there's nothing more I can say. I'm not writing a book just so people go out and buy a book and spend money that they don't have, that's not what Suze Orman is about. Suze Orman is about saving people money, not putting out something that they should buy if it's already out there.And then the years went by, one year, two years, like I said, nine years. And here we are now, in 2020. And last year, when I wrote this book, I realized that things had changed dramatically. The retirement that I had dealt with in previous books, even just nine years ago, the retirement that all of you are experiencing and the investment landscape today, for those of you who are 50 and 60 and older, and the interest rates that are here today versus nine years ago are so different. Healthcare is different, housing is different, the stock market is different. As I'm speaking to you, this is February 2020, the markets are at their all-time high. I am getting calls from people who want me to be in New York for when the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches 30,000 which is only a few 100 points away. And everybody is saying what a big deal this is, and why is it a big deal?Yes, yes, I know you're looking at your retirement account statements and everything, and you're looking at how much money you make. But what if, what if you had to invest money right now? Money that you were going to really, really need for your retirement. Should you go into the stock market when it's at its all-time high? What should you do? Interest rates, I just told you, are so different than they were nine years ago. Good luck getting 1% or 2% in a safe interest rate environment. So where do you go for safe money? Where do you go to get income where you don't have to risk your principal? And again we go, oh, the stock market. But the stock market is at its all-time high, and when is it going to go down? What goes up has to come down sometime. So it's different. Are you understanding what I'm saying to you?And therefore everything has changed for you. It's just changed. And you know what else has changed? I've changed and I've changed because when I started writing books, I was 45 years of age and the very first book I wrote was called You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire. And there's a big difference when you're 45 telling somebody who 60 or 70 what they should be doing, then when you are that age, because it's not just about your money, it's about how you feel about your life, how you feel about what you're going to do. So, there's a big emotional component to it as well that I didn't have the understanding when I was 45.So the new book, The Ultimate Retirement Guide For 50+, isn't just about finances, isn't just about you should do this, and you should do that with your money and do that. It's about all that, yes, but it's also about emotionally, how do you get over any blocks that you feel? What are some tools that you can use so that you don't get depressed? Because you can have all the money in the world that you want, and if you still feel useless, what good is going to do for you? But even though I was young, the truth of the matter is that I always loved retirement planning. That is what I specialized in when I was a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch from 1980-1983, I specialized in retirement planning. When I was a vice president of investments from 1983 to 1987 for Prudential Bache Securities, I specialized in retirement planning. From 1987 until 1997 I ran the Suze Orman Financial Group, where I specialized in retirement planning. I did the retirement planning seminars for Pacific Gas and Electric, and I was their go-to person. When 10,000 people would take early retirement, they would come to see me. It got so crazy that we had to actually do a video of me broadcasting out to all the people because I physically couldn't go and see all the people that wanted to see me. And maybe I specialized in retirement planning because, as you may know, my degree is in social work with geriatrics, really, as my specialty. And it was the time that I spent in nursing homes and seeing that people didn't have any money, and I used to think, oh, these people ended up in nursing homes because they didn't have any money. And then I realized, they didn't have any money because they ended up in nursing homes. And just naturally, when all of a sudden I became a financial advisor, it's where I felt I belonged. So this has been a passion of mine forever.So right now, at this age in my life, with the knowledge that I have with the situation of finance being so, so very different. This book was written and this book covers topics that I have not covered in other books, not with the perspective that you will read in this book. So many people who have read this book that have interviewed me on it have said to me, you know, Suze, it's like having a one on one conversation with you, it's fabulous. I wrote this book so that if you were 50 there was something in here for you. If you were 60 there was something in here for you, 70 and so forth. And I tell you to do things in this book that I haven't talked about before. About when I want you to sell your house, what kind of conversations I want you to have with your family, what to invest in exactly when you're 60, when you're 70. How to take your required minimum distributions from a retirement account. When should you take social security and why you should take social security at a specific age? But not just telling you these things, this is 320 pages of me really educating you and guiding you to do exactly what you need to do. And I am very aware a lot of you do not like to read financial books. I get that. So I also took this book and for the first time in years, I think since 2005 to be exact, I went into an audio booth and I recorded this book.When you record an audiobook, you know you're in this really tiny little room and they're these people, these engineers, that are behind this big glass thing that are making sure that I have every word correct. I haven't skipped a word, that my intonation is correct, that they have everything. Then if I made a mistake and I go back and I correct it, they check it so they know how to edit the tape so that you're not hearing me go back and do any of that.So I'm reading the book and then I'm going, I'm going to say what I want to say here, and I go totally off-script. And the people behind the glass because I can see them because I'm not looking down to read words anymore, are flipping through all the pages going, where is she? Where did she go? What is she doing? And KT is just laughing back there because she knows exactly what I'm doing, and that is what I do on and off through the entire audiobook. Now, I could go on and on and on about this, but I think you get the idea. And you can hear the passion in my voice that this is a book, if you are 50 or older, I am seriously asking you to give it a try. 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. To find the right Credit Union for you, visit https://www.mycreditunion.gov/. Interested in Suze's Must Have Documents? Go to https://shop.suzeorman.com/checkout/cart/index/.