Debt
Americans Say Paying Off Debt is Their Top Goal
A large national survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that saving for retirement is not our top priority.
Is Your Financial Optimism Smart?
According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans’ optimism about their finances is near a record high. The poll shows 69% of people surveyed said they expect their financial situation to improve...
40 Million Americans Say They Will Miss a Credit Card Payment. Not You!
A recent survey reports that an estimated 40 million Americans expect to make a mess of their financial life this year by missing a credit card payment.
When a PLUS is a Big Minus: The Biggest Mistake Parents Can Make
We’re heading into that whirlwind time of year when high school seniors receive their college acceptance letters and the decision-making begins.
How to Make the Most of a Cash Windfall
Did you land a year-end bonus? Even better, a nice raise? Or, perhaps you’ve been working a side gig and have some extra income to put to work? Also, I know many of you will soon be receiving...
The Procrastinator’s Guide to Dealing with Credit Card Debt
As much as I wish that no one overspent during the holidays, I know that many of you are facing January credit card statements that are going to set off some stress. You realize there’s...
Credit Card Alert: How to Avoid the Big Trap of 2019
You know where I stand on having credit card debt. It holds you back from being all you can, and deserve, to be. I realize some of you have credit card debt due to emergencies, like a medical bill...
Rule #1 of debt management: Honor your obligations
I am all about helping people get out of financial trouble. I am always humbled when someone lays bare their financial struggle and asks for my advice.
Protecting your financial life is now free. Don’t pass up this offer.
One of the best ways to protect yourself from identify thieves is now free of charge. Beginning in late September, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion began offering consumers the ability to place an
Home Buying in Next 6 months? Do This Now!
If you are planning on buying a home in the next few months, I bet you are already spending plenty of time checking out online listings.
Use Gift Cards to Really Give to Yourself. In a Meaningful Way.
If you received some gift cards this past holiday season that you’ve yet to use, let me ask you a question: do you really want or need more stuff?
How to Bounce Back from a Spending Hangover
It’s that scary time of the year: Your December credit card statements start rolling in. I hope that you have everything under control and can pay off every balance in full. But if that’s not doable, I want you to promise me that you will be extra smart in how you take control of your spending hangover.
A Great Credit Card for Paying Down Your Debt
If you are struggling to make a dent in a large credit card balance, and you have a strong FICO score, I want you to look into what could possibly be the ticket to finally being able to pay down your balance. As reported by NextAdvisor, the Citi Simplicity Card offers 21 months of no interest payments on balance transfers or new purchases. That’s nearly two years to make progress paying down your credit card debt.
Are You Fluent in the Language of Wealth?
I spend a lot of time helping people work out a plan for overcoming a financial challenge. Quite often the bulk of my work is in getting them into the right frame of mind. Financial problems are so stressful it is completely reasonable to feel anxious or depressed. But the first step in working your way out of a financial fix is to convince yourself you control your future and you have the ability to make it a great future.
A Dental Savings Plan That Will Make You Smile
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 40% to 45% of adult Americans don’t see a dentist in a given year. Cost is obviously a big reason why so many avoid the dentist. By one estimate nearly 68 million Americans have no dental coverage. That makes going to the dentist extra nerve-wracking, as you need to worry about the pain of a big out-of-pocket expense.
Conquer Your Fear of Debt: 3 Crucial Steps
When it comes to financial fears, debt is the ultimate four letter word. Whether you have credit card debt, or student loan debt, or want to buy a home or a car that you will finance, you’re dealing with debt. Or more to the point, it’s probably throwing you for a loop. Debt is the major stress point in every household that I’ve worked with.
Financial Fear No More! Three Steps Toward Financial Freedom
Your money challenges are very personal. You may have a large credit card balance gnawing at you, while your best friend is awake at night worrying about being able to keep working through her 60s,
16 Wishes for 2016
As we turn the corner into a new year, my biggest hope is that peace and happiness is in great abundance for each and every one of you and all those you love. You know from years of hearing me invoke “People First, Then Money, Then Things” that I think there should be no bigger focus than building and nurturing that peace and happiness. But there is also always room to focus on the ways you can continue to build financial security in 2016. The progress you make on taking control of your money will, after all, bring even more happiness and peace into your life.
Savings v. Paying Off Credit Card Debt: What’s the Right Move?
One of the hardest challenges managing your financial life is figuring out how best to juggle multiple goals. And one of the most vexing decisions is what to do if you have credit card debt and you have money sitting in your emergency savings fund.
The Danger of Getting a Pay Increase
As year-end approaches, I know that’s when plenty of you will be sitting down with your manager for a year-end review. I sure hope there’s a pay raise involved. Given how stingy raises have been since the Great Recession, I want to make sure that you don’t blow it. Literally.
Are You Hostage to a Self-Storage Money Pit?
It’s estimated that Americans spend more than $20 billion a year renting space in a self-storage facility. According to the Self Storage Association, the number of households renting out a storage facility has grown 65% over the past 20 years. It’s hard to drive more than a few miles in urban areas and not spy at least one self-storage business (and often more). The aggregate land mass for U.S. storage facilities spans a total of 78 square miles, or more than three times the size of Manhattan.
Five Easy Moves to Save At Least $100 a Month
I’ve spent a lot of time poring over the finances of families who come to me for help. No matter what problem they are trying to fix, a universal step in my review is to go through their monthly spending in detail and show them how trimming back on certain expenses can add up to substantial savings.
Why It Can Pay Big-Time to Delay Taking Social Security
One of the biggest retirement decisions you must make is settling on when you will start receiving your Social Security retirement benefit. While you are eligible to start claiming your benefit as early as age 62, I want you to seriously consider waiting.
Long-Term Care Insurance Update
I have said over and over again that as you enter your late 40's to 50's you should look into buying long-term care insurance. But looking and buying are two different things. You should only purchase LTC insurance if you know that you can easily afford the premium at the time of purchase and all the way until you are 81 (which is the average age of needing LTC).
Attention Student Loan Borrowers: Can You Pass my Repayment Test?
I fear many student loan borrowers are flunking out when it comes to choosing the right repayment plan. Here’s a quick quiz to test your repayment smarts:
Let’s Not Sell Young Retirement Savers Short
A recent paper from the influential Research Affiliates investment management firm (more than $140 billion in assets managed) takes the provocative stance that young adults saving for
What Baby Boomers Are Getting So Wrong About Retirement
Listen up my 60 something friends (and those of you heading to that milestone soon) we need to have a talk about your retirement planning.
No Student Debt? Great, But You’re Still Being Dragged Down by the Student Debt Crisis.
If one were to ask me what I think is the most dangerous threat to our economy, the answer is very simple: STUDENT LOANS.
Suze Orman’s Dos and Don’ts during government turmoil
Congress’ shenanigans to shut down the government for 16 days this month has many Americans rightfully concerned about their personal finances.“If you don’t want to be affected by the actions—or lack of actions—in Washington, you and you alone are going to have to save yourself,” insists Suze Orman.
The good thing about bankruptcy
Bankruptcy rates spiked during the 2008 recession and many were pretty judgmental toward the millions who couldn't afford to pay their bills. But Suze Orman says bankruptcy is the better option over burying your head in the sand. "When somebody really doesn't have money to pay their bills then they should claim bankruptcy and face it right on and start all over again," says Orman.
What’s really causing your recurring debt?
Do you keep finding yourself with debt that just won't go away? Every time you pay off your credit card, do you feel compelled to run out and charge it back up again? If so, your problem may not be financial at all.
Beware of new tricks of the trade to get your money
It is becoming easier to get a loan these days and that's not necessarily a good thing. "I'm telling you things have gone bizarre again, at the exact time they shouldn't be going bizarre. So, you need to stay very strict with yourself," warns Suze Orman.
Suze Orman: Don’t put your retirement on a credit card
As the economy slowly recovers, Americans are struggling to get out of credit card debt they amassed during tougher financial days...Out of desperation to stay current, or to rid themselves of their debt, people are looking at their retirement accounts as a cash source. But Suze Orman says that's the biggest mistake you could make.
Smooth Sailing With Suze Orman
America's most famous expert on personal finance and star of her own award-winning CNBC television show offers advice for “staying” afloat in these economically turbulent times, thanks to lessons learned at sea.
How Not To Go Off The Financial Gift Cliff For The Holidays
Whenever you feel fear about spending money that should be a sign that you're spending money you don't have to possibly even impress people you don't even know or like.
Suze Orman’s Money-Saving Advice for Holiday Shopping
I call it the buy-it-now bug: We come down with it every giving season and feel the effects in January when we see our credit card statements.
