Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo)

[Lois Lane]

I find Suze Orman to be irritating. But that said...she also has a lot of good, simple advice that is useful--especially for people who aren't good at investing their money. Yes, the housing market isn't what it was even five years ago. But investing in property is almost always a good bang for your buck. That doesn't mean investing in five houses if you need to have mortgages on all of them. That means BUYING them outright as investments if you have the money to pay them off. That's not what she's telling Jessica to do--'cause Jessica doesn't have that kind of money now. She was just making a point. Everything she told Jessica/Jennifer was right on the money. Whether she listens to Orman is another thing.

I liked the segment with Kathy and that pap (Britney's guy) Adnan (sp?). I'm sure he called all his buddies to make them show up so that he would look good...

[hypnoboy]

See, I love Suze Orman. I watch her show every week. She definitely knows her stuff.....she can explain the kind of things that would make one's eyes glaze over so that I can actually understand it.

And yes, she owns five houses.....but they are all over the country in CA, FL, and where ever else. She was stressing that fact that she doesn't have to pay a mortgage payment every month on these homes. Property taxes are nowhere near as much as 12 mortgage payments (times 5) would be and they are still tax deductible. Sure, she could still be making monthly mortgage payments on these homes for the tax benefits.....but why should she if she can afford to pay them off? Why give the bank all that interest?Believe me, Suze has millions invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc., etc. She is a very wealthy woman. And she is making a living (through her TV show, books, etc.) trying to teach the rest of us how to get out of debt and other financial problems.

One of her biggest pet peeves is leasing a car. It is similar to renting a place rather than buying a place. After 12 months, a renter has receipts for living there 12 months. A homeowner has gained some equity in the place and also has tax deductions. Leasing a car is very similar. After 12 months, a car leaser has 12 receipts. Someone who bought the car rather than leasing it would be that much closer to having the car paid off and be rid of one more monthly payment. So I could see her coming down on "Jennifer/Jessica"! Suze says that one should never finance a brand new car unless they can pay it off within 3 years. Better yet, buy a used car. A brand new car depreciates the second it is driven off the lot.

A few months ago, Kathy G. was a guest on her show, something I had never seen before. Kathy has a lot of respect for Suze O.

I did have to laugh when Suze said that leasing the car would be the stupidest thing Jessica ever did. And Jessica said that she didn't think it would be the stupidest thing she ever did. Something makes me think Jessica is going to make a lot more stupid financial decisions.....and other kinds of decisions in her life! LOL

And I did crack up about that dude on the bench with Kathy during that photo shoot. The writers could never had made that stuff up!

The issue with the five houses is really simple. She has equity (money) in a house that's just sitting there. It might be gaining 5% every year, thanks to property values going up. It might also LOOSE value if there property value goes DOWN. That would be a LOSS of money. However, even if it goes UP in value, it does not go up with COMPOUND INTEREST. That's the big difference. Does she really NEED 5 houses? What's the point to having 5 houses. Why NOT have that money working for you as opposed to just sitting there. That's dumb.

Remember this. Any money you give to a bank for a home is money you will NEVER see again unless you sell the house or refinance it. With the market downturn that has happened in the past year and a half, She's probably lost value on those houses. The main places in the country that DIDN'T lose value are the most affluent areas. If she owns in these areas, then her property taxes ARE high, (California is 1.25%) insurance IS high, and money is just sitting there, not gaining compound interest. Again, that's dumb.

Regarding the car thing, again I have to wonder aloud if Suze drives a used car? Does she drive something that's more than three years old? Does she have a car sitting waiting for her at all 5 of her houses? Betcha she does! Does she drive a fuel efficient car? Or, did she pay cash for a luxury car that gets 12 mpg? Remember too, leasing is usually about 35% to 45% cheaper per month over financing, based on your credit. That leaves you more disposable income to be able to invest in things that can MAKE you money. Cars depreciate no matter what. So why not lower your monthly overhead on a car by leasing it. That, my friends, is GOOD advice.

[Lois Lane]

Regarding the car thing, again I have to wonder aloud if Suze drives a used car? Does she drive something that's more than three years old? Does she have a car sitting waiting for her at all 5 of her houses? Betcha she does! Does she drive a fuel efficient car? Or, did she pay cash for a luxury car that gets 12 mpg?

Suze Orman is rich. A multi millionaire with an empire. Of course she has cars and they're all paid for rather than financed. I think what her point was is that someone who isn't rich (Jessica, for instance) and is just starting out would be wise to buy a sensible car and DRIVE IT until it dies about 12 years later. Spending money on a car isn't cost efficient. For Suze, Oprah, Denzel Washington--rich folks--they have the disposable income to be silly about cars. FYI, I drive a car I bought more than a decade ago and it still runs great. In terms of cost effectiveness, I've spent less TOTAL on the car than my friends who lease cars every 3 or 4 years. Warren Buffet also drives an old clunker. Some people constantly upgrade to new cars because they see it as a status symbol.

Let's say that Jessica is a great investor. Great--do that then. But the point is that most people are not good investors and that's what Suze was addressing. Jessica didn't have a plan and was just doing things her way because she wanted to. That's fine and she obviously doesn't have to listen to Orman's advice. But Orman's advice did make sense.

[roses4me]

I didn't get to see this past episode. Except for Suse Orman, what else happened? I saw a bit of the end when Kathy's mom was getting interviewed, but that's about it.

[reality_emily]

I didn't get to see this past episode. Except for Suse Orman, what else happened? I saw a bit of the end when Kathy's mom was getting interviewed, but that's about it.

Just in case you don't know, the episodes are repeated at 9pm a week later (right before the new episode). That's when I've been watching them since I've been watching Hopkins on ABC at 10pm, so I'm always a week behind on Kathy. Caught the Bora-Bora episode last night and enjoyed it. The trip to the retirement place with Kathy's mom was a hoot!

Emily

[hypnoboy]

Suze Orman is rich. A multi millionaire with an empire. Of course she has cars and they're all paid for rather than financed. I think what her point was is that someone who isn't rich (Jessica, for instance) and is just starting out would be wise to buy a sensible car and DRIVE IT until it dies about 12 years later. Spending money on a car isn't cost efficient. For Suze, Oprah, Denzel Washington--rich folks--they have the disposable income to be silly about cars. FYI, I drive a car I bought more than a decade ago and it still runs great. In terms of cost effectiveness, I've spent less TOTAL on the car than my friends who lease cars every 3 or 4 years. Warren Buffet also drives an old clunker. Some people constantly upgrade to new cars because they see it as a status symbol.

Let's say that Jessica is a great investor. Great--do that then. But the point is that most people are not good investors and that's what Suze was addressing. Jessica didn't have a plan and was just doing things her way because she wanted to. That's fine and she obviously doesn't have to listen to Orman's advice. But Orman's advice did make sense.

So, you're cool with taking advice from someone who is "Do as I say, not as I do" type? You understand that THIS is WHY she's rich. She tells others what to do so that she doesn't have to. And in the REAL world, it's not ALWAYS the best advice.

Let's say someone needs to buy a car, but Suze's advice is that you shouldn't get a car unless you can pay it off in three years. With today's high gas prices, it's better to buy a car that is more fuel efficient, which typically means something new-er, and therefore more expensive. That said, to pay it off in three years will require either larger monthly payments, or a much larger down payment. Let's say you put do a large down-payment with the goal of paying it off in three years. You just had to pull out a bunch of your liquid cash to buy a vehicle that is depreciating in value every day. That's a bad investment. Maybe you opted for the higher monthly payments instead. Now you're paying MORE over the three years, only to own a vehicle that is depreciating. THAT'S a bad investment. In fact, cars are NEVER to be looked at as an investment, because they don't make you money. So great. Now you have a car that's declining in value, and no money in the bank.

Now, if you leased the car, you could have next to ZERO down payment, (keep your liquid assets) and have a 45% cheaper monthly payment. That means that the money you can SAVE is available to go into an investment account where it can build for you with compound interest. If Suze is going to give good advice, it should be that, when you make your transportation budget, you figure out what you would pay to Buy, what you would pay to LEASE, then figure the difference and make sure to put that difference into a savings account or investment account. THAT is good advice. It's usable. It works in the REAL world. Yelling at someone and calling them stupid, not even getting her name right... that's just being a cow.

For the record, I too drive an older car and I get better mpg than anyone I know.

[MamaC]

Actually Suze would rather you buy a car that you can afford...rather than either lease or finance a new car. If all you can really afford is something that costs around 5K, well maybe that is what you should be driving rather than spending $300-600 a month leasing a car, or more to finance one. She would rather you not add another monthly payment to you list of bills. By buying what you can afford to pay for at the lot, that car is yours. No one can take it back if you cannot afford to keep up with the payments.

And by buying an older car, you will be able to save money each month to put into your other investments. A lot of older cars, like yours as you claim, do get pretty good gas mileage. (And I, too, have a 2002 that I bought for cash; it runs great, gets good gas mileage, and I plan on keeping it for many years.)

[MFWalkoff]

Except that used/older cars often (yes, not always, I know) cost more in unexpected (and non-warranteed) repairs and upkeep. Finding a reputable used car dealer is a real toss of the dice. One has to factor that in as well.

[luvsginger]

The best used car dealers are the Rental Car Agencies. They take really good care of their cars and only keep them for a maximum of 2 years.

[livin4reality]

Well I don't know much about leasing cars but hypnoboy, I have noticed that many dealers want $$$ upfront to lease. One I saw was $2500 to start. Equal to a down payment.

Another point is that at the end of the lease you don't own the car. The cycle starts all over again with a new lease or buy. At least with paying off a car you can keep it for years without payments.