What we need to hear from Suze Orman

By Randell Tiongson on May 20th, 2013

Suze Orman is considered a force in the personal finance world. She is probably the most recognized personality in the world when it comes to personal finance and for a good reason as she has sold millions of books and has a long running & award-winning T.V. show. There is one more thing you should now about Suze Orman – she loves the Filipinos.

In 2012, Suze Orman visited the Philippines as part of BPI’s personal finance advocacy campaign and I was given an opportunity to meet her up close and personal. A few days ago, this force in personal finance was back in the country again with even more events lined up by BPI.  What was the message of Suze Orman this time around? Well, it’s virtually the same message she gave last year; a message that Pinoys need to hear again.

Having employed many Filipinos for years, Suze Orman is well aware of our culture of providing for family members. She has coached many Pinoys working for her and this is what she always says “it’s ok to take care of others but you also have to take care of yourself too.” She believes that there must be a limit to how we help our kin and that the nation should not be too dependent on the 11 million OFWs abroad. She also encourages us to “do the right things, not what the culture say” – referring to the social pressure of financial dependence.

“The greatest thing you can do for yourself is to pay your debts.” Suze Orman reiterates her concern about how much people are now in debt and she is aware that Pinoys are becoming more attracted to borrowing than before. She advices on paying debts first as against buying stuff and she cautions us to be prudent with how we manage money especially now that our economy is growing – “If you don’t have money saved, spend your money just on needs. All the things you buy are really worthless.” She notes that Asians in general have very good work ethics and her exposure to many Filipinos reinforces that observation. They are always working hard and they are willing to work longer than everybody else but they must also learn how to save and invest more.

Ms. Orman admits that she is very direct with her message even if it’s really not what people would want to hear. “I speak with much force because of what I have seen and been through. I don’t wonder if what I say works, I know it does.” Her personal experiences fuel her passion to make people financially educated. Philippines is a place for her to give back and not to make more money – “I already have all the money I need, I don’t need more” and “my goal is to create financial education for free for Filipinos.” Given the opportunity, she would love to work with the Philippine government and the financial institutions as an advocate and not as a business person. Like her first trip, this trip is also a non-revenue endeavor for Suze Orman. “I’m here in the Philippines for the right reason and with the right message.”

On investing, Suze Orman gives this advice “the best lesson in investing is to listen to my own heart, listening to the voice of God.” While there is value with what experts tell you, you must know for yourself what is best for you. She is very bullish with the Philippines, she says that investing in the Philippines is a very good idea and what we are experiencing now is reminiscent of the U.S. in the early 80’s where their stock market and economy broke out. She recommends investing in the stock market through an index equity mutual fund as against a managed equity fund. However, I believe she needs to be advised that as per local experience, managed equity funds (mutual funds and UITF) have consistently outperformed the index for many years. She also advocates on regularly investing using the Dollar (Peso) Cost Averaging method. She also likes investing in high dividend stocks and exchange traded funds (ETF). She also said “forget Dollars, stick to Pesos!”

On a personal note, Suze Orman encouraged me to push more and more financial education for Filipinos and to help as many as I can to be empowered because they are financially secured. Suze Orman’s message is not only timely; it’s something we should hear over and over again.

Learn how to invest properly at the iCon 2013: The No Nonsense Investments Conference at the SMX on June 22, 2013. Features Efren Cruz (Investment Planning), Chinkee Tan (Entrepreneurship), Marvin Germo (Stock Market), Dennis Sy (Stewardship) and me. Presented by Sunlife Financial. For inquiries, send email to [email protected]

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Suze Orman and her advice to me

By Randell Tiongson on February 27th, 2012

When I was asked if I would be interested to attend a special meeting with Suze Orman, I almost dropped my phone out of excitement. This lady is a prime mover in the personal-finance arena and probably the most popular and perhaps the most influential itself. I would be crazy not to drop anything and rush into this appointment.

When given the opportunity, I asked her how finance media people like me can help in the financial education of the Filipinos.  I mentioned that personal finance material is not a popular thing Pinoys care for as much as they should.

Here’s what the famous personal-finance icon told me: “stop writing about money that people don’t have.” Wow! She encouraged me to write about stories of people, how they deal with their issues. People don’t like to be lectured at, they want to find hope. Too many times, writers & speakers like me get embroiled on all those technical things, too much on the nose bleed stuff. Suze was dead on and was a good reminder that I should always think about the readers are concerned about. She encouraged me to get the people to first care about their financial future, open their minds and challenge their set behaviours. When they get their acts right, they will naturally yearn to learn more, understand the rudiments of investing and be ready for heavier stuff.

She also encouraged me to continue with what I am doing and that she has so much faith in the spirit of the Filipinos. It was nice to know that she also likes the work of Dave Ramsey, someone who has such an influence on me. There are many finance coaches out there and many of them Suze Orman doesn’t really like but “Dave Ramsey is one of the few guys I like” she muses.

In a short period of time, I learned much from Ms. Suze Orman but what I didn’t expect was that she will also motivate me. In the next blogs, I will write more of the stuff I learned from her or cross-post articles that I am writing for other sites, publications.

Thank you Bank of the Philippine Islands for inviting me, it sure was an honor and a blessing to finally meet an icon.

 

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