Suze Orman: You Need $10 Million to Retire Early | Afford Anything Podcast (Audio-Only)

Want to retire early? You’ll need at least $5 million, more likely $10 million, says famous financial personality Suze Orman.
I should know. She said that to me, directly, on this podcast.
I asked Suze for her opinion about a frugal, flexible person who wants to retire early with a $2 million portfolio. She warned that retiring would be a massive mistake.
“Two million dollars is nothing,” Suze said. “It’s nothing. It’s pennies in today’s world, to tell you the truth.”
Wait, what?
“Listen,” she said. “If you have $20 [million], $40 [million], $50 [million] or $100 million dollars, be like me, okay. If you have that kind of money … and you want to retire, fine.”
“But if you only have a few hundred thousand dollars, or a million, or $2 million, I’m here to tell you … if a catastrophe happens … what are you going to do? You are going to burn up alive.”
But what’s wrong with retiring early on $2 million? Assuming it’s invested 50/50 in equities and bonds and harvested at a 4 percent withdrawal rate, a portfolio of $2 million could create annual investment income of $80,000. Surely that’s enough, right? Riiiight?
Nope. Suze says that’s not enough.
“I think that in the long run, $80,000, especially after taxes and as you get older, is not going to be enough. You may think it’s going to be enough, but it’s just not,” she told me on the Afford Anything podcast.
“You can do it if you want to. I personally think it is the biggest mistake, financially speaking, you will ever, ever make in your lifetime.”
I asked her if a $3 million portfolio at a more conservative 3 percent withdrawal rate would be okay for an early retirement. She said no.
“Think about it logically,” she said. Supporting a disabled family member who needs full-time care could cost $250,000 per year, she said. Ordinary cost-of-living would cost another $100,000 per year. This means you’ll need $350,000 per year after taxes to cover your costs, which is $500,000 per year before taxes, which at a 5 percent withdrawal rate means that you’d need a portfolio of $10 million.
If you don’t have at least $5 million or $10 million, don’t retire early, Suze said.
“Here’s what the FIRE people, you are not thinking about, so I’m going to give it to you straight here now,” she said.
She described the possibility of getting sideswiped by massive taxes and catastrophic emergencies. What if your home gets destroyed by an earthquake or flood and insurance denies your claim? What if you’re in a tragic car accident and you need full-time care? What if the U.S. experiences 25 percent unemployment, which means you won’t be able to find another job if you wanted one? What if your investment income gets consumed by massive future tax hikes?
“When you get older things happen,” Suze said. “You’re hit by a car, you fall down on the ice, you get sick, you get cancer. Things happen.”
“Alright, you can do it if you want to,” she said. “I’m just telling you, you will get burned if you play with fire.”
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Show notes: affordanything.com/episode154
Subscribe via iTunes: affordanything.com/itunes
#affordanything #suzeorman #financialindependence

[@jdl9623]

So what I got from Suze is that if you're a hard worker and work past your retirement age, nothing bad can happen but as soon as you retire early, catastrophes such as flooding, disability, hurricanes and sudden extreme high taxes due to AI will occur? Got it. I won't retire early just to prevent these apocalyptic disasters from happening.

[@boblacks945]

I am now 75 years old and stopped working in 1997. I am married and do not have any children. I have a nice two-bedroom apartment by the beach in Boca Raton, Florida. I spend about $55,000 a year and live a simple but comfortable life. I did all of this on just a few hundred thousand dollars invested in the stock market when I retired. Today, my net worth is over one million dollars. According to Suzie, I must be a really lucky guy.

[@LilannB]

For her to say $80,000 is nothing shows how out of touch she is with average people. Speaking for myself if I had a paid off house, paid off car and no payments. I would have a hard time spending $80,000.

[@darkwoodmovies]

$80k is like a year of rent and food where I live. So it really wouldn't get you far in a lot of urban areas.

[@ssc1083]

@@darkwoodmovies but the commenter above said that their house is paid off in that scenario. So 80k is more than enough for their food and other expenses not related to mortgage/rent

[@darkwoodmovies]

@@ssc1083 I suppose, but to an extent. Just as a simple example, take an average 1 bedroom apartment in NYC. You'll most likely be spending over $30k a year on just property taxes and HOA dues alone, if you're lucky. Places be expensive :(

[@lvega5606]

80k is my living expense for one year. Technically 11.5 months.

[@nolanrizzo3812]

​@@darkwoodmoviesI I ppl who live in new york they're nursing assistants and they doing just fine. It's not the end of the world. Everyone won't retire with $10 million 😂

[@karenwallace5855]

So I guess we all are supposed to work until we drop because we'll never have enough. I don't thinks so. She, like so many people who make tons of money, is seriously out of touch with the regular working class and how little we actually make and live on. She only represents the affluent as far as I am concerned. And by the way, those who actually can afford to retire early, would have the TIME to take care of their parents instead of putting them in a home, like people did in the old days.

[@forrestgump8241]

Excellent commentary! I think Suze may have spent too much time away from the real world. To me, one of the biggest benefits of being involved with FIRE is learning how to live without fear and recognize value of the items that truly add to happiness.

[@LAWSON08]

"Ordinary cost-of-living would cost another $100,000 per year." A Suze smackdown? LOL, Suze needs a Mr. Money Mustache face punch!

[@Re3iRtH]

It's better to aim higher than aim to be mediocre.

[@apierre6]

@@Re3iRtH The whole point is that you live frugally and don't fall into the trap of materialism that many people do. Suzie talking about making $100k on the absolute low end when $100,000 per year puts you in the top 10% of Americans!

[@nolanrizzo3812]

​@@Re3iRtH😂😂😂

[@trevorward9680]

Love it Paula, what a career changing interview for you. Afford Anything will be shooting through the stratosphere!

[@sarasuperid]

Suze had so much fun in her twenties--I am jealous. What is wild, is I am more jealous of her fun traveling and working as a waitress when she was young than I am of her current private island lavish lifestyle now that she is a senior. I guess I prefer the simple things. I don't need to own an island to enjoy one. :)

[@cartonet8186]

You don't need to travel or retire to enjoy life either. The people who don't carea bout things are the ones that are easily able to become independently wealthy ('cause they don't care and don't travel while they're working as waiters/waitresses). Those same people who just worked and didn't travel at all and saved up and invested all their money, end up becoming the wealthy that buy up properties and entire islands, and it's not because it gives them happiness, it's because it's like buying a can of coke or something. When you're wealthy these little things and costs don't matter. They don't mean anything other to the buyer. It's like the philosopher's stone, if you want wealth, you're never gonna get it, but if you don't want it, y ou'll end up getting it and not even caring too much for it.

[@mysticaltyger2009]

Paula, you are so awesome. You did a great job maintaining your composure while interviewing sensationalist Suze. Your commentary in this piece was also awesome!

[@sarasuperid]

I also did a short and not very involved google search and found that self-employed people can buy disability insurance. If you are self employed by managing real estate or running a podcast. Even if you are reinvesting much of what you are earning can be documented in order to show a monthly income in order to qualify. And if you include it in your plan, if you purchase it while you are still working your cubicle job, then it is easier to qualify and you can continue to use the aforementioned self-employment income as documentation for if you do become disabled and need to collect benefits. As for the flood insurance, hurricane insurance, black swan event insurance--if you own your home outright and it is devestated and somehow the insurance doesn't cover it, or only covers part of it, then you may need to transition to another solution. It is very rare that I have ever seen anyone advocate early retirement or even traditional retirement while still paying a mortgage. If my home were to be devestated in some kind of uninsured way, I would have to move in with family, just like anyone else would. Yeah it would suck, but that is not unique to early retirement. But not having a mortgage, is somewhat unique to FI, and so I would not carry debt into my tragedy. I could mooch off (lol) or compensate family or friends for living with them and may perhaps to live a more meager existence than previously planned or take on a type of work I did not relish in my old age (walmart greeter anyone)? But I have a better chance than the millions of not FI elderly who have no choice but to work and not because of a disaster but because they didn't plan at all.

[@mahoganymarie3517]

Thank you so much Paula!!!

[@mixedbagclips2511]

I’m so proud of this community

[@adersonjeanfrancois5163]

Paula thank you for such a great opportunity to listen to a diverging viewpoint about FIRE. Overall, I can understand the merits of both sides. It makes sense to be able to enjoy retirement btw 30-40 years of age whereas a senior citizen. However, I also believe Suzy raised some valuable areas FIRE advocates tend to overlook when it comes to insurance coverage, and a mosaic of unforeseen events that can quickly deplete your funds. Moreover, everything is incumbent upon the lifestyle the retiree intends to adopt. For me, $80K annually is not enough because I will be exploring the world and great cuisines. To be able to afford that, I have put in place a multi-stream-income generator to finance my never-ending- investing strategy. Indeed, I don't plan on drawing money at all because my businesses have been generating enough cash to cover all of my expenses and regular investments. My ultimate goal is GENERATIONAL WEALTH.

[@brianr2239]

I added this comment to the actual podcast with Suze Orman, so I thought maybe it would be good to post it here as well. I just listened to lots of the Suze Orman podcast. I couldn't listen to the whole thing because I felt it became too repetitive. Bottom line from Suze Orman - work until 70 or risk disaster. Ok, I'm almost 60, and I have been saving and investing for years, and this is what I think. First, Suze is in the business of preventing people from staying poor or becoming poor, and her advice here will do just that. If you listen to her, and do what she says, the likelihood that you will end up poor is extremely low. Now here is the disconnect. Not just everyone wants to retire early. The people who want most to retire early - who are they? Well they aren't people like Suze with a strong work ethic who love what they do to make money. If you find a job you love with an employer and/or customers who are wonderful to deal with, you'll look forward to working - you won't want to leave. I had a job like that right out of college. I still remember Fridays. I was happy for Friday because who doesn't like Fridays and the coming weekend?! But at the end of the day, as we walked out of the office together and drove away, I felt a little sad because I wasn't going to see any of my coworkers until the following Monday. It was a job where I was expected to be productive, but I wasn't a slave, and everyone was very cordial with each other. But I had to move on because I wasn't paid much and there was little to no opportunity to change that. So now we get to the people who want to retire early, and of them I would say perhaps some are just lazy, but most really don't like what they do to make money. And if you are a slave to the place or people you work for, everyday is unpleasant. And they make you feel like you are wrong not to be completely dedicated to their business whether it damages your personal life or not. So the thing I believe people should try to pursue is building their net worth as quickly as possible, and then make a determination of when the time is right to get a more enjoyable job. Why do that rather than retire early? Well Suze is right about this: Companies that you have invested your money in do cut dividends in bad times, and they do go under. For me this lesson came from GE. When I bought GE stock, I thought to myself, this is what I should have been buying instead of all those mutual funds - a regular dividend - no need to sell shares to get money - with enough invested here I'll be set for life - well I got out just as they started to fall - read about what happened - I never expected that from a company like them. And if you are young, you need your money in a place it can grow. You can't afford to leave it simply in safer bonds with their lower interest rates. You need to recognize the rules of the game. The important thing is to not run out of money at a point that you can't work anymore or are generally unemployable. You will have to carry health insurance with no employer subsidy. That's big. And if you develop a condition that is expensive to treat, there may be some risk of your insurance company finding a way to drop you as a customer - I'm not expert on this - but let's face it - they are in that business to make money not give it out. There will be economic downturns and you will be impacted. And you will be bored just being retired. I have been using my vacation leave to try out what retirement could be like and going from not enough free time to all free time takes some getting used to - you better make sure you have a plan or it may be a lot less fun than you expect - and spending money for fun will damage your ability to remain retired. I think a big thing for you to plan for is training. Don't figure on a retirement of pure fun. Because you are retiring young, you should keep training, not only in the career field you left, but in others as well - do this at a low cost or no cost - KZbin is great. Why keep training? Because you may have to work again. You have to realize you may hit some problems. How about a divorce? I've always been single. The people I've met with the most financial challenges who actually had decent paying jobs were always divorced. It doesn't have to be a health problem that steals your money. Divorce is a money killer. And the training will give you something to do in retirement and could help you find something you really like, are really good at, can be paid well for, and causes others to appreciate and value you much more. If you had to work like that, how bad would it be? Those are my thoughts for others here to consider. I would not say retiring early is terrible, but rather that people just need to think responsibly and plan for what they want to do, and plan for contingency should things not work out for them. I wish everyone here success in what they seek.

[@mmcali11]

I’m all in on the FIRE movement but I do think we have to talk more about how to be properly insured and of course do it the most economical way possible

[@stephendallasdraws2929]

I have heard from multiple sources(freakonomics, Tim Ferris, and more...) that insurance is the greatest asset for building wealth. Its true that a majority of people go through life with little or no crazy things happening. As an artist, I know that even the smallest bump in the road is enough to offset the realization of my goals by years and years! If my studio burns up, it would cost upwards of $10,000 to replace all of my carefully selected references, supplies, and tools of the trade. I chose to go into the work force in the advertising setting because it is more money and benefits that I can invest in my tools and myself. This ensures that I can keep working towards my goals. So in my case, giving a portion of my 20's to working hard is letting me waive the risk of being a starving artist for 10 years before my career takes off. This means that I can take bigger risks early in my career as an artist than some of my colleagues are able to do. You're both right!

[@curlywillowflowerfarm7705]

Glad you made this

[@jenniferlarregui3315]

The reason why Suze hates the FIRE movement is because these are the people not buying her books or watching her on Oprah's channel. FIRE people read from the people who have accomplished the FIRE movement and do not need Suze's advice anymore. Don't get me wrong. I used to be a huge Suze fan but that stopped when she pedaled the "Approved" Prepaid card. That was a total crock of doodoo. :)

[@kwhopper1100]

10 million dollars using the four percent rule gives you the equivalent of 400000 dollars a year for the rest of your life . You don’t need anywhere near that much .

[@fabianvela6077]

I recently visited my cousin in Guadalajara & he pays $25 a month rent utilities included. Decent 2 bedroom, for my standards anyway. Lives on less than $200 a month. I live in Texas and 36k is enough for me. If 10M is what u need to retire then most of us never will. That's absurd. Good luck working till u croak.

[@sciencelabvideosl7558]

Paula, I appreciated your interviewing style with Suze. I wanted to hear Suze’s perspective. Please interview people who have all sorts of opinions. Don’t forget, Suze was usually emotionally charged at her CNBC show. Money conjures emotions. I think some of the comments show that people might be too sensitive here. People have to hear other viewpoints.

[@HylianCucco]

I wonder if its true that Suze doesn't like FIRE because we are able to do it ourselves, and don't have to buy her products...

[@theschnauz2138]

Char yes! That would mean you don’t need something shonky like the swamp land...oops...I mean debit card she was trying to schill. It’ll all be fine as long as you use it exactly as she tells you to.

[@josephj7991]

I Love Your channel!

[@SantaBarbaraAlberto]

Love Paula's approach to the interview and her responses. She predicts the safety net will disappear and AI brings higher taxes so not enough. What is hidden behind Susie's words is her progressive view of herself and others in which she is the only person that can save the rest of us. The risks she details are possible but not highly probable based on existing data. The expectation is to earned a live like the top 1%.

[@sflxn]

She had some good points, but like many fear mongers, she is pedaling a retirement that maintains your current lifestyle or more. If I was retiring early, I wouldn’t be thinking of sending my kid to private school. Here’s the truth. She made her money selling books and being a TV host. She didn’t make it on investments or building a biz. All her ventures were fraudulent and ended up in failure. Take her financial advice with a grain of salt.

[@bigjake4424]

How about taking it with a salt block for cattle.

[@Laura-ey8ns]

Maybe you should do some research about her because this statement is not necessarily accurate. It's just an opinion.

[@larriveeman]

All you need to know is what is your living expenses ( including health insurance/long term care insurance ( if you choose to have), your net income and how much, if any debt, figure 3% inflation, then do the math

[@travis1240]

I'm sure that taxes and inflation will go up.. those are good points. I also think the 4 percent rule is not good enough to mitigate risks for an early retiree. I think 3 to 3.5 percent is more realistic for someone retiring at 50 or so. 10 to 20 million is a lot though.... That's just crazy.

[@jdthompson5778]

This is nuts! It seems Suzy tho is everyone should work to 70 plus. That means the average person may only get a 10 year retirement and some even less. What good is 10M plus if you are dead? She has clearly lost touch with reality!!! 30k a month for help when old. Nutty!! How does someone needing assistance in their 90s need 350M a year to live?? In what universe?? I retired at 56 and totally happy living on 40-45k (30k would take care of my necessary expenses) AFTER TAXES! Much happier and healthier than working at my high paying job! I’ll take this life any day!

[@carerforever2118]

Australian author of the book " Barefoot Investor " said you don't need millions! He said having $300,000 in the bank at 60 or so is enough to retire on.

[@MonK3yzUnkL]

It's "jibe" not jive at 23:58. Agree this was a good interview and there were many good ideas to consider.

[@kenny8351]

She says you need up to 350k per year to live! Suzie is wacked!

[@edsky6892]

But private aircraft insurance/hangar space and top tier butlers are expensive. She's right!

[@apierre6]

Will interview was weird. She talked about sending your kids to $50,000 per year private schools and incuring $350k in annual medical bills.

[@TheFGrox]

With 80000$ a year I'm sure that it's absolutely possible to live comfortably and even stack a good amount of precious metals coins or bullions with the spare money in case of black swan events.

[@dyhppyx]

Good job Paula

[@darryl.c7972]

I retired at 53, living a great life in Thailand! she is clueless! 5-10 million lol...

[@cartonet8186]

Well, in Thailand that's a different story.

[@23DRBECKHAM]

Sure, a 3rd world country, but in America good luck

[@sbkpilot1]

if you are retiring on a private island with champagne, lobster and caviar everyday then yes, $2M may not be enough.. but then again if you live like that you may not survive more than 10 years due to health issues so it may infact be enough!!

[@Kika-rn9tq]

​@@23DRBECKHAM Thailand is not considered a third world country. More like a second world country. So just made it with the $5 to $10M. JK, 5to 10M is still good in the US. if you plan accordingly.

[@carieyoung1111]

If inflation comes back…! She nailed it

[@eddquint1598]

I think I'm more offended at Paula being so overly impressed and shocked she has such a "mature" audience-

[@luisa1473]

This is what I don't get - if you're able to draw down $80,000 from your early retirement stash, then wouldn't you be just like anyone else who makes $80,000, putting a percentage away for savings/investments? If that's the case then compouning interest is still working in your favour... Also this expectation that you have to pay 100s of 1000s on ailing parents in their old age - come on. You can't spend your whole life being a work slave just because your parents made bad financial decisions. And here's a good way to ensure yourself from risk of natural disasters - just rent. Better yet, have a portable home. Also no one actually just sits on the couch in early retirement. You are the kind of person who 1. works hard with drive and focus and 2. has tremendous ability to delay gratification. So maybe the thing you like to do is painting? Can't make money off that right? Well maybe after doing it for 10 years fulltime you get crazy good. Maybe you end up showcasing your work in a gallery. Maybe people start buying your prints. And there you go, you've become a professional artist - something you could have never done without FIRE. Maybe you want to spend your time Jet Skiing in Fiji. Maybe after being known by the locals after a few years you get approached by someone who asks you to work for their instruction company. Bang, you get a dream job that you just couldn't rely on finding if you had bills to pay. Sometimes opportunity is about being at the right place and the right time.

[@xmochix604]

Not a fan of Suzy but we shouldn’t just dismiss everything she said. Things to consider. Be a student at all times. Learn.

[@hardy2175]

Retire early is the werong term. It is living on your own terms.Even though I earn much more than my brother I drive an older smaller car, don't have children and just never try to keep up with a Jones. I have lived a full life and think I can quit my job anytime and do my own thing. So it is different for every body

[@supercoolshowgun]

FIRE 2.0: "Unscripted" by MJ Demarco

[@agneslaufer9579]

Move to Arizona, retire slowly, live simple, travel, be healthy . YOU DON'T NEED $1 000.000 . LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS .

[@qeinfinity]

Why Arizona?

[@JanetKohl]

I think her choice of words and being sensationalistic and a bit extreme offended the audience who appears to be people who are smart, working hard to save and invest and are basically striving for a better life. That said, and her severity aside, I think she’s right at a very basic level. For me the key takeaway is do something you love, so you don’t want to retire early (and have insurance) and save/invest as much as you can so you have a bigger safety net at retirement and create a life you love at all phases of your life. I do like the ringtone idea!!

[@rjpg]

Why hear this lady's translation when you can hear the original episode. This lady is filtering Suze. Thanks Suze!

[@Mexicobeanpole]

So, in her scenario, 99% of the population works up till the day of their funeral.

[@ThePisto79]

She is selling a book and trying to be shocking! Dave Rames and her made a living prescribing one way of winning in their definition. She is still trying to out rage. Check Tony Robbins new book! It way more optimistic and less catty opinion!

[@droptozro]

I listen to Dave a lot still for encouragement and discipline... I still feel like Suze's on an entirely separate level of arrogance in this last podcast in comparison to Dave. Dave can occasionally get that way, but I'm not sure I'd ever want to listen to Suze much after hearing the last podcast. Tony's good with his book too, but it's not aimed towards FIRE.

[@sara7mk]

Why didn't you counter her during the interview or question some of the aspects of her view you think were extreme? I listened to the interview and I don't think you did.

[@ritasjourney]

Looks like we may have to go back to the old ways of having children, ensuring their financial success (rather than letting them flail in the wind) then going to live with them when we are old unless we already are living with them! The old ways worked for thousands and thousands of years.. might be worth a look. As far as medical disasters go, a lot of the time the cures are worse than the disease itself and even if your life is prolonged a couple of years through medical intervention, is it really worth millions of dollars?

[@argusloud3500]

I don't think that she's that far off, to live WELL in retirement. Life is expensive, and she's talking from HER lifestyle vantage point. Grammar school (1 thru 6) in my city cost $30,000 a semester. That's a TOP private school. We just took care of my two inlaws, who required round the clock care for 4 years... that was $1.4M. ZERO insurance for this, but they were worth $30M, so money was not an issue. Could we have done this for less? Yes, but we didn't have to. I'm not a big Suze fan, but I think that she's really worried about 30 year olds retiring only to wake up at 50 totally fucked. Out of work for 20 years and BROKE is going to be a problem. We're about to retire on $10M... at 60, and we're going to start enjoying it, but we're not going to burning cash. We still fly coach. The FIRE movement doesn't seem realistic for most people, but I agree 100% that she was being sensational. Retiring early is far easier if (1) you ahve no kids... we don't, (2) you don't have to pay for your parents care (we didn't), (3) you're debt free - we are, and have been for decades. Life happens and her black swan events, are not all that rare. PLAN for it... We're going to be pealing off around $600,000 to invest for 25 years from now. It will likely be worth 3x to 4x that amount by then. BTW: I find her AI fears bizarre...

[@teephillips468]

I didnt even listen to the interview but I knew it was going to be ridiculous. I agree with one of the comments you read about why she is in such disagreement....that would mean no inr needs to buy her brand. Think about it...more financially set people....less people needing these "gurus."

[@iselamunoz2558]

I like Orman, she can be brutal and I do agree with her that FIRE doesn't consider the risks.

[@sciencelabvideosl7558]

I think Suze is getting an unfair deal here because she is “ emotionally charged” I totally understand what she is trying to say. I myself went through a unexpected serious incident in my late 30s and it set me back so much emotionally, physically and financially. Life really threw me a curveballI ! I don’t understand why people are so against her. She is a realist. I think she might have blown the $5 to $10 million out of proportion. I personally think you should work as long as you can with maybe a break here and there in your healthy years. You stop working and your brain starts to go. There are so many examples of unexpected life occurrences I’ve witnessed : in Houston I saw so many people lose their homes to Hurricane Harvey despite not living in a flood plain. I have a friend who is 68 and just told me she hired personal assistants for per mom’s hospice care. My dad had 3 surgeries at 71 . A commented mentioned she should have mentioned insurance. Dont forget! AIG almost went out of business in 2018! She did not seem condescending to me, but rather genuinely worried that people think $ 200,000 is enough to retire at 30! “Life is short and life is long! “ She can be a little dramatic, but I think it is meant to drive a point.

[@sciencelabvideosl7558]

* 2008

[@jaylam8447]

I agree with Paula about not being argumentative.. had she argued and defended the movement, we wouldnt have heard all her opinions. It's best to get views from both sides and decide for ourselves what's best for us 😁

[@treygarver7791]

She remindedes me of fire Marshall bill.

[@ChristopherLavender]

This doesn't quite add up. Firstly, just 6.7% of U.S. families earn over $200K annually. David Marvin Willis, I used to be in that bracket-now retired, comfortably living on $100K per year. It's logical that when you retire, expenses like kids' upbringing diminish. I assume household costs reduce significantly. While contributing to grandkids' college plans may be acceptable, the food budget seems too low. Personally, I handle my own lawn care. Some expenses seem accurate or even underestimated. As for healthcare, being retired and on Medicare with top-notch supplemental plans, my costs are around $700 per month. I'm curious, David, when is their home paid off? Mine will be in about 5-6 months.

[@biskit7]

Suzy is awesome, most Americans are terrible with finance and need a motherly point of view like Suzy's. We need to define what is a safety cushion with actual expected inflation rates and costs of getting older and how much you will need to live comfortably.

[@QQQBall]

Bullshit. There is no motherly point of view on FIRE, its just math. In Paul Terhortz' book, "Cashing in on the American Dream, How to Retire at 35," he notes that you can always go back to work, you just won't earn as much when you left. FIRE methodology buys you time and time equals life energy. The greater your yield on investment, the more time you buy yourself. BTW, working in a cubicle for 45 or 50 years all the while being heavily taxed on earnings is not an inflation hedge. The FIRE couple that retired to Tahoe - the lady had them work 3 extra years as a cushion - that resonates with me, but everyone is different. A book saying you need $10MM minimum to retire is fear porn...Learn to think for yourself (if that is possible in your case), do the math, work your plan and life your life. I always wonder at people defining the R as sitting around doing nothing. Look at the people in FIRE community, they are very introspective and independent; their critical thinking and ability to decide for themselves is key. I refuse to waste an hour of my life on rubbish.

[@goat7844]

This woman is a con Artist. Do you remember her debit card? Google it. Pure trash.

[@Cthames123]

Paula, you knew what you were getting when you asked Suze to come on your show. All the Hollywood stuff, promoting her books, and shows and talking about how she is the queen bee! She is a larger than life show biz personality. This is the horse you bought when you asked her on, and all the entertainment that came with it. She is NOT like an ordinary person and if she was you wouldn’t have had her on the show! That would not make good TV, (or good radio/podcast).

[@teamtrump8221]

It depends on your lifestyle. With her she needs 100 million to retire. If you homestead you can live on $20,000 year.

[@weicaihon]

very nice and informative but isn't 10 million too much? I mean aren't we supposed to look at this on the level of every average worker?

[@yunsukchae3749]

$10 million dollars... LOL even if you're working till you're 80 you're not going to save that much... even if you do, you're going to have to work your ass off and not spend a single dime.

[@Columbus1152]

Yun Suk Chae- I'm pretty sure the people who can afford to amass millions, aren't listening to the Suze Orman Show for their financial advice. I have far far less than that and I pay for a professional.

[@fundip43]

dave’s up next lol

[@ronnieeaton5514]

Sounds like a lot of people Hate on Suze. Let’s see where all y’all are and compare that to where Suze is….that’s what I thought. If you THINK like a broke joke, you’ll BE a broke joke. Aim higher people.

[@jnsa9454]

"Enjoy the journey to FI..." "Fear is expensive..."

[@chiaweinam]

wow, first viewer!

[@grantgabler]

Work until you are nearly dead in a job that you love... how many people have jobs they really love? I define that as a job you would do even if you were not paid. I reject the idea that ANYONE can financially plan for every possible scenario. Even at 50 or 100 million... Plenty of those people go bust too. I retired 6 years at 45... before the FIRE movement- I spend on whatever I want in Thailand for about $2000 a month. Less than half what I could spend. I'd rather live now than later when I am unable to live fully.

[@hardy2175]

Keywords ' job you love' What about job you don't love

[@gutsberserk2718]

Nice to hear! I will be at your level in a few years. Not at the 10 mil level but i have some guaranteed life income that is annually inflation adjusted.

[@Scorpion-dn8ju]

In 2022 everything that she has said is true

[@brockemon]

If you had the income to race to 2 million in your 30s it is true that it would be hard to cut back to 80k a year in income. That’s an unfortunate reality

[@user-up6qp9fv9w]

That is so out of touch the average person will not earn 10 million in a lifetime of working. So why would they need that much in retirement?

[@GrantValdes]

Why are you policing her tone?

[@LJernegan]

The amounts of money she throws out, is unreasonable for anyone other than Oprah level wealthy people. My kid goes to private school, and it costs less than her figures. Almost no one goes to Harvard. That isn’t a goal fo us.

[@diamonevideos9318]

You were impressed with people's maturity in reaction ? I think people don't need emotional confort by watching videos of this kind, but they're mainly searching to see the 2 sides of the coin, so they could make up their own mind. Therefore, it's your reaction that surprised me the most...

[@Cthames123]

What Suze is saying is solid. It is very hard explaining the frequency of “extreme black swan” events to someone who has been well their whole life. I think she is saying you should be careful about walking away from your job during your most productive (income producing) years. Doing the best you can and keeping a job with good benefits helps one wade through life events that have a way of smacking one in the head. You’re picking at her arguments but these points are real, Paula. As far as the maturity/ intellectual caliber of the responses, you should have higher expectations of your audience. We aren’t stupid and are not children! Suze comes with a personality but she articulated legitimate points that clearly challenge your mindset. I wish your counter arguments were stronger and better refuted her points as opposed to focusing on personality rubs you had with her.

[@Mr_Martz_Mc]

I could live off of 200k with a good dividend paying stock

[@123koby]

Where?

[@thepenthouse1507]

Doing it.

[@sbkpilot1]

she is a nutcase.. most people on earth will not even see $500k in their bank accounts in their entire life let alone $2M and then $2M is pennies? this woman is deranged!

[@bryantaylor6188]

I could get hit by a bus going to work my self to death. 😀

[@ThisLifeUSA]

"2 millions is penny"

[@LMCEK]

Paula, you are very defensive of the FIRE movement and critical of Suze. Why? Are you afraid she could be right? 🤔 As a medical social worker, I can tell you first hand that Suze is not too far off base. I pray that you and your family will never have to find out. The financial devastation I have witnessed from illness and injury is horrifying.

[@fredwinslow744]

Lissa K i like paula a lot. but her emotional reaction to suze was because she disagrees and didn’t really challenge it is ok that its not her style as it’s not necessary but an hour of feedback from supporters is defensive i hope she will send it to suse and ask for responses for all of us the biggest mistake in a stance is to reject challenges i viewed suze as an odd ball bec she is a bit of a sales person and has been criticized but her advice to working people about spending and debt was correct now she is blowing it all up with the secret that it doesn’t matter if you work forever or want fire because without 10 million your screwed again she is partially correct and to avoid panic in supporters everywhere they need to moderate her “hate hate hate “ and paula’s tribe consensus with a dose of reality and calm just because we have some security does mean we control are whole journey we’d all like that

[@therevolution91]

Nobody who does the math will look at this.

[@fredwinslow744]

of course many of the people whom i follow in the fire movement will have horrible cognitive dissonance ,about what you are all calling black swan event risks .. these risks are not rare , in today’s environment of future possible instability , largest aging population in history etc ;except for those single or childless without any family , she is not way off , if yes grandstanding in her byline clickbait “hate it hate it “.. please consider that the feedback you received in social media is the tribe reacting civilly but with cognitive dissonance fire is more so a calculated risk for those that don’t have one of the four you describe at the beginning . with this considered ... it is maybe worth it to enjoy life in a way perhaps i didn’t in raising 3 kids and in a busy career ;but I do feel a little lower risk in my 50s , with equity , a disability plan , fair to high career security .. the converse 5-10 million and up as she says really it’s just a matter of definition suze may look at FIRE as lying on a beach Most fire people are just as active as the non retired just essentially about control of time at a younger age that i will never get back .. but i enjoyed my ride and those that don’t should consider FIRE because essentially if you accept ormons OPINION you might as well be a fire person amy way since very very few have the trajectory of 20 million and up SO take your life back now if you can take mini retirements .. do it if you can’t , then suzes old frugal advice holds for a decent life still if you don’t have 20 million “like suzes” current mantra .. then at least you understand what she is after all along haha. and now she is peeing on the rest wit her honesty 😉

[@jamie49868]

Just total nonsense. Say you have a pension of 2K a month SS at 2K a month, that is $48,000 per year. Now say your 401K/ROTH/other investments kick in another 20K per year and you're sitting at a comfortable $68,000 per year. I think most people would take that. Sure, more is better, so save, save, save, but 10M is unattainable for 99% of the workers.

[@batwood8010]

Ugh. Suze speaks from a viewpoint from which she cannot escape as a very wealthy person at 67. There are no guarantees in life, no matter what plans are made. Suze misses the point of FIRE, or even of FI, which is about freedom to maximize the limited resource of time (remaining in your life) and reaching for happiness beyond doing what society (and marketers) say are the norms. Do we work at jobs or in organizations that do not make us fulfilled/happy in exchange for a higher level of (insured) security? I have done it. I'm only willing to do it to a point.

[@carerforever2118]

G'day from Australia 🐨🦘🇦🇺 I retired from working for an employer at age 39 ,(and not by choice), with $40,000 in the bank at the time, l've been at home daily since then getting $1,000 fortnightly from Centrelink ( Social Security) on the Carer Pension and Carer Allowance for looking after 2 people, my 72yo Schziophrenic mother whom can't walk, and my 53yo brother whom is ill and has back pain due to hurting his back at work years ago and hasn't been able to work since . What did mean before " not by choice " , well after my father passed away, l had to take his place and take care of my mother. And then years later l had to look after my brother as well. So here l am 43yo and still living at home at my mum's house looking after mum and my brother. Cooking , cleaning, doing groceries shopping and paying there bills on there behalf.

[@adersonjeanfrancois5163]

Carer Forever, thanks for sharing your inspiring story with us. This is exactly the type of situation Suzy has experienced with her mother and tried to bluntly explain to Paula. I think anyone would be a fool to believe nothing would ever happen if you follow the FIRE movement and able to amass $2M at 30-40 years and being debt-free. Suzy, I am afraid is RIGHT because life always throws unexpected and unfortunate events at us. The question is how will we react? Will we be ready to face uncertain times with confidence and still enjoy retirement with $2M in the bank?

[@sharonlowe6064]

*nervous chuckle*

[@edinnorthcarolina--ovelhog5786]

What is the saying? “Beware of old men [women] in an area where most die young.” Be wise my friends.

[@truefreedom9308]

The host of this podcast is awesome but kind of patronizing in this video. Continually telling her audience like little children how impressed she is and how awesome they are.

[@Kermeous]

She's so disconnected with real life living for 90% of Americans, saying you can't live off of $80K year b/c you're sending your kids to private school at $50K/year and then to Harvard and you need $250K/year to take care of your parents and then $100K just to live on. She's no longer relevant

[@carerforever2118]

Private school? Harvard? Why would one send them there is you hardly have the money? If your Millionaire, there's no need for Harvard, just use the money to started up a business. Kids don't need to go to a Private school, Public school is good enough.

[@fredwinslow744]

three comments because it was such a good and long video the privelages to be more outspoken are not given ;if it is not ones style to debate or be outspoken , that is your choice . The privilege is not given unless people give it and you don’t have to give it , as you can be civil and then disagree . Scott Adams of Dilbert Fame , accepts any argument or disagreement if their is actually one given .only people who insult or hate without a coherent argument are rejected or blocked . with respect to the “fire “”tribe “”community”, it is not kind , to not pounce , and though a journalist approach to ask questions is legitimate , after the fact using the consensus. letters to argue after the fact is not as convincing an argument as challenging her would be . the audience and community is best served by objectivity not fraternity unless fraternity is the prime motive here . I hope not , as this is tribal and dangerously risky for FI of confirmation bias . size should be able to handle debate I would ask for suse to return to respond to the communities responses that had arguments or other views and ( sparing the emotional opinions ) that would be a great video and you don’t have to be stressed by the potential ego or awe created by these “stars “.. i hope my opinion is allowed in the community thanks

[@idiocracyishere4531]

Suze please go into politics, run for president

[@joycebarnett6035]

If your over 55 2 million is enough if you invest the money in real estate she’s nuts. Haha work in area you love? People don’t allways have that advantage.

[@cerbico12]

Unfortunately Suze is correct.

[@LifeAfterWomen]

BS! At a 5% return that's $500,000 a year.

[@cynthiamckeague1436]

No offense but I hear only sarcasm in your interview and feel you were searching for areas to promote yourself vs allowing Listeners to truly hear what she was trying to say. I understand she was emotional but I think It was likely the environment she was interviewed in. I will continue to follow Suze who has been my go to person for years and will continue to be into my retirement. My family and I have enjoyed so many adventures in my working years and don’t feel I needed to retire early to do so. I’m proud to be a contributing member of society. I find value in what I do at work. I couldn’t imagine being without the benefits I expect upon a full work career-guaranteed income-a full pension, healthcare, full social security, and long term care, and an annuity. All which I focused on building because of Suze. Main thing is it’ll put me in a position to retire without worries and still be able to help my family should they have a need, health or otherwise. How many can say that retiring early? How are you contributing to others/society?

[@RiskyMath]

lol

[@Bacciagalupe]

:)

[@simoesdb]

She really sounds like Trump

[@Laura-ey8ns]

Suze tells it like it is. She speaks from experience. All the issues she brought up are real. You will find out as you age. You asked her a question, she gave it to you straight. You were the one who did the interview. If you wanted to have a conversation, you could and have interjected. you don't know what you don't know. I wish you prosperity in your journey as I know Suze would.

[@Cthames123]

So annoying Paula is “so impressed” with the responses. How stupid did you think we were?

[@escapedtheratrace3408]

Retire to South America with $24,000 dollars in dividends every year from closed end funds! Suze is so disconnected from the average person who can retire from the workforce with just $250k to $350k!

[@chime-girl]

"You need 10 million to retire" WTF? What planet are you living on?

[@patriciamartin5366]

I agree! Most people I know only make it to the 2 million dollar mark and that's it.!

[@timothys3007]

Suze is so out of touch with reality it's kinda scary.

[@apollo_1238]

Suze is one of the greatest con artist in the financial world. She con her way from being a waitress to becoming a financial gurus peddling her financial products. Her informercials says people first than money. Which translates to find the fools and rob them of their money.