Don’t forget…You’ve Got 24 Hours starting NOW!!! Study up…look over your notes and go take the final exam! Today at noon, Oprah.com will be posting a final exam from Suze Orman’s America’s Money Class! It’s YOUR chance to enter to WIN $50,000 or 5 of the $5,000 prizes that she’s offering too! Here is the official page for the FINAL exam as well as some notes from Suze to get you ready!
Remember to read the rules but here are some important ones to keep in mind…
You can only take the exam once.
It’s timed…and you have 15 minutes so know your stuff!
It has 12 questions and a 50 word essay. We don’t know what the essay is…but we’ve been thinking it’s about what you would do it you won the money…and I’m not sure 50 words is enough to tell her!
The exam is only LIVE on Oprah.com for 24 hours…so study, prepare, go in and do your best! We know you can do it!
Today, Suze’s going to show and tell us how we too might have some money right in front of us for the taking! As we work ourselves into week 4 of the Suze Orman America’s Money Class, this week it’s starting to pay off…literally! Tonight’s show is all about finding money that you probably don’t know you have….from unclaimed funds to hidden treasures at the bottom of a jewelry box. It’s there and Suze is telling us how to find it and then, what to do when we do! The fourth day of lessons and notes are below for Suze Orman’s America’s Money Class. They just may change your life and make your wallet a little fatter…and that’s the kind of fat that everyone loves to see! Her are my classroom notes:
Suze reminds us of our upcoming test…At the end of class six, you have 24 hours to take it, get 80% and then, be entered into a possibility of winning $50,000. Get ready and pay attention!
Case Study – Igor from Canada contacted Suze on Twitter and with that one tweet, quickly began realizing that everything was connected…who you are and what is going on in your life. Igor says he was “heavy, had a low self-esteem, and was $30k in debt.” Suze tweeted him back and said in her 140 characters or less…”Wouldn’t it be great if you could save all your tips and live off your paycheck.” This one tweet changed his life and started him making his own connection. Good for you Igor! Suze reminds us that it’s never too late to get our financial house in order. “It’s not until we get our financial house in order that we have the power to do things that we have been afraid to do before that. If you can get in control of your money, if you can get rid of your debt, if you can raise your FICO score…when your financial reflection shines back on you and lights you up, that is what allows you to have the power to then tell the truth about who you really are.”
When you get your financial house in order you gain the power to be your best self and stand in your truth.
Case Study – Hidden Treasures! Mary Pittman, known as the “Missing Money Lady” contacted Suze because she found money in her name! How does she do this? Mary shares that there are two websites to find money one: http://www.missingmoney.com and http://www.unclaimed.org !Look for missing money on these sites. You just might be surprised. Go and claim your money. One person in Suze’s audience had $66,000 found for her! How much is out there for you?
Case Study – Striking it RICH in old gold! Suze introduces us to Michael Fusky from Gold Fellow LLC, a company that Suze believes is honest. Suze and Michael go through the differences between the weight and cost variations of 10 karat to 24 karat gold. Here is the quick and easy test for the rest of us… [read more…]
Everybody likes free money and Suze Orman is helping us find a little that we may not know about. Below are some of the great lessons from this weeks Money Class . These are great reminders to add to your classroom notes! Enjoy and thanks OWN for sharing!
Hidden Money: Turn Gold Into Cash – With gold’s value on the rise, people have been looking to their old jewelry to make some cash. Suze speaks with Michael Gusky, owner of Goldfellow, who explains the different types of gold and what they’re worth.
Hidden Money: Learn How to Find it! – Suze talks with author Mary Pitman (AKA the Missing Money Lady) about where to look for missing money. Not only did Mary find money for Suze, she found thousands for a few lucky audience members as well.
Hidden Money: Lottery Winners – Karen and Rebecca are two teachers that have been fortunate enough to win the lottery! Suze offers these ladies some investment tips and might even have a few choice words for Rebecca’s financial advisor.
Hidden Money: Can Freda Really Afford a New Car? – 62 year old retiree, Freda, wants to buy a brand new black BMW. While she has a pension and savings, find out if Suze think Freda can really afford the car of her dreams.
With Suze Orman’s America’s Money Class teaching so many valuable lessons, it’s great that these deleted scenes were lesson that maybe didn’t make it to the hour long show but did make it on to the web. Thank you OWN for posting online and sharing these scenes and clips. Every ounce of information from Suze is like money in the bank!
Deleted Scenes: Are Apartment Buildings a Good Investment – Suze hits the streets to talk with Larry, who is interested in investing in an apartment building. Find out if he was the working capital he needs to in order to make this a smart investment.
Deleted Scenes: Can You Get a Student Loan Without a Co-Signer – During a break, Suze answers an audience member’s question about whether or not her daughter can get a student loan without her having to co-sign.
As Suze Orman gets us to the half way mark of OWN’s run of America’s Money Class, we are reminded of the BIG CASH PRIZE at the end of class and for a few moments of how to spend $50,000 that would be in line with all of the lessons that Suze has taught us so far… Pulling myself back from the brief distraction, it was time to settle in to the night and to start taking in the lessons. Ready or not, Suze’s going to give it to us straight. The third day of lessons and notes are below for Suze Orman’s America’s Money Class. They just may change your life…
Her are my classroom notes:
Case Study – Christine’s Story. Suze starts the 3rd class with Christine’s story. In 2009, she found out that she had lost over $550,000 of her money with a man that her family had been investing with for many years. “Within 24 hours, I became pennyless,” she says. Struggling to find her way in the world, she’s been shutting down and shutting off. Her two daughters wrote to Suze to ask her for help. Here are the questions that Suze proposes: How do I start over when my life savings is stolen? How do I move on? To Christing, it feels like she has lost her life because she lost her money. But one of her girls tell Suze, “It feels like I lost my mom. Here are Suze’s thoughts on handling a situation like this.
“Sometimes we have to suffer the loss of money to get the biggest gain of our life.” – Suze (Really, it can be used in any situation where money is the cause of anger or loss of who you are. Look for the lessons and don’t let it hold you back from living.)
Suze tells Christine, “Choose family. You are not choosing your girls. You are choosing to mourn the loss of your money and lose your girls at the same time. You haven’t lost your house. You haven’t been given the sentence that you have 6 months to live. You haven’t lost the things that matter in life. You’ve just lost your way.
Don’t let the loss of money take more from you that just money.
No matter what your loss, you have to put yourself back together and move forward. Get a plan and go through the motions until you get through it. You CAN survive anything.
Suze tells Christine, “To go to work, you need energy. To get energy, you need movement,” and prescribes her vigorous exercise 1 hour a day, 7 days a week. “As soon as you get your energy back, you will get moving. Your life will change.” (THIS is a lesson for anyone feeling stuck!)
“You have to forgive and move on with your life. You can’t go on in our lives holding on to what was. You have to look forward.” – Suze Orman
“I don’t believe in any of us being victim to our circumstances. I believe from the bottom of my heart that we create the circumstances that we are in. You have to take responsibility…you have to understand it’s just not him.”- Suze Orman
Money Class Lessons on Setting Up Investment Accounts: 1. You are never to make checks payable to anybody buy a major brokerage firm or bank. That’s the first key that they are a con person. 2. Go online and check your statement from the firm. Not from an email link but to the firm’s URL. Suggestion: Do not work with anybody who is not connected to a major firm.
Exercise every single day.
Stop letting other people take care of you.
Go out and find a job or create a job on your own.
Take control of your life.
Find someone to keep you honest about how you are doing: Talk every day with your girls on “how am i doing?” Keep her honest and give her help.
Action Plan: Exercise. Get a Job. Take Control of your life. Talk with your girls.
Case Study: Erica. - How do we stop spending everything that we make? This couple talks about not have savings, retirement, education funds for their kids. They buy everything they want, need and don’t need and are not very different than many other people in the world. Suze is here to help them get a reality check of what they are doing to their lives and future.
Don’t spend more money than you bring in.
Watch how much money you are spending when you go out to eat. You may be surprised.
Kids - Just because you go to school doesn’t mean you will be able to get a job. There are millions out there that have degrees and don’t have jobs.
“Would you rather… have the stuff you don’t use or take the money?” – Suze
“Only purchase needs…not wants.” – Suze
“Things don’t make you. You make the things. You don’t need a whole lot of stuff. Don’t let these things define you.” – Suze
Action Plan – No shopping for 3 months. No eating out for 1 month. No manicures or pedicures for 2 months. Only purchase needs not wants.
Case Study: Suze introduces us to Daine, a single mom and military veteran who found herself coming back from deployment only to have her hours cut in half when she returned home because of budget cuts and in turn, losing half her income. With a passion for photography, this mom is just looking for how she is going to survive. As she looks for a full time job, she asks Suze, “How do i find a job?”
If you want a job, you have to walk in that room and be powerful. Know who you are and know why you should get it.
To get money coming in, you should persue your job. Remember…”A job is not a career. A career is a passion.” – Suze Orman.
Suze gives us a couple of important reminders…what do you do when you become unemployed? – “The most important thing to do when you lose your job is to cut back on every possible expense. You want your emergency fund to last you.” – Suze
Don’t make this BIG mistake. – DO NOT take money from a retirement account. Money in your retirement account is protected from bankruptcy. DO NOT TOUCH THIS MONEY.
Special Surprise: Jerry Avenaim – World famous photographer in the audience who offered training to Diane. “To do your passion you need training. You have to know what you are doing. ” Suze and America’s Money Class set up with a 1:1 private instruction to give her the tools that she needs to pursue her passion. Also, she gets to shadow him for the day on his next celebrity cover shoot…talk about getting hands on training! Great luck to you Diane!
Audience Q&A and the lessons from it:
Suze asks kids…”What did you get last year for your birthday?” None could remember. That tells me, go for the cheaper gift. Seriously.
Suze on Kids and Allowance: “Do you give your children an allowance?” Suze says that if you do, you are teaching your kids entitlement. They are entitled to money, even if they don’t do anything for it. Suze suggests that a better lesson to give them is “work pay.” Here is how Suze’s Work Pay system works: They should have to do some things and not get paid for it. There are household chores that you do because you are part of the house. You clean your room. You help out with the housework. Those are normal things you do and should NOT get paid for. But…there are jobs that they could get paid to do. Have a job board. Put up jobs and how much they would get for each one. $3 for mopping the kitchen. $5 for doing the laundry. $10 for washing the car….etc… Teach them that they can work to get money. Like in the real world, they have to start with the $3 jobs…and work their way up to the higher priced items. You are to evaluate the work and decide if they can get paid for it. You are teaching them valuable lessons about how the world works and how to value their own work and what they do. Teach your kids a work ethic. They should earn “work-pay” not get an allowance.
Suze on quitting your job because you don’t like it: Suze asks, “Can you change your attitude before you change your job? What can you do to change that around? Maybe you are powerful enough to change everything around you?” Think twice before quitting a job…there are 14 million people who are unemployed who would love a job to hate. Then…You cannot leave a job unless you have a 16 month emergency fund. It may take 16 – 24 months to find another job in this market. Apprecaite that you have a job and try to change how you feel about it before you leave the job.
This weeks Class Action Plans:
Only make checks payable to a bank or financial institution. Don’t make investment checks payable to a direct person.
As we move closer to mid-point of Suze Orman’s America’s Money Class on OWN, here are some great classroom videos shared by the Oprah Winfrey Network and Oprah.com. These are great reminders to add to your classroom notes! Enjoy and thanks OWN for sharing!
From OWN and Oprah.com
Family and Money: Who is Named in Chris’ Will – Chris is reluctant to include his wife, Amy, in their financial decision making. Not only is Amy not listed on the title of their home, but she is not even named as the prime beneficiary in Chris’ will. Will Suze be able to convince this couple to work together and take the right steps to make sure Amy is taken care of in the event of Chris’ death?
Family and Money: Moving Out and Moving On – Suze speaks with divorced couple Mika and Reese who have continued to live together until they are able to sell their home. After two and a half years of this uncomfortable living arrangement, Suze tells the couple it’s time to move out so they can move on.
Family and Money: How Do We have Children Without Going Into Debt – Suze talks with same-sex couple Amanda and Brianne who are considering having their first child. Find out if they’re financially stable enough for a child after answering some of Suze’s tough questions.
Family and Money: Know Your Investments – Suze stresses the importance of knowing your investments when audience member Tina reveals that she does not know what her financial advisor is doing with the funds in her Roth IRA.
With Suze Orman’s America’s Money Class teaching so many valuable lessons, it’s great that these deleted scenes didn’t get left on the cutting room floor. Thank you OWN for posting online and sharing these scenes and clips. Every ounce of information from Suze is like money in the bank!
From OWN
Deleted Scenes: Prioritizing Debt – Suze explains how to get out of debt by paying off high-interest rate credit cards first while simultaneously improving your FICO score.
Deleted Scenes: When Dating, Who Pays – Suze talks to a couple about splitting the check on dinner dates.
