← Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)
Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)
Taking The Courage Challenge
00:15:30
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- [00:00]
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Hi everybody. Suzio here. Now what is the goal of money? The goal of money is for you to be secure and there is no better way for you to be secure than having an emergency savings account. It is essential for your financial foundation. So all of you should be participating in the Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account at Alliant Credit Union. Go to myalliant.com to find out more and be secure.
- [00:40]
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June 14, 2026 welcome to the Women and Money podcast as well as everyone smart enough to listen. Hi everybody. Robert the producer here. Now I know that on the last Ask KT and Susie Anything episode, Susie mentioned that she was thinking about going over her faves today. But see, I needed to travel this weekend and I asked Susie if we could do a best of today as a favor to me since I'm going to be in a place with kind of dodgy Internet and editing might be a little tough and Susie Orman being the best boss and friend ever, said that was okay. So what we're going to do today is revisit an episode from late last year which is also really good to have at the top of your feed right now. It's called Taking the Courage Challenge. Susie and KT will be back with a brand new podcast this coming Thursday. Enjoy.
- [01:35]
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I did a Susie School about a woman that we decided to call Susan and what happened to her in terms of her very good friend asking her to take her money from a successful financial advisor where she was making money and give it to this woman's son who is a brand new financial advisor just so he could look like he was doing well and attracting big clients and because her son was only going to charge her 1% versus this extraordinary advisor that was charging her one and a half. Well, I have to tell you that podcast generated more email in a way that I didn't expect. So many of you wrote and said Susie, that happens to me all the time. Not necessarily about me transferring my account, but I just get so afraid. One friend tells me to do this, another friend tells me to do that, my spouse tells me to do this. I'm just so afraid. And what can you tell me about being afraid? So what's interesting is that I hear from so many women. You would imagine that the Women in Money podcast and everybody smart enough to listen. But what I love so much about this podcast is that really the majority of people that are listening are 50, 60, 70, 80 and so on. I love that because there's not another podcast out there that specializes in getting financially mature, financially older. The Decisions you have to make and, and face when you are ill, when you are old, you can't work anymore. And I remember when I was 45 years of age and my first book was, you've earned it, don't lose it. Mistakes you can't afford to make when you retire. But what did I know about retirement, Really? I was 45. Now I am 30 years older than that. And I know a lot about retirement. I know about getting ill, I know about making mistakes. I know certain things. So I love that I have my elderly community and I love the ones that are young enough, 25, 30, that are enjoying it as well. But what is still true from so many women is this. Regardless of your age, regardless of your income level, even your background, all of your stories sound the same. That you're earning more than ever before, you're saving, you're investing, you're doing everything that I've told you to do over all these years. But deep down, you are all still afraid. I got two or three emails about three weeks ago and these women were so accomplished. And the two of you know who you are because I wrote you back significant long emails to help you and raise you up. Not so much from your finances, but out of your fear and out of your self doubt. But all of you, you're still scared. You're scared that the market's going to crash. You're scared that you're going to make just one mistake and you're going to lose it all. You're scared that somehow it's going to all slip away. You know, I used to call it that we all have this bag lady syndrome, that we imagined ourselves, not me by the way, we imagined ourselves being powerless and penniless and living on the streets. And the only way that could ever happen is if you're powerless. Because remember, you and your money are one. And when you are powerless, you tend to make mistakes with your money. But when you're powerful, you always tend to do the right thing. And I just have to be honest because it's starting to get to me. For I can teach you what to invest in, but I have to tell you, everybody, that's just not enough. But I also need to teach you about fear. Because you can have money and still not have peace. And that, my dear friends, is not the way to live life. Remember, as I just said a second ago, you and your money are one. So if you fear your money, you in essence are fearing yourself. So here is what I need you to get once again. And I have Told you this before, but since it's a Suzy school, this. How about if we take out our Susie notebooks and we write this down? Money doesn't erase fear. Do you remember me telling you this? Courage does. Courage. One of the eight qualities of a wealthy woman. Actually the third quality, just so you know, courage is what shows up when you finally stop running from your finances and start standing in your power. When you stop running from self doubt. My second book that I ever wrote was the Nine Steps to Financial Freedom. And truthfully, in my opinion, the best book I ever wrote. And I would always say if you can just take one step towards your money, which means taking one step towards yourself, since you and your money are one, you and your money will take nine steps back towards you. But you know, the truth is I've seen it over and over again. Women who are brilliant, women who are responsible, hard working, yet for some reason they carry this quiet anxiety about money. And a lot of the women that I've been writing back and forth with, not like they're only making 10,000 a year, they're making 100,000 a year, 150,000. One's making 350,000 and she's still scared to death. So what do they do? They check their accounts constantly. They second guess every decision. They feel guilty for spending and worried about not saving enough. And here's the truth. The fear isn't about numbers. It's about trust. Trusting yourself. Trusting that you know what's right for you. Trusting that you can handle everything and whatever comes next. And when you build everybody that kind of trust with yourself, that's when your relationship with money and who you are transforms. Because fear can't survive where confidence lives. You know, I just want to say this a little and then I'll go on with this. I have a sister in law, KT's twin sister. And Lynn, I know you're going to hear this and I'm so proud of her. And I may have told you this again a little bit ago because I never know what I say or I don't because I just kind of speak in the microphone and I never remember what I've said after I said it. So excuse me if I already told you this, but I'm so proud of her and her husband Tom, by the way. And Lynn is starting to really learn about stocks and feeling confident enough about deciding what stocks she wants to buy with their money. I love that, I love that, I love that. But here's the truth. What I find fascinating is that do you know that women today, women, women control nearly one third of all the wealth in this country. Can you just imagine that? And that number is growing every single year. But still, most women say they don't feel confident making financial decisions. Really? Everybody? Really. But you know what's so funny? When women do invest, studies show that they all outperform men because women are steady, they're thoughtful, and they think long term. So maybe we need to stop calling this. And where everybody says, susie, I want to be risk averse, please. I don't want to invest my money. I want to be risk averse. And I keep telling them, that's not what you want to be. You want to be what I call risk aware. Write it down where you are aware of the risk that you are taking. Is it a big risk? Is it a small risk? Is a risk to do absolutely nothing. I want you to be risk aware. And that's exactly what will build wealth that lasts you forever. Awareness, preparation, and courage. That's the real power Trio, everybody. Those are the three things I want you to be. Now, I want you to be aware, I want you to prepare, and I want you to have courage. But let's be honest, and let me go back a second here, because fear has been following women and money for generations, which is why I wrote the book Women and Money, maybe the second greatest book I ever wrote. Because you know women. It's true. And if you think that we're not socialized to think this, you are wrong. Because I know when I'm in a room with people and I just freely talk about money and go, how much was that? How much? How much do you make? How much did you spend? What's your real estate commission? All of that. They look at me like I am nuts. And that's because women, we were taught that talking about money was impolite, that asking questions made us difficult, that wanting independence made us selfish. But I got news for you, everybody. Starting with this podcast, those days are over. Financial fear is not your inheritance. Do you hear me? It's a habit. And habits can be broken. And the way you break it is with knowledge. You learn to plan. You take small actions, and before you know it, you have built confidence. And when confidence shows up, I'm here to tell you, everybody, fear packs up and leaves. So here's your courage challenge for the week. And I may have given this to you before, but if I have, you need to still do it. Step one, I want you to name the fear. What are you afraid of? And I want you to write it down. And I don't want you to sugarcoat it. Then I want you to just face the facts. I want you to look at your numbers. You can't change what you won't confront. And the reason that I want you to do that is given the women that I've been doing plans with who have written me, that touched my heart. So I answered them personally. Once they saw the numbers, really they weren't afraid anymore. They weren't afraid because they saw the truth. The truth that they weren't willing to look at. And step three, can you just make one small move? Just one. Whether it's increase your automatic savings, or maybe you're adjusting your investment allocation up to you, or maybe you're asking one financial question you've been afraid to ask, but just take one small move and step four, rinse and repeat. Because courage isn't built in a moment. It's not. It's built in motion. And here again is what I want you to remember from this podcast. Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's the decision to move forward despite it. Did you hear me? Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's the decision to move forward despite it. Remember, you don't need permission to be powerful because you already are. You know, I've said this before, that in China they say women hold up half the sky. And I've always said, but in the United States of America, women hold up the entire sky. I believe from the bottom of my heart that you have more power in your little finger women than everybody else. And I'll let you decide who that is have in both of their hands. So don't wait for the right time. I don't want you to wait for the right market. I don't want you to wait for someone to come and rescue you. You've got the money. Now it's time to get the courage. All right, there's only one thing that I want you to remember when it comes to your money, and it is this. People first, then money, then things. Now you stay safe. Bye bye.
- [15:38]
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We are strong, we are wise. We will not apologize. We are here. We will thrive Together we will rise. We will little bit of faith and everything it takes. We are strong, we are wise. Together we will rise.