Suze Orman has no secrets

I've seen Suze Orman twice on The View (yes, I watch it daily) and have learned just too much about the woman. But yesterday she made two statements that I'd like to touch on here - today.

(1) She thinks people shouldn't be so private about how much money they make. I am a fan of this idea! I think that the secrecy about income is absurd. Unless you are direct coworkers [obviously an uncomfortable situation], I don't see any reason to keep this info el secrado. Maybe that's because I'm proud to make $25/hr doing what I do? Or maybe it's because I'm extremely proud of my husband's income and how brilliant he is [I wont reveal his income b/c he's one of the one's who is not down for full-disclosure and it's not my place to 'out' others]? Or maybe it's because I live in a town that very few people can really afford to live in so the matters of money become almost as conversational as the weather. "It's supposed to be really hot this week. By the way, how much of a raise did you get with your promotion?". Certainly, we have no problem discussing the prices of our homes. Or the cost of preschools, cars, gym memberships, toys, etc. WHY then do we have to keep our finances so secret?! Who freaking cares? Am I wrong? And aren't we all curious? If we'd just talk about how rich/poor we are then it would save all the trouble of guesstimating with our spouses as to how much we suspect others make. Oh, you do it too! Don't pretend.

Last year, a group of our friends tried to start a financial study. We were following the Crown Ministries Biblical Financial Study. We decided early on to be very open with each other. I found this to be a really fun experience. I wasn't making any money at the time so I had little to expose. Kevin was visibly uncomfortable with the exercise as he made the most money. The two of us represented the poorest and richest of the group!

I just think that the secrecy about income makes money this really powerful, mysterious force that it doesn't need to be. If you live in this country you make more than 99% of the world so let's just drop the facade, people. We're all richer than somebody and more poor (poorer?) than someone else.

On a Christian side note, did you know that there are more than 2,350 verses on how to handle money in the bible. There are about 500 verses on prayer. According to the Crown Ministries study, Jesus said more about money than any other subject! They go on to give reasons why but ultimately it's because the world revolves around money and teaching about money was applicable to everyone.

(2) The second point she wanted to make is that women should have their own bank account period! Her point is that anything could happen and women should be smart about their money. She blatantly proclaims that women should 'stash' money into a secret account that is only theirs. How fatalistic is this? Personally, I do have my own bank account but it is absolutely NOT in order to keep my money separate from Kevin's or by any means to build up a secret stash in case I have to leave him or buy something that I don't want him to know about. This is sad to me. If a woman is in a place where she has to have a secret nest egg, I think there are some bigger issues at hand.

Agree with her or not, Suze Orman is a financial wizard and there's no debating that. Oh, and she makes $3-5 million a year "hopefully 10". This is sort of like me telling you that Kevin makes $50 - $250 thousand a year...hopefully $1 million! I'm sure even Kevin could handle this type of honesty! :)