Early life and education

Orman was born on the South Side of Chicago in 1951 in a Jewish family. Her mother worked as a secretary for a local rabbi, while her immigrant father from Kiev worked in a chicken factory and managed a delicatessen in Hyde Park.

She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received a B.A. in social work in 1976. In 2009, Orman received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Career

After finishing school, Orman moved to Berkeley, California, and she worked as a waitress. In 1980, she borrowed $52,000 from friends and wellwishers to open a restaurant.

Still an investment novice, she invested that money through a representative at Merrill Lynch, who promptly lost the entire investment trading options. Later, Orman trained as an account executive for Merrill Lynch, where she learned that the type of investment her broker put her in was not suitable for her needs, as option trading is considered a high-risk but high-reward investment suitable only for high-net worth individuals. It was explained to her that since he was the highest producing representative in the office, his actions went unchecked. She simultaneously and successfully sued Merrill Lynch while she was still employed at the firm (it is illegal to fire employees solely for filing a lawsuit against them) for a prior investment loss of $50,000. After completing her training with Merrill Lynch, she remained at the firm until 1983 when she left to become vice-president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities.

In 1987, Orman resigned from Prudential and founded the Suze Orman Financial Group, in Emeryville, California. While there, she published a booklet, The Facts on Single Premium Whole Life, which compared single-premium whole life, universal life, and single-premium deferred annuities; she distributed copies of the booklet for free to anyone who requested one. She was director of the firm until 1997.

Orman published three books between 1997-99: The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom (1997), You Earned it Don't Lose it (1999), and The Courage to be Rich (1999). Other books by Orman include: The Road to Wealth (2001) and The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life (2003).

The Suze Orman Show began airing on CNBC in 2002. In February 2008, Orman gave away copies of her book Women and Money for free following an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, generating almost two million downloads. Orman has been featured on the Food Network's Paula's Party. In January 2011, Orman appeared on Oprah's Allstars. In January 2012, Orman's six-episode TV series America's Money Class with Suze Orman premiered on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Orman writes a financial advice column for O. She is the former author of Yahoo!'s "Money Matters" and has written for the Costco Connection Magazine. She contributes to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lowes MoneyWorks and Your Business at Home Magazine.

Orman's understanding of comprehensive financial planning has been questioned by some people in the industry. Senior MarketWatch columnist Chuck Jaffe, for example, states that Orman "scores very high on the personality index, but very low on the knowledge and understanding of the complex issues that face a lot of her audience. She's giving generic, simple solutions to people's most difficult problems, and judging from her portfolio she's taking them on a path she really hasn't traveled herself." According to MSN Money's James Scurlock, "the personal-finance guru favors supersimple mantras—even when they're wrong—and psychological explanations for all your money problems.

Orman's final episode of The Suze Orman Show aired on March 28, 2015, so Orman could develop a new series, Suze Orman's Money Wars, for Warner Bros. Telepictures Productions.

Personal life

In February 2007, Orman said that she is gay.

In 2008, Orman donated money to the Democratic Party and in an interview with Larry King in 2008 said she favors the policies of the Democratic Party and Barack Obama, especially in regards to people in same-sex relationships.

In an April 2008 online interview with The Young Turks, Orman said that her net worth was more than US $10 million.

Bibliography

Books

• You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire (with Linda Mead) (1995)
• The Nine Steps To Financial Freedom (1997)
• The Courage to Be Rich (1999)
• The Road to Wealth (2001)
• The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life... (2003)
• The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke (2005)
• Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny (2007)
• Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan (2009)
• Suze Orman's 2010 Action Plan (March 2010)
• The Money Class: Learn to Create Your New American Dream (March 2011)

Multimedia

Orman is also creator of a number of non-book products, primarily CD-ROM-based services that offer education and various financial services usually in conjunction with her books and writings.

• Suze Ormans FICO Kit - First offered in 2002 in conjunction with Fair Isaac Corporation.
• Suze Orman's Will & Trust Kit - Introduced in 2005 with her personal trust attorney.
• Suze Orman's Insurance Kit - Introduced in 2007.
• Suze Orman's Protection Portfolio - First introduced in 2002, in third version.
• Suze Orman's Identity Theft Kit - First offered in 2008, in conjunction with TrustedID.
• Suze Orman's Save Yourself Retirement Program - Introduced September 2009, in conjunction with TD Ameritrade.

Charities

Suze Orman supports the following charitable causes: Gay Rights, Women's Issues.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]