# Can I Afford it - Suze Orman **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683 "2010-10-01T02:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/1 "2010-10-01T02:14:35Z")
On the show, people call in, tell Suze what they want to buy, give her a rundown on their finances, and wait for her to tell them if they can afford the purchase. Often they have a couple hundred thousand in the bank, half a million in investments, and lots in retirement. By the way, they’re in their thirties or early forties. I’m much older and am ready to retire. I have nowhere near that. I feel the same way when I watch House Hunters. Am I a financial failure? Where is everybody getting this money? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/2 "2010-10-01T02:24:58Z")
They’re working and saving. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/3 "2010-10-01T02:39:24Z")
I will guess that “everyone” is preselected by her screeners to provide the largest “wow” effect. People with less impressive finances are less likely to be selected. It’s not much different from cold reading, really. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/4 "2010-10-01T06:52:12Z")
I feel you. That’s exactly why I stopped watching both her show and Property Virgins. Nothing like watching some 20-something start sobbing because her $450,000 starter home doesn’t have double bathroom sinks. Pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/5 "2010-10-01T20:25:15Z")
I always suspect that those folks call in primarily to be told they’ve done everything right. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/6 "2010-10-01T20:38:09Z")
I’ve never watched (heard?) it, but I also suspect in addition to them wanting to be told they’ve done everything right, Orman’s staff screens for them so that when you think “everyone else can afford an expensive vacation” you learn that there are a LOT of people out there with a LOT of money. As to where they get it - investments, stock options, businesses sold, grandma died, they had good jobs and lived beneath their means, they found an Action Comics #1 in their basement. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/7 "2010-10-01T20:45:23Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > I always suspect that those folks call in primarily to be told they’ve done everything right. There’s that. There’s also the fact that the call screeners are going to look for two things: good examples and bad examples. So all the calls that you typically see on the “Can I Afford It” section are generally, “hell yes, you can clearly afford it, go nuts,” and “fuck no, you crazy idiot, put down the crack pipe and open a Roth IRA already.” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-afford-it-suze-orman/555683/8 "2010-10-01T21:23:31Z")
I need to call into the show. My husband is NEVER satisfied with how much we have saved. If it was up to him, we’d still be sitting on folding chairs and eating off plastic crates. Some people need to be told by a disinterested third party that it’s “okay” to let loose every now and then.