Suze Orman – Financial Hero to Many Comes Out as a Lesbian
Just in case you haven’t heard the news, the biggest name in finances, Suze Orman, came out as a lesbian in Sunday’s New York Times. I don’t know about you but I have always loved her straightforward style and I learned much of my financial savvy from her bestselling books.
As the savvy readers of Queercents know, if only GLBT couples could marry, we could save a LOT of money. Some ways are obvious like estate taxes while others are more hidden like the imputed tax when you cover your domestic partner on your company’s benefits. Perhaps the world at large will get a bit of a wake up call when they see it in black and white from one of the most respected money experts. The article begins:
Financial guru and best-selling author Suze Orman says she wishes she could marry her partner Kathy Travis, partly because it would save them both a lot of money.
”Both of us have millions of dollars in our name,” she told The New York Times Magazine in its Feb. 25 edition. ”It’s killing me that upon death, K.T. is going to lose 50 percent of everything I have to estate taxes. Or vice versa.”
While the sarcastic type out there might say “boo-hoo” and not feel too badly since this power couple has double digit millions of net worth, I say what better example could you want? Whether you have a net worth of $10 or $10 million, no one wants to kiss their hard earned and deserved money good-bye because of some antiquated laws that treat the GLBT community as second class financial citizens. Whatever happened to the end of double taxation? Ah, yes, doesn’t apply to us!
In my viewpoint as a life and business coach, Suze’s bold revelation has even more far reaching effects than our bank accounts. It goes to the heart of who we are — our self-esteem, confidence, and comfort in our very own skin. As we’ve written about many times here, how we feel about ourselves has a direct impact on our bottom line. Feeling bad about yourself and you’re far more likely to spend money frivilously to attempt to fill yourself up (which of course doesn’t work). You can read my full take on this in my article “Suze Orman, Always Confident, Now Out as a Lesbian” on my blog.
Suze’s latest book “Women & Money” hits shelves tomorrow (February 27th) and most certainly will land on my “to-read” list. Now that she’s out of the closet, I’d love to see her write something targeted to the GLBT community. Who knows if that will come to pass, but we can certainly hope. Suze and company, if you’re reading, please know that there are millions of us out here who would LOVE to have you guide us through the unique financial trials and tribulations we face as gays and lesbians.
Be sure and catch Nina’s post, John’s post and Rich’s post on Suze Orman coming out.
I don’t think she is 55. I knew her years ago when I was dating a close friend of hers. I was 25; my girlfriend “W” was 34, and Suze was older than W by at least 2 or 3 years. I am now 46, almost 47, which would make W 55, almost 56, which makes Suze, well, older than 55. Whether she is 55 or closer to 60, she looks great.