Suze Orman: ‘The American Dream Is Dead’

Image by Steph Anderson via Flickr

Nov. 23 2010 - 5:44 pm 

Just in time for Thanksgiving, financial guru Suze Orman is peddling her dark side. The personal-finance author and CNBC talk-show host came to our offices recently to film a video with Moira Forbes. In an earlier post, I detailed Orman’s confessions about her personal relationship with money. Now, I take a look at her outlook for the country—and it isn’t the sunny, you-can-do-it optimism that I’d expected.

When asked about her financial fears, Orman said: “My only fear in life, when it comes to money, is what’s happening in the United States of America. The American dream is dead for the majority of America.”

The dream she is referring to is not even a Cinderella story; it’s much more practical. Orman believes the hope of someday owning a home, ofworking one job for life and retiring at 65 has been crushed by the financial crisis. “The middle class has disappeared,” she continued. “We have a highway to poverty and no roads coming out. I fear for [those] who have been kicked out of their homes, could be living on the streets and don’t know how to get another job. Many of the millions of jobs lost I don’t think are coming back. I am really afraid for the majority of Americans today.”

It is the topic of her next book, The Money Class, which will be released in March. In it, she will detail how to create “the new American dream.”

The cynicism is interesting from Orman, as she is the embodiment of the American dream. Orman came from modest means. Her dad was frequently sick, and her mom was a secretary who sold Avon products in order to pay the bills. “We were the American story–lost everything, never going to be anything,” Orman said. She was a waitress for seven years, earning $400 a month until age 30. Now she is a household name and multi-millionaire who has written seven financial bestsellers, will soon host money shows on CNBC and Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network, and appeared at No. 61 on our list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women this year.

Orman may be worried about the deflated hopes of America, but she will not be taking those concerns to Washington. She told Forbes thatmodern politics are “a total waste of time,” marked by in-fighting and fear of decision-making.

Readers: Is Orman right? Is the American dream “dead?” If so, what is the “new American dream?”