Finance expert and motivational speaker, Suze Orman, has spent more than two decades showing women that it’s never too late to take control of their financial destiny. She’s also living proof that women can accomplish their greatest success after the age of 50.
Case in point, Orman waited tables at the Buttercup Bakery in Berkeley, Calif., until the age of 30, earning only $400 a month. It wasn’t until she reached her 50s that she launched her award-winning personal finance program, “The Suze Orman Show,” in 2002.
Now, at 72, she is one of the most influential financial advisors in the country, a bestselling author and the host of the popular podcast, “Women and Money.”
In 2020, Orman also co-founded SecureSave, a venture-backed startup focusing on helping people build emergency funds through employer-matched payroll deductions.
That’s why she was recently honored on Forbes’ and Know Your Value’s 3rd annual “50 Over 50” U.S. list, which celebrates women who have found success later in life, and have shattered age and gender norms.
Orman spoke to “Morning Joe” reporter Daniela Pierre-Bravo about the milestone, her career journey, and what she wishes all women knew about prioritizing their financial wellness.
“I never looked at my age as what would determine who I would become — I looked at my desire to do what I was doing at the moment I was doing it — and to be the best doing it of anybody out there,” she told Pierre-Bravo. “So it never was my aim to be a New York Times bestselling author, or my aim to win two Emmy Awards, or to be on any list … my goal was just to do what was right versus what was easy, no matter what, and to always put people first.”
To that end, the “Women and Money” author recapitulated her most important advice for achieving lasting success, starting with helping women to acknowledge their long career runway.
“This isn’t a race ... it’s a marathon, but the real key here is success comes when not just your company or business is successful,” she told Pierre-Bravo. “The true key happens to be when you have put yourself first.”
Orman says women must ask themselves: Do you have a savings account? Are you out of credit card debt? Are you saving for your future?
“Are you just out there making money for everybody else so that you can say you’re a CEO or you’re this or you’re that?” she added. “No, to be able to be truly powerful in life — enough power where you own the power to control your destiny — you have to be financially secure and with women, they give more of themselves than they give to themselves.”
For Orman, knowing your value includes being accountable for how, when and what you do with your money. “Are you being secure?” she told Pierre-Bravo. “Because the goal of money is for you to be secure.”