Suze Orman on faking orgasms and finances

This week, we look at Suze Orman—once a broke waitress, now a personal finance powerhouse with a $75 million fortune.
One of her sharpest lines is, “Women fake orgasms, and men fake finances.”

At 76, Orman hosts a top-ranked podcast (Women & Money), cofounded the startup Secure Save, and wrote bestsellers like The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. But none of this success was obvious at the start.

Born in 1951 to a working-class family in Chicago, Orman struggled with a speech impediment and learning disability. Her reading scores landed her in the back of the classroom. At the University of Illinois, she didn’t graduate with her class because she was too afraid to face the foreign language requirement.

After college, she drove to California with two friends and settled in Berkeley, waitressing for seven years at the Buttercup Café. That’s when she decided to open a restaurant. But with just $400 a month in income, it seemed impossible.

Then came a twist.

A loyal customer named Fred had watched Orman hustle for years behind the counter. When he learned she wanted to open a restaurant, he quietly rallied the café’s regulars. Together, they pooled $50,000—an enormous sum for a waitress earning $400 a month.

Fred handed her the check with a note:

“This is for people like you, so that your dreams can come true. To be paid back in 10 years, if you can, with no interest.”

It was a moment of possibility. Orman had never seen that much money. Her dream finally felt real.

She followed Fred’s advice and deposited the funds at Merrill Lynch—just to keep it safe. But the broker assigned to her sank the full amount into risky options. In a matter of months, he lost everything.

Orman's money was gone.

The restaurant was gone.

And she still owed the $50,000.

Broke. Betrayed. Drowning in debt. Her life’s big break had just been shattered.

But not her spirit.

As Orman later said,

“Sometimes loss is the key that leads you to gain.”

How did she claw her way back and become an oracle of personal finance?
Find out tomorrow in My Daily Oracle.

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