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Finance Shows: Show Me The Money

Tunia

By Tunia
in Genre Talk

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Tunia

Tunia

Money is such fun!  Let's embrace those shows that keep us informed, stunned  or just plain interested.
 
To start off, Money Talks on CNBC featuring Steve Stevens and his unruly band of sports handicappers was a hoot to watch and another interesting look at what makes Vegas what it is.
 
Here's the official program description:

 

"About Money Talks
CNBC's “Money Talks” takes viewers inside the world of Steve Stevens, a sports handicapper who runs VIP Sports out of Las Vegas. Each one-hour episode follows Stevens and his agents who sell their picks to gamblers looking for any kind of edge. From small-time bettors to big-time whales who put six figures on the line, this is a world built on high risk, high reward and high emotions."

 

Did anyone but me watch this?

 

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I'll also throw out Suze Orman (love her/hate her) as an addition to this category.  Personally, she drives me nuts with her know-it-all, condescending attitude, but somehow I just can't quit the bitch!  Maybe it's her hairdo, which is the only thing I really like about her.  Sometimes I like her advice; other times not so much, especially in her "Can I Afford This?" segment where she'll tell millionaires that they can't afford that new shaved ice machine or whatever and that they are "DENIED!".  I always hope they went out and bought it anyway, and are enjoying it to the max.

 

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What are the money shows you enjoy?

 

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Guest

Guest

I was watching Suze Orman's  'Can I afford it?' segment and had a thought.  She really needs to do a follow up segment call 'That is not mathematically possible'.

 

I was surprised at the number of people, back to back, whose information made no sense.

 

Are they lying about take home?  Confusing it with gross?

 

Do they have no idea what their expenses are?  Have they only included necessities in their expenses?

 

Did they have a life event that wiped them out or very recently changed their situation for the better?

 

Its just not possible that a 36 year old has take home > expenses by $2K per month and only has 11K in savings and 40K in retirement.

 

So what can viewers learn from this if it was delved into?

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walnutqueen

walnutqueen

(edited)

I hate watch Suze Orman.  She is so annoying but like someone said above, I can't quit. Usually I DVR and skip to Can I Afford It. 

 

I hate her so much I cannot watch.  Something about that woman offends my sensibilities; I think it has something to do with  !famewhore!.  STFU Suze.  I'm a Motley Fool fan from back in the day, and their "advice: trumped yours. Every. single. time.

Edited by walnutqueen
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aguabella

aguabella

Is no one watching Suze Orman now?  New episodes are available.  Bueller?  Bueller?

 

Ok, ok, I'll admit, finally, on the last day, that I've been a hate watcher of her show.  But only via dvr and often months behind, ok?  Never first run - got it, girlfriend / boyfriend, lol ??

 

Don't know about back in October, GussieK, but I did notice, b/c I was dvr'ing reruns, that the CNBC ptb changed the schedule around Jan 1 and ran her programs only 2x instead of the 12x (or whatever, haha) they were previously doing.  Either they realized viewership had dropped significantly or they realigned their schedule in advance, knowing she was calling it quits the end of March.

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aguabella

aguabella

(edited)

I was watching Suze Orman's  'Can I afford it?' segment and had a thought.  She really needs to do a follow up segment call 'That is not mathematically possible'.

 

I was surprised at the number of people, back to back, whose information made no sense.

 

Are they lying about take home?  Confusing it with gross?

 

Do they have no idea what their expenses are?  Have they only included necessities in their expenses?

 

Did they have a life event that wiped them out or very recently changed their situation for the better?

 

Its just not possible that a 36 year old has take home > expenses by $2K per month and only has 11K in savings and 40K in retirement.

 

So what can viewers learn from this if it was delved into?

 

I noticed the same thing over the years, ParadoxLost.  Because Ms. Orman always swore that she her staff both collected and reviewed (and she also reviewed) 100% of their financial information, I assumed the figures were accurate.  Even though I considered her program another form of reality television, I gave SO the benefit of the doubt. 

 

So, I assumed the figures included a reasonable entertainment allowance but also assumed these folks were like many people and couldn't hold on to extra cash.  The short answer IMHO is, if they hadn't experienced a life event, they blew the cash.

 

I know people who can't save to save their lives and have to pay tons extra to the IRS every year as a form of forced savings.  Even if they have funds automatically transferred to their savings from their payroll checks, they just can't do it.  They realize they're making an interest-free loan to the government but it's literally the only way they can set funds aside during the year to make necessary, major purchases.

 

So, when I see those examples on, correction saw (lol) those people on the CIAI segment, I believed it.  JMHO

 

 

Now I'll mention the callers I detested on CIAI - the folks who claimed to have a 12 month emergency fund, a couple hundred thousand of investments and a million in retirement funds - all before age 30!  Did they just hope their friends would recognize their names and voices?  Showing off?  Or simply too stupid to determine that they could afford whatever $500 trinket they wanted to buy?

 

And yes, I frequently hoped that many of the "Denied" went out and bought the item anyway, just to spite Ms. Orman!

Edited by aguabella
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EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

Ok, ok, I'll admit, finally, on the last day, that I've been a hate watcher of her show.  But only via dvr and often months behind, ok?  Never first run - got it, girlfriend / boyfriend, lol ??

 

Don't know about back in October, GussieK, but I did notice, b/c I was dvr'ing reruns, that the CNBC ptb changed the schedule around Jan 1 and ran her programs only 2x instead of the 12x (or whatever, haha) they were previously doing.  Either they realized viewership had dropped significantly or they realigned their schedule in advance, knowing she was calling it quits the end of March.

I guess anyone commenting here was a hate watcher. I did not realize reruns were reduced. Commenting here was much reduced from TWOP levels. Oh, well, I will miss it. I'm not sure I like the sound of the new show.

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aguabella

aguabella

(edited)

I guess anyone commenting here was a hate watcher. I did not realize reruns were reduced. Commenting here was much reduced from TWOP levels. Oh, well, I will miss it. I'm not sure I like the sound of the new show.

 

No way am I watching and taking the risk of getting hooked on that new show.  Pretty sure I'd resist and wouldn't be sucked in, however.  5 days a week of her sanctimonious bs - no, no and no.  Denied!

 

P.S.  Someone mentioned Oprah, above.  Sounds like a little Oprah with a ton of Judge Judy over top.  Not gonna' do it, lol!  Crossing my fingers that nobody picks it up. 

 

(They will - those talk shows rotate in and out every year or two.  Meredith's the latest casualty so they'll substitute SO in somewhere.  She's another known quantity.)

Edited by aguabella
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ennui

ennui

I've only seen Suze during her appearances on QVC. I remember hearing that she would not work with any hosts that were in debt, so it was interesting to see which hosts she was paired with.

 

I think Suze has made tons of money telling other people what to do with their money. Suze is the one with the 'courage to be rich.'

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aguabella

aguabella

I've only seen Suze during her appearances on QVC. I remember hearing that she would not work with any hosts that were in debt, so it was interesting to see which hosts she was paired with.

 

I think Suze has made tons of money telling other people what to do with their money. Suze is the one with the 'courage to be rich.'

 

Wow, I've never seen QVC but never heard that.  And the hosts' financial situations was her business, why??  That's rich, IMHO!

 

Or, Ms. Orman is the only one with the courage to (apparently) keep all her funds in municipal bonds!

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selhars

selhars

(edited)

 

Its just not possible that a 36 year old has take home > expenses by $2K per month and only has 11K in savings and 40K in retirement.

 

Sure it is.

Nothing about the Can I afford it segment asks about PAST debt....for example medical or student loans who've PAID OFF that perhaps have kept you from saving more. Expenses are more like month to month bills....If a person does a lot of travel or occasional spending like gifts, or a trip, that's likely not factored in.

 

What I find more unlikely is the 36 year old with 6K take home pay, 50K in an emergency fund, 100K in investments, 300K in retirement savings...or even HIGHER numbers than than -- especiailly when this person is calling want to know if they can afford a relative meager (given their assets) 1,500 dollar whatever....

Edited by selhars
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Coffeecup

Coffeecup

So Suze is ending her CNBC show. I used to watch it often, but I gave up on it a couple of years ago because I just could not identify with the people she talked about. She wanted to discuss people with high income, 401K accounts, fat retirement accounts, and assets. That is just not my world. I've never made much money, couldn't afford to put anything aside for retirement, and get by  month to month. She never talked about people like me.

 

I did get a lot of laughs watching the "Can I Afford It" segments. Sometimes people wanted to buy really frivolous stuff, like older men wanting luxury sports cars they couldn't afford, and the young women college students who lived at home, paid no rent and wanted to buy $2,000 designer handbags. In those cases I agreed with Suze, "Denied, denied, denied!"  But often the people had perfectly reasonable things they wanted to buy, and they had decent incomes and seemed to manage their money pretty well. Suze would always shoot them down if they didn't have zero credit card debt, a year's income saved up in emergency funds, and big retirement accounts.

 

I also got mad at her for telling people who were struggling financially that they could not afford to have pets. Yes, the food and vet bills for dogs and cats can get expensive and be a strain on your budget. But pets bring us so much companionship and love; how do you put a value on that? I think pets are worth the financial sacrifice. Besides, the poor things need homes and kindness, not to live their short lives in cages in a shelter or being put to sleep. There is value in being kind to animals.

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Guest

Guest

What I find more unlikely is the 36 year old with 6K take home pay, 50K in an emergency fund, 100K in investments, 300K in retirement savings...or even HIGHER numbers than than -- especiailly when this person is calling want to know if they can afford a relative meager (given their assets) 1,500 dollar whatever....

 

Well that person is just bragging by doing the 'can I afford it/ segment.  But that everyone looks at shows like this through their own lens makes me think that there is something to be learned from how each person got where they are.

 

I recall that the first time I ever heard of an emergency fund, it was quite different than anything I've heard on finance TV shows and it stuck with me.  A grad came to one of my college courses and advised to build up three years of expenses saved up in cash and investments.  He called it a take this job and shove it fund.  Now whether that is too much or not, I've always found that mindset more empowering less stressful than have an emergency fund because some terrible unexpected event might happen to you.  Now I've never used that fund, but it makes work stuff easier to put up with.

 

A different topic.  I was watching a special on tax cheats.  It never ceases to amaze me that people will go on television and explain how they got an $83K tax refund on a $200K salary, when every prior year it was $4K, and pretend like they were duped.  You were duped because you wanted to believe it and hoped that if you were caught that the criminal tax preparer would act like a shield if you played dumb long enough.  The IRS doesn't work that way.

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candall

candall

I was trying to find a spot where I could snark Life or Debt, which is another show where people who manifest their psychological/domestic problems by shopping themselves into bankruptcy are then professionally scolded into selling their designer duds for pennies on the dollar.

 

But I see you have a much classier joint going here.

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Charlesman

Charlesman

I was trying to find a spot where I could snark Life or Debt, which is another show where people who manifest their psychological/domestic problems by shopping themselves into bankruptcy are then professionally scolded into selling their designer duds for pennies on the dollar.

 

But I see you have a much classier joint going here.

 

If you find that spot, I'd be interested as well, as this show is an interesting watch but the whole "sell this today" part is the worst money-management idea the guy has. Such an awful way to handle it. These people have serious money problems, but waiting a week to see if they can sell stuff for twice as much on eBay or at a tag sale wouldn't hurt them any more.

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sofaslug

sofaslug

On March 29, 2016 at 2:08 PM, Charlesman said:

 

If you find that spot, I'd be interested as well, as this show is an interesting watch but the whole "sell this today" part is the worst money-management idea the guy has. Such an awful way to handle it. These people have serious money problems, but waiting a week to see if they can sell stuff for twice as much on eBay or at a tag sale wouldn't hurt them any more.

I was beginning to think I was the only one watching Life or Debt.  I did catch an earlier episode today where a couple was going to lose their home.  They blamed the bank for losing their paperwork and kept on spending.  Then it appeared like they might be trying to scam the bankruptcy lawyer.  I had wondered if Victor ever left a family "unfixed".  Apparently he did this time.

I'm also amazed at how quickly the participants can land another job or a higher paying job when they're given their "magic number."

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Charlesman

Charlesman

5 minutes ago, sofaslug said:

I was beginning to think I was the only one watching Life or Debt.  I did catch an earlier episode today where a couple was going to lose their home.  They blamed the bank for losing their paperwork and kept on spending.  Then it appeared like they might be trying to scam the bankruptcy lawyer.  I had wondered if Victor ever left a family "unfixed".  Apparently he did this time.

I'm also amazed at how quickly the participants can land another job or a higher paying job when they're given their "magic number."

 

They were some of the most delusional people I've seen. Just crazy. And their logic was stupefying. "We rented a second house because we didn't want our children to come home to the first house and see it had been foreclosed on." Idiots. Filing for bankruptcy prevents the bank from doing exactly that. Ugh. So frustrating.

Second most delusional were the preacher's family. That one, just awful. Kept getting fired from church after church, so he decided his best strategy was to start a church of his own. Yet wouldn't leave such a crazy expensive area. Victor just wanted out of that one.

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Charlesman

Charlesman

Oh man, Aaron Carter on Life or Debt. He lives in my old neighborhood. I used to date a girl in that apartment building. Nice area now, very trendy. Worked with his brother Nick once. Nick seemed cool, and probably made the right move in not bailing him out. 

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