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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com New Providence
Hundreds Turn Out For Money Maven Suze Orman Financial Guru Gives Financial Medicine NASSAU, Bahamas – Suze Orman, the most listened to financial expert in the world, pulled no punches this past weekend as she served up tough financial medicine to seminar attendees, scolded employers for not providing pensions for their employees and told Bahamians to get real about their finances. It was a packed house as hundreds turned out to the Meliá Nassau Beach Resort on Saturday for Colonial Pension Services (Bahamas’) Suze Orman seminar. For two hours, Orman, a two-time Emmy-award winning TV host, New York Times bestselling author and O, The Oprah Magazine contributing editor, shared the story of her humble beginnings; her financial missteps along the way and how she pulled herself up by her white cowboy boot straps to climb her way to the top.Pensions, and the need to make saving for retirement a top priority, dominated the discussion. With no pension l egislation in place, 77 per cent of the population without a retirement plan and less than $1,000 in the average savings account, Orman stressed that everyone needs to start saving now for retirement . She hastened to add that it is never too late. Orman urged the audience to “put the financial oxygen mask” on themselves first before they put it on anyone else. She said Bahamians have it “made in the shade” as they don’t have to pay taxes on “money that grows” and are not subjected to income tax. She also urged the audience to establish their own pension plan regardless of what their employer gives them. “The good news about not having pension legislation is this: you’re not legislated and any money that you voluntarily put into an individual pension you can take out at any time you want without any penalties whatsoever,” she said. “Let’s just say that your employer does not offer you a pension or if they do offer you a pension for whatever crazy reason, they don’t allow voluntary contributions and I don’t understand why any employer truthfully would offer a pension that doesn’t allow you to put more money on your own into that pension, but maybe they have their reasons.
“Do you think that it’s really saving you money because you don’t have to match their five percent if that’s how the law was passed,” she said. “The biggest expense employers have is turnover in their employees, training of their employees, the productivity of their employees and making sure that their productivity and what their employers do is really good.” “When people don’t have to be thinking about their own retirement; when people feel like they are being taken care of and they don’t have money problems, they feel more secure. When they feel secure, they feel more powerful . . . when they have more energy they make better employees. When they make better employees, you make more money. So, what are you doing employers out there? By thinking you’re saving money by not giving them a pension, no, you are hurting your own bottom line by not giving them a pension.” Priscella Murphy, a member of the Nassau chapter of The Links, Incorporated, who operates a home that assists battered women, told Orman the story of how she lost $30,000 when her pension company went belly-up five years ago. She said she felt something deep inside urging her to share her story with Orman during the seminar. The decision paid off. “When you feel less than, you spend more than. Self worth equates to networth. And when you have lack of self worth, when you feel less than you will try to fill that hole up inside of you with things that you buy. But nothing that you buy could ever fill you up. If you don’t have money to spend, don’t. Before you spend a penny, ask, is this a want or a need. Get pleasure out of saving rather than spending.” House Speaker, Dr. Kendal Major, State Minister for Finance, Michael Halkitis and Opposition Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner also sat in the audience as Orman stressed that safeguards and regulations need to be put in place to protect Bahamians when pension companies close down.
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