Suze Orman

[Allisonfaye]

Originally Posted by Vegas Long Legs

Oh brother. For you moms, (since I'm not one), what does a 6 year old need a debit card for?

Don't ask me. Years ago, I saw this article about this parent giving an allowance to his kids. He started at 3 and each year gave them a little 'raise'. The rules were, they had to save at least 1/2 of it and could spend the saved part when it reached some benchmark, like $10. Each year with the raise, the benchmark amount would increase and so would the amount they were required to save. I thought this sounded great. But my daughter who is almost 5, has expressed no interest whatsoever in having money or buying anything. Once in a while when we go to a toy store, she will say she wants something but I usually tell her maybe for her birthday or Christmas and she usually forgets all about it. She has only ever really wanted one thing, a little kids sewing machine which she got for Christmas. I think for us, the key was, I figured out pretty early how a kid's brain works. If a kid likes something, they want to repeat it over and over. So if you take them to a store and they ask for something and you say yes, they are going to ask and ask and ask. So on the few rare occasions where my kids did ask, I said no. They have no interest in buying anything. I know they are still young, but I think it sets a precedent. (Also, we spend lots of time together so I don't feel the need to buy them stuff out of guilt for not being with them. )

[barcreperie]

Originally Posted by cafire

Me too. "THIS WEEK ON THE SHOW: Saturday, Feb. 7th A mother wants to give a debit card to her 6-year-old daughter. Viewers ask if they can afford a snowmobile, an engagement ring."

Hmm... this might make for a more interesting show than she's had the last couple of weeks. I'm curious to hear the reasons behind wanting to give a 6 year old a debit card. If it's to teach her about money/finances, I think a 6 year old needs something more visual, like cold hard cash!

[Vegas Long Legs]

Was this show on last night?

Please someone give us an update why this LITTLE girl needs a debit card. LOL!

Maybe she wants to go into Chuckie Cheese & yell, 'its on me'! Can anyone else see where this could be a really bad idea if her friends find out she has this? :O

[barcreperie]

Vegas, LOL at the Chuck E. Cheese image!! No, the show will be on tonight, someone must've seen a teaser ad for it.

[Jahpson]

a 6-year old with a debit card? I gotta watch this. lol

$5 dollars a week for any chores she does would be more responsible. But parents of today see different apparently. lol

[queenvictoria2]

Originally Posted by Jahpson

a 6-year old with a debit card? I gotta watch this. lol $5 dollars a week for any chores she does would be more responsible. But parents of today see different apparently. lol

I think you may be right
What I wonder also is where would she be unsupervised that she would need a debit card anyway?

[nooch]

Wow. I guess that puts an end to my argument of "who are the ones going to the stores and buying these things (violent video games, inappropriate clothing, what have you) for little kids, it's not like they have debit cards or anything!". When I was a little kid I got allowance to buy bazooka gum - 50 cents a week when I was five, 60 cents a week when I was six, and so on. A DEBIT CARD? Wow.

Also, isn't that just begging to have it stolen? Kids aren't exactly known for their restraint.

[*Pretty♥Purple*]

I love Suze! I think she is great. I watch her on Saturday nights sometimes!

[Purseluvnmama]

I'm going to watch tonight. I cannot fathom anyone giving his/her 6-year-old a debit card. Wow. Someone above said, why not cash? I agree. If you want to teach your kid about money, give a small allowance--not plastic!!!

[Vegas Long Legs]

I see someone dug up an old thread on her.

Missed most of the show. She does smirk alot, doesn't she. Sort of 'church ladyish.' Just caught the paper catching & a couple of email questions.

[cafire]

The mom wanting to give her 6 yo a debit card wanted to start teaching her at an early age about money. The mom said that her own parents were very good with money and she learned good habits from them, wants to do the same for her daughter. Her own parents paid in cash for everything but she uses cc's and pays them off every month. Said her 6 yo is confused as to why you can use a plastic card to pay for everything. So she wanted to get her daughter a debit card so she could learn to use the card but that you can only spend what you have in the account, so it is the same as cash.

Suze basically said no way in hell - if you want to teach her about money, then pay for everything with cash so she can see you doing that. The card will just confuse her.

I agree with that advice, but if you have a ******** or perks card, and are diligent in not overspending, using the card is much more convenient AND gives you the perks that using cash won't. So I kinda disagreed with Suze telling her to pay cash for everything. But I do understand her giving the advice to do that so the kid wouldn't be confused, and thought that perhaps when the kid is with you and is watching, let her see you pay cash.

I love Suze to death, but I thought she was kinda full of herself in this show. One caller said, 'Hi Suze, love you're show, you're amazing!' and Suze was like, 'Yes, I am amazing, aren't I?!!! What's your question?' I felt like she had a few comments similar to that on last night's show. Anyway, it was to the point where I was a little offput, and I usually don't ever feel that way about her. Overall, it was better than last week's show, but hardly memorable for me.

[barcreperie]

I just watched last nights' show and thought it was better than the last couple of shows.

What I learned from it: that a first wife can collect half her ex-husband's social security (and apparently half his retirement as well), even if she remarried (as long as any subsequent marriages have ended). So for those of you who are not your husband's first wife, beware!

There were a couple of odd spots in this show - first when she was hugging/kissing her desk and declaring her love for it. What was up with that? The other was when she and Lou were tossing paper in the air and catching it. It seemed like they didn't quite have enough material taped for this show, so put in some filler. Either that, or they're trying to humanize Suze more by showing her 'fun' side.

Seems that she's too often giving callers advice without explaining her reasoning. I'm referring to the woman who was getting half her ex-husband's retirement check ($1400 after tax), and her present husband wants her to throw that money in to the family household funds, but she doesn't want to. Suze advised her NOT to share the money with her present husband, and offered no explanation for her advice. She's been married to her present husband for 4.5 years and gave no indication that it's a rocky marriage. Without any other information, I disagree with Suze on this one. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Allisonfaye]

I agree with you, Barcreperie. We have been joking about that lady all day.

DH came upstairs last night while I was watching her and he said "You know that when she starts talking about whole life insurance, you are going to have to turn that off, don't you"? (See, DH hates her because he has three of those stupid things and I am constantly harping on him about it and he doesn't agree with her logic. So in true guy form, he has to negate EVERYTHING she says because of this one thing. He made me laugh. (He was kidding).

[lorihmatthews]

I'm watching the 6-year-old debit card episode right now. I have to agree that a debit card for a little kid makes no sense because they don't understand the concept of a plastic card that represents a bank account.

My sister's little girl is 5, and she is already good with money (thanks to my sister already teaching her great habits). She understands that things cost money and she knows when she has enough and when she doesn't. She also saves up for things that she wants with her allowance and birthday cash or gifs from other occasions. That's far more than our parents ever taught us. We were clueless.

[barcreperie]

Originally Posted by lorihmatthews

I'm watching the 6-year-old debit card episode right now. I have to agree that a debit card for a little kid makes no sense because they don't understand the concept of a plastic card that represents a bank account. My sister's little girl is 5, and she is already good with money (thanks to my sister already teaching her great habits). She understands that things cost money and she knows when she has enough and when she doesn't. She also saves up for things that she wants with her allowance and birthday cash or gifs from other occasions. That's far more than our parents ever taught us. We were clueless.

I also think a debit card is a bad idea for a child, but I think I get where this woman was coming from. I believe she was considering opening an account for her 6 year old, giving her a debit card to spend out of that account, and then was going to do the math with her on what was left in the account. I'm thinking she wanted the girl to understand the 'math behind the card' so to speak. Still, this is too abstract for a child to comprehend, and she would benefit much more from seeing actual cash changing hands.