Editor's Note: Watch Suze Orman on AC360° tonight at 10pm ET.

Suze Orman
Special to AC360°

Look, there’s no denying that Wall Street is quite the boy’s club. But that doesn’t mean you can’t carve out an amazing career; it just means that women might need to fall back on their great intelligence rather than their golf game or frat connections.

You want to talk about not fitting in? I was 29 years old with a resume that simply read “waitress” when I interviewed for a job in a broker-training program. The guy who interviewed me openly shared with me his belief that women should be barefoot and pregnant. That was 1980! But I managed to get the position, and well, you sort of know the rest.

If I was able to find my way, so too can you.

I actually think it may be easier for women after the financial crisis. It’s clear the days of easy-money are long gone. Individuals and businesses are more attuned to making every penny work hard for them and are going to insist that anyone with a stake in their financial lives deliver the goods. That means more emphasis on talent, and less emphasis on chumminess.

I also think the clientele for financial services are undergoing a gender-shift. At no time in history have women been so front and center in earning money and managing the family finances. More women than ever are the primary breadwinner in a family. We also have the continuing trend of women raising children on their own-often without financial assistance from an ex – and the aging boomers means more women than ever will be overseeing retirement assets. And even among married couples, I am seeing women finally step up and realize that they must be an active participant in their family’s money decisions. Not because the men in their life aren’t doing a good job; but because so much is at stake, and so much is confusing, that it takes teamwork to keep the family finances on course. And let’s remember, women outlive men, on average. That means more Boomer women who will be in control of retirement assets. Will all those women be receptive to working with women in the financial field? You better believe it.

So how to get started? Be hungry. Work hard. And be honest. With yourself, and your clients. And lean on the shoulders of women who have managed to navigate their way to positions of influence and power. Check out the Financial Women’s Association; it’s an impressive network of women.

Program Note: Tune in tonight to watch Suze Orman discuss women in the workplace. AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Suze Orman
The Shriver Report
The Center for American Progress

We need to move money front and center in this conversation. Not later. Right now.

I am excited that “A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything” is bringing such formidable intellectual power to bear on the vitally important topic of how women’s evolving role in every facet of society can be better served by corporate and legislative policy. But all of our best efforts will be for naught if we don’t focus on the real catalyst for change—altering the dysfunctional relationship many women have with money, especially women who are struggling to survive in abusive relationships but also including those many women who are now coming to terms with the “power of the purse” as the new breadwinners in American society.

It starts with basic financial literacy. In the recent Prudential study “Financial Experience & Behaviors Among Women,” less than 25 percent of the women surveyed said they are “very well prepared” to make financial decisions.1 Women are grappling with everyday spending, savings, and investment decisions, often after earning the lioness’ share of the family income, yet they feel overwhelmed and underqualified to put that hard-earned money to work. How can we expect women who cannot understand or manage their own family finances to climb the ladder at a Fortune 500 company?

Until women accept the need to make themselves a priority, they will continue to struggle to find their way in the new world order. Women need to feel great about using their hard-earned money to fund a Roth IRA rather than using the money to buy more things their already cared-for kids don’t really need. Women need to say no when asked to co-sign a loan because they know it may jeopardize their own credit score and financial security. To allay very real bag-lady fears,2 women must see the value of paying down their mortgage to ensure a secure retirement rather than sending that money to a grown child with a full-time job and ample income to help pay down student loan debt.

The money disconnect is just as pervasive for stay-at-home mothers. Please let’s not lose sight of this vitally important subset of our female population. I am talking about stay-at-home moms who come to me for advice on how to ask their partner for money since he is the one earning the money. I tell them: You don’t ask. You share. A woman needs to understand her equal value to her family. She needs to respect herself. She needs to not put herself on sale.

Read more...

Program Note: To watch the full interview tune in Friday, May 1, at 11 p.m. ET for the Time 100/Anderson Cooper 360° Special

Susan Chun
AC360° Producer

When I heard I was producing this segment with Suzy Welch, business journalist, interviewing Suze Orman, personal finance expert, I knew two things right off the bat. First I knew I would be meeting two smart, powerful women with strong personalities. And because of this, I knew second that I would be witnessing a fascinating conversation. I wasn’t wrong. We did the interview at the New York Stock Exchange, overlooking the trading floor.

We managed to squeeze four cameras, a multitude of lights, two director's chairs, and a small army of CNN staffers on to the 2nd floor balcony right above the floor. The setting was appropriate for both women since both had come out with books in the past year giving advice to people during these tough economic times. Suze Orman had also rung the opening bell at the NYSE a few weeks ago. That day, her manager and partner was quick to point out, was one of the rare days the market closed up.

The two already knew each other and chatted away like old friends when they arrived for the interview. They both couldn’t have been nicer, greeting our crew with warm smiles and little jokes. Suzy Welch, former editor of the Harvard Business Review, didn't need any help from me on what kind of topics to cover with Suze Orman, she came well prepared with a list of questions covering everything from the economic meltdown (Suze says it didn't have to happen), to Barack Obama (Suze loves him), to Suze's favorite TV shows (American Idol and Dancing with the Stars).

Welch even twittered about the interview, asking people to send her questions to ask Orman. Predictably, one twitterer wanted to know where she should put her money in this market. To this, Orman drove in the point she made repeatedly throughout the interview. It's all about people she says. She cannot give personal financial advice without knowing the person. To Orman, her job is all about the person, who you are, what you want out of life, how you handle yourself. She says financial advice is not about studying economics, but about studying people.

The two women clearly had a mutual respect and admiration for each other. The interview, which was really more like watching a conversation between two old friends, was personal, and even fiesty at times, especially when Orman declared with absolute certainty, "When it comes to money, there is nothing I do not know."

Tune in on Friday night at 10pm for the Time 100/AC360 special: “The World’s Most Influential People” to see more of this interview. Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People issue also hits newsstands on Friday.

Anderson talks to Suze Orman about her thoughts on the current state of the economy and what we can do about it.

Program Note: Suze Orman's on AC360° to discuss how to keep your money safe.

Suze will be back on AC360° on Wednesday night to answer your economic questions? Do you have questions about the continued economic trouble and how President Obama's economic plan will change the market; affect your stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)… your job?

Suze's book, " Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan," is currently number one on the New York Times bestseller list and she answers these questions, and many more!

Submit your financial questions here for Suze Orman and watch AC360° to get them answered.

Program Note: Suze Orman's on AC360° to discuss how to keep your money safe.

Have questions about how the continued economic trouble and Obama's economic plan will change the market; affect your stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)… your job?

Suze's book, " Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan," is currently number one on the New York Times bestseller list and she answers these questions, and many more!

Submit your financial questions here for Suze Orman and watch AC360° to get them answered.

Program Note: Suze Orman will be on AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to discuss how to keep your money safe.

Have questions about how the continued economic trouble and Obama's economic plan will change the market; affect your stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)… your job?

Submit your financial questions here for Suze Orman and watch AC360° tonight 10p ET to get them answered.

Program Note: Suze Orman will be on AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to discuss how to keep your money safe.

Have questions about how the continued economic trouble will change the market; affect your stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)... your job?

Submit your financial questions here for Suze Orman and watch AC360° tonight 10p ET to get them answered.

Editor’s note: Tonight on AC360° Suze Orman returned to discuss the tumbling financial markets and answered your questions. Here is what she had to say:

Anderson Cooper: A lot of questions, a lot submitted on the AC360° blog. There is down right fear, panic. Is that counterproductive?

Suze Orman: It is not counterproductive, it’s real. It’s how people feel and the markets are made up of how people feel. They buy or they sell based on their emotions, Anderson. It’s how it has always been. When Ali does this thing with the drugs, I was talking to you before we went on air, this is what is happening. People feel they need medication because they are panicking.

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Editor's note: Tonight on AC360° Suze Orman returned to discuss the tumbling financial markets and answered your questions.  You can watch the segment here. Here is what she had to say:

Anderson Cooper: A lot of questions, a lot submitted on the AC360° blog. There is down right fear, panic. Is that counterproductive?

Suze Orman: It is not counterproductive, it's real. It's how people feel and the markets are made up of how people feel. They buy or they sell based on their emotions, Anderson. It's how it has always been. When Ali does this thing with the drugs, I was talking to you before we went on air, this is what is happening. People feel they need medication because they are panicking.

It's as if the economy right now is in the I.C.U. unit of a hospital. We are in intensive care and they are throwing everything type of medication at us to cure what is going on. They are panicking because why? Nothing is working. They tried this, it didn't work. They tried that medication, it didn't work. They are running out of prescriptions to give it. We are going to be in the I.C.U. unit for a while. Eventually, I don't know when that will be, six months, a year, year and a half, we will get out, we’ll be in the hospital then. We'll stay in the hospital for about a year or two. After another year or two we will end up in rehab and then we'll be okay. This is a long stretch. People have to stop panicking. This is here to stay, if you ask me, for a long time.

Anderson: Panic produces paralysis. People need action. How low do you think the markets can go? In terms of stock market, the credit markets matter, but you talked about the 8,000 range for the stock market.

Suze: 8,200, 8,000. Hopefully that is as low as it goes. But I do think we are about 1,000 points from where the bottom should be.

Anderson: We have a couple of questions from viewers. Lorie Ann in California asked:

If it is a possibility everything we throw at the crisis doesn't work, what will that result look like, bread lines or something less frightening?

Suze: I’m sorry to say that it could look like bread lines. I know that is not really a great thing for me to say. But I want you to think about the reality of this, for those of you who have credit card debt, you are losing your home because you are behind on your payments, you can't make your car payment, you work in an industry possibly that you are going to lose a job in, you have absolutely no money and this keeps going on and you can't get another job what are you going to do? It is very, very possible you will start to see things not where there are bread lines like we saw and nobody having – but a lot of people out on the streets. People calling into my show that are living in their car because they don't know what else to do.

Anderson: A lot of people losing their jobs. Lilibeth in Washington:

You say for those with ten or 20 years before retirement to ride this out. I cringe. At what point do you say enough is enough? When the DOW hits 8500, 8000, when?

Suze: No, in fact, let's say you are you have ten, 20, 30 years until you need your money, the biggest mistake you will make, please listen to me, everybody, the biggest mistake you will make if you stop contributing to your retirement accounts now. If you have been putting money in your 401(k)s, now is not the time to stop. You want to see, if it continues to go down you want to see your contributions continue. Because, again, as I’ve said, the lower the market goes, the lower your shares go in your 401(k).

Anderson: Even if it is going down every month.

Suze: If they make a stoppage and freeze everything they have to get out of the market. Otherwise they are not dollar cost averaging down, Anderson and they don't accumulate more shares and there is no way to make the money back when they come back up.

Anderson: Suze Orman, thanks so much, as always.

Program Note: Suze Orman will be on AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to discuss how to keep your money safe.

Have questions about how the continued economic trouble and today's surprise Fed rate cut will change the market; affect your stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)... your job?

Submit your financial questions here for Suze Orman and watch AC360° tonight 10p ET to get them answered.

Editor's note: Suze Orman answered your questions on AC360° tonight.  Here are the questions and her advice.

Anderson Cooper: The Dow's climb on Wall Street finishing up 485 after yesterday's record loss of 778. The Senate is supposed to vote on a bailout plan tomorrow night. Suze Orman is here to answer your questions on the wild ride. The bill the Senate will vote on tomorrow night will raise from $100,000 to $250,000 the amount the FDIC will protect in a bank. What does that mean? Is that a good thing?

Suze Orman: It's a good thing in that people don't have to go to more and different banks if they have more than $100,000. Does that help the little people? Who has $50,000? Maybe they have $50,000 in credit card debt. Very little people we're talking about that will affect. For large banks and large businesses, it makes it easier for them to meet their payroll by dealing with one bank.

Anderson: We have a ton of questions on the website. John writes,

I'm 28 years old with no credit card or student loan debt, my condo is paid off, I have a great job. Should I be taking advantage of the great deals you discussed on your website yesterday?

Suze: Yes, my dear John, of course he should be taking advantage of it. He doesn't have to use his money to get out of debt. How does he take advantage? How do you take advantage of what's going on here?

Suze: Very simple. Continue every single month, keep putting your money in the market in something giving you a good dividend, exchange traded fund, like the dvys that buy the Dow Jones industrial average. You can get a 4.7% yield, if you do it in little amounts of money over a long term, you will be fine. If you have a big amount of money and put it all in one lump sum you will be making one of the biggest mistakes.

Julie: Is it a total mistake to take out my husband’s $70,000 401k to pay off our credit cards? We have 3 kids in college and have racked up debt which now hurts! We want to start over and WON’T do it again! I have around $100,000 in my 401k which will stay put.

Suze: Are you kidding? You are not to touch a penny in your 401(k). Why? Number one, when you take it out, if you're not of age, 59 1/2 years of age, what's going to happen? You will pay not only ordinary income taxes on it, but you're going to pay a 10% penalty as well. The $70,000 you have in there or $100,000, all said and done, you will have $50,000. What are you doing? You will be taking out the money while everything is low here. Don't you dare touchit.  And here's the other thing to remember 401(k)s are protected against bankruptcy. So are retirement accounts. If you ever have to claim bankruptcy, keep the money in the 401(k), don't use it to pay off credit card debt.

Chelsea: I am 14, and I graduate High School in 2012. What can I do right now to ensure I can get a (college) loan, and will organizations and colleges become stingier with scholarships?

Suze: I'm not sure there's anything you can do to guarantee you will get a student loan except this, go out there and talk everybody to and in my opinion, tell them, why don't we pass something like this bill so we can free up money so it will be easier for people to lend you money when you need it.

Dee: We use two credit cards and pay off the balance in full each month. Our credit history is impeccable. I am hearing that our credit card companies may reduce our lines of credit thus lowering our FICO score. Is this true and why would the companies do this?

Suze: They're doing it because they don't want you to use your credit card, run up these lines of credit and all of a sudden say, sorry, I can't pay you back. Credit cards will be lowering the lines of credit, home equity lines of credit will be taken away from many of you. That will increase your debt to credit-limit ratio, 30% of your FICO score and your FICO score will go down and will hurt you and then what happens? Your car insurance premiums will go up. Is that true? It is.

Sandra: I currently bank with a local credit union. The bank is NCUA and ASI insured. Do I have the same security as a FDIC insured institution?

Suze: You absolutely do, don't worry about it.

Tonaka: In light of the economic crisis, I am very concerned for my parents, who are both receiving Social Security benefits. In a worse case scenario, would they continue to receive these benefits?

Suze: They will continue to receive social security benefits. Does social security have problems for many of us years to come? It does. You know what, let's get through today before we worry about our social security of tomorrow.

Anderson: Also, a lot of people wrote to me today, tou said in the past, if you're in it for ten years in the stock market, it's the best investment. In 1998, Dow Jones was at 7632. Yesterday, down almost 800 points. Wouldn't it have been better for someone to be in municipal bonds getting 5%?

Suze: It could, yes. Who could predict what's going to happen. If you had known back then, should you have been in municipal bonds at 5% tax rate? Possibly, but here's the thing. I went back for almost ten years. If you put money in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, you would be up on your money today if you did it every single month even though the market is far lower today than it was back then.

Program Note: Suze Orman will be on AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to discuss how to keep your money safe.

Have questions about how the breaking news will change the market; affect your stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)... your job?

Submit your financial questions here for Suze Orman and watch AC 360’ tonight 10p ET to get them answered.

Editor’s Note: Suze Orman will be on AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to discuss how to keep your money safe.  Check out her new partnership with the FDIC at myFDICinsurance.gov. On that site you can use her calculator to make sure the money you put in the bank is safe, and backed by the FDIC. Suze was interviewed on CNN earlier today. Here's what she had to say:

Suze Orman
Personal Finance Expert

Q: How worried should people be right now? Not only about stocks but mutual funds, portfolios, 401(k)s, jobs?

They should be worried about everything. And they should be so worried, not that we should start a panic, that they really start to truthfully change their behaviors.

They have to realize that nobody is joking here. They can’t continue to go out to eat, charge it on a credit card and then just pay the minimum at the end of the month. They have got to go into a different type of financial mentality,

I have to tell you, I don’t think that has sunk into them yet. so a few more days like this a few more things coming down the pike, they may go ‘oh, my God, we may be in serious trouble here.’

Let’s start with bank accounts. If you are within the FDIC limits of a bank account, if you happen to be at a credit union, if you’re within the limits of the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration), you have to understand your money is absolutely safe and sound. The $100,000 per account.

Here’s what everybody needs to do, especially with FDIC…  
Go to myFDICinsurance.gov, use the calculator program they have, so you know... without a shadow of a doubt... that your money is insured. You cannot take somebody else's word for it. You need to worry. So just take a few steps to make sure that your money is in institutions that are insured; you are within the insured limits and that that money is safe and sound if you are, this doesn't matter to you in that way. If your bank fails, the FDIC will step in. They have the money. They'll be there for you.

As for portfolios, mutual funds, bonds and such … there you’re seeing a situation where we’re going down, down and down. If you have 10, 20, 30 years until you need the money and you invest in good quality stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, you have to continue to invest. You have to continue every single month going into the investments that you’re in if they’re good.

However, if you are older, and counting on this money (you need this money for retirement) that is money that never should have been in the stock market to begin with.

Your rule of thumb is money that you need within ten years is not money that belongs in the stock market because of the deterioration we have seen and will continue to see if they do not get their act together.

If you think this day was bad, what you may see if these people, the administration, do not get their act together so to speak… you could see another 2,000, 2500 points (lost).

Q: Should you move your money to T-Bills?

Not now if have you time on your side. This is when you continue to invest. However, if you need this money, this is all the money that you have you are counting on it next year to do something with, yes, you have to come out at this point in time because you can’t continue to wait anymore. You never should have been in to begin with.

Some people see a deep recession coming that could last a year, maybe two years. As bad as the markets might be right now, a year from now they could be worse. Why not take that money and move it to T-bills right now and a year from now go back and start investing? Because it is impossible to time the market.

If you had invested the day before September 11th, if you invested the day before in 1987, the market went down 22%, you would have been up considerably ten years later. Even if you invested right before those big drops. Don’t try to time the market. Just be consistent with your investing. For those of you again, who are afraid, you might want to the transfer your money, however, that’s in stocks that keep going down that aren’t paying you a dividend and possibly go into individual good quality stocks or exchange-traded funds that do pay you a dividend. You can get 4, 5, 6% with some secure stocks, some secure exchange traded funds so at least you’re being paid to wait. But you can’t time the market. You’ll never win at that game.
So when will the market and the economy turn around? How long is this down cycle going to last? Probably two, three, four years. I don’t want to say what I’m about to say. I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel until about the year 2015.

We have a number of years to go. However, somebody’s got to be able to make a decision and since everybody can tell that will people in charge here can’t make decisions for you, you’ve got to make decisions for yourself. You’ve got to stop charging things on your credit card. You’ve got to stop spending money on things you don’t need. You know? you’ve got to understand this is very serious, people. You’ve got to start acting like it’s serious because it is. But if people are still investing in their 401(k)s, why not change those investments as opposed to mutual funds and bonds or stocks or whatever and just have the money invested in t-bills or money market accounts?

Because as we saw a little bit ago when they did certain things, you saw in June, you saw certain bank stocks rally 30% 40% and so as the markets go down, as you continue to invest dollars in things that are less expensive, you buy more shares. The more shares you have in the long run, the more money you make when everything turns around.

So if you aren’t putting your money in today while the prices are getting cheaper and cheaper every month not all at once but every month as long as you have 10, 20, 30 years or longer, you won’t be able to take advantage of accumulating more shares. You’ll lose in the long run. So while it sounds like, it’ll keep my money safe and sound and not worry about it, I don’t know. There are some great buys out there. There’s great things to be doing with your money as long as have you time on your side.

Everything’s on sale right now. That’s what the government’s doing. They are buying everything that’s at a tremendous sale and bailing out anybody, they are investing in assets that are so cheap right now i wish we could invest in those. But the average person watching, they don’t know about these so-called bargains out there. I agree. There are a lot of the bargains out there.

You have to be a sophisticated investor to know what’s going on. That’s why you have to have a little trust here right now that if we do this investment plan and they have to stop calling it a bailout plan, if they are allowed to do this plan, eventually you’re going to see the mortgages will get paid off. You’ll have some ownership in it.

The taxpayers will be paid back and in the long run, we should be okay. If we continue to let the markets freeze, these credit markets it is possible one day you go to your ATM, and nothing’s going to come out. You can use your credit card and not going to be able to use it.

Q: Do you think the House should have passed the bailout bill?

You bet I do.