Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Suze Orman moment: Unsolicited advice for auto workers and drivers
If you are a current or retired American auto worker and are considering elective surgery that you have been putting off whatever reason, my suggestion is that you schedule it and get it done now. Your healthcare benefits may not be so lavish in the future. Now is the time to fix that back pain or get that tricky hip replaced.
If you are going to need -- and I actually mean need -- a new car in the next couple of years, now might be a good time to buy it. They are practically giving them away.
Finally, if you need to burn a lot of gasoline to live your life -- again, the word need has a true meaning here -- think about buying even a few shares in a couple of integrated international oil companies -- I have owned Exxon, Royal Dutch, and BP since I bought tiny amounts with summer job earnings back when I was a student. Owning shares in oil companies is a wonderful psychological hedge against rising oil prices, because they go up in value along with the price of gasoline and heating oil. Start with small investments, and, if you can possibly afford it, sign up for the dividend reinvestment plans (DRIP). Then consider investing your savings from today's lower gasoline prices. If you put the difference between $3 and the price you actually pay for every gallon of gasoline into oil stock DRIPs over the next couple of years, you will be sitting pretty when the price shoots up again.
End of Suze Orman moment.
MORE: To be clear -- apparently it was not -- Suze Orman said none of this stuff. These were just a series of thoughts I had this morning that I offer, Suze Orman style, in an unsolicited spew in your direction.
7 Comments:
By 
Christopher Chambers, at
Wed Dec 03, 09:39:00 AM:
OK, but...Suze Orman can't marry her partner in California.
I know, I'm farting around w/you...
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Dec 03, 09:47:00 AM:
Suze Orman lives in California?
By 
, at
Wed Dec 03, 09:48:00 AM:
OK, but Suze grossly underestimates the clout of the UAW. There are 100s (1000s ?) of automaker employees who are paid to do union business. They will not give up their no-show jobs easily. They have been "contributing" to Congressmen for so long, they believe they are owed.
No, Suze, Congress and the big three are nose to nose waiting to see who blinks first and both sides know that half the Congress is working for the UAW.
Do we know how many Congressmen are driving cars/SUVs "on loan" from a local distributor? Rangel?
By , at
Wed Dec 03, 12:34:00 PM:
Let me be sure I got this right. She is suggesting retirees or others with limited means invest in individual stocks and DRIPs?
Ummm, not a good idea. But then, I am no financial guru.
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Dec 03, 12:51:00 PM:
To be clear, Suze Orman suggested none of this. I was pretending to be Suze Orman. All these harebrained ideas are mine.
By , at
Wed Dec 03, 03:58:00 PM:
By Noumenon, at
Thu Dec 04, 09:38:00 AM:
Owning shares in oil companies is a wonderful psychological hedge against rising oil prices, because they go up in value along with the price of gasoline and heating oil.
CoyoteBlog points out that if you took out a large enough loan, you could buy enough Exxon stock to pay for your future fuel needs with the dividends -- which would go up when fuel went up. You'd be set for life, paying back the loan at a flat rate.
This may sound too chancy even for Suze Orman, but Coyote notes that it essentially does for your fuel needs what people with mortgages do for housing. Why do we do that?
