Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)
Suze Pop-Up: What Does This All Mean?
Fri, 04 Apr 2025
Suze offers her take on what’s happening with the economy as a result of the new tariffs and what steps we can take to protect our money, during these volatile times. Jumpstart financial wellness for your employees: https://bit.ly/SecureSave Try your hand at Can I Afford It on Suze’s YouTube Channel Protect your financial future with the Must Have Docs: https://bit.ly/3Vq1V3GGet your savings going with Alliant Credit Union: https://bit.ly/3rg0YioGet Suze’s special offers for podcast listeners at suzeorman.com/offerJoin Suze’s Women & Money Community for FREE and ASK SUZE your questions which may just end up on the podcast. Download the app by following one of these links: CLICK HERE FOR APPLE: https://apple.co/2KcAHbH CLICK HERE FOR GOOGLE PLAY: https://bit.ly/3curfMI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of Suze's pop-up episode?
April 4th, 2025. Welcome everybody to one of the first Suzy pop-ups. A pop-up is where I really want you to know something right now. I don't want you to have to wait till a Thursday or Sunday. I want you to know right now. And given that I'm not in my studio, I'm Sunday, as you will hear, is not a normal Susie School, but one that's really, really important.
But here's what I want you to know right now. Listen, I get it. I know many of you are afraid of what's happening in the economy and the stock market. And I cannot blame you. Please listen to me closely now. I have posted this also on the Women in Money community app. But I know that many of you don't use that app, which is why I am doing a Suzy pop-up just for you. So here's my take, everybody.
Chapter 2: Why are the markets going down?
We are looking, obviously, at another down day for the markets today. And you have to ask yourself why. Why are the markets continuing to go down? And truthfully, I'm sorry to say, the answer is very easy. Because number one, China has retaliated. They have put on retaliated tariffs, and that has gotten the investors on edge. Therefore, the markets are projected to go lower as a result.
Now, I know that many of you, do you have your Suzy notebooks out? You should. Anyway, I know that many of you are dollar cost averaging. You're thinking, oh, the markets are going down. This is the time for me to buy. I'm going to get a bargain, whatever. Now, that's still okay. All right. But you have to hear me on this.
Chapter 3: Should you continue investing during volatile times?
If you are going to continue with that strategy right now, you are to do it with seriously tiny amounts. Have you ever heard the saying, don't catch a falling knife? This might be a falling knife, because we don't know how other countries are going to react. There's time to get in. It's not like if these markets start to go up again, that they're going to go all the way back up to the top.
You have time. So this is not where I want you to be aggressive and go, I've gotten in at the bottom. So no bottom fishing here. Do you hear me? Because in my opinion, we're seeing signs, and to me, this feels a lot like 2022, where it's volatile, it's emotional, it's uncertain. So I want you to breathe. Markets obviously will eventually recover, but not all at once.
It's impossible now because they have gone down too much, too fast, and they're down here. And if these tariffs stay in place, it's going to take a long, long time. So remember... Money you have in the market should have been money, as I've told you over and over again, is money that you did not need for at least five years. So just let this play out and stay calm.
Chapter 4: What should you do with your retirement contributions?
If you are contributing to a retirement account, especially an employer retirement account, I am begging you not to stop your monthly contributions. Just stay the course, especially if you have 5, 10, 15 years or longer. Keep investing steadily because consistency, I am promising you, is your power. It's your secret weapon. Let's talk about fear, which all of you are having right now.
Chapter 5: What does a high VIX mean for investors?
The VIX, remember me telling you about the VIX? It's a measure of market volatility. Well, it just surpassed 45. And that number means that it's the highest that it's been since the spike in August. When the VIX is this high, it means fear is absolutely overwhelming logic. It's And historically, when sentiment is this fearful, it is not the time to sell. So just stay put right now.
Now, this doesn't mean that the market can't bounce, because even in the middle of a downtrend, it can bounce, but just don't react emotionally. But you know, there are bright spots here that I want you to be aware of. Bond yields are absolutely collapsing. So if you've got bonds, your portfolio may be back to even or even showing gains.
Chapter 6: Are there any positive signs in the current market?
Remember a long time ago, I had many of you buy 20-year bonds, 10-year bonds, longer-term bonds? and you were also upset because interest rates continued to go up and the value of those bonds went down, well, you're either even now or you are making money. Just that simple. There's always a silver lining somewhere if you are diversified in your holdings. Now, listen to me.
The 10-year treasury, as I'm recording this, is below 4%. It's at 3.8%. Now, that's great news for mortgages. It's great news for many things, but you might be thinking about refinancing sooner than later. Now, obviously, when interest rates are going down, interest rates everywhere are going to go down.
And I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again, but you've got to listen to me right now and take action today when you are hearing this, if you want your money to be safe and sound. My favorite CD is the Alliant Credit Union CD. And interest rates at Alliant are not going to last, in my opinion. I give it at most one more week, all right? Now, one-year treasuries are at 3.8%.
Two-year treasuries, as I'm recording, are at 3.6%. That's why I want you to take advantage. I don't make money if you do this, everybody. I want you to make more out of your money. So if you want to keep money safe and sound right now, you have to take advantage of the 12 to 17 month CD at myalliant.com. They're at 4.25% APR for amounts of $1,000 to $74,999. and 4.3% APR for $75,000 and up.
That is a big difference than what treasuries are paying. So seriously, for safe money, you might want to take advantage of it right now because that rate is incredible and I don't want you to miss out on it. Now, the dollar is weak. So if you're thinking about traveling to Europe or doing things like that, now is not the time.
Gold, however, and I told you a while ago, I want you to be investing in gold. Gold has soared. At one point, it was almost $3,200 an ounce. It's back at $3,065, but it is turning out to be the safe haven. Bitcoin is not holding up as a safe haven for when things like this is happening. Gold is still the safe haven.
If you've been considering Roth conversions, a lot of you are like, oh, I want to put some money in a Roth. I have it in a traditional retirement account and I want to do a Roth. Maybe it's time to start doing that slowly a little bit at a time and take advantage of these down markets.
Remember, when you convert from a traditional to a Roth retirement account, you owe taxes on whatever your portfolio or the amount you're converting is at the time. When markets are going down, your portfolio value is going down. and that's the time to convert. WTI crude, I have to tell you now, has dropped sharply, and I mean sharply, below its long-term support near $65 per barrel.
And if this breakdown holds, it could head towards $45 a barrel, and that is a major shift in oil, and you will absolutely see that at your pump. As for the stock market, I'm just going to reiterate one more time. I want you to stay diversified. Now is not the time to bottom fish. Don't get angry at anybody. Don't blame this. Just stay smart. Stay calm.
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