According to financial expert Suze Orman, the American dream, as we’ve always known it, is dead. Hasn’t it been our goal to keep up with the Joneses, to look and feel successful, to have a nice home, three nice cars, a boat, to take family vacations, and a cute little dog? Well, Suze didn’t say anything about a dog, to my knowledge, but she definitely feels that we need to refine our ideas of just what the American dream means.
She has just released a new book titled “The Money Class,” and states: “The whole purpose of this book is to learn how to create a new American dream, a dream that is based in reality, not fantasy.”
I’ve stated here on Families.com how using credit cards puts one in a state of fantasy rather than forcing the buyer to look at their budget realistically. Apparently Suze feels the same way, and says that with the way the economy is right now, we can’t entertain the same financial goals we once had. It’s too hard to get loans, it’s too hard to get credit, and we need to reshape the way we think about our dreams.
She advises us to live below our means and to have an eight-month emergency savings fund. Basic financial common sense.
But if we look at it from another angle, perhaps it’s not the American dream that’s dead, but the dream that was held by some Americans. Many Americans have already realized that their true happiness won’t come from a boat or a four-carat ring on the hand, but that it will come from financial peace of mind. They are already putting away for the future and laying a foundation for their retirement and their children’s future.
I think my real question here today is, what is your dream, and what do you most need to do in order to fulfill it? We may each need to step back and reevaluate, but only we can determine for ourselves if our dreams are dead or not. We might have to fight harder than ever before to get them, but if there’s something that we really, really want, so much that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get it, I believe we’ll find a way.
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A Few Great Tips from Suze Orman