Suze Orman On Finding Hidden Money

Source :Forbes:

30 JAN 2012 @ 10:20AM

“I believe that every single person in the United States of America is entitled to have a good life, meaning they have a place they can call their own, can retire one day and have the money to send their children to college,” financial expert Suze Orman said recently in aninterview with FORBES. “They can live a respectful life. Every one of us deserves that.”

Now Orman has taken her best-selling book The Money Class and translated those financial lessons into a new weekly show, America’s Money Class with Suze Orman, on OWN. The network and ForbesWoman partnered up to provide a preview of each episode before it airs. Tonight, Orman reveals how to uncover lost money, how to turn old gold into cash, tactics for lottery winnings and when to get your dream car. Here’s a closer look.

Finding Hidden Money

Think it’s impossible or a scam to make money with the click of a mouse? It might be your lucky day. On websites like missingmoney.com and unclaimed.orgyou can find lost treasures. In fact, one member of the audience discovered that Orman was owed a few thousand dollars that she’d never claimed.

“It’s far better finding money than losing it!” says Orman. She explains that if you move on from a workplace or an address, someone who owes you money may not be able to find you (or want to). After a period of time, the claim gets turned over to the state. Search your name and state in the database, and if you’re owed money, you’ll receive a check in a few weeks. Here’s proof: three members of the audience recovered a combined $70,000 in lost funds.

Turning Gold Into Cash

Orman says you can earn money by selling gold jewelry and accessories that you no longer want. However, you have to be smart and realistic about what it’s worth. Michael Gusky, owner of gold buyer GoldFellow, says the purity of the gold determines its worth. The higher the carat count, the more pure it is. Thus, a 24-carat gold chain is worth more than a 12-carat chain.

One way to figure out the purity of your gold, says Gusky, is to hover a magnet over it. If it’s attracted to the magnet, it is lower quality. Oftentimes there’s an inscription in the jewelry that will tell you how many carats it has, but Gusky warns that untrustworthy jewelers may inflate the number.

Winning The Lottery

Ever been so lucky as to wonder what to do with your lottery winnings? Two women in the audience asked Orman for her suggestions. One 57-year-old retired school principal had $400,000 in earnings and owed $320,000, with a 5% interest rate, on her home. Orman advised that she pay off the mortgage. Considering the current market, the interest she would earn on the money wouldn’t be that impressive. Plus, she’d be free of the $2,200 monthly mortgage payment. “How would you feel as a woman owning that house outright?” Orman asks.

Getting Your Dream Car

Are you longing for an expensive piece of jewelry, flashy sports car or fancy gadget that you’re not sure is a reasonable splurge? Orman talks to one woman who dreams of purchasing a brand new BMW but doesn’t want to be financially irresponsible. The woman is 62, with monthly expenses covered by a secure pension and $600,000 in savings. All her life she worked hard and saved, saved, saved. “I’ve worked so long,” she says, “and what have I worked for?”

Orman’s advice? Buy it. “If you can afford it, and if that is something that you really want at that age, then why the heck not?” She further counsels that she sell her current car and pay for the BMW in cash.

Would You Buy Obama’s Old Car for $1 Million?

Source :Time :NICK CARBONE : January 28, 2012

A typical 2005 Chrysler 300C, fully loaded and in pristine condition, is expected to fetch up to $19,142 on the market, according to Kelley Blue Book, the authority on used-car prices. But what if the vehicle had been leased by none other than the President of the United States of America? An eBay seller is hoping that detail will justify a $980,000 price hike.

Lisa Czibor, a seasoned eBay car seller based near Chicago, is pulling out all the stops to prove that Barack Obama once piloted the grey 300C she has listed for sale on behalf of its owner Tim O’Boyle. She even posted a photograph of the car’s title written in Obama’s name. But the most shocking detail associated with the sale: the price. Owning then-senator Obama’s ride will cost a cool $1 million.

The buyer also has to pay in full within 10 days of purchase. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the auction, which closes February 1, has been live for 11 days with nary a bid.

But Czibor is confident the car is worth the budget-busting sum. And that’s not just because of the car’s low mileage (only 20,800 miles over the course of seven years) or its maxed-out options, including leather seats, a sunroof and a navigation system. Obama put more than 19,000 miles on the car driving around Chicago. And the listing cites a host of other cars with famous owners that have fetched record sums on the auction block, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 1977 Peugeot, which sold for $2.35 million (£1.5 million) in March 2011. That money was donated to charity, though, while Obama’s ride was put on the market by a private seller.

Obama got rid of the 300C in July 2007 as he launched his presidential campaign. He traded in the Chrysler – which has a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engine – for a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid after taking flak for driving the guzzler while pressuring Detroit to build more fuel-efficient cars.

The 300C was put up for auction on eBay in late 2008 to coincide with Obama’s inauguration. Back then, the minimum bid was $100,000, which seems like a bargain compared to the current price. But O’Boyle, the owner, had to take down the auction because it was overrun by fake bidders who rocketed the price to $100 million, MSNBC reports. Four years later, O’Boyle recruited the help of Czibor, and with a few security measures to ensure that only serious buyers can bid, the car has been listed again. But is the famous former owner enough to justify a 5,000% markup? It doesn’t even get good gas mileage, after all.