Suze Orman’s Ultimate Protection Portfolio (and a Do-It-Yourself Alternative)
Published on - March 26th, 2008 (by J.D. Roth) For the past few months, I’ve been pursuing a paperless personal finance system. I’ve scheduled electronic transactions with my bank, and I scan important documents when I receive them. My method is still very much in “beta”, but I hope to write about it later this year.
My sister-in-law, Tiffany, isn’t a computer geek, but she’s been trying to get her financial documents organized, too. So when she saw an advertisement for Suze Orman’s Ultimate Protection Portfolio, she figured it was worth $66.24 to make her life a little easier. She ordered the kit, and has spent the past week putting it to use. When I dropped by her house today, she showed me the system.
The Ultimate Protection Portfolio
The Suze Orman Ultimate Protection Portfolio comes in a big blue plastic case, which is ostensibly water-resistant. (I didn’t actually put this to the test.) Inside the case are:
- A custom accordion-file system with ten pockets designated for specific areas of your personal finances. The outside of each pocket contains “Suze’s Advice and Checklist” for that particular topic. For example, the Credit/Debt pouch advises, “Review your credit report at least once a year to make sure all information is accurate.” The pockets are wide and cozy and will contain a lot of information.
- Ten short booklets with topics corresponding to the the pockets in the accordion file. Each booklet is 48 pages long (except Estate Planning, which has 80 pages) and contains a brief overview of the topic. The Investment Records booklet, for example, covers financial advisers, mutual funds, and risk tolerance (or “fear factor” as Orman calls it). The information in these booklets is from 2005.
- A Protection Portfolio CD-ROM containing financial forms, record-keeping software, and a tool to help draft a will. You must have an active internet connection to use this software.
- A special integrated organizer with pockets for passports, social security cards, and more.
- A variety of forms and checklists, including an emergency contact list.
“That’s a lot of stuff,” I told Tiffany. “I can see how it would be nice to have everything in one place. What do you think of it?”
“I do like the fact that everything’s in one place,” she said. “But this is an expensive way to do it. I don’t regret buying it, but I do feel like I could have made something similar myself for less money. It might be worth it if the books were any good, but I think they’re lame.”
“I can see that,” I said. “I looked through a few of them. They information is solid, but it seems pretty basic. And they tend to skip over a lot. I think they’re just designed to get people started.”
A Do-It-Yourself Alternative
Tiffany was probably right when she said she could make something similar for less money. The Ultimate Protection Portfolio is worth the $66.24 if it motivated her to get things organized, but in retrospect there were cheaper options available:
- At its heart, the Suze Orman Ultimate Protection Portfolio is simply a good old-fashioned expanding file. We probably have one in the garage. Maybe you do, too. Even if I had to buy one new, Amazon has a variety for around $10.
- The ten booklets seem excessive. With a quick trip to the public library, you can pick up many great personal finance books for free. (They probably even have a couple Suze Orman books, including The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke and Nine Steps to Financial Freedom.)
- You can buy Suze Orman’s Will & Trust Kit for $13.57 from Amazon. It’s even sub-branded “The Ultimate Protection Portfolio”, so I’m willing to bet it’s the same software.
- Instead of an integrated organizer with pockets for your passport and other important items, you can simply stick these all in a large zip-loc freezer bag and place them in one of the slots of your expanding file.
- You can find many free, printable emergency forms on the web, including these at Organized Home. If you own a copy of Quicken, it may actually contain an Emergency Records Organizer utility. Often it’s most convenient simply create your own.
For about $25, you can build your own custom emergency records portfolio. I admit that this system won’t be water-resistant, and it won’t have Suze Orman’s advice, but I’m willing to bet that you won’t notice the difference. You’ll still have peace of mind knowing all your important household and financial documents are in one easy-to-reach central location.
This article is about House and Home, Planning, Tools
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The #50 comment is basically a request for information. It was the only site I could use to ask a question.
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I think most of us could learn from Suze. To me she is inspirational. She reminds me to get back on track. She is a living example that women can do great things and can lead by example and that they don’t have to rely on others to do it for them. She reminds me that if she can do it, so can I. I get excited when I hear her because she inpires me to keep on perservering when the road gets bumpy. I am not a quiter but sometimes we can all use a push or new perspective. She brings that.
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Gee whiz, I love Suze Orman, I grew up clueless and totally dependent on my dad, husband, brother, etc, now all are gone and I was lost till I realized I had to pull myself together and I started listening to Suze, and now I am pretty much o.k. I dont have the money to spend on the “kits” though, I thought they were free! hahaha, how stupid can a person be? I have my information in the banks safety deposit box all in labled brown envelopes, like zook suggested. Suze keeps preaching on not to use your Credit Cards, but then trys to sell the expensive kits. This part puzzles me. I do tape every show she does and I love the “can I afford it” part.
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hi suze i’m 43 years old. I have a roth ira. the fund’s are washington mutual invs fd cl a and growth fund of america cl a and capital world grw & inc fund a Are they good fund’s. And i have a cd. could i get a index fund also.
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I just saw Suze on Larry King and I couldn’t believe it. She went on about how president-elect Obama talked incessantly about raising taxes while running for president. Who’s she kidding? Maybe that’s how she heard it because her income is above the threshold for seeing increased taxes but it was ridiculous to see how she suggested Obama was all about raising taxes, as though for everyone. Then, she launched her claim about Save Yourself.com, which supposedly pays you 15% returns (12 payments of $100 supposedly earns you $100 from Ameritrade). I went to Saveyourself.com and the language in the agreement with virtually incomprehensible, generally scary, and doesn’t appear to mention anything that pays 15% returns on the investment. In fact, it mentions something like a 0.5 interest rate. I think her claim on this one is equivalent to fraud. It certainly sounded too good to be true and that’s how I view it (despite the fact I couldn’t understand the information on the Ameritrade website). I’ll never be able to listen to Suze Orman again, without getting angry.
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tim you can go to her website suzeorman.com and get the number and call her or email her to ask her that question. you can also go to cnbc.com and click on cnbc tv then click on cnbc usa and click on on the money the show. they also give advice on their fiances just like suze orman the show comes on on channel 58 at 10/9 central every saturday after the suze orman show just in case you will like to watch it before you call in the host name is carmen if you have comcast if not just your local listing. hubert kelley you can just have them to send your password to your email address if you forgot it. you can download her will and trust kit by going to her website and clicking on will and trust kit on the left hand corner, then click on access code and type in people first. download it, fill it out and get it notarized. you people will know that if you watch the show it comes on at 9/8 central every saturday on channel 58 for people who has comecast if you dont have comcast then just your local listing to see what channel. she is not and idiot or irrogant. she helping people get financially stable who are at a lost or dont know what to do when they are not financially stable. she give good advice.
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For those talking about the water proof part of the kit…
I’ve been through two house fires & the volume of water pumped into a burning structure is boggling. Anything in your attic will be toast & probably everything below the attic (depending on response time) will be flooded as if hurricane Katrina came by. Firefighters will spray down rooms that aren’t even in danger (and smash everything while they are at it). So that & recent water related natural disasters are probably why she’s doing the water proof thing.
I remember she said on Oprah that she felt fire boxes were too heavy (remember she’s targeting housewives & seniors) & that she wanted something that would float so it’d be easy to find after the event of a flood or hurricane.
Personally – I think she could buy some fire boxes in bulk & use those however, it’s her deal & she can do whatever she wants with her company.
And while my Brinks says it’s water proof(as long as it’s locked) in addition to fire proof… my son proved back when he was 4 that they aren’t that water proof 
Also, tornados are the threat in my region so, I don’t want anything light weight, I want it heavy enough it doesn’t blow in to the next state
Suze Orman is filling a void out there & she’s educating a large amount of people – that right there should at least be respected. If someone doesn’t know enough to know to do these thing then, they can pay Ms. Orman’s price & get the cute package with all the fill in the blank forms.
I keep starting such a comprehensive record (of my accounts & such) but then I just can’t seem to write my account numbers and passwords down…. after so many years of guarding my info what if a snoop or thief finds it? That and I used to work cust service for Bank One/1st USA credit cards and I remember the calls from people whose relative, close friend or other trusted person had resulted in exploitation of such info and the train wreck that followed. I’ve already got so much on my plate… I’m leery of welcoming more grief. That said, I’ve got organized records so if anything happens to me, a relative should be able to figure out my finances in 15 minutes and in the event of disaster I fail to see how CC/bill info would be pertinent. I’ve got copies of my auto & life ins policies in my 72 hour kit along with a list of all the ph#’s of companies I do buisness with written in sharpie. That should be sufficient… don’t know if my logic there is flawed.
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