Suze Orman: Recession is "Greatest Thing"

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The "greatest thing" may be overstatement, but falling asset prices and low interest rates certainly favor people with high ratios of debt-to-assets -- which tends to describe people in the early stages of their careers.
As for high unemployment, that is a drag, but I graduated in an environment of 10% unemployment. It was scary at the time, but it helped give me the work ethic that made me successful.

Richard B. of NY 4:02PM May 06, 2009

I never LIVED in financial la-la land and neither did my parents, they did NOTHING wrong. My mom bought a condo in 2003 that she could afford, maybe it's not as nice as a house she could barely afford but it was within her price range.
I haven't lived at home full time since I went away to college in 2002, and now that's where I'm heading back. NY "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere..." when the reality is "welcome to NY, if you can make it here, great! If you can't, join the rest of us!" Moving home and not being able to find a job just makes one feel like a failure sometimes. So not the "greatest thing" that ever happened...

Veronica of NY 2:14PM May 06, 2009

I think it's fantastic for all of us in our late 20's to live a more frugal life. The only exception to Ms. Orman's theory is the unemployment factor. I know many people who don't have a job and others who can't pursue "bigger and better things" (i.e. - the American Dream), because no one is hiring. I think young adults have no problem spending less money and saving up, but the pessimism caused by not having a job and the feeling of entrapment that some people have ... is certainly not "the greatest thing."

Brady of IL 1:32PM May 06, 2009