People first, unless it’s a first date

SUZE ORMAN has built a multimedia empire, with TV shows, bestselling books, investment kits, Internet columns and speaking tours. She’s a millionaire 25 times over, by her own estimate, raking in a cool $5 million a year.

Still, would you take relationship advice from her?

She might not be my first choice, but with the string of bad dating decisions I’ve racked up over the years, I could probably get better guidance from my Magic 8 Ball than I’ve come up with on my own. Suze to the rescue? Why not?

On her self-titled CNBC advice show, a recent episode dubbed “Sex and the Single Wallet” tossed around some current dating dilemmas: Who pays, what’s equitable versus what’s etiquette, how do you figure out if you’ve fallen for a gold digger?

The answer to the last question, judging from the men on the show, is that most women fall into that camp and it’s best to, as one viewer text-messaged, “Keep your money! Girlfriends are liabilities! Stay single!” What was left unsaid was that he was likely communicating directly from his parents’ basement, with nothing but his big fat 401(k) to keep him warm.

People on the street -- actually, people in bars who were interviewed for the show -- split along gender lines regarding who should pay for dates. Men for the most part said they resented having to pay, even if they initiate a date, with such comments as, “I’m not her daddy.”

For the record, any woman who goes out with that guy should be thumped in the head with her own platform shoe.

Women said they’re invested too -- they spend mightily on fashionable clothes, gym memberships, Botox, waxes and dyes -- just to compete in the dog-eat-dog single world, which, the show reminded us, is 87 million strong.

Is it a fair exchange, then, if a guy springs for dinner and a movie?

Anyone who has dated in the last dozen years has faced the money issue, resulting in stories about the cheapskate, the high roller and the egalitarian. No matter the enlightened era, first dates seem to be sacrosanct: The man pays.

Most women are amenable to pulling their weight once a relationship starts moving, although men seem to bear most of the financial burden and the resentment that causes.

Suze, a high-energy, no-nonsense chick who reflexively calls everyone “girlfriend” or “boyfriend,” believes that how people spend their money gives valuable insight into their character.

What, then, to think of my friend’s date who wanted to split a very inexpensive dinner bill on the first date, even though he’d asked her out? And during a subsequent date -- yes, she now cringes -- he asked her to leave the tip and then criticized her for being too generous. Suze would have a field day with him.

Or the actor I dated a while back who told me that because I’m an entertainment reporter he could write off our dinners on his taxes. His accountant said so! Suze would’ve loved that one.

Only a few times did I find fault with Suze’s advice. She said, in response to a caller with a propensity for the flat-broke “artistic type,” that the guy who’s a struggling musician today could be a successful rock star tomorrow.

This tells us two things about Suze. First, she has never lived in Los Angeles, the land of the never-was, and second, she’s not acquainted with my ex-husband. Two words about that stardom: pipe dream.

Greg Behrendt, former “Sex and the City” writer and bestselling co-author of “He’s Just Not That Into You,” played “the guy role” as Suze’s guest, uniformly saying that whoever asks for the date picks up the check. If the woman played Sadie Hawkins, the man should still reach for the bill, even though some people might call that old school.

Some people might call it good manners, a currency all its own.

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T.L. Stanley may be reached at weekend@latimes.com.