Dave Ramsey

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
0
0

Originally posted by: BoomerD
http://www.daveramsey.com/

I know a couple of people who swear by the guy and his techniques/procedures for helping you get out of debt.

I'm sure he basically teaches the beginning steps in home budgeting and personal financial accounting, along with helping people avoid some of the common mistakes many of us make. BUT, listening to the video posted on the website, he sounds like one of the motivational Amway speakers.

Anyone familiar with the guy and his products?

Yes, I am. Actually, I just made a post about him earlier today. I read his book in high school and did a paper on it. Right now I'm going through his financial peace university CDs. I have a friend that follows almost everything he says and is now very comfortable financially. He and his wife worked on a measly teacher salary.

He is a pretty good speaker and I enjoy listening to him talk.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
66,260
14,690
146
Originally posted by: ZeroIQ

Originally posted by: BoomerD
http://www.daveramsey.com/

I know a couple of people who swear by the guy and his techniques/procedures for helping you get out of debt.

I'm sure he basically teaches the beginning steps in home budgeting and personal financial accounting, along with helping people avoid some of the common mistakes many of us make. BUT, listening to the video posted on the website, he sounds like one of the motivational Amway speakers.

Anyone familiar with the guy and his products?

Yes, I am. Actually, I just made a post about him earlier today. I read his book in high school and did a paper on it. Right now I'm going through his financial peace university CDs. I have a friend that follows almost everything he says and is now very comfortable financially. He and his wife worked on a measly teacher salary.

He is a pretty good speaker and I enjoy listening to him talk.


Uh...hello? McFly? Anyone home...didn't you notice that I posted the link IN your thread? :D

I posted the link because you were looking for other opinions/information...;)
 

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
0
0
Originally posted by: BoomerD

Uh...hello? McFly? Anyone home...didn't you notice that I posted the link IN your thread? :D

I posted the link because you were looking for other opinions/information...;)

I know ;) I was just bored. I figured it was obvious since I went into your post, quoted your OP in your post then quoted you in my post and answered the questions in your OP in your post.
 

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
11,433
1,052
136
My uncle has helped out several families at his church get out of debt using Dave Ramsey's advice. He teaches a class on it.
 

2canSAM

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
3,390
4
81
Very sound advice, but alot of it is common sense. Could easily be summed up by the SNL skit posted above. It just changes the way you view credit and how people use it as a crutch for instant gratification. Prime example is a family friend. She just bought 3k of furniture 3 weeks ago, and last week bought another 3k worth of junk at Best Buy. She said "but it is 12 months same as cash!" When I explained to her that was still going to mean 500.00 bucks a month to pay that, you could see her panic a little. She is a single mom on a firefighters salary, which I understand is not much at all. Her attitude is enjoy now, worry later and this is how most Americans think.
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
0
Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
I've read the book and have gone through his Financial Peace University class.
It is sound financial advice that is supposed to get you started in the right direction. He calls his rules "baby steps" for that reason.

Can anyone really argue with any of these?
1. Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund
2. Pay off your debt, smallest to largest
3. Expand your emergency fund to 3-6 months living expenses
4. Invest 15% of income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirements
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off mortgage early
7. Build wealth and give

What's dumb about any of these?

Not bad, but $1000 emergency fund is kind of low if that's supposed to be your protection from job loss or other things. A bad car repair could be over that. I'm shooting for 2-3 months income in cash.
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
34
91
Yeah, come to a forum with a bunch of smart people and ask what they think about Dave. :p

Dave is awesome. If you listen to his show he is typically talking to morons. People who will never be able to come up with these simple concepts themselves... otherwise they wouldn't be coming to him with $100K in CC debt making $25K/yr wondering how in the hell they're going to pay it off.
 

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
11,433
1,052
136
Originally posted by: Bignate603
Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
I've read the book and have gone through his Financial Peace University class.
It is sound financial advice that is supposed to get you started in the right direction. He calls his rules "baby steps" for that reason.

Can anyone really argue with any of these?
1. Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund
2. Pay off your debt, smallest to largest
3. Expand your emergency fund to 3-6 months living expenses
4. Invest 15% of income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirements
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off mortgage early
7. Build wealth and give

What's dumb about any of these?

Not bad, but $1000 emergency fund is kind of low if that's supposed to be your protection from job loss or other things. A bad car repair could be over that. I'm shooting for 2-3 months income in cash.

Did you just stop reading at #1? Because I don't see how you could miss #3.
 

xgsound

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2002
1,374
8
81
Originally posted by: txrandom
Smart advice for dumb people. Dumb advice for smart people.


I'm not sure if you're for him or against him.

Since I'm for him, I take it to mean that for those people never exposed to controlling their money, it shows them how to start. For those people that think they'll outsmart (like with car leases, consolidating debt and interest only mortgages) the system, it reminds them to build a safety net first so they don't outsmart themselves.


Jim
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Originally posted by: Naustica
I don't like all the products he pushes but his advice is sound. More people should follow it.

 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Originally posted by: ggnl
Originally posted by: txrandom
Smart advice for dumb people. Dumb advice for smart people.

Yup. Zero tolerance for debt works for some people, but if you can manage your money, there's no reason not to use debt for some purchases.

 

Eos

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
3,463
17
81
I think the used car plan he touts is silly. Like a $500 car isn't going to break down in the time it takes you to save and buy a $1000 car. Plus, what if no on buys your $500 car? Then what, smarty pants?

He talks as if simply not having a car payment and buying cheap cars one after another, then saving what you would have spent on a car payment is all it takes to buy that really nice car for cash.
 

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
0
0
Originally posted by: eos
I think the used car plan he touts is silly. Like a $500 car isn't going to break down in the time it takes you to save and buy a $1000 car. Plus, what if no on buys your $500 car? Then what, smarty pants?

He talks as if simply not having a car payment and buying cheap cars one after another, then saving what you would have spent on a car payment is all it takes to buy that really nice car for cash.

I don't think I've heard him say to buy a $500 car. He says to not buy a new car because they depreciate so fast and you lose about 30 per cent by just driving off the lot. You buy a used car, even a couple years old and the depreciation on it is much slower and you lose less money.
 

Eos

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
3,463
17
81
Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
Originally posted by: eos
I think the used car plan he touts is silly. Like a $500 car isn't going to break down in the time it takes you to save and buy a $1000 car. Plus, what if no on buys your $500 car? Then what, smarty pants?

He talks as if simply not having a car payment and buying cheap cars one after another, then saving what you would have spent on a car payment is all it takes to buy that really nice car for cash.

I don't think I've heard him say to buy a $500 car. He says to not buy a new car because they depreciate so fast and you lose about 30 per cent by just driving off the lot. You buy a used car, even a couple years old and the depreciation on it is much slower and you lose less money.

Drive free, retire rich.
 

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
0
0
Originally posted by: eos
Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
Originally posted by: eos
I think the used car plan he touts is silly. Like a $500 car isn't going to break down in the time it takes you to save and buy a $1000 car. Plus, what if no on buys your $500 car? Then what, smarty pants?

He talks as if simply not having a car payment and buying cheap cars one after another, then saving what you would have spent on a car payment is all it takes to buy that really nice car for cash.

I don't think I've heard him say to buy a $500 car. He says to not buy a new car because they depreciate so fast and you lose about 30 per cent by just driving off the lot. You buy a used car, even a couple years old and the depreciation on it is much slower and you lose less money.

Drive free, retire rich.

Hey genius, did you watch that little flash video? No where did it say what you were saying it did.

He does not tell people to go out and buy a beater 500 car that's going to break down, then save 500 and you can magically sell the old car for 500 to buy a 1000 car.
 

Special K

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2000
7,098
0
76
Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
I've read the book and have gone through his Financial Peace University class.
It is sound financial advice that is supposed to get you started in the right direction. He calls his rules "baby steps" for that reason.

Can anyone really argue with any of these?
1. Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund
2. Pay off your debt, smallest to largest
3. Expand your emergency fund to 3-6 months living expenses
4. Invest 15% of income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirements
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off mortgage early
7. Build wealth and give

What's dumb about any of these?

This is generally sound advice, although it makes more sense from a financial standpoint to pay off debts with the highest interest rate first. Then again, I could see a psychological advantage to paying off the smallest debts first if one has many debts to pay off. I guess it depends if seeing the debts disappear sooner is worth more to you than the money saved by paying down the highest interest debts first.
 

SearchMaster

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2002
7,791
114
106
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
I've read the book and have gone through his Financial Peace University class.
It is sound financial advice that is supposed to get you started in the right direction. He calls his rules "baby steps" for that reason.

Can anyone really argue with any of these?
1. Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund
2. Pay off your debt, smallest to largest
3. Expand your emergency fund to 3-6 months living expenses
4. Invest 15% of income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirements
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off mortgage early
7. Build wealth and give

What's dumb about any of these?

This is generally sound advice, although it makes more sense from a financial standpoint to pay off debts with the highest interest rate first. Then again, I could see a psychological advantage to paying off the smallest debts first if one has many debts to pay off. I guess it depends if seeing the debts disappear sooner is worth more to you than the money saved by paying down the highest interest debts first.

Yes, it's a psychological thing, which is why he calls it "the debt snowball". Once you pay off the first smaller debt, you can take the money you were paying against that one and pay against the next smallest debt, and so on. You gain more and more momentum as you go along. The idea is that your problem is attitude and lifestyle, not the extra few hundred dollars you'd save by paying the largest first. If you start on the largest and 6 months later it's still there, it's harder to feel like you've accomplished anything.
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
34
91
Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
Originally posted by: eos
Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
Originally posted by: eos
I think the used car plan he touts is silly. Like a $500 car isn't going to break down in the time it takes you to save and buy a $1000 car. Plus, what if no on buys your $500 car? Then what, smarty pants?

He talks as if simply not having a car payment and buying cheap cars one after another, then saving what you would have spent on a car payment is all it takes to buy that really nice car for cash.

I don't think I've heard him say to buy a $500 car. He says to not buy a new car because they depreciate so fast and you lose about 30 per cent by just driving off the lot. You buy a used car, even a couple years old and the depreciation on it is much slower and you lose less money.

Drive free, retire rich.

Hey genius, did you watch that little flash video? No where did it say what you were saying it did.

He does not tell people to go out and buy a beater 500 car that's going to break down, then save 500 and you can magically sell the old car for 500 to buy a 1000 car.

Actually, I live in Nashville and have listened to Dave before he was even syndicated. Trust me, he does say (or at least used to) to go buy a $500 car, save the money you would use to pay car payments with, and gradually upgrade to a nicer/more reliable car. However, he was always talking about some old low-mileage probably beat up car and I don't think any sane person really took his $500 as a 'it must be $500' statement. He was just saying find the most reliable/affordable car you can buy for cash.

 

SuperjetMatt

Senior member
Nov 16, 2007
406
0
0
It comes down to this: Control your money or the lack of it will always control you.
Are you happy owing money to people/companies?

If you answer yes, then skip Dave Ramsey.
 

SuperjetMatt

Senior member
Nov 16, 2007
406
0
0
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
I've read the book and have gone through his Financial Peace University class.
It is sound financial advice that is supposed to get you started in the right direction. He calls his rules "baby steps" for that reason.

Can anyone really argue with any of these?
1. Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund
2. Pay off your debt, smallest to largest
3. Expand your emergency fund to 3-6 months living expenses
4. Invest 15% of income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirements
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off mortgage early
7. Build wealth and give

What's dumb about any of these?

This is generally sound advice, although it makes more sense from a financial standpoint to pay off debts with the highest interest rate first. Then again, I could see a psychological advantage to paying off the smallest debts first if one has many debts to pay off. I guess it depends if seeing the debts disappear sooner is worth more to you than the money saved by paying down the highest interest debts first.

I think with most people, in most cases, the interest saved is going to be negligible.
Besides, paying off smallest to largest has the added advantage that once you paid off the first couple of debts, you have more money freed up to attack the larger debts faster.