Dave Ramsey - what do people think?

[College#19]

I have some in-laws that swear by Dave Ramsey but they live like they are dirt poor which is not the case. So I dug up some Dave Ramsey videos online and he does offer a lot of sound advise, but I do not agree with a number of things he tells people to do. Everyone has to make their own choices and I honestly do not judge people on where they live, what kind of cars they drive, or what type of financial decisions they make. It just concerns me that our in-laws are making some decisions that are impacting their kids and things could be different.

 

[AIChatGPT]

I think he is a good starting point for people to look at their finances if they have never paid attention to them.

I know quite a few people with $$ jobs that are actually broke for the most part .

 

[vhcat70]

I think he keeps it straightforward simple for people who haven't been able to control their finances to get them on the right path. Long-term, with good financial planning, there are considerably better options. But you have to walk first.

 

[rick64]

If you want some good fundamental advice on how to handle your personal finances, then he's got some good ideas and techniques.

 

[Get Buckets]

our in-laws are making some decisions that are impacting their kids and things could be different

How so?

 

[Ron Mehico]

From what I’ve seen - which is not much - he seems to be good for people that are bad with money. I did have a buddy that followed him and got obsessed with his student debt and was making his kids eat cereal and **** for dinner for like 3 years until he paid it off which I thought was pretty extreme.

 

[BankerCat12]

If you have Instagram, watch amikozak_official. He does mock calls on Dave Ramsey. The one where he hits a person on the sidewalk and then the hooker is the best.

 

[Laparkafan]

Eat ramen and walk to work isn’t that his message?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

He's good for general personal finance stuff, how to save, understanding compound interest. But he's awful for picking stocks. And IMO, he's a little TOO conservative in his saving.

There's a few FIRE-type subreddits, where people brag about maxing out their 401k, despite making something like $80k/year. That's the sort of thing Dave Ramsey gets jacked up over. But IMO, you're saving too much for something (retirement) that you may never get to enjoy. I'd rather peel some of that 401k back and instead invest in the short and medium future: 1st house, education, stocks. And if you're living on hotdogs and beans, then you're saving TOO much for retirement. You have to enjoy life at least a little bit.

 

[Ron Mehico]

He's good for general personal finance stuff, how to save, understanding compound interest. But he's awful for picking stocks. And IMO, he's a little TOO conservative in his saving.

There's a few FIRE-type subreddits, where people brag about maxing out their 401k, despite making something like $80k/year. That's the sort of thing Dave Ramsey gets jacked up over. But IMO, you're saving too much for something (retirement) that you may never get to enjoy. I'd rather peel some of that 401k back and instead invest in the short and medium future: 1st house, education, stocks. And if you're living on hotdogs and beans, then you're saving TOO much for retirement. You have to enjoy life at least a little bit.

That mindset is hard to break as well. Know lots of older folks who have tons saved up but still are penny pinching, won’t eat out, won’t travel because it costs too much, die with millions in the bank. What’s the point?

 

[cole854]

Brilliant at communicating the basics, which many fail to grasp, and his plans do work. However, his one size fits all doesn't apply at times, such as his car payment rules.

 

[DSmith21]

I think that Ramsey offers some good basic ideas such as budgeting, expense/debt reduction and prioritization. However, he gets a little extreme with his rice and beans diet and disagree with tithing contributions to churches if you can't afford it (donate time instead).

 

[berniecarbo]

I like a lot of what he says, especially for people who don't have a lot of will power re spending. Both my parents had to drop out of grade school to help support the family during the Depression. We grew up dirt poor, but they had a great work ethic and taught that to me. The parts that I like of his stuff, I have done all my life. The parts I don't like, I ignore. I made payments on my first house. Since then, I have never bought anything unless I have the money to pay for it.

 

[Bill Cosby]

If you look at him as a behavioral psychologist for people who are ****** with money, he’s fine.

If you’re comfortable with the concept of leverage he sounds like a clown.

 

[sg24_]

Heard a comedian ask why does Dave Ramsey's website accept credit cards.

 

[College#19]

How so?

they are living in a school district because they set a very strict limit on their budget for a house and the schools in that district are not good. think their kids are not getting the type of education and opportunities they could be getting elsewhere.

 

[College#19]

That mindset is hard to break as well. Know lots of older folks who have tons saved up but still are penny pinching, won’t eat out, won’t travel because it costs too much, die with millions in the bank. What’s the point?

agree with this because you can't take it with you

 

[College#19]

I know Dave Ramsey does not like debt, but not all debt is bad. There are people who have 30 year mortgages at 3% interest rates they got locked in a couple years ago. That is good debt because it is super cheap. This is the stuff Dave Ramsey doesn't seem to talk to about.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

That mindset is hard to break as well. Know lots of older folks who have tons saved up but still are penny pinching, won’t eat out, won’t travel because it costs too much, die with millions in the bank. What’s the point?

my 97 year old grandma has $40,000 in her checking account and lord knows how much in savings. She still lives like its the great depression

 

[ukalumni00]

Ramsey is great for folks who suck with money. If you are good with money you likely already practice some of his principles but everything he says is not applicable to everyone.

 

[Col. Angus]

He’s good at making money that I’m
sure he manages very well off giving stupid people common sense advice.

 

[TortElvisII]

Harry and Marv visit his home at Christmas.

 

[MegaBlue05]

He has decent advice. I used some of it in my youth after doing dumb **** with credit cards.

Some of his advice is a little extreme. I will
eat beans and rice a couple nights a week, but am not eating it daily. What’s the point of living if you don’t enjoy life?

The main thing is to not spend more than you make and to never fully finance a major purchase.

I know when I was starting out in my career, if I saved like Ramsey suggested, I wouldn’t have had any money to pay utilities because all my money would’ve been in savings. It’s hard to save money when you barely make enough to cover housing, utilities and a little bit of food. When there’s nothing extra, saving was impossible. I had several years where I had about 46 cents in n checking when the next check hit and that included no indulgences.

Luckily, my parents were supreme tight asses and they passed that trait on to me. Unfortunately, I married a spender from a family that was terrible with money. If she had some money, it was almost like a race to see how fast she could spend it.

It took her years of listening to me bitching for her to quit that “retail therapy” BS women often do.

 

[Wildcats1st]

If you want to be wealthy don’t listen to Dave Ramsey. You have to take risks to build wealth and along the way you have to take advantage of the chapter laws then do it. That’s one of the things that makes América the superpower it is. If you wanna live like a bean counter and have no life enjoyment by all means listen to the guy who would rather you live in a cardboard box than take out an FHA mortgage and pay pmi for a year or two.

Dave ramsey is for people who don’t think

 

[kyboy1998_rivals34276]

I know he lives better than he deserves…well in his opinion.

 

[Kennedy_UK]

He's a moron.

/thread

 

[bthaunert]

I listen to Dave Ramsey for the same reason I watch my 600 pound life...to feel much better about myself. I'm shocked at some of the stuff people have gotten themselves into when they call in.

For me, life is about balancing enjoying life now (I'm 47) while saving plenty of money to enjoy life when I'm retired.

 

[etowncatfan]

Dave Ramsey is the Dr Phil of Finance. Both have made Millions using ONE Thing. COMMON SENSE!! It’s pretty simple. Don’t spend more than you make. Pay all bills in Full. Only buy a home and a car that is in your budget. Have a Rainy Day Fund. Put money away each paycheck for retirement. The Biggest tip is to have a budget that you will stick to.

 

[AIChatGPT]

And give 10% to church

 

[kyboy1998_rivals34276]

And give 10% to church

That’s the best return on investment I’ve ever received. Good advice on his part.

First things first and the rest fall in line.

 

[Boogie Fan]

If you have piled up a mountain of debt, and are serious about paying it off, then Dave is for you. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need people like Dave, but he has helped a lot of people with their finances. I feel like you can graduate from Dave Ramsey to someone like Clark Howard, and then on to someone who can help you invest and build wealth.

 

[jameslee32]

Trying hard to see a downside in this thread.

 

[Rebelfreedomeagle]

I used to listen fairly regularly but stopped after having some issues with him. There were a few calls that I was certain were scripted, but the final straw was doing the freedom screaming for a young couple that had had most of their debt covered by a cash gift from their parents. That’s nice and all, but it’s not the same thing.

 

[CaptainBoogerBuns]

He taught me how to open my first three Rent-to-Own stores on Winchester Rd

 

[berniecarbo]

He taught me how to open my first three Rent-to-Own stores on Winchester Rd

I used to sell lamp shades to a guy who sold lamps to one of the rent to own chains. He said they made the customer pay first and last payment up front. That covered the cost of the lamp. Any payment the customer made after that went toward profit.

 

[BlueBleedingMarine]

Live well- die broke

 

[BC_Wader]

my 97 year old grandma has $40,000 in her checking account and lord knows how much in savings. She still lives like its the great depression

Because she lived it. I saw some of those ration books my Mawmaw had. That was TRUE rice and beans. We could all learn a thing or two from our older folks who lived through it. I don't think Dave actually wants you to eat rice and beans. Just moreso being frugal and eat at home. He even tells you to budget for eating out if that's what you like to do. Nothing wrong with that. Just budget it in. The problem is, the majority charge those restaurant meals at at least 20%. It's nice if you can pay it off every month. The stats say that not many do though.

 

[BC_Wader]

That’s the best return on investment I’ve ever received. Good advice on his part.

First things first and the rest fall in line.

I like how people think churches have money trees on their grounds. How you expect them to pay the lights, the employees and what not? It's fine for other establishments to do it. Heaven forbid the church takes in any money.

 

[DSmith21]

Here are a few good money tips for those who prefer the executive summary version.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12979583/credit-card.html

 

[AIChatGPT]

I’ve heard Ramsey tell someone that they need to pay the church first and these people were BROKE AF and had major debt.

But yeah, give the church 10% of your take home when you are the meek and poor.

I think he could have told them to complete the debt snowball first.