James Ramsey the bible loving Prophet

For a long time Tannie and Kenneth Ackley had more bills than they could keep track of. There was a debt to Sears and another to Home Depot. There were medical bills, including a couple thousand dollars’ worth from Kenneth’s surgery to fix a heart defect a couple of years back. And there were the boat and the camper, which the Ackleys sold off to pay other bills they can barely remember, only to see new ones crop up in their place. All told, excluding student loans and their home mortgage, the Ackleys owed somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000—$50,000 “if you count the truck,” Tannie told me one balmy Sunday afternoon this April in East Texas.

I met the Ackleys while sitting beside them in a cavernous megachurch just off I-45 outside Houston. Tannie is a brown-haired clerical worker with an easy smile; Kenneth is a construction-equipment operator with a handlebar mustache. Along with about 5,600 other souls, we had flocked to the church to spend four hours getting financial religion from the man Kenneth and Tannie credit with setting them on the straight and narrow path out of debt. His name is Dave Ramsey, and he is the most important personal finance guru in America.

Walking on stage, Ramsey received a standing ovation before saying a word. A balding, energetic man with close-cropped hair around his temples, wire-framed glasses, and a neatly trimmed gray goatee, he wore jeans with a bright blue shirt and a dark gray blazer. If there were such a style, Ramsey’s could be described as “meticulous casual.” Even his accent, with its radio-friendly Nashville burr, conveys a perfectly calibrated mix of folksiness and authority. “I’m not here to get your money,” he said to an audience of people who had paid $39 a ticket. “I am here to change your life.”

Dave Ramsey: How to Control your finances

Dear Dave, Do you have any tips for how a single person can stay on track with their finances? — Debbie

Dear Debbie,
It's really pretty simple. The first thing is the same advice I give to married couples, and that is to live on a monthly budget. Sit down at the end of each month and write down — on paper—all your expenses and income for the following month.

When you think about it, budgeting really isn't that difficult. Some of your expenses, such as your rent or mortgage payment, will be the same. If you have a car payment (which I really hope you don't), it will remain constant, as well. Things such as groceries and utilities may fluctuate based on the time of year, but you can make a pretty accurate estimate by looking at past months.

The second thing I'd recommend is that you find someone to be your accountability partner. It should be someone who is wise and good with money and a person who loves you enough to call your bluff or hurt your feelings a little when necessary. They can be a close friend, parent or even your pastor. Just sit down together over a cup of coffee once per month and talk about your finances. You even could go over your budget together line by line.

Ideally, an accountability partner is someone who's ahead of you on a particular journey and can help direct you along the path to wisdom. It's their job to hold you accountable for what you're doing and the decisions you're making, for your own good. — Dave


A prodigal daughterDear Dave, My daughter used to live an irresponsible lifestyle and was bad with money, too. While she was in college, she also took on $20,000 in student loan debt. Since that time, she experienced a serious illness. She's recovering now, and it has really changed her behavior and her outlook on life, spiritual matters and money for the better. I could pay off the loans for her, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to help. — Eddie

Dear Eddie,
If I were in your shoes, and I had the means to pay off her student loan debt without putting myself at risk financially, that's exactly what I'd do.

Sometimes the best gift you can give a person is to let them wallow around for a while in the mess they made. Being forced to work your way out of bad decisions and irresponsible behaviors is a great remedy in lots of cases. But in this situation, with what you've told me about her previous health issue, and the fact that she's now being responsible with money, behaving and making better life choices, I'd want her to be as free as possible as she takes up this new walk.

My advice is to try to be a huge blessing to your daughter. Right now, she's a lot like the prodigal son. She's come around in her thinking and realizes what's right and what really matters. Give her the biggest hug she's ever had, Eddie. Then, throw a party and write a check to knock out that student loan debt. —Dave

Dave Ramsey is America's most trusted voice on money and business. He's authored four New York Times best-selling books: "Financial Peace," "More Than Enough," "The Total Money Makeover" and "EntreLeadership." The "Dave Ramsey Show" is heard by more than 5 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the Web at daveramsey.com.

Dave Ramsey: Question and answers with fans

Dear Dave, Do employer contributions count toward the 15 percent you recommend putting into retirement? -Brian
Dear Brian, Employer contributions do not count toward the 15 percent I recommend setting aside for retirement. It’s nice if you work for a company that offers perks like that, but I want you putting 15 percent of your money into retirement. Baby Step 4 of my plan says to put 15 percent of your income into retirement accounts. The first thing you should put money into is a matching retirement account. If you’ve got a 401(k), a Roth 401(k) or a 403(b) and your employer offers a match, you should do that up to the match before anything else. Let’s say your employer will match 3 percent. Since the goal is 15 percent, you’ve still got some work to do. You’ve got 3 percent of your own money already tied up for retirement, so then you could look at a Roth IRA. If the Roth plus what you invested previously to get the match doesn’t equal 15 percent, you could then look at a 403(b) or go back to your 401(k) to hit the 15 percent mark.

Whatever your company matches, whatever its pension may be or even military retirement does not enter into the equation. I want your money in your name. If your company goes broke and you have a company pension, you get nothing. But if you have a 401(k) and your company dies, it’s in your name and you don’t lose it. You put it there, you own it. And that includes the match.
Are you getting the picture, Brian? I want you to control your destiny!

— Dave



Teaching teenagers about giving
Dear Dave, What are some good ways to teach a 13-year-old kid about giving versus getting during the holiday season? - Phillip
Dear Phillip,
One of the best things you can do is simply talk about it — a lot. Kids are bombarded with messages about how important they are, and how they should always have what they want. It’s OK to have some stuff, but advertising and other marketing messages in today’s culture can make them think it’s all about them. It can lead kids to believe the axis of the world runs through the tops of their little heads.
Think about this. In 1971, the average person saw 564 advertising impressions a day. Now, that number is about 4,000. The purpose of advertising is to disturb and influence you to the point that you’ll buy something. Advertisers want you to believe that you’re not complete without their product, or that you’ll be a happier, cooler, better person with their product. And in most cases, advertising and marketing people are more aggressive in their teaching than parents are in theirs.

Dave Ramsey, 102.5 The Game split up moving to WLAC

Dave Ramsey, the Nashville-based syndicated radio show host, and 102.5 The Game have decided to pull the plug on their 1-year-old relationship.

As today's news release puts it, both the financial advice guru and the sports talk station "were taking a risk" when "The Dave Ramsey Show" joined the station's program lineup in January. The decision to part ways in early 2014 is a mutual once, according to the release.

"We have been friends for more than 20 years, and while we enjoyed this partnership from a personal standpoint, we both realize that from a business perspective our brands would be better served if we return to our respective formats," said Bayard Walters, president and owner of Cromwell Radio Group.

RAMSEY aired on CUMULUS Talk WWTN in the market until one year ago.  The split with CROMWELL is said to be amicable, and the show worked with CROMWELL President BAYARD WALTERS to close out the relationship and enable the show to move to WLAC. 

4 tips of Money Management

1. Purge yourself of debt
2. Live on cash
3. Pretend economic trends don't affect you
4. Blame yourself when they do.