Who is Dave Ramsey and Books written

Dave Ramsey is America's most trusted voice on money and business. He has 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.

RULE #8: Forget Dave Ramsey - 80% of Financial Advisors Dismiss the Debt ... - NerdWallet (blog)

Well-known personal-finance guru Dave Ramsey advocates the “Snowball Method,” when you pay just the minimum payments on all your obligations, while focusing on eliminating your smallest debts first. His thinking is, paying off your smallest debts gives you the momentum to tackle the larger debts in your life. So who’s right?

Dave Ramsey: Stop investing when debt piles up

Dear Dave: What would you recommend for 401(k) contributions while getting out of debt? — Chaz

Dear Chaz: I recommend putting a temporary stop to investing while you’re getting out of debt. Lots of people are shocked by this advice, because they’re afraid of missing out on the wonders of compound interest or their employer’s match. But the key word here is “temporary.”

Millions of people have followed and been successful with the program found in The Total Money Makeover. The first step, Baby step one, is to save $1,000 as a starter emergency fund. Baby step two is pay off all of your debts, except for your house, from smallest to largest with the debt snowball plan. During this time you’re attacking your debt with incredible intensity and putting every penny you can scrape together toward knocking out debt.

The average person working my plan can pay off all their debt, excluding their home, in 18 to 24 months. Some folks can do it faster, and for some it takes a little bit longer. But during this time I want your financial focus to be squarely on getting out of debt. Once that’s done, you’ll find that you have a lot more control over your biggest wealth-building tool — your income.

Many times in life we try to accomplish too many things at once. One problem with this is often it diminishes our ability to focus. When you spend all your time nickel-and-diming everything, the result is that nothing gets done very well. You need to really move the needle and see results because personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent head knowledge. It’s not really a math issue because if you’d been doing the math all along, you wouldn’t have a bunch of debt.

That’s why, for a short period of time, I want you to concentrate with laser intensity on knocking out debt. Once that’s out of the way, you can pour even more money into saving, investing and achieving financial peace. — Dave

 

Dear Dave: My wife and I make about $100,000 a year. We have $63,000 in the bank, and we owe $47,000 on our home. The house is worth about $250,000, and it’s our only debt. We’d like to go ahead and pay off the house, but we’re worried about depleting our savings to that extent. What would you do? —Matt

Dear Matt: If I were in your situation, I’d cut a check and pay off the house. Keep in mind that by doing this we’re not saying you’ll keep your savings at that lower point. Once that mortgage payment is off your backs, you’ll be able to save more and save faster than ever.

That’s my advice. Pay off the house and become completely debt-free today. You’ll still have $16,000 dollars in the bank and a six-figure income. It won’t take you long to rebuild your savings all the way back to what you had before, if that’s what you both want. You could do it in just a few months.

I’m looking at this as an opportunity to achieve the kind of financial independence everyone wants but few actually have. Go for it, Matt! — Dave

Dave Ramsey: Close down First National Bank of Mom and Dad

Q: We’ve been supporting our son while he’s in college. He just finished his sophomore year, but he told us the other day he has dropped out of school and isn’t going back. He’s been playing in a band on weekends, and he has this vague idea of becoming a musician. We don’t think this is a good idea, but we still want to be supportive just not too supportive. We want him to be financially independent, as well. How should we handle this?

A: This kid is about to have some problems. Not only has he made a bad decision, but he should have consulted with you guys before he quit school. He owed you that much if you were supporting him this whole time.
In my opinion, you and your husband have one job right now. That job is to stand back and let life happen to this kid. If he thinks he’s a man, let him go out and prove it. Wish him the best and tell him you hope he becomes the rich and famous rock star he wants to be. But make sure he understands you’re not going to support him financially when he’s doing something you both feel is a bad idea. The First National Bank of Mom and Dad is closed!

Understand that I’m not suggesting you turn your backs on him. Let him know how much you love him and that you’ll be praying for him. Invite him over for dinner once in a while, stay in touch, and make sure he knows that family deals like Thanksgiving and Christmas are still business as usual. However, as far as paying for his rent, utilities, gas, food and cell phone bill? That stuff’s not happening. This may sound tough, but it was his decision. In the end, let him know you’ll be there to help just like before if he wises up and decides to finish school.

 

Q: Should I lower my 401(k) contributions in order to pay off my car and home?

A: If you’re following my plan, the first thing you should do is set aside an emergency fund of $1,000. That’s Baby Step 1. Next comes Baby Step 2, which means paying off all of your debt except for your house. This would include your car. During this time you should temporarily stop any kind of investing and retirement contributions.

Once the only debt left is your mortgage, it’s time to move on to Baby Step 3. Now you concentrate on growing your emergency fund to the point where you have three to six months of expenses set aside. Once this is done, you can attack Baby Step 4, which is investing 15 percent of your pre-tax income for retirement. For you, it would mean re-starting the contributions to your 401(k). The rest of the plan goes like this. Baby Step 5 is putting money into your kids’ college funds, while Baby Step 6 is putting everything you can scrape together towards paying off the house early. After that comes the real fun. Baby Step 7 is the point where you simply build wealth and give.

Follow these steps, and I promise you’ll have lots of fun and lots of cash. You’ll have financial peace!

Dave Ramsey says: There are 3 things you can do with money—spend, save ... - Deseret News

Dear Dave,
Should I pay a nominal fee to be enrolled in a mortgage accelerator program?

Dear Jennifer,
No, you should not. Mortgage accelerator programs are similar to the biweekly mortgage deals floating around out there. Paying on your mortgage biweekly is fine. Paying for the privilege is not.

In the biweekly mortgage program, you make a half-payment every two weeks. By doing this you will pay off the typical 30-year note in about 22 years. It works because there are 26 two-week periods in a year, and 26 half-payments equals 13 whole payments. It pays off your mortgage early because you’re making an extra payment every year. That’s what’s doing it. There’s nothing magical about every two weeks; it’s the fact that you’re paying extra principal.

Instead of paying your mortgage company an unnecessary “nominal fee,” just make an extra payment each year. Or, pay one-twelfth of a payment as a principal reduction with a separate check, in a separate envelope, every month. By doing that, you’ll pay off the loan just as quickly as with a biweekly arrangement.

If you’re just now taking out a mortgage and your lender can do a biweekly setup at no cost, then that’s great. Take them up on the offer. But we’re not going to pay them an additional fee so you can make extra payments on the principal. That’s just stupid!

—Dave

 

Dear Dave,
My husband and I tithe, but right now we’re on Baby Step 2 of your plan and we’re expecting a child in a few months. Since we’re trying to pay off all our debt except for our home, what should we do about giving beyond our tithe in this situation?

Dear Carrie,
Evangelical Christians recognize two types of giving in the Bible—tithes and offerings. The tithe is off the top, before you do anything else. That’s why I recommend people put it on the top line of their budget forms.

After that, offerings are almost impossible to find in Scripture until you’ve first taken care of your family. The normative method found is that offerings are to be taken out of your surplus. In my mind, while your family is in debt and you’re busy taking care of your household, there is no surplus. Just because something tugs at your heartstrings or someone spews out a toxic sermon on giving doesn’t mean that you need to give offerings above your tithe.

But here’s the good news. Once you’ve paid off your debt and have a fully loaded emergency fund in place, you’ll have the rest of your lives to open up and give like never before. Getting out of debt means you will gain control of your most powerful wealth-building tool—your income. And when that happens, you can give with extraordinary levels of generosity.

There are three things you can do with money—spend, save and give. And when you reach a point where you can give well, it’s the most fun you’ll ever have with money!

—Dave