Dave Ramsey

David Lawrence Ramsey III, or more known as Dave Ramsey, is a money

and financial expert who is changing a lot of lives after he has changed his
own.

This businessman, financial consultant, and author reveals that he started

with nothing, but when he was 26 years old, he had a net worth of at least a
million dollars. He was also making $250,000 per year with $20,000 taxable
income a month. He was also a real estate investor who built a $4 million
dollar portfolio in 1986. Despite his seeming wealth, he said that he had
acquired massive short-term debt due to his irresponsibility, and this
completely upturned his success.

When he was 30 years old, the bank that financed his real estate business
was bought by a larger bank, which demanded for the immediate repayment
of his loans. He cannot pay his debts at that time, so after two years of
fighting, he gave up and filed bankruptcy in 1988.

Having lost everything, he went on a mission to learn how money works,

how he could control it, and how he could be confident in handling it. He
read a lot of books and interviewed people who made plenty of money and
were able to keep it.

At the end of his quest, he saw himself in the mirror and realized that his
money problems began with himself. He knew that if he could manage his
character, he would win back what he lost. Thus, he went back to real estate
to have something to eat and to pay some of his debt.

By applying the wisdom he gained during the difficult period of his life,
Ramsey overcame bankruptcy and paid back his million dollar debt. He was
able to learn a lot of valuable lessons, and he confided that if it was to
happen again, he would learn from others who had experienced the same
situations that he did. He discovered that there are many others like him
who lost their wealth but were able to regain it.

After conquering his debt, he took on a new journey – that of helping other
people. He teaches them how they could be responsible with money so they
can accumulate enough finances to take care of not only themselves, but
also their loved ones. He wants people to retire comfortably and with dignity
and have so much wealth that they can give to others generously.

To make people learn what he did more easily, Ramsey developed well-
defined strategies he called the 7 Baby Steps. These help people build their
wealth and pay their debts by taking a look at themselves just as he did.

In 1992, Ramsey founded Lampo Group Inc. Company, which was rebranded
into Ramsey Solutions in 2014, to provide one-on-one help to educate and
provide counsel to people who struggle financially. Together with his team,
Ramsey taught people effective principles of money management to relieve
them of their financial stress. Ramsey believes that he had made costly
mistakes so others won’t have to.

His office used to be his living room and his team discussed at the card
table. Twenty years passed and his company is repeatedly voted as one
Nashville’s Best Places to Work.

He wrote the Financial Peace book based on what he and his wife Sharon
have learned. He sold his books from his car. He didn’t stop at this book and
wrote several others which became bestsellers later on.

Ramsey began his radio career as a co-host of The Money Game. The other
host is his friend Roy Matlock, from the multi-level marketing company
Primerica. Eventually, the local show became The Dave Ramsey Show and
was aired in hundreds of radio stations. The Fox Business Network had a TV
show bearing the same name; it aired the show until June 2010.

In 1994, he teamed up with financial counsellor Russ Carroll and they

started teaching Financial Peace University classes. It is a Bible-based
training program that began as a class with lessons taught from an overhead
video projector, but later included class discussions, video lectures, group
activities, and more. The lessons are about dumping debt, taking control of
money, and learning new financial behaviours that are founded on
accountability and commitment. In 1999, they had only 18 team members,
but currently, they have over 500.

In 2013, he made a follow-up program called The Legacy Journey, which

focuses on what to do after managing to come out of debt. He also made
courses for kids titled Smart Money Smart Kids. Together with Financial
Peace University, these courses have been attended by 4.5 million
individuals at their church, workplace, community group, non profit
organization, or military base.

More than two decades later, millions of individuals have learned and applied
these steps to resolve their financial troubles. He also has a podcast and
radio show with an audience of 13 million per week, and 5 million more have
attended his Financial Peace University Course.

The Dave Ramsey Show plays on 600+ stations in the US and Canada and
on the Dave Ramsey Show iOs app. He has live audio and video in his own
website DaveRamsey.com. Aside from these, he is also heard on the internet
radio platform iHeartRadio and on YouTube.

Aside from his own show, Dave Ramsey was featured in shows like The Early
Show, 60 Minutes, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He also has his own
column, Dave Says, and it has 8 million readers a month. His website
Daveramsey.com has numerous free articles aside from streaming the Dave
Ramsey show.

Ramsey has authored several books, with six of them becoming bestsellers
on Publishers Weekly, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal lists. Some
of his most notable books are Financial Peace, The Legacy Journey,
EntreLeadership, The Total Money Makeover, More Than Enough, Smart
Money Smart Kids, and the Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money.

As mentioned, Ramsey considers character as essential in managing money.

His broadcasts and books recommend a disciplined approached to finances
and strict debt management that are founded on good virtues. Because he is
a Christian, his works often tackle issues from a Christian outlook. Being an
avid Bible reader, he noticed that God has many things to say about money.
In fact, his financial counselling career began when he was asked by a man
from his church about how he was able to survive his financial challenges.

In 2009, Ramsey received the Marconi award for Network/Syndicated

Personality of the Year. In 2013, he was included in the Hall of Fame of NAB
Broadcasting, and two years later, in the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Right now, Ramsey Solutions are offering a diverse range of services and
products to help clients reach their financial goals.
Ramsey Solutions define their success not just on the amount of money that
comes in, but also by the number of human lives they help change. They
boast of helping listeners, readers, and students get out of debt, save a
thousand dollars for their emergency fund, and invest for the future. They
learned that if they assisted enough people, the cash will flow in.

Their mantra is to provide empowerment and education that is based on the

Bible and common sense, and to give hope to people from all walks of life.

Some of Ramsey’s notable works are the following:

EveryDollar

The budgeting tool EveryDollar is created by Ramsey Solutions and is

accessible online on Android and iOs. To use this, the users list their income
sources and they label every dollar for a given month. It follows guidelines
of zero-based budgeting, where all expenses are approved only after
justification for each time period. Zero base means all costs and needs are
analyzed and allocated funds accordingly for the start of the budgeting
period regardless of previous budgeting.

EntreLeadership

Ramsey came up with the term EntreLeadership to describe a small business

owner’s entrepreneurial responsibilities. He used this name for a small
business conference and for his 2011 book EntreLeadership. The book
became part of the New York Times Bestsellers almost immediately.
EntreLeadership’s live event has been attended by 40,000 participants.

The Total Money Makeover

In this book are the seven baby steps that will lead the reader to financial
freedom. Ramsey claims that following the steps in order and not skipping
any steps will make the reader move on from debt to substantial wealth.

Dave Ramsey says that his strategies work because they not only treat
surface problems like lack of savings or debt but target the reader’s
behaviour, which is the true cause of those problems. These steps consist of
education on better money management, encouragement that builds
momentum, and empowerment that allows confident financial decisions.

The summary of the steps are as follows:

Step 1. Put $1,000 in your emergency fund starter

Before everything else, you must have a thousand dollars as your

emergency fund. This is to be spent only for true emergencies such as
medical bills, essential repairs, and the likes. Ramsey cautions that if you
don’t have this fund, mishaps will plunge you deeper into debt. On the other
hand, having a cash cushion makes you recover more easily.

Step 2. Pay off debts through the debt snowball method

Ramsey advocates the debt snowball method for paying off debts. This
involves paying off debts with the lowest balances first instead of those with
the highest interest rates. According to studies done by the Kellogg School of
Management and the Harvard Business School, this method motivates
debtors to pay off more of their debts, and as a result, debtors who used the
snowball method paid more than those who practiced other methods.

When you’ve acquired substantial savings, you must manage your debt. List
your debts (not including mortgage) and arrange them from lowest to
highest balance. Pay the minimum on all of them except for the one with the
least balance. Spend all you have on the smallest debt. When you have paid
it, do not change your monthly budget on spaying debts, but pay all you
have towards the debt with the second-to-the-lowest balance.

Step 3. Have an emergency fund for three to six months of expense

After paying debts, you must complete your emergency fund by saving for
months of living expenses. For most, this may amount to five to ten
thousand. You may take the money you were spending on the debt snowball
and turn it into a savings snowball.

Step 4. Invest for your retirement

For this step, you must take 15% of your income and invest it for your
retirement. Ramsey suggests suspending all investment activity even if you
already have a 401(k). He says that the previous three steps will build good
money habits and make it easy to make up for missed compound returns.
Aside from this, you may invest 15% into mutual funds, diversifying among
several types of funds.

Step 5. Save for your children’s college funds

Saving for your college helps prevent debt from being passed on to your
descendants. Ramsey recommends using a 529 plan or Education Savings
Account. He also says that your kids can work to pay for their college
education.

Step 6. Pay your home mortgage.

When you have paid for the previous steps, you can now safely pay off the
mortgage of your home.

Step 7. Build your wealth

Ramsey foresees that if you have followed the six previous steps, you are in
the position to make great wealth. Invest some more and enjoy what you
have worked for. You can buy what you want but take care not to get into
debt anymore.

Despite Ramsey’s achievements, he doesn’t stop at teaching people what he

already knows well. Ramsey Solutions Research conducts studies to gain
reliable insights on finance, retirement, entrepreneurship, business,
behaviour change, and other topics related to wealth generation. They use
what they discover to help clients solve their unique problems and build
wealth in ways that are tailored to their specific situations. This just shows
that Ramsey is empowered by divine inspiration – one that doesn’t stop with
changing a single life.