Dave Ramsey

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Dave Ramsey (b. 1960) is a United States nationally-syndicated talk radio host of The Dave Ramsey Show. His radio program is heard on almost 300 radio stations throughout the United States and also on XM and Sirius satellite radio, as of July 2006. His show is about advising callers about their finances, taking calls live from 1-4 CST (2-5 EST) on air. The emphasis is on personal finance and getting out of debt, although small business and investment topics are also touched on. His radio program has been on since 1992 and now has over two million listeners. He has also been featured on many media outlets including The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and The Early Show on CBS. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. His most recent books are The Total Money Makeover, and Financial Peace, Revisited. His company, the Lampo Group, Inc., is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. One division of the company is called Financial Peace University or FPU. He is known to be passionate about teaching people to get out of debt, and to avoid the use of credit cards completely.

Contents

1 Dave Ramsey's story
2 The Lampo Group, Inc.

2.0.1 Broadcast
2.0.2 Financial Peace University
2.0.3 The H.O.P.E. Division

3 Dave's basic teachings
4 Controversial advice
5 See also
6 External links
7 Further reading

Dave Ramsey's story

Ramsey had a net-worth of over $1 million when he was 26 years old (1986), having built his wealth through investing in real estate, building a portfolio of over $4 million. His debt led him to declare personal bankruptcy when some of his mortgage notes began to be called by the banks when the real estate industry went through crisis in the late 1980s.

After losing everything he began to take a hard look at what happened. Learning from his mistakes he began to counsel other people how to avoid bankruptcy and foreclosure on their homes. It was at this point that he wrote the lessons he had learned into his first book, Financial Peace. In 1988 he started The Lampo Group, Inc. He got back into real estate but this time avoided going into debt to acquire property. He was back on his feet in a few years and started his radio program in 1992.

The Lampo Group, Inc.

Ramsey's company now has about 152 employees (as of March 2006) and is divided into three major divisions: the Broadcast Division, the Financial Peace University Division, and the H.O.P.E. (or product and Live Events) Division. The word lampo, as used in the company name, means "to shine" in ancient Greek. The mission statement is listed online as: "The Lampo Group, Inc. is providing Biblically based, common sense education and empowerment."

Broadcast

This division is made up of The Dave Ramsey Show, the Dave Ramsey Money Minute (featurette), the Web and eBusiness units, and Strategic Alliances.

Financial Peace University

This division is built around the FPU product which is a 13-week video based curriculum taught by Dave Ramsey that teaches people how to get out of debt and build wealth. FPU classes are hosted in many various settings including churches, community and civic organization, corporations, banks and credit unions, schools, and the military. The FPU division also provides personal one-on-one counseling. The FPU material is now available in Spanish as well.

The H.O.P.E. Division

H.O.P.E. stands for "Helping Other People Excel". It includes the Live Events Department and the Publishing Department; which itself includes a youth resources area - teaching teens about money - and the "Dave Says" weekly newspaper column. Some of his products are available in Spanish as well. The Live Events are based on a 5-hour live teaching done by Dave in cities across America. He does about 14-18 live events a year. They are frequent sell-out events, usually well-attended by 4,000+ people.

Dave's basic teachings

First and foremost, Dave Ramsey instructs his listeners to budget. Once they do this they are ready for his "Baby Steps".

Get at least $1,000 cash (a "baby" emergency fund) in the bank as soon as possible.
Pay off all debt ASAP (except the house) using what he calls the "debt snowball method."
Build your emergency fund up to three to six months of living expenses.
Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement accounts.
Save for your kids' college fund(s) if you have kids.
Pay off your personal home early.
Build wealth and give. Invest in mutual funds and real estate.

Dave is also very well-known for never borrowing money, since his bankruptcy in the late 1980s, and not using credit cards. One of his most famous maxims is, "Broke is normal. Why be normal?" He has a self-reported "terrible credit score" (because he has no debt for FICO to score.)

He talks a lot about what he calls "gazelle intensity," which is basically getting motivated and excited to get out of debt and "change your family tree." The gazelle reference comes from Proverbs 6:5, where the intensity of getting out of debt is compared to a gazelle escaping from a hunter. People call in during his radio program, especially on Debt-free Fridays and cut-up their credit cards on air (using a variety of means). These are called plasectomies. The other type of call featured on Fridays is for people to celebrate getting out of debt (step 2 or 6) by screaming "I'M DEBT FREE!!!" on the air.

Ramsey argues that his advice is just plain old common sense "for your dollars and cents." He says the problem is that personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent head-knowledge; we know what to do, we just don't do it. His phrase for encouraging people to make short term sacrifices to win long term is: "Live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else."

The Dave Ramsey Show is broadcast live every day from his studios in Brentwood, Tennessee (1-4 CST, 2-5 EST). The radio program is also heard on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio, and streamed live free of charge on his Website. One-hour podcasts of the show are also available for free, all three hours of the show are available for podcast download for members of his "Total Money Makeover." He also has an archive of the last 20 radio broadcasts on his website.

Mr. Ramsey has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and has been a frequent guest on many national network and cable TV & radio programs including The Today Show, CNN, the Neil Cavuto program, FOX News live, National Public Radio, etc.

A fairly significant proportion of Ramsey's audience is Christian or military, and the small-group seminars offered through his company are often set up through churches, businesses or U.S. military. Dave Ramsey often ends his radio broadcast by saying, "The only way to true Financial Peace, is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus."

Controversial advice

Some of Ramsey's advice is unconventional or controversial. While many financial advisors suggest that debtors begin paying down debts beginning with the one with the highest interest rate, Ramsey advises his listeners to pay debts beginning with the lowest balance and working up towards the highest balance. He agrees that his method is inferior mathematically, but insists that debtors will be more motiviated to continue paying off debts if they see some early successes.

External links

[The Lampo Group, Inc.]
[MyTotalMoneyMakeover] (Ramsey's Subscription-based Website)
[Dave Ramsey on CBS' 60 Minutes] (Transcripts)
[UK Debt Radio Show] (The UK Moneyhelp Online Radio Show)
["Interview with Dave Ramsey"] Failure Magazine, October 2000.