Madd Money: What You Accept, You Teach

I know it seems a little silly to be broadcasting the fact that I want to put some new bumper stickers on my "coffin box" that sits atop my car, but in many cases, that's the cheapest piece of pretentiousness I own (LOL!). See, I'll never forget what one girl I used to date in college said to me... she was from Switzerland, and she found a number of things about the American ethos amusing. When I asked her for examples, her immediate response was the notion of the "bumper sticker"... in her mind, it was the absolute proof of the "pretentiousness" of the Average American... as if we thought that people actually cared enough of our own personal opinions that we would put them on the outsides of our cars for other people to read. I will admit that, for many years, I did not put bumper stickers on my car for this very reason. There is something sort of arrogant about putting things that you feel are important or that you want to say on your car like this... but then again, it's the only "personal commercial real estate" a lot of people, including myself, will ever have (LOL!).

Back a number of years ago, when I bought my Ford Escape, I bought a Packasport box to stash my snowboard, camping gear, or whatever I might need for wherever I might go. Because this thing was out in the sun all day, it was getting fairly ugly looking, so I decided to add some color to it, in the way of Vans logos, snowboard and skateboard stickers, and my preferred cause, that of "Snowboard Outreach Society". I also freely confess that I also post space for the Stanford Pow Wow each year, and I have a sticker that says "save San Bruno Mountain" because, well, I happen to dig the mountain that I can see just from the top of my hill where I live :). Still, they were just corny things I had on there, and I never really thought anyone paid any attention to them... until my friend Adam actually referenced one of them in a Sacrament Meeting talk. Being referenced in church is strange enough. Having a bumper sticker referenced was surreal (LOL!). But it was the one that he picked that got me thinking... I have a sticker where two elderly Native American men are sitting in front of a fire, and the words next to them read "What you accept, you teach!" He said that he wasn't sure what it meant to me, but that it actually helped him gel some of his own talk he wanted to deliver. The meaning behind the phrase is that "if you accept inequality, you teach that inequality is OK" or "if you accept immorality, you teach that immorality is OK". You can fill in the blanks of any number of things, but the take home message that I happen to like is that I can be tolerant of many things, I can be respectful of others, but I do not have to "accept" those things that I do not approve of or wish to influence me and those around me. By doing that, I teach others what I believe.

Which now, long windedly, I admit, brings me to the new additions I hope to add in the coming weeks (when they get here). Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that I abhor debt. I despise it. I wish everyone was free from it. I wish we had a government that wasn't so dependent upon it. I want to show the world that I do NOT accept debt, and therefore, I want to teach other to do all they can to GET AWAY FROM IT!!! In my world view, playing with debt is like playing with snakes... eventually, you WILL GET BIT!!! Thus, these are two new pieces of the Dave Ramsey Show that will be going on my Packasport in prime locations... two stickers, one that reads "Debt is Normal, BE WEIRD!" and one that reads "Live Like No One Else!" fans of the Dave Ramsey Show or "The Total Money Makeover" are already intimately familiar with these phrases. We live in a society that has too long treated debt and indebtedness as a normal fact of life... and oh are we ever paying for it now (collectively). Personally, I love being 100% Debt Free in all ways (no credit card payments, no student loan payments, no mortgage payments, no debt AT ALL), and I want to keep it that way FOREVER if I can! I realize that makes me weird, and frankly, I *LIKE* being weird :). The second one is actually a shortened version of the theme for "the Total Money Makeover". The whole Phrase is "Live like no one else, so that later, you can live like no one else". truthfully, that is my ultimate goal. I want to be able to live in such a way that, should the time come, when my children are grown and my wife and I get the opportunity to go do something great, whether that be to go off and travel, or serve as couple missionaries somewhere else in the world, we'll be able to do it and do it without any constraints. My goal is to be able to be free when I am older. To do that, I refuse to tie myself down today, and that means I will not go into debt. Not now, not ever, if I have anything to say about it.

Thus, I am giving in to the pretentiousness of the stickers, and yes, I know it's arrogant to think that people care what I think or that I would put such a thing on my car. However, I think it's time to show what I accept... and perhaps, just maybe, I may teach someone after all :).

Madd Money: To All My Friends... PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!!

Hello Everyone!

I've decided that, in the times that we live in, I will give a loud and public recommendation for what I feel will be the second most valuable book that one can apply to their life today and make dramatic changes (the first most valuable book I can recommend is "The Book of Mormon", but that's a much biger topic than what I can fit into a blog review :) ).

No, today, with our wild and chaotic times as they currently stand, I feel it absolutely essential that I tell everyone I know to READ THIS BOOK... Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover".

Yes, I freely admit, I *ADORE* Dave Ramsey and his advice. I think we have reached a time in our country's history where people *must* do all they can to make a commitment to do one thing, and that's do all that they can to live within their means and make an absolute commitment to GETTING OUT OF DEBT!!!

What's more, I think that every member of CONGRESS and both of our Presidential Candidates should commit to reading this book. In my personal, rather humble opinion, the best thing that this country and its inhabitants can do is learn to get off of the DEBT binge, put ourselves on a spending diet, plan and budget for real, and make a point to put hard work and diligent personal productivity first and, dare I say it "ACT OUR WAGE"!!!

The motto of this book is that we should "Live Like No One Else, So That Later, You Can Live Like No One Else". Imagine a world where people are not focused primarily on working to pay off credit card debts, student loan debts, car debts and mortgage debts. What kind of spirit would you bring into your workplace if you didn't have to work under those burdens? I can only speak for myself, as I am currently and hope to forever stay debt free, but it is a wonderful feeling. My hope is that *everyone* can feel that way.

An oft quoted phrase in my Church is that "if you have knowledge of something that you cherish and enjoy, wouldn't you want to share that with others?". It's the guiding principle behind why Latter-day Saints try to preach the Gospel and send missionaries out into the world. Well, I'm going to say that I feel the debt-free lifestyle is something I cherish and enjoy, and I want to share it with everyone as well. So consider this a heartfelt recommendation in the strongest of terms... if you are in debt and want to get out of it, if you want to get your hands on a very common sense, uplifting and yes, spiritually focused way to frame your debt issues and get your spending, debts and future investing power under control, I strongly urge you to read this book. If you want to fix the economy, start at home, and then work your way out from there. We are the change that we want to see, and the power is within US, not the U.S. Give it a read, check it out from the library, borrow it from a friend, whatever, but seriously, read the ideas, ponder the message and the principles, and then put them into action. You will not be disappointed.

Madd Money: You Fix YOU!

Every once in awhile, I'll come across something that just deserves to be repeated, and that I cannot add anything else to (and believe me, that's hard; I have an opinion on just about everything (LOL!)).

Yes, you may all fill in the "Yadda Yadda Ramsey Shill Yadda Yadda", but please read or (preferably) listen to this. And then apply the advice. I'm certainly going to try to give it my best shot.

Madd Money: THE COMMON SENSE FIX

I'm usually not one to SPAM people's emails with things that they are not already associated with me regarding (my scouting families know that I am an annoyingly compulsive emailer when it comes to Troop updates and happenings, but then they already know they're in for that). I'm not one who forwards chain letters, political requests, or any other "PASS IT ON" type of messages. If I ever do, I always BCC them so that others don't know who I'm sending the messages to. That doesn't mean that I cannot use my blog to post about something I care about and want to see others do something about. I've already stated my support for Proposition 8 and that I will vote for it on Election day, and I encourage everyone else to also vote their conscience on election day as well. What follows is not something that will wait until election day. We need to deal with it *NOW!!!

Here is the text of a letter that is being circulated called "THE COMMON SENSE FIX" as relates to the proposed bailout, and some suggestions as to alternatives. Please note that I did not write this, but I agree with just about everything that is in it, and frankly, I consider it a far better proposition than the ones that have been discussed in the house to date. Regardless of your political position or affiliation, I urge everyone to look at this and give it serious consideration. If you agree with the suggestions, send this letter (or word it your own way) to your Representatives and Senators. If you do not agree with the suggestions below, please contact them anyway and tell them what you would like to see done. The key is to SPEAK UP!

Finally, pray for them to resist a spirit of FEAR and to embrace WISDOM. Even if you don't like them or agree with them, pray for them and tell them you are praying for them. There is a spirit over this problem that must be broken. Also, most of the media personalities are afraid as well and that is affecting their reporting. Pray for fear to be removed from them; they are making this worse. While I know it's cliche to say that time is of the essence, in this case, it really is.

THE COMMON SENSE FIX

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.

a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.

b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile whileworking with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.

II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down.


This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, tostand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Madd Money: DAVE RAMSEY FOR PRESIDENT?!!

No, not really, but his commentary as "not your typical president" was awesome, and I found myself listening and agreeing 100% with everything he said in this rant (which, frankly, should be no surprise to anyone who knows me and knows how much of a Ramseyite I am (LOL!) ).

Hear Dave Go Off!!!

One area I absolutely agree with Dave Ramsey about, regardless of the surrounding rhetoric... if there is a theme that I am hearing over and over again during this election cycle, it is how many people are looking to the government to fix all of their problems. Now, this may seem *really* strange coming from a Democrat, but, and I'm going to put all of the emphasis on this that I can...

I AM SICK OF THE GOVERNMENT TRYING BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE, AND TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE THE ANSWER TO FIX EVERYTHING!!!

I'm sick of the government subsidizing everyone's screw-ups. I'm sick of the government overreaching itself to try to pander for votes, and that goes for both Democrats and Republicans. Please, everybody, be accountable to yourself, your family, your friends and your faith, then start working outwards. The "Nanny State" has gone too far, and I frankly do not want to wake up and find myself living in a Socialist country (though I fear we may already be there). I want to live in the Democratic Republic that I love so very much, where emphasis on freedom, free enterprise, and individual effort and determination actually count for something. Hopefully, all of you who live in the U.S. feel the same way.

Madd Money: My Take on the Dave Ramsey "Baby Steps"

Over at another blog that I follow (Frugal Dad, one of my favorite personal finance bloggers), one of the topics he covered this week was Dave Ramsey and his “Baby Steps”. For those who are not familiar with Dave Ramsey, he is a radio and television commentator out of Nashville, Tennessee. He talks about a very common sense approach to money and dealing with debt. In the Dave Ramsey world, debt is full-bore evil and should be avoided at all costs. If you have it, every ounce of energy you have should be applied towards getting rid of it.

What makes Dave interesting and engaging is his charismatic, borderline evangelical zeal for people becoming debt free, and the passion that he invokes in this crusade has garnered him a solid following. Virtually everything that’s relevant to his approach and game plan can be had for free at his web site, along with two weeks worth of his radio show that can be streamed to Windows Media Player or Real Player (his show is three hours each day). For those who enjoy reading the old fashioned way, i.e. pages with a spine and a cover, you can hit up your public library and check out any of his three main books:

Financial Peace, Revisited (this is the “what to do” book, recently updated, and this is the one that basically started Dave's philosophy).


The Total Money Makeover (this is the “how to do it” book, and if you just want to pick up one book to get the feel for the “Dave” experience, this is the one to get).


More than Enough (this is the “why do we care about money in the first place” book, and frankly, it’s his most underrated, and the one I personally most enjoyed. This one actually diverges from standard personal finance and covers a lot of ground that personal development and spiritual development books cover).

OK, right here is were everyone would normally check out and say “OK, dude, Dave Ramsey is great, blah blah blah, you’re a shill, blah blah blah.” Well, I’m hoping I can convince you otherwise, since I think anyone that blindly follows anyone’s plan without giving it serious thought is asking for trouble. What is the Dave Ramsey plan? Here it is in a nutshell, and modified a little bit from his own site:

* Work to get $1,000 to start a “Baby” Emergency Fund
* Pay off all debts (not counting the house, if you have one) using the “Debt Snowball”
* Save 3 to 6 months of living expenses in savings (a fully funded Emergency Fund)
* Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement savings
* Save for College funding for children (if you have them)
* Focus on paying off your home mortgage early
* Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate.


If you listen to Dave’s show, he’s pretty dogmatic about these steps, and in general, I agree with what he is suggesting, with some personal caveats and tweaks. Now realize, I am not the best person to ask about how to get out of debt, since I managed to do it with a massive windfall of stock options in both cases; my personal debt was cleared out in 1995 by a massive sell of of stock, we were able to put 75% down on our house because of stock options I owned, and finally, the decision to fully pay off the house came at the expense of my remaining stock options. NOte: I no longer have any, so that puts me on the same playing field going forward as anyone else (truth in writing time, if it weren’t for the fact that I spent ten years working for Cisco Systems in the 1990’s, and had I not been obsessed with the idea of holding onto them, I would have had a very different financial picture).



Dave’s plan is austere, make no mistake, and his mantra is “Live like no one else, so that later, you can live like no one else”. Making Dave’s plan work requires a level of intensity (he refers to it as being “Gazelle Intense”) and *really* making a commitment to pounding through these steps and maximizing them.


1. Work to get $1,000 to start a “Baby” Emergency Fund


This is the first of the Baby Steps, and its purpose is to get you out of the habit of reaching for the plastic whenever an issue happens. Now, to be fair, in most cases, $1,000 will not take care of every emergency, and it will not be the be all and end all of an emergency fund. It’s not meant to be. It’s there as an incentive to say “hey, I just put away $1,000” so that, if I have to deal with something of a medium sized emergency, I have the means to take care of it. My personal approach would be to have a little more than this, but $1,000 as an immediate buffer is still a good number for most people to wrap their head around. This should be in an immediately accessible place, but not *too* accessible. Dave describes one woman who framed 10 $100 bills in a picture frame, with a note that read “in case of emergency, break glass”, and she hung it on the back wall of her closet behind her clothes.


The key to this step is that we need to change our behavior. If we use cash to pay for emergencies, we tend to prioritize in our minds what constitutes an emergency different than when we use plastic. Leg broken and need to visit an urgent care facility, that is an emergency. Big sale on flat screen TV’s, not an emergency.


2. Pay off all debts (not counting the house) using the “Debt Snowball”


This is probably the single piece of advice that Dave is most well known for (not his invention, BTW, but it’s most commonly associated with him anyway). The idea is this, arrange your debts from the smallest to the largest and ignore the interest rates for the time being (if you have two loans with similar balances, then put the one with the higher interest rate earlier in the order). Pay minimum payments on all but the smallest loan value, and with that minimum balance, take every spare penny you can scrape together and pay as large a payment as you can possibly manage every month until it is gone. If you have credit cards, cut them up and cancel the accounts while you do this process. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, at least tuck them away someplace so that you are not tempted to use them. After the smallest account is paid off, roll that same payment you were making before, plus everything else you can muster, on your next debt, and keep the momentum going. Still pay minimums on the other debts that are further down the line, but each debt will get a correspondingly larger amount of money to pay it off. Listening to Dave’s show, this is where you hear some amazing stories, people paying off $30,000 worth of debt or more in a year’s time. How did they do it? It all comes down to behavior and attitude.



You have to really want to do this step for it to work. If you are not pathologically committed to knocking out debt, this will be painful. Hand in hand with this step is the determination to put together a budget, spend every dollar on paper at the beginning of each month (in our family’s case, we do it twice a month) and commit to living by that budget. By doing this, you discover what areas and what frivolous expenses can be eliminated for the time being to attack the debt.
In most cases, I agree wholeheartedly with this approach, but I’d suggest one deviation. If you have a company that pays a dollar for dollar match for retirement savings, by all means take advantage of this, even while you work the debt snowball. Dollar for dollar matches translate to a 100% return on investment. Even the worst loan or debt that you have cannot match that return by paying it off, so take advantage of it if it’s offered to you, but only fund up to the match. From there, throw everything you can into the debt snowball.


Some accountants are certainly going to argue that not putting the highest interest loans first is bad math, but again, I agree with Dave here, this has less to do with math and more to do with behavior and motivation. Cleaning up small debts early in the process gives a psychological boost to the person, and helps fortify them and develop their debt reduction muscles so that they can take on the big ones (such as student loans or HELOC’s) when it is time. Also, if you want to get some motivation, listen to some of Dave's archived Friday shows, where you can hear people scream "I'm Debt Free!" at the top of their lungs. It's an awesome experience, and yes, it's very motivational :).


3. Save 3 to 6 months of living expenses in savings (a fully funded Emergency Fund)


With the debts all cleaned up (minus a mortgage if you have one), the next step is to build a fully funded Emergency fund. The full emergency fund is meant to be anywhere from three to six months of living expenses (note: this is not the same as setting aside three to six months of income, though if that’s an easier way to interpret and set your goal, there’s nothing wrong with that). The $1,000 Baby Fund is just to get you started. It doesn’t take much to wipe that whole thing out (blown transmission, busted water heater, etc). By having six months of expenses saved up, you are in effect “self insuring” yourself against many of the worst case scenarios, and giving yourself the ability to counter those worst cases and ride them out. In our case, we actually have more than six months living expenses set aside (not by a huge margin, but enough to help us weather a serious setback without having to go into debt to take care of it). How much you decide to save is entirely up to you, but remember, this is an emergency fund, and it should be in an account that will bear you a decent return, but not have penalties on withdrawing the money (in other words, Certificates of Deposit or bonds with a time requirement are not good places to put your emergency fund. A high yield savings or money market fund with an istitution like Vanguard or ING Direct, with check writing privileges or a Debit Card, is ideal.. and remember, a vacation to the Bahamas does not constitute an emergency (LOL!).


The biggest benefit to having this is that the need for a credit card becomes almost non-existent. Dave would recommend getting rid of all credit cards and using Debit Cards exclusively. I’m not that hard-core, but I would suggest keeping one high balance card for true dire emergencies (truck crashes into the side of your house or something). Otherwise, use a Debit Card for everyday purchases (or better yet, carry the appropriate cash).


4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement savings


This is overall good advice, but as I said previously, I’d tweak it a bit. If your employer offers a match in a 401K or alternate type of retirement plan, take it. Dollar for dollar matches are 100% return on investment for those dollars, and you aren’t likely to beat that anywhere else in the same time period without substantial investment risk. Even when you are paying off your debts, make sure to take advantage of this. Once your debts are paid off, then expand beyond the matching limit and contribute and fully fund (if you can) a ROTH IRA. Once you max out the ROTH IRA, then add more money to your company’s 401K (or comparable plan) until you reach 15%. This is an oft quoted number, and I don’t know what makes 15% so magical. Money Magazine back in April of 2007 had an article saying where people should be by certain times in their lives:

Assuming you want to retire at age 60 and plan to have no pension and no job in retirement, you need to have…
1.6 times your salary in savings at age 35
3.5 times your salary in savings at age 40
5.8 times your salary in savings at age 45
8.5 times your salary in savings at age 50
11.9 times your salary in savings at age 55
16.0 times your salary in savings at age 60

I'm comforted to know that, at least currently, we are mostly on track with the figure for age 40 :).

In our case, we contribute 8% towards my company’s 401K plan (their matching is 50% of every dollar up to 3% of my total salary). From there, we push 7% of each check split evenly between our two ROTH IRA’s. Once the ROTH IRA’s get maxed out for the year, then the 7% per check will be adjusted to go back into the company’s 401K plan until the next contribution period begins. We manually handle these transactions right now, but in the future, we will likely automate this process so we can “set it and forget it “ :). Incidentally, for full disclosure, we use Vanguard for our ROTH IRA’s, and currently have an asset allocation of 70% in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund and a 30% allocation in the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund. Why we chose those particular funds would be a philosophical subject for a whole ‘nother post :).


5. Save for kid’s college.


I’m a firm believer in taking care of yourselves and your own financial future regarding retirement before saving for college. While that may sound heartless, let’s face it, an 18-25 year old has a lot more flexibility in working or making arrangements for getting their education compared to a 70 year old facing a retirement without enough savings. Plus, I’d hate to have to be a burden on our kids at a at time in their lives where they have to take care of their own families.


In our house, any money above and beyond the 15% retirement savings that we can save goes towards our kids 529 College Saving Plans (also managed by Vanguard, for those keeping score :) ). In addition to saving for the kids school, we are also actively encouraging them to look and be creative towards scholarship money and grant money where it is available. One thing we have drilled into the kids heads (and our own) is that student loans *will not* be considered unless it is an absolute necessity. Personally, we don’t believe it is, and we will do all we can to cash-flow our kids college educations to the fullest extent we can, and encourage them to work to help get the rest.

5a. Save for non-educational expenses for kids.

There are other expenses beyond college that we are earmarking for the kids as well, and each kid has their own separate savings account that they and we contribute to. These accounts are meant for such things as paying for missions, cars in their future (if relevant), big ticket items that may come along in their lives (prom dresses, summer camp or other special opportunity programs, orthodontics if needed, etc.)

6. Pay off the mortgage early.

For years, I fought this one, and I talked the same line about having a tax write off and investing my money to get a better rate of return elsewhere. Ultimately, I was convinced (and yes, Dave did the convincing (LOL!) ), that there were other ways to look at this. First, would anyone willingly take out a second mortgage on their house so that they could invest that money in the stock market? Some people might say yes, but I’d say “definitely not" because that puts my home at risk in the event I don’t make a wise choice. Well, that’s effectively what I am doing when I pay my mortgage while trying to invest elsewhere. Markets go up and down, but in the long term, they tend to trend up, on average anywhere from 8-12%. My mortgage was 6%. When taxes, gains, and risk are all weighed into the equation, the net benefit of investing tends to become a wash comparing to just owning your home free and clear. As to the idea of a tax write off, let’s just put it this way… would you willingly give someone $10,000, so that the government can give you back $4,000? No matter how you look at it, you still paid $6,000 you’ll never see again. What if you could remove that house payment from your life forever, and then use that original house payment to invest on top of what you are currently investing? That was the argument that ultimately convinced me, and we actually jumped ahead and did this step before we set up the kids college funds. Effectively, our former house payment now covers almost all of our retirement savings, and a good sized chunk of our kids college savings, plus it gives us the greatest feeling of walking through our house and saying “hey, this is *ours*!!!” Seriously, there is no feeling like it in the world.

7. Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate.

So what can you do when you reach this point? This is where people can invest for other things. You may want to set aside money to bankroll a dream globe-trotting vacation, or perhaps start a sideline business, or even get really into giving to causes that matter to you. The key is, at this stage, your income, your investments, and your lack of having to make any debt payments puts you in a totally different category compared to most people that are struggling to make payments. If you can get off the debt payment treadmill, you can use your money to actually do the things you want to do with your life. One of the key points that Dave makes, and I wholeheartedly agree, is that money is really only good for three things once you have met your basic living expenses. It is good for FUN. It is good for INVESTING, and it is good for GIVING. Outside of that, there’s not a whole lot that you can do with money that is long term beneficial or healthy.

BOTTOM LINE:

Even though I’m a fan of Dave Ramsey, I don’t follow his “gospel” to the absolute letter. I made modifications that made sense to me and my family, but overall his plan is a good one, and a blueprint that many people can use to help make good long term financial decisions. Do not, I repeat *DO NOT* take any financial advice from a blogger or radio personality or author at face value and decide to set up your finances on just that information. BAD IDEA!!! Do your homework, look at your financial situation, and really be critical with yourself. Make a game plan, one that fits your life, your goals and your dream, and then WORK THAT PLAN. Also, realize that any advice I’ve given here is just my opinion and it happens to fall mostly but not totally in line with a guy I like to read and listen to. Consider this a huge case of “Your Mileage May Vary”.