Dave Ramsey

David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American businessman and author.

Video Dave Ramsey

Biography

Ramsey was born and raised in Antioch, Tennessee. He was a 1982 graduate of the College of Business Administration at University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a degree in Finance and Real Estate. As a real estate investor, doing business as Ramsey Investments, Inc., he built a rental real estate portfolio worth more than $4 million by 1986. That year, a decline in the real estate business forced him to file for bankruptcy relief.

After recovering financially, Ramsey began counseling couples at his local church. He soon began attending workshops and seminars on consumer financial problems, he developed a set of lessons and materials based partially on his own experience and on works and teachings by Larry Burkett, Ron Blue and Art Williams of A.L. Williams company now called Primerica. In 1992 he wrote his first book, Financial Peace.

Ramsey is a devout Christian. He has been married to his wife, Sharon, for over 30 years. They have three children, and reside in Winchester, Tennessee.

Maps Dave Ramsey

Media

Ramsey's syndicated radio program, The Dave Ramsey Show, is heard on more than 500 radio stations throughout the United States and Canada, in podcast format, on IHeartRadio, the Dave Ramsey Show iOS application, live on YouTube, as well as live audio and video on DaveRamsey.com. He has written numerous books including five New York Times bestsellers. His books and broadcasts advocate a fiscally disciplined approach to personal and household finances, including the strict management of debt, and often feature a Christian perspective Ramsey was named the 2009 Marconi Award winner for Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year, and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2015.

His company, The Lampo Group, Inc., headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, oversees six divisions geared toward financial education.

Ramsey has been featured on many media outlets including The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and The Early Show. He recorded a pilot and six unaired episodes of The Dave Ramsey Project for CBS. He was the host of the television program The Dave Ramsey Show, which aired on the Fox Business Network until June 2010.

The Dave Ramsey Show

Twenty-five years ago, Ramsey started his radio career by co-hosting The Money Game with Roy Matlock of Primerica. Over time, this local show on one radio station in Nashville turned into The Dave Ramsey Show. With a combined listenership of over 12 million weekly, the show is available on more than 575 radio stations and other channels. In 2007, the Fox Business Network launched a television show under the same title, but canceled the show in June 2010.

Related companies

The Lampo Group, Inc.

Ramsey founded his company, The Lampo Group, Inc., in 1992 (Now called Ramsey Solutions), initially helping people one-on-one who were struggling with financial issues. In 1994, he hired Russ Carroll, Ramsey's lead financial counselor, and together they began teaching the first Financial Peace University classes on overhead projectors. Between 1999 and 2004, The Lampo Group grew from 18 to 105 team members. There are currently over 500 team members.

Financial Peace University

Ramsey is the creator of Financial Peace University, a biblically based training series for adults that integrates video teaching, class discussions, and small group activities. In 2013, he launched a followup program, The Legacy Journey. This course is a biblically based training series for adults focused on "what's next?" after getting out of debt

EntreLeadership

He coined the term word EntreLeadership to describe the responsibilities of a small business owner as an entrepreneur , and used it as the name of a small business conference. Ramsey also released the book titled EntreLeadership in 2011. It rose to the New York Times Bestseller's list nearly overnight. .

EveryDollar

EveryDollar is a budgeting tool that was created by Ramsey Solutions, available online, on iOS, and Android. Users list all sources of income and they give every dollar a name for the month, based on zero-based budgeting.

Financial advice

Ramsey supports the debt snowball method, where debtors pay off their lowest balance debt first instead of paying off their highest interest rate debt first. While this approach has been criticized by some, such as NerdWallet.com, other research such as that done by the Kellogg School of Management has found that the debt snowball method is generally effective. The article stated that the small victories give debtors motivation.A 2016 study by Harvard Business School also found people who used the snowball method to pay off their smallest account first paid down more of their debt than those who used other methods.

Ramsey states that investors can get a 12% average annual return and this is the number he uses in financial analyses. Critics state that using an average annual return rate is misleading and that the compound annual growth rate is a better measurement when planning investments. Critics have also stated that a 12% return is unrealisticly high--the usual planning assumption is 4%. According to the Motley Fool, following Ramsey's calculations could cause individuals to be seriously under-invested for retirement.

Ramsey recommends investors to hold all their investments in stock mutual funds, which has been criticized as stocks are more volatile than bonds. He recommends that retirees withdraw 8% of their retirement each year., a contrast to the generally recommended 4%.

In 2010, Ramsey received criticism on social media sites for building a large and lavish home. He responded that the cost of the home was paid in cash, represented a very low percentage of his net worth, and had already been used to host many fundraisers for ministries, charities and community causes.

Controversy

According to interviews with nearly two dozen current and former employees of his Nashville-based Ramsey Solutions, Mr. Ramsey has engaged in what they describe as an increasingly paranoid campaign to identify and silence several critics--mostly former employees--who have appeared on Facebook and Twitter. Bizarre episodes allegedly involving online spying, gag orders, random firings, and offers of large cash bounties for information have created a climate of fear inside the Lampo headquarters, intensifying a discomfort many employees have felt the past several years with Ramsey's management.

Bibliography

Personal finance

• Financial Peace: Restoring Financial Hope to You and Your Family (1997) ISBN 0-670-87361-6
• The Financial Peace Planner: A step-by step guide to restoring your family's financial health (1998) ISBN 0-14-026468-X
• How to Have More than Enough: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Abundance (2000) ISBN 0-14-028193-2
• More than Enough: The Ten Keys to Changing Your Financial Destiny (2002) ISBN 0-14-200047-7
• Financial Peace Revisited (2002) ISBN 0-670-03208-5
• The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan For Financial Fitness (2003) ISBN 0-7852-6326-8
• Total Money Makeover Workbook (2004) ISBN 0-7852-6327-6
• The Money Answer Book: Quick Answers to Everyday Financial Questions (2005) ISBN 0-8499-9619-8
• Priceless: Straight-Shooting, No-Frills Financial Wisdom (2006) ISBN 0-9774895-9-0
• EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches (2011) ISBN 978-1-4516-1785-6
• Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide To Money: The Handbook of Financial Peace University (2012) ISBN 978-1-9370-7720-4
• Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win With Money (2014) ISBN 1937077632 (co-authored by Ramsey's daughter Rachel Cruze)
• The Legacy Journey: A Radical View of Biblical Wealth and Generosity (2014) ISBN 1937077713

Kids' books

• The Super Red Racer: Junior Discovers Work (2003) ISBN 0-9726323-0-1
• Careless At The Carnival: Junior Discovers Spending (2003) ISBN 0-9726323-1-X
• The Big Birthday Surprise: Junior Discovers Giving (2003) ISBN 0-9726323-2-8
• My Fantastic Fieldtrip: Junior Discovers Saving (2003) ISBN 0-9726323-3-6
• A Special Thank You: Junior Discovers Integrity (2005) ISBN 0-9769630-0-0
• Battle of the Chores: Junior Discovers Debt (2005) ISBN 0-9769630-1-9

Spanish translations

The Total Money Makeover, Financial Peace Revisited, and More than Enough have been translated into Spanish.

See also

• Envelope budgeting
• Talk radio

References

Further Reading

• Drury, Susan (May 31, 2007). "The Gospel According to Dave". Nashville Scene. Retrieved July 16, 2007. 
• Olen, Helaine (October 28, 2013). "The Prophet". Pacific Standard. Retrieved October 29, 2013. 

External links

• Official website
• Dave Ramsey on CBS' 60 Minutes (transcript)
• Total Money Makeover
• Total Money Makeover Book Review
• 2003 profile by This American Life