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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 over 250 stations throughout the United States as of June 2005. His show is based on "Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Piles of Cash," taking calls live from 1-4 CST (2-5 EST) on air. He teaches people how to get out of debt, build wealth, and everything in between. His radio program has been on since 1992. He 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.
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 millon. 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 crazy 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. In 1988 he started The Lampo Group, Inc. He got back into real estate but this time avoided going into personal debt to acquire property. He was back on his feet in a few years. He started his radio program in 1992.
His company, The Lampo Group, Inc.
His company now has about 100 employees (as of September 2005) 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 which gives HOPE to everyone from the financially secure to the financially distressed."
The Broadcast Division
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 Division
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, schools and even the military. The FPU division also provides personal one-to-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 (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).
- 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." 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 plastectomies.
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.
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 "Totally Money Makeover." He also has an archive of the last 10 radio broadcasts on his website
Mr. Ramsey 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 or U.S. military. Dave Ramsey ends each radio broadcast by saying, "The only way to true Financial Peace, is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus."
See also
External links
- The Lampo Group, Inc.
- Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps (pdf)
- The Dave Ramsey Show Website (One can listen to the radio program free via audio streaming)
- Dave Ramsey Station Finder (Find a radio station broacasting Ramsey's show)
- Share It! (A non-profit organization founded by Ramsey)
- MyTotalMoneyMakeover (Subscription-based Website)
- Dave Ramsey on CBS' 60 Minutes (Transcripts)
Further reading
- Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover.
- Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace, Revisited