Now, you can’t judge us. But, we spent our weekend hanging out with Dave Ramsey. The personal finance guru. Our main squeeze. Bald-headed. Usually see him with scissors and credit cards. That guy. Dave Ramsey.
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| He's practically part of the family. Maybe this will become our Chistmas card photo? |
On Friday, we headed out to the Books a- Million where he is signing his new book called Entre-Leadership. This book is not on personal finance, it’s about leading a small business. He has some great ideas in it… and even if you aren’t in a small business, you can still apply the principles he teaches in your group at a business. Very applicable stuff. Definitely check it out if you’re looking to become a leader in the business world. It’s all about how to run your business.
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| This is the car Dave sold his first book out of many moons ago. |
We got to the Books –a-Million at around 5 PM (we both got to leave work early.) We purchased the book and got our number in line… number 69. We ended up in the line that was the medical reference and pet aisle. Not such a great aisle to spend the next hour waiting in line. But, once he started… he moved fast. So, yes.. we got to meet our main squeeze, Dave Ramsey. Since we talk about him like we know him, I figure it’s a good thing we finally met the guy. He looks just like all his pictures and sounds the same as he does on his radio show.
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| My view from the Pet aisle. |
His team was very friendly, too and new how to get everyone in to see him. Unfortunately tho, I didn’t get a picture with him. He said that from past experiences, most people didn’t know how to work their cell phone camera’s, so they had to stop the picture taking because it took to long. So, I don’t really blame him. I’m not really even sure how you sign books for two straight hours. Your arm would have to hurt! Maybe he does special arm exercises to practice for the big day??? Maybe one day I’ll know… or maybe not.
We hung around the book store until 7 PM when they did the drawing for $2,000. We did not win. L It would have gone a long way in our house fund! Someone named Laura Martin one… I will forever remember that name, after all.. she did steal our money! Ok, not really. But she won what we wanted. Overall, there were probably about 300 people there to sign their book…. Note: We were number 69. Such an over-achiever, I know.
It was really pleasant to be around people at the signing that truly liked the man and wanted to be there. Gotta love it when people get it… that debt is dumb and cash is king! You could hear everyone talking about how his plan was helping to change their financial lives. That’s really encouraging!! He’s definitely provided the road map for Robert and I and I know we’ll definitely be better off with that map.
On Saturday… we went to Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (“TMMO”). We had purchased our tickets at a special $19 price back in April. (So, we’re a little obsessed, big deal.) We ended up sitting on the floor in some pretty good seats I think. It was also a sold out crowd. I’m not sure how big Reliant Arena is, but I’d say there were about 5,000 people there. Pretty awesome when you can get 5,000 people together to learn about personal finance.
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| Me & Robert before the show! |
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| Dave on stage! |
The TMMO is what we have been doing. So, we pretty much already knew everything, but it’s always nice to go in there and see the man who you’ve been blaming for why you can’t go out to eat that night. Plus, he puts a little pep in your step and keeps you motivated to follow his plan. We did learn a few interesting things, so I’m going to put them below.
*15 Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me in 6 Hours*
1. A 30 year-old couple made $48,000 a year and saved 15% ($7,200 per year or $600 per month) in a 401(k) at 12% growth… at 70 years old they will have $7,058,863.50 in the 401(k). What if you don’t agree with his 12%??? Well… look at it this way… WHAT IF HE IS HALF WRONG?! Who cares… half of 7 is $3.5 million. I’ll take that, thank you.
2. The same couple fully funded a ROTH IRA at $5,000 each per year (a total of $10,000), which would be $833 per month, at 12% growth…. At 70 years old they will have $9,803,937.87—TAX FREE. Again, WHAT IF HE IS HALF WRONG?!
3. Nearly 70% of consumers live paycheck to paycheck.
4. The average American household has $91,000 in debt and the total consumer debt has doubled since 1980. In 1980, the total consumer debt was $1.3 trillion; today, it is $2.6 trillion.
5. Conflict over money is still the leading cause of divorce today.
6. In 1929, only 2% of the homes in America had a mortgage against them. By 1962, only 2% did not have mortgage against them, even though the affordability index was actually better in 1960 than it was in 1929.
7. Due to a lack of savings, 60% of the 77 million baby boomers will not have the means to support their current standard of living when they reach retirement.
8. A $1,000 one-time investment. No withdrawal. Age 25-65 (40 years)
a. 6% Return: $10,285
b. 18% Return: $750,378
True, you can’t get an 18% return. But you know who does? CREDIT CARD COMPANIES. That’s right. You’re willing to earn 6% but pay 18%. That doesn’t sound right, does it?!
9. Ben & Arthur. Ben & Arthur both save $2,000 per year at 12%. Ben starts at age 19 and stops at age 26. ($16,000 investment over 8 years), Arthur starts at age 27 and stops at age 65 ($78,000 investment over 38 years). At the age of 65: Ben has $2,288,996 and Arthur has $1,532,166. Arthur never caught up. THE POWER OF COMPOUND INTEREST. START NOW!
10. Diversify in fund types when investing in mutual funds (the only thing Dave recommends investing)
a. 25% in growth and income funds
b. 25% in growth
c. 25% in international
d. 25% in aggressive growth
** REMEMBER: No one gets hurt on a rollercoaster except those who jump off.**
11. The average college student graduates with $42,406 in student loan debt. This is usually to finance a lifestyle and not the education. Take the time to research the cost of college and make the student get a job!
12. According to a 2008 study by Sallie Mae and Gallup, only 9% of families use college savings funds like ESA’s and 529’s.
a. An ESA is an Education Savings Account that is an Education IRA. You can invest $2,000/yr into this and it works just like a mutual fund... you can even pick the fund! $2,000 x 18 = $36,000 in principal for school! That doesn’t even count any earnings!!! If you earned 5%, you’d have $56,264.
b. Did you know that his ESA is considered a tax break for the rich? It was only extended when Congress extended the Bush tax breaks for another two years at the end of last year. Doesn’t sound like tax break for the rich? Sounds like it could help the middle class pay for their children go to college to me.
13. According to a 2008 survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, roughly 76 million adults say they do not have any non-retirement savings. Of those to who have a cash fund, 61% don’t have enough to cover three to six months of income.
14. The real meaning of a FICO score: Let me go into debt so that later, I can go more into debt. Think about it… the only way to have a FICO score is to go into debt. Once you’re in debt, it’s what you do with it that raises or shrinks your score. But, we only care about our score… so that later, we can go into more debt. What’s happening to us?
15. MYTH: It is wise to keep my home mortgage to get the tax deduction. WRONG! Tax deductions are no bargain. Let’s do the math:
You have a $200,000 mortgage at 5% interest. OR: $200,000 X 5% = $10,000 interest paid.
You make $75,000 salary. OR: $75,000 - $10,000 = $65,000 amount calculated for taxes to be paid
You’re in the 25% tax bracket. OR: $10,000 X 25% = $2,500 amount in taxes paid.
So… would you rather:
PAY $10,000 in interest or SAVE $2,500? DUH! You’d rather save the $10,000. Still worried about losing those tax savings though?? Well, since you don’t have to pay $10,000 in interest every year, you can give $10,000 to a charity and use it just like we did above for a charitable deduction… and you are right back at the $2,500 in tax savings!
Never thought of it like that, did you? Me either. But now I am.
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So, yeah, the man is real genius. NOT. He’s not a genius. He’s just full of common sense and shares it. And he’s not afraid to hurt your feelings either. Trust me, I’ve heard him on the radio and sometimes I feel really bad for the people that called in. But, they need it. You need it.
We can’t be like Congress and keep spending what we don’t have. It will catch up to you. What happened to all those people that bought a house they couldn’t afford? They got foreclosed on. They’re hurting. But… we can’t just sit around and wait for the government to help us. Only you can change your life. Only you can stop spending what you don’t have. Have you ever met a President that has changed your life? No. Has either one ever written you a check and said.. “Here you go… it’s okay that you spent more than you had.”?? No. When you watch football and see that quarterback throw an interception three times… do you think that coach is out there saying, “one more try hunny, it’s okay.” Hell no. They are ripped off the field and sat on the bench. Do you think that a batter who consistently strikes out gets to keep batting? Do you think they say it’s the “pitcher’s fault?” Hell no. Replacement please. So, why is it that when it comes to finances, we only want to blame others or hope that one day a handout will come our way? Only you can change your financial life.
That’s my small little rant. It’s not about being Conservative or Liberal. It’s about embracing what you can do for yourself. I think we tend to all get caught up in what the other side has to say or can or can’t do for us. When in reality… Only I can do for me. Only We can do for us. No one is going to just hand you money for the sake of handing you money… it’s about working hard or harder. So that when you get to a place where you can give, you WILL give and help that single mom who is struggling or the family that just lost their house to a fire. You can’t help people when you are broke. As Margaret Thatcher once said, “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he didn’t have money.”
So, pretty good stuff, right? That’s what we spent our Saturday listening to. And man, I am fired up! (As if you can’t tell from above). Let me also add, at Dave’s event I also got a book signed by Jon Acuff. Jon Acuff is the author of “Stuff Christians Like”, “Quitter”, and “Gazelle’s Baby Steps and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt”. I had previously read his Quitter book… which is the book that inspired me to find what I wanted and quit my job. So, I got two books signed this weekend. Pretty awesome!!
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| For someone who has never been to a book signing in her life, I somehow got two books signed in two days! |
That pretty much wrapped up our weekend. We went to Outback where we used our Free Steak coupon and watched the Hogs kick some Auburn butt!!!! So, a pretty spectacular weekend. Yeah, I know. We’re weird. But normal is broke, so I’d rather be weird any day.
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| One weird, happy girl. |
you guys are the best!
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