AARGH. Dave Ramsey BASHING gold on his Townhall for Hope...

His financial advice hurts more than it helps. He has to appeal to a simple minded audience who knows nothing about money, and even less about logical decisions. He should be a pastor, not a financial advisor.
Dave Ramsey doesn't give financial advice as much as he gives behavioral advice. Dave's advice about getting out of debt is great. Dave's advice about how to get out of debt isn't so great. One should pay off the larger interest rate loans first which is not what he teaches. Again, Dave teaches behavior not finance.

His investment advice isn't so good either because the past performance of a mutual fund is not an indicator as to which way that fund will continue in the future. But the entire idea is for Dave to get people aware and thinking about their personal finances. Sadly most people in the country think about their long term finances the same way they think about their politicians; they don't!

So in that regard Dave Ramsey is doing a lot of good things by motivating people.
 
Dave is right about gold though regarding an investment. Gold isn't an investment, it's a speculation (gambling). The two are NOT one in the same.


And Dave's point is well stated, if your portfolio is setup properly then unless the entire market collapses your wealth will be preserved and maybe even continue to grow. If the entire market collapses then money won't matter at all and it's "time to dig the ditch and break out the Uzi". That's never happened in this country, even during the Great Depression.

So if you're out of debt, and your portfolio is setup properly (not using Dave's advice with mutual funds only) then would it make sense to keep some bullion in your basement? Sure, why not? It can't hurt. Will you ever need it? Highly unlikely.

But gold is not an investment, it's only for a SHTF scenario. And instead of gold you'd probably want to stock food, guns, alcohol, provisions, etc first because that's what's in demand immediately after a SHTF.
 
I personally think Dave Ramsey does a lot of good. I have read his "Total Money Makeover" and it really did give me a place to start when it comes to savings. I was already debt free when I read his book, but I wasn't saving for sh*t. Reading his book made me change some of my behaviors, and now I save like a madman. He is by no means a financial expert, but he does know how to put things into perspective, give you a starting point per se, and realize how much money you really can have. I don't make much at all, less than $35k a year, but I LIVE way better than most people making double that.

He's a good tool to keep in the toolshed, along with some other financial tools....

And someone above mentioned Dr. Laura. I think she's a perfectly good tool to use as well. She has made mistakes in the past, cheated on her husband, then left him for her current husband, but that doesn't mean her advice is crap. People that have screwed up can have good advice too. Do your parents give you advice?

So just because Dave Ramsey and Dr. Laura have screwed up EXACTLY what they try to prevent now, doesn't mean that they don't have ANYTHING wise to say.

And I haven't met a person yet whom I agree with 100%, not even Ron Paul. So what if he made some stupid comments last night? He still has some good things to teach....
 
In the last 18 months my "well diversified strategically organized, very planned portfolio " has lost at least 40%.

My gold, on the other hand....
 
Dave Ramsey's an idiot. That's all it comes down to.

His math is fuzzy. His real life scenarios are ridiculous, pizza boys make $3k a month? ha

He's a joke and he knows it. His financial advice hurts more than it helps. He has to appeal to a simple minded audience who knows nothing about money, and even less about logical decisions. He should be a pastor, not a financial advisor.

Jordan,

Sorry but I disagree. Ramsay is spot on when it comes to debt reduction. In this climate of economic uncertainty, paying off ones' credit cards, car loans, etc., can provide solid effective returns with zero risk.

For example, if you have credit cards at 29%, and you pay that off, you'll get an effective return on your money of 29%, for very little risk. Ramsey is a huge proponent of paying off debt and this environment it makes very good sense.

Best,

James
 
He's the male counterpart to Suze Orman. They both throw out a few common sense ideas like don't use credit cards unless it's an emergency and people think that everything else they say is good advice too.
 
Dave is right about gold though regarding an investment. Gold isn't an investment, it's a speculation (gambling). The two are NOT one in the same.
No, Gold is a store of wealth or wealth preservation asset.

And while Gold is not an investment, this is not what Ramsey means when he says it. He says it to deter folks from holding it in their portfolio (he has no use for it). This is wrong, narrow minded, and short sighted.

While Ramsey has been helpful to many in conquering their debt and behavioral problems when it comes to money, he does a disservice to folks when he begins running his mouth w/respect to investment advice.

Brian
 
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Dave Ramsey is the Mises of personal finance, and has consistently been advocating against government intervention and debt.

The lot of you are fickle.
 
No, Gold is a store of wealth or wealth preservation asset.
I agree.... Some people use it that way, others try and speculate on it.

He says it to deter folks from holding it in their portfolio (he has no use for it). This is wrong, narrow minded, and short sighted
Yes and no. If one is preparing for a SHTF scenario then it would be good to keep some gold around. But again, stores of food, fuel, alcohol, supplies etc would have much more utility than gold.
 
I agree.... Some people use it that way, others try and speculate on it.

Yes and no. If one is preparing for a SHTF scenario then it would be good to keep some gold around. But again, stores of food, fuel, alcohol, supplies etc would have much more utility than gold.
Gold is not just for a SHTF scenario. I think that a SHTF scenario is quite unlikely in the US. But money will be made in precious metals.

I agree that stores of food, fuel, alcohol, medicine, and various other supplies are prudent and may have more utility than precious metals, depending on the severity of the crisis.

Brian
 
Dave ramsey just is a tool. His "advice" is basically telling Americans not to be stupid and get into debt. Holy shit what a concept. Get this man a metal for stating the obvious. Its his listeners that are far more retarded and need someone telling them the obvious: IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND, DON'T SPEND.
 
Is Dave Ramsey a preachy sounding guy? My co-worker brought in a new stereo he had bought yesterday and there was some guy dissing gold to a large audience; saying it hadn't been used for a medium of exchange since the fall of the Roman empire, blah blah, it has no value. To all of this the audience laughed


Yeah, the guy I work with claims to be a conservative, yet he is in favor of mandatory military service for all US residents and when I told him I'd rather flee the country than be drafted he said, "I'd be the first to shoot you." LOL and this guy lambastes government spending and taxation as it's a theft, yet that same government should own your life and tell you when to go die for its causes.

Stupid statists can't see the forest from the trees. :rolleyes:
 
Is Dave Ramsey a preachy sounding guy? My co-worker brought in a new stereo he had bought yesterday and there was some guy dissing gold to a large audience; saying it hadn't been used for a medium of exchange since the fall of the Roman empire, blah blah, it has no value. To all of this the audience laughed



Yep...That be the guy. Ugh.
 
Dave ramsey just is a tool. His "advice" is basically telling Americans not to be stupid and get into debt. Holy shit what a concept. Get this man a metal for stating the obvious. Its his listeners that are far more retarded and need someone telling them the obvious: IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND, DON'T SPEND.

No kidding. My only debt is a credit card and I only use that to defer payments till the end of the month. Also, if inflations starts ramping up, I will use it to buy as much stuff as possible. This guy only states the obvious and debt, then gives away bad investment information. I am sure he was calling the bottom at Dow 8000, and will continue to call the bottom wherever it hits. At that point, it will be too late.
 
Yeah, the guy I work with claims to be a conservative, yet he is in favor of mandatory military service for all US residents and when I told him I'd rather flee the country than be drafted he said, "I'd be the first to shoot you." LOL and this guy lambastes government spending and taxation as it's a theft, yet that same government should own your life and tell you when to go die for its causes.

Stupid statists can't see the forest from the trees. :rolleyes:
Yes, we just have to educate conservatives that if they are really conservative, then they wouldn't advocate big government at any level. :mad:
 
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