Personal Finance Gurus
Is it me or do every personal finance guru is a multimillionaire? Just giving out financial advice seem to be a billion dollar business. David Bach, Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey all have given advice to millions of people that are mismanaging their money.
It’s just hard for me to use their methods. David Bach seem to adapt the Pay yourself first mantra from average Americans, hmmm maybe he should cut ” The McIntyre’s” a check. Suze Orman listen to callers on her show and a year later comes out with a book. I love reading about Personal Finance. But, I love it more when it is from every day people such as 30-somethings on blogs. I love reading how a person my age and income save their money.
Dave Ramsey seem to use the ” all cash ” route. That is fine and dandy but of course by him being a millionaire, it is easy for him to say these things. The average american cannot buy a house cash, because of unexpected events, kids, bills, etc.
In order to buy a house cash, You must not have children and making above average >45K. On top of that buy almost nothing and live somewhere rent free for years. Most people are not in that category. And the few that are, I’m sure they have student loan debt to get that above average income.
The few people that have bought a house cash, either had financial help from someone or is a millionaire.
Dave can now buy a house cash (thanks to his books), but I’m sure years ago, he could not. However, most personal finance books I read did help me in some ways. So it is good we have these people around.
But, as I said earlier in this post they are multimillionaires, therefore it’s easier for them to say— do this and that and you will be debt free!
Suze, David, Dave and countless others was not always debt-free and I feel most of them became debt-free AFTER selling their books, worksheets, budget tools and other merchandise. This is just my opinion!
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Any list of financial books that doesn’t include Dave Ramsey’s, can’t be complete. I’ve read Bach Suze & Stanley without too much fanfare, however it was The Total Money Makeover that allowed us to get motivated to pay off $123,000 in unsecured debts in 3 years (sold very little). I’d give TTMM a read at least. It was the best $20 I’ve ever spent, that’s for sure.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Hmmm….when I read Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman I walked away with the sense that they had the foundation inplace to be be multiMs if they weren’t already.
I got the sense they learned to be debt free way before their books….?
They have good fundamentals for those that are starting their fin education.
I didn’t get a sense from Dave that he recommends buying a house for cash? I know he recommends paying your house off early though?
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I listen Dave show on the radio in Atlanta and he advocates “cash” all the time.
I have no personal issue with any pf expert. But I just hate it when they sell all of their products and worksheets. ( Some packages costing in the 100s)I feel that’s when they become millionaires.
He brags on that he pays cash for everything including his house and that he always carry a debit card. I just believe he paid cash for his home once he became popular and sold an excess # of books.
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Does Dave say that you must pay cash for a house? I thought he allowed for 15 year mortgages as long as the house payment did not exceed 25% of your net pay.
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
He mentioned on his radio show one day, that it is possible to pay cash for a house. He said he knows a young couple that rented out a garage and stayed there for 3 years, during the 3 years. They lived on the wife’s salary of $30K a year and saved the husband salary of 50K after 3 years they was able to buy a $150K home cash.
The story is very unusal but he was making a point that what they did was smart. I am not disagreeing but not everyone can do what this couple has did.
I think listening to DR is very motivational but everyone cannot do what this couple displayed. Therefore, he cannot tell everyone to take a drastic step as this young couple did.
DR is ok, I do not have a credit card myself. I invest in myself. So I see the rewards that he tries to demostrate to his listeners. I do not like debt either.
The point I am making is that pf experts are multimillionaires because of the products they sell.
That was the purpose of this post on how they make their millions.
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
You must have a very well above salary to pay off a house in 15 years and also have almost no emergencies.
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
DR says he became a multimillionaire by his business and selling his books- He mentioned that in his 4/20/07 radio show. He also said him and his wife did also the Money makeover.
I’m not sure of Suze and David Bach
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:14 pm
In reference to your article, I think you need to look up the “The Insider’s Guide to Saving Money” by Michael Ellenbogen. This book is very different. It covers many subjects. The book is a great start for proper money management, no matter what part of the world you live in. It was a powerful tool for me, in getting started accumulating my own personal wealth and getting out of debt. Who knows, it may help others.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:55 am
It’s interesting to hear people come down on Dave and him selling his books. I have often heard him say, “When I sold 3 books and made a dollar profit off each book, nobody had a problem. Now, I sell 3 million books and still make that dollar profit off each book, now they have a problem.”
Dave said he’s done borrowing money. I personally can’t blame him. I’m tired of making payments. I’m on a 30-year fixed that I’m working extra to pay off early. The next house I buy will be paid for with cash.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I always find it funny when people say “Yeah Dave, must be easy to use all cash when you’re a millionaire!”
The people who say this seem to forget that Dave went broke at 26 years old, and it was then that he decided to never, ever go into debt for anything ever again, ever. 26. Broke. No debt. Ever. This was before the book royalties. Before the radio show. Before the live events.
Doing life debt free is totally 100% doable. The only question is “Do you WANT TO do it?”
And yes, Dave realizes that he can’t convince everyone to do the 100% down plan on a house, so he is okay with a 15-year mortgage as long as you’re paying 10%-20% down and your payment does not exceed 25% of your take-home pay. This lowers your risk and still allows you to be winning financially in other areas.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:20 am
How did this subject turned on DR? I mentioned Suze and David Bach also.
I do not have an issue with neither one of them. Like I said, I do not own a credit card. I do not like debt either.
I just wanted to say that DR, David , Suze and a lot others. Became millionaires from selling books and materials.
They methods are good. I learned from Suze, David and DR.
I just wanted to point out they became Millionaiares once they advertised their PRODUCTS.
I listen to all pf experts, I learn from everyone. I’m sure they all build their wealth by using their own methods.
But I doubt if all became multimillionaires by following their steps. I’m sure they became wealthy and comfortable but not a multimillionaire.
Either way they became a better person than they were. That’s all that matter.
April 26th, 2007 at 1:29 am
I have one comment about Dave — all the money he makes off his products doesn’t go to him alone. He has a business and is the employer of a good number of people who depend on him (e.g., product sales) to make a regular payroll.
So Dave isn’t just pocketing everything. He’s producing real wealth and creating jobs. That’s pretty cool to me.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I have read materials from all of them, but always from the library. I must say David Bach’s, Automatic Millionaire made me save my $1,000 emergency fund real quick. Not that I did not know everything thing should be automatic, but the book reinforced those principles. I am working to be debt free and so I will not buy any of their books. I support my local public library.