Teaching your kids financial responsibility

Shadowrider said:

What point? You said Dave Ramsey says X, Y, and Z, and you say (and I quote) "All of which is about as wrong as you can get" AFTER you post a pic of his palatial mansion. So it seems he's not all that wrong to most of us. You continually throw red meat out then ***** when we feed on it. Jeesh...

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Ace_on_the_Turn said:

It's not my opinion it's wrong, it's factually wrong. You prove my point when you say "it seems he's not all that wrong to most of us". He's selling false information to uninformed consumers. He's a huckster selling financial snake oil. The fact that you think it's of value is your burden.

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dennishoddy said:

A reply directly from Dave Ramsey from biblemoneymatters.com:

I just found this discussion from a twitter link. Wow. Thanks for all of your concern about my soul, my reputation and my witness. Please continue to pray for me because wisdom is sometimes elusive. The teacher in me has to reach out and help with proper biblical and life view points for some of you.

First, None of this is any of your business nor is it your problem, however in an effort to teach I have always been overly transparent. So I will try to help.

1) We tithe 10% of our before tax income to our local church
2) We have a family foundation that God allows us to give many times what our personal home or other items cost, so we give much more of God’s money to his kingdom that we live on percentage wise.
3) No Gary, we don’t have any debt any where of any kind. No corporate debt, no credit cards, no mortgage debt, no blind trusts, and no kind of debt no where no how. Didn’t you hear? I don’t believe in debt.
4) Before making a large purchase of any kind we ask God if that is what he wants us to do with HIS money. Like you I sometimes hear clearly and other times I am not sure. In the case of our home I was very sure.
5) Our home is a very small percentage of our net worth.
6) In the two years we have lived here we have had many many functions to fund raise for ministries, charities, and community causes. Millions of dollars have flowed through those events. We view our home, like everything in our life, as a tool to be used for the kingdom.
7) Yes, it blows my mind how much it costs to maintain a lot of things God has called me to manage. We have a 64,000 square foot office building (paid for) that we spend a lot of natural resources and money to keep operating and from where I came from it is sometimes hard to emotionally grasp the zeros. However, I man up, and step up to do what God gave me to do. It is weird some days though.
8) I used to say ignorant things like “what does anyone need with a ______ like that” when I was immature. Now I have been blessed to see how God uses people who are obedient when they are broke and when they aren’t. I was with a really Godly guy a few weeks ago worth 2.2 BILLION. He gives 300-500 million a year. Some of you sent him hate mail worried about his soul because he bought a $110,000 car. That does not make him wrong, that makes that person silly, foolish, and spiritually immature. Note: God gave HIM 2.2 Billion to manage, God did NOT assign you to help.

Thanks again for your concern and please continue to pray for me as I am perfectly capable of messing this whole deal up. So far though, I am not inconsistent between my message and my life. So far I have managed to keep God first, Sharon second, my kids third, and serving all of you fourth. I am having a blast and I thank all you who do understand.

P.S. I will not be visiting back to see your comments because I already know what they are: Some get it, Some don’t.
Yours In Christ,
Dave Ramsey

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TenBears said:

Live below, far below your means. I saw guys that would promote on the job, then go purchase a bigger house,boat,etc. instead of taking that extra cash and getting their future paid for. A large number of my friends have debt that I can't comprehend, they are eternal renters.

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whiskeysnoot said:

In my personal experience, Dad had me mowing yards when I was 9 y.o. He always said that he would provide necessities but if I wanted the fancy Nike shoes, the stereo, the cool bike, that I could pay the difference. When I was 15 he cosigned for my first car loan with the condition that if he ever made a payment it would become his. He said that a person most likely cannot save enough to pay cash for what they needed but with good credit can do anything. I started working in public sweeping floors at 15. Worked 30-40 hours a week during high school while keeping 3.5-3.8 GPA. At the end of school I had paid off 3 vehicle loans. At 19 bought my first house with no cosignor. I'm 45 now and only payment I have ever been late on was oversight, just plain forgot. Bottom line, he taught me very early work ethic and financial responsibility. Of all the great things Dad did for me that one there has made my life much easier.

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Ace_on_the_Turn said:

It's not my opinion it's wrong, it's factually wrong. You prove my point when you say "it seems he's not all that wrong to most of us". He's selling false information to uninformed consumers. He's a huckster selling financial snake oil. The fact that you think it's of value is your burden.

Click to expand...