The Truth About Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps

When you get serious about taking control of your finances, one of the first names or resources you may come by is Dave Ramsey. He is a beast in the personal finance industry. Dave has undoubtedly impacted millions – MILLIONS- of people’s lives through his Financial Peace University, radio show, best-selling books, and the plethora of other financial education resources available through Ramsey Solutions.

But what happens after you take control of your money and climb out of the “dungeon of debt” as Bo calls it? Well, here is where we think that our Financial Order of Operations parlays nicely with Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps.

Tune in to this week’s episode of The Money Guy show to find out how you can maneuver your finances to even greater success as we apply, compare and contrast Dave’s 7 Baby Steps to our Financial Order of Operations.

Here is what you will learn in today’s episode:

• The difference between The Money Guy Financial Order of Operations and Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps 
• A review of each of Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps
• How many American’s actually don’t make it passed Dave’s first Baby Step of saving $1,000 in cash for emergencies
• How to go beyond the first $1,000 in savings and cover yourself more completely
• What Dave Ramsey’s ‘Debt Snowball’ of Baby Step #2 means and how to apply it to your life
• The average income by American household and average debt (by type of debt)
• Why we think you need to get the employer match while you’re working on paying down your debt
• The Money Guy stance on credit cards
• How to prioritize paying off your debt according to our Financial Order of Operations
• Why we’re in agreement with Baby Step #3 and how to determine how much emergency reserves you need
• How to take ‘Baby Step #4: Invest 15 percent of your income for retirement’ and why we think you should aim for more like 20 to 25 percent!
• The types of accounts you can invest in, how they work, and when they may be most beneficial
•  Deep dive into Baby Step #5: Save for Your Children’s College and guidance on how to save for your child’s education
• What may be more valuable than saving up a big fat college savings fund
• Do we agree or disagree with Baby Step #6: Pay Off Your Mortgage Early?
• Why Baby Step #7: Build Wealth and Give is so valuable to your financial well-being and overall well-being

Resources and Research Cited in this Episode

• 58% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings, Survey Finds (Yahoo Finance)
• A Foolish Take: Here’s how much debt the average U.S. household owes (USA Today)
• A growing percentage of Americans have no emergency savings whatsoever (Bankrate)
• The Average Retirement Savings by Age
• College is No Free Ride (Fidelity)
• Brain Imaging Reveals Joys of Giving (National Institutes of Health)
• Six Reasons Why People Give Their Money Away, or Not (Psychology Today)

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