Dave Ramsey......

[Flatbroke1]

Dave Ramsey says, "Bankruptcy is a gut-wrenching, life-changing event that causes lifelong damage", actually, "dealing with bill collectors is the "gut-wrenching, life-changing event that causes lifelong damage"......We filled for Chapter 7 February 1, had our 341 meeting March 8 and are now awaiting the magic date of May 7 for discharge. I have no regrets! I will wisely use my "fresh start". My advice? If you qualify, Go for it! I do believe however, that Dave Ramsey advice and ideas are great and wise to pursue once the bankruptcy is behind you to keep you out of trouble again.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I can add nothing to your comment. I like Dave Ramsey also, but he is fervently against bk. I believe it to be a tool of healing when there is no other practical option. Bk was the best thing we ever did as it gave us a new perspective on what values are REALLY important. We are happier now than when we had lots of bucks. 'Hub

[banca rotta]

I only agree with Dave on saving money for emergencies, car repairs, home repairs, etc. to avoid using credit and winding up back in bk.

Other then that the man has no freaken clue what he is talking about.

He hates debt and so do I but in this money printing, inflationary system it actually pays to have debts on appreciating assets.

He's also obsessed with mutual funds which I laugh at everytime I hear him tell his listeners to "invest in funds with a long track record and you will be rich".

There are several thousand mutual funds. It's not that easy to pick the good ones. Even worse as I have mentioned on other posts this is a ponzi system and the human race is running out of new suckers to pay back the old suckers.

With no pensions and baby boomers retiring in record numbers these mutual funds are going to go to zero. Where on earth are the new suckers to feed this scheme going to come from???

He tells us to look at their past performance by stating "long track record" but that was then and this is now.

Other then that he's a nice guy with good intentions but be careful with his investment advice.

[Flatbroke1]

In a sense, I picture bankruptcy as a "funeral". The unsolvable financial problems are the "deceased". Somewhere along the line a person has to realize that "CPR" (i.e., credit counseling, debt settlement, negotiating with bill collectors), doesn't always work for everyone and they must face reality and then go on with their life. There are times people go through temporary financial situations that can be recovered from, but there are times when bankruptcy is the only logical solution. People cannot survive the collections stress for long periods of time without physical or emotional consequences. If a person is so stressed out that they get fired due to poor job performance or if they miss work due to stress induced sickness, or have marital problems, etc., a person’s financial situation can snowball and go from bad to worse! Life is too short to deal with unreasonable bill collectors!

[Logan]

If I had taken Dave Ramsey's advice I'd still be paying off debt with absolutely no savings in the bank. Thanks to my BK I have 9 months living expenses in the bank and I'm maxing out my 401K.

For those who say it is morally better to pay off your debts than to go BK can kiss my A$$. If it wasn't for the managers of my company cutting everyones pay and laying off while putting large bonuses in their own pockets I would have been able to avoid BK. The morally corrupt are the corporations in this country. It was the free market that sent the mortgage business into a tailspin and as long as corporations care more about profits than people the middle class of this country are doomed.

Logan

[frogger]

Good ole' Dave Ramsey. The pot calling the kettle black.......

[flyinbroke]

Dave reminds me of a fervently pro-life former friend who got pregnant while her husband was deployed. She was the first to race to the clinic to take care of the problem (well, she couldn't let hubby find out about her dalliance) then got back on her high horse about others' decisions. I pointed out that it is hypocritical to do that after she used the same system to "eliminate a problem".

And no, I don't want to get into the Roe v. Wade debate...I am just saying that DR had good ideas but is more than slightly hypocritical.

Dave filed BK when it was convenient for him to do so then turns around and discusses how his methodology really works. It did for the people in the books, because they had 30K in debt and 100K+ paychecks. It apparently did not for Dave. So how does he really know it works?

[Universal]

I have never listened much to DR, and now I probably won't. I certainly don't need someone making me feel worse than I already have about bk. But..... I am feeling better every day.

[Minnymouth]

Most of us filed BK as a "last resort" to straighten our financial life out.
And yes DR does have some good advice about staying prepared to emergencies, etc.
Investing can be a good thing for some folks, and downfall for others.

Best advice I know - is buy what you need - not what your want!!! Be realistic about your life style and what you can afford.

Works for me......

Minny

[Ann]

Here is what I think of Dave... Think about it... if he was for bankruptcy and the relief it can bring to those that need it he wouldn't be a millionaire selling all those books about how NOT to file for bankruptcy. People wouldn't need his advice. Let's see if he paid off all his debts while starving like he instructs others to do his fat ass wouldn't be where he is today. He got his "fresh start" and that is why he was able to "rebuild" his financial life back. So the rest of the world shouldn't? Yeah right on Dave!

[braincramp]

If I had taken Dave Ramsey's advice I'd still be paying off debt with absolutely no savings in the bank. Thanks to my BK I have 9 months living expenses in the bank and I'm maxing out my 401K.

For those who say it is morally better to pay off your debts than to go BK can kiss my A$$. If it wasn't for the managers of my company cutting everyones pay and laying off while putting large bonuses in their own pockets I would have been able to avoid BK. The morally corrupt are the corporations in this country. It was the free market that sent the mortgage business into a tailspin and as long as corporations care more about profits than people the middle class of this country are doomed.

Logan

Well said! I couldn't agree more. We were doing fine until all the CC's decided they needed to double and triple their interest rates.

[banca rotta]

Most of us filed BK as a "last resort" to straighten our financial life out.
And yes DR does have some good advice about staying prepared to emergencies, etc.
Investing can be a good thing for some folks, and downfall for others.

Best advice I know - is buy what you need - not what your want!!! Be realistic about your life style and what you can afford.

Works for me......

Minny

Investing is a great thing. I have learned in the last 24 months that mutual funds are a lousy way to invest and Dave seems to love them.

If I could ask Dave one question I would ask him where does he think the investors are coming from in the future that can keep purchasing mutual fund shares.

In 10 to 15 years the USA and the world in general will have more old folks then young. Add to that no pension. The minute boomers are in retirement these "safe" mutual funds will come screaming back to earth. Dave doesn't think so for some reason. I wonder why?

[meateater]

Ramsey has some good advice for folks who have not already passed the financial point of no return. I read his books and implemented his advice about starting an emergency fund, making a budget, and other common sense things that kids probably learned about from their parents in generations gone by. I sometimes anonymously surf the Dave Ramsey forum (you don't need to be a member to read the postings) and was initially surprised that several of the posters had themselves filed bankruptcy previously, found themselves back in debt, and were doing the Ramsey program in the hopes of turning things around.

I totally agree with Ann's comment about Ramsey being where he is because he got a fresh start. Some folks will unfortunately try to do his program for years, get nowhere, and end up filing bankruptcy, they would have been way better off if they recognized the writing on the wall and filed sooner rather than later.

[FLBK7]

Well said! I couldn't agree more. We were doing fine until all the CC's decided they needed to double and triple their interest rates.

They're still at it, apparently. Today I got a notice from Citibank (who owns my Sears card) saying that for people who have an APR interest rate, beginning June 1st they're going to base the APR on the Wall Street Journal published rate 2 days before the statement closing date.

I don't carry any balances on any card, and hope to God I never will again. But it really is astonishing to see how the CC companies and banks have rushed to protect themselves to the maximum in light of the CC reform law.

Too bad CC reform couldn't have gone into effect immediately, instead of giving these sleaze bags so much time to "prepare."

[braincramp]

Too bad CC reform couldn't have gone into effect immediately, instead of giving these sleaze bags so much time to "prepare."

I believe the government could have.But ,I don't think they wanted to.