I’ve reached escape velocity

I’m not in debt

I have enough to carry me to end, and live a great life

Not relying on anyone,,,, I won’t receive any public pension

Did it all myself

Bernie, don't take offense, but you are out of your league.

I'm they type of guy that should avoid debt as should most consumers.

You are talking about avoiding debt on declining assets, sp is talking about using debt to build appreciating assets.


Ramseys philosophy works for the average consumer.

Robert Kiyosaki's works for others.

Millionaires use credit each and everyday. Borrowing money is cheaper then selling stock and taking from investment portfolio. Retired people that have millions burrow each for the same reason they make more on their investments then borrowed money. I know many of them not saying right or wrong but many ways to get to the end point to be financially independent.

For the record,,,

I never borrowed money, to make money

But some people do,,,,, and it’s not a bad thing

Never made more than 50k a year,,,,,

What I did was work 7 days a week, for 4-5 months straight

Take a 4-6-8 weeks off,,,,,, and not blow my money

Invest it in the capital markets

Do it again,,,,,, for 25 years,,,,

tmi

I disagree with you about Ramsey working for the average consumer. I think his system works best for those on both ends of the spectrum but poorly for those who are truly average. If you have made poor decisions and are in a lot of debt and have a hard time managing it, his system may be for you. Alternatively if you are a high earner and can save large amounts of cash relatively quickly, his system may be a great fit.

However, if you are in the middle and ever want to really get ahead, I feel his system is just as likely to hold you back as it is to help you. He will routinely encourage people to put off life changing investments until they can save enough cash to fund it without debt. Such as starting their own businesses, buying homes ect. If you are on a average salary, it will likely be decades before you could save the amount of cash to fund these kinds of endeavors. By then you would be ready to retire before you could get that business started.

I have even seen him discourage people from saving for retirement until after they have all of their debt paid off. That can cost precious time in the market that can easily cost you more in lost compound market returns than it could ever save you in interest over the years.

I'm not familiar with this guy but your statement of losing precious time of compounding over a long period holds a lot of weight and carries a big stick. The power of compounding is very real.

Nice!!

Somebody that had actually paid attention to what Ramsey sez

That’s refreshing

Although I am personally no fan of being in debt, there are certainly times when taking on a modest amount of debt can be beneficial. Take for example buying a new vehicle. Assume you have the cash available to buy a new F-150 outright for $65K. As soon as you drive off the lot, the value of that truck begins depreciating. Now, let's say you finance it instead...

You take advantage of Ford's 60 month 0% APR deal, and for the next 5 years you pay $0 in interest, an $800 monthly payment, and pay off $48k of the truck... Assuming the truck costs $65 K... you'll have $17K left to pay.... so you'll refinance that for the current rate, say 8%, and within 2 more years have it paid off. Now, for the 7 years you've been paying on this truck, you have taken the money you would have spent if you'd bought it outright and invested it in an ETF such as QQQ.......which, over the past 3 years has had a return of 32%.......at the end of the 7 years, the $65K you invested, from which you also removed the monthly payments over the 7 years, has now grown to $135,060.

So, instead of paying $65K out of pocket and having the value of the truck immediately start falling, you took advantage of leverage and instead grew that $65K to $135K AND paid for the truck. Kind of a no brainer, huh? The main difference, IMO, between rich people and poor people, is that poor people are simply uninformed on financial matters and how to use finance to work for themselves.

Sure, it might "feel good" to have no debt, but I'd rather carry the debt while increasing my wealth significantly at the same time than feel good. And besides, if you already have the money to pay for the truck in full, there really is little risk.... the money's there in your portfolio, if something catastrophic were to happen such as a job loss, just pull it out and pay off the loan. The only risk would be a market crash.

First rule of gambling: NEVER bet what you can't afford to lose

Poppycock