I just wanted to alert people to a crucial question coming up for American Funds (the investment company). There’s a proposal on the table for this year’s board meeting and members are, of course, voting on the proposal. It’s known as Question 8. Read the rest of this entry »
I picked up a copy of The Millionaire Next Door after hearing Dave Ramsey say “no one should be allowed to graduate from college until they’ve read that book.” And after reading it, I must say that I agree. A while back, I listed it as one of the books that’s most changed my life and it’s done that in record time. My mindset has radically altered in the way I look at money and possessions since reading the book. And that’s after it had already been radically altered by reading Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover! Allow me to elaborate…
For most of us, we can point to a couple of things in life that have made a profound impact on us (marriage, death of a loved one, conversion, reading a book, hearing a sermon). I’ve had a few myself, but Dave Ramsey’s DVD seminar, I can honestly say, has been one of the biggest turning points in my life.
Let me give a little background into Dave Ramsey: Dave started out broke (like all of us) and became a millionaire by age 30 doing real estate. Then, because of changes in tax codes in the late ’80s (which spooked the banks), all his loans were called due and he went from millionaire to absolutely bankrupt in 2 years. During the process of going bankrupt, he also became a Christian. Out of those two life-changing experiences he wrote a book called Financial Peace and began counselling people in financial trouble. He had already worked back to the point where he was a millionaire again, but he did it completely differently the second time. In his books, radio show, live events, and DVD seminar, he shares his experience about getting out of debt and staying out of debt and how to build wealth using just your income (crock pot-style, not microwave-style).
Now Emily and I were by no means broke or even doing badly financially. And I’m notoriously skeptical of anyone telling me how to manage money because I assume they’re all saying “buy my get rich quick scheme!” But Dave Ramsey was different because he was terribly interesting, funny, and what he was saying just made sense. And the main thing I got out of it was that most of us have absolutely no clue where our money is going just like we have no clue where our lives are going. We have no plan for either. We don’t set goals for either, we don’t plan for either, we don’t review our progress on either. We walk around like “Gomer Pyle on valium.” So, after my wife whacked me over the head with the checkbook and said “Wake up, Gomer! He’s talking to you!” I really started implementing everything Dave’s plan said to do. I worked up a $1,000 emergency fund, we paid off a bunch of debt, we made a budget…
And then it started happening.
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