Category Archives: Dave Ramsey Reads…

Dave Reads CNN Money article: House bans Welfare cards from strip clubs

Posted on February 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

February 6th, 2012 (in the 1st segment of the 2nd hour) Dave read an article by CNNMoney.com about a bill by Congress that being reviewed that will ban welfare recipients from being able to use their welfare cards at strip clubs, liqueur stores, and on cruise ships.

The bill would force states to “develop policies” to keep this from happening

I’m a very skeptical person. How will this be enforced? We can develop and require all the policies we want but enforcing them is where money meets the madness.

What Dave ranted about

Elizabeth Lower-Basch, senior policy analyst at CLASP stated “…many low-income Americans live in areas where banks are scarce, making it hard for them to find an ATM, she said..” She is under the impression that the only ATMs are in one of those three locations.

As a bonus, he talked about a study that talks about cheating on taxes

An article from MSN Money shows almost twice as many people today compared to 2010 believe it is alright to cheat a little bit on their tax returns. Here is a link http://money.msn.com/tax-tips/post.aspx?post=4fd8cd80-7efa-424e-b80b-dac073e609c9

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Dave Reads Asset Acceptance pays for deceptive collection practices

Posted on February 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

After taking a call from  Jillian in Nashville on January 31st (in the final segment of the 1st hour) about settling a debt with a collector.

The company that got served!

Asset Acceptance, LLC settle charges that it used deceptive collection practices when it tried to collect DEBTS THAT WERE NOT OWED, even some that were known to be past the statute of limitations. Here is the article Dave read: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-debt-assetacceptance-idUSTRE80T1DK20120130

The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The FDCPA was put into place by the Federal Trade Commission in 1978. Essentially it was designed to protect consumers from what I would call “very bad manners” by collectors and their tactics to get debtors to make a payment. I’m all for that! The problem is it is very difficult to enforce, like trying to stomp on all the ants before they get away. The collectors break the rules, change their names, and open up down the block under a different name (sometimes in the same place under a new name). In this case, it worked.

How can you prove unfair treatment by a collector?

Here is a short list of things you can do to protect yourself and possibly prove you have been treated unfairly:

  • Keep track of all calls with date, time, person you speak with, and the topics of conversation
  • Let the calls go to voicemail
  • Record the conversation with an audio recording device

There are a number of items on the market to record calls without having to wait for the answering machine to pick up. As long as you let the caller know you are recording the call (for training purposes, of course) then record the conversation. Have the caller note the date, time, and their name on the call before getting into the topic. This information can come in very handy in a court of law.

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Dave Reads BOA gives loan modifications to those who don’t complain on Facebook

Posted on January 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

If you were listening to the radio show on January 30th (1st segment in the 1st hour) you heard Dave come to the defense of Bank of America, a company who Dave regularly states is a company who mistreats their customers. He read an article from The Consumerist website, where Shoppers bite back.

The article talks about a law suit from the State of Arizona stating BOA is hindering an investigation by negotiating settlements with underwater homeowners who have agreed to take down negative comments from their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

If you’d like to read the article about a borrower who agreed to remove and delete Facebook and Twitter statements he had made about a dispute he had with BOA, go to: http://consumerist.com/2012/01/bank-of-america-accused-of-giving-loan-modifications-to-people-who-wont-complain-about-them-on-faceb.html

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Dave Reads Seething Pit of Class Resentment

Posted on January 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Here is a link to the article Dave read on Monday January 16th (at the bottom half of the 2nd hour). Here is a quote from Dave’s segment that may get some people riled up, and reading one sentence in a blogpost may cause you to take it out of context, but it’s a pretty potent statement:

“Envy is a sin, and the politics of envy being pushed by both parties right now and by the news media relentlessly are teaching you to be envious are spreading sin.”

Click on the picture to read “It’s Official: Wealth Gap Has Turned America Into A Seething Class Of Resentment”

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Dave Disputes Debt Management Psychology Hurts Consumers

Posted on January 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

An article written by Cynthia Cryder, an assistant professor in my hometown of St. Louis, stated that it is undisputed that the best way to tackle debt is to pay down the loan or credit card with the highest interest rate first.

Dave disagreed

On 1/10/12 (half way through the 1st hour) Dave verbally disputes this claim so it isn’t undisputed. But you didn’t need a post from me to tell you that.

I have to disagree with Dave (What!?)

The study is correct and a majority of the statements made in the article are also correct. It can be proven mathematically that paying off a higher-interest balance loan will pay down a balance faster than tackling a low-interest rate account. Example: If you have a $1,000 credit card at 3%, a $4,000 student loan at 4%, and a $15,000 car loan at 10% then paying down the car would reduce the debt faster than making only minimum payments in order to tackle the credit card first.

But this isn’t about math

The problem with this article, and what the statements made by the researchers imply, is that paying down debt has little to do with interest rate. A dozen accounts with a 0% interest rate is still debt. The problem with debt reduction plans that tell you to pay off the higher interest rate first is that you don’t get the instant gratification that you got when you put the debt on the stupid credit card in the first place. Without the “quick win” you lose motivation and quit. Then you still have the debt and a hopeless attitude.

The way humans pay off debt

Math doesn’t pay off debt, humans do. The way to pay OFF debt is to get mad, work extra, spend less, and send everything you can to debt reduction. Reduce it so much that it goes away fast! Experiencing the results of paying off a debt quickly will keep you energized and psyched to keep going, regardless of interest rate!

Make all your accounts 0%

“I wish I had 0% interest rates” you say? You can. Pay off all your debts, smallest balance to largest for the quick wins and you won’t be paying interest. Put money into savings and investments that earn you interest instead!

Those who understand (compound) interest are destined to collect it. Those who don’t are doomed to pay it.

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Dumbest Thing Financed

Posted on January 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

On Monday January 9th (1st segment of the 2nd hour) Elizabeth wrote Dave about her day at the gym.

“I was at the gym today and overheard 2 women talking about Christmas. One woman
proudly told her friend that she bought her daughter a cat for Christmas. The best part was when she said “I put it on a payment plan, it’s only $19.95 a month.”

This prompted Dave to ask listeners to jump in with the “Dumbest thing you ever
financed.” Instantly, Twitter followers sent in their responses.

Some of the best responses (including one I submitted)

  • Cigarettes. I used to buy them on a credit card
  • A tax bill
  • RCI timeshare
  • Lotto tickets
  • A waterbed mattress in 1987
  • I got a loan to finance my stock market trading idea
  • Bar tabs. Still paying them years later
  • My lasik eye surgery. I kept wondering how they would repo them if I didn’t pay
  • A 1984 Macintosh computer with all the extras. Over $3,000
  • A cash advance to a Nigeria Prince who really needed my help
  • We financed a fitness machine in January 2003. It was a great clothes hanger
  • My ex-wife and I once financed $1,000 worth of Mary Kay cosmetics for the garage
  • I used a student loan to buy a new hunting rifle. Is there something wrong with that?

What was the dumbest thing you ever financed?

We’ve all done stupid things with money. It’s hard to spend every penny just right, but making a bad financial decision it isn’t the end of your chances for a taking vacations or saving for retirement. However, continuing to make poor financial decisions will.

Want to do better with your money? This blog brought to you by Steve Stewart, the only Dave Ramsey Trained Coach and Certified FPU Trainer who has been featured in a segment on the Dave Ramsey Show. Let me help you be the person you need to be: A strong provider for your family and a wise spender with the ability to give like no one else.

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Dave Reads: Americans bought more cars and trucks last year

Posted on January 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dave read an article on 1/5/12 (right off the bat in the first segment of the 1st hour, he must have been charged up by it). The topic: Americans bought more cars and trucks last year. The article, released by the Associated Press, can be found in a number of places including Bloomberg Businessweek.

Dave’s thoughts on buying cars

  1. Don’t buy a brand new car unless you can pay cash for it (no loans, no leases)
  2. You have a net worth of more than $1,000,000
  3. The total value of your cars is no more than half your annual income
If you can’t meet these guidelines then he recommends you find a good used car or a hooptie.

Name your Hooptie

He asked listeners who bought hoopties to email or Tweet the nicknames they gave their cars. Here is a list of a couple:

  • The “and am” because it was missing the “Gr” in the front
  • “Betsy”, a 92 Honda Accord the listener’s wife called “The Other Woman”
  • The “Silver Streak”, a primer-gray Volvo
  • “Doris the Taurus”
  • “The Gold Goober”
  • “The Flying Blue Monkey”
  • “Patches”
  • “The Sweater”, a little MR2 for a driver who was 6’2″
  • Dave’s daughter Denise’s car’s name? “Waldo” because she would constantly forget where she parked it and say “Where’s Waldo”

What happened next

What happened in the next segment was awesome. A couple who makes more than $300,000 a year, $500,000 in the banks, and two cars (one with a car payment) wanted Dave’s opinion on buying a new $160,000 Lamborghini. What do you think Dave’s answer was considering they have the money and a great income?

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Dave Reads: Rich People Are Unfeeling Robots

Posted on January 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

On January 2, 2012 (in the 1st hour)

Dave read an article from Consumerist.com, an online magazine website, with the title “Study: Rick People Are Unfeeling Robots Devoid Of Compassion” (aired in the 1st hour on 1/2/12). The study was conducted on 300 college students from various income levels by psychologist Jennifer Stellar.

Dave was, shall we say, less forgiving to the survey methodology behind the study. Let us mimic the article by making a couple of assumptions about the 300 subjects used in this study:

What college students know about being rich

I am making the assumption that they do know something about being rich considering they have access to food, shelter, and clean water that is far more superior than a majority of the world’s population.

What college students know about Unfeeling Robots

Again, I am making the assumption that they know something about this variable since quite a few of them talk to Siri, the intelligent software assistant that comes pre-installed on the new iPhone, and are attending a University.

What the study proved

This study of College students who are relatively rich and know something about unfeeling robots that were asked questions about empathy proved this to me: You have to look at everything you read or watch with a critical eye. This study was not presented with an objective eye, it was targeted to get you to read it. There was no mention of robots or androids or even cyborgs in the original article that was released on Time.com, so this was a headline designed to get our eyeballs.

The motivation for printing this article was to get clicks and grow readership. Dave reading this on-air just gave them a boost in web-traffic, so Consumerism.com got what they wanted: our eyeballs.

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Dave Reads – What The Great Depression Did

Posted on December 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Dave read an article from the Motley Fool

…called “What the Great Depression did that this Recession won’t” during the 2nd hour on December 14, 2011.  The main message: Unlike the Great Depression, not much has changed.  For more, go to http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/12/13/what-the-great-depression-did-that-this-recession.aspx

Dave expanded on the topic by talking about how he can hardly get out of his building’s parking lot because the traffic around the mall across the street is so congested. He also reminded us that bankruptcy and divorce in the 60′s was something most people would be ashamed to be a part of. Things are more disposable these days and there has been a shift in the way people look at obligations.

Do you want to improve your economy?

This message was brought to you by Steve Stewart, a self-proclaimed Personal Finance Architect helping everyday Americans design a house of financial freedom. Steve is a Certified Financial Peace Workplace Trainer and has completed Dave Ramsey’s Counselor Training.

To learn more about how you can improve your own economy and other great resources go to MoneyPlanSOS.com or contact him at 636-373-4818. Free 45-minute consultations are available now!

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Dave Reads – Biting The Hand That Feeds You

Posted on September 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

On September 13, 2011 (3rd hour) Dave read a post by David H. King, President and CEO of Alexander-Haas. The article, posted on the Giving Institute’s blog, talked about how much the richest in America give and how politicians and non-profits keep asking them to give their “Fair Share”.

It is a quick read, check it out for yourself. Good stuff:

http://givinginstitute.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/biting-the-hand-that-feeds-us/

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