I enjoy discussions about my finances about as much as I enjoy talking about my weight. I certainly need to work on both, but I'd prefer to avoid the topics if at all possible, thank you very much. Can I get an "amen"?Dave Ramsey, radio talk show host, author and all-around financial guru, is no stranger to this ostrich routine. After his own bankruptcy he came to the conclusion that the key to financial (and physical) fitness isn't knowing all the tricks of the money trade; it's being honest with yourself. "If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich," he says in his new book THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER.In other words, you have to get your head out of the sand. Okay, I have to get my head out of the sand.Leaving the skinny to other books, Ramsey is a prophet to those who want to be rich but would settle for being financially stable. It's clear that this is a large group, given the popularity of Ramsey's radio show and books. After reading THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER, I can see why they flock to him for advice.Ramsey's principles are simple and straightforward. Pay cash. Pay off debts from smallest to largest. Create an emergency fund. He provides easy-to-understand answers to many seemingly complex questions about budgeting, retirement funds, saving for college education, and more.Large pullout quotes scattered throughout the book offer bite-sized financial advice and factoids in Ramsey's typically direct manner:"A new $28,000 car will lose about $17,000 of value in the first four years you own it. To get the same result, you could toss a $100 bill out the window once a week during your commute.""Looking to spend $100 per month on life insurance? You could pay $7 a month toward term insurance and invest the remaining $93. But go with a cash-value policy if you'd rather have someone else earn interest on your investments.""49% of Americans could cover less than one months' expenses if they lost their income.""If your mortgage payment is $900 and the interest portion is $830, you will pay that year around $10,000 in interest. What a great tax deduction! Right? Otherwise, you'd pay $3,000 in taxes on that $10,000. But who in their right mind would chose to trade $10,000 for $3,000?"All of this advice is helpful and eye opening, but what Ramsey really excels at is presenting inspirational tales of those who were once, but are no longer, in financial disarray. Their stories make up at least a third of the book, and the cumulative effect is that of a published pep rally designed to get people pumped up about saving money. And it works.This is a must-read book for anyone whose looking for a little basic financial information and a whole lot of courage to finally put away the ostrich suit. --- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
If you're thinking about passing on this latest book from financial guru Dave Ramsey because you've already read his first New York Times bestseller Financial Peace, think again. Financial Peace is "what to do." Total Money Makeover is a step-by-step, nuts and bolts "how to do" kind of book. Dave takes the seven key principles of a healthy financial plan from Financial Peave and gives them a shot of adrenaline and a ton of muscle! He walks with you through each of the seven "baby steps" and shows you exactly how to accomplish each one. Along the way Dave shares dozens of stories from people who are working on or have completed their own Total Money Makeover. The result is a book that could replace all others on personal finance. Reader beware: If you're looking for the next "get rich quick" book from a guy with a calculator and no experience, this is not the book for you. But if you want an uplifting and encouraging book that will show you exactly how to build true wealth and will give you loads of stories from people who have done just that, pick this book up today! Dave knocks it out of the park with Total Money Makeover, and your personal finances could be doing the same very soon.
Finally, a book that speaks to everyone, from those who are complete financial disasters to those who pay their bills on time, but overpend and need to reduce their debt load. Too many books about debt focus only on paying your bills on time and reducing your interest rates, while ignoring the people who have too much debt and are too smart about it, never paying a late fee and keeping it all at low interest.
I have never heard Ramsey's radio show, but this book was a huge wake-up call for me. It is motivational and it will get you pumped to get intense about reducing your debt load and living only with the cash you have today. The strategies are excellent, the advice is solid, and people have turned their lives around under Ramsey's guidance. There are a lot of testimonials in this book, perhaps a few too many, but I enjoyed seeing the success stories and seeing the different kinds of people who turned to Ramsey's method.
This book has wide appeal and everyone should check it out once to give their finances a good sanity check.
This is the first book I've read that thows away the fancy models, throws out all of the crappy advice your broke friends have given you, and simplifies financing down to easy, understandable concepts. This book isn't for people looking to get rich quick. If you're looking for a high-risk big payback scheme, move on. If you're looking to build a financial future based on solid, time-tested concepts, this book will change your life. It shows you a clear path to financial success based on debt reduction, saving, and, believe it or not, giving.
Dave was a millionaire by the time he was 30-years-old. Then he went broke, filed for bankruptcy and had to start over from nothing. His concepts are based on interviews he's done with millionaires and an autopsy on his financial failure. His plan is rooted in very sound financial concepts such as: there is no way to borrow your way to wealth.
He lays out a plan based on simple baby steps that walk with you from your current situation (buried in debt otherwise why are you looking at this review), to retirement with enough money to burn. No matter your income level, mine is quite high, this book will give you a path from debt to wealth.
Here's the catch. This plan requires you to change your habits. IT IS NOT FUN. IT IS NOT EASY. IT CAN BE DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL. But if you put yourself through this plan, within 5 years you will be out of debt, and on a path to some serious wealth. I will be completely debt free with money in the bank and a retirement plan going by June of next year. I can see how I will retire with millions of dollars in the bank. I have financial security for the first time in my life. Dave's plan simply works. Are you fed up with living paycheck to paycheck? Tired of CitiBank? Tired of GM Finance? Buy this book and get intense. Thank me later when you're rich. - Dave Ramsey - Debt - Finance - Financial Freedom'
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