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by Jerry Robinson | FTMDaily Editor-in-Chief
HOUSTON, TX
Prepared to be astounded by the amazing financial “wisdom” of personal financial guru, Dave Ramsey!
(Just make sure you are sitting down… and remove all sharp objects from your reach.)
Here’s a flashback from one of our FTMWeekly Financial podcasts from June 2010.
In this audio clip, Jerry Robinson shares a snippet from the popular Christian financial radio program, the Dave Ramsey Show.
In this clip, Dave completely trashes gold as an investment as well as popular economist, investment advisor, and best-selling author, Peter Schiff. (Peter has been a guest on our weekly podcast. You can listen that interview here.)
Then, Dave Ramsey shows just how out of touch he really is by expressing amazement that Glenn Beck would be warning people about an impending economic and currency crisis. (Remember, this is back in 2008.)
After this total nonsense, the concerned caller brings up the former head of the Government Accountability Office, David Walker. Mr. Walker is the former chief accountant of the United States Government and has been warning for years that America is in deep fiscal trouble due to its reckless path of overspending.
Hmmm… Can you think of anyone who might know the state of our nation’s economy better than the chief accountant of the country’s finances?
If you guessed personal financial guru, Dave Ramsey, you get the prize! (Well, there really isn’t a prize. But good guess!)
Friends, Dave Ramsey is completely 100% clueless on the U.S. economy.
For those of you who are not familiar with Peter Schiff, his investment mantra for at least the last decade has been:
- Buy precious metals
- The U.S. dollar is in a downward trend
- Avoid Mutual Funds
- The Federal Reserve is a fraud
In sharp contrast, Dave Ramsey has been tirelessly dispensing the same advice that the mainstream media has been selling to you for years:
- Gold and silver are dumb investments
- Max out your 100% government-controlled 401k and IRA
- Pay off all your debt and only use cash for everything
- Buy term life insurance and invest the difference in “good growth mutual funds.”
Final Comment: If you want to pay off debt, there are few better motivators than Dave Ramsey in my opinion. But when it comes to the economy and real financial planning, it is usually best to ignore Mr. Ramsey. His track record is dismal, at best. After all, his claim to fame is bankruptcy. Steer clear.
Instead of going any further, I will just let Dave Ramsey’s words speak for themselves. If you haven’t listened to the audio clip above, check it out.
(Your thoughts and comments are welcome… See comment section below.)
Jerry Robinson
@ftmdaily
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
This audio cuts off too early (10:32). I remember reading an article how financial “not experts” like him say one thing in public and do another thing in private. I get calls from sales people who tell me how good their products are and they probably don’t buy the products themselves. I won’t hold gold if it will go against my plan, gold doesn’t provide cashflow, but my savings plan is to not save in dollars and to keep on listening to real experts.
Ronald… Audio should be fixed now… Thanks for catching it.
I’ve listened to Dave for yrs on & off and I’m shocked that he continues to give this kind of advice. FDIC is broke but the Fed will keep it afloat by printing more money, adding fuel to the fire. I don’t own precious metals as an investment (although it’s proven to be a darned good well in recent yrs). I own it to perserve my purchasing power and as ahedge against inflation. I’ve owned stocks, bonds & funds in my 401K and I have to tell you that they go, they down, they go up, they go down and over the years, my net gain is mediocure compared to other investments. I did purchase gold & silver back just before 2000 (Y2K), I kind of forgot about it. However, now I’m really glad I purchsed the little I did. Bernake seems to be determined to destroy the dollar and inflation is a real problem (no matter what Obama tells you) and will only get worst. I don’t who is advising the President on economic policy, but the either they are dumb, liars or they have another agenda that they “Ain’t” telling us about; take your pick.
As for Dave’s advice to buy term & invest the difference that’s like chasing the wind (unless you buy Gold or Silver). Personally, I’m moving part of my IRA into a fixed indexed Life Insurance annuity because I no my hard earned savings till be safe and grow.
I’m surprised that Dave can’t admit that his advice to NOT buy Gold & Silver has backfired.
Good points Wyona. Yes, annuities can be an source of lifetime income in the right circumstances.
I just noticed something. I was watching an old movie called Hudson Hawk (made in 1991). The main villian was touting golds influence in the world. At that time, 1991, gold was at $300+ dollars. Good time to buy. Even a Bruce Willis movie called gold.
Thanks for the clip…………….I think it unfortunate that Dave Ramsey has achieved such a stranglehold in Christian Churches. He is practically a cult icon. His advice is not the only–nor even the best– advice christians need to hear……In my opinion, if you follow his advice to its logical conclusion, while it is true that you may someday be debt free, you will struggle all your life and probably end up quite destitute and what kind of life is that???
I believe Obama and this administration supports the UN and their “One World Government”. George Soros as well as many of Obama’s bunch have admitted in their own words the plans they have for the US. I believe Obama is ignoring our Congress and instead is taking his orders from the UN. 90% of Americans still think the “One World Gov” thing is a conspiracy. People need to log on to AmericanPolicy.org and click on the AGENDA 21
Article and read it at least two times. You will understand why Obama has nationalized GM, Banks, HealthCare, etc. You will understand exactly what the Obama and the UN have planned for America. It is shocking and frightening. Everyone needs to read AGENDA 21. Read it now. This site is owned by Tom DeWeese.
The info on AGENDA 21 was taken from their own website. However, the left will still deny it. This is what the Left do when they are caught. They lie, lie, lie and deny, deny, deny and the gullible just keep right on believing them. Very sad.
I happened to hear Dave Ramsey when he blasted gold. It really shocked me. I started 2nd guessing myself but then, no…I thought, where has this guy been to make that statement? I think he is right on about getting out of debt but after that he’s letting a lot of people down with his investment advice. Maybe his heart is in the right place but…..
Dave is probably Illuminati. Why else would he be getting all this airplay? And why would he STILL want people to not buy precious metals. He’s knowingly leading people into the paper money trap, knowingly evil. No one on that level is that incredibly stupid, it takes a five minute internet search to start learning about inflation, the fed etc. .
He browbeats people needlessly, and the good advice is basically “pay off your debts”. Great. Doesn’t take any particular program to do that. All he’s selling you is one of a trillion debt free programs which all work since the basis is you making money then putting that towards debts. Dead simple.
@Ronald,
“gold doesn’t provide cashflow”
Of course it doesn’t. Gold is NOT an investment. Gold is MONEY. You use it as an exchange mechanism for goods and services just like you would any currency. Silver too! If you want cashflow buy Silver/Gold stocks. Those are investments.
Well Dave you've probably read these comments. Why don't you look up "mathematical certainty" and $1900.00 and "parabolic" and other such terms and phrases and start to clue in your listeners instead of leading them into the slaughter pen. You've done more good than bad overall most likely, so why throw all that karma away? Being wrong is not such a big deal.
Dave is fairly good on personal financial advice, e.g. budgeting, but his investment advice is awful and pedestrian at best. One one show he actually compared buying gold and silver to "investing" in Beanie Babies. Basically saying the market would collapse and you would be left with mounds of useless metal. Shows a total lack of economic understanding on his part. I know things cycled back in the 1970's and 80's and that is what he draws his conclusions on, but the government fiscal situation was vastly better before the massive deficit build up. Also, when Central Banks continue to buy gold in the spot market, that tells me all I need to know about the dollar and gold prices. Dave is flat out wrong.
I have been greatly disappointed in Ramsey’s inability to understand the political, economic and, yes, spiritual aspect of gold and silver. There is no other asset that has as much intrinsic value as gold. None.