Financial Peace Revisited

List Price: $23.95 Discount Price: $12.81

Customer Reviews:

Ames, your review is ridiculous... [Posted on 2008-05-21]
Ames, your review of Financial Peace is so full of jealousy and resentment it is truly sad.

"When Dave Ramsey can live off of $24,000.00 a year, and have a family, then perhaps I can listen to him." He's actually had to live off less than that in the past and even went bankrupt before he got his act together. So he's walked in your shoes, didn't like how they fit, and decided to DO something about it.

"However, I believe in putting my family first. That does not include getting two or three jobs to pay off debt, and make my family suffer; no way!" Great job, Ames! Way to use your family as an excuse to be lazy and mediocre! By getting out of debt as soon as possible, you ARE putting your family first! Have you ever heard of the notion of "short-term suffering for long-term gain"? Obviously not. Dave isn't saying go get three jobs for the rest of your life and neglect your family. He's saying if you have to get three jobs for six months or a year or two to get out of debt, so be it. So what if you miss out on some time with your kids? Your wife should be their primary caregiver anyway! As the man and head of your household, your primary role is PROVIDER, not loving caregiver. By getting your family out of debt, budgeting, investing, and giving, you're giving your kids an example to follow for the rest of their lives - something far more important than "playtime".

"Dave claims to be a religious man, and if that were the case, he would realize that the Bible says that family comes before the love of money (as well as a few other things)" No, he claims to be a Christian, and all of his ideas and attitudes about money are Biblically sound. Nothing about Dave's plan advocates the love of money. It advocates the responsible stewardship of what God has given us, caring enough about our families to not be broke, and generous giving.

"And finally, the man makes hundreds of thousands a year. I just can't follow the words of someone who does that and expects normal people to live." No, he makes millions a year and he deserves every cent. So you must only follow the advice of "normal" people, right? If two people at the same level just keep taking one another's advice, they'll both stay exactly where they are. An intelligent person finds those who have done better than himself and follows their example. But you just go ahead and keep following the advice of "normal" people - I'm sure you'll keep raking in that $24K a year - hope you're satisfied with that. Nothing about Dave's plan involves being normal or average. Normal people use credit cards. Normal people don't have a clue what discipline and restraint are. Normal people fight about money and get divorced. Sounds great to me, let's all be normal! No thanks, I'd rather live like no one else so that later I can live like no one else!

What it comes down to Ames, is that you don't have the discipline, desire, or sense of responsibility necessary to do anything different from what the average American does. So stay mired in the muck of mediocrity with all the other normal people - I'll be sure to wave to you on my way up to something better for me and my family.

Financial Peace gets 5 stars, Ames' review gets the goose egg.

Overall Financial Peace View [Posted on 2008-07-01]
This book is a good first step towards Financial Peace. This book explains an overview of Dave's history, and how to find Financial Peace. Ramsey's next book "Total Money Makeover" explains in more detail HOW to find Financial Peace.

This book is written as a high-level primer on how you'll proceed towards a debt-free life. It's not needed if you visit www.daveramsey.com or listen to Dave's radio show, but serves it's purpose.

Required Reading!  [Posted on 2008-07-06]
I checked this book out from my local library. It has changed my life and finances for the better. I am in far better financial shape now than when I was addicted to debt. I bought Dave's other book for my brother and I am now buying this one for my neice's wedding. I just wish that someone gave me this book 22 years ago when I got married!

I approach is simple. Get out and stay out of debt using his baby steps. I recommend listening to his radio show to help reinforce the principles of the book and provide encouragement.

This Book will Help you . .  [Posted on 2008-08-05]
I have read 4 of Dave's books. I would rank this # 2 behind The Total Money Makeover or the Workbook version of the same title. The concepts are similar to the Total Money makeover but less examples of how to do things and how to put into practice versus The total Money makeover. On that basis, I would recommend reading the Total money makeover first, then this one for other insights. This book does still give you the groundwork of how to do it (get out of debt) and put into practice healthy habits that will make you rich over time.

Well intended, but for the most part misguided [Posted on 2008-09-27]
Ramsey offers some good thoughts, but the examples offered are at best questionable. First, I agree that debt is a burden when used incorrectly, but Ramsey seems to tag debt itself as an immoral product of lenders. Debt does not have a moral character; debt is a tool, much like a pick or shovel, when used correctly it has benefits, when incorrectly it can create problems. Ramsey offers this advice when buying a car without cash to purchase. Buy a '$5700' car to arrange for payments of $100, rather than a new $23,000 car with payments of $300. Invest the difference, $200, for seven years to save for the next car. Ramsey uses an investment return rate of 10%. I can't think of any reasonable investments that will yield an average of 10% a year for seven years, especially with an initial investment of $200. Nearly all cars in a recent search of AutoTrader.com in such a price range had well in excess of 100k miles and many were nearly 10 years old. Maintaining a car with age or mileage such as these would be an expense that would likely exceed the savings of $200 per month, unless you are good at car repair. Nor does Ramsey comment on the fact that lenders charge much higher rates on older used cars, rates of 18% (or more) are likely. A much better alternative would be a newer used car, especially one without the bells and whistles, that would have factory warranty remaining. Accelerate the payments, if the payment is $350, pay $450 in order to retire the debt with as little cost as possible, when the loan is repaid, direct that payment to savings. Take care of the car and keep it until repairs exceed the value of the vehicle.

Ramsey recommends investing in mutual funds as a primary investment vehicle. He then gives examples of the poor return when investing in the NYSE, stating that a dart board approach for picking stocks is nearly as effective as professional investors (he is right about this, because of the short time frame allocated the investment). I don't know who he thinks invests the money placed in mutual funds or what they invest in, but he again assigns the NYSE almost a moral character. Mutual funds usually have expensive 'loads' and have ongoing fees assessed against your investment. If you don't have the time to investigate your investments with some detail, mutual funds are okay, but a better approach is investing your money in the market based on YOUR research. There are many resources to help you do this that doesn't require a great deal of technical knowledge. Investing in anything requires your due diligence and on going follow up. Stock in solid firms that pay a dividend offer the opportunity for a good reward for long term investors.

Buy 'The Richest Man in Babylon' and a good investment book, you will be better served.

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