Your thoughts on Dave Ramsey?

>>1852661
I'm a big fan of Ramsey, OP

My one issue is that he pushes the "mutual funds can outperform the market" meme, without telling his listeners that those same funds will charge you a high expense ratio, thus robbing you of any extra amount they would truly beat the market by (if they even manage to do so)

Low expense broad Vanguard ETF is the way to go. Buy them after every crash. Sell as stocks explode and another crash is imminent (aka now)

>>1852663
>Low expense broad Vanguard ETF

Thanks anon, I'll check this out.

Also, I've never invested before, as I've been in abject poverty almost all my life. Recently, I got a job where I earn a lot more and my employer is offering a 401k where they contribute 25% up to a total of 15% of my income. Their portion vests in 6 years, but I'm not sure if I want to stick with them for that long.

I am 30 years old, no savings/retirement (yet). Should I do this, and if so, at what rate? I make $70k/annually

>>1852683
I have a similar plan with my job, though we don't have our portion vested overtime, so that isn't an issue for me and I don't exactly know how to advise for it. That said, in my situation, I believe my employer matches for up to 6% of my income (meaning, they give me dollar for dollar for my contribution, which is 6% of my paycheck). I contributed 6% and that's it. I never advise contributing more than whatever your employer is willing to match since you can typically use the rest of that money more intelligently. Contributing less than what they match is also a waste, since you're forgoing free cash.

What should you do with the rest?

First off, Ramsey advises building a $1,000 emergency fund. I recommend you do that.

Second, do you have any debt? You'll want to focus on paying that off. Read about Ramsey's "debt snowball."

Third, if you have no savings, I recommend building a fund of 3-6 month worth of expenses (my monthly expenses are roughly $2k, so I saved up $8k). This is advised by Ramsey.

This is your emergency fund. This isn't savings and should not be used unless you lose your job or incur large medical expenses.

Once you've done that, I then recommend opening a Roth IRA with Vanguard and contributing the total amount the IRS allows you to contribute to it each year.

Otherwise, build up wealth in a savings accounts or money market fund until you can make some sort of real-estate play. I personally hope to get enough to take out a mortgage on a place that I'll rent out, while I continue to rent myself, until I can do it on a second property, etc etc, and start building up wealth through real estate .

>>1852695
>I personally hope to get enough to take out a mortgage on a place that I'll rent out

I have virtually no bills... no rent, no car payment, etc. I live over the road in a semi-truck (thats my profession) and have been thinking about what my first move towards purchasing a home will be.

I made another thread about this (0 replies) but am thinking about purchasing a townhome or somesuch maybe in the $80-$120k range, to rent out while I pay it off over the next few years of living over the road. Assuming I follow Ramsey's steps listed above, does this idea sound like a good plan?

>>1852706
>I made another thread about this (0 replies) but am thinking about purchasing a townhome or somesuch maybe in the $80-$120k range, to rent out while I pay it off over the next few years of living over the road. Assuming I follow Ramsey's steps listed above, does this idea sound like a good plan?

that sounds like a great plan anon. The one thing you want to be wary of is general trends of the housing market and in particular property trends in the location where you buy. Are people moving there? Are people moving out? Any new construction of properties or malls planned for the future?

If it's a place with a slow and steady growth in populace, it's probably a good bet.

I still advise the 3-6 month fund. Even if you don't foresee being out of a job anytime soon, that is one recommendation every professional will give you.

>>1852717
Awesome. The place I have in mind is the Raleigh/Cary area, it has great growth potential I think.

And hey, thanks for the advice. I guess this board is mostly bitcoiners and miners.

>>1852735
>Raleigh/Cary area

ha, funny, I work B2B inside sales and one of the areas I cover is Raleigh/Cary

Seems like a nice place (I'm currently residing in Boston myself, but plan to move down south whenever the opportunity presents itself)

>>1852744
It's a very desirable place, and has been expanding since I can remember. (grew up there)


It's mostly comprised of transplants from up north seeking IT jobs and a place to start a family. Very safe area, rising home values. Taxes are pretty high in Cary, but that's because they are anal about keeping everything looking clean (no billboards or tacky shit, just green grass, trees, and sidewalk).

You'll feel at home in a place like that, being that it's kind of in it's own little bubble that is shielded off from the southern culture that many northerners would consider reprehensible.

To the northwest is Morrisville, and a huge indian immigrant population. Nice area if you can deal with poo in the loos driving slow everywhere.

To the south of raleigh in the garner/clayton area is a little more woodsy. You can get a great deal on some more rural property that is likely to increase in value over the next decade as raleigh/cary continue to expand. Know a couple people who got a really good rate and deal on FHA loans down there. It's fixer-upper shit, and traffic is a nightmare due to road expansion and construction, but like I said, it's all due to growing pains which in the long run is a good thing.

>>1852752
good to know, thanks Anon.

I am looking for a place that has access both to a city and the countryside, and preferably leans conservative, lower taxes, etc.

I'm thinking possibly Texas or a more Western-state, but NC/SC could be good.

>>1852661
My mom got really into Dave Ramsey's advice after my father died a few years back and she had to start managing all of the money he left behind. She's always thinking about investment and fiscal discipline now and it's pretty cool to see. I'm only 20 but she said if I start investing my money in a Roth IRA now she'll match my contribution, so I've been doing a lot of research over the last week on what I should invest in.

Could anyone tell me if it's worth it to put some of my money in metals or memecoins or should I just stick to more conventional investments like stocks and ETFs?

It is advice for the lowest common denominator. Literally advice for the financially retarded. His advice is good, but much of it is common sense. Avoid debt, don't buy things you cant afford, have a reasonable car payment, etc. My dad always brings up how he heard Ramsey tell someone to pay all their utility bills in cash, because they had no self control over using a credit card. Its like Alcoholics Anonymous for finance. People admit they have absolutely no self control over money and spending so they turn to Dave.

He irritates me since he's so anti-debt.

>>1852886
What's wrong with being anti-debt?

>>1852931
The right debt can make you very wealthy. It's one of many tools in the toolbox of the investor, but he says under no circumstances should you want to hold debt. Very backwards

>>1852945
You can get wealthy with investing without being in debt just the same, having debt gives you no advantage to investing whatsoever.

>>1852931
some debts arent bad like a mortgage or car loan of they are within your income and have reasonable interest. People who call Ramsey for advice are usually already in trouble of defaulting. Believe it or not there are people out there who do not understand the concept of compound interest. Those are Ramsey's target demographic

>>1852965
He does not advise against the home mortgage, however, car loans are idiotic any way you flip the coin.

With a car loan, you're purchasing a disposable asset that will depreciate greatly over time... most of which will happen right after you sign the paperwork (if new). A home will increase in value as you make improvements to it and the surrounding area doesn't get inhabited by niggers

>>185295
Wrong. Carefully used debt boosts your roi.

Not my cup of tea. His approach has some definite benefits (don't overspend, only purchase things you can afford, don't buy things on credit that you don't need, etc.) but his anti-debt approach is archaic to say the least. He's the type of guy that shows you the best way to manage crumbs. My time and interest is spent on people that focus on producing cash flow and investment areas.

>>1852981
Why are people blurring the line between debts and investments?

A debt is money owed, right?

An investment is an asset.

...right?

Can someone clear this up?

>>1852995
Look up the definition of leverage.

>>1852998
yes, borrowed capital for an (((investment))) but it's still a debt until you cash out at a profit.

A real investment would be say, putting money into stocks. You're purchasing something of equivalent value (currently) of your money... you're not owing anything after the transaction... the transaction is finished.