The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness | Dave Ramsey

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness | Dave Ramsey | Total Sense

books:

The Total Money Ma...

	The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Dave Ramsey Thomas Nelson, 2007 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 351 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The success stories speak for themselves in this book from money maestro Dave Ramsey. Instead of promising the normal dose of quick fixes, Ramsey offers a bold, no-nonsense approach to money matters, providing not only the how-to but also a grounded and uplifting hope for getting out of debt and achieving total financial health.

Ramsey debunks the many myths of money (exposing the dangers of cash advance, rent-to-own, debt consolidation) and attacks the illusions and downright deceptions of the American dream, which encourages nothing but overspending and massive amounts of debt. "Don't even consider keeping up with the Joneses," Ramsey declares in his typically candid style. "They're broke!"

The Total Money Makeover isn't theory. It works every single time. It works because it is simple. It works because it gets to the heart of the money problems: you.

for more information click here

Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

I believe every teen and adult need to read this book, it will change
their future. The book is a wonderful tool to manage your income.

Total Sense

Thank you Dave Ramsey for your thoughtful insight on money and the choices we forget we have. It's amazing how not so common, common sense is. There's no big secret in this book, simply stated, you should live within your means. The many stories you'll read are encouraging and do help you face your fears and self doubt. It's good to know that financial freedom is within everyone's reach.

If you want a reality check-get this book! He's right!

I bought this as an audio book, and it caught my attention from the get go. Ramsey uses his own sucessses and failures from personal experience to help others to see their own tendency to financial folly. He does not pull punches. If you are looking for something with "the law of attraction and such, this is NOT the book for you, but if you want a totally frank, realistic approach on how to tackle your financial problems, this is the book you want.

He explains why the consumer lending industy is nothing more than (in his words) "legalized loan sharking" and goes into detail on the subject matter. He also describes trends in behaviors and actions that can lead various people to financial disaster. The book is very well written, and easy to understand It truly offers a realistic approach to taking care of individual financial difficulties.

for more information click here

Buried by debt???

Dave Ramsey has changed our lives and we are now DEBT FREE!!! If anyone would rate this book negatively or find his info useless, HAS to be someone who is sooooo far in debt that they cannot even consider doing a total money makeover!

Great book, but a few broad generalizations

In one weekend, I read The Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace Revisited (Dave's other book). These are great books! I believe the information in The Total Money Makeover as well as Financial Peace (Revisited) provide a clear and concise road map to help many people get out of debt and stay out of debt. To further learn about Dave's concepts, I will be attending the Financial Peace University at a local church here in town. I believe in these concepts so much, I have begun to integrate them into my client consultations regarding refinancing or purchasing a new home.

With all of this said, I do feel the book makes some broad generalizations. First, I do not agree with Dave's assessment that all life insurance products other than term life, are bad and that no one should ever consider any life insurance product other than term insurance. This probably is the best advice for most people, including your middle-class wage earner; however, there are definitely life insurance products that may be right for some people's long-term financial objectives. I just don't believe that one investment strategy (buy mutual funds only) is applicable to all income levels. I think most would agree that investment factors such as individual net worth, annual income, cash flow needs, age, estate planning, taxation considerations, as well as other factors will help guide an individual to choose the investment that assist them in achieving their long and short term financial goals. Yes there are insurance products other than term insurance that may be prudent for someone's situation.

Dave also briefly talks (Pages 186-192) about paying off your home mortgage is always the best course of action, and that any wealth building strategy that involves maintaining your home's equity/wealth outside of the home, is a bad idea. This is probably the best advice for the average homeowner; however, this is a broad generalization. Can equity harvesting (the opposite of paying down your mortgage early) be a viable option for wealth building? Absolutely. With that being said, equity harvesting is not for everyone; therefore focusing on becoming debt-free, including paying your mortgage off early, is often times for many, the best course of action to take. Paying down your mortgage early and equity harvesting both can be viable options. It really depends on each individual's situation.

The subject of equity harvesting deserves more than a few pages written in a book. I do agree that there are many books in the market place that purely are designed to help insurance agents sell products such as EUIL policies. These books do not fully disclose the potential risk involved when strategically repositioning equity out of a home and into a life insurance product or any other investment.

When it comes to the subject of home equity and paying off your mortgage early, I don't agree with Dave's opinion that one strategy is the right way for everyone. With all of this being said, I do understand that this book was written for the average American who is drowning in credit card debt, and has no personal finance/budgeting skills; therefore, covering complex equity management strategies would be outside of the scope of Dave's book.

Two good books that are full disclosure (let you know the risk and tax laws surrounding euqity harvesting stagegies) that will give you more information regarding equity harvesting are: The Home Equity Management Guidebook and Borrow Smart Retire Rich I would NOT reccomend these two popluar books: Missed Fortune 101 and Stop Sitting on Your Assets: How to Safely Leverage the Equity Trapped in Your Home and Transform It Into a Constant Flow of Wealth and Security The latter two books don't inform the reader with full disclosure.

David Lukas, CMPS

for more information click here