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A review by kbyanyname
Financial Peace Revisited: New Chapters on Marriage, Singles, Kids and Families by Dave Ramsey
1.0
Since I've been in the middle of a lot of money trouble, a friend of mine lent me this book as well as a little cash to make it through my next set of bills. I figured I owed him enough to at least read the book.
I can't tell you how annoying it was to read this thing, which is clearly just a collection of transcribed parts of Ramsey's seminars and radio shows from the 1990s. So he gives us some moderately sound financial advice: Get out of debt, or better yet, don't go into it. Save where you can. Invest in mutual funds once you've saved.
Beyond those few points, this guy is both irrelevant and dangerously stereotypical. The book doesn't even mention the Internet or housing boom/busts or financial problems of the current economy. He talks about looking for deals as if we've never heard of craigslist (and then proceeds to act like it doesn't exist). I would be okay with this, as the book seems to have been written about 20 years ago, but this is the updated, revisited edition. This man has had time to update things.
He blathers about how everyone can save and stay out of debt, and yet makes the assumption that everyone is going to find work all the time that will pay at least $30,000 a year, which he classifies as really low-end income. I got news for you, Dave. I (barely) made it on about half that last year, and I am working three jobs. I have more than a half-dozen friends who are in similar situations. He has the nerve to question the maturity of 20-somethings who are still living with their parents or with friends, because they just "aren't working hard enough," and classifies it as a problem with my generation. A great deal of his suggestions will only work if you don't have to continue to go into debt to survive or are even just cutting it close. Saving money and paying toward debt only ever works when something can be cut somewhere to save.
And the part that made even these socioeconomic gaffs is his ridiculous stereotypical worldview in which everyone is going to get married. The men are going to go and earn money. The women could go out and work, but in some situations should just stay home and take care of kids. They are going to buy a house and have 2.5 kids. He is going to want a car and a boat and she is going to want a kitchen set. He jokes that when he sells houses, he sells women the kitchen and men the basement. You know what, Dave? I'm renting where I am because I like my kitchen and basement. Every chapter is clearly aimed at men, and techniques are sold in the same way. Each chapter is followed by a short, couple-paragraph summary from Ramsey's wife Sharon, who breaks down the ideas for the ladies. In one pretty straightforward chapter about investing, Sharon's section explicitly tells women to ask their husbands to explain it to them. I was sputtering at some of the tripe I read. The sidelong jokes about "Social Insecurity" probably make better seminar quip fodder, and they certainly didn't help me through this book.
Except for one or two good points, this was absolute drivel, and I didn't even understand some of it. Maybe I should ask my husband to explain it to me.
I can't tell you how annoying it was to read this thing, which is clearly just a collection of transcribed parts of Ramsey's seminars and radio shows from the 1990s. So he gives us some moderately sound financial advice: Get out of debt, or better yet, don't go into it. Save where you can. Invest in mutual funds once you've saved.
Beyond those few points, this guy is both irrelevant and dangerously stereotypical. The book doesn't even mention the Internet or housing boom/busts or financial problems of the current economy. He talks about looking for deals as if we've never heard of craigslist (and then proceeds to act like it doesn't exist). I would be okay with this, as the book seems to have been written about 20 years ago, but this is the updated, revisited edition. This man has had time to update things.
He blathers about how everyone can save and stay out of debt, and yet makes the assumption that everyone is going to find work all the time that will pay at least $30,000 a year, which he classifies as really low-end income. I got news for you, Dave. I (barely) made it on about half that last year, and I am working three jobs. I have more than a half-dozen friends who are in similar situations. He has the nerve to question the maturity of 20-somethings who are still living with their parents or with friends, because they just "aren't working hard enough," and classifies it as a problem with my generation. A great deal of his suggestions will only work if you don't have to continue to go into debt to survive or are even just cutting it close. Saving money and paying toward debt only ever works when something can be cut somewhere to save.
And the part that made even these socioeconomic gaffs is his ridiculous stereotypical worldview in which everyone is going to get married. The men are going to go and earn money. The women could go out and work, but in some situations should just stay home and take care of kids. They are going to buy a house and have 2.5 kids. He is going to want a car and a boat and she is going to want a kitchen set. He jokes that when he sells houses, he sells women the kitchen and men the basement. You know what, Dave? I'm renting where I am because I like my kitchen and basement. Every chapter is clearly aimed at men, and techniques are sold in the same way. Each chapter is followed by a short, couple-paragraph summary from Ramsey's wife Sharon, who breaks down the ideas for the ladies. In one pretty straightforward chapter about investing, Sharon's section explicitly tells women to ask their husbands to explain it to them. I was sputtering at some of the tripe I read. The sidelong jokes about "Social Insecurity" probably make better seminar quip fodder, and they certainly didn't help me through this book.
Except for one or two good points, this was absolute drivel, and I didn't even understand some of it. Maybe I should ask my husband to explain it to me.