What We Can Learn From the Ramsey Debaucle

The finance world is up in arms at Dave Ramsey’s on-air blast about the “4% rule” and how much people can reasonably withdraw from their nest egg. Here is why, you don’t need to sweat the discussion, but what you can learn from the second-hand discussion smoke.

Let’s pause for a moment to redirect with a different example. You’re enjoying the holidays. The holidays bring parties with scrumptious food, delicious beverages, some stress, and the inevitable carb coma. You want to be healthy and even have some images of fitness goals dancing around in your head for the coming year. Now that you are motivated, you jump online (or to your favorite magazines) and peruse the tips, recipes, and workouts. You already feel better with all these resources. You decide to do what worked for you ten years ago like a charm and cut all carbs and all sugar. Then you read this lean fitness model couple saying that carbs are great and necessary, so you happily put carbs back in your diet. Discouragement sets in a few weeks later when, instead of losing ten pounds, you realize you have gained five new pounds.

The fitness gurus who said carbs are good didn’t mean “without measuring or timing the carbs” nor did they mean “regardless of your daily activity.” The question of how much to withdraw yearly in retirement is not a question to answer by listening to someone talk to a broad audience as if their one rule will, with absoluteness, apply to everyone (and really, people in public positions ought to be careful with public advice).

Even if you have hired this trusted professional to look at your personal situation, what a professional may say in brief should always be passed through YOUR situation, YOUR goals, and YOUR resources. Dave Ramsey v. the finance world fascinates me because it also spotlights the fact that there is so much information that the finance pros wish we knew. While the everyday person is out there seeking sound tips, I say the finance world needs to find fresher ways to get information to people, specifically when they need it and where they’re looking for it.

Find a personal financial advisor you can trust to be in your corner. Interview several until you find one that you can get along well with and can communicate on the same wavelength—after all, the hope is that they will be with you for a very long time helping you to create your true wealth as you evolve (as well as making the right decisions about your nest egg).

Thank you, Dave Ramsey, for reminding us that we can’t believe everything that we hear and for creating a perfect reminder to put ourselves in the driver’s seat of our money.