I Respect Dave Ramsey... But He's Wrong About This

[@djpuplex]

Dave is good on getting out of debt. After that his advice goes downhill fast.

[@NextLevelLife]

There certainly are many who feel the same way (and many others who feel that even the debt-related advice is not very good). That's why it's crucial to broaden your horizons and seek out a wide range of perspectives. Everyone has their area of expertise... And by extension areas where they have room for growth. Thanks for the comment!

[@huskiefan06]

Based on the context of this call, I don’t think Dave was making a generalized statement for everyone. He was talking about that specific person’s retirement.

[@cato451]

Dave is 100% wrong. Dave clearly doesn’t understand how sequence of returns risk works during draw down years. His adamant position is dangerous.

[@NextLevelLife]

It certainly could be if taken at face value!

[@ultramegasuper11]

Thanks for covering this topic. His simple view is so attractive until you really open up the box and see the parts and instruction manual. 😮

[@NextLevelLife]

Yeah, it certainly can be! That said, it all depends on what tradeoffs you're willing to live with. Like I said in the conclusion it's a very personal subject to tackle with a lot of factors/moving parts to consider. There may be a way to get a historical safe withdrawal rate at (or at least near) 8%... it just might require tradeoffs that the vast majority of us aren't willing to make :) Thanks for the comment!

[@OnCashFlow]

Your "nerdy" approach is much more valuable in my opinion than any financial guru that is simply good at marketing.

[@hopefilledfinancial]

I am a huge fan of your channel. I have been following you for years. Thank you for covering this very very important topic. It means a lot.

[@NextLevelLife]

Sure thing!

[@nineballjunky]

I agree with at least one thing Dave has said many times on his show: only invest in things YOU understand. Dave's trying to reach such a broad market that his advice does tend to come up short, but it is up to us to dig a little to formulate our own plan.

[@NextLevelLife]

For sure! It's always important for us to expand our horizons by listening to multiple perspectives and do our own research to make sure we understand what we're investing in as best as we can. That said, I wouldn't limit this view to investing. Clarity and understanding is generally a good thing to have with any financial matter :) Thanks for the comment!

[@Adones09]

Dave made his money from "goobers" that bought his product about becoming "rich/debt free", not from his "investments". Ya, he made money in Real Estate, helps that your parents owned a Real Estate company with connections to a bank. Yes, he did lose it all when corporate bank asked who is this 20 year old with all this money borrowed? He made is money selling courses and marketing on the radio. Why does Dave and his crew charge so much for is in person "talks"? Why doesn't he just make his book a PDF and give it out for free, if he's doing as well as he claims. Any investments that he has made, is off the backs of people that bought his courses.

[@nathanrice7352]

I think people don't realize that Dave isn't for people who understand the details of personal finance. Dave is for people who just need someone to tell them exactly what to do, not someone to teach them how to figure it out for themselves. His exaggerations are to make them get the warm fuzzies about saving money. He's counting on none of them building spreadsheets and making detailed forecasts that could catch him in his bullshit.

[@georgebrost7666]

There is a difference between 8% and an amount equal to 8% of the first year.

[@NextLevelLife]

That is very true! And a fixed dollar approach (where you take an amount equal to x% in the first year and continue taking that every year thereafter) can be a viable strategy in certain situations. But like all strategies it does come with its own pros and cons. Namely, it doesn't adjust for inflation over the years. That can be perfectly fine for some situations such as those with shorter expected retirement time horizons but it isn't for everyone. Thanks for the comment!

[@zacharris6299]

Love your videos! I think it might be really fun to see one where you test an investment strategy that is just an equal weighting of all the other strategies you've covered. See whether taking a little bit of advice from everyone pays off!

[@mikesurel5040]

Another video on Dave's 8% comnent, another opportunity missed to show if you started withdrawing 8% in march 2003, and stuck with it, you would run out of money in less than 11 years. A very simple illustration of how sequence if returns can impact you and I have yet to see any financial.youtuber lay out the data

[@NextLevelLife]

An excellent point! It's an idea that actually was in an earlier draft of the script. I had planned on showing a few examples of how sequence of returns can impact the figures in specific scenarios (including one where the Ramsey portfolio laid out in the video ran out of money in a mere 8 years starting in the early 1970s). But I ultimately ended up cutting it as I felt that it was more important to focus on the higher-level ideas behind the topic than running simulations and going over specific figures especially given the wealth of content already out there on the topic (as you hinted at in your comment)... That can wait for part 2 ;)

[@dominick951]

It's not that Dave Ramsey is wrong , he's just very basic.