If you know what I do, you know Dave Ramsey and others like Suze Orman are not fans of the concept I teach. They despise “whole life insurance.”

Let’s address this “whole life insurance” area first. The reason I put quotes around whole life is that Dave does not use the correct terminology when speaking about life insurance. There are two categories of life insurance, term and permanent. Under the permanent category, there are several types: Whole, Universal, Variable, Indexed, and a mixture. It gets very confusing but is necessary to understand the differences. Dave hates the fees and charges, as do I because they hurt the growth of the policy and in turn, it hurts the policy owner. The types of policies Dave is referring to is Universal, Variable, and Indexed. These policies are based on market returns to some extent and sold that way! I despise these policies and warn people about them in my book, Farming Without the Bank, and on numerous videos and blogs. What Dave is not sharing is that Whole life does not have these risks, it’s a guaranteed product. He is using the wrong terminology and calling permanent life whole life – lumping them all together! He should know better and if he does and refuses to change that is sad for his followers.

I occasionally get calls from Dave Ramsey followers who truly love how Dave has shown them to save and handle money (as do I). They call my office because they are questioning the market ideals of his program! These particular followers are a blessing to me for a couple reasons.

1. They are independent thinkers. They don’t blindly follow the advice of one person. They objectively look at everything and are willing to learn. They purchased my book and after seeing real numbers start questioning why Dave doesn’t share this information with them. These same people have made multiple sacrifices to follow Dave’s program and save money. They understand cash flow and how to budget their money. They know where their money goes each month and they don’t want bank loans.
2. Even though Dave preaches that cash is king, these people to see the lost opportunity on using cash and are interested in the potential of uninterrupted compound interest. (Read Why I Don’t Believe Cash Is King.)
3. They want liquidity of their money to use today for farming/ranching rather than wait until they are 59 1/2.

I can’t ask for a better client than one who takes the steps necessary to learn, question and avoid the Arrival Syndrome.  

I encourage my clients to be independent thinkers and provide education to understand budgets and cash flow. So when Dave Ramsey followers call in, I thank him for taking care of that part for me! Dave’s followers are one step closer to being prepared to use their whole life insurance policy as a tool to help grow their wealth in a very secure way.

My hat goes off to Dave’s fans for taking steps to be financially savvy.  If you’ve read this far, you’re looking for the next step. You can find it laid out in simple terms in 100 short pages.

If you have not grabbed the book “Farming Without The Bank” yet please do so, others like you have and found it very helpful in understanding opportunity cost, the power of compound interest and living life without the bank.

None of us have “arrived” (know it all) so keep an open mind. Learn what you may be missing by not having all the information on the subject of smart personal finance.

As always call when you are done reading the book so we can visit and I can get all your questions answered. Yes, I am an agent, and yes I can help you through the process of living life without the bank.

Mary Jo