Financial Peace University

I live in SE of Indianapolis. I am taking LAH course to sell insurance. I want to do it Dave Ramsey's way. So that puts me in disagreement with the majority of insurance professionals. Any ideas?

RAC said:

"I think one of the biggest eye-openers is how he describes even a paid-off
house as always being a liability, because you are forever paying taxes (and maintaining it, etc.) along with utilities, and so forth."

I have heard this argument before and I think it is one of the silliest things I have ever heard. The folks that espouse that line of thinking conveniently ignore the fact that most well cared for homes appreciate in value. Our first home was bought for $8,500.00 we lived in for 22 years and sold it for $60,000.00. That paid a huge chunk of the cost of our new home and acreage. See how much cash value there is in a handful of rent receipts when trying buying land or building a house

Unless a person is sponging off friends or relatives or living in a cave on government land somewhere, getting all of their heat and doing all of their cooking over a wood fire, and getting all of their water from a pond or stream, they ARE paying taxes, maintenance, and utilities, in one way or another.

Does anyone here think that all of those costs are not figured into the rent on an apartment, house, or trailer space. You better believe they are. Try missing a few rent payments and see what happens.

If folks have a paid for roof over their head they can weather some tough times, especially if it is a place with a garden and a few animals.

It's tough but you can actually get along without utilities for a few months, and while it will cost you a penalty taxes can even be allowed to slide for a time.

I have heard all of the nonsense about selling a property and investing the money. Any other type of investment can easily go sour, home ownership can also, but seldom does. I believe there is no better investment than a paid for place of your own.

This is a very interesting thread. I, too, am in Indiana, but I have never heard of him before. I've taken a couple of classes at church, read the Burkett books, Rich Dad, Poor Dad books, but by far the book that really became an eye-opener for me was David Bach's "The Automatic Millionare." This is about one of the fastest reads I've ever read. Only took a few hours, and the info was absorbed. Basic premise is to become a millionare "automatically" - in other words, pay off your mortgage with extra payments, invest in IRAs or 403b, 401k WITHOUT ever "seeing" the money. In other words it is done 'automatically.' Have the money directly taken out of your bank account and/or pay check so you never see it. If you never see it, you can never spend it, and you get used to living without it. Pretty good book, and pretty good advice. For all of you Christians out there, you might want to read some of Burkett's books as well - one of the best well-known Christian financial gurus............