Not just dave ramsey but many people suggest keeping home mortgages at 25%. But there is merit to increasing income. One example is my DH and I. We knew we'd be in a position in 5 years to buy home when I finished school. My income would not stay under $30k as soon as I finished. Easily double or more, but we bought with what we were comfortable with. But we have many friends with offer letters in hand, who know what they make so yes they did buy before really settling into a set job. But when you go from making a student's salary to a real one it's a very different job from just a regular job to the next. I think it's reasonable to consider your real potential income coming out of school instead of your fake school income.
Second, I think the problem is that people who are truly aware of potential disasters plan better. Dave Ramsey gives advice that works for 90% of people who are bad with money management. And for people with lower incomes.
High incomes unfortunately can do lots of stupidity but they also have to consider other things when paying off debt, like in the OP's case. Mostly because the tax burden is a huge cut about 40% with federal and state taxes cutting into their debt repayment.
So yes Dave Ramsey's not doing retirement savings advice can be hugely detrimental to a person. It's not detrimental to get out of debt, but his advice can be very harmful
His advice isn't often applicable to place where of HCOLA. Why? Because the 25% rule doesn't work for home AND it doesn't work for renting even. When we first bought our condo it was 50% of our salary. But it was less than renting! Unfortunately we made very little and renting a studio was $1k/month. So we weren't exactly rolling in the dough! When we moved 5 years later a studio was $1400/month without parking. So it's not like renting is necessarily a cheaper option in HCOLA. I know many people who rent and pay more than my DH and I. Rents in HCOLA are typically higher too along with home prices.
As for 30 versus 15, there are many arguments why it's better to invest. One key factor Maat you have to consider, is if you aren't maxing out your 401ks and IRAs, then you should not be prepaying the mortgage. You are losing out on the tax break on the 401k, the mortgage tax break is all fine and dandy. But you can never go back and invest in a 401k.
That's $31k/year for a normal couple = 15% Dave Ramsey's suggested retirement means you need to be making $200k+. Thus another reason why I suggest a 30 year fixed over a 15 year fixed. Investing in a 401k you save at least 15% in federal taxes and probably state income taxes as well. The math is there to show you are making more than your 6% mortgage.
Another reason which I've pointed out is security. Cash is always king. You talk about not using CC, well if believe that you cannot help but believe cash in the bank is better than a mortgage. You can always pay down the mortgage 100%, but you can't refinance without a job, at least last I checked.
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