Dave Ramsey's Radio Show...

[Eagle]

I’ve listened to Dave Ramsey’s radio show off and on for a few years now. The formula seemed to be pretty simple: Take calls from people in financial trouble and help them turn their lives around. To an extent, the show and Dave’s answer became predictable. But Dave was and is pretty consistent in his debt reduction advice.

It seems in the last 6 months to a year he’s been trying to mix it up some. He now takes calls from people seeking advice with investing, small business, etc. Also there seems to be a big emphasis on the “debt free screams” as this has become almost a daily occurrence. To top it off he co-wrote a book with his daughter about teaching kids about money so there’s ton of advertising about the book and speaking events.

See: http://www.daveramsey.com/show/radio/

Has the show gone downhill or have others felt the same way about the direction of the show?

[bjl584]

His show has only been on here for about a year or so. I listen here and there. It's basically the same thing but I find it entertaining and somewhat informative. I can't speak to how his show was several years ago though, as I didn't listen then.

[JoeP]

I listen to the free podcast occasionally, but the value for me has really dropped a lot. I'm kind of put off by the fact that everything costs money, even the forums on his web site. Plus the free podcast has commercials, which annoy me. I get the fact that we all want to Make Money, but these are big turn-offs for me.

[ActYourWage]

His show seems to always be evolving and what works (makes money), he continues. However, if something doesn't work, he will just stop doing that part, pretty much without explaining (for instance, his TV show).

He has been helping businesses for a while now, but he is setting up his own company for when he no longer works there (hence, his daughter's involvement).

The things I miss are the rants he used to go on. He doesn't seem to do that much anymore. I thought they were funny. To me, some of the joy seems missing (I don't know, maybe I reading into it too much).

[disneysteve]

I don't think his advice has changed. When the new book came out, that was a big focus of the show, talking about the book, announcing the book signings and such. That's happened before when he was promoting a new book, even if he didn't write it.

I think his show's formula remains the same. The advice does get very repetitive - really what else is there to tell people. I listen in spurts and then get tired of hearing it over and over and take a break for a while and then go back to it after a few weeks or months of not listening. It is entertaining if nothing else.

[jackmiller]

Not really changed and yes a bit repetitive. Lately he has been all over his weekend leadership conventions (he is going to have his second one in a couple months) so when he gets close to one of these events then of course the tenor/topics will change in this favor.

[AsiaTraveler]

I only listen a little bit and recently, so I can't comment on the long term issues with the show. However, I mainly listen on the way to and from work (5 min.) drive and what gets me is the commercials. If I tune in right at the beginning of a call, I'll listen all the way home. However, if there's a commercial on or they are just going to commercial, there's a good chance I'd be listening to a commercial all the way home. It's also a bit comical to me the number of products he endorses while trying to get people not to spend money.

[disneysteve]

I only listen a little bit and recently, so I can't comment on the long term issues with the show. However, I mainly listen on the way to and from work (5 min.) drive and what gets me is the commercials. If I tune in right at the beginning of a call, I'll listen all the way home. However, if there's a commercial on or they are just going to commercial, there's a good chance I'd be listening to a commercial all the way home. It's also a bit comical to me the number of products he endorses while trying to get people not to spend money.

Interesting. I only listen to the podcast of the show. It has some commercials but not nearly what you're describing. Plus it's easy to fast forward past them.

I have mixed feelings about people giving financial advice and simultaneously promoting products. I get the sense that Dave Ramsey truly believes and vets the products he promotes. I don't think he is just shilling for the ad dollars. But I also fully understand how some could see conflict of interest issues. Same goes for all of the stuff Suze Orman promotes on her website or QVC or wherever. I don't think that makes the advice they give any less valuable.

I would say though that I don't think he tries to get people "not to spend money" but rather not to spend money frivolously or stupidly. For example, he trashes whole life insurance and promotes having term life insurance, certainly not a bad thing, and has an insurance broker that he recommends. Now if he was doing ads for a specific insurance company, I'd see a problem with that but the broker (Zander) is actually a perfectly good option when seeking quotes.