Podcasting

Discovered Dave Ramsey via Brian Koppelman podcast. Koppelman puts it nicely towards the end with their interview when he says (paraphrase), "I'm a New York Jewish liberal, and you seem like the last person I'd enjoy listening to, but I find your message so positive and uplifting and you're just one of my favorite guys."

So I took a gander. I'd heard of him through Megan McArdle, who totally goes by his system. His big, huge, mega point is to get people out of debt. He does personal finance seminars, advises no debt except a 15-year mortgage, and comes at it as "God's and Grandma's ideas about money." He has an interesting personal story about making six figures and owning 3 million dollars in a mini-real estate empire by age 26, but when his bank got sold, he ended up getting all his notes called, and was soon bankrupt and terrified.

I really like the podcast. Basically, he just takes calls from people with finance questions. And they run the gamut. The advice isn't particularly insightful. It is everything a smart person should know already - save more than you spend, don't go into debt, etc. The one big idea he advocates that I presently not do is give to charity. And it's got me thinking about it. What I enjoy about the show is the honesty and positive message and the humor. He speaks candidly about the subject of money with people - a subject everyone has an opinion and issues with, but something that is not discussed in "regular" conversation. It gets at many core values and illuminates larger points about what is important in life. I quite enjoy it.