Dave Ramsey, Financial Guru with a Twist, will Draw a Crowd

Ramsey is a financial guru with a Christian twist. A bestselling author and host of national radio and television shows on finances, he has a large following in Colorado Springs, in part because of the many area churches that have hosted his 13-week Financial Peace University video classes about financial management.

Ramsey's mantra? Stay out of debt.

"We sacrifice our future for the present," Ramsey said in an interview Wednesday. "Personal finances is about 80 percent behavior. We all know what we should do, but doing it is another thing."

Raised in Antioch, Tenn., Ramsey was a real estate investor with a $4 million portfolio, living the high life when, at age 26, he lost it all by over-leveraging himself. He filed for bankruptcy, and it took him six years to pay off his debts, Ramsey said.

To help others avoid his errors, Ramsey started The Lampo Group in Nashville in 1991 to advise people on money.

"I've been there, done that, and got the 'Stupid' T-shirt," Ramsey said, "so I know what I'm talking about when it comes to debt."

Ramsey's financial advice is "bibically based," an outgrowth of his evangelical Christian faith.

"I have found that what the Bible says about money is what your grandmother said about money: Stay out of debt and live below your means," Ramsey said.

His followers like his grounded approach.

"Dave Ramsey is very practical," said Keith Lee, facilitator of the Financial Peace University program at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs. "He says in his video that what he teaches is nothing new and is stuff your grandparents would know. It's just that he packaged it well."

But Ramsey has his critics.

Linda Leitz, co-owner of Pinnacle Financial Concepts Inc. in Colorado Springs, disagrees with Ramsey's notion of becoming financially secure, in part, by avoiding college loans and home mortgages. Studies show people holding degrees from prestigious colleges tend to make more money over a lifetime than those with no degree or one from a community college, Leitz said -- a clear example of student loans paying off in the long run.

But Ramsey said he's found there's no correlation between paying hundreds of thousand of dollars to an Ivy League college versus about $6,000 a year to a state college on future earning power.

"It is paying for pedigree, not degree," Ramsey said.

As for home ownership, Ramsey contradicts Leitz and other financial planners by saying it is not always a good way to build wealth. This has been proven by the financial meltdown, he said, created in part by people taking out home loans they can't afford.

"I tell people to buy the house they can afford," Ramsey said. "A house is only a blessing if you can financially pay for it."

Fred Crowley, senior instructor of finance at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, said Ramsey's financial advice is simplistic.

"He reduces things to a common denominator," Crowley said. "He thinks in black and white."

Ramsey agrees, but puts it differently. "What I teach is common sense."

DETAILS What: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Where: World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd. When: 1-6 p.m. Saturday

Cost: Tickets for the live event are $38 for general admission, $68 for VIP seating and $232 for a VIP Platinum package. To order tickets, go to www.daveramsey.com or call 1-800-227-3223.

On the radio: "The Dave Ramsey Show" on KRDO News Radio 105.5 FM and 1240 AM, weekdays 9 a.m.-noon

On TV: "The Dave Ramsey Show" on Fox Business News airs weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m. on Comcast channel 134, Baja Broadband channel 252 and DirecTV channel 359.