My Problem with Dave Ramsey

I get asked all the time which (if any) "financial pundit" that I listen to. Honestly, I'm not a fan of listening to a person on the TV or radio telling me how my financial situation will pan out, so I don't listen to a ton of what the pundits are saying. However, I used to be big on Dave Ramsey, and so I would say I know much more about his thoughts on personal finance than any other. Now I know that anytime someone merely suggests that Dave Ramsey may be simply a mere mortal, his followers get up in arms, so I will tread carefully and try not to stray from the point of this blog.
All that being said, I have to say this: I myself am a reformed Dave Ramsey-bot. Without Dave Ramsey, I wouldn't have made it a mission to get out of debt and manage my finances better. Without him, I wouldn't be working in the very field I work in now, which is personal financial planning. I've even taught Financial Peace University at my church, and used many of the principles taught with my clients, to help them get out of debt, etc. I agree with Dave Ramsey on much of the information he gives, up to and including the importance of getting out of debt-but I vehemently disagree with just about anything he says beyond that. I will say that I love his main message, which is don't really on anyone else to do this for you. Leave the cave, go kill something, and drag it home. That's great advice. The hard work and sacrifice that it takes to get out of a bad financial situation (or any bad situation) is right up my alley, and I greatly appreciate someone being out there saying those things. (Oh, and I do use a Dave Ramsey envelope system, and just laugh when people make fun of me for it.)
My disagreement with him (or any pundit) mainly lies in the fact that I ABHOR sweeping generalizations. For example, if I said "All used car salesmen are crooks," that would be an absolute lie and a disservice to the many great, hard working used car salesmen that are out there. In my experience, Dave Ramsey's advice is mostly sweeping generalizations. And given his propensity for using them, he has created an army of blind followers that also say and do the same thing, many of them without question. You have to look no further than the amount of financial blogs out there that serve to only echo what can be read on Dave's website or in one of his books. No financial question posed to one of these bloggers is even remotely researched anywhere other than leafing through a copy of Dave's book. Couldn't that be dangerous?
Here's one simple example of what I mean: Long-Term Care insurance is an insurance coverage that will pay for some or all of the care needed if you can no longer care for yourself. (IE, if you need to be in a nursing home). To pay for a nursing home or for in-home care is extremely expensive, and can wipe out even a seven-figure estate fairly quickly. So obviously it can make sense to purchase insurance to cover this possibility. After all, paying a few thousand dollars a year for something sure beats paying several thousand dollars a MONTH for this care, right? Well, Dave Ramsey tells his followers: "NEVER buy Long-Term Care insurance before the age of 60." Seriously? Never? He follows that up by saying that statistically, you won't need this coverage until that age or later. Again, in my experience, "statistically" when you NEED insurance, you cannot get it, or it costs infinitely more. I'm not saying that each and every 27 year old out there should own LTC, (even though I myself own it and bought it very young), but I do personally know a 50 year old that, even though she has had multiple health issues over the past five years, she will absolutely NOT buy this coverage until age 60-because Dave Ramsey says it's a waste of money. Never mind that she has a decent sum of money, no debt, a good income, or that she probably won't be able to qualify for coverage by age 60, she's listening to a sweeping generalization that the almighty Dave Ramsey gives and has put aside buying coverage that is important to her because of it. She has no children to care for her, and the government won't take care of her (for a while) because she would have to be worth next to nothing to qualify for government care. (which is a whole other blog)
Essentially, she's cutting off her nose to spite her face, all in the name of listening to a guy who has NO IDEA what her personal situation is or what her needs will be. She blindly follows this man who will make millions of dollars every year without ever having to sit down and actually look at her individual situation. Given this woman's health issues, she should have bought this coverage years ago when it was affordable, but common sense been put aside all in the name of following the guy who wrote a book. It doesn't matter how idiotic the information may or may not be, but she's following it and that's the way it is. Of course, if I say otherwise, I'm "just trying to sell something and make that EVIL commission," when Dave Ramsey is doing ABSOLUTELY THE SAME THING. The difference is, what I have the ability to sell will help her and her family, while what Ramsey is selling will categorically decimate her estate when it comes time for her to need this care. Make no mistake here: She can afford this coverage, but she will not buy it specifically because of the reasons I've listed.
Which is exactly my problem. Dave Ramsey will say over and over again that "Personal finance is PERSONAL." Of course, it's personal until you disagree with something that he says, or do something differently than he would do. I get the statement from time to time that he must know what he's doing because he makes so much money and has such a big audience. Of course he has a big audience-he tells people they can get out of debt and live their dreams! But many people/groups have big audiences that are dead wrong on a lot of things. For instance: If you're on the "right" side of politics, the "left" thinks you're an uneducated idiot (along with a racist homophobic bigot) and nothing you can say or do is right. But the right still has a huge following. Same goes for the left: if you're on the left side of the aisle, the right thinks you're a patchouli smelling hippy that is hell-bent on letting trees take over the world. It doesn't matter who is right, because both sides are right and wrong on certain issues. But back to the point: they both have huge bases-as did Hitler. See what I'm getting at?
So if personal finance is personal, can you honestly say that there is NEVER a situation where a credit card would be beneficial? Or NEVER a situation where having a car payment could work for someone? Or NEVER a situation where something over than a fifteen year mortgage would be right for someone? Or NEVER to have more than $1000 in the bank while you're getting out of debt? It's not personal any longer when he'll tell you you're dead wrong and he's right. As a matter of fact, he does exactly the opposite of what he tells you to do, which is to find someone with the heart of a teacher that can walk you through these things (as long as that teacher agrees with everything Dave says, mind you). He doesn't have the "heart of a teacher" when he'll call you an idiot on the air for disagreeing with him, or doing something differently than he would.
In essence, this is my entire problem with taking advice from Dave, Suze Orman, or any other pundit out there. When they dispense financial advice as a sweeping generalization, it becomes dangerous to you the individual; because it takes out the all-important facet of knowing you're situation. We may have completely different goals and objectives, so why should we have exactly the same financial plan?
In closing: if you want to get out of debt, learn to manage your budget, and teach yourself the discipline that it takes to start winning with money-by all means, Dave Ramsey is the man. However, when it comes time to go beyond that, seek out competent financial professionals that can actually walk you through your own situation, and help work up a plan for you based on YOUR goals, not someone elses.