I have grown to love Dave Ramsey, which I hate. It has taken me a long time to acquire this attitude, because his no debt program makes me assume that he assumes that I'm an idiot who can't manage my money.
I do realize, though, that the ridiculous simplicity of his program DOES and CAN apply to every single person, and I DO think most people need it.. There is a reason why credit card companies are so darned successful and why they can afford all these "cash back" and incentive programs; they ALWAYS win more than man.
Just because the credit card companies always win more though, doesn't mean that there aren't undefeated men. My qualm has always been in the narrow minded mind-set that all debt is entirely evil. Ramsey's contrarian (in my mind), Robert Kiyosaki, advocates leveraging debt as a wise tactic, namely through Real Estate.
Real Estate is the bread and butter of practical investing, in my book. Yes you can have hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage debts, millions for that matter, but if you have a good cash flow on your rents, even in a bad market, how is this debt evil? Not only do my rents satisfy the debt, not only do my rents build equity and my net worth, but once the mortgage is paid, I'm still getting paid all the more. This does not seem evil, in my book. It seems more like the epitome of practical wisdom, even if you have a student loan or a car payment.
I'm not saying by any means leveraging debt is a wise route for everyone, I'm just pointing out the mere fact that not everyone has a problem paying bills on time and buying too much impractical crap.
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