Me and Dave Ramsey: a love/hate thang going on

I am re-reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.  I had loaned the book to a friend about a year ago and just got it back.  Unfortunately, the book was not read by the friend I loaned it to over all those months. That makes kat sad.

Over the last couple of years I've read and watched a lot about personal finance and Dave is the one that resonates with me.  Maybe its because of his distrust of government, maybe its just old-fashioned common sense, maybe its his sense of humor or his insights.  I just like the dude and try to tune into his radio program workday afternoons via the internet.

I have my differences with him though but they are not deal breakers.  I am not religious and this was a big hurdle for me, but I've gotten so the bible verses don't really bother me much anymore and sometimes even make sense. "The rich will rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender" is from the bible, but it is so so true.  I just have to realize that most people are religious and his ministry speaks to them on a different level than they speak to atheists like me.

I am working my snowball in my own way and probably could give it more gazelle intensity.  Part of the purpose of writing this blog is to keep myself motivated to get out of debt.  I am over 45 so I am not giving up my 401k investments completely while I pay off the credit cards.  I pay myself before the credit cards and with my budget so tight, I don't have a lot going to my snowball.

The other thing I do that would have Dave screaming at me is having whole life insurance.  I am not in a position to self-insure and I have a special needs kid, so this small policy is my piece of mind and will fund a small special needs trust for him upon my passing.  I also have a term policy through work and an additional term policy that is good until I'm 80 years old.  Term life insurance always sounds hunky dory and is way less expensive than whole life, but I can't help but feel that I'm betting against myself and I don't like that.  My life expectancy is longer than the term policy and I will most likely outlive them.  I will most likely be financially responsible for my son in some way all his life and I need insurance past the age of retirement. So now I've got my small whole life policy, term life, and my long-term care policies in place, along with a will and special needs trust.  I resisted for a long time doing the will, but then got prepaid legal at work and just took care of my paperwork.  I'm glad I finally did. Even if you are like me and don't have a lot of assets, it is good to have your paperwork in order, just in case.