Time to scream over the radio

Maybe it’s because I started my broadcasting career in talk radio 32 years ago at a radio station called WWCN but I have always had a soft spot for “talk” and listen to it often. Most programs are angry middle-age white man yelling about what’s wrong with the world (trust me there’s lots to yell about) but there are a few exceptions. One of those can be found on Talk 1300 every afternoon in the Dave Ramsey show.

Ramsey is a best-selling author and expert on debt; how to pile it up and the sacrifices it takes to get out of it. His rules are strict, like no eating out for a year and working three jobs at a time, but when people follow them they are always successful. And when they are finally debt free he has them as guests on his radio show and they do a debt-free scream. It’s silly but effective.

Finding myself fascinated by all the screaming I reached out to Mr. Ramsey and asked if he would consider letting me interview him? Here’s how it went.

I started by asking him if he thought we did a horrible job teaching our children about money management? Ramsey said, “Children are like sponges and they absorb whatever is around them. So we have a choice. Either be intentional about teaching children about money or prepare to have them living in your basement until they’re 40.”

I asked him about all the sacrifices he preaches and the obvious question, what about living for today? I mean you could get cancer next month right? He said the fallacy is that we all believe we have to live with debt when we don’t adding, “I’m not a minimalist! You should enjoy some nice things, just make sure those things have been worked for, saved for and paid cash for.” He went on to explain that the normal thing is to live with debt and it’s the weirdos who walk around debt free. He wants his listeners to be the weirdos who reach retirement and have a huge nest egg to live on and no stress. So save now, party hearty later.

I joke with him about credit card interest rates and how these banks charge more than the worst mobster ever would and he said, “Having these cards is like playing with snakes. It’s better to have a plan, grow your emergency fund, and avoid debt like the plague.” His motto in most cases is if you can’t afford it you probably don’t need it.

It’s been said if you want to know about sin you should talk to a sinner not a saint and Ramsey is very forthcoming in telling you how he nearly destroyed his own life with debt early on. He was on top of the world in his midtwenties then it all came crashing down when he had to file for bankruptcy. It’s what some might call a “Come to Jesus” moment. As Ramsey remembers it, “It wasn’t long until I realized I had to change. I had to take a good hard look at the face I shaved in the mirror and realize it was all my fault.” It was then he started making those tough little changes, got himself out of debt and realized he could help others do the same. In the years that followed he would publish five New York Times bestseller’s and is currently being heard on more than 500 radio stations throughout the US and Canada. Not bad for a guy who at one point was staring at the financial abyss.

One surprising thing about Dave Ramsey’s show comes at the very end when he talks about bringing peace to his life by walking with the prince of peace, an obvious reference to Jesus. His radio program is by no means run or marketed as a Christian show so I asked him why it’s important for him to mention that every single day as he says goodbye? Ramsey said, “When you realize God owns everything, you realize you’re only there to manage it for him. My goal is to operate with the spirit of gratitude. How I act and how I do business is a way of saying `thank you’ to my father in heaven who is crazy about me.”

I’m not as disciplined as Dave Ramsey so there are times I cringe when I hear him lay the law down with the callers on his show but I do admire him. Here’s a man who helped himself, his family, then the rest of us by preaching humility and self-control; two things the world is often in short supply of. And for a man so successful and wealthy he’s humble too. I think I like that about him the most. If you’ve never listened to Dave Ramsey you’ll find him on Talk 1300 every weekday from 1-3 p.m. Give it a try, you just may discover a reason to scream. John Gray is a news anchor on WXXA-Fox TV 23 and ABC’S WTEN News Channel 10. His column is published every Wednesday. Email him at johngray@fox23news.com.