Will Dave Ramsey get you out of debt just to make you poor?

The only thing that Dave Ramsey says that makes any sense is when he tells people to get out of debt. This is the reason he is famous? It’s not like he theorized Hawking radiation (that was Hawking). With this simple minded advice he has become one of the top personal finance experts? If I tell people not to burn themselves while cooking can I be considered a world class chef?

Here is a direct quote from Ramsey that I made up, “I tell people whatever they want to hear so I can make money off of their ignorance.” Perhaps I am being too harsh though. There is saying that you should never attribute to maliciousness what can be attributed to foolishness. So we will give him the benefit of the doubt and just think of him as a fool.

The video is ridiculous for many reasons. Let’s enumerate them.
1) He says you can drive a car for a year and sell it for the same amount you bought it for. I guess he thinks the added age and mileage on a car have no effect on the value. I said he’s a fool already right?
2) He’s assuming a rate of return on a mutual fund of 12%. To say the least, that seems unlikely. I also doubt he has taken mutual fund fees and taxes into consideration. If he’s not just bullshitting his followers why doesn’t he name the mutual fund that will return 12% over the next 30 years?
3) From the imaginary numbers in my second point Ramsey goes on to talk about how you can get free cars and become a millionaire. Even if we were to assume 12% returns you couldn’t buy cars and have the money grow the amount he claims. I can’t tell if he’s being intentionally misleading or if he’s allergic to math and telling the truth.
4) The DJIA from July 18, 2000 was 10,739.92 and the number from July 18 2010 is 10,098. So the average has certainly gone down in the past 10 years. These numbers don’t even include the fees, taxes, inflation, or any of the companies that were removed from the DJIA. So we can see that if you followed Ramsey’s advice you became poorer as a result.

Am I judging him too harshly? During the hustle and bustle of the boom times 2000’s how could he see it coming? As late as January 23, 2008 he said a caller’s father was foolish for pulling out of the stock market and investing in gold. If he couldn’t see a problem with the stock market then how can anyone take his future predictions seriously?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S98_eMax9xo&feature=related

DJIA Jan 23, 2008: 12,270

DJIA Today: 10,098

Gold Jan 23, 2008: $888.25

Gold Today: $1191.80