 |
 |  |  |  |
Allow me to give you a little background about myself and how I became
associated with Dave Ramsey and his organization...
For better or worse, our lives are often developed by the influences that we are subjected
to. When it came to influencing my understanding of personal finances, my first lessons
were the examples set by my parents. My parents were frugal by necessity, not by choice.
My mother was our family’s fiscal manager and she ran a tight ship. She made sure that
they never bought anything that they couldn’t afford. What credit they did use, she was
disciplined enough to make sure the payments were always made early and the debt was
paid off before the scheduled repayment period. Growing up in a lower-middle income
family, the only “insight” that I had to financial wealth was what I read, heard, and saw in the
mass media. If you’ve spent any time watching TV or movies, you know how my vision was
influenced… I thought that those who had “made it” drove expensive cars, wore designer
clothes, and lived in big, nice houses. Those images are the facade that is created by the
media and presented to our society, which I readily believed while growing up. There were
some inconsistencies that I noticed from time to time, but never really reconciled them, like
the TV shows that I watched always seemed to present a better lifestyle than what would be
realistic for the situation. For example, a popular sit-com about a single mother with two
daughters. I remember thinking to myself one time, “For a single mom who talks about
struggling with money pressures, they sure do have a nice apartment.”
When I graduated from college, I thought that I was financially sophisticated and savvy. I
knew all about leveraging debt, floating funds, and maximizing the use of credit. I thought
that I knew so much more than my parents, who were so old-fashioned in their thinking about
money. I believed that if I was (or at least wanted to be) successful, I needed to look
successful… even if that meant living a lifestyle funded by credit card debt. Looking to my
peers and contemporaries gave me the justification of what I was doing. Everyone talked
about how high their car payment was, how much it cost to vacation here and there, taking
shopping trips as if that was a form of therapy, etc. It wasn’t until I was up to my eyeballs in
debt that I considered that Mom and Dad may have known more than I gave them credit for.
Then the first epiphany came to me. I came to the painful realization that what they had
taught me all those years was true… if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. And “affording it”did
not mean buying it on credit.
At another point in my life, I came across a book that brought on a second epiphany. It is
“The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko (Pocket Books,
Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.) This book changed the way I thought about wealth and
how the wealthy lived. It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it if you want to see
the truth about wealthy lifestyles. Without going into the details, the book strips away the
facade of what we have been lead to believe about wealth accumulation. It gives us an
insight into what true wealth really looks like. The average millionaire in America could be
your next door neighbor… if your neighbor wears modest clothes (or even a work shirt with
his name on it); if your neighbor drives a one to three year-old mid-size car; if your neighbor
clips coupons; and if your neighbor lives a lifestyle that would give you the impression that
they are just a middle-class family. Who is not the millionaire? That would be your neighbor
who wears the designer suits, drives the luxury import, and lives a hyper-consumption
lifestyle. Chances are, they live from paycheck to paycheck, or their lifestyle is subsidized by
older relatives.
The third epiphany came one day while I was driving through central Texas. I was listening
to talk radio, just passing the time on a long drive, when I heard this financial guru on the
radio. It was Dave Ramsey. I listened for a while, just to see what he was saying. The
things Dave were saying were the same ideas that my parents had tried to teach me so
many years ago. He talked about money with a simple and common-sense approach. When
I got back home to Houston, I found that the same show was on a local station, 700 AM
KSEV and 1160 AM KVCE (M-F 2:00 - 4:00 pm.) The more I listened to him, the more I
agreed with what he said. I read his book, “The Total Money Makeover” (Thomas Nelson
Publishers, Nashville, TN.) His approach is so simple, it almost does not seem realistic. And
honestly, it is so simple that if you have a degree in finance or accounting, you may first think
that it is “beneath” your level of education and sophistication… but it isn’t. It is simply the
truth, and it works. I believed in Dave’s message so much that I wanted to be a part of his
team and help bring the truth to our society. I applied to be an Endorsed Local Provider
(ELP) as a Tax Professional.
And as a CPA, I am very cautious about with whom I am professionally associated. Above all
else, I believe that I must protect and give good counsel to my clients and prospective
clients. I cannot in good faith, recommend my clients or prospects to anyone who does not
have my client’s and prospect’s best interest at heart. That being said, I can whole-heartedly
recommend Dave Ramsey’s programs to clients and prospects. Dave Ramsey’s teachings,
financial programs, and organization are Spiritually based, with a common-sense approach.
With these programs you can learn to re-prioritize your lifestyle, eliminate debt, and build
wealth. And in doing so, you can influence the lives of your children and grand-children…
you can change your family tree.
associated with Dave Ramsey and his organization...
For better or worse, our lives are often developed by the influences that we are subjected
to. When it came to influencing my understanding of personal finances, my first lessons
were the examples set by my parents. My parents were frugal by necessity, not by choice.
My mother was our family’s fiscal manager and she ran a tight ship. She made sure that
they never bought anything that they couldn’t afford. What credit they did use, she was
disciplined enough to make sure the payments were always made early and the debt was
paid off before the scheduled repayment period. Growing up in a lower-middle income
family, the only “insight” that I had to financial wealth was what I read, heard, and saw in the
mass media. If you’ve spent any time watching TV or movies, you know how my vision was
influenced… I thought that those who had “made it” drove expensive cars, wore designer
clothes, and lived in big, nice houses. Those images are the facade that is created by the
media and presented to our society, which I readily believed while growing up. There were
some inconsistencies that I noticed from time to time, but never really reconciled them, like
the TV shows that I watched always seemed to present a better lifestyle than what would be
realistic for the situation. For example, a popular sit-com about a single mother with two
daughters. I remember thinking to myself one time, “For a single mom who talks about
struggling with money pressures, they sure do have a nice apartment.”
When I graduated from college, I thought that I was financially sophisticated and savvy. I
knew all about leveraging debt, floating funds, and maximizing the use of credit. I thought
that I knew so much more than my parents, who were so old-fashioned in their thinking about
money. I believed that if I was (or at least wanted to be) successful, I needed to look
successful… even if that meant living a lifestyle funded by credit card debt. Looking to my
peers and contemporaries gave me the justification of what I was doing. Everyone talked
about how high their car payment was, how much it cost to vacation here and there, taking
shopping trips as if that was a form of therapy, etc. It wasn’t until I was up to my eyeballs in
debt that I considered that Mom and Dad may have known more than I gave them credit for.
Then the first epiphany came to me. I came to the painful realization that what they had
taught me all those years was true… if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. And “affording it”did
not mean buying it on credit.
At another point in my life, I came across a book that brought on a second epiphany. It is
“The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko (Pocket Books,
Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.) This book changed the way I thought about wealth and
how the wealthy lived. It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it if you want to see
the truth about wealthy lifestyles. Without going into the details, the book strips away the
facade of what we have been lead to believe about wealth accumulation. It gives us an
insight into what true wealth really looks like. The average millionaire in America could be
your next door neighbor… if your neighbor wears modest clothes (or even a work shirt with
his name on it); if your neighbor drives a one to three year-old mid-size car; if your neighbor
clips coupons; and if your neighbor lives a lifestyle that would give you the impression that
they are just a middle-class family. Who is not the millionaire? That would be your neighbor
who wears the designer suits, drives the luxury import, and lives a hyper-consumption
lifestyle. Chances are, they live from paycheck to paycheck, or their lifestyle is subsidized by
older relatives.
The third epiphany came one day while I was driving through central Texas. I was listening
to talk radio, just passing the time on a long drive, when I heard this financial guru on the
radio. It was Dave Ramsey. I listened for a while, just to see what he was saying. The
things Dave were saying were the same ideas that my parents had tried to teach me so
many years ago. He talked about money with a simple and common-sense approach. When
I got back home to Houston, I found that the same show was on a local station, 700 AM
KSEV and 1160 AM KVCE (M-F 2:00 - 4:00 pm.) The more I listened to him, the more I
agreed with what he said. I read his book, “The Total Money Makeover” (Thomas Nelson
Publishers, Nashville, TN.) His approach is so simple, it almost does not seem realistic. And
honestly, it is so simple that if you have a degree in finance or accounting, you may first think
that it is “beneath” your level of education and sophistication… but it isn’t. It is simply the
truth, and it works. I believed in Dave’s message so much that I wanted to be a part of his
team and help bring the truth to our society. I applied to be an Endorsed Local Provider
(ELP) as a Tax Professional.
And as a CPA, I am very cautious about with whom I am professionally associated. Above all
else, I believe that I must protect and give good counsel to my clients and prospective
clients. I cannot in good faith, recommend my clients or prospects to anyone who does not
have my client’s and prospect’s best interest at heart. That being said, I can whole-heartedly
recommend Dave Ramsey’s programs to clients and prospects. Dave Ramsey’s teachings,
financial programs, and organization are Spiritually based, with a common-sense approach.
With these programs you can learn to re-prioritize your lifestyle, eliminate debt, and build
wealth. And in doing so, you can influence the lives of your children and grand-children…
you can change your family tree.
| Who is Dave Ramsey? The answer may change your life... and your family tree! |
| Proud to be one of |
 |  |  |
| What is an Endorsed Local Provider? |
with, Dave Ramsey listeners.
with, Dave Ramsey listeners.
There are ELP's for Real Estate, Investing, Insurance, Health Insurance, as well Tax Services.
To find one, click here.
with, Dave Ramsey listeners.
There are ELP's for Real Estate, Investing, Insurance, Health Insurance, as well Tax Services.
To find one, click here.
| A registered Texas CPA firm. |