Talk Radio Show Offers Unconventional Financial Advice

If you happen to turn on your radio any time from 1:00 PM EST to 4:00 PM EST and move the dial around a bit, chances are you might hear a southern gentlemen yelling at his callers, no, this is not Rush Limbaugh blasting his political opponents, It’s Dave Ramsey telling listeners to “act your wage” and preaching his Christian conservative financial advice that many people don’t even know is an option in this day and age.

The Dave Ramsey show is syndicated on almost 300 stations nation wide, and is the largest independently promoted radio show in the nation. It is also available on both XM and Sirius satellite radio, as well as being streamed on the internet, and available in podcast form as well.

How David L. Ramsey III got started in the radio business is rather an interesting story. In college he studied finance and real-estate, and soon became very wealthy in a niche market in foreclosure real estate. At 26, his company had built a real estate portfolio worth $4 million dollars. However because the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the real estate market slumped and one of Ramsey’s largest investors was sold and the bank insisted he pay 1.2 million dollars worth of short term notes within 90 days, forcing Ramsey into bankruptcy.

As he likes to be called on the radio, Dave vowed never again to return to debt and began counseling couples at his local church and in 1992 he created his first book, dubbed “Financial Peace.” During that same year a local radio station, WWTN filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Ramsey agreed to host a show on money matters for a month without pay. In 1995 WTN was bought out and the parent company began promoting his radio show and the show was syndicated and his book sales and show ratings began to skyrocket becoming what it is today.