The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

Dave Ramsey (b. 1960) is a financial expert and advisor, host of the popular self-syndicated radio program The Dave Ramsey Show, author of the New York Times bestsellers Financial Peace and The Total Money Makeover, and founder of Ramsey Solutions (formerly the Lampo Group), his financial counseling business. He is married to Sharon Ramsey and has three children. Ramsey lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and Ramsey Solutions is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.

During his childhood in Antioch, Tennessee, Ramsey earned money and learned important business values through various entrepreneurial projects, such as lawnmowing and selling leather bracelets. At 18, he passed his real estate license exam and proceeded to work through college, obtaining a bachelor of science degree in finance and real estate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He graduated with almost nothing, but by age 26, he had amassed a real estate portfolio worth $4 million and a net worth of $1 million.

But Ramsey plunged into bankruptcy in 1988 when his largest lender was acquired by another bank. He was given 90 days to pay $1.2 million, and within a few months, another bank asked him to pay back $800,000. He managed to pay off most of the