On a recent Money Rehab podcast episode, financial commentator Nicole Lapin brought up some pretty explosive reactions to words said by talk show host Dave Ramsey. On today’s show, we ask the basic question, “Do commentators attacking each other hinder their efforts to spread financial literacy?” But, we also zero in on exactly what language Ramsey used that Lapin objects to. We invited her on the show to explain, and we’re delighted that she took us up on the offer! Today she dives into her sometimes very personal reasons why she objects to what Ramsey says. We question her about how we treat each other as humans, the usefulness of commentators checking each other, the role of religion in financial discussions, and more.
But, that’s not all. Bed, Bath and Beyond is in the news, and it’s partly because of Gamestop! What’s the connection? We’ll share and also help you with some tips about individual stock trading. We also answer a Haven Life Line question from Jeremiah, who’s wondering about buying a home vs renting.
Enjoy!
Our Headline
- Bed Bath & Beyond Shares Sink After Ryan Cohen Files to Sell (The Wall Street Journal)
- Mind Medicine Stock Is Surging. A Student Who Made $110 Million Trading Bed Bath & Beyond Could Be Why (The Wall Street Journal)
Nicole Lapin
Big thanks to Nicole Lapin for joining us today. Hear more from Nicole on her show, Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin.
Doug’s Trivia
- How many locations does Waffle House have?
Need life insurance? You could be insured in 20 minutes or less and build your family’s safety net for the future. Use StackingBenjamins.com/HavenLife to calculate how much you need and apply.
- Jeremiah wants to know if he should rent or buy a home. He doesn’t know if he will stay in the same area more than 3 or 4 years and the cost of rent and a mortgage would be about the same.
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Written by: Brooke Miller
Miss our last show? Listen here: Which is Better, Investing a Little at a Time or Chucking It All In The Market? (Your Questions)
Kudos to Nichole for making excuses rather teaching people to take responsibility for their financial decisions and giving people guidance to make changes and build a better financial future.
Making excuses for people doesn’t help them. I had several mis-steps in my earlier years, but coddling me wasn’t a solution. I had to make changes and giving a handout would never help.
Agree with your assessment 100%. I didn’t find anything helpful in anything she said.
I’m not sure that was Rebecca’s point, but thanks for stopping by to comment on this! Checking advice we don’t believe in for our audience? I hope our SB audience would want us to do the same…
I get it why y’all don’t like Ramsey’s methodologies. The way he runs his business is not my style either. But your point in the episode was to ask the question of “should we call each other out in the financial media/entertainment space”. You answered your own question in the episode and OG had really great comments after the interview. But your guest, Nicole, did not bring much constructive to the conversation and some of her “advice” for what to do instead of things Ramsey apparently says (I.e. the work hard and get 3 jobs thing if you’re so in debt you’re ‘screwed’) did not resonate with me as helpful. They sounded like bail outs, not motivation to change your ways for a better future. Like fake “no sugar” cookies when you’re dieting don’t fix eating habits.
I also want to caution that while “calling out” other content creators is a rampant thing everywhere and provides good entertainment, it doesn’t really help your reputation if done in the way like this episode where it ends up more ranting than a breakdown analysis of the situation in question. Going on Reddit to read off disgruntled messages against Dave is great entertainment, but you said it yourself when you talked about that one sounding like the in-laws being the problem not Dave. People choose who they work for. If you don’t believe in Dave’s mission and values, then DONT WORK FOR HIM! I’d never work for him and I’m cool with that. No problems here. If y’all (you and Nicole) had broken down what Dave said with context and his follow up responses afterward and had more a discussion like you and OG had after the interview, then that would’ve resonated with me more. Honestly I was turned off by the interview with Nicole. Just sounded like stirring up drama. Which is tough for me because there are real discussion points on how different content creators treat the issues of debt, and I want to hear the discussion of pros/cons for the different methods. Because the tough love, hard type A approach works well for some and the softer more compassionate approach works better for others. It helps people to know there are the different resources out there. Sometimes I need a hug. Sometimes I need a blunt kick in the butt.
I also work in an industry where the general culture aligns more with the Dave/Gordon type approach with people. So I’m used to it. Definitely had my days where I go home crying but you learn to navigate. At the same time, I’m helping lead our LGBTQ+ network and build and maintain the culture of diversity. So I truly get both sides of this conversation. I’m just in the camp that you need both sides listening and talking, not ranting and raving.
Peace!
Hey, Rebecca! I’m loving the discussion about today’s show. Glad you stopped by to comment. I don’t know that shining a light on Ramsey’s hiring/business practices or yelling at people about their money for entertainmentis making excuses for those people. I’m with OG: he has the right to do it his way and people have responded in a huge way, but I’m also with Nicole that he could be doing damage by “tough love” yelling at people for radio entertainment, suggesting you’ll get 12% returns on our heavy load mutual funds, and a my-way-or-highway focus.
I think the question stands, though…do we do more damage picking at each other than we do by pointing out the “flaws”? It appears your answer is definitely in the “yes” column. Advisors have compliance for a reason, hopefully so they don’t lead people astray. Who do we have in financial media if we say outlandish stuff? Cleary, he’s helped a TON of people…but at what cost, and who holds us accountable when our advice is out there in left field?
Love the question, thanks for weighing in. – j.