dave says march / april 2026
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Featuring the advice of personal finance expert and bestselling author Dave Ramsey, the Dave Says column is filled with timely, relevant questions and answers taken from actual letters and calls on Ramsey’ s radio program, The Dave Ramsey Show.
YOU’ RE TOO CLOSE TO STOP NOW! Dear Dave, My husband and I make $ 180,000 a year combined. Right now, we’ re working on our debt snowball. We’ re almost debt-free except for our home, but we still have a little bit left on two car payments and some credit card debt. He wants to get rid of the credit card debt, but he doesn’ t seem to mind having car payments. I’ m not sure I understand why he feels this way, and I’ m a little worried he might lose interest in paying off debt once the credit cards are gone.-Keri
Dear Keri, To be honest, I’ m not sure I understand his thinking either. They’ re both debt payments, and you’ re being charged interest on both of them. The only difference I can see is that one’ s attached to a car and one’ s not. It makes about as much sense as saying you like Visa better than MasterCard.
Even if he has some strange hang-up about car depreciation, that argument doesn’ t hold water, either. Cars go down in value whether you borrow money to buy them or not. A $ 30,000 vehicle will be worth half that in just a few years, no matter what you do. And car payments won’ t keep it from depreciating, or slow the rate of depreciation.
You know, sometimes people just get burned out and tired of paying the price to become debt-free. I’ ve seen it happen several times when folks have been working at it for a while, and they start to feel like they’ re never going to get there. What if you two sit down, and have a detailed talk about why he feels this way? See if you can find out why he feels the way he does about car payments, and where the root of the problem really lies.
Keri, this guy has been right with you on the journey to get out of debt, and gain control of your finances up until now. That tells me he’ s disciplined, and that he’ s willing to pay a price for things that are important to him. He may just need some encouragement and support. So, try reminding him how far you’ ve come together. Remind him how close you are to winning, and how much you love and respect him for being part of it all.
You two can do this!— Dave
PAY FOR DAD’ S LIFE INSURANCE POLICY? Dear Dave, I talked to my dad the other day, and he wants me to pay for his life insurance policy. He says I should look at it as an investment, and he doesn’ t want to pay for it himself anymore, since he’ ll never get any benefit from the policy. My dad is 65 and in pretty good health. I’ m 24 and not sure how I feel about his request. Can you give me some advice on handling the situation?-Frankie
Frankie, This is really weird. I’ m sure it was doubly weird for you to hear it from your dad! Even if you didn’ t say it out loud, you had to have asked yourself,“ Say what?”
I’ d take a hard pass on this one. Do you get what I’ m saying? The answer to this question is no. Plain and simple. If your dad is in good health, you could be paying on this thing for another 20 or 30 years. That’ s ridiculous! Plus, it sounds like someone needs to explain the purpose of life insurance to him. The proceeds from a life insurance policy are there to protect the ones you leave behind when you die— your family— so they can cover the bills and be financially stable without your income. Life insurance is not an investment.
Now, I know he’ s your dad. That makes the situation a little touchy. But if I were you, I would sit down with him and respectfully let him know I have no intention of“ investing” in his death. You’ re 24. And in my mind, that means you have other kinds of investing you should be looking into— like retirement planning.
If you’ re anything like me, you’ re fighting the impulse to be a little snarky about this whole thing. But this is your dad. A little respect is in order. Besides, being snarky isn’ t going to solve anything, even if it does make you feel better for a minute.
Something tells me your dad does crazy things like this from time to time. He’ s little quirky, maybe. But deep down, he knows this is a strange request. My advice? Don’ t go into a lengthy discussion about it. Just smile, thank him for the offer and let him know you’ re going another route with your investments. Two sentences and a kind, but firm, no. Good luck, Frankie!— Dave
* Dave Ramsey is a nine-time national bestselling author, personal finance expert and host of“ The Ramsey Show.” He has appeared on“ Good Morning America,”“ CBS Mornings,”“ Today,” Fox News, CNN, Fox Business and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people take control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO of Ramsey Solutions.