Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is an American financial author, radio host, television personality, and motivational speaker. His syndicated radio program The Dave Ramsey Show is promoted with a tagline that “It’s about your life and your money,” and it is heard on more than 500 radio stations throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in podcast format and on XM and Sirius satellite radio.[1] He has written numerous books. His books and broadcasts often feature a Christian perspective that reflects Ramsey’s religious beliefs. Ramsey was named the 2009 Marconi Award winner for Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year.

Ramsey’s company, The Lampo Group, Inc., is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, and oversees three divisions geared toward financial counseling. Ramsey founded the company in 1992 initially helping people one-on-one who were struggling with financial issues. In 1994 he hired Russ Carroll, Ramsey’s lead financial counselor, and together they began teaching the first Financial Peace University classes on overhead projectors. Financial Peace University, a biblically-based 13-week video training series for adults, and a companion series targeted at teenagers that has been offered in schools across the nation. Some topics covered in the series are cash flow planning, investing, saving, credit, retirement, and giving. Between 1999 and 2004, The Lampo Group grew from 18 to 105 team members. There are currently over 300 team members.

Ramsey has been featured on many media outlets including The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and The Early Show on CBS. He recorded a pilot and six unaired episodes of The Dave Ramsey Project for CBS. He was the host of The Dave Ramsey Show, which aired at 8 p.m. ET and repeated weekdays on the Fox Business Network until June 2010.

Ramsey was born and raised in Antioch, Tennessee. He was a 1982 graduate of the College of Business Administration at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. At the age of 26, through his brokerage firm, Ramsey Investments, Inc., he built a rental real estate portfolio worth more than $4 million and became one of Tennessee’s youngest brokers to be admitted to the Graduate Realtors Institute.

Aside from work, Ramsey began counseling couples at his local church. Soon after offering private counseling services, Ramsey began attending every workshop and seminar on consumer financial problems that he could find. He developed a simple set of lessons and materials based partially on his own experience and on works and teachings by Larry Burkett and Ron Blue. In 1992, after many requests from his clients, he wrote his first book Financial Peace.

Ramsey has been married to his wife, Sharon, for 25 years; they have three children: Denise; Rachel; and Daniel. The family resides in Franklin, Tennessee.

Ramsey started his radio show, currently known as The Dave Ramsey Show, in 1992 under the title of The Money Game. The radio show began on June 15, 1992. Originally a locally based show, it is now syndicated across the country. In 2007, the Fox Business Network launched a television show under the same title, but canceled the show in June 2010. Dave also self-identifies as a devout born-again Christian. Many churches have adopted Dave Ramsey workshops for their members.