Are you abstinent because a financial celebrity told you to be?

Dave Ramsey teaches abstinence for things that can be useful, like credit cards and FICO scores (not to mention requiring his unwed employees to be sexually abstinent). It's a control issue for him, driven by his fear and arrogance—fear of tarnishing his brand built on people doing precisely what he says and arrogance that he knows everything because he's "helped over 20,000,000 people" (yes, that million...his words, not mine). That last part is laughable, but a discussion for another time.

Ramsey is notorious for his arsenal of cutesy slogans that he uses to convince listeners to abandon their credits cards, FICO scores, and other financial tools in favor of his Total Money Makeover. He has a very narrow-minded approach to personal finance that discounts listeners' ability to apply learning. He often says, "Personal finance is only 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior." That's bullshit. Although there is both an intellectual component and a behavioral component to nearly everything we do, Ramsey's ratio is made up and meaningless.

When you listen to Ramsey (or any other Ramsey Personality, all of whom he's groomed to mimic what he says) he's not giving you all the relevant information to make good decisions. He's giving you his own diluted version of what he knows, which makes good decision-making for you impossible. You lose any flexibility by having only limited (no) options. This makes Ramsey Solutions the microwave meal of the finance world.

When people are faced with decisions, the ones who have been educated and trusted in the past will fare much better. They have not only the academic knowledge, but also the life experience from others' trust that helps them make good decisions. Credit cards can be used safely and effectively, regardless of what Dave Ramsey says or how many studies he cites. Studies have their place, but not when they're used as scare tactics or to confirm a bias. Ramsey excels in both.

Take this example: Would you want the person driving you in a snow storm to be one who has always avoided the task or one who has practiced doing it and also possesses the wisdom to assess and mitigate any risk at that particular moment?

“Just turn into the direction of the skid” is what the driving manuals instruct and is exactly how Dave Ramsey operates. That reads well, but have you ever hit black ice? What happened the first time you did?

I don’t want to be on an snowy road with a bunch of inexperienced drivers making bad decisions because they've never been exposed to the complexities of driving in inclement weather.

This is true for personal finance, too. If you choose to abstain from credit card use (for example) based on your personal analysis, that’s great. If you do it because some voice on the radio yelled at you and called you stupid for using credit cards, that’s bad. Think for yourself or you'll always be a follower.

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