Tammi (my wife) and I have been following Dave Ramsey and Ramsey Solutions for decades.
Our 40th wedding anniversary is this month. It was not an easy ride. We did not learn good money-management behaviors before marriage and struggled as a result. Fortunately, we found Dave Ramsey. A fun fact: we found Dave Ramsey in the sale bin. He was on a clearance rack because they were transitioning from cassette tapes to CDs. We are grateful because this discovery transformed our marriage, finances, and career. We share our personal experiences in this money management series.
I now serve clients as a Financial Advisor at Whitaker-Myers Wealth Managers and hold the additional designation of Certified Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach. Over the past 15+ years, I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients with money management and financial planning. Let’s talk here about wealth-building and our personal journey.
Wealth-Building
You may already know that Dave recommends investing in four asset classes: growth, growth-and-income, aggressive growth, and international funds. How can you do so, and does this really work?
Tammi and I accumulated our retirement using this investment strategy. It does work.
What are some investment keys to success? Invest to the point of the match in your workplace 401 (k), 403 (b), or TSP account. Max out your annual Roth IRA of up to $7500 if you are under 50 and up to $8600 if you are over 50. Actively manage a good investment strategy – growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international.
We can attest that this strategy works. Getting there takes knowledge, effort, and teamwork.
More about our financial journey? We married early and started investing later than many.
We married at 20, found Dave at 30, and started investing closer to 40.
Why did it take so long to start investing? Tammi and I knew about Ramsey, but we were not doing it together. I was forcing it on her, and it did not go well. It does not work when one person creates a budget without involving the other. This is designed as a partnership with shared dreams and aspirations. Once we embraced this, we started making better progress in our marriage and our finances.
We actually started following the baby steps. And we became gazelle-intense together. Most importantly, we started respecting each other. We created a realistic budget. We eliminated debt. We saved an emergency fund. We funded our retirement. We saved for our kids' college. We paid off our mortgage. We made all of this happen together.
We learned that the Ramsey system works well when we do it together as committed partners.
We also learned that it is never too late. We learned that we needed to start doing the right things with our money, invest it well, work together, and build wealth.
How can you learn more about Financial Planning?
Let our team help you and your family with wealth-building. We love helping our Ramsey clients and others to change their lives and build God’s Kingdom. There is no better calling. We have great Ramsey-style investment portfolios for you to consider. And we help you wherever you find yourself on your financial journey.
If you’d like to explore more, please use my calendar link to schedule an introductory planning session.
40 Years of Money Management – Focus: Wealth-Building
September 3, 2026
Joe Mains
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