Ramsey vs Kiyosaki - To borrow, or not to borrow?

[Account Closed]

I am a big Dave Ramsey fan, and I have been for years. I am debt free, except for my house and intent to stay that way. Well, at least I intended to stay that way. I recently read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Robert Kiyosaki's philosophy is completely opposite of Mr. Ramsey's. His intent is to use OPM (other people's money) for real estate investing.

While listening to the BP podcasts, everyone mentions Rich Dad, Poor Dad as a book to get ideas from. (They even make fun of it.) I got the ideas, now here is my dilemma.

If I want to get started with my first buy-and-hold strategy this year, I have to borrow money. If I am completely true to Dave Ramsey's Philosophy, it will take me at least six years to cash-flow a rental (based on my current budget, and a loose prediction of the future condo/TH prices in my area).

Though I understand the risks of borrowing, I am too naive to know the rewards.

I would love to hear how people started with their first home, and if borrowing is the better way to go.

Thanks for reading. -Michael

[Joel Owens]

Many of these financials EXPERTS often times talk about if you eat salad and be ultra cheap everyday for 30 years you might be a millionaire!

They do not mention you will be miserable for 30 years, the million will not be worth anything close to what it is today because of inflation, etc.

So you followed some guru who got rich off of you selling seminars and books etc. and you got ahead a little bit. That's not really how to build accelerated wealth.

If you have ever listened to Billionaire Richard Branson he takes risks every single day. The difference is they are CALCULATED risks based on research and knowledge to decrease the chances of a bad outcome.

I am a believer in taking INFORMED risks. If you want to be ultra safe your returns will show that as well. What are banks paying out 1 percent if you are lucky?? The whole thing is a joke. People put money in banks for paltry returns when they can be doing much better on their own.

I believe it really is as simple as living below your means and investing the rest and creating a snowball affect. Then when you are bringing in 100,000,150,000 a year or more etc. you can up your lifestyle of living within a comfortable range. I have had some people personally e-mail me and say they make 6 figures a years and haven't saved a dime. Their job could be gone tomorrow and all they have is debt and a bunch of crap they will sell for 15 cents on the dollar when they get desperate for cash. It's sad that finances and credit and saving and compounding are not taught in schools as kids. You have to look for outside sources to get educated.