Build Your Legacy

On my previous post I talked about the experience of going to a Dave Ramsey Live event, today I will talk about what the event was about.  Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze, spoke to a packed Civic Center about "Living a Legacy" and how to win with money using biblical principles.  The whole event was not about becoming rich, but how we can be better stewards of God's money to be able to leave a legacy for our family, community and the world.  Dave started reviewing his baby steps that I have talked about in previous posts.  To check them out visit his site here.

Dave laid out 5 Biblical principles for winning with money and building a legacy.  

1.  Get on a Budget

• You need to make your money behave and live life intentionally.   
• To be good stewards of God's money we need to tell our money where to go instead of wondering where it went.  

2.  Get Out of Debt - Normal is broke - be weird! 

• The borrower is slave to the lender.
• Our income is our largest wealth building tool, we need to stop sending so much of it to the bank.
• Use the debt snowball and gazelle intensity. 

3.  Build Quality Relationships

• You have to communicate with your spouse if married.  Money is the number one cause for divorce in America, don't let it be a problem in your marriage. 
• Help kids build decision-making muscles and teach them the importance of giving, saving and spending.  
• Be kind and honest in all of your relationships.  

4.  Save and Invest 

• You need to save for three reasons 
• Emergency fund - prepare for a rainy day
• Purchases - you need to pay cash - use a sinking fund
• Wealth Building - to leave a legacy and be able to help others

5.  Build Wealth and Give

• Giving turns you into a more generous person and therefore you will have more opportunities because people like being around generous people. 
• Wealth allows you to help people in your community and world - no one would have remember the good samaritan if he only had good intentions. 
• God loves a cheerful giver!
• Legacy building comes in four parts - Dave Ramsey's new class, The Legacy Journey, will help people through these. 
• Now - Fix your current situation (emergency fund, pay off debt, pay cash)
• Then - Set yourself up for the future (sinking funds, retirement)
• Us - Changing your family tree (college funding, life insurance, teaching how to handle money, leave an inheritance) 
• Them - Help those in your community and world (Give lots of your wealth away in ways that can make a impact for God's Kingdom here on Earth)

I also wanted to remind you all about my giveaway of a copy of Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover book that is signed by Dave!  Enter by May 4th.  Some of the options allow you to enter daily. 

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