Why Invest Only 15% of My Income If I Can Do More? 

*The first step to achieving wealth is figuring out your goals and risk tolerance. Either on your own or with the help of a financial planner. And by following through with an intelligent plan, you will gain financial growth over the years and enjoy the benefits of growing your money.*

I invest 25% of my income in stocks monthly and hold for at least 5 years but Recently, my portfolio has lost $150K. What should I do?

im 18 and get paid 15 dollars an hour and work around 32-40 hours a week. ive invested around 45-50% of what i made and intend to keep doing it. im fortunate to live at my moms home however and only pay a portion of bills. ive made a plan to have 20k saved and invested by my 19th birthday in december.

Most Americans find it hard to retire comfortably amid economy downtrend. Some have close to nothing going into retirement, my question is, will you pay off mortgage as a near-retiree, or spread money for cashflow, to afford lifestyle after retirement?

I'm in my 50s and I'm more interested in investments that could set me up for retirement , I mean I've heard of people that netted hundreds of thousands during these crash, I listened to someone on a podcast who earned over $650K in less than a year, what's the strategy behind such returns?

The bass in that guy voice 🤯🤯

dave ramsey playlist is my at home background music

Recently retired and unsure if my 401(k) and IRA will provide a stable future. i need an approach that will align with my risk tolerance and financial goals, i set aside $1m to achieve this. Do you suggest i get into stocks or buy a rental property?

After a terrible 2022, shell-shocked financial backers have a lot to think about and losses to recover from. An expansion report and a wealth of other data did little to alter assumptions that the Central bank would likely keep raising interest rates regardless of whether the economy slows down. This implies that portfolios will experience more losses during the first quarter of 2023. I'm currently at a crossroads deciding whether to exchange my $250k security/stock portfolio; how might the continuous market volatility work to my advantage?

I hope you see all the positive you have done for people Dave! There will always be ungrateful and jealous people. Thanks for helping us out.

Depends on your goals and timeline. If you are interested in financial freedom before retirement, you should be targeting 40%. I lived like I was broke for many years and was investing around 85% of my income which lead me to become a millionaire by my mid thirties.

I really like this video I have worried about the 1000$ emergency fund and the way y'all addressed it is spot on thanks

No debt and single. I can afford to aggressively invest right now! I plan on focusing on investing in my 20s.

people finance a car that is 20-40% of their income, of course you can invest over 15% of your income

This dude could read ingredients off a box of fruity pebbles and it would sound like AMAZING food.

I just sold a property in Portland and I'm thinking of putting the cash in stocks, I know everyone is saying it's ripe enough, but Is this a good time to buy stocks? How long until a full recovery? How are other people in the same market raking in over $200k gains with months, I'm really just confused at this point.

Stocks looked to rebound Friday to close out a rough first few days in August, as the jobs report's release takes center stage and an earnings-heavy calendar continues. I’ve heard testimonies of people accruing over $250k this red period. What measures can I take to ensure this?

The compound growth also works on the mortgage, the more you pay down the mortgage, the more of the mortgage payment goes towards paying the loan part of the mortgage and less towards money getting flushed down the toilet on interest.

Such sound wisdom! Love it!

Thank you Dave! Thinking I need to go back and review the baby steps to get us back on track…

Had the bass turned up and my head started rattling

investment requires good experience and knowledge to carry out a good and successful trade, I have lost a lot trying to trade all by myself.

Dave Ramsey, you really are such a decent man in the way you explained the "falling off the waggon" - Thank you for sharing your ideas with the rest of us

I think this is one of the best videos Ramsey Solutions has put out explaining the rationale and intent of the Baby Steps. Explained with grace and to great effect.

Amazing video, A friend of mine referred me to a financial adviser sometime ago and we got to talking about investment and money. I started investing with $150k and in the first 2 months, my portfolio was reading $274,800. Crazy right!, I decided to reinvest my profit and get more interesting. For over a year we have been working together making consistent profit just bought my second home 2 weeks ago and care for my family.

The best investment one can do right now is investing on real estate though stocks are good but ever since I swapped to real estate investment I've seen so much difference

very good video. thanks for the input/advice

investing requires good experience and knowledge to carry out a good and successful trade, I have lost a lot trying to trade all by myself May I ask which investments are good?

Good question, sir

Mortgage pay down vs retirement investment. You're an adult! Do what you guys want... Dave taught you how to get out of debt already, the rest is up to you. His steps are a guideline, follow it or change it, but don't need to argue with Dave about it.

Smart advice, I’ve just started budgeting and this vid came up

Great advice! These things make more and more sense the further along you go in your financial life. God Bless!

Because 15% is what you save with car insurance

I've been on an aggressive debt paydown path, and recently i needed to get a new Catalytic converter for my car. It was very discouraging. I'll be fine and we have the savings, but those things do feel like a roadblock to your momentum

Miss Big Chris and his voice. Nice to hear an "old" video in this morning's walk.

i needed to hear this. thank you

A Friend told me Saving at least 15% of your income in a 401(k) can help ensure that you have enough money to retire comfortably. is this a good way to potentially grow my retirement savings to about $3M over time?

You can put whatever percentage you want into investing, Dave and others are just giving a number as a baseline. When you are increasing the money load in the bank, you can more or less spend and invest whatever you want on everything.

Thank you Dave Ramsey

I’m 19 and in the Air Force. Because my housing, food, and medical insurance is paid for by military (and no debt), literally the only things I need to worry about is my internet bill , data bill, and car insurance which all add up to about 300 a month. I only keep around 2k in my bank account and invest the rest which I guess is around 75% of my pay check. The reason I don’t have much money in my checking is because I don’t have many emergency obligations. I don’t need to worry about losing my job or about supporting a wife and kids. I am extremely blessed and thankful for the position that I am in, unlike many of my friends who didn’t put much thought into where their money was going. I know many of your circumstances are drastically different than mine, but being financially free for most people really just requires a little bit of prudence and self discipline.

I do about 38%, but house is paid and I have no debt.

I invest 80% and regret nothing

Multiple viewpoints. Dave Ramsey is right. A lot of it comes down to having to not get "too greedy" and live life while helping others and giving to those who also need help and allocating money for that.

Not an investment comment. I just have to say it: After years in debt I finally said: ENOUGH! Enough with auto-pay, it's not working. Enough being stressed. I went with paper-bill-statements. For the first time in three years, I'm not in the negative. I don't have much, but having a little, being in the green, is better than having nothing in the red. Also, it's helped me not make any UNNECESSARY purchases. I can breathe a little again

We invest 70% minus taxes and insurance.. we are 42 and millionaires.. house paid for, college paid for, zero debt .. We invest my wife’s entire salary .. minus taxes and insurance.. and 20% of my salary .. we live off only my salary ✌️

15% should be the minimum.

Absolutely excellent conversation. Chris and Dave ooze wisdom and experience

Oh, good question. I've often wondered this. Especially if you're on the older end, say 42 with 0 in retirement. I see that he is wanting the house paid off first before you invest more. But, we have like 3% interest on our mortgage and only 48k left with a plan to pay off in less than 10 years. I don't think it's a bad idea to do more and pay off mortgage early at the same time. You'll never get the years of compound interest back. Everyone's situation is different.

I invest 20-25% of my gross income each year. 15% is too low in my opinion especially pensions are harder to come by and not many people have employer matching.

Someone who never had an emergency fund is now complaining about having a $1000 emergency fund, You forgot you didn't have a $1000 before you started this plan.

I really appreciate these talks and advices. I tried to install your budgeting app, but it's not available in Poland. Are you planning to change it?

Such a valuable video!!

Having listened to the Dave Ramsey show for 11 years now, this is a rare discussion that isn't a repeat, like 99% of the questions that have been asked before.

This guy's voice is deeper than my whole bank account

I started investing in the stock market because of dividends. What matters, in my opinion, is that if you invest and earn more money in addition to dividends, you will be able to live off of dividends without selling. It implies that you can pass that on to your children, giving them a head start in life. I've invested over $600k in dividend stocks over the years; I continue to buy more today and will continue to do so until the price lowers even further.

Life is so much less stressful when emergencies happen and you have funds available to pay for the expense. Our furnace went out earlier this year, and yes it wasn’t ideal and it caused a bump in the road but because we had a rainy day fund we were able to pay for in cash and just move on with our life. It was an inconvenience not a major tragedy.

Thank you for this! It's very helpful to understand the WHY behind the plan. It's not just math involved, there's emotion too, and the Baby Steps bring success to both.

Man this some great information

I'm thinking of putting about $700K into stocks since I've read that astute investors can make money even in hard times. Do you have any good plans for this year's stock market? I was just wondering what better assets than stocks to invest in right now, since I currently sit on a $500k inheritance.

Everyone should play with a compounding interest calculator at least once in their lives to see the potential over time. I'd invest 75% of my income if I could.

I miss Chris Hogan, he was an amazing Ramsey personality.

Love this show

That was a good talk, one thing about saving $1,000 while your managing debt is if you don't save $1,000 for just in case then you can't save $10,000 for an emergency fund either.

I’m 18, living with parents. Make about 550 a week but 450 after paying 100 a week for rent and other stuff. I throw in almost every dollar into stocks. Right now I’m up over $2.2k

This video is brilliant!

This is an amazing clip.

Nobody can become financially successful over night. They put in background work but we tend to see the finished part. Fear is a dangerous component, hindering us from taking bold steps we need in other to reach our goals.

Dave has done so much. Not sure why people hate on him

I save 70% of my income, for years now. Granted I make good money, but it helped me so far. I already have my emergency funds.

Dave is a good guy. Listen to Dave.

If you invest more you can always convert those investments back into cash to pay off the house. Either way, it’s a good problem to have.

I'm 49 and earn about £2M ($2.5M) per year and save about 30% in HYSA's. I've been reading a lot of articles mentioning how worthless 'cash savings' are in this current unstable economy. Do you suggest I invest in real estate, stocks or Gold?

First time Ive seen an actual explanation of the $1000 emergency fund step! I appreciate hearing Dave admit that that step is in no way about the math, because that's been something Ive consistently not liked about the Ramsey plan for my personal situation. I think Id much rather have that same 1000 paying off part of a credit card in order to save on being charged interest and just use that same credit line in case of emergencies. I appreciate this explanation though and can see how as a general rule for most people who struggle with motivation or will only be motivated for a few months that this can be very emotionally helpful.

Plus, in Australia you have to be carefull not to exceed 27500 per year intio SUPER (401k? in US?) otherwise every dolar will be heavily taxed

I followed the plan, now I'm a billionaire and discovered life in outer space.

Oh Chris, it was nice having you around

Thanks you Mr Ramsey, I didn’t know your baby steps theory, I have made lots of mistakes before hearing you in the last few days, today I went and closed my home loan, I’m from India and home loans are in excess of 8% minimum, Wish I would have followed you much much earlier 🙏

I will be forever grateful to you, you changed my entire life and I will continue to preach on your behalf for the whole world to hear you saved me from huge financial debt with just a small investment, thank you Charlotte Miller.

Really enjoy hearing more of the history behind it all. I would love to see more videos like that .

I saved 3000 dollars for my emergency fund. And glad I did. Gave me extra stability and 1,000 isn’t enough anymore. 3,000 dollars works perfect. I raised my retirement fund to 15% while I knock out the debt.

Tha k you for expounding in this. It definitely makes sense to me now. And I’m happy to know that a 10K emergency comes along quite seldom.

You can totally invest more, just make sure it comes from the money you'd usually spend on your lifestyle.

You absolutely should invest more than 15% if you are able to do so. I get that Dave is steadfast in his plan, but you can absolutely tailor it to your own situation, especially if you are playing catch up. There are people in their 30s-40s getting debt free with hardly anything in retirement, they need to be putting way more than 15% in.

im 21 living at grandmas and put 80% in lol

Most informative one I’ve watched yet, learned a lot thank you

One thing that I heard that stuck me is that: the car engine or tire or what ever will blow on person car or house or what ever who does not have any saving and not on a person that sits on cash. I always keep 10k+ for any stuff like this. Somehow then it does not happen :D And also a spare in trunk

After we paid the house off we saved 27% of our gross income for years. Now retired we spend big bucks traveling the world, spending most of the interest.

15% is a good start but not written in stone. 15% just happens to work well for most people.

The $1000 fund is not enough to cover little bumps in the road anymore. Maybe new tires cost $250 a set 20 years ago, but now they're $600 a set. Everything that could be a small bump has gone up in price. $1000 may cover 1 or 2 bumps now, and 20 years ago, it could cover 4 or 5. We put away $3k in baby step one and are down to $500 already. Two minor car issues that cost $2k alone. Things. Are. Expensive. I do think the 1k model should be increased.

Invest in multiple streams, don't put it all in a pre-tax(401k type)..Agree with destroying the mortgage debt..

I mean, you can always sell your investments, so it’s not really the same as becoming “house poor” or “car poor.”

I do 15%......but the other way around.......I LIVE on 15% of my income; I SAVE 85%.....I do this every month and have for years. I do not have a mortgage or any kind of debt, no car.

Im hyperfocused on this strategy and have been for years.What do you do if your spouse has no interest in any of this....I've been fighting her for years!!!!!!... she has never been a saver and in my mind never will be. It's all up to me...I'm mentally exhausted...help

Exactly what I needed to hear!

Debt free and i invest more than 40% of my income in a diverse portfolio spread across stocks bonds and etfs , and i've grown to a 7 figure portfolio also making use of a full service broker managing my portfolio..

Was waiting for a GEICO commercial

When I was working, I was putting 15% in my 401-K and 8% in my 401-k Roth. My job had both and I was there for 24 years. I retired in September of 2021. Do not regret it at all. I am getting SSI, Pension, and have a rental property. I have not touched my 401-K at all.

That was a great insight into considering human psychology while making training plans . Thanks for your wise advice. 🙏

So if I have a $100K that I could invest into an account that earns 8-11% compounding interest, why I pay off a financed home at $100K 2.8% APR and not invest the $100k?

This was a good clip. I've lead Financial Peace a few times now and it's funny how many people have a hard time grasping why just $1000.00. Many of them say it's not enough but yet their net worth is in the red more than that.