My wife and I are going through Financial Peace University at our church. Even though I knew most of the material, it was good to hear again and we actually started to implement a few of Dave's recommendations. I agree that he is in the business to promote himself and company but after going through half of his course, his ideas are needed for a lot of families. Let's face it, most families don't budget, are in debt up to their eyeballs, have no real concrete plan to reach financial independance, and are listening to their brother or cousin who is digging their own financial grave for advice.
I don't agree with all of his ideas but the basics are common sense and anyone that follows them will have good results.
As far as being an ELP, I actually applied twice but never heard from them. I spoke to our church about life and health insurance and have written 3 nice cases so far. In a sense, I became my own ELP for my church without the fee.
I prefer Crown Financial Ministries and Howard Dayton (the old Larry Burkett organization). They teach the same things as Ramsey but more balanced. They have radio broadcasts, seminars, one on one budget counseling, publications, and will hook you up with professional budget counseling if required. I know them personally and know that they are the real thing Christian wise. Costs are nominal and nobody is in it for the money. For example their seminar which is pretty much the same as Ramsey is only about $30 for a couple.
Crown Financial Ministries
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