Does Dave Ramsey even listen to his own advice?

Dave Ramsey says if you must use a mortgage to buy a house, only use a 15 year mortgage and never a 30 year mortgage. But Dave also says you can average an annual 12% return if you put your money into mutual funds. If this is true and Dave is right, why doesn't he recommend you "use a 30 year mortgage and invest the difference"? Let's see what the numbers say...

[EthanStoneLee]

"most people simply dont want to think", Couldn't be more true. This is great content, thank you!

[victoradvice]

No one is going to get the 12 percent (especially after fees), so his whole concept in wrong from the start. And taxes will eat up a lot. But it's still better to do the 30 year mortgage, and never put a dime extra into the mortgage. Put that money somewhere where it will grow dependably until you can stroke a check to pay off the mortgage balance, like you said. And whole life is the best vehicle because you don't pay any tax on the growth. The funny part is that Ramsey didn't get rich putting money in mutual funds. Like you said, people have to start thinking on their own. Common sense will tell you how wrong he is. Getting out of consumer debt is important, but why not build wealth at the same time. For some reason, he just can't wrap his mind around it.

[davidbefort]

One addition to the math in this video---by investing the money the way I describe in the first example, you will be able to pay the house off at the 13 year mark if you want to. And you'll have access to all that cash for the entire 13 years in case of emergencies (i.e, a global pandemic!). Seriously, either Dave Ramsey doesn't understand basic math or else he is just plain lying to you. You decide.

[PawkaFlocka]

After 15 years you can then invest the entire $2071/month and at 12% over 15 years that's nearly a million dollars plus a free and clear house. But I suppose the $724/month over 30 years is over 2 million dollars....Interesting stuff for sure.