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Lewis HowesThe 5 Things That Will Make You WEALTHY In 10 Years | Dave Ramsey & Lewis Howes
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Chapter summaries
Playing the Long Game: Principles Before Tactics
Lewis praises Dave's consistency and asks what raises the odds of building wealth beyond the baby steps. Dave answers that principles should lead to tactics: live on less than you make, follow a written budget, get out of debt, save and invest. He cites Ramsey's study of millionaires.
- •Dave says to agree on the baseline and principles before choosing tactics, as in his leadership meeting
- •Live on less than you make and keep a written plan (a budget), because no one gets wealthy accidentally
- •Being out of debt frees up money to invest and gives a sense of freedom and agency
- •Ramsey's millionaire study found a typical path: a paid-off house plus a healthy 401(k)/Roth IRA in good mutual funds
- •Dave says the emergency fund comes first, then long-term investing
Why Get-Rich-Quick Schemes Tempt Us
Lewis asks why people put everything into long-shot investments like crypto. Dave says the brain is wired for efficiency, and he tells how he lost $4 million of real estate by borrowing too much. He adds that pride makes people think warnings are for other people.
- •Dave says the long haul is not human nature because the brain seeks the least effort to reach a goal
- •He did not think of his own nothing-down real estate plan as foolish, and he lost everything
- •People don't believe the odds are against them, and pride comes before the fall
- •Short-term thinkers pile on anyone playing a long game, and Dave says he would have been that critic at 26
Generosity as a Character Quality
Dave names generosity as the last principle and says it is a character quality you choose, not a one-time action. He says you don't need a lot of money to be generous, and that a scarcity mindset keeps people navel-gazing.
- •Generosity is an identity choice, and Dave links this to James Clear's idea that habits follow identity
- •It can mean tithing, buying lunch for a service member, or simply opening a door
- •Generous people are attractive, rarely depressed, and have an abundance mentality
- •Financial stress turns people inward, but a small amount of margin lets them choose generosity
- •Dave's example of an outlandish tip is the valet who parked a $140,000 Mercedes for five dollars
Giving Wisely: Due Diligence and a Million-Dollar Day
Asked about his most generous year, Dave describes the year of his million-dollar giving day. He explains how he treats large gifts like investments and does due diligence on organizations. He also describes how the Ramsey Family Foundation approaches ministries.
- •Dave learned from generous wealthy people that large gifts call for intentionality and due diligence
- •Giving too much to a weak organization can destroy it, much like a lottery winner
- •His daughter Denise runs the foundation, approaching ministries as if buying them, examining HR, systems, accounting and cost per child fed
- •The foundation does not give to ministries that borrow money
- •Dave gave away a million dollars in one day and calls generosity the most fun you can have with money
Generosity, Growth, Integrity and Relationships
Lewis asks whether giving leads to bigger years, and Dave says it does over a decade, though not with a return in mind. They discuss what happens to people who never give, tying generosity to integrity, trust, creativity and marriage. Dave also explains why he pays every penny of tax.
- •Dave says giving with the expectation of a return amounts to telling God what to do
- •A generous, kind colleague is the one who would get the promotion
- •Dave says people who never give see their growth stunted, and he ties this to integrity and trust
- •A pastor told Dave that tithing couples don't divorce because unselfishness with money carries into marriage
- •Dave pays every cent of taxes because integrity is integrity, and his audit cost him nothing
Money and Marriage: Questions Couples Should Ask
Lewis asks what couples should align on about money before committing. Dave says money is the number one cause of divorce and a reflection of values, and he lists the topics to discuss. He describes the loop in which marriage quality and wealth feed each other and why mismatched money habits breed resentment.
- •Money fights are the top cause of divorce, and marriage quality in turn affects whether you build wealth
- •Dave says to discuss debt, saving, generosity, planning versus chaos, and future-minded versus YOLO living
- •Short-term thinking signals emotional and spiritual immaturity, and couples needn't match perfectly but must not be a deal-breaker apart
- •Dave and his wife differ on saving, but both agreed on no debt, and he says agreeing early beats how they did it
- •Resentment and the eye roll are the beginning of the end, so partners must be close on money
Saving vs. Investing and Diversifying Beyond Your Business
Dave defines saving as short-term and investing as long-term, and lays out how much to hold in each. He then explains why business owners should diversify outside their company, using a heating and air company owner as the example.
- •Saving is for the short term (about three years or less), while investing lets you ride out market swings
- •Keep a three-to-six-month emergency fund, save cash for purchases to avoid debt, and invest the rest
- •Never invest in something you don't understand, and diversify, citing Ecclesiastes
- •A business owner with everything in the company has no diversification and no retirement exit plan
- •Owners should also have their own 401(k), Roth IRA and real estate outside the business
Real Estate: Returns Versus Hassle
Lewis says he wants to get into real estate but has only used a real estate fund. Dave says real estate pays more than other asset classes but brings far more hassle, and he ranks property types by headaches. He mentions REITs, triple-net warehouses, apartments and single-family homes.
- •Dave says real estate looks romantic on TikTok but in reality everything will go wrong
- •REITs and limited partnerships are hands-off ways to own real estate
- •Warehouses rented triple net have little hassle, while single-family homes carry the most
- •Mutual funds return about 10–12%, while Dave says his real estate runs 17–20% internal rate of return
- •Dave's real estate is not all Ramsey buildings, so the business and tenant risk are separate, and he is shifting toward commercial
Changing Your Money Mindset Through Inputs
Lewis asks how someone raised with poor money habits can shift to an abundance mindset. Dave answers: inputs, meaning who you hang around and what you read, watch and listen to. He closes with his favorite Bible passage, Romans 12:2.
- •Dave quotes Charlie Jones: in five years you'll be the same except for the people you hang with and the books you read
- •He urges watching what you consume, and says he pulled back from fear-driven media during the pandemic
- •Dave says your income tends to approximate that of your 10 closest friends
- •His favorite verse for life lessons is Romans 12:2, about being transformed by renewing your mind
- •Normal is out of control with food, money, relationships and mouth, so don't be normal
Dave's Growth Edges, Legacy and Rebuilding Self-Trust
Lewis asks what Dave still needs to transform in himself. Dave names not sweating the small stuff and says he dies on the wrong hill too often. He shares the legacy he hopes for and how he rebuilt trust in himself after going broke.
- •Dave is working on not sweating the small stuff, since he gets passionate about the wrong things
- •A church board elder once said the argument wouldn't matter in five years
- •He hopes his tombstone says he left it all on the field and loved people
- •After going broke he lost trust in his own judgment, first trusted the principles, and later trusted himself to apply them
- •He says trust is wounded after bad judgment in business or relationships, and rebuilding it is hard
Wrap-Up, Three Truths and Defining Greatness
Lewis thanks Dave and points to Ramsey's resources and recent books, including those from the Ramsey personalities. He closes with his final questions about Dave's three truths and his definition of greatness.
- •Dave says his last book was Baby Steps Millionaires and that more Ramsey Personalities books are coming
- •He praises Dr. John Delony's upcoming book
- •Dave's three truths: people matter and stuff doesn't, God is real and it'll change your life, and don't sweat the small stuff
- •Dave defines greatness as service
Crisis as an Opportunity: Resets and Lessons from Past Downturns
In a segment about the economic downturn, Dave says a crisis forces resets, pivots and new opportunities. He draws on his own bankruptcy and 2008 to explain why preparation lets you buy when things are on sale. He and Lewis discuss recession definitions and lessons from the pain of earlier hard times.
- •Dave says a crisis is a time to be introspective, pivot and try new things, as Ramsey did with its products
- •Because he had cash in 2008, he could buy real estate cheaply, and he says the stock market is on sale now
- •He says how long people stay out of work determines how long recovery takes, and he feels the pain of lost businesses
- •Lewis recalls living on his sister's couch in 2008 as his hardest and best time
- •Dave says pain is a thorough teacher and the cavalry isn't coming, so the person in the mirror is the secret sauce
Answering the Wake-Up Call and the Pride of Leadership
Lewis asks what Dave says to people who ignored his advice and are now in trouble. Dave says he doesn't say "I told you so" and frames hard times as wake-up calls you must choose to answer, using his grandfather's Depression habits as an example. He also talks about his team leading without him and his own daily leadership failures.
- •Dave doesn't say "I told you so" because he has made stupid mistakes too
- •We all get wake-up calls in relationships, faith, leadership and finances, and the choice is whether to answer
- •His grandfather saved used nails because the Great Depression changed his life
- •Dave's own wake-up call was losing everything at 28, which led to controlling the controllables
- •He takes pride in his leadership team and the Ramsey personalities acting without his coaching, and admits some days he is a poor leader
Hope, Emotions and the Film Strip View of Life
Asked what callers need most, Dave says their hope has been gut-punched and they believe the fear will last forever. He tells them it won't, that emotions lie when based in fear or anger, and that life is a film strip, not a snapshot.
- •Dave says most callers need to hear that this is not going to last forever
- •He tells those worried about their investments to leave them in unless they think the market will stay down for good
- •Emotions based in fear and anger tell lies, and Dave says there are jobs available, citing Amazon's hiring
- •Your life is a film strip, not a snapshot, so the story will keep unfolding
- •He says only a small percentage face devastating outcomes compared to those who worry
Worst Moves in a Crisis: Desperation and Greed
Lewis asks about the worst and best investments in a downturn. Dave answers that his biggest mistakes came when he was desperate or greedy, because high emotion shuts down critical thinking and makes you a target for con artists.
- •Dave says desperation and fear-driven rushing lead to mistakes
- •Greed, in the sense of a lack of virtue, also sets you up for major errors, such as profiting from others' pain
- •Desperation and greed make you vulnerable to con artists
- •Dave quotes Art Laffer that panicked or drunk people don't make good decisions, and says his biggest mistakes came in those states
