May 21, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Hundreds of people in Knoxville received a message of hope from nationally known financial advisor, author and TV host Dave Ramsey.
The Tennessee native and UT grad held a nationwide telecast which reached more than 6,000 churches and businesses.
His message: Don't be discouraged by these economic times. Hope is out there for everyone.
The Shavers sit next to each other listening to Dave Ramsey.
"He provides a lot of hope and encouragement that things aren't so bad," said Brittney Shaver.
Austin and Brittney married in 2006 and were 50,000 dollars in debt with student loans.
They followed Dave Ramsey's advice to a debt free life.
"It was hard,” said Austin Shaver, “I won't ever lie to people. We didn't ever go out to eat. We had no TV channels."
In two years, they paid off all their debt.
Dave Ramsey spoke about those same principals that helped the Shavers in a telecast at Cedar Springs Presbyterian.
"My desire is for people who are in hopeless situations to find a hope,” Scott Jackson, an associate pastor.
Ramsey calmed fears and answered questions. The first question was, “is this the worst depression of our generation?”
His answer was no, 1974 and 1982 were worse and not near as bad as the 1930's when the unemployment rate reached 23.6 percent. Right now we're at 8.5 percent.
Question two was, “where can I invest besides stocks?”
Dave believes you should continue to invest in the stock market because in 15 years it'll return to pre-recession levels. He also suggested investing in real estate.
Question three was, “at my age, how do I begin to save?”
Take baby steps was the suggestion. Get $1,000 in the bank, pay off your debt, build an emergency fund which could last 3 to 6 months and invest in mutual funds.
Those baby steps worked for the Shaver family.
"It really lets you know how much you need to be happy and it's not worth being in debt over,” said Austin.
