Dave Ramsey Apply It!

Following up from my last blog, I have continued to draft for my scholarship essay for the principles of the Constitution. Unfortunately I am not finished yet and have hit a dead spot, so to brainstorm ideas and look for inspiration I started reading Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. The book is about how to change bad financial habits in a person's life and replace it with smart money savvy habits. I am not in debt and don't have a difficult financial situation, so I turned to the college saving chapter. The chapter first outlines how an adult should save and invest for their child's education. First Dave Ramsey makes sure that the reader knows that college does not ensure success, wealth, or happiness. He agrees that it is important but thinks a college education shouldn't cause such a financial dilemma that no one can escape it. He explains that there are many ways for adults to save for their child's education as long as they invest in fund that stays above the interest rate of inflation, which is 4% annually, but college inflation is even higher at a rate of 8% per year! Funds like ESA's and 529 plans are fine, but don't have a very high interest rate, which can then loose its value over a certain amount of years due to inflation. There are many ways of investing but Dave suggests that a flexible, pre-tax fund that has a good interest rate is the best way for funding education, which with some digging can be found fairly easy. If you haven't saved much or any money, it's okay. Dave explains how to get through college with little or no debt if there isn't much time.
This is where I found my inspiration for my essay- scholarships. There are thousands of scholarships that are available every year. Sholarships that don't take many requirements. This is a very simple way of staying debt free that just takes some hard work. With that I think I am ready to complete my essay.