“The Math of Raising a Big Family”

Today while browsing the news online “The Math of Raising a Big Family” popped up on my screen.  Having a large family of 8 children myself I thought, “Maybe there is something here that I haven’t considered.” So, I clicked on the link and discovered this was another Dave Ramsey advertorial.  And pathetically, Dave’s advice was the same stuff he always talks about.  The same stuff that has been proven misleading at best and downright dishonest numerous times before (link to The “Dave Ramsey” Factor.) Besides with only three kids of his own what qualifications does Dave really have to authoritatively advise anybody about “The Math of Raising a Big Family”?  It’s like listening to the therapist without any children telling parents how to raise kids.  Or a marriage counselor who’s never married advising couples on how to have a successful marriage.

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But to his credit Dave does do a pretty good job about teaching people to live within their income.  However, ask yourself this, “How long do you want to live within the income you have today?”  You certainly don’t want to do so for the rest of your life, inflation will kill you.

And if you’re raising a big family you especially need to learn how to generate more income because you can’t make it on what you’re currently earning today.  You don’t want to simply survive; you’d like to prosper.

With freedom comes responsibility and freely deciding to have a large family is no excuse to merely squeak out an existence by learning to survive on a fixed income.  In fact, having more children in a family really opens up so many possibilities and opportunities to generate more income than Dave can ever imagine because with only his 3 kids he has never experienced how creative you can become being the head of a large family.

Think about this for a moment.  If 3 people were in business together and each one of them provided a unique and added benefit to the business, that business would prosper.  Now multiply those 3 individuals productivity by 2, then 3 and the productivity can easily become exponential.  This same principle applies to families.  Families that are not as large can certainly be productive, but their potential is limited compared to a larger family.

Does that mean every family needs to be larger?  Of course not.  Family size is a personal choice and any child that is added to a family is a blessing.  But being the head of a family of 10, 11 now that my mother has come to live with us, I realize that a family limits its productive potential the less people that it has, even though a large family can be less productive than a smaller family, depending on how well the family functions together.

As a young family and up until we became a large family we used to conduct our financial affairs according to Dave Ramsey’s rules.  We did this until I was 45 years old.  And because of that, I know and can prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Dave Ramsey protocol can NEVER make you rich, better-off or financially free.  But what Dave’s protocol can and will do for you is subject you to risks that can generate huge liabilities and spell financial ruin for you by limiting your ability to create free cash flow that you can continue to use and control your entire life time.

Learning to control your finances instead of hoarding money away like Dave Ramsey advocates, will allow you to generate the wealth and resources that you will need giving you the ability to become better-off and financially free.  And the number of children you have or don’t have doesn’t really make a difference.

This one thing is blatantly obvious, fulfilling the proverb which King Solomon inscribed centuries ago, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” makes fiscal sense.  Dave Ramsey is on record about his antagonism and intolerance towards anybody who wants to assure this proverb is fulfilled by using permanent life insurance.  That is a worthy reason to hold Dave Ramsey’s recommendations with wariness until proven otherwise.  Including “The Math of Raising a Big Family”.

Dr. Tomas P. McFie

Most Americans depend on Social Security for retirement income. Even when people think they’re saving money, taxes, fees, investment losses and market volatility take most of their money away. Tom McFie is the founder of McFie Insurance which helps people keep more of the money they make, so they can have financial peace of mind. His latest book, A Biblical Guide to Personal Finance, can be purchased here.