I'm having to go way back here, I think to around 2004. Dave was on Fox or Fox Business on Saturday nights, and it was just himself answering calls from people about finances. This show may have had several incarnations, but the original is usually the best, before producers get hold of the format and muss it up a bit.
I remember a couple of things about Dave. For one, he hates bill collectors and encourages people to insult them every time they call. He hates time share sales people and encourages you to just stay away. I think he is currently in a fight with one of them in particular.
Also, he realizes he is often dealing with people who have poor impulse control and so his advice is often not the best if you do have some control. For example, he tells people to pay off the small debts first so that they feel like they are making progress and continue. If the bigger debts have a higher interest rate, you should probably tackle them first.
He tells people to never have credit cards just debit cards. Everybody I've ever known who got their bank account cleaned out by thieves was using a debit card. If you can use a credit card as a substitute for cash and pay them off every month then there is nothing intrinsically wrong with them.
Finally, some of his advice is bad if you are dealing with bad actors. One time a woman called and said that her husband was refusing to help pay the college debts of her son from a previous relationship. Husband refused to combine finances so as to not make himself a target for current wife's debts. Dave said this was wrong and either they were married or they were not. Hey, I'm married but I'm not going to let people I never met clean me out because of some symbolic gesture that has legal implications.
Now for the recent changes to Dave's show. I think he has mainly a radio show now. And he usually has some other usually younger person cohosting who is plain vanilla with their advice. I think Dave is best just like he was in the 2000s on Fox - just him alone and a microphone, answering peoples' questions.
Dave has a folksy, common sense approach and a Christian perspective. Overall I'd recommend him, but that doesn't mean that every piece of advice he gives may be right for you.
I remember a couple of things about Dave. For one, he hates bill collectors and encourages people to insult them every time they call. He hates time share sales people and encourages you to just stay away. I think he is currently in a fight with one of them in particular.
Also, he realizes he is often dealing with people who have poor impulse control and so his advice is often not the best if you do have some control. For example, he tells people to pay off the small debts first so that they feel like they are making progress and continue. If the bigger debts have a higher interest rate, you should probably tackle them first.
He tells people to never have credit cards just debit cards. Everybody I've ever known who got their bank account cleaned out by thieves was using a debit card. If you can use a credit card as a substitute for cash and pay them off every month then there is nothing intrinsically wrong with them.
Finally, some of his advice is bad if you are dealing with bad actors. One time a woman called and said that her husband was refusing to help pay the college debts of her son from a previous relationship. Husband refused to combine finances so as to not make himself a target for current wife's debts. Dave said this was wrong and either they were married or they were not. Hey, I'm married but I'm not going to let people I never met clean me out because of some symbolic gesture that has legal implications.
Now for the recent changes to Dave's show. I think he has mainly a radio show now. And he usually has some other usually younger person cohosting who is plain vanilla with their advice. I think Dave is best just like he was in the 2000s on Fox - just him alone and a microphone, answering peoples' questions.
Dave has a folksy, common sense approach and a Christian perspective. Overall I'd recommend him, but that doesn't mean that every piece of advice he gives may be right for you.