Dear Dave, Our son is 17, and he is in school. He has a good part-time job, and my wife and I started teaching him basic money management at a young age. He understands the importa…
Dear Dave, I’ve heard you tell people to avoid debt consolidation companies. Why do you think debt consolidation is such a bad thing? Tom Dear Tom, The main reason is that debt c…
Dear Dave, I’m getting married this summer and about become a stepfather, but my fiancé’s daughter from a previous marriage seems very irresponsible. She’s 20 and lives at h…
Dear Dave, I know you’re against financing purchases. However, is it okay to finance things like furniture at zero percent interest? Detrick Dear Detrick, We just finished an ext…
Dear Dave, I’m getting married this summer, and I’m on Baby Step 4 of your plan. My fiancé is getting on board with your advice, too, and she’s currently in the process of p…
Dear Dave, Recently, the garage where I worked for a long time went out of business. I have a lot of my own tools, and I was thinking about taking out a loan of around $20,000 to b…
Dear Dave, My mom is single, and she co-signed on my student loans for college. Would it affect her credit if I couldn’t or didn’t make the payments? Terri Dear Terri, Yes, it …
Dear Dave, My daughter is in college, and I’ve always warned her to stay away from credit cards. Recently, I learned she got a department store credit card despite my advice. She…
Dear Dave, My father-in-law wants to help us with our mortgage. We’ve been working hard to pay off our home early, and we’ve reduced what we owe to around $35,000. His idea is …
Dear Dave, How do you feel about timeshares, and the free trips and dinners they offer as part of their sales pitches? Is it possible to win with these things? Dan Dear Dan, In my …
Dear Dave, My husband and I have about $20,000 in credit card debt, plus payments on a new truck. We also have a camper he bought before we got married that we’re still making pa…
Dear Dave, My mom is 75, and I’m the executor of her estate. She has $500,000 in retirement accounts, and the only debt she has is around $70,000 on her mortgage. Most of her mon…
