Key takeaways:
Dave Ramsey and Mark Cuban are both popular financial experts in their 60s who have built massive fortunes—and followings. While Ramsey and Cuban differ in terms of their career backgrounds and political affiliations, there are a few important pieces of financial advice they both urge their fans to follow. Both experts advise avoiding credit cards, building an emergency fund, and paying off all non-mortgage debt before investing.
Dave Ramsey and Mark Cuban certainly have their differences. Ramsey is an evangelical Christian conservative who endorsed President Donald Trump’s latest presidential candidacy, while Cuban, who is Jewish but has described himself as “not very religious,” has donated to both Democratic and Republican politicians, but has largely endorsed Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris.
Ramsey’s business background is in real estate, while Cuban’s career began in the software industry. Ramsey’s media presence comprises many successful books, as well as his longstanding daily radio/video show, which combines practical financial advice with a touch of modern evangelism.
Cuban’s media career, on the other hand, includes a 14-year stint as a startup investor, or “shark,” on the popular ABC reality show Shark Tank, as well as a season as a contestant on another popular ABC reality program, Dancing with the Stars.
Ramsey and Cuban have different career backgrounds and fall on different sides of the political spectrum, but when it comes to personal finance, they agree on three important points.
Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Despite their differences, the two also have some things in common. Namely, both are considered finance experts, and for good reason—at age 65, Ramsey has an estimated net worth of $200 million, and Cuban, 67, is worth a staggering $6 billion. The two also know each other, and Cuban has even appeared on the Dave Ramsey Show to talk money.
Average people look to Ramsey and Cuban for advice on saving, spending, wealth-building, getting out of debt, and other common aspects of personal finance. That being said, their fan bases don’t have all that much overlap.
Here are the three biggest pieces of financial advice they agree on and both stress to their fans:
1. Don’t use credit cards
While credit cards certainly can be used responsibly, the reality is that very few people who use them are able to consistently avoid overspending, carrying a balance, and accruing interest. As a result, most credit card users end up with a pool of debt that grows so rapidly—thanks to the magic of compounding interest—that it outpaces their ability to pay it off.
For that reason, both Dave Ramsey and Mark Cuban think credit cards are way too risky a spending vehicle for the average person and should, for the most part, be avoided at all costs.
Here’s what each of the two finance experts has had to say on the subject over the years:
“If you use your credit cards, you do not want to be rich.” — @Mark Cuban #creditcard #debt #moneytips #moneytok #moneymindset
♬ original sound – Ramsey Solutions
Mark Cuban’s best quotes on credit cards
“Cut up your credit cards. If you use a credit card, you dont want to be rich. The first step to getting rich, requires discipline. If you really want to be rich, you need to find the discipline, can you?” (Blog Maverick post, 2008) “Credit cards are the worst investment that you can make … I should have paid off my cards every 30 days.” (Business Insider interview, 2014) “People ask me where’s the best place to invest … the best place to invest is to pay off all your credit cards and burn them. If you’re paying 15% or 20% in interest, if you pay that down, you just earned 15% or 20%.” (Speaking on The Dave Ramsey Show, 2014) “From my dad: Don’t use credit cards.” (Inc. article, 2017)“For me, the hardest lesson I learned was getting my credit cards ripped up. I would charge something and think I would be able to pay it off and then not be able to. I can’t tell you how many credit cards I had ripped up … Using a credit card is OK if you pay it off at the end of the month. Just recognize that the 18% or 20% or 30% you’re paying in credit card debt is going to cost you a lot more than you ever could earn anywhere else.” (Money interview, 2017)
Dave Ramsey’s best quotes on credit cards
“Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans cannot even envision a car without a payment, a house without a mortgage, a student without a loan, and credit without a card.” (The Total Money Makeover, 2003)“Debt is not a tool; it is a method to make banks wealthy, not you. The borrower truly is slave to the lender.” (The Total Money Makeover, 2003)”Credit cards are a short-term option that only set you up to fail later down the road. You will have to pay that back, and right now, you have to pay it back with 22% interest!” (Fox Business interview, 2022)”Banks make their money on people like you and me falling prey to their loan and credit card offers. Get rid of the credit cards NOW so you don’t use them in a moment of weakness.” (Fox Business interview, 2022)“It’s fairly recent that it’s so pervasive, that it’s just necessary for life—and it’s not. I don’t have credit cards; I haven’t in thirty-something years.” (Interview with Tucker Carlson, 2025)
2. Build an emergency fund
Cultivating a nest egg for unexpected one-time costs is one of the most common pieces of advice dolled out by financial pundits, Cuban and Ramsey included. Whether it’s a sudden-but-crucial car repair, a surprise visit to an urgent care clinic, or something else entirely, unexpected costs can quickly throw a person or family into debt, especially if their budget only accounts for bills and other expected recurring expenses.
By maintaining an emergency fund separate from any existing savings or investment accounts, you ensure that you can cover occasional one-time expenses without falling behind on bills, getting into credit card debt, or dipping into brokerage or retirement accounts.
The 7 Baby Steps are a proven, step-by-step plan to take control of your money and build wealth. First, save $1,000 as a starter emergency fund. Then, knock out all debt except your house. Once you’re debt-free, build up 3–6 months of expenses. From there, you’ll invest, save for college, and pay off your home early so you can live and give like no one else. Follow this plan and you’ll change your life forever. #daveramsey #moneytok #moneyadvice
♬ original sound – Dave Ramsey – Dave Ramsey
Maintaining an emergency fund is so important to Dave Ramsey that he made it the first step in his “baby steps” program, a 7-step roadmap to financial freedom that serves as the keystone of his most popular financial success programs. Ramsey advises that everyone, even those in debt or with limited means, start their journey to financial responsibility by setting aside $1,000. After step 2 in Ramsey’s process—paying off all debts except for a mortgage—he moves on to step 3: Growing that $1,000 emergency fund until it’s stocked with enough savings to cover three to six months of living expenses.
Cuban, too, stresses the importance of keeping some money aside for the unexpected. He advises that everyone save up six months’ worth of their income, reminding his fans that employment is never guaranteed. In a 2017 video for Vanity Fair, Cuban urged his fans to “save up six months income. If you don’t like your job at some point or you get fired or you have to move or something goes wrong, you know, you’re gonna need at least six months income.”
Once the COVID-19 pandemic shook the job market to its core in 2020, Cuban revised this number, now imploring working folks to do their best to save up a full year’s worth of income to prepare for unexpected circumstances in an uncertain job market.
3. Don’t invest until you’ve paid off your debt
While many people who carry debt are tempted to invest some of their income before paying off what they owe in full—likely in the hope that high returns will allow them to clear their debt later on—both Dave Ramsey and Mark Cuban agree this usually isn’t a good idea.
For one thing, consumer debt usually comes with a fairly high interest rate. As of August 2025, the median credit card interest rate was almost 24%, according to Investopedia, which tracks popular credit card interest rates. Meanwhile, the S&P 500, which tracks the 500 largest companies that trade on the American stock markets, has returned an average compound annual growth rate of just 11.02%.
Very few investors—even professionals—can beat market returns by picking individual stocks, so for most working folks, investing in an index fund that tracks the market is the safest bet, and the opportunity cost of doing that while carrying high-interest debt is massive.
The way Ramsey Solutions puts it, “Investing while you’re in debt is a zero-sum game. Any money you might earn from your investments is pretty much canceled out by the interest you’re forced to pay on your debt. Those investments won’t help you increase your net worth if you’ve got a pile of debt that keeps tipping the scale the other way.” Ramsey even goes so far as to advise liquidating any existing investments you might have (excluding retirement accounts) to pay off your debts faster: “if you have any money in non-retirement investments, it’s time to throw it all at your debt.”
Unsurprisingly, Cuban agrees. In a 2018 interview with Kitco News, he assured his listeners that paying down debt is an investment in and of itself. When asked by anchor Daniella Cambone about the safest investments, Cuban responded, “The best investment you can make is paying off your credit cards, paying off whatever debt you have. If you have a student loan with a 7% interest rate, if you pay off that loan, you’re making 7%, that’s your immediate return, which is a lot safer than picking a stock, or trying to pick real estate, or whatever it may be.”
The takeaway
There you have it—three of the biggest pieces of financial advice championed by two of the country’s most compelling financial influencers.
Despite the differences in their career backgrounds and political affiliations, Ramsey and Cuban both say cut up the credit cards, save a solid chunk of cash for emergencies, and pay off your (non-mortgage) debt before trying to grow your savings using investment vehicles.
