A College Student Shouldn't Be Doing Either Of These Things

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: A College Student Shouldn't Be Doing Either Of These Things
Podcast: The Ramsey Show Highlights
Date: December 28, 2025
Main Theme:
This episode dives into the alarming trend of college students engaging in risky financial behaviors, specifically sports gambling and short-term trading. The hosts, led by Dave Ramsey and George Kamel, respond to a father's question about guiding his son away from sports gambling and whether redirecting him toward short-term trading is a better alternative. The consensus? Neither is wise, especially at a young age.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Listener’s Dilemma: Investment vs. Gambling

• Listener Call ([00:12]):
  • The caller describes his 21-year-old son’s two financial habits:
    • Positive: Investing in a diversified, long-term portfolio.
    • Negative: Daily or weekly sports gambling, mirroring most of his peers.
  • The father wonders if steering his son toward short-term trading (futures/options)—which he himself does—would be a preferable risk-taking outlet compared to gambling.
  • Quote:
    • “If you’re going to be involved in that kind of risky speculative gambling… apply it to learn more about short term trading like futures and options.” – Listener ([00:39])

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2. The Hosts’ Unified Stance: Neither Is Appropriate

• Dave Ramsey ([02:02]):
  • Refuses to pick "the lesser evil" between sports betting and short-term trading:
    • “A college student shouldn't be playing short term trading and a college student shouldn't be sports gambling, period.”
  • Emphasizes that the real solution is to encourage pursuits that are truly beneficial—neither option is wise or healthy for a young adult.
  • “I would never tell them, instead, do short term trading. I would just say do neither.” ([02:20])

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3. Sports Gambling: A Modern Epidemic

• Dave’s Strong Warning ([02:55]):

  • Portrays online sports gambling as the fastest-growing and most destructive addiction among young men in America.
    • “FanDuel is a portal to hell. DraftKings ain't king of nothing except their own pocketbook and they're screwing an entire generation of young men because you don’t win… This is evil stuff right here.” ([03:09])
  • Likens sports betting to drug addiction:
    • “No, this is cocaine. You are screwing around with cocaine. You’re screwing around with fentanyl, you’re screwing around with crack and it’s going to kill your little butt. You need to get away from this stuff.” ([03:30])

• The Social Trap ([04:13]):

  • Betting is normalized because "everyone is doing it," but Dave warns this mindset is dangerously misleading.
  • Uses the classic parent analogy: “If all your friends jump off a cliff, are you gonna jump off a cliff?” ([04:19])

• Impact on Lives ([05:51]):

  • Detailed consequences observed from counseling:
    • Lost marriages, lost jobs, bankruptcy—“just sad, sad, sad stories.” ([05:51])
    • Few are having serious conversations about these dangers.
    • “Everybody’s walking around grinning like betting on football is a wonderful thing.” ([05:56])

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4. Why It’s So Dangerous: Addictive Design and Financial Ruin

• George Kamel ([05:14]):

  • Covers sports gambling under "Investing Traps" in his book Breaking Free from Broke.
    • Blurs entertainment and get-rich-quick hopes; addictive and socially accepted.
    • “This is really scary to what it’s doing to young men.” ([05:29])
    • Admits that sometimes people won’t change until they feel significant loss—“he might need to lose a bunch of money and get burned before he actually turns a corner or he needs to find new friends.” ([05:45])

• Dave Ramsey ([06:09]):

  • Dismisses “cute” gambling stories:
    • “It’s like a stinking golf or fishing story. You lose more than you win, but you tell only times you won… So it’s not cute, it’s not funny.” ([06:09])
  • Warns about the brain’s rewiring:
    • “You’re creating habit patterns, neuropathways in his brain that it may take him a decade to get out of.” ([06:32])
    • Emphasizes the damaging effect on long-term wealth building and life quality.

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5. Practical Advice to Concerned Parents

• George Kamel ([06:59]):

  • Suggests intervention:
    • “What I would ask him is, hey, how much have you spent on these apps collectively? … Show him what it’s actually costing him both in past and future tenses. That might convince him…” ([06:59])

• Dave Ramsey ([07:20]):

  • The apps’ addictive power:
    • “They have spent a half a billion dollars building the visuals, building the feedback loops… once you stick your toe in there…” ([07:25])
  • “They lure you back in… ‘Here’s a free bet on us. Come back.’” – George Kamel ([07:36])

• Dave’s Emotional Conclusion ([07:40]):

  • “They are the best in the world and they’re making billions of dollars at it and at the cost of an entire generation being screwed over. … This is evil. Straight up evil. It’s greed and it’s out of control.” ([07:40–08:04])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On gambling and short-term trading:
  • “A college student shouldn't be playing short term trading and a college student shouldn't be sports gambling, period.” – Dave Ramsey ([02:02])
• On the addictive danger:
  • “FanDuel is a portal to hell.” – Dave Ramsey ([03:09])
  • “No, this is cocaine… And it’s going to kill your little butt.” – Dave Ramsey ([03:30])
• On industry manipulation:
  • “You’re at such a disadvantage when you open up one of those apps because they have spent a half a billion dollars building the visuals, building the feedback loops…” – Dave Ramsey ([07:20])

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:12: Caller introduces dilemma: son's investing vs. sports gambling
• 02:02: Dave sets the show’s stance: “Neither is a good idea”
• 03:09–03:30: Dave’s fiery warning about sports gambling addiction parallels drug abuse
• 05:14: George outlines sports gambling as an “Investing Trap”
• 05:51: Real-life consequences: families and futures ruined
• 06:09–06:32: How normalization and habit formation make gambling so insidious
• 06:59: Practical advice: tally up losses to drive the reality home
• 07:20–07:40: How apps manipulate users; industry “evil”
• 08:24: Commentary on gambling ads’ pervasiveness, even on YouTube

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Tone and Closing Thoughts

The episode is direct, urgent, and unflinchingly critical of both sports gambling and short-term trading for young people—especially college students. Dave Ramsey is forceful and passionate:

“This is evil. Straight up evil. It’s greed and it’s out of control.” ([07:40])

The hosts urge parents to see gambling as a serious addiction—akin to drugs—rather than a harmless rite of passage, and to support their children in developing healthy, sustainable financial habits instead. The message is clear: Do neither. Stay away from quick-money schemes and build wealth the old-fashioned, proven way.

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Transcript

[A]

Brought to you by CHM, a budget friendly faith based alternative to health insurance. Chministries.org budget I've got a good news, bad news scenario.

[B]

I have a 21 year old son who's a college junior and the good news is he started to invest for the long term about six, nine months ago, start putting a little bit aside, has a portfolio, diversified long term portfolio. That's the good news. The bad news is he is also actively engaged in sports gambling like so many of his friends, maybe all of his 21 year old college friends have sports gambling apps and, and they take that frequently. Definitely every week, sometimes every day. And my point with him is that if you're going to be involved in that kind of a risky speculative gambling, you know, app thing every day, that instead take that energy and apply it to learn more about short term trading like futures and options. I trade futures, I trade options. It's a, it's a skill, it's an art, it's something that's always challenging. But I've learned more about finance and probabilities as a result of it. Not always a winner. But my point to him is gambling on sports is gambling by every definition. It's good that you have a long term portfolio but as long as you're going to be, you're open to the risk of loss, that you should be applying it to financial instruments and learning more about them instead of sports gambling. And the reason I can't communicate that is that the proper, the current conventional wisdom everywhere, like he's been reading Scott Galloway's book about long term investing is that you just buy things and hold them forever and that that's the right thing to, anything to do and that's, that's the point where we're in disagreement. So I'm, my question is how do I convince him that he shouldn't be gambling on sports and if he's willing to risk money in that manner.

[C]

I follow your logic, I follow your logic, but it's like we're choosing between two things he shouldn't be doing. A college student shouldn't be playing short term trading and a college student shouldn't be sports gambling, period. So I don't really want to, I don't want him to take that energy and do anything with it except something completely that's good for him. Neither one of those things are something I want to train him to do long term. So I follow your logic. I get how you got there because you're playing in it and that's okay. You know if that's what you choose to do. But I wouldn't. Any college student or any someone in their twenties that called me and said I'm sports betting, I would never tell them, instead, do short term trading. I would just say do neither. And so I'm going to fall more on the Galloway side of things, I guess, in your mind than you are. But I think I would just for a second, let's set the short term trading decision or discussion aside and say, hey. The fastest growing addiction that is destroying young men in their 20s in America, faster than anything I've ever seen in 30 years of doing this, is online sports gambling. FanDuel is a portal to hell. Draft kings ain't king of nothing except their own pocketbook. And they're screwing an entire generation of young men because you don't win. That's why they can afford to buy ads on every stinking every. I mean, they're back to back to back to back to back ads. Every time you turn on a sporting event. It's all I see is their crap. And no wonder they're spending billions of dollars. You know where they're getting that? It's out of your kid's freaking pocket because they're screwing an entire generation. This is evil stuff right here. And so I'd be talking to him like, this is cocaine, not like it's an alternative high risk investment. No, this is cocaine. You are screwing around with cocaine. You're screwing around with fentanyl, you're screwing around with crack and it's going to kill your little butt. You need to get away from this stuff. And if your friends are also stupid, they're doing it. Well, if all your friends jump off a cliff or you're going to jump off a cliff, that's a famous dad line, right? So I'm just going to drop that one. So anything I can do to get a young person or an old person to stay away from online sports gambling, it is the most addictive freaking thing I've ever seen. The number of people coming into our financial counselors around America sitting down with Ramsey counselors that their entire lives have been destroyed by this bullcrap is unbelievable. It's the fastest growing addiction in America. Faster than cocaine, faster than drugs of any kind, faster even than porn. And porn is a really high, huge problem as well with this age group and with any age group, but this age group in particular, they're getting destroyed by their online access to this absolute bullcrap. And George, you've got some actual numbers on this.

[D]

Yeah, well, I covered it in my book Breaking Free from Broke because I saw it. It's under the Investing Traps chapter because I saw it as people trying to shortcut their way to make a little bit of money and enjoy the entertainment at the same time, which really worried me. To take the addictive nature of gambling, the ease of mobile apps, the bookies that stack the odds against you with this socially acceptable form of entertainment, quote, unquote. And so this is really scary to what it's doing to young men. And I don't know that, that this dad has the authority in the kid's life to tell him to delete the app. So what it takes is truthfully and sadly, he might need to lose a bunch of money and get burned before he actually turns a corner or he needs to find new friends.

[C]

I'm seeing him lose marriages, I'm seeing them lose jobs, I'm seeing them bankrupted. I mean, I'm seeing them all. We're seeing just a sad, sad, sad stories. And nobody's talking about it. Everybody's walking around grinning like. Betting on football is a wonderful thing.

[D]

And it's a funny thing to joke about with your friends. If you won money or lost money, well.

[C]

And it's like a stinking golf or fishing story. You lie, you know, you lose more than you win, but you tell only times you won. You know, I caught, I caught a fish, but 17 times I didn't catch a fish. Shut up. So it's not cute, it's not funny, and there's no, you know. So, Jeff, I'm on your side. If I could figure out a way to get your son to quit doing it, I would. But I gotta tell you, he's creating habit patterns, neuro pathways in his brain that it may take him a decade to get out of. When your brain starts getting rewired to play this crap, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. This short term feedback loop thing, and you get your brain wired to do that. It is not conducive to building wealth. It is not conducive to building a high quality life. Yeah.

[D]

What I would ask him is, hey, how much have you spent on these apps collectively? Make him add it up and then show him what it's actually costing him both in past and future tenses. That might convince him if he's into long term investing, he might go, you know what, I could have turned that into ten grand when I graduate college instead of being broke. Or I could just have some fun, quote unquote, and lose A bunch of money.

[C]

Yeah. These guys, they have got the algorithm. You're at such a disadvantage when you open up one of those apps because they have spent a half a billion dollars building the visuals, building the feedback loops to where they know once you stick your toe in there and they.

[D]

Lure you back in with another, suck you in. Hey, here's a free bet on us. Come back.

[C]

They are the best in the world and they're making billions of dollars at it and at. And at the cost of an entire generation being screwed over. So, yeah. Can you tell I'm a little pissed off about it? Yeah. This is evil. Straight up evil. It's greed and it's out of control. And if you work for FanDuel or you work for DraftKings and you don't like me, well, I'll get over that.

[D]

Guessing they're not going to be knocking on your door to be a sponsor, Dave.

[C]

Well, they have. And we said that's actually funny.

[D]

They even.

[C]

You've got to be. Well, that just shows how stupid they are that they don't. You know, they don't. They're just buying ads everywhere. Anybody, you know, like, no, we're not putting that on. And we're not going to have anybody on here selling gold either. Good God, how stupid.

[D]

If you're watching this on YouTube, it probably got interrupted with a FanDuel ad. That's how aggressive they are. They want to be everywhere. In your face 24 7. It's exhausting.

[C]

Bad news, boys and girls. Bad news. Hope I wasn't unclear.

[A]

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