"These People Are Too Stupid To Work For"

Summary

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Episode Summary: "These People Are Too Stupid To Work For"

Podcast: The Ramsey Show Highlights
Date: August 20, 2025
Host(s): Dave Ramsey, Sam (co-host), Ren (caller)
Episode Length: ~9 minutes
Theme:
This episode confronts the misconception that a high credit score equals financial responsibility. Dave Ramsey vehemently challenges the reliance on FICO scores as the sole benchmark for financial health—especially in employment decisions—while supporting a caller navigating workplace credit requirements after going debt-free.

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Main Discussion & Key Insights

1. Ren’s Dilemma: Employer Dependencies on Credit Score

• Ren’s Situation:

  • Works IT/security for financial institutions; employment contracts reference credit score.
  • Recently paid off significant debt, including an auto loan—leading to a drop in credit score (below 700).
  • Concerned employers will see lower score every six months and question financial responsibility.

  "One of my oldest accounts... was actually an auto loan. And I paid it off here recently... I go and check my credit score and it dropped it below 700." (Ren, 00:43)

• Employer’s Perspective:

  • If a worker can't 'manage their finances' (as shown by score), they lose system access.

2. Dave’s Argument: FICO Score as a Flawed Metric

• Myth-Busting the FICO Score:

  • Dave explains that a FICO score reflects your relationship with debt—not true financial responsibility.

  "100% of the elements in the algorithm that create a FICO score are about your relationship with debt... It is not a measure of net worth." (Dave Ramsey, 06:42)

  • Paying off debt can actually lower your FICO, because it reduces active credit accounts.

• Critique of Corporate Reliance on Credit Scores:

  • Dave suggests any employer equating a low/no FICO score with irresponsibility is "too stupid to work for."

  "If you become debt free and your credit score drops below 700 and stays there and they look at you and say you're debt free so you can't manage money. Well, these are people too stupid to work for. Seriously." (Dave Ramsey, 01:50)

  • He likens this mindset to "corporate stupidity" and urges listeners not to buy in.

3. Advice to Ren: Stand Your Ground

• Confront the Policy Creators:

  • Dave recommends open discussion with employers ("get on the phone with the goober signing the contract") and assert financial responsibility through debt-free status:

  "If you can't look at me and say debt free is financially responsible, then you're too dumb to hire me, honestly." (Dave Ramsey, 02:49)

  • Sam adds that the solution may be as simple as calmly explaining the logic to HR/employers:

  "You might just explain it to them the same way... as a smart human being. Don't die the same way that they're going to figure it out." (Sam, 04:24)

• Don't Live in Fear:

  • Dave cautions listeners against making financial decisions solely to benefit their credit score, and to reject the myth that you must maintain active debt for job security.

  "I'm not going to pay interest to a bank and pay payments that I don't to be paying to create an artificial wellness score..." (Dave Ramsey, 03:35)

4. Deconstruction: What FICO Really Means

• FICO’s True Nature:
  • Developed by Fair Isaac, and entirely debt-based metrics.
  • Having wealth and being debt-free will not increase your FICO; in fact, it may drop it.

  "It's a way banks judge if you want to play kissy face with them or not... 800 sucker score. That's what they see." (Dave Ramsey, 06:42)

5. Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Dave’s Outspoken Style:

  • "You're so fucking—freaking scared." (Dave Ramsey, 03:59)
  • "Don't worship at the altar of the great FICO... We bring you offerings of interest, Great FICO." (Dave Ramsey, 08:57)

• Levity Among Frustration:

  • Sam: "A couple of broke, irresponsible losers." (08:33)
  • Dave: "What a moronic thing. You know, this bank wouldn't hire me... because I'm financially irresponsible by their measure because the sucker score is too low." (Dave Ramsey, 07:48)

6. Key Takeaways

• Your credit score only measures your use of debt—not true financial competence.
• Don't let employers or banks define your financial health by a FICO score.
• Being debt-free is an indicator of financial wisdom, not irresponsibility.
• Don’t be afraid to explain your financial choices to those in power—many policies are based on misconceptions.

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Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Ren introduces his credit/employment dilemma: 00:06–01:35
• Dave rails against employer policies & FICO logic: 01:35–03:53
• Advice for confronting employers & the myth of FICO: 03:53–06:42
• Dave explains how FICO is scored and its real meaning: 06:42–08:33
• Closing rant: Don’t worship the credit score, final thoughts: 08:33–end

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Overall Tone

• Passionate, blunt, and slightly irreverent—a classic Dave Ramsey deep-dive into financial myths, with practical advice and a strong call for independence from outdated corporate assumptions.

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Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

[Ren]

So I got a bit of a. Bit of a problem that I'm trying to figure out how to navigate. So I work in IT for a lot of different financial institutions and do a lot of security work for them and everything. And one of the things that's directly tied to my employment is unfortunately, my lovely credit score.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, it's not. Not he. It is. If you're a president of a bank, but not Nati. They're not. They're not going to kill you for not having a credit score. They'll hurt you for having bad credit.

[Ren]

Right. And.

[Dave Ramsey]

But not no credit where.

[Ren]

Right. And that's the problem I'm running into is that I've got credit. I've had credit for, you know, if I had good credit for quite a while. But recently, with a lot of the contracts I've been doing, with all the work I've been doing, I've actually been able to get a lot of stuff paid down. And the unfortunate thing is one of my oldest accounts that had was actually an auto loan. And I paid it off here recently. And so I'm like, cool, got the car, paid off all great. And I go and check my credit score and it dropped it below 700. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, what the heck?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, well, that's.

[Ren]

Right. But the problem is with the contract of my employment. It's actually because they put it in the form of, hey, if you can't manage your finances, then why do we give you access to other people's finances to manage the servers that handle it?

[Sam]

How often do they check it?

[Ren]

Every six months.

[Sam]

Okay. And how much debt do you have left to pay off?

[Ren]

Including mortgage and everything?

[Sam]

No, not right around. Not including your mortgage. Just your consumer debt. Just curious.

[Ren]

Oh, consumer debt. I've got about 22.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. If you become debt free and your credit score drops below 700 and stays there and they look at you and say you're debt free so you can't manage money. Well, these are people too stupid to work for. Seriously.

[Ren]

I agree that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So, I mean, they have to have. You have to look at whoever's using this and saying, listen, if you guys are so corporate and stupid that the only measure of financial wellness that you have is a FICO score, and I'm sitting here debt free with a strong net worth and no payments, and you're calling me not responsible. You're stupid.

[Sam]

I know.

[Ren]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's just dumb.

[Ren]

Yeah. And that's what I've been trying to figure out is like, how do I.

[Dave Ramsey]

Tell them Just what I get on the phone with the goober signing the contract and go, dude, if I am financially irresponsible, yes, fire me, but I have no debt. That is not financially irresponsible and that drives your credit score down. And if you can't look at me and say debt free is financially responsible, then you're too dumb to hire me, honestly. See, you've made the assumption that there's only one way to look at this by them. And I'm saying when you get up in their grill, they're going to cave like a Walmart tent. Yeah, yeah, they are. And the one that doesn't, so what? Move on. I'm not going to pay interest to a bank and pay payments that I don't to be paying to create an artificial wellness score that is not really a measure of wellness, but instead is a measure of how much I pay payments in order for some bureaucrat in corporate America who can't pull his head out of his butt to make a decision, no, don't live your life that way, man.

[Ren]

The only unfortunate thing is I actually really do like the work that I do.

[Sam]

But saying you're gonna.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're so fucking freaking scared.

[Sam]

Yeah, you're making a set of assumptions. You're making assumptions.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're not going to lose these accounts, man, when you go in and verbally accost them the way I'm describing and say I am financially responsible, I'm out of debt. The reason my credit score went down is not because I didn't pay my bills, you dubers, it's because I don't have any debt.

[Sam]

And you may not even have to accost them. You might could just explain it to them the same way that you figured it out as a smart human being. Don't die the same way that they're going to figure it out.

[Dave Ramsey]

Don't live with a glass half empty man. Go in there and sit down and talk to them. And you're the same guy that calls up and goes, you can't rent an apartment without a FICO score. But when you call 40 apartments, 38 of them will tell you they will rent you an apartment without a FICO score. So that's mythology that someone dreamed up and made everybody believe. So they keep borrowing money and staying in debt to the bank. Your other option, Ren, is just keep paying payments the rest of your life because you're too scared to talk to your employer about what real Financial wellness is or your con. They're not even your employers.

[Sam]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[Dave Ramsey]

That gum contracts.

[Sam]

That's a good point. If you run it out the other way, as detailed as you've run it out the way, it not working for you. That means that you don't pay off the car, you never pay off your house.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you get to pay a bunch of interest for no reason. You know, $100,000 over the next 10 years to keep your FICO score working. Well, that's just dumb. But no, no. And guys, this is the problem with the FICO score if you don't know, okay? It was developed by an organization called Fair Isaac. You can look it up on their website. 100% of the elements in the algorithm that create a FICO score are about your relationship with debt. Have you taken out too much debt? Have you taken out weird debt? Have you not paid your debt on time? Have you paid off debt?

[Sam]

The different types of debt, different kinds.

[Dave Ramsey]

Of debt that you have. Is it a credit card debt problem? Is it a car debt issue? And so the only way you get a 700 to 800 credit score is you have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over the scope of your life in interest to a bank. It's the only way the math works in the algorithm for you to have a FICO score. I can write you a check for $10 million. I'm not going to. But if I wrote you a check for $10 million and you put it in your bank account, you, your FICO score doesn't change one point. If your boss walks in and says, I'm going to give you a $10 million a year raise, your FICO score does not change one point. You get completely out of debt and build a million dollars in your 401k. It does not change your FICO score one point, except it will go down because you got out of debt. The FICO score is not a measure of financial responsibility. It is not except as it relates to debt. It is not a measure of financial wellness. It is not a way for you to keep score that you are doing well with your money. It's a way banks judge if you want to play kissy face with them or not. That's all it means. When they look down and they see an 800, they go yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Bring that one over here, sucker. That's what banks see. That's how they see it. They say they see 800, they go sucker score. 800 sucker score. That's what they see. They see you've been buying a lot of stuff on credit. You like to pay interest. Come over and give us some of your money, sucker. That's what your FICO score means. It's a sucka score. That's it. Man, this is just nuts, y'. All. It is not a measure of net worth. You go build a million dollar net worth, it does not affect your FICO score. You know what my FICO score is? Zero. I don't have one. It's indeterminable, which means I'm really off the grid. I must be financially irresponsible. I've got $600 million in paid for real estate, but I must be financially irresponsible. What a moronic. What a moronic thing. You know, this bank wouldn't hire me that he's talking about to work on their software because I'm financially irresponsible by their measure because the sucker score is too low. It's indeterminable. And you and Sam have the same problem sitting here. Just a couple of us, couple of losers sitting here answering questions.

[Sam]

A couple of broke, irresponsible losers.

[Dave Ramsey]

This just pisses me off so bad because people walk around and I run into people at parties and they're just. They kind of know a little bit that we Ramsey does stuff with money. They don't know what. And they come over and go, you know, I got 800 FICO score. And I'm supposed to be nice when.

[Sam]

They do or apparently impressed.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, yeah. And I just go, yeah, I think it's perfect for you. You know, I just keep walking around. It's, oh my God, you sucker. You just got screwed a lot and often. So please guys, don't worship at the altar of the great fico. The great. If you. We bring you offerings of interest, Great fico. And you can give us anything we want on payments. It's a suck up play, man. It's how the banks have made their whole dadgum life. Oh, it's a wonderful program if you're a banker. If you're a person, it's horrible. Please don't worship at the altar of the great fat fico. Create your free every dollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.