Why You Shouldn't Use Robo Investing (Dave Ramsey Rant)

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights – Episode Summary

Title: Why You Shouldn't Use Robo Investing (Dave Ramsey Rant)
Date: June 25, 2026
Podcast: The Ramsey Show Highlights (Ramsey Network)
Hosts/Speakers: Dave Ramsey (A), George Kamel (B)

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the pitfalls of robo-investing—automated investment platforms that pick and manage a portfolio for users based on a few personal preferences and risk-tolerance questions. Dave Ramsey and George Kamel passionately argue that delegating investment decisions to robo-advisors (or even to “guys” or HR defaults) leads to poor financial engagement, suboptimal returns, and a lack of essential investor education. They urge listeners to be intentional, informed, and hands-on with their investment choices, drawing memorable analogies and sharing real-world examples along the way.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Question: Should You Use Robo-Investing?

[00:10]

• Cameron from Wisconsin asks if Ramsey Solutions recommends robo investment accounts, noting their simplicity and appeal for beginners.
• George Kamel’s Initial Thoughts:

  “I like to know what I'm investing in, and so I don't want to just delegate it to the robots and not fully understand what's going on behind the scenes.” [00:32]

2. Why Ramsey Solutions Doesn’t List Recommended Mutual Funds

[01:01]

• Dave explains they have never endorsed specific funds or companies to emphasize that listeners should make their own informed decisions rather than copy someone else.
• Core Principle:

  “You should not put money in something because Dave Ramsey did. You should put money in something because you looked at it, you understand it...” [01:20]

3. The Importance of Personal Responsibility and Knowledge

[01:40]

• Dave draws an analogy comparing selecting a mutual fund to buying a house—emphasizing due diligence.

• “This is not an automated car wash. It's your investments.” [01:46]

• Basing decisions on coworkers’ choices or default plans is strongly discouraged.

4. Pitfalls of HR Default Funds and Robo-Allocations

[02:28]

• Many people end up in generic, risk-averse portfolios by default, which often stunts growth.
• Dave criticizes the lack of intentionality:

  “That's how they picked them. Or the company had an automated process that automatically puts them in the dumbest, dumbed down, risk averse possible thing...” [02:35]

• These options rarely allow for robust wealth-building.

5. The Dangers of “Set and Forget” Investing

[03:37]

• Automatically assigned funds or an overreliance on apps lead to a lack of awareness and missed opportunities.

• “Twenty years later you go, why am I not getting these returns Dave talked about? Well, you're not investing the way we teach.” [03:39]

• Many people don’t even know what they're invested in or how much.

6. Becoming an Intentional Investor

[04:42]

• George shares results from his YouTube interviews, where most people are clueless about their investments except for an informed couple (Ramsey fans) doing well.

• “Only one person out of 10 or 12 could tell me what they're invested in. And it's because they were a Ramsey fan...” [04:46]

• Dave emphasizes the need for intentionality across all areas of life:

  “Winning at anything is a series of intentional acts. You have to be intentional about your investing...” [05:27]

• Memorable analogy:
  Making it to the Super Bowl isn’t luck but the result of years of focused, intentional practice. Same with investing.

7. No Shortcuts to Financial Success

• There is no app or shortcut that replaces personal involvement and ongoing learning.

• “There's not an app that keeps you from having to think. Not if you want to be somebody and have something. You got to do the stuff.” [06:33]

8. Clarifying Ramsey’s Personal Investment Strategy

• Dave and George both stress that their own funds aren’t “super secret”; they’re simple and time-tested.

• “No, they're ridiculously boring.” [06:59]

• Dave rarely changes his investment mix but stays informed enough to be intentional, not panicky.

9. Why the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Poorer

[07:42]

• Dave introduces his infamous saying, explaining it’s about habits and intentional actions, not luck or evil.

• “They had a series of habits and principles... And you know what poor people do? They have a series of habits and patterns...that will make you poor...” [08:01]

• He acknowledges systemic, racial, or political oppression as legitimate exceptions but asserts most cycles are driven by personal choices.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On delegating investment choices:

  “This is not an automated car wash. It's your investments.” — Dave [01:46]

• On default investment strategies:

  “Fifty percent of the people in 401ks, that's how they picked them.” — Dave [02:30]

• On ignorance about investments:

  “I have a guy who does it. I think I've got a guy... People in HR, help me. Good Lord.” — George & Dave [05:05–05:11]

• On being intentional:

  “Winning at anything is a series of intentional acts. You have to be intentional about your investing.” — Dave [05:27]

• No magic app:

  “There's not an app that keeps you from having to think. Not if you want to be somebody and have something.” — Dave [06:33]

• On rich vs. poor mindset:

  “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer...They had a series of habits and principles that they operate their life on...” — Dave [07:42–08:01]

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Suggested Timestamps & Segment Guide

• 00:10 — Listener question about robo-advisors
• 01:01 — Why Ramsey never recommends specific funds
• 02:28 — Pitfalls of company defaults and “robo portfolios”
• 03:39 — Why “set and forget” fails
• 04:42 — Real world: Most investors don’t know what they own
• 05:27 — Intentionality in investing
• 06:33 — No app replaces effort and thought
• 07:42 — “The rich get richer...” — habits and mindset

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Takeaways for Listeners

• DON’T: Rely on robo-advisors, default HR allocations, or mimic others blindly.
• DO: Educate yourself, ask questions, and be intentionally involved in every investment decision.
• REMEMBER: Financial success follows awareness, discipline, and consistent effort—not automation or shortcuts.

With engaging anecdotes, humor, and signature “Dave Ramsey rant” passion, the episode leaves one clear, actionable message: intentional, informed investing always beats mindless automation.

Transcript

[A]

If your private student loans are in default, you're not out of options. Go to yrefi.com Ramsey Today's question comes

[B]

from Cameron in Wisconsin. What does Ramsey Solutions recommend regarding robo investment accounts? There are options where you answer questions based on your tolerance to risk, and they automate the process. And that seems like a simple way for people to invest when they don't know too much about investments or don't have time to manage their account. Is this something you'd recommend?

[A]

Oof.

[B]

Well, I like to know what I'm investing in, and so I don't want to just delegate it to the robots and not fully understand what's going on behind the scenes. So the idea is pretty simple. You know, some people, they're not ready to work with an advisor. They don't have a lot of money, so they go the robo investment route. There's a low fee, and they feel good about their decisions. And you're probably going to, you know, you could do worse than that. But it's still not my favorite option when it comes to investing simply because you. You're not fully involved.

[A]

Yeah, George, One of the most requested things we've gotten over the years is for us to actually list the mutual funds that we personally own.

[B]

Just tell me what to invest in, Dave.

[A]

What is the mutual fund that you buy or have? Even company mutual fund companies have come to us and said, you know, would you endorse our mutual funds? And we made the philosophical decision many, many years ago to do none of that. So you guys don't know what mutual funds I have, nor will you, because it's not the point of what I have. The point is what you have. And the point is you need to learn enough about the mutual fund for you to buy you an investment. You should not put money in something because Dave Ramsey did. You should put money in something because you looked at it, you understand it, and you have taught, SAT with a good smartvestor, pro with the heart of a teacher, and you've learned about the historical. This thing's 62 years old. It's got this kind of track record, this kind of risk. It doesn't feel bad to me. I like it. And you know, here's the fees on it, and I'm okay with that. And based on that, I'm going to choose that fund and I'm going to invest. That's how you should invest. A robo shouldn't pick it. This is not an automated car wash. It's your investments. And you know, you shouldn't pick it based on the person sitting next to you in your cubicle. What'd you put in your 401k? That's a bad way to select your 401k options.

[B]

Just looking over Gary Schober.

[A]

Oh God, 50% of the people in 401ks, that's how they picked them. Or their company had an automated process that automatically puts them in the dumbest, dumbed down, risk averse possible thing, which is really not a good portfolio of mutual funds. And they put whatever the company dumped them in automatically and didn't even look at it. So this is not how you make money.

[B]

It's not a good investing strategy.

[A]

It's like I'm going to buy a house and never look at it first. I have no idea about the neighborhood. Who knew they had cars up on blocks and shot down the street with Uzis? I had no idea. But I just bought a house there. You know why? Because I heard it was good on TikTok. You know, I mean, no, no, you don't do that. You go look at the house, you look at the neighborhood. You understand? You ask questions about the schools, you say, what's the hospitals like in the area? What's the traffic pattern around here like? You get knowledge about the product before you buy it. And that's what you do with a mutual fund. That's what you do with an investment. Do not buy something because a robo said to.

[B]

And likely it's going to put you in something too risk averse. Like target date funds or a bunch of bond funds.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

And then you don't even know it.

[A]

Always dumbs it down.

[B]

Twenty years later you go, why am I not getting these returns Dave talked about? Well, you're not investing the way we teach.

[A]

The number of times I pull up in a 401k with a big company, they've got auto processes or they've got buckets of funds. Okay, here's five funds in the high risk bucket. Well, guess who does that. No one. Based on the bucket name.

[B]

Yeah, you're not in Vegas.

[A]

But then I pull up the actual funds. They're not high risk, they're just growth stock mutual funds. They're higher risk than a stupid bond fund which is in bucket number one.

[B]

Might as well put it in savings

[A]

in the, your grandmother's boring bucket. And then you've got the medium bucket and the Goldilocks bucket just right. And then, you know, and so no one does that. And basically most people should probably be in the funds that are in that high risk bucket. But because the way it's named, they're just picking a bucket. They don't want to put any effort into learning about it. Get your butt to school. This is millions of dollars of difference whether you put it in the right fund or not. I was talking to don't use a robo.

[B]

I do these man on the street interviews for my YouTube channel. We did one yesterday, and I asked people how much they have in retirement, and I asked them, do you know what you're invested in? Only one person out of 10 or 12 could tell me what they're invested in. And it's because they were a Ramsey fan, her and her husband in their 30s. $900,000 invested in mutual funds, just like we teach.

[A]

Wow. And they got to be on George's YouTube channel, say, I'm a millionaire.

[B]

Pretty cool. And all the others just said, I don't know. I have a guy who does it. I think I've got a guy. I said it in my podcast.

[A]

People in hr, help me. Good Lord.

[B]

Click button on my hr.

[A]

People are picking your funds.

[B]

Ten years ago, I logged. I don't even have the login to the 401k, but 10 years ago, I think I clicked some funds. That's the most of people's knowledge about their investments.

[A]

And, you know, let me just tell you, winning at anything is a series of intentional acts. You have to be intentional about your investing. You have to be intentional about your marriage, intentional about raising kids, attentional about taking care of your body, intentional about your spiritual walk. You know, no one wins the Super Bowl. And then the reporter runs out on the field and goes, how did you do that? And they go, I don't know. I just got off the bus and this just happened. What happened? I don't know. No one says that they've been studying and playing football since they were freaking six years old. They don't do anything else except throw a ball, throw a ball, get hit by throwing a ball, hit somebody that throws a ball. That's all they've done their whole freaking life. And then they don't know how to do anything else in life because they're so focused on that. And that's how they get to the Super Bowl. It's an intentional act. It's an intentional act. And so, you know, for God's sakes, don't have a robo pick it for you. I want an app so I don't have to think there's nothing there's an app for. No, there's not an app that keeps you from having to think. Not if you want to be somebody and have something. You got to do the stuff. Or you got to do the stuff. You got to do the stuff. No Robo, no George, no Dave, no Rachel. We're not even going to tell you what invested. What Kelly is invested in. We're not even going to tell you her mutual funds because I don't even know. So I can't tell you. So there you go. And although that might get some real serious. But anyway, can you imagine Dave Ramsey's producer put that in there. George's producer put that in there. That would be. That'd be the.

[B]

Well, the good news is they're not like super secret funds that only Dave has access to.

[A]

No, they're ridiculously boring.

[B]

And you probably have changed it almost never in that period of time you've been investing.

[A]

Yeah, I don't remember changing it.

[B]

A fund may have moved and switched

[A]

around and I don't think I even changed it then.

[B]

You probably don't look at it much now that you've, you know, what you're invested in.

[A]

Pull it up enough to know what's going on with it. Because I'm intentional, but I'm not like, oh, I'm panicking. Trump bombed Iran. I'm like, no, it went down. Prices went down. Good, I can buy more.

[B]

It's on sale.

[A]

It's on sale today and all that. Yeah, that's the whole thing. So be intentional. You know, I used to get a lot of hate mail for this and I haven't done it in a while, so I need to get. I hadn't had a hate mail in a minute.

[B]

I was going to say we haven't.

[A]

You want some more hate mail? Here we go. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

[B]

Well, now you've done it, Dave.

[A]

And you know what? You know where that saying comes from?

[B]

The Bible?

[A]

No. It's the truth. Oh, that's where it comes from.

[B]

Thought there was a proverb in there somewhere.

[A]

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And you know why? It's not because rich people are evil. It's not because they're smarter. It's not because they're prettier. It's not because they stole money. It's not because they did something wrong. They had a series of habits and principles that they operate their life on, and they continue to do that. And you know what poor people do? They have a series of habits and patterns that they operate their life on. And that will make you poor and

[B]

keep you there if you don't break the cycle.

[A]

Now, there is an exception to that. To be fair, just to limit the hate mail just a little bit. Sometimes people are poor because they've been oppressed, and they've been in a situation politically or racially or something else where they've been oppressed. That's not their fault. But most of the time in America, when someone's poor, it's because of stupid butt choices. I've been broke, but I've never been poor. Poor is a state of mind. Yrefi refinances defaulted private student loans for struggling borrowers. Learn [e-mail] Ramsey.