and not immediately stressed. I am referring to those who have followed his plan for that last 10 years. They are not stressed because:
-They have 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund that didn't drop in value in March. If they lose a job, they can continue for 6 months or more by the time you consider unemployment payments they will receive.
-They are paying their mortgage/rent on time, using the emergency funds if necessary.
-They have no auto payments, because they paid off (or sold) their cars years ago. They are only driving cars they can afford to pay for. It might be a $5,000 car, but it works and nobody will take it away for lack of payments.
-They have no credit card or consumer debt. This makes their cost of living less, and they are better prepared to weather the storm.
-They are contributing 10-15 percent in their 401K, which seems to have bargain prices currently. Of course in the first phases of Ramsey's plan they temporarily stopped, but now they have resumed.
-They continue to pay 10% tithes, by the way Ramsey advocates 10% of gross.
-They know how to make do on less money. During the first phases of his plan they were very tight with money while paying off consumer debt. In those days they only had $1,000 in emergency funds, but that was temporary.
For those who have been on his plan for less than 5-7 years, seeing the success that others are experiencing during these times should give encouragement.