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Dave Ramsey’s three kids watched him build his financial education empire from the ground up.
Dave and his wife, Sharon, had an infant and a toddler when they were forced to file for bankruptcy in 1988 after things went awry for his real estate business, according to Ramsey Solutions. Unbeknownst to his children, the family was close to losing everything, including all the furniture in their home.
Over the next several years, Dave worked to give his family stability, and by the time their third child was born, he was counseling others on their finances on his radio show. As his daughters and son grew up, he passed those lessons onto them.
While the Ramsey trio — Denise, Rachel and Daniel — work for their father today, they know when to draw the line between personal and professional life. Dave says the family strikes a balance between discussing finance and celebrating their successes together.
“The idea is that we won’t sit at the table and talk about [Ramsey Solutions] all day long. … Instead, we talk about grandkids, vacations, Christmas gifts, or something else when we’re all together. … You’ve got to keep that stuff separate, ” Dave told the Michael Easley inContext podcast in March 2023.
Daniel added, “I have a phenomenal dad and I have a phenomenal leader at work and they’re two separate things.”
Here’s everything to know about Dave Ramsey’s kids: Denise, Rachel and Daniel.
Denise Whittemore
Dave and Sharon welcomed their first child, daughter Denise, in 1986.
As the oldest of the couple’s children, she witnessed her family build their financial education empire.
From an early age, Dave instilled Denise and her siblings with the importance of financial literacy. Instead of getting an allowance for chores, they received a “commission” of a few dollars, according to the Chicago Tribune. Dave used the opportunity as a teachable moment for his children, helping them learn how to handle money — saving, donating and avoiding debt.
“Sunday was payday for us. So we’d get our little chore charts and go down and figure out, ‘Okay, I did this chore, I didn’t do this chore’ and we got paid. I’m sitting on the living room floor and dividing out, giving, spending, saving. And so even at a young age, we were doing that,” Denise recalled on her sister Rachel’s YouTube channel in February 2021.
Even as life got busier for Dave as his business expanded, Denise says she remembers her father always being there for her, especially during her teenage years.
“I felt like he was there at certain points and where a lot of dads would have ran away from the situation, he stood his ground and set up boundaries for us when we couldn’t,” Denise explained on the Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker podcast in April 2019.
After graduating from Brentwood High School, Denise attended the University of Tennessee, according to The Tennessean. As an adult, Denise chose not to join Ramsey Solutions and instead is now the director of the Ramsey Family Foundation. In her position, she oversees the foundation’s charitable giving.
“Every year we have a ‘board meeting’ and decide what nonprofits we’re giving to out of the family foundation. So it’s her job from there to take it and to check up on all the places we’re giving to, making sure that are being run, and things are effective,” her sister Rachel explained on the Afford Anything podcast in July 2018.
Denise also works with community organizations, helping to coordinate service opportunities so that the Ramsey Solutions team can take time out of the office to volunteer, according to her Ramsey Enterprises bio. She is also a member of the operating board of Ramsey Solutions.
Denise has been married to her husband William since 2011 and they share three children.
Rachel Cruze
In 1988, Dave and Sharon welcomed their second daughter, Rachel — the same year that the family filed for bankruptcy. That financial situation would end up impacting the family for the rest of their lives and lead to the creation of Ramsey Solutions.
Looking back, Rachel says her father made an impact during her early life, even if it was something she didn’t realize at the time. As a teenager, Rachel says she sometimes had to have tough conversations with her father — whether it was about an outfit she was wearing or the friends she chose — but it shaped her for the better.
“I never would have thought about that ripple effect when I wore some crazy short Hollister skirt going to the movies and he made me go change. You know, the teenage years of being frustrated — but he was setting me up to learn dignity about myself,” Rachel shared on the Parenting Great Kids podcast.
After graduating from Brentwood High School, Rachel enrolled at the University of Tennessee, where she received a degree in communication, per her Ramsey Enterprises bio. There, she also met her future husband, Winston.
For years, Rachel had anticipated joining her family’s business, as she had been speaking alongside her father at events since she was 15. After finishing college in 2010, she officially began working at Ramsey Solutions, according to Williamson Scene. As a certified financial coach, Rachel teaches people “how to avoid debt, save, budget and win with money at any stage of life.”
“Her work ethic is excellent, and most who know her and know me say she will have a much larger impact than I have had,” Dave told Williamson Scene, adding that he is a “very proud dad.”
Rachel is also an on-air personality, appearing on The Ramsey Show alongside her father and traveling the country to speak about financial literacy. In addition, she hosts her own podcast, The Rachel Cruze Show, and co-hosts Smart Money Happy Hour. Rachel has also served on the operating board of Ramsey Solutions for over a decade.
She has published several books, including Know Yourself, Know Your Money and Love Your Life, Not Theirs. Apart from writing Smart Money Smart Kids with her father, Rachel has also released three children’s books.
“At the end of the day, my favorite part about my job is that I have the privilege of showing people they can find hope, financial peace and true contentment — and I’m here to walk with you too!” Rachel shared on the Ramsey Enterprises website.
Rachel and her husband Winston have been married since 2009, and have three kids.
Daniel Ramsey
About four years after Rachel’s arrival, Dave and Sharon welcomed their son Daniel.
While Dave had begun to establish himself as a financial expert by that time, Daniel says the family still lived well below their means.
“We lived very modestly, even when they could afford stuff. And I don’t think I realized how successful our parents were and how good they were financially until I got older and saw them loosen the reins on themselves and saw them starting to buy different cars, and they moved houses … I had no idea,” Daniel shared on Rachel’s YouTube channel.
He continued, “Asking them the questions afterwards made me realize they were way more intentional and they were living way below their means for a lot longer time than I realized.”
Growing up, Daniel says he was involved in his dad’s business — partially because Dave wanted his children to be a part of the company but also because it was a good way to see them when he was busy.
Some days, Daniel sold books at a table in the back of events where Dave was speaking and other days, he got to experience his father’s passion for his work right in his office. Ultimately, it created “a love for what we do and the mission.”
Although Daniel was invested in his dad’s work, he admits that it’s not always what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
“There were several years where I said, ‘Absolutely not. I don’t want to be part of the family business.’ Looking back, two things held me back,” he said on the Michael Easley inContext podcast.
He continued, “First, it was pride, me wanting to be my own man and make a name for myself. I didn’t want to be in the shadow of my father. He is an incredible man and has done great things, so he cast a big shadow, and I was intimidated by that. The second thing was fear. I was afraid of being unable to fill shoes and living up to expectations, whether from him or myself or anyone around me.”
As a teenager, Daniel enrolled at the University of Tennessee, where he received a degree in business management, per his LinkedIn. Following graduation in 2014, he officially decided to join Ramsey Solutions — but didn’t immediately skyrocket into an executive role. Instead, Dave says he had his son work in multiple different areas of the company in order to gain more experience.
“During that time, he was one of our top salespeople, and during that time, he went into a certain digital area and helped them turn it around. The last thing he did is took over another business unit and increased its profitability greatly during the time he was in there. So he earned his stripes,” Dave shared on his show.
Daniel was eventually made president of Ramsey Solutions, working directly under his CEO father. In his position, he leads the company’s business departments, which include B2C, EntreLeadership, Ramsey Education, SmartDollar, Ramsey+ and RamseyTrusted, per his company bio. He also works to expand the ways Ramsey Solutions can meet customer needs through new products.
Daniel and his wife, Allison, share two children.