Dave Ramsey Says Buy the Boat if You Can Burn $100,000 Without Flinching
Key takeaways
- Dave Ramsey Says Buy the Boat if You Can Burn $100,000 Without Flinching earth phakphum / Shutterstock.com Danielle Liverance Wed, May 27, 2026 at 10:34 PM GMT+7 5 min read.
- That single sentence flips the usual rule of thumb most people use for big-ticket purchases.
- Net worth, not income, should determine whether you can afford depreciating assets like boats;
Dave Ramsey Says Buy the Boat if You Can Burn $100,000 Without Flinching earth phakphum / Shutterstock.com Danielle Liverance Wed, May 27, 2026 at 10:34 PM GMT+7 5 min read. A caller on the Ramsey Everyday Millionaires podcast asked whether he should buy a 38-foot trawler that cost more than what he earns in a year. The verdict was a green light. The host s reasoning: "the reason that the decision makes sense is the other rule that you used is, if I burn that much money in the middle of the floor, would my life change? And the answer is no."
That single sentence flips the usual rule of thumb most people use for big-ticket purchases. A $100,000 boat against a $90,000 salary looks reckless on income alone. Against net worth, it can be a rounding error. The stakes for you: getting this distinction wrong in either direction. Buy the boat on income logic when your net worth easily absorbs it and you ve taxed yourself for no reason. Buy it without the net-worth cushion and you ve torched your retirement timeline for a depreciating asset.
Net worth, not income, should determine whether you can afford depreciating assets like boats; a $100,000 boat is affordable at 3% of a $3 million net worth but reckless at 40% of a $250,000 net worth, even with identical income levels.