Dave Ramsey Tells Caller a $1.1 Million Paris Vacation Home Doesn’t Make ‘Mathematical Sense' — Says Buy It Anyway. It's 'Only 10%’ Of Net Worth

Jeannine Mancini

Mon, August 31, 2026 at 8:31 PM GMT+3 7 min read

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Buying a vacation home in Paris is one of those financial problems most people wouldn't mind having. An Indianapolis man, though, wasn't worried about whether he could afford it. He was worried about whether he could actually bring himself to spend the money.

On a call to "The Ramsey Show," personal finance expert Dave Ramsey spoke with Robert, 45, who said he and his wife had spent years dreaming about buying a vacation property in Paris. They have full-time jobs and children, and their net worth is just shy of $10 million. The apartment would cost about $1.1 million, which they planned to pay for in cash.

"We've had a hard time transitioning from earning to enjoying," Robert said. "We just aren't really sure that this makes financial sense for us at this point in time."

That hesitation made sense. A million-dollar purchase is still a million-dollar purchase, even when someone has nearly $10 million behind it.

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The 10% Rule Changes the Conversation

Ramsey's first questions were simple: How much does the property cost, and what's Robert's net worth?

Once he heard the answers, his view changed.

"You're going to spend 10% of your net worth on a toy. I think that's reasonable," Ramsey said. "I don't have a problem with that."

His reasoning was less about whether a second home is a brilliant investment and more about whether buying it would materially damage the couple's finances.

Ramsey asked Robert to imagine putting the money on the kitchen table and setting it on fire. Would losing that amount fundamentally change their lives?

For Robert and his wife, the answer was no.

That doesn't make the apartment a good investment. It makes it an affordable luxury.

Ramsey Still Thinks the Math Is Terrible

There's an important distinction in Ramsey's advice. He wasn't suddenly arguing that vacation homes are financially savvy.

Quite the opposite.

"A second home, a luxury item, never makes mathematical sense," Ramsey said. "You can never buy a yacht and figure out what it costs you per hour to use it. It'll make you throw up."

He made the same argument about his own lake house, saying that calculating the cost per night would probably make his head hurt.

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For someone using a vacation property eight weeks a year, renting can almost certainly be cheaper than owning. Ramsey told Robert he could rent an apartment in Paris for those eight weeks every year for a very long time without reaching the purchase price.

But there's a reason people buy vacation homes anyway.

They're not necessarily trying to maximize every dollar. They're buying convenience, familiarity and a place their family can return to.

Robert understood that. His real struggle wasn't the spreadsheet. It was giving himself permission to enjoy money after spending much of his adult life accumulating it.

Robert Didn't Inherit the $10 Million

That part of the conversation may be more interesting than the Paris apartment.

Robert explained that his father worked in aviation during the volatile 1980s and 1990s. Watching his parents worry about the possibility of job loss taught him an early lesson.

He didn't want his financial future controlled by circumstances outside his control.

Robert became an engineer, invested aggressively and kept his spending low. By his own account, he eventually reached nearly $10 million without inheriting the money.

Ramsey pointed out that Robert had become extremely good at saving and investing — perhaps so good that the other side of the equation needed some attention.

"The enjoyment muscle and the generosity muscle need to come with the saving and investing muscle," Ramsey said. "All three muscles must be built to have a good life with money."

That's probably the real issue behind the Paris question.

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Not Everyone Has $1.1 Million Sitting Around

For most people, the choice isn't between buying a $1.1 million Paris apartment and renting one eight weeks a year. There's no spare million hiding under the couch cushions.

But the underlying idea still applies. Building wealth doesn't have to mean buying the biggest possible asset.

Real estate can be part of a long-term investment strategy without requiring someone to purchase an entire house.

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For someone still building wealth, that can mean starting small rather than waiting until there's enough money to buy an entire rental property.

Robert spent decades developing his saving and investing muscles. Now he's trying to learn a different skill — enjoying some of what he built.

And that just might be the more useful lesson. Financial discipline isn't supposed to end with a giant number in an account. At some point, the money has to do something besides sit there looking impressive.

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This article Dave Ramsey Tells Caller a $1.1 Million Paris Vacation Home Doesn't Make 'Mathematical Sense' — Says Buy It Anyway. It's 'Only 10%' Of Net Worth originally appeared on Benzinga.com