Budgeting Leads You out of Debt & Into Wealth

1h 35m
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Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze answer your questions and discuss:

"My boyfriend doesn't want to work. Is this a dealbreaker?"

"Should I take out a loan to start a business?"

"When can I start enjoying my retirement nest egg?"

"Is my mom responsible for my dad's credit card debt?"

"I have buyer's remorse after buying a classic car. Should I sell it?"

"Should we sell our house and move in with my in-laws to pay off debt?"

"I'm about to receive a $400k inheritance. How do I invest it?"

"Can we use our investments to help our children or wait until they inherit it?"

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Runtime: 1h 35m

Transcript

Speaker 1 Brought to you by the Every Dollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

Speaker 1 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show,

Speaker 1 where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships.

Speaker 1 I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author, host of the Rachel Cruz Show, and co-host of Smart Money Happy Hour on the Ramsey Networks, and my daughter, she's my co-host today.

Speaker 1 Open phones here at 888-825-5225.

Speaker 1 Before we dive into the callers, I've got to do a correction that I screwed up on. I do this every so often.
I've been doing talk radio 15 hours hours a week for

Speaker 1 and podcast type stuff for

Speaker 1 34 years now.

Speaker 1 And so you can add up that number of hours. And in that number of hours, I have done some stupid butt stuff in my life, but you can't take it back.
It goes over the airwaves. It's gone.

Speaker 1 This was not on this show. My friend Sean Ryan has one of the top podcasts in the world and is here in our community and was nice enough to have me as a guest on.

Speaker 1 And we did a long-form interview there. I think it's like three hours and 43 minutes, which is more Dave than anybody should get, but you can get it if you want to.
Go listen to Sean Ryan.

Speaker 1 And it was very popular. We've had, he's had, it's one of his top shows.
I was talking to him last night about it, as a matter of fact.

Speaker 1 And it's one of the, it's the numbers on it are absolutely astronomical. And then I get a letter that I had messed up something on the thing.
Oh, no.

Speaker 1 And 99% of the time when I get a letter like that, I just look at it and I go, eh, throw it away. But this one I screwed up.
Oh, I can't wait to hear. This is great.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 So I got fired when I was 22 years old. And I tell the story often.
And I very seldom, if ever, tell the name of the company. But I told the name of the company.
Okay. That I got fired from Mr.

Speaker 1 Transmission.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I don't know why I got fired. The guy yelled at me and

Speaker 1 threw me out of the building and all this stuff. And so it's one of the ways that we decided at Ramsey, no one's ever surprised.
If you get fired here, you will at least know why. Yes.

Speaker 1 You know, because I still don't know why. And it was 40 years ago.
You know, so I was 22 years old. I was 42 years ago.
I was 22 years old so um

Speaker 1 I probably deserved it I just don't know why and but the guy from the company I was telling the story about that and I said well I said it was a it was called Mr.

Speaker 1 Transmission and they're out of business now and there's I think there's a couple of them left open but the franchise is all closed down well that was wrong they did go bankrupt in 1990 because I actually looked at buying it at one point and

Speaker 1 They went bankrupt in 1990 and another company bought them out of bankruptcy. Okay.
And now they're a thriving franchise operation. Oh, okay.
Okay.

Speaker 2 So they are still alive and kicking.

Speaker 1 They're more than alive and kicking.

Speaker 2 They're doing great. That's what you said.

Speaker 1 But I said they're out of business. And

Speaker 1 so the lady that Barbara, that is the president of the company that owns it, sent me a letter. Oh, sorry.
Very nice. Very nice.
But she quoted me exactly what I said in there.

Speaker 1 And she said, just want to let you know we're alive and well, and we don't treat people like that now under our regime. And I'm like, dude, it was 42 years ago.
Of course you don't.

Speaker 1 And so I called her and talked to her and told her I would come on the air and tell everybody that I was wrong.

Speaker 1 She's doing great.

Speaker 1 They're doing great. Mr.
Transmission is just doing great. And apparently they're great people.
She's a very nice lady. Very nice.
So I appreciate it. But there it is.

Speaker 1 I straightened up my mess that I made on Sean Ryan's show because I bankrupted a company that was still operating.

Speaker 2 Still don't know why you're fired from 40.

Speaker 1 That doesn't matter. That's just a funny story.
No, I know, I know.

Speaker 1 And if I'd have just been smart enough to not even mention the company name,

Speaker 1 everybody'd be okay.

Speaker 2 That's always a feeling.

Speaker 1 But instead,

Speaker 1 instead, I bankrupted a company that's doing really well. So, you know, they're doing great.

Speaker 1 And they're good people. I talked to her a long time.
We had a great conversation. She's sweet as she could be.
And very, very kind, considering I had stepped all over her stuff. Yeah.
So

Speaker 1 not everybody's kind when you do that. So it's good stuff.
So open phones here, triple eight eight two five five

Speaker 1 two two five.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 man, that's something else. All all right so I'm gonna do this the money and relationships tour John Dr.
John Deloney and I have not gotten fired from that

Speaker 1 it is going very well

Speaker 1 it's not bankrupt at all it's actually booming and the Kansas City sold out for Friday May the 9th a week from this Friday will be in Kansas City a week from yesterday will be in Phoenix on May the 5th Fort Worth on May the 7th few tickets left in Fort Worth a handful in Phoenix Kansas City's gone Okay.

Speaker 1 So if you want tickets to come out next week, you bet one of those three cities, we need to get them because

Speaker 1 these are all going to be packed. They're going to be packed out.
And Dr. John is on fire.
This is his, he, when he can just free flow and not have to follow a script is his favorite thing in life.

Speaker 1 So, and he's really good at it. And so it's fun and funny.
And we're having a good time on stage being up there together at the same time. It's a weird way we're doing it.
It's not a normal talk.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 So the audience votes on the subjects. Now, y'all have done done three cities already.
Are the audience, what they want, similar city to city, or has it been very different?

Speaker 1 It's remarkably similar.

Speaker 2 Okay, what are they wanting? What do they want to hear?

Speaker 1 We're not going to tell because

Speaker 1 I don't want to skew the voting at the next city.

Speaker 2 Make sure you get yourself.

Speaker 1 The polls aren't closed. All right.
You can't tell who's winning it. Okay.
Okay.

Speaker 1 But it's, yeah, they're picking out similar topics. Yeah, and

Speaker 1 they're to be, once you look, once you see them, you go, oh, I get that. Yeah.
I get why they're, yeah. Okay.

Speaker 1 And so, yeah, and they're, but they're, you vote before we start and while you're sitting in the audience with a qr code and uh then we're backstage scrambling around looking at the votes and then we make up the night or grayson actually helps the guy that runs a content he makes up the night and then brings us a sheet out and then we we talk about those topics and so it's very um off the cuff in that sense uh and and a lot of fun so if you want tickets ramseysolutions.com slash tour ramseysolutions.com slash tour and if you're tuning in on the youtube or podcast you can click the link in the show notes.

Speaker 1 You don't have to be trapped in the same patterns of money or relationships. I will guarantee you this.
If your spouse is

Speaker 1 or

Speaker 1 your best friend

Speaker 1 thinks that the stuff we teach is boring, they can come out and they'll find out it's a lot of fun because we laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh.

Speaker 1 And you guys do the same thing when you and John are up there doing the marriage and money retreat, right? Yes, yes. And a little different content, obviously.
But but

Speaker 1 you two on stage are hahoot. You're both deadgum comedians.
So

Speaker 1 a lot, a lot of fun. Yeah.
So you can get in and get that done. So,

Speaker 1 all right, what are we going to talk about for a minute? Love it.

Speaker 2 Well, I was going to say, because I think, well, I was talking to John about these events, but he was talking about how

Speaker 2 thematically.

Speaker 2 how similar things are and what the problems people have continue to be pretty consistent regardless of where you are in the country, regardless of family of origin.

Speaker 2 But these ideas that people, they want the ability to have great relationships. They want the ability to take control of their money.

Speaker 2 They want to build wealth and they want to be able to, yeah, I mean, I think build a life that they love. And so I think that's what's so great about all of this, though, is

Speaker 2 being able to.

Speaker 1 You see the commonality.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and the pain points that are really out there. And we see that theme on this show.

Speaker 2 Like we'll get calls four in a row of people that their spouses can't, they can't work together with their spouse, or we'll get four calls in a row where it's like crazy student loan debt, right?

Speaker 2 Like we see themes even on this show.

Speaker 2 So I think it's just encouragement to people out there, like whatever that pain point is,

Speaker 2 we see a consistency in it.

Speaker 2 And that's why we do what we do, whether it's on this show, whether it's going out to cities and doing events like this money in relationship tour or other shows we have on the Ramsey Network.

Speaker 2 But that pain points out.

Speaker 1 The human condition is just the human condition. It is, yeah.

Speaker 2 And it doesn't make you, you know,

Speaker 2 yeah, you're not weird in that way. Like there is something so normal, what we're all craving.

Speaker 2 And I think you guys are seeing that with the content on this, where you have an audience that votes, which I think is awesome. I think it's beautiful.
And that's why we're here.

Speaker 1 This is why we do what we do. It's a great, it's a great way to build a set list for sure.

Speaker 1 This is the Ramsey Show.

Speaker 3 This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. All right, you've heard me say it a thousand times and I'm going to keep saying it.

Speaker 1 You're worth being well. And listen, therapy can help.

Speaker 3 I see a therapist, and let's be honest, a lot of you should too. But let's be real, taking that first step to see a therapist can feel overwhelming.
Maybe it's the time.

Speaker 3 Maybe you have some preconceived notions about therapy. Maybe it's the cost.

Speaker 3 But we spend money on gym memberships, organic groceries, essential oils, little league practices, tracker watches, but for some reason when it comes to our mental and emotional well-being, we hesitate.

Speaker 3 Your mental and emotional health are just as important as your physical health. And the good news, BetterHelp makes therapy more affordable and convenient than ever.

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Speaker 1 Your well-being is worth it.

Speaker 3 Visit betterhelp.com/slash Deloney to get started. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P.com/slash Delone.

Speaker 1 Jenny is in Atlanta. Hi, Jenny.
Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Speaker 1 Hi, thank you for having me.

Speaker 4 My question is,

Speaker 4 my boyfriend doesn't want to work, and is that a deal breaker? I'm a 40-year-old surgeon. In my first job, last year I made about $280,000.

Speaker 4 This year, I'm expected to make close to $500,000 in the second year of my work.

Speaker 4 My boyfriend of one year is an actor, and the entire time I've known him for about a year, he's had two days of work as an actor, and he made less than $23,000 last year, so he didn't qualify for the actors union health insurance.

Speaker 4 But we want to continue our relationship

Speaker 4 and keep moving forward and eventually get married and live together. But he says that

Speaker 4 because the house will be under my name as the main wage

Speaker 4 earner, he doesn't feel like he should pay for any part of the mortgage.

Speaker 4 He also can't.

Speaker 4 And I'm wondering if that's the deal breaker or if I should just suck it up and pay for the expenses because I can.

Speaker 1 Hmm.

Speaker 2 What do you think, Ginny?

Speaker 2 Is that attractive to you? Like, are you like, what a winner?

Speaker 4 This is not how I had imagined

Speaker 4 being in a relationship.

Speaker 1 You're smart. You're a surgeon, Jenny.

Speaker 1 You're really smart, you know?

Speaker 2 So I'm just, it's just, it kind of, it is interesting because usually, not always, but to a degree, people's intellect, you're attracted to other people's intellect and you're a hard worker.

Speaker 2 Obviously, the schooling you had to go through was insane and the amount of hours you have to put in and work and to have somebody that doesn't give.

Speaker 2 And again, I'm not mad that he doesn't have a job as an actor every week, but at least he's like, hey, I'm still busting my butt and I'm part-time here. I'm waiting tables here.

Speaker 2 I'm trying to make this dream work. I'm not mad at the dream, but the fact that there's nothing in between that that's happening, right? Is

Speaker 2 like that's as a woman who works and all of it, like that's not attractive to me as a, for a man, a guy that

Speaker 2 has a level of initiative I find attractive. So I'm just curious if, yeah, if that's how you feel or if you're, if you're great with it.

Speaker 1 And you might be great with it. You're asking the question.
She's not great with it. She's asking the question.

Speaker 1 The reason you're asking the question is you're not great with it.

Speaker 4 Again, this is now not how I had imagined being in a relationship with a man would be like me being the provider because even though I can provide for myself,

Speaker 4 I thought a relationship or partnership would be a partnership where I.

Speaker 1 I don't care if he makes as much money. I care that he doesn't work.

Speaker 1 Or that again, and we live in it. If he wants to dig ditches, I don't care as long as he's doing it all day, every day.

Speaker 4 I've asked him how he can get by without working, and he says he has some residuals coming in from prior work that he's done as an actor, but clearly it's not enough because he didn't.

Speaker 1 Clearly, he sits on his butt.

Speaker 1 Regardless of why or how, he clearly is an unmotivated slug.

Speaker 1 Clearly. He's 51.

Speaker 4 He's 51, and I'm not sure how much things are going to change.

Speaker 1 Jenny, do you you don't have kids, do you? No, I don't. If you had a daughter that asked you this question, what would you tell her?

Speaker 4 I would probably say, can't you find a better guy?

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's exactly. And that's what you're...
So here's what's happening. You already have made this decision.
You just wanted someone else to say it out loud.

Speaker 1 And I'll tell you, if you go forward with this guy, you're going to get increasingly resentful

Speaker 1 and increasingly bitter. This is not going to get better.
You're not suddenly going to have peace with this. Yeah.
You don't have peace with it now. That's why you asked the question.

Speaker 2 And as a reminder, it's not a value of what he's bringing monetarily necessarily, it's the effort, Jenny.

Speaker 2 So, yeah, so if you guys have kids, yeah, if you get married, you guys have kids, who he is with his work is the amount of energy he's going to put into that.

Speaker 2 You know, I mean, your marriage, if your marriage starts to be in a hard spot, the amount of effort that he's putting into his life is what you're going to see there.

Speaker 2 So, it's just an indicator of his level of pursuit in life in general starts to kind of show.

Speaker 1 So, yeah, he's cute, but the cute's already worn off.

Speaker 4 So basically, it doesn't matter how much money I make and whether we can support ourselves with my money.

Speaker 1 It's a matter of his matter of he has no work ethic. Yeah, because

Speaker 2 let's say this, it's 2025. There's some stay-at-home dads, right? Sometimes the woman is the breadwinner and roles have reversed.

Speaker 2 So even if that was the case and he's like, hey, we're having to support kids and you have a demanding job. I'm able to do this and this and this.

Speaker 2 You know what I mean? But there's like effort involved. It's there's none of that.

Speaker 1 This is just, I'm going to sit on a log. I know.

Speaker 2 And it's hard because you like him, right? I mean,

Speaker 1 I'm sorry. Yes, it's the answer to your question is: yes, we think it's a deal breaker, and so do you.

Speaker 1 And you just wanted someone else to say it out loud. Did I miss that?

Speaker 4 You're right. Thank you for being a mirror that I needed to see.

Speaker 1 Sorry. Oh, bless your heart.
That's hard. It's hard.
But yeah, it's

Speaker 1 because you're, your, your, uh,

Speaker 1 emotions cloud when you're, you know, falling in love. And so it's

Speaker 1 you, you, you tend to put blinders on, but this, this got pushed far enough one too many times. It came up.

Speaker 2 And the fact he wants to take no responsibility for anything. Did you hear that? Yeah.
Put the name, put the house in your name and you pay the mortgage because you make the money.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, oh, golly.

Speaker 2 Man, you know, like all of it. It's just, yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, because I have residuals.

Speaker 1 I have a residual PTSD just from thinking about it. All right.
All right. All right.
Tim is in Toronto. Hi, Tim.
What's up?

Speaker 4 Hi, there. I'm 21.
I just finished college last week.

Speaker 1 Congratulations. What's your degree in?

Speaker 4 Thank you. I'm a social service community worker.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 4 And I've been working while I was in school to try to put together a kind of out-of-the-box business idea, but I'm kind of working on a time limit with a vision disability.

Speaker 4 So I'm kind of wondering if I should go through financing and pay it off as quick as I can within five years, or if there's other avenues I can take to kind of fit a shorter timeline.

Speaker 1 Tell me what your vision disability timeline issue is.

Speaker 4 So I have something called a retinal dystrophy, which continues to get worse over time.

Speaker 4 I have about 60% of my vision currently, but I have about less than 10 years before it's to the point where I won't be able to work anymore.

Speaker 1 Well, you won't be able to work with site.

Speaker 1 Correct.

Speaker 1 Lots of people that don't have site work.

Speaker 4 Correct. I would just need more

Speaker 4 help with the local organizations, which I do have connections to, but

Speaker 1 you'll have to build a life to prepare for that. The last thing you need is debt while you're on this journey.
So, no, we're not going to go that route.

Speaker 1 And we're not going to get desperate and get in such a hurry that you

Speaker 1 make the mistakes of desperation. Anytime I get desperate, I get stupid right around the same time.

Speaker 1 And you can really, really step in a bear trap right now. So, man,

Speaker 1 what a challenge that you're facing. But also, the clear definition you have of it allows you to just really think about how you're going to strategize for this.
So, what is your business idea?

Speaker 4 So, my local town doesn't have a youth drop-in center anymore. So youth don't have anywhere to get like food if they don't have it.

Speaker 4 So I'm kind of looking to build a drop-in center, but also incorporate like animal assistive therapy because animals are my passion as well.

Speaker 4 So it's kind of combining the two for youth to be able to build enclosures and learn about those types of things.

Speaker 2 And are you thinking of a non-profit situation or a for-profit business doing this?

Speaker 4 I was thinking non-profit.

Speaker 4 The only reason being is my local town has a big pot for bursaries and grants compared to other towns so I would be able to get monthly financing through them as well to help out with everything

Speaker 1 but what do you have to do to qualify for the grant

Speaker 4 I just have to have a non-profit number and have the actual bill to get everything set up and that's kind of what I was going to take the financing for I currently have a building accessible to me

Speaker 4 it just is it just needs repairs and everything to get to the point where it could be usable for a business.

Speaker 1 And what's it take to do the repairs? What's the cost?

Speaker 4 The cost for that will be for upgrades and renovations of $90,000.

Speaker 1 No, absolutely not.

Speaker 1 I would not do that.

Speaker 4 The building itself is being sold to me for $40,000 when it was appraised for the same in 2014.

Speaker 1 Yeah, no, I would not put $90,000 into a brand new business idea that's unproven when I'm 21 years old. Absolutely, I would not do that.
I would rent a building.

Speaker 1 somewhere that suffices to operate, get your operation up and going.

Speaker 1 Don't get in the real estate business honey you need to get in the business and you need to decide which of these you want to do dogs or kids don't try to do both let's focus because you're not going to survive in business if you do the real estate business dogs and kids

Speaker 5 Rachel, do you ever get these sketchy text messages that are like, hey, you need to update your address and verify so we can get you the package you didn't order?

Speaker 2 Yes, I have George Sketchy and never trust them.

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Speaker 2 I mean, it is incredible. So detailed and it's beautiful.

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And Winston and I now get fewer texts, weird emails, spam calls, all of it.

Speaker 1 I love it.

Speaker 5 So you got to be sure to check them out. Ramsey fans get 20% off their annual plans.
Just go to joindeleteme.com slash Ramsey. That comes up to less than nine bucks a month.

Speaker 1 Super affordable.

Speaker 2 Again, that's joindeleatme.com slash Ramsey. Make sure to check it out, you guys.

Speaker 1 Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality is my co-host. Our question of the day is brought to you by YReFi.

Speaker 1 Why ReFi refinances defaulted private student loans that other places won't touch and helps you get your life back. So kick private student loan debt to the curb at yrefi.com slash Ramsey.

Speaker 1 That's the letter YREFY.com dot com slash Ramsey might not be in all states.

Speaker 2 Today's question comes from Vince in New Hampshire. I have retired for three years with $1 million in an IRA.

Speaker 2 My wife is planning to retire next year with $400,000 in her managed IRA and another $220,000 in a pension, which she plans to withdraw to add to her IRA. Our only debt is

Speaker 2 $15,000 on our car and $100,000 mortgage.

Speaker 2 I know you say buying an RV is like throwing your money away, but we want to purchase a used RV for around $20,000 and drive across the country for a couple of months to see sites that we missed when we were younger.

Speaker 2 After being frugal for years to save, invest, and pay down debt, can we afford to splurge a little bit now?

Speaker 1 Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker 1 You ought to pay off your car and your mortgage, so too.

Speaker 1 Immediately, if you're over 59 and a half and you can pull enough of this million

Speaker 1 six out to pay off $115,000.

Speaker 1 And I got a better idea, but you can do this. I wouldn't personally be a millionaire and be driving a $20,000 RV.
That sounds like hell to me

Speaker 1 because it's going to break down. So why don't you just go rent one for two months that's the best of the best

Speaker 1 and just get the like the Bentley RV or whatever you call it. I don't even know what it is.

Speaker 1 I passed one on the interstate the other night. My wife says.
An Airstream? No, it was my wife. It was just a big, beautiful thing.
And my wife said,

Speaker 1 200 000 i said no 450

Speaker 1 is it really are they really that expensive yeah the super dogs are and i google fact check you right now yeah you can you can fact check me if you want it's okay i can handle they're really four they are 450 000 what you just said you can get the you can get that model i promise you and so um

Speaker 1 it's almost like anyway yeah

Speaker 1 so anyway i would rent one for two months rather than put 20k in something substandard and go to it's going to make your dream not so fun.

Speaker 1 So you can do whatever you want to do, but you can buy the 20K, but you ought to pay off your house, pay off your car while you're at it. That's simple.
All right, fact checker, any help?

Speaker 2 Well, majority are going for

Speaker 2 $270,000, and then it says AI overview, which I know you love AI so much. AI.
It says typical is anywhere from $40,000 to a million dollars.

Speaker 1 What?

Speaker 1 Done. I don't know.
Yeah. Matt is in North Dakota.
Hey, Matt, what's up?

Speaker 1 I can't drop drop the mic, so I have to drop the paper. Okay.

Speaker 1 Fair enough.

Speaker 4 Long time listener, and I appreciate you guys, all of you.

Speaker 4 My question, in short, is, is my mom responsible for my dad's credit card debt? Here's what's happened. He's been moved to assisted living about nine months ago.
Before that,

Speaker 4 he'd wrapped up credit card debt of about $18,000.

Speaker 4 She's right now just paying off the interest on that monthly to get by. He does have some VA assistance that helps with his assisted living, but she's 75.
She cannot afford to continue doing that.

Speaker 4 So I'm wondering, it's an American Express card.

Speaker 4 How aggressive are they? Should she let that go into default? She's not on. She's not on his, she didn't co-sign with him, but she did at one time.

Speaker 4 He got her a credit card, but she no longer has that as just kind of an accessory. It's all in his name.
It's It's his debt.

Speaker 1 Does he have any assets? Do they own a home?

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 4 They do. He's not living in it.
She is.

Speaker 1 That doesn't matter. They could sue him

Speaker 1 and take a lien against his home, which happens to be where she lives.

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 1 That's a problem. They have no money?

Speaker 4 No, no. She works a part-time job, just three days a week.

Speaker 4 to just bring in groceries and that sort of stuff. But other than that, their home home is paid off, yes.
But

Speaker 4 other than that, no, it just goes to insurance, property taxes, that sort of stuff. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Sorry.

Speaker 1 Do you have any money?

Speaker 4 Yeah, but not that kind of money.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 2 Do you have other siblings, Matt?

Speaker 4 One sister, yes.

Speaker 1 What's the house worth?

Speaker 1 Their house.

Speaker 4 Oh,

Speaker 4 they had just moved into it before he started his fall, and it's worth probably $700,000.

Speaker 1 And it's paid for.

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 All right. Well, in order to save the house, we're going to have to deal with MX.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 they're not going to sue. If they do sue, they're very aggressive in their collection tactics,

Speaker 1 but they're not real aggressive in actually forcing the sale of a house that they've taken a judgment lien against.

Speaker 1 That would be like less than one quarter of 1% chance of that happening okay they technically could uh what where's the house

Speaker 1 what state what state it's in it's in montana okay all right i don't know montana law uh but i suspect they could take a lien against the house and eventually execute on the lien and force the sale of the house in order to pay them and they're gonna just drive her bananas in the six years it would take for them to get to that point okay

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I don't suggest doing that.

Speaker 1 It's going to be a problem for you, for her. And sweet lady is just going to get harassed.
Now, was he of diminished capacity when he used the card?

Speaker 4 Starting to get that way. He racked up a lot of it on dental bills here in the last year or so, just before he went to assisted living without her knowing.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 Her knowing is not necessary. But if he wasn't, if he was like an early onset or something, and you can get a doctor's letter, that'll help you

Speaker 1 with the process here. Okay.
So anyway, what I would do is this. I would just stop paying it, let it go bad.

Speaker 1 Okay?

Speaker 1 And teach her to don't have conversations with them. Don't even talk to them.

Speaker 1 If they call or they send something, just ignore it. Because they're going to drive there.
If she picks up the phone every time they call, they're going to drive her nuts. All right.

Speaker 1 And then

Speaker 1 after about six to nine months, you and your sister scrape together $5,000 and settle this.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 Y'all settle it and get it out of there. So your mama's house is not at risk while your dad's

Speaker 1 declining.

Speaker 4 You feel like Amex would settle on that?

Speaker 1 No, they'll settle pennies on the dollar once it's nine months old.

Speaker 4 Once it's nine months old.

Speaker 1 Because they don't think they're going to get their money then. Statistically, they're not going to get their money.

Speaker 4 Right. Will they be the ones to call us? Will they turn it over to creditors?

Speaker 1 Usually,

Speaker 1 they'll keep it at least a year, usually.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 And I will tell you, they are absolute buttholes.

Speaker 1 They are horrible to deal with.

Speaker 1 If you work for Amex in the credit card collections department, you should be ashamed of yourself and go get a good job. They're a horrible company.
Okay. So just get ready to deal with Satan.

Speaker 1 Okay. I mean, seriously, this is what you're going in with.

Speaker 1 It's horrible. All right.
So

Speaker 1 I've dealt with them, I don't know, 500 or 1,000 times on behalf of clients and once on behalf of myself 35 years ago. So no,

Speaker 1 you do not want to. But the trick is, you just got to play hardball and go, look,

Speaker 2 she doesn't have the money.

Speaker 1 That's the trick. She doesn't have the money.
You're not getting paid. They don't have any assets.

Speaker 1 And we're offering you a settlement on a bad debt.

Speaker 1 Hang up.

Speaker 1 We're offering you a settlement on a bad debt. She doesn't have any money.
Do you want some money?

Speaker 1 Hang up.

Speaker 1 You're going to have to do that like 10 times before you find someone with two brain cells down there to rub together. Okay.
Okay.

Speaker 1 And when you do finally get somebody on there, they're going to go, oh, this guy's. Because they record

Speaker 1 one of the transactions on the file. So they see every time we start yelling at them, they hang up.
But get it. And they'll know that.

Speaker 1 So the next time they pick up, go, look, don't start, or you're going to be another hang-up.

Speaker 2 And if you get it, Matt, get it in writing. Have them

Speaker 2 have them email you immediately a letter so you have actual evidence that they because they lied

Speaker 1 if they say they did something they didn't do it if it's not in writing it didn't happen brother

Speaker 1 thank you so much for your advice i will start saving i appreciate you both hey be good man sorry you're facing that i know it's so sad for his mom this is why we tell you to save 15 of your household income at baby step four before you get to baby step six and pay off your house because if you have a paid-for house and no money you can get in a pinch

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Speaker 1 Austin is in Detroit. Hi, Austin.
Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Speaker 4 Hey, Ramsey. Thank you guys for having me.
I appreciate you both. I have a quick question for you here.

Speaker 4 I have a 1977 Corvette that I just purchased a couple weeks ago and feeling a little buyer's remorse about it.

Speaker 4 So,

Speaker 4 my question is, based on my situation, if you think it would be best to sell the vehicle and put the money into my mortgage or to keep it and just enjoy the ride.

Speaker 1 What'd you pay for it?

Speaker 4 $7,700.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 Not exactly meant condition, huh?

Speaker 4 It It it is. It was actually from my grandpa's friend.
They put a lot of work into it, and

Speaker 4 it's worth about $13,000, but they sold it to me for that price. They didn't want profit on it.

Speaker 4 And so I got it.

Speaker 1 What do you make a year?

Speaker 4 I make about $150,000. Okay.

Speaker 1 You got debt other than the house?

Speaker 4 No, sir. Just the house.
Okay.

Speaker 2 How much do you have left on the house?

Speaker 4 $67,000. Okay.

Speaker 1 Well, the rule on toys that I use

Speaker 1 when Sharon and I are talking about it is if I take that much money and I burn it in the middle of the floor,

Speaker 1 $7,700 in this case, and I just set fire to it, does my life change?

Speaker 1 If it changes my life, then I don't need to spend that on a toy.

Speaker 1 Okay?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And so I think this one's

Speaker 1 probably doesn't change your life if you lost $7,000. If you just,

Speaker 1 if the car went in the bottom of a lake with no insurance, your life does not change other than you'd shed some tears. But in terms of financially, you'd be just fine.

Speaker 1 I probably would not have bought it until the house was paid off.

Speaker 1 Matter of fact, I know I would not have bought a toy until the house was paid off,

Speaker 1 but it's not an expensive toy. You didn't spend $77,000 on it.

Speaker 1 Okay. So you didn't, if you'd have done that, I would have said, yeah, you're out of bounds because that amount of money would change your life.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's like half, yeah, almost the more.

Speaker 1 That's the mortgage that's left.

Speaker 1 But, you know, if you like the car and you can drive it with freedom and enjoy it, and then you use a little bit of ouchy that you're feeling and you use that discomfort to lean into the house that much harder, I'd probably keep it.

Speaker 4 Okay. Yeah.

Speaker 4 Yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 4 Your voice has been in my head since I bought it, telling me I disrupted the seven baby steps.

Speaker 1 You did disrupt the seven baby steps. You did do that.
That's a shame.

Speaker 1 But no, I mean, seriously, no, honestly, no, that's not true because

Speaker 2 he was hearing you.

Speaker 1 I know, but I know, but

Speaker 1 I was thinking he did disrupt them.

Speaker 1 But if you're thinking about baby step four, five, six, which is where you are, you're living intentional, and this is where you would upgrade a car or buy a boat or buy a couch, and then he bought a $7,000 toy.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. So, no, it's not really out of line.
It's not really out of line, but it is a luxury.

Speaker 1 It was a pretty heavy luxury item.

Speaker 1 You know, so it's okay.

Speaker 1 I think you're okay. I think I think it's okay.

Speaker 2 Do you like the car, Austin? Like, do you

Speaker 1 enjoy it?

Speaker 4 I do. It feels really good.
My wife wife likes it. You know, we went for a ride the other day, and yeah, it's a step up from what we drive right now, which is, you know, with our compact SUVs.

Speaker 4 So it is freeing for us.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I'd keep it. It's fun.
I keep it. You're good.
Yeah, but I think if it was a larger number

Speaker 1 to where it would hurt you, then, yeah, I'd probably sell it. But the good news here is that

Speaker 1 when I saw Classic Car pop up here, I was not thinking $7,000.

Speaker 2 Yeah, you were thinking more.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I was thinking this call is going to be somebody spent a lot of money on something. But it is relative.
That's the thing. It's like

Speaker 1 I got a friend that bought a Lamborghini. I mean, he bought a, had gone, was it $400,000 or something?

Speaker 1 And I'm like,

Speaker 1 man.

Speaker 1 But he made $15 million last year. Right.
So, I mean, it's,

Speaker 1 he could burn that in the middle of the floor and it would make all of us cry, but his life wouldn't change.

Speaker 2 It's like when you see those stats of like what Bill Gates makes while while he's brushing his teeth, like every two minutes, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 It's like $80,000 every two minutes or something just insane.

Speaker 1 Yeah. We're like, oh my God.

Speaker 1 It's a different ratio. And

Speaker 1 that's how you know you can actually afford something is the ratio. That's what you're looking for.
So I remember we did one the other night on something.

Speaker 1 Tiger Woods at his top of his game, when he was making the most of the most,

Speaker 1 he bought a $70 million house. house.

Speaker 1 And this was many years ago, obviously. He was back when he was really at the

Speaker 1 top of the golf world. And all these people are coming out like, who needs a $70 million? Who spent?

Speaker 1 And that year, his income was $1.2 billion

Speaker 1 with endorsements and everything.

Speaker 1 And so him buying a $70,000 house is like someone that makes $250,000 buying a $15,000 car.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's the ratio. It's nothing.
It's just nothing. And so ratio-wise.

Speaker 1 And so, but it's just mind-blowing because most of us have never even seen a $70 million house, much less buy one, but you've also never seen $1.2 billion in one year either.

Speaker 1 So it's a different way. I mean, it's a different thing.
So you're looking at the ratios there on things. And that's a good way.
Make sure you're always giving, you're always enjoying.

Speaker 1 and you're always investing your money. McKinsey is in Nashville.
Hey, McKenzie, how are you?

Speaker 4 Hi, Dave. I'm good.
How are you?

Speaker 1 Better than we deserve. What's up?

Speaker 4 I just had a quick question. Well, maybe a quick question, but if we should sell our house,

Speaker 4 our in-laws have offered for us to move in to move in with them, save some money, pay off our consumer debt, and then save some money to buy a new house closer to my husband's work.

Speaker 1 How far are you from your husband's work?

Speaker 4 He's they're moving him to an hour away from our house.

Speaker 4 Okay,

Speaker 1 where, where?

Speaker 4 Murphensboro. Okay.

Speaker 2 How much debt do you guys have?

Speaker 4 So we have about $60,000 in consumer debt. So that's going to be three of those are auto loans.
One is $20,000, one is $10,000, and then a motorcycle that's $16,000.

Speaker 4 And then we have $10,500 in credit card.

Speaker 2 How much can you get for all the cars?

Speaker 4 We could, unfortunately,

Speaker 4 the Jeep is the $20,000 one. I think we could probably get a little bit less than what it's worth.
Okay.

Speaker 2 Maybe come out either.

Speaker 1 $17,000, I think.

Speaker 2 Even on the 10, yeah.

Speaker 1 How about for the motorcycle? Motorcycle break even.

Speaker 4 The motorcycle potentially, I mean, it's a 12

Speaker 4 Harvey David

Speaker 4 rogue glide, I think, or something like that.

Speaker 4 I think they're a little underwater on that. The one that I know we could sell and break even for sure is my best friend.

Speaker 1 So your in-laws live in Murfreesboro?

Speaker 4 They live in Rockville, so pretty close.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 1 I would sell your house and rent something near where your husband's working, and I would sell your motorcycle, and I would sell your car.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 And I would get out of debt really, really fast.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 2 How much can you get for the house?

Speaker 4 I think we could get potentially 300 out of it.

Speaker 2 In equity?

Speaker 4 No, no. We owe $258,000, so I think we would come out, what we calculated with our realtors, maybe $23,000, $25,000 after closing costs.

Speaker 1 So you would be dead-free in renting if you sold the motorcycle, sold the car, and got $20,000?

Speaker 4 Yeah, I just, the question about the motorcycle is I think we're underwater on it.

Speaker 1 Not much.

Speaker 1 Not much.

Speaker 1 You can sell it. You just don't want to tell him he needs to sell his motorcycle, but he does.

Speaker 1 He's broke.

Speaker 1 Broke people don't buy $16,000 motorcycles.

Speaker 1 Right. I I don't care how sweet it is.

Speaker 1 He's getting ready to move you in with his mother because he won't sell his motorcycle. Are you hearing this? Seriously.
Buy motorcycle.

Speaker 1 Buy, buy. No, we're not moving in with your mama.

Speaker 1 Nope. Nope.
Nope. Nope.
Nope.

Speaker 1 Y'all go get a life. And you're going to sell the house because you need to move closer to his work anyway.

Speaker 2 Yeah, not for the debt. That's okay.

Speaker 1 We're not selling the house because of the debt.

Speaker 1 We're selling the house because you're going to need to move closer to work, right?

Speaker 2 Right. It just would be a plus to take care of it.

Speaker 1 Yeah. No, I would not move in with your in-laws.
Yes, I would sell the motorcycle, sell the car, and sell the house. It's exactly what I'd do.
You're not going to do it, though.

Speaker 2 Oh, you can do it, McKenzie.

Speaker 1 She would do it, but I don't think she's going to talk to him about it. I don't think she wants to bring it up.

Speaker 2 I believe in you, McKenzie. Go, girl.

Speaker 1 All right. This is the Ramsey Show.

Speaker 1 Statistics show that half of Americans don't have enough life insurance, or they don't have any at all. I don't understand this, John.
Why don't people want to take care of their family?

Speaker 1 They think they're going to die or something.

Speaker 3 Well, I used to be one of those guys, I didn't even think about it. And one of my buddies said, Hey, the only reason to not have life insurance is if you hate your wife and kids.

Speaker 3 And I immediately went and got term life insurance.

Speaker 1 That's a gut punch.

Speaker 3 And oh, you're telling me, and for decades, Dave, I've sat across people who've lost a spouse. They've lost somebody important to them.
Me too. They don't know what to do next.

Speaker 1 Me too. I mean, you're going to have a crisis here.
And, you know, you got two options while you're sitting and talking to a young widow.

Speaker 1 She's concerned about how she's going to invest all this money properly and not mess this up, or she's concerned how she's going to eat tomorrow. That's exactly.
These are the two options.

Speaker 1 And terminal. Take care of your dadgum family, man.

Speaker 3 Term life insurance can replace income, pay off debts, cover funeral expenses, so your family can actually have the opportunity to just be sad.

Speaker 1 Yeah. To just miss you.
That's exactly what it's supposed to be. It's saying I love you to your family.
Term life insurance. Jeff Zander and the team at Zander Insurance makes it easy and affordable.

Speaker 1 I've used them personally for 25 years. They're the only people I trust.
Go to xander.com or call 800-356-4282.

Speaker 1 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love,

Speaker 1 and create actual, amazing relationships. Rachel Cruz, number one best-selling author, Ramsey personality.
My daughter is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Speaker 1 Angelica is with us in Mobile, Alabama. Hi, Angelica.
How are you?

Speaker 4 Hi. Thank you all so much for taking my call.

Speaker 1 Sure. What's up?

Speaker 4 So I have a question. My husband and I have been living separately for almost a year now.
He is active duty.

Speaker 1 He's what?

Speaker 4 Because he's active duty.

Speaker 1 Oh.

Speaker 4 Yeah, he's in the Navy. Uh-huh.

Speaker 4 so we

Speaker 4 due to his orders we decided to move me back home to be with my family well he got injured shortly after moving us back here and we've been living separately and he got

Speaker 4 i guess moved from those orders

Speaker 4 so what we've really been struggling with is how to manage our budget separately

Speaker 4 even though our money is together

Speaker 1 i'm sorry he got injured. Yes.
So is he being discharged?

Speaker 4 No, he's been on limited duty for a year. So he's been where he's at now, kind of basically waiting to see if it will heal or to see if he is inevitably going to get medically separated or retired.

Speaker 1 And what's the timeline on that, do you think?

Speaker 4 We're waiting to hear something by the end of May.

Speaker 4 And if they send him back out, then he'll be gone for another nine months if he doesn't then

Speaker 1 we will know in August oh is he if he's he if he's healed enough to go back out

Speaker 2 correct yes okay and where is he right now is he is he's in Virginia

Speaker 2 okay do you guys have kids yeah

Speaker 4 we do we we do he is uh a little over a year old a little over a year and a half so you're you moved back to be close to family right with all the correct logistics with kids but he was going to be be gone all the time, and now he's not.

Speaker 1 Now he's sitting there. Okay.

Speaker 4 Correct. And we're also managing the travel to and from, and his leave is being depleted, and, you know, he drives as much as he can 15, 16 hours each way.

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 I think we're going to put you guys into the Every Dollar Premium Budget app. Okay.
And both of you have access to it then.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 what I'll do is I'm going to give you two accounts, not just one.

Speaker 1 Okay. I want you to have one account that is the master budget, that is everything you all are doing for the whole household, including, and you're the primary on that one.

Speaker 1 And then I want him to have a little miniature budget for his day-to-day

Speaker 1 existence.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 And if you can do the miniature budget without using a separate budgeting app, I would prefer you make it a line item in your main budget.

Speaker 2 That's what I was thinking. Have one main budget and then he has a couple of like, he has a full other section within that budget.
It's his expenses so that you both kind of see it.

Speaker 1 Yeah, a lot of military families use every dollar for that reason on deployment because even if he's in out of country, if he's got internet access, he can look and see exactly what you're doing with the money and you guys can communicate what we're doing.

Speaker 1 You're managing your money together, even though you're not in the same country. And because the app allows you to do it seamlessly as one couple,

Speaker 1 even though you're much more than across the room, you're across the world.

Speaker 1 But it's still the same function. You're both looking at it.
You're both seeing everything the other one's doing. It both fits in.

Speaker 1 We've agreed that you're spending money when you're out of country is X, and that's a part of our overall budget.

Speaker 1 And he can see that you paid the light bill, and he can see that you kept the food on the table at home. And

Speaker 1 I'll tell you this: it sounds like that he's

Speaker 1 maybe special ops, is he?

Speaker 4 He, no, he's more cyber security.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 I could tell something was going on, but I couldn't tell what it was. Okay.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 what we've found is working with the military for 30 years now that mission readiness is increased. The guys and gals that are on the front lines and sometimes in danger are

Speaker 1 much more

Speaker 1 competent at their battle skills when they know everything at home is set, that the table is set at home.

Speaker 1 And so him having access to you running the budget, watching over your shoulder with every dollar, helps him when he steps out there in the edge of stuff to protecting this country. Okay?

Speaker 1 It helps his mind be clear, in other words, and to do the job he's being hired to do. And we appreciate his service and we appreciate your sacrifice as well, honey.

Speaker 1 So we'll give you two of them, but I'm going to suggest you use one.

Speaker 1 Okay. And that you put his part, his part as you can have two or three line items.
You can make up custom line items.

Speaker 2 And even if there's something with his paycheck going into a different account, if there's something there, you can connect multiple accounts to it. So it's all going into one budget.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you can put it all in there. And it all really should go into one budget and into one account

Speaker 1 and then because it's easier for y'all to manage but once you're using this software this this uh and if he's tech guy he's going to love this this software because it's robust i mean this app is incredible it's it's the world's best budgeting app by far so you hang on and i'll have christian pick up and we'll get you a couple of them but i'm gonna tell you probably you're gonna give away one to a friend One of his other buddies that's deploying and you got a wife back there.

Speaker 2 The perfect situation is that you guys have one account. All the incomes go in there.
You budget out of that that account, you're going to have different line items for his situation.

Speaker 2 But sometimes we do see with like, yeah, military stuff or other things, like, yeah, there's two different accounts. So if that's the case, you can hook both up.

Speaker 2 You can hook up multiple accounts to every dollar. But I think functioning out of the same budget is the best thing.

Speaker 1 Yes. That's going to be

Speaker 2 more clarity and it's more, it's simple.

Speaker 1 It's going to give him more peace. And it's going to give you less strain because you don't feel like you're carrying all the decisions by yourself.

Speaker 1 You're not got the whole thing on your shoulders. He's looking over your, he's watching it with you, even though he's not sitting beside you to do that.
So, again, thank you.

Speaker 2 It is a pretty remarkable thing when we talk to active duty military families, how many of them like still continue to get out of debt. Like they're still working a plan,

Speaker 2 but they're like, you know, and it took completely different continents, some of them for a period of time. So it is, it's, it's pretty remarkable.

Speaker 1 They've, they make really good headway. In some cases, if they're in a battle zone, of course, they're getting tax-free income.
So that's a whole different thing, too. So

Speaker 1 it's beautiful to be able to use all that and make progress. You know,

Speaker 1 that's the thing. So it's good stuff.
All right. That's the Every Dollar Account, Christian.
We'll give them two of them and give her two different sign-up sheets there. And

Speaker 1 we'll get them going on that. That thing is, we've been iterating that and working on it for several years, guys.

Speaker 1 And if you have not looked at the Every Dollar account lately, it's going to tell you exactly what you need to do next to walk your way through the baby steps.

Speaker 1 And it's going to, based on what you enter into the budget, it's going to read your mail and tell you, it's a little spooky.

Speaker 2 And the onboarding process, too, has gotten more robust. So, knowing your information and where you're at, even in the baby steps, all of it, it starts to build out more and more, which we love.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's going to show you exactly what to do next and exactly what to do next to walk you out of debt and into wealth. It's a pretty cool deal, y'all.
You don't want to miss this.

Speaker 1 This is the Ramsey Show.

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Speaker 2 All right, I want to shout out our teachers for a minute. You guys give so much to our kids every day.
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Speaker 1 Trey is in mobile. Hey, Trey, welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Speaker 4 Hi, Dave. Hey, Rachel.
I appreciate your time. I'm just looking for some advice on how to invest money that I'll be receiving.

Speaker 1 Okay. What are you getting?

Speaker 4 So, right now, we're looking at about $200,000 from an inherited IRA. Unfortunately, I lost both my parents recently.

Speaker 1 Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1 What happened?

Speaker 4 Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 4 Well, my mom passed away from cancer and dad had a heart attack.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 yeah yeah it's life though

Speaker 4 um

Speaker 4 so uh obviously their hard work you know they they left over this ira and then the home that you know we grew up in and you know obviously we're having to sell that now so um it's about two hundred thousand dollars and then the inherited ira

Speaker 4 um and then splitting it with my sister we're going to be about two hundred thousand dollars each when we sell the house as well so

Speaker 4 My big thing is obviously the inherited IRA is going to have to get pulled out over time.

Speaker 4 So just my idea is, you know, pull it out and actually put all that money every year and just max out a Roth

Speaker 4 is my first idea.

Speaker 4 Is that like the best idea to pull that out, pay taxes, and then put it straight into a Roth?

Speaker 1 No, I would put it on wherever you are in the baby steps.

Speaker 4 Okay, so we have no consumer debt.

Speaker 4 We have $26,000 on a vehicle and we rent.

Speaker 1 You owe $26,000 on a vehicle?

Speaker 4 Yes, and that'll be the first time.

Speaker 1 That is consumer debt.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 4 Okay. And then no credit cards, nothing.

Speaker 1 Okay. So you owe $26,000 on a car.
What do you owe on your home?

Speaker 4 We're renting.

Speaker 1 Okay, and you're getting $400,000 total, right?

Speaker 4 Roughly. I think it'll be a little north, but taxes, fees, funds.

Speaker 1 And then taxes on $200,000, minus taxes on the $200,000 inherited IRA.

Speaker 1 Correct. Okay.
All right.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 you have any money saved?

Speaker 4 Yes, we have $15,000 set aside. That's like our three to six-month kind of backup plan, our emergency fund.
Okay.

Speaker 1 All right. Well, our baby steps say, baby step two is you pay off everything but the house, then you build an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses.

Speaker 1 So what I'm going to do is just kind of freeze right now, and as soon as you get your hands on some money, first thing you do is pay off the car.

Speaker 1 Second thing you do is you raise that 15 up to 25 because 15 is probably low. What's your household income?

Speaker 4 80, 80,000. My wife's a stay-at-home mom of two.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you need $25,000 in there. Okay, let's get it on up a little bit.
It's three to six months. You're down on the three side.
And then I'm going to liquidate everything and buy a house for cash.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 You got to be able able to buy about a $300,000 house, right?

Speaker 4 In the area we're in, it's mostly, well, I mean,

Speaker 4 that's definitely on the lower end of what's in the area. But yes, I mean, that should be really, really close to it.

Speaker 1 No, it's about the medium, about the middle of your area.

Speaker 4 Gotcha. Yeah, just from what I've seen.
But, I mean, I'm also looking at the...

Speaker 1 Well, the median household, the median house price in America, including Los Angeles, including New York City, is $400,000 some change.

Speaker 1 That's the median nationally. In Mobile, Alabama, I promise you, it's less than that.
So median is going to be around $300,000 in your area. So you'll buy a house about the middle of the market.

Speaker 1 So take your time and shop. There's no rush.

Speaker 1 Go slowly. You probably got a little time left on your lease anyway.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I'm going to set that money in a high-yield savings account and go shopping and

Speaker 1 time the purchase with the end of your lease and

Speaker 1 get you a bargain and pay cash. Now, if you're making $80,000 and you have zero debt, house, and anything,

Speaker 1 and you take your old house payment and you max out all of your retirement,

Speaker 1 you're going to be a millionaire in about 10 years.

Speaker 1 Actually, you're going to be a millionaire, not counting the house. You're probably about another million dollars in about 10 years.
How old are you guys, Trey?

Speaker 4 I'm 34.

Speaker 1 Yeah, so by the time you're 40, you're going to be a millionaire plus because you have a $300,000 paid-for house.

Speaker 1 It will go up to about $600,000 during that time, and you will bank in your retirement accounts probably about another $600 or $700.

Speaker 1 And so that's where you're going to end up. You're going to be approaching $2 million

Speaker 1 in your 40s. Okay.

Speaker 1 If you do all this and you stay out of debt and you stay on a budget. Of course.
Okay.

Speaker 1 And you don't mess this up. Absolutely.
Yeah. And if you just follow the baby steps, that's where it'll take you.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Yeah, they set us up.
I'm not going to mess up.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 It's great, Trey. Well, that's exciting.
I'm so sorry that it came from such a devastating situation, but it's always, when we talk about inheritances,

Speaker 2 always living out that legacy of those that left that. And I think that's a great thing for you guys.

Speaker 1 One of the things I think about when I'm telling someone what to do with money that mom and dad left is when you do this, these steps that I just outlined for you, is your mom and dad in heaven smiling?

Speaker 1 Are they happy with this? I think they are because the kind of people that built this kind of money is the kind of people that would be happy with you being smart.

Speaker 1 Absolutely. Yeah, so you are honoring their legacy in a very real sense.
Hang on, I'm going to send you a copy of the book, the Baby Steps Millionaire book, because you're getting ready to be one.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 you did get a boost from an inheritance, which statistically makes you unusual, but that's good. Still, there's no shame in that.
We're going to go there.

Speaker 1 We're going to go there as fast as we possibly can nicole is in new york city hi nicole how are you

Speaker 4 hi dave i'm good how are you doing better than i deserve how can we help

Speaker 4 good

Speaker 4 um so actually i'm proud of myself today i paid off one of the cards eight thousand dollars yay

Speaker 4 thanks um so i just wanted to know what do i do do i call and cancel or just you know let it be

Speaker 2 yeah call them up and cancel yeah we always tell people people when they're getting out of credit card debt, cut up the credit cards, pay it off.

Speaker 2 And then once there's no balance, then you can officially close the account. So go in and, yep.

Speaker 1 There's no accidental spending or fraud happens on a closed account.

Speaker 2 Okay, perfect. That's great.

Speaker 1 How much more debt do you have, Nicole, to pay off?

Speaker 4 About another consumer,

Speaker 4 maybe 20 with the car and everything.

Speaker 1 Okay. Yeah.

Speaker 4 And then I have the house.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 4 So baby step one. Yeah.
Little by little.

Speaker 2 No, yeah. You're on the baby step two.

Speaker 1 Yeah, good for you. Good job, Nicole.

Speaker 2 Congrats. That feels good.

Speaker 1 You kind of feel like you can do it now, right?

Speaker 4 Yes, yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 How long have you been working on this?

Speaker 4 Well, actually, I've been working with you guys for years, but I just started

Speaker 4 maybe about three months ago.

Speaker 1 Good. Okay.

Speaker 2 All right. Hey, $8,000 paid off in three months.
Pretty good.

Speaker 1 That's pretty rowdy. Yeah.
Excellent job. That's how it works.

Speaker 4 I love it. Yeah.
The return taxes, you know, that helped.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Using your tax return for it.

Speaker 4 It's great. Oh, yes.
Yes. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 And you've adjusted the W-2 now so that you don't get tax returns anymore because that just means you had too much withholding. So good job.
Well,

Speaker 1 very well played. Very well played.
Sarah is in Atlanta. Hi, Sarah.
How are you?

Speaker 4 I'm good. How are you?

Speaker 1 Better than I deserve. What's up?

Speaker 4 Very good. I have a question.

Speaker 4 I am 57 years old and I was been divorced for 20 years and raised two kids. They're now adults.

Speaker 4 And I am what you call an everyday millionaire and debt-free.

Speaker 1 Well, good for you. Good job.

Speaker 4 Thank you.

Speaker 4 In a couple of years, I know I'm going to buy a new car.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 my goal is, I mean, I definitely am going to pay cash.

Speaker 4 And my boyfriend keeps telling me that that's not a good financial decision.

Speaker 1 Your boyfriend doesn't have as much money as you have.

Speaker 4 Right.

Speaker 1 And he, and the reason he. Why would we take financial advice from a broke person when you're a millionaire?

Speaker 4 I know he can, but well, mathematically, he's saying if you take the money out of mutual.

Speaker 1 Mathematically, he's stupid.

Speaker 1 No. You need to tell him.
Yeah, you can tell him I said that. Absolutely.
It's asinine.

Speaker 1 There is no data on the planet that says people become millionaires by borrowing money on their car and investing the difference. None.
Zero millionaires on the planet did that to become millionaires.

Speaker 1 So don't take financial advice from broke people. You're smarter than he is.
Listen to yourself.

Speaker 1 Way smarter.

Speaker 2 There's a time in your life and at the baby steps for renting, but you don't want to do it forever because when you rent, you're still paying for a mortgage, just somebody else's.

Speaker 2 Plus, rent means instability in your budget because it always goes up, never down. So when you're ready to buy, make sure you work with a mortgage partner you can rely on, Churchill Mortgage.

Speaker 2 Churchill is Ramsey Trusted to help you make the move from renting to home ownership wisely.

Speaker 2 Churchill understands that when you buy a home the Ramsey Way, your mortgage payment will be a consistent, manageable part of your monthly budget.

Speaker 2 Plus, when your home is paid off, that was your largest expense. Now it's extra money in your pocket and an asset towards turning you into a baby steps millionaire.

Speaker 2 Get started on the American dream of home ownership today at churchillmortgage.com. That's churchhillmortgage.com.

Speaker 2 Hey guys, Rachel Cruz here. All right, I'm about to say what everyone already knows, but budgeting is a good thing to do.
Now, actually starting, well, that's where people freeze up.

Speaker 2 And you guys, it doesn't have to be that way. With the Every Dollar Budgeting app, getting started is super easy.
And so is sticking to it.

Speaker 2 You can set up your first budget in less time than it takes to go through the Chick-fil-A drive-through. It's fast.

Speaker 2 And the best part, with unlimited budget categories, you can customize it to fit your life. Grocery runs, coffee runs, or planning your next family trip.

Speaker 2 Whatever you have going on, Every Dollar helps you see exactly what's happening with your money. You'll know what's coming in, what's going out, and what's left over for some fun.

Speaker 2 Because let's be real, you need some fun in your budget. Every dollar keeps budgeting simple and stress-free, just the way you want it.
So go download the app for free and get started today.

Speaker 2 Again, go download Every Dollar today.

Speaker 1 It's financial literacy month.

Speaker 1 If you didn't know, there's a huge movement in high schools, and there has been across America for many years.

Speaker 1 Several states have now passed laws mandating that you take a personal finance class in order to graduate.

Speaker 1 And I think it's 30-something states now.

Speaker 1 And the good news is, is that we have a high school curriculum called Foundations in Personal Finance that is taught in about 48% of the high schools, over 6 million students have been through it now.

Speaker 1 And so we love celebrating Financial Literacy Month and celebrating the idea that teens can learn this stuff before they're 30 and learn it the hard way by doing something stupid like I did. Okay.

Speaker 1 It's pretty cool. So

Speaker 1 we want to honor the teachers this month of not only our curriculum, but honor all teachers while we're celebrating Financial Literacy Month. And I got one on the phone.

Speaker 1 Patrick is in Jackson, Tennessee, and he teaches foundations and personal finance in his high school. Thank you for doing that, Patrick.
How are you?

Speaker 4 You're welcome. I'm doing great, Dave.
How are you?

Speaker 1 better than I deserve now it's Trinity Christian Academy where you teach is that right yes sir in Madison County Jackson Tennessee and how many uh how many students are enrolled there

Speaker 1 from six weeks old to seniors around 700 oh wow graduating class 50 to 60 every year okay that's good size that way they can uh it's big enough that they've got a lot of stuff going on but it's small enough they get a lot of attention right That's correct.

Speaker 2 How long have you been teaching the curriculum, Patrick?

Speaker 4 This is my ninth year or 18th semester teaching the

Speaker 4 curriculum. I did the DVDs and then we transferred over to the digital, which is amazing.

Speaker 1 You have a very unusual distinction, too, that around here.

Speaker 1 We're all just jumping up and down and going, Patrick's a hero, because one of the high school students that graduated from your class many years ago is now an adult, came in here and did their debt-free scream the other day on the air with George.

Speaker 4 I'd say that's what we call paychecks as teachers. You know, those stories you get from former students and even coaches for players, but those are, that was her true paycheck when she messaged me.

Speaker 4 She messaged me two years ago, letting me know that she was going to be on the Dave Ramsey journey and she couldn't wait to get on the show for a debt-free scream.

Speaker 4 And then she messaged me that day saying, hey, we made it. And then I got to listen.
It was incredible.

Speaker 1 That's funny. Faith and Cameron from Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
If you guys want to look it up, see the debt-free scream. It's pretty cool.
Very cool. And they paid off their house and everything.

Speaker 1 And their kids, their little ones, I mean.

Speaker 4 And had a zero credit score mortgage.

Speaker 1 I love it. It's all your fault, Patrick.

Speaker 1 It is. Way to go, man.
These people are going to be millionaires because she had a high school teacher as a stud. Man, you're amazing.
I'm so proud of you. Have you had a lot of those?

Speaker 2 Have you kept up with students? I mean, after you've been teaching that long, we do.

Speaker 4 I do. I text them from time to time.
We have, I would say, 20 to 25 students that started a gross stock mutual fund since I've been here instead of spending the money.

Speaker 4 They just have been in Arthur story and now the Jake.

Speaker 4 Blake and Blake, I forget the other guys.

Speaker 1 Blake has been Ben and Arthur for years. Blake and Jack.
Blake and Jack.

Speaker 2 They changed the names, Sonya.

Speaker 4 Yeah, and I keep up with them. I get stories from all over, and it's been great.
I tell them I teach to an 18-year-old invisible kid every day that sits at the front desk.

Speaker 4 And that's me 24 years ago that either wasn't taught or didn't listen to what I'm about to teach you in this class. And

Speaker 4 everyone is subjected to it.

Speaker 1 Well, I'm always thrilled that the kids love the class.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I shouldn't act so surprised, but because I was in high school all I could think of was you know when I'm learning something right now how's this ever gonna affect me as an adult because I've never really used the Pythagorean theorem but but I have used this I've used this stuff for sure so how am I gonna use this I think that one of the main things we hear back from the students and I'm sure you do too is just the fact that they're teaching them something they're gonna actually use and they message you back a few years later and go I got a zero credit score mortgage and I just paid off the house that's pretty cool so is that what they tell you that that they love doing learning something that they're actually going to use?

Speaker 4 It's just all applicable day one of being a young adult and, you know, taxes, insurance, budgets, investing. Just tough to do at 18 that's going to save you that your next 30 years.

Speaker 4 But it's all applicable to life, ASAP.

Speaker 1 Well, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. You're a hero, man.
I appreciate you doing this. And

Speaker 1 it's ever since I wrote the first little book, financial piece, and I was carrying it around the trunk of my car. People have been saying, why don't they teach this in high schools?

Speaker 1 And the good news is we do, and the way we do is because of men like you, Patrick, and women like you. So thank you.
The teachers out there in the marketplace are amazing and very, very cool.

Speaker 1 Thanks for doing this, brother.

Speaker 2 Absolutely. Thank you very much.
Yeah, thanks, Patrick.

Speaker 1 Very, very cool. Hey, for any of you that are teachers that are listening, or if you know a teacher, be sure and tell them.
Be sure to enter the Ramsey Teacher Appreciation Giveaway.

Speaker 1 We're going to give one teacher a $5,000 vacation, and the two second-place teachers are going to get two more are going to get a $3,000 vacation. No purchase necessary.

Speaker 1 You don't have to be teaching our curriculum. You just have to be a teacher in a school.
Now, I once taught my dog to sit does not qualify you. You're not a teacher.
Okay.

Speaker 1 So if you're teaching in a school with students, you are a teacher, or if you know someone, no purchase necessary. No salesman will call.

Speaker 1 Go to ramseysolutions.com/slash teacher to enter a $5,000 vacation. And two more teachers are going to win a $3,000 vacation if your name is drawn.
Spencer's in Denver. Hey, Spencer, what's up?

Speaker 4 Hey, Dave and Rachel, thanks for taking my call. Sure.
I have just a real basic question for you that I need some help with.

Speaker 4 I'm wanting to find out if I'm investing too much to enjoy being

Speaker 4 debt-free.

Speaker 4 My wife and I, we're completely debt-free. We're maxing out both of our 401ks.
We're both over 50, so we get the extra amount. And we're also maxing out our IRAs.

Speaker 1 And what's your household income? What amount of money?

Speaker 4 So I take home, well, our household income is about $100,000 each.

Speaker 4 And then after investments and taxes, mine's about, I take home about $1,500 every two weeks.

Speaker 4 And my wife's is

Speaker 4 about

Speaker 4 the same, about $1,700.

Speaker 1 What is it she's wanting to do that she says you're too aggressive and you don't have the money to do because you're putting all of it to savings?

Speaker 4 Well, it's not me. It's not her.
It's me.

Speaker 4 I'm wanting to eventually save up for a sports car, and I'm having a hard time getting enough money to do that with all of our money going into investments. Yeah.

Speaker 4 Plus, just, you know, just having normal money just to do extra things without having to take it out of the money that we're getting from our.

Speaker 2 Yeah, well, you guys are almost if my math's right you're you're almost investing close to 30% is that right if you're maxing out house is paid off both 401ks oh your house is paid off

Speaker 4 Yeah, mine's mine's probably a little over 30% my wife's is about 40%

Speaker 1 But the percentage of your household income is going to be in the 30% range of your total to total Right. So that that's what she's saying.
And so yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And how old are you guys?

Speaker 4 I'm 50. My wife's a few years older than me.

Speaker 2 How much are in the accounts right now?

Speaker 4 So in my 401k, I've got 750.

Speaker 4 My wife's 401k, she's got 400. Plus, you'll get a teacher pension

Speaker 4 with, you know, the school district's taking out money out of her paycheck for that. And then our combined IRAs is about $550,000, including about $80,000 for an emergency emergency fund.

Speaker 1 You've got a $3 million net worth and you can't save up the money to do it, buy a sports car. Yeah, I'd crank it down a little.

Speaker 4 Okay. Okay.
All right. Any, like, because our investments are through our work, they're loss.
So I really enjoy.

Speaker 1 Oh, I enjoy. I love the numbers, but you just, you're telling me you pinched yourself to the point you can't enjoy the wealth you've built.

Speaker 4 Yeah, which that's completely true.

Speaker 1 And I don't, if that, that's what I heard you say. You know, if you can, if you can figure another way around around it, if the money's going somewhere else, that's fine.

Speaker 1 But with that kind of net worth, you've done a great job. Congratulations.
Amazing. And if you want to crank the savings down and the lifestyle up a little, there's no sin in that.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 4 Okay. And just one last question.
With Mother's Day coming up, she really wants me to get a pedicure with her. Would you suggest that I do that?

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 Hey,

Speaker 2 I think you would enjoy it. It's actually very relaxing.

Speaker 2 Do that with her.

Speaker 1 Dave wouldn't. You know what? 30, 36 years or 33 years on the air, and I've never been asked that question.

Speaker 1 I thought I'd been asked everything at least once. That one's a new one.

Speaker 1 This is the Ramsey Show.

Speaker 5 Hey, George Camill here. So you're thinking about buying or selling your home.
It's exciting, but there's a lot to think about, and all those decisions can feel overwhelming.

Speaker 5 Well, here's the good news. You don't have to tackle the process alone.

Speaker 5 Ramsey's Real Estate Home Base is the place to find all of your free tools and resources for help to get prepared to buy or sell your home with confidence.

Speaker 5 You'll find calculators, start-to-finish guides, a podcast, and even an in-depth video course hosted by yours truly, What's Not to Love?

Speaker 5 So, if you're ready to take the next steps toward your home goals, go to ramseysolutions.com/slash real estate. That's ramseysolutions.com/slash real estate.

Speaker 1 You can hear and and watch the entire show on the Ramsey Network app for free.

Speaker 1 Parts of the show are not in the podcast every day and are not on YouTube every day. You can pick them up only there or on Talk Radio if your local Talk Radio station carries the entire program.

Speaker 1 So be sure and check that out. Today's Ramsey Network app question

Speaker 1 is from Gary. We buy $1 million worth of supplies every year for our business.
We put it on a company credit card and pay it off immediately so we don't pay any interest. What am I missing?

Speaker 1 I understand. If I don't pay the charges within the first 30 days, then I have to pay interest, but I'm paying it off immediately.
Why is it wrong to take advantage of getting these points?

Speaker 1 Because, honey, you are chasing points

Speaker 1 instead of running your business.

Speaker 1 If you burn the calories running your business that you're doing trying to beat the credit card company at their game,

Speaker 1 I mean, you're just at Chuck E. Cheese getting the tickets.
That's all you're doing. And, you know, you're spending a bazillion dollars to get tickets at Chuck E.
Cheese to buy nothing.

Speaker 1 And you're burning up all of your creative energy that you should be using to run and grow your business, screwing around with trying to beat Citibank at a game that they designed to beat your butt.

Speaker 1 You might actually be working, it might be winning mathematically a little bit, but you act like this is a zero-sum game, and it is not.

Speaker 1 It is not. So, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I buy, I don't know, let me think,

Speaker 1 not a million dollars a year in supplies. We buy, yeah,

Speaker 1 probably 50 million a year in supplies at Ramsey, and we don't use a single credit card to do it. We just freaking buy it.

Speaker 1 We just pay the bill, and we go run Ramsey instead of trying to run around chasing points, Chuck E. Cheese tickets.

Speaker 1 Man, I go down there with the grandbabies. I go down there with the grandbabies, and they just depth, depth, depth, depth, depth, depth, and they work, work, work, work, work, work.

Speaker 1 And then they put it on a card now, right? It used to be they spit out the tickets all to get an item that is worth like a penny. Crap.
I mean, it's really crappy little toys.

Speaker 1 They're not even good toys.

Speaker 2 Well, yeah, and I think it's that point. And it's always the risk.
Like, you put a million dollars on it, and then what if one year,

Speaker 2 you know, a pandemic hits and you can't pay it? Then you got a bit, you know what I mean? Like, there's just, there's just, it's just not worth the risk.

Speaker 2 Like, there's just peace of mind knowing that you have autonomy over your life, your money, and your business. And it's just more peace that way, too.
So.

Speaker 1 Yeah, let's see. If you get 1%

Speaker 1 on a million dollars, that's $10,000, right?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 So you're working all that to make $10,000 worth of points. By the way, 78% of the credit card miles are never redeemed.
Consumer Reports says that.

Speaker 1 So it's just, it's a game that they designed. It's like going to Vegas.
House wins, man. House wins.
You don't come out of Vegas with your shirt. They didn't build those dad gum.

Speaker 1 They didn't build those lobbies with world-class artwork and light fixtures. And they didn't build that with their money.
They built it with your money.

Speaker 1 People who lost money thought they could beat the game. And this is the exact same deal.
It's the exact same deal. Those towers in the skyline that Citibank builds.

Speaker 1 You paid for them, America. They didn't pay for them.
You paid for them by doing crap like this right here and falling for it. Yep.

Speaker 2 They know what they're doing.

Speaker 1 That's the deal. That's the deal.
All right. Open phones at 888-825-5225.
Nick is in Springfield. Hi, Nick.
How are you?

Speaker 4 Hello. Thank you for taking my call.

Speaker 1 Sure. What's up?

Speaker 4 My wife and I, we are in very good shape financially.

Speaker 4 Less than a year ago, we inherited some money that tripled our net worth.

Speaker 1 What is your net worth?

Speaker 4 Total

Speaker 4 right now

Speaker 4 2.5. Good.

Speaker 1 Awesome. How much did you inherit?

Speaker 4 1.5.

Speaker 1 1.5. Okay, so you're already a millionaire.
Good. Way to go, man.
That's awesome. How can we help today?

Speaker 4 Do we help our kids out now, or do we just keep building wealth and then die in 20 years and give it to them?

Speaker 2 It's a straight shooter.

Speaker 1 Either one is fine. There's nothing immoral about either one.
If you're going to do stuff for the kids, it should be

Speaker 1 enhancing them being as smart as you are. If they're misbehaving and you give them money, you're not helping them.
You're enabling.

Speaker 4 I would agree. We committed to the boys to be debt-free from college.
They are. And upon graduation, we'd give them each car, which we did.
Good.

Speaker 4 Now, what I say about cars, I'm 60 and I've never bought a new car. They've all been used and they've all been salvaged titles, so they're cheap.

Speaker 1 Wow, what do you,

Speaker 1 are the boys doing well with their money? Are they saving money, living on a budget, staying out of debt?

Speaker 4 They are. The oldest,

Speaker 4 we haven't given them the oldest one money in four years. Now, granted, when he graduated

Speaker 4 college, he did move back home. But

Speaker 4 he has a

Speaker 4 Roth IRA, and he's contributing to it every month.

Speaker 1 Is he married?

Speaker 4 No, neither of them are.

Speaker 1 Okay. Are either one of them married?

Speaker 4 No.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 4 The youngest one's just graduating from college

Speaker 4 and we haven't given him any money in the last year either.

Speaker 1 Well, what I want to do is I want to enhance positive behaviors with your gift. If your gift is not doing that, then I would hold the gift for a while.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 1 But let me give you an example. Let me give you an example.
Let's say these two guys continue to be industrious. They both go get good jobs.
They live on less they make. They pile up some money.

Speaker 1 They get married and start a little family and they're 28 years old. Maybe you buy them a house and pay cash for it.

Speaker 4 We've already talked about that.

Speaker 1 And then they pay payments into a mutual fund instead of paying payments so that they're multi-millionaires by the time they're 35.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Nick, there's an interesting book, Die with Zero. It was a great book, and it applies kind of to your situation.

Speaker 2 Not everyone's able to do this, but it, but his, his idea was, which, you know, research shows is what he was claiming in the book, is that from, I think it's like ages.

Speaker 2 I'm going to mess up the age range.

Speaker 2 It's like 24 to 35 is when kids need money the most meaning like down payments on house if they're paying off student loans all of that because to your point Nick you know if you build up all this wealth and you die at 85 and your kids are 60 like they're already well established they already may have grandkids of their own right so what can you do with money as a tool to help enhance the next generation if you have the ability to and it's stuff like that i mean

Speaker 1 i mean you already did some good moves you paid the paid for the college zero debt coming out paid for the first car coming out yep and you got a good start that way.

Speaker 1 And then if they buy, if they pay cash for the first home along, I would say have them do a pledge. A promise never to borrow money.

Speaker 1 And I promise to take the blessing of this house and take the house payment and put it into mutual funds and build some wealth for the next year. They can do it for their

Speaker 1 change your family tree with that.

Speaker 1 But they have to also be in on the program.

Speaker 1 You can't give them enough money for them to be stupid. Yeah.
It doesn't work. I mean, you know,

Speaker 1 stupid will always outrun money.

Speaker 2 Would you rather, at your age,

Speaker 2 see

Speaker 2 your kids, which is me some kind of

Speaker 2 a kid.

Speaker 1 We have a conflict of interest in this question. I know, I know.

Speaker 2 But I'm just saying, like, because I have little ones. So now, I mean, we're teaching boundaries and know all the time with stuff.
But like, you know what I mean? Like, would you rather see people

Speaker 2 have their kids be part of their financial legacy while everyone's still alive

Speaker 2 versus like having a bunch of money when you die?

Speaker 1 Do you know what I mean? because you're accelerating the net worth of the total family by doing that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 you're in, but it only works if you're enhancing

Speaker 1 proper behaviors.

Speaker 2 Right. If they have the kids,

Speaker 1 if you're enforcing proper behaviors. Yeah.
But if they're like, oh, I think Dave Ramsey's an idiot. And, you know, no,

Speaker 1 the idiot will just keep his money. Yeah.
You know, so no, I can do that.

Speaker 2 So you say if we say that that Dave Ramsey's an idiot, then we'll keep it.

Speaker 1 I'll just keep my money. Yeah, that's okay.
I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
But no, I mean, the

Speaker 1 And so, Sharon and I,

Speaker 1 we do stuff like we'll buy a trip for the whole stinking bunch. So, we all go somewhere.

Speaker 1 So, in a sense, we're doing that. Enhancing experience.
We're having experiences and lifestyle issues

Speaker 1 with cash while we're alive. I'd rather go on the trip with you and pay for it and all of us do something together than I would you do that and celebrate after my funeral.

Speaker 2 Dave's gone. We're going to the Caribbean.

Speaker 1 Tahiti.

Speaker 2 Yeah, but I think that's true. And I know not everyone realistically can have that conversation.

Speaker 2 We've had people on the show today that they're in retirement and they don't have enough money for themselves, right?

Speaker 1 Right. No, that's firm.

Speaker 2 So, yes, so it's the idea of that legacy changing while you're alive. I don't know.
I think it's, I think it's cool. It's great.

Speaker 1 Cool question, Nick. Appreciate you calling in with it.
Gives us a soapbox to work with. I like it.

Speaker 1 This is the Ramsey Show.

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Speaker 1 for a reason.

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Speaker 1 All right. By the way,

Speaker 1 go on now.

Speaker 5 Don't make it weird.

Speaker 5 Okay, I got nowhere to go, so you need to go.

Speaker 1 Okay, but bye now.

Speaker 1 All right, this is getting weird over there, guys. So, what do we do?