Why You Need To Vote in Every Presidential Election

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people

build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Number one best-selling author, host of The Rachel Cruz Show, co-host of the Smart Money Happy Hour, Ramsey Personality, my daughter, is my co-host today.
The phone number is 888-825-5225. You jump in.
We'll talk about your life and your money. So, Rachel, I'm going to do something that we don't do 99% of the time on this show.
This show is about our callers and their opportunities, their problems, the things that we can help them with in general. We are neck deep in the middle of an election season, and I'll be early voting voting this week and then I'm going to be away from the microphone a little while.
So I'm going to take a minute here and walk you guys through something and just stay with me a minute. Okay.
So here's the thing. Most people in America have already decided who they're going to vote for.
You agree with that? Yes. The idea that there's a big block of undecided people out there wandering around is kind of absurd, really.
There's really not a bunch of people walking around with their head in the fog and go, oh, I think I think all of a sudden I need to learn about this. It's like, no, you know about it.
Everybody's talking about it. It's everywhere.
You can't get away from it. We're sick of it.
We're tired of all these people. We're sick of the whole freaking thing, most of us anyway.
I mean, some of you are really into it. You're not sick of it.
You just love every moment of it, and you're going to desperately have a political hangover in the middle of November. But anyway, the rest of us are like, yeah, okay, we got it.
We know what we're going to do. And there's not a big block of undecideds that are going to swing this election.
I'll tell you who I do want to address, though. There is a large block of people that are not planning to vote at all.
And I'm going to be straight with you. I think that's a mistake, okay?

And I want to walk through with you just a basic decision-making paradigm on that idea.

So my friend Simon Sinek, who wrote the book Start With Why, Infinite Game, many others,

we've spoken on stages together.

We've been in think tanks together.

We've been friends for years.

I follow him on Instagram.

It popped up on his Instagram, Rachel, yesterday or or day before yesterday that he had interviewed uh president joe biden and um the interview on his podcast by the way folks landed uh last night and i was able to listen to it this morning it is really good it's really good i did a really good interview with donald trump and if you haven't seen ought to watch it. But this is better.
It's better. Simon did a better job than I did.
And to the point that I saw things in Joe Biden that I've never seen before. And so I enjoy getting information and perspective on things that I didn't have.
I'm not challenged. My belief system isn't challenged because I learned something about someone I disagree with that I actually like.
Yeah. You know, that doesn't bother me.
It doesn't cause me to melt down. So anyway, I'm going to recommend highly that you go to Simon Sinek's podcast and listen to this interview.
It's really good. Obviously, President Joe Biden is not in the thing.
Oh, by the way, side note, some of you that were griping about me interviewing President Trump kept telling me it's former President Trump, it's former President Trump. No, that's not correct protocol.
I have a friend that passed away a few years ago that was the ambassador to France. It was Ambassador Joe Rogers.
He was a Tennessean. He lived here in Nashville.
I knew him in the real estate business. And from the time he was an ambassador in France, the rest of his life he was known as Ambassador Rogers.
Everywhere I went that he was introduced, he was introduced as Ambassador Rogers. If you introduce Bill Clinton, you introduce him as President Clinton, President Bill Clinton, not former President Clinton.
Someone who served as a senator, for the rest of their lives, they're called a senator. That is normal protocol.
So some of you that are mouthing off about that, you're just wrong. You don't know what the flip you're talking about, as usual when you're running your dadgum mouth on stuff like that.
Okay, so anyway. That was a sidebar.
By the way, I'll tell you another one. No, no, stick with your points.
You don't take it down. You never do this.
You never do this. You need to go watch Brett Baer tonight.
Brett, one of the more level-headed people on Fox, has gotten an interview with Vice President Harris. Oh, great.
The one I wished I had gotten. Yes, yeah.
And you need to go watch that. I'm going to be watching it.
I'll recommend that one as well. Because Brett's pretty...
I like all... Yeah.
He's pretty straight. He's not blah, blah, blah.
He's not going crazy. So here's the thing.

49% of evangelical Christians surveyed right now say they're not going to vote.

Wait, how many?

49%. Dang.

That's my brothers and sisters in Christ because they're disgusted with the quality of the character of both candidates in their minds.

That's what the thing comes out.

And that's understandable.

16% of gun owners say they're not going to vote. And that's just because they don't want to to get on the grid they don't want anybody to know where they are because some of you are just weirdos okay and you don't have to be a weird you don't have to be a weirdo to have a gun i've got guns but i do think they know a lot about it they know a lot about i don't think i don't think voting is going to cause them to know more or less so I know, I know.
Okay, keep going. So here's the thing.
You're not voting for a savior. If so, neither one of these would be qualified.
You're not even voting for a pastor. If so, neither one of these would be qualified.
What happens in your house is more important to your success than what happens in the White house but what happens in the white house does affect your life and to not vote at all out of disgust is bad decision making paradigm you should make a list of the eight or ten issues that are out there and which side each candidate falls on and regardless of the candidate themselves I don't believe in voting on a single issue. If you want to vote single issue voter, you can, but I don't vote on a single issue.
There's not a single issue that I will vote on above everything else. I mean, there's things that are more important, less important, but like, you know, there are people that say, okay, pro-choice or pro-life.
I will not vote anything except that on any other issue. I could disagree with them on everything, and they'll still get my vote because of that.
I don't believe in that. I believe in looking at the whole thing and saying, okay, there's the economy, there's inflation, there's interest rates, there's taxes.
Which candidate falls on the side of those things that you believe you can fix or that they're going to impact? There's the border, the immigration issue that is real. Which candidate falls on that? Check the box, right? Check the box.
Pro-life, pro-abortion. Okay.
Well, it's Democrat and Republican very clearly on that. Okay.
Although Trump is not going to do anything on a federal level for pro-life. He's just going to let the overturn of Roe v.
Wade run its course, and the states decide Kamala's going to be pro-abortion, period. And they've said this very clearly.
I mean, it's a standard plank in their party, okay? Pro-Second Amendment. No question which one you're going to check there on which.

If you're pro-gun or you're anti-gun.

OK, if you're anti-gun, you need to vote for Vice President Harris.

Even though she has one.

If you're pro-gun rights, just because you got one doesn't matter.

If you're pro-gun rights, you cannot put a check over there.

And again, I'm not going to vote on a single issue.

OK, if you're really concerned about the social issues around woke,

Thank you. check over there.
Again, I'm not going to vote on a single issue, okay, if you're really concerned about the social issues around woke. Can I jump in? What about writing in a name? Does that count? You can, but I think one of these two is going to be president, and you should participate.
Yes, but if I have a conviction as an American to actively vote, because I do believe in that. Yep.
If someone out there, just to even, you know, practice that action, write someone in.

Yep.

So I'm going to tell you, I'm voting for Donald Trump, not because I'm voting for Donald

Trump.

Oh my gosh, are we going here?

That's okay.

But because I'm, I checked those boxes and more of those are on that side than on the

other side.

I'm going to hold my nose and I'm going to vote. I might vote for Ken Coleman.
That's who I might write in. Ken Coleman.
We could vote for Ken Coleman, but I'm not. Definitely not.
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1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100. Brentwood, Tennessee 37027 Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today.
Thank you for joining us. All right, I want to wrap up that thought, and then we'll move on with the callers, okay? Here's the thing.
I have voted in every single election since I turned 18 years old, presidential election or otherwise. I've not missed a single time to cast my vote as an American.
I believe it's a patriotic duty. I believe it is a right.
And I got to tell you, I think every single vote I've ever cast, I disagreed with the person I voted for on at least something, or I wished something was different about them. And so, as my friend Stephen Mansfield so eloquently put a while back, he said, all of us, if we're honest and have good decision-making skills and independent thought, all of us are not worshipers of candidates.
Now, there are some of you that are worshipers of candidates, and you lose your freaking minds on this stuff, but I'm not one of them, okay? I'm looking at ideas and which ideas land on which side of the aisle. Where am I most likely going to get a tax policy I like, an immigration policy I like, a foreign policy I like? Where am I most likely to get a gun policy I like a climate change policy I like a woke policy I like that I agree with where am I most likely to get that I can check those boxes very clearly very quickly on these two candidates and then based on that none of them are going to be a hundred% on what I want them to be in personal character, in personality style, in history, in even where they stand on the issues.
None of them are 100% exactly who I want them to be. So that means 100% of the votes I have cast and I've voted in every i've held my nose and voted anyway there's something i didn't like but i voted anyway for the one that most aligned with all the different issues plus or minus right um and uh again i've not i've never thought i was voting for a savior and i never thought i was voting for a pastor.
Some of you think you are, and that has you all disillusioned. But I don't think you could find a president that you go back and go, well, this was a holy man.
This was Billy Graham. There's no Billy Graham ever been in the White House, okay? It just hasn't.
It doesn't happen. There's some that were better than others, some that were more slimy than others for sure but it's just not it's not like their job billy graham that was his job and so it's a different thing so i i suggest you hold your nose and you vote and that's what i that's what i don't mean i i i think they stink and i'm having that i'm saying there's something i disagree with and i'm going to vote anyway and that.
And that's how I made the decision to vote for Trump was the boxes that were checked. And if you want to vote the other way, as long as you're being thoughtful about it and you're being a nice person, we're still friends.
I'm okay with you. I'm not mad at you.
Some of you are never going to listen to me again after this. That's okay.
I can deal with that. That's happened to me for 30 years.
People have threatened me. I'm going to cancel you.
That's hard to do. I own the show.
And so you're not going to get to cancel me. So you can leave, but you can't cancel me.
So that's what I want to talk about. And then the other thing I want to tell you guys, speaking of interviews, I want you to pick up Simon's interview, Simon Sinek, pick up Brett Baer's interview on the politics, non-politics, 98% non.
We actually got to sit down long form and hang out with Ben Shapiro last week, and that landed today on the Ramsey Network app, and tomorrow it'll be on our podcast and on our YouTube. And so don't miss Ben Shapiro.
Very brilliant guy, long form interview. We got to talk about Judaism.
He's an Orthodox Jew. I'm a Christian.
And we've got a lot of friends in both camps that and we got had a great discussion on some of that stuff marriage issues been on marriage that's something very different yeah interesting because his mind's like a freaking steel trap he's yeah very interesting so um very cool talks about life yeah yeah did. And so be sure and tune in for all that.

So what do you want to add to that?

Anything?

You just wish I hadn't gone there or what?

No, it's not that I wish you hadn't gone there.

I'm shocked you did to a degree.

I was like, oh my gosh, are we saying who we're voting for right now?

No, I think, you know, last time we were in Epcot with our kids,

I made my girls go to the American Adventure.

It's a show in the America part of Epcot.

And it's about American history. It's 30 minutes long.
And they have Roosevelt. They have all these presidents that come and tell the history of America.
And you leave that and you just think, I am proud. I am proud to be an American, even though there were elements of our history that we're not proud of, but who we are as this country.
So I think the rights and the responsibility to vote is huge. And I think that's an older generational thing.
So I kind of see you as Papa Dave a little bit in that segment of like, hey, especially to the younger generation, I think it's more of the younger ones that don't feel the seriousness of voting. So I love the message of go vote.
Your vote does count. Yes, go vote.
Because I think that that is a part of part of america that's beautiful and so do it and by not voting you can swing an election yes for sure for sure yeah and that that that's wrong yeah so vote for who you yep but for who you agree with i agree i mean if kamala because of this speech is a landslide and you guys all exercise your vote i'll take that yes i'm fine yes i'm fine that's okay yes because i want you to get up off your butts i want you to think clearly for yourself don't stick your head so far up your party that you can't think and some people do they can't everything that's on that side is right no it's not no it's not and all the people that are on that side are right no i have met kookazoids on both sides i mean complete crazy people that should be in a padded cell and don't tell me everybody that falls on one side of the other is right they're not they're just not they're just some of them are you're not voting for a savior folks anyway all right last thing you're going to hear on politics and ramsey for a long long time i hope and uh because i really don't want to become those i don't want to do a political show it's not what i want to do i don't even enjoy it rachel actually enjoys it somewhat uh we have some great she has we have some great rachel one-sided family discussions at dinner about all this stuff but one-sided just me a monologue yeah monologuing we we definitely have you stirred up for sure and uh you can go there and but they're a lot of fun and it's always entertaining but it's not what we do on the radio we're here to help morgan in pensacola hi morgan welcome to the ramsey show what's up hey uh just letting you know uh i will be most definitely voting and uh me and rachel have that common. I love talking about politics, and I love politics.
So good, Morgan. Well, good.
That's why you didn't hang up while I was doing all that. You were on hold, right? Oh, no.
I thoroughly enjoyed that. Anyway, so just short and sweet, last year my parents needed a place to go.
and it was a consensus that they move here on the property and they said hey, or my dad said hey, we will give you a certain amount of money per month, it'll help you guys out help us out we great. And then, um, that happened for like maybe a month or two.
And then it kind of has been very sporadic since like maybe a hundred dollars a year and a hundred dollars. How much is he supposed to be paying you? Um, about eight 50.
Okay. And that's what he promised.
He brought it up up you didn't even bring it up yeah he he threw out that um that number okay the first time he missed why did you not say something i just had hello did you do we lose you morgan now she hung up darn oh well we'll see if we can get her back for another segment then oh man shoot morgan sorry sorry about that here's the thing um if you don't bring something up that's obvious people think it's okay like when he didn't pay and she didn't say anything he starts to think it's okay because she probably felt bad of like oh well i'm sure it's yeah that like because the consensus was apparently with their brothers and sisters i don't know that they're going to help mom and dad out so uh i think what you need to establish is does it matter if you're going to let them live there free, then whether he pays or not doesn't matter. Just forget it.
Whenever he sends a check, that's fine. Don't worry about it.
If there's something else going on that they're wasting money or something, you need to help them with that and coach them. That's fine.
If you really want to hold their feet to the fire on accountability, start having discussions about this early and often. But where you made the mistake was not early.
So that's going to be the answer to your question, I think. But if we can get you back, we'll hear the rest of the story.
And that's how we do it here. This is The Ramsey Show.
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Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, my daughter is my co-host today. Jeffrey and Julianne are with us.
Hey guys, how are you? Hi. Hi there.
Good and great. Where do you guys live? We are from Ontario, Canada.
Oh, welcome to Nashville. And how much debt have you two paid off? So 110 in consumer debt.
And 345 total. So 235 was our mortgage and 110 was consumer debts you paid off your house so great looking at weird people okay so the total the total was what what did you say the total 345 345 okay 235 house 110 so great you guys congratulations how long did that take seven years start to finish wow and your range of income during that time we started at about 120 and our highest year was 350 wow good for you what do y'all do for a living i'm a real estate appraiser and i'm an underground miner okay very good ot lots of OT yeah and that's good money that's really good OT right there

wow

so OT. Lots of OT.
Yeah, and that's good money. That's really good OT right there.
Wow. So, what started this whole process seven years ago with this Ramsey thing, getting out of debt thing? It was a scary tax bill, so similar to your IRS.
I got our tax bill, and we weren't prepared, and so that made us realize that our finances were an absolute mess and we had no communication skills. So we decided to clean it up, got our act together.
And after searching for some plans, we found, found yours and it just made sense. It was simple.
It was easy to follow. So we jumped on.
Good for you guys. Incredible.
So before you guys were scattered, you said you really didn't talk about money.

So what's the what's the before and after picture as you're standing on this stage from where you guys were seven years ago, even as a married couple?

Right. I mean, like your whole life versus today.
What is that transformation like?

Well, it's just we're being honest with ourselves now, not hiding anything from each other or making perches without talking to each other. Um, back then it was just a lot of, you know, fly by seat your pants.
A lot of individuality. Yes, totally.
Yeah. So how is that, has that increased your, yeah, your marriage unity and everything? Yeah, for sure.
Because we agree on what we're spending money on and And really, it's everything. It's not just...
And sometimes we laugh because you'll say like, well, I got to talk to my wife. And it's not like a, you know, I have a whip type thing.
But it's more just because we want to agree. We want to do this together.
And is this decision in line with our plans? And that's why we'll discuss. So great.
What was the 110? You said consumer debt. Was it credit cards, loans, everything? Yeah, credit cards, loans, personal loans, vehicles.
Yeah. So we started off, we sold the two vehicles right away.
Okay. So that was about 55,000 of the debt was gone.
And then the remaining 55,000 was paid over a year. Oh my gosh.
So y'all did that quick? Yeah. I had to let go.
I had ATVs, snow machines, all the fun toys. All the toys.
A toy collector. Yeah.
Once I let go of that, put them for sale, it was real. And Jeff had a real Dave car.
He had a $1,500 car that he got from a buddy. Oh yeah, there it is.
There it is on YouTube. That youtube that's nasty yeah and it was funny because his weekly paychecks were more than 1500 but he's driving that thing right yes yeah and his guys his buddies are going what are you doing yeah exactly but i had a good friend who helped me out and uh it was his mom's old car so uh when he heard the journey we were jumping on he uh he sold that to me What was that, a Ford Fairlane or something? Crown Victoria.
Crown Victoria, I thought it was, yeah. A land yacht.
Yeah. Wow.
Yeah. Very cool.
How many miles did it have on it? Actually, not that many. It was his mom's old car.
It was just ugly and old. She drove from home to work, which was only a few kilometers.
So it had a lot of life left in it. Oh, it did.
Did it ever. Yeah, it was actually in great shape.
That's the problem. It would have lasted too long.
Oh, my goodness. Yes.
Yeah. Okay, so was that part hard? Because for a lot of people getting out of debt, the sacrificial end of the lifestyle, right? Decreasing lifestyle to get margin.
Right. And when you're used to living a certain way to what can feel like going backwards to obviously move forward you're doing it for a reason uh how was that was that was that hard it was um I go that ego um especially making you know we were making good money yeah just yeah I'm not smart with it so you know uh surrounded by nice vehicles at work in the parking lot and then driving in with that once you put that aside there, there was an end game.
We knew it wasn't forever. And now we're back into the vehicles that we had in the past.
So good. Yeah.
So it feels really great. We just had to decide in that moment that we didn't care what people thought.
Yeah. Like if they laughed, whatever.
Like they don't see our bank account. They don't see our net worth going up.
And actually that's a huge tip that I can add is that we tracked our net worth every month we would look at all our accounts and the debts and just track it so we started at a 27 000 net worth and now we're at 1.3 in seven years so if they laughed at our car that's fine totally yeah check this out who's laughing now i'll see your net worth but no one sees that right no they don't no it's like the secret thing you know it's the secret number that no one knows and people that look like they have a high one you assume oh my gosh they're doing so well right but usually they're just normal yeah and have payments yeah yeah wow way to go you guys that's a perfect paradigm that's a perfect way of looking at it they don't get a vote because they don't get to see everything get to see everything. There's a high correlation between people that build wealth and those that quit caring what other people think.
It really is. It's a huge thing.
This need to impress is very expensive. It's a very expensive hobby.
So what's the first big thing you're going to do to celebrate? We're here. Yeah.
What are you going to do big?

Cool.

I don't know.

It's hard to dream.

It's hard to think big.

We've been limited for so long.

But this is our first family trip since the journey.

Yeah.

So it's going to be a week long.

Okay.

We'll catch a hockey game.

Oh, good.

Okay.

And make it fun.

Good Predators game while you're here in Nashville then.

Yeah.

It's also symbolic.

I had a trip to Nashville booked for July 2016 when When we decided in April to get out of debt, I canceled that trip. So it's full circle.
Here I am. All the way back after you're completely debt free.
Incredible. That's a good mark right there.
So not only to see you, but Nashville was symbolic even before. Totally, totally.
Oh, I love it. We're not the only cool thing in Nashville.
So there you go. Okay, I know you guys have a little guy.
How old is he? He's 10. He's 10 years old.
He's 10, okay. Eli, go on up with your mom and dad.
So he was three when you guys kind of started this. Yes.
So you had a little one. His Christmas during our baby step two, he got $2 store mini sticks.
So $2, that's all he got. So poor guy.
But he was young enough he didn't know.

He didn't know.

Yeah, he's fun.

He played with the fox anyway.

Yeah.

Oh, so great, you guys.

Oh, look at the little baby picture.

That's great.

Oh, there.

There's sticks.

Yeah.

So good.

He's a cute kid.

Oh, my gosh.

Well done, you guys.

All right.

What's the secret to getting out of debt when people ask you?

What are the things they ought to do?

Communication.

That's key.

Communicate together.

Weekly budget meetings. Yes.
Not caring what people think. Yeah.
Not giving up when it's hard. Yeah.
You're not kidding when you say you'll pass out before. Yeah, before you die.
I did some long hours and you were right about that. You didn't die from hard work.
No, exactly. Right before you die, you'll pass out.
Hey, Jeff, talk to the guy out there that's got a big old. Some kind of collection of something that's toy type stuff.
What did your what did your emotions go through? How did you flip the switch to go? My wife and my baby are more important than this collection of stuff, because that's what happened in head it had to be yeah um just be honest trust the process um it's not forever you'll get those things back um whether it may not be exactly the model you had before um but then you'll realize that having a nice truck doesn't mean big tires um you know you could get that but um it's good yeah still enjoy and be happy with it so yeah fun fun yeah i've got more toys than i had before i went broke so i mean it's like we went broke lost them all and you know live like no one else and now we can drive and play like no one else right do whatever we want to do so well i'm proud of you guys way done, you guys. You changed that young man, Eli's whole life.
His family trees changed because you two grew up. Way to go.
Very well done. Jeffrey, Julianne, and Eli, $345,000 paid off.
1.7? 1.3. $1.3 million net worth.
Baby Steps millionaires in seven years making $120 to $350. Count it down.
Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.
We're debt-free! Yeah! Woo! The ones that pay off their house and do their debt-free scream are often Baby Steps Millionaires simultaneously. Be watching that.
That number's there. This is the Ramsey Show.
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Today's question comes from Carter in New Hampshire. He says, my wife and I are avid listeners, but we don't share the same views financially.
I'm an analyzer when it comes to finances and it annoys her to no end. I have a two-year emergency fund and our home is paid off.
Together we earn $200,000 a year. She likes to spend and wants me to co-sign on a vehicle that's $80,000.
She has $10,000 in credit card debt and she pays $15,000 each year for private school for our kids. If I mention anything about money, I'm the one who's wrong.
I wish I could say that we pay for vacations, recreational toys and trips, but these funds come from my checking account and she gets mad when I say that I pay for them. Is it okay to have an account together to pay bills and separate for spending accounts? I mean, I think you guys are disjointed completely when it comes to money.
I mean, obviously, this is like a pick and choose what we want to do together and what we don't. And I think the goal here is that you are a unified team with all of it, right? All of it together.
So the spending, the saving, where your kids are going to college or to school, where you guys, you know, what kind of cars you guys buy that you are in agreement together in those things. And so, you know, she's a spender.
So you guys are in a great position. You have no debt.
You have great emergency funds. So if she wants to go spend a little you can't be crazy and be like no you can't spend anything right and you sound a little bit you sound a little crazy to a degree carter uh that she just wants a little bit of freedom but then she on the other end is not what it sounds like a thousand dollar car and credit card debt that's crazy the same value system though is what's not being played out so i think think that's the issue, is that you guys are functioning not on the same value system, and so it's looking like a mess like this.
And the accounts, that doesn't fix it. I don't think they have a money problem.
I think they have a marriage problem. Right, but that's the problem is people think, is it okay if we just have separate accounts? And what that does is it sweeps the one issue that you actually need to talk about under the rug it doesn't fix it it actually continues to alienate you guys from each other so no carter i would not do these separate accounts i would force you guys to work out of one account because to your point it's actually going to reveal other issues that are actually going on in your marriage yeah and i'm the one that's wrong she gets mad you know if you just change out the subject and it wasn't money and you're talking about something else and she acted that way or you acted that way you over analyzed everything which is what you're doing for sure and on the other hand then she's acting like a princess and stomping her foot with her little red face out until I get what I want.

And if you don't let me have what I want, then you're wrong. This is a marriage problem.
You guys desperately need to sit down with someone. Because here's the problem, okay? The probability that you have a high-quality marriage going forward using this system is close to zero.
you may or may not get divorced later

but you're definitely not having fun in your relationship. And the probability that you build wealth with both of you pulling at each other the whole time instead of pulling the wagon, no, almost zero.
One of the things we found when we study wealthy people is the data tells us that they work together with their spouse they're unified in their goals they're aiming at the same target and pulling the trigger together that's what we're doing and you can't drag along a princess she can't drag along who overanalyzes everything and has no fun left anywhere in life

because you squeeze every dollar until George Washington screams.

And no, you got to have something in here.

We got to have some flow to this, some relationship to this that's not in here.

And so, yeah, this desperately screams of a need for marriage counseling to me. For sure.
Open phones at 888-825-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525-525- me for sure open phones at 888-825-5225 Bo's with us in Las Vegas hi Bo how are you I'm doing good can you hear me absolutely what's up so I wanted to know if I can keep using my credit card and I know you're probably going to say no but i'm going to try anyway you're right no so um do your convincing though so give it your best shot bo all right so this is a unique situation i've never heard it on your show and i've been only listening for like five months okay so i have one credit card um i have a medical condition and my medication is insanely expensive and, uh, I can't afford it until I hit my deductible, which my insurance will cover, but my deductible is $13,000. And so the pharmaceutical company that makes it will reimburse me for it.
And I've been doing this for two years years and so i use the credit card and i get cash back for the and then they reimburse me in a few days so is that something that i would keep it for why don't you just pay cash what was that why don't you pay cash i can i have but it's really expensive oh good you just pay cash? Why don't you pay cash? I can.

Why?

But it's really expensive.

Oh, good.

We'll pay cash.

And then you still get reimbursed.

It's really expensive either way, dude.

You're out the money either way, right?

Yeah, but I get the money back from the pharmaceutical company.

Okay, and so you use your cash, and then you get your cash right back.

I can do that, but I get another $300. Oh, whoop-dee-doop-dee.
Okay. You're going to sell your financial soul for $300? Well, it's money.
I never met a millionaire that said, you know, Dave, I made all my money on my airline miles. It's not airline miles.
I know. It's $300.
$300 has never created a millionaire.

Okay.

I agree.

I just don't make a lot of money, so it's really stressful.

Well, then if $300 is a lot of money, then that's a different problem, isn't it?

You have an income problem then.

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to make more money.

Why?

It's not because I'm lazy. I'm not really worth a lot of money why i society would say i lack intelligence or education they're different you don't like intelligence you've carried on a very clear conversation in a high pressure situation you don't like and lack intelligence you've you've done a good job in this banter that we've had here, which was kind of fun.
So you're not lacking in intelligence. You might not have education.
That doesn't mean you're not able to make a living. What do you make? I make $26.35 an hour.
Okay. That's not super bad.
You were getting 40 hours?

No, I work, well, it varies, but seasonally, I work between 30 and 45 hours a week.

It depends on what time of year.

What do you do?

It's kind of, I work for a distribution center. I operate, the simplest way I could say it is I manage robots.
Okay. Are you 24? Are you 24? No.
I'm 42. I'm sorry? 42.
42. Okay.
So here's the deal. What I would do if I were you is I would say, hey, I can be anything I want to be.
What are the steps to being one of those? And I could make twice as much money being one of those. And I want to go start working towards being one of those.
And it could be an apprentice program. It could be a certification program.
It could be a couple of classes at the local community college i don't know but you're

capable of doing all of those things and so your issue is that you need to increase your income and have some career goals we'll help you with that i'm going to give you ken coleman's book um find the work you're wired to do i want to get the title right so i turned around looked at it and it's got in it the Get Clear assessment.

I don't have to look at it because we've had over 100,000 people take this assessment. And it'll help you get clear on what your skills are.
And I want you to go work on that, Beau, to where $300, to where you're no longer in a place where you think $300 changes your life. Don't be in a place where you think 300 bucks changes your life.
You want to

be in a better place than that. And then you don't fall into the traps of these stinking banks and these stinking credit card companies.
And you get sucked in thinking they're actually there to help you. They're not.
So problem solved. Hang on.
We'll give that to you as our gift. This is the Ramsey show.
Live from the headquarters of Ramsey solutions. It's the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual amazing relationships.
I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one,selling author, and my daughter is my co-host today. This is a Baby Steps Millionaire theme hour.
If you are a millionaire, we want to talk to you and learn about you so that other people who aren't yet a millionaire can hear what it sounds like to be one and how to get there. Let me help you with what a millionaire

is. Some people don't know.
Some people are confused. It is not an income of a million dollars a year.
You can have a million dollar a year income and still not be a millionaire. It's possible.
Not probable, but it's possible. A millionaire, by definition, is an accounting term.
It is a simple math formula.

What you own minus what you owe equals your net worth. Your assets minus your liabilities equals your net worth.
When your net worth is greater than $1 million, you are, by definition, a millionaire. It's not a feeling.
Well, no one should have wealth. It's not a moral construct millionaire it's not a feeling well no one should have wealth it's not a moral construct it's a math thing well million dollars isn't enough well maybe we can talk about that but you're still a millionaire if you have a million dollar net worth well it's all in his house it doesn't matter a house is an asset it's all in cash doesn't matter cash is an asset Well, I don't understand.
It doesn't matter. A house is an asset.
It's all in cash. Doesn't matter.
Cash is an asset. Well, I don't understand.
I don't care if you understand. This is what it is.
Period. There's only one definition.
People say net worth millionaire. That's a redundant term.
That's like saying millionaire, millionaire, because all

millionaires are net worth millionaires. It is the only kind of millionaire there is.
There's not another kind, so you don't have to put an adjective in front of it. It's not net worth millionaire.
It's just millionaire. And the data tells us that most millionaires that become millionaires are boring.

They simply invest

money in their 401k, out of their paycheck, and they pay off their house. And that's what most of them do.
That's the first $1 to $5 million. It's just the old.
As a matter of fact, James, our producer, found the video of an actual millionaire versus the typical American. Fire that up and let the people on YouTube see it, and Rachel and I will do a play-by-play of what a real millionaire looks like versus most people.
Here we go. You ready? It's the tortoise versus the hare.
The classic. You know the story.
The hare is always distracted. Looking at things they can't afford.
Buying things with money they don't have to impress people they don't even really like. They have a great gun collection, a great purse collection, and cars that they can't afford parked in front of a cheap house meanwhile the tortoise just keeps on walking this is a live video of an actual tortoise this is a tortoise actually winning the race beating the hair you know it's actually some of our youtube geniuses here really yeah it's not bad it's a big old tortoise it's a huge tortoise and it doesn't stop then the pace is consistent you see he just kept the same pace just kept going and that hair was kind of back and forth looking up looking around and that's it i'm like distracted it is it's it and it's boring all financially ad flashy i mean it's yeah it's not the cool like this new thing we could actually name the hair bitcoin oh my gosh and we could name the tortoise millionaire there you go all right because that's what happens you're just distracted you're looking for a quick easy way and all the people cheering for you they're not helping because you're still just gonna be your own worst enemy all the way around yeah and by the way i i was a hair in my 20s and i lost everything and went broke and so I have adopted the tortoise personality

since then and the tortoise haircut so I'm full-on tortoise at this point I'm big time into tortoises so uh because I found what works and I'm sticking with it so we're talking to real millionaires not your broke brother-in-law with an opinion Alex is in Charlottesville Virginia Alex what's your net worth? About worth? About $1.5 to $1.6 million. Cool.
Give me a little breakdown by category. How much in-house and 401k and so forth? My house is worth $225 or so, best estimate.
401k, I've got $300-some-odd thousand in there. I've got almost 200 in a Roth IRA.
I've got a SEP IRA, which is about $65,000, $70,000 in it. I've got a traditional IRA, a liquid investment account.
I also recently became an accredited investor, so I've got, oh, God, probably $300,000, $350,000 in there. And then I also own my own business, and the only thing I really count towards my net worth is the value of that building, which is probably $350,000 to $400,000.
That's the building that that's in. Okay, how old are you? How old are you? 42.
42. How much of this did you inherit? I didn't inherit anything.
Zero. Okay.
And your best year of income since you started working and your worst year of income since you started working? My best year, I probably made $280,000 before taxes. My worst year was probably in my early 20s, and I think I made $52,000 or $53,000.
Okay, cool. What's your career? I own my own business.
I'm an electrical engineer, and I make equipment for aircraft gotcha all right are you engineering degree yes uh electrical engineering okay all right cool what was your gpa wasn't very good 2.8 2.8 i got out thank you lordy graduated thank you lordy that was pretty much it yeah i like it i like it cool all right so you're listening you have listening in to you out here and i'm promising with uh 30 million people out there that we do have this person listening they're 22 years old and they're studying electrical engineering can they still do this in america today oh absolutely in fact they could probably get ahead of where i am uh despite being a little aggressive with their investments. That's the first thing you tell them to keep investing because you've done a great job.
You've got lots of 401ks, Roth, SEPs, and credited investors. You paid off your building.
I mean, you're not living in a $2 million house. You're living and you make $280,000.
I mean, you've really focused on this, done a great job. Yeah, I don't know what I'm – I probably won't make $280,000 this year, but I'm sure I'll do pretty well.
That's okay. Alex, do you have a family? Are you married with kids? I am not married and no children.
That's great. I have two dogs.
Hey, they count. What's the biggest mistake you've ever made with money? I don't know.
It's very hard to say that. I am actually, the best way I can describe my relationship with money is I am terrified of debt.
So, you know, I think the worst decision I ever made was loaning money to family. Oh, yeah, because that got into that terror thing and transferred to the family.

Wow.

Well, congratulations, sir.

42 years old.

No inheritance.

$1.6 million net worth.

Hmm.

Something to think about.

This is The Ramsey Show.

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. All right, you've heard me say this a thousand times, and I'm going to keep saying it.
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It's a baby steps millionaires theme hour. We're talking to real millionaires about what their life looks like, how they did it.
So if you're not one,

you can learn how. That's the purpose.
And can it still be done in America? There's a lot of lies that are believed about millionaires. One lie is that you must be doing something famous to be a millionaire, like a pro sports figure, a rock star, a country music star, a Hollywood actor.
Less than 1% of America's millionaires are people that you know who they are. Less than 1%.
Most of them are like people sitting in my lobby right now. And they all look just like other people people and they're not on the tv screen and they're not on the basketball court and so on and so as a matter of fact a lot of the people that are like that aren't millionaires because they're so horrible at handling money and so it's very interesting but you don't have to be famous to be a millionaire That's mythology.
It's less than 1%. It's a method.
It is a method of getting there, but it's not the typical method statistically. John's in New York City.
John, what's your net worth? How are you doing, Dave? Thanks for having me on. My net worth is $1.65 million.
Cool. Give me a little breakdown by category.
Sure. So I have about 125 in a high-yield savings.
I have $340K in a brokerage account, and the rest is in IRA, in mutual funds, ETFs, you know, broken up, kind of diversified. Okay.
You don't own any real estate? Well, actually, I have about $350K. I have a house, and I have about $350K in equity in it right now, which I kind of didn't include, which I should have.
Yeah, that's a $2 million net worth then. Okay.
All right. Very cool.
Doing better than you thought you were, John, before you called. Got to raise while you're on the phone.
That's pretty good. How old are you? 64.
64. And how much of this $1.6 or $2 million did you inherit? Recently, my dad passed this past March, so I inherited $400K from him.
So I had about $1.25 before he passed. Okay, so you were already a millionaire before you got an inheritance.
Yes. So it's fair to say that you did not become a millionaire, but it was enhanced, but you did not become a millionaire because of an inheritance, correct? That's correct.
Okay. All right.
Just making sure I get my story exactly straight. So your best year working income and your worst year working income? My worst year is when I first got out of college, I probably made only about 30K.
And my best year is about 190K.

Okay.

What was your career or is your career?

I was in IT as I did a whole bunch of different things, technician, manager, director, sales engineer.

So I ran the gamut.

That's great.

Are you retired now, John?

Yes.

Wonderful.

Four-year degree?

Yeah, I have a four-year degree.

In what? And my degree is actually in criminal justice. Okay.
All right. And then you got into IT.
And your GPA in criminal justice was what? 3.8. 3.8.
All right. Very cool.
Very cool. All right.
I'm 64. You're 64.
so can people still do this today? Oh, absolutely.

I won't say it's easy, but you just need to be disciplined.

And the earlier you start, the easier it gets.

It's simple, but it's not easy.

Right.

That's what I always think of.

Yeah, good.

Very cool.

What's the worst thing you ever did with money?

What's your biggest mistake? My biggest mistake, actually, I was doing pretty good in my career, and I always lived below my means. At one point, I bought a boat.
Ah, the two greatest days in a man's life, when he buys a boat and when he sells it. Yep.
That's it. So why was it a mistake? Because you went into debt for it or you just wouldn't use it? What was the mistake of the boat? Well, I think the biggest thing is I went into debt for it, which was a huge mistake.
But, you know, luckily, you know, I made enough money along the way that it really didn't impact me. So, you know, at the end of the day, you know, myself and my family, we enjoyed it.
We have a lot of great memories on a boat. Yes, it's good.
And it didn't sink him. There you go.
I've been waiting for that one day. You knew that was coming, right? Walking dad joke.
Okay, the definition of a dad joke. So, yeah, very cool.
Very cool. All right, what do you drive? I actually drive today.
I drive actually a BMW 330, but I have a caveat about that.

I will never buy one new.

I bought a 2018 as a three-year lease return because I know I've had more than one BMW.

All the depreciation is up front.

So you buy a lease return.

That's 50% depreciation.

I bought a really nice car with 35,000 miles on it for $23,000. Yeah, and that's a $50,000 car.
Yep. Yeah.
Okay. Good for you.
Well done. Love it.
Love it. Well done, sir.
Congratulations. Proud of you.
Mike is in Buffalo, New York. Mike, your net worth is what? About $4.5 million.
Good for you. I like it.
And give me a little breakdown by category on

that, sir. I paid a house off when I was 50.
It's worth about 600, 610 today. Between Schwab and Fidelity, I have a financial planner that manages about 45% of our net worth, about 2.5 million.
And my wife has about $750 in her 401K.

A small annuity.

A very low-cost one, $2.5 million. My wife has about $750 in her 401k.
Small annuity, very low cost one, $300,000 in that. And gold and silver, physical coins, about $33,000.
And then your favorite, I own some cryptocurrency and some altcoins. It's only 1% or 2% of my net worth.
So it's like $45,000 worth. $80,000 in Coinbase.
All right, in Bitcoin. Okay, cool.
And then cash, $85,000, and then another $60,000 sitting around in stock from the company that I used to work for. I retired last June of 23.
Cool. What was your career? I was in sales.
Oh, cool. And how old are you? 63.
63. And how much of this did you inherit? About 810,000.
So we had over 3 million. Well, we didn't have over 3 million at the time.
We inherited about a year ago. But we have 3 million of the 3.9 million is ours.
And I came from parents that were frugal times 10. So you were already a millionaire before you got an inheritance.
That's correct. You were a three millionaire before you got an inheritance.
That's correct. Okay.
I hit my first million about 11 years ago. And, uh, you take out this six, 700,000 that I added to it, and in the years working post that, we basically took the portfolio up two and a half times.
Gotcha. What's your degree in? Just business.
Business management. Okay.
And your GPA, do you remember it? Yeah, I was, you know, I was working 30, 35 hours a week in a restaurant.

It was about 3.1, 3.2.

Good for you.

Okay, cool.

All right, we're about the same age.

Do you think Americans can still do this today?

You think a guy in sales can go out there and end up with $5 million net worth

by the time he's 63?

This is what sets me on fire is today you have more opportunities than ever.

In the 80s, if you wanted to buy a minimum of 100 shares, right? I'll make this short and sweet. 100 shares would cost you a couple hundred dollars plus 100 shares.
So if you were buying something for 50 bucks, you had to have $5,200. In the 90s, it was about $40 trading cost with 100 share minimum.
In about 2011, 2012, the market makers, the Schwabs and the Fidelity's free trading, no minimums, fractional share. So if you're a guy struggling the end of the month, he got 76 bucks.
I'm being facetious here. You could go in and buy whatever.
Say Eli Lilly is selling at 109. You could buy a fractional share share at no cost there is no other generation that has had as many opportunities as these kids say there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be a millionaire by the time you're 50 absolutely no reason at all you heard it from Mike there you go I'm sold Mike I'm ready I'm ready I I That's just the truth.
That's just the way it is. What do you drive? I drive a Tundra.
Me and my wife bought two new cars, and we said, hey, we've arrived. You've arrived.
You drive a Toyota. Yeah, I drive a Toyota.
But, you know, Dave, I will drive this car for probably 12, 15 years. I wasn't shaming you.

I'm happy for you.

The woman to my right, her husband drives it.

My son-in-law drives a Tundra.

He loves it. I love it.

It's a great truck.

Yep.

Yep.

I only drive 7,000-plus miles a year, so it's going to take a while.

You don't have to justify it.

I think you're okay.

Enjoy it.

I think you're going to be okay.

Enjoy it.

You did okay, Mike.

You did good, man.

The number of people that drive a stinking Toyota that have a million-dollar net worth, they're everywhere. I think you're going to be okay.
Enjoy it. You did okay, Mike.
You did good, man. The number of people that drive a stinking Toyota that have million-dollar networks,

they're everywhere.

A Toyota.

This is The Ramsey Show.

I talk to people every day who want to know how to do better in two areas,

money and relationships.

That's why I'm pumped to bring the Money and Relationships Tour to a city near you.

Join me and Dr. John Deloney for a night that will challenge the way you think about this stuff and possibly change how you live forever.
Starting April 21st, we'll be in Louisville, then on to Durham, Atlanta, Phoenix, Fort Worth, and Kansas City. Grab your tickets at ramsaysolutions.com slash tour before they're gone.
This is a baby steps millionaires theme hour. If you are on baby step four retirement, you're out of debt.
You have your emergency fund or beyond five is kids college. Six is pay off the house.
Seven is you've done it all your debt free and building wealth and outrageously generous. If you're anywhere in those, we are doing a cruise that'll live like no one else cruise.
You should not go on this cruise if you're still in debt and getting out. That's not what we want you to do.
We want you to get out of debt first. But if you're doing this, Holland Americans is the line that we're on.
It's fabulous. It's one of their newer ships.
It's all inclusive, of course.

And it's all the Ramsey personalities. We're each going to be doing sessions in the evenings.
We've also got Manit Shohan from the Food Channel with us, Stephen Curtis Chapman, Dina Carter, famous country music star, be doing shows with us as well. And so we will be the entertainment.
We will be on the ship the entire week from March 22 through 29 this coming spring there are more 97 sold out so we probably should just quit doing these ads actually but anyway we're going to keep doing we'll come make comedian Trey Kennedy is going to be with us as well he has made a career out of making of me, and so it's going to be really funny and a lot of fun.

So looking forward to seeing Trey so I can choke him.

No, I'm kidding.

It's going to be fun.

Ramseysolutions.com slash cruise and get your cabin reserved before they're all gone

because they're just about all gone.

Ted is with us in Philadelphia. Ted, what's your net worth? Good afternoon, Ted.
I'm about 2.26. Wow, very cool.
All right, and a little breakdown by category. Oh, $700,000 in a 401K, $300,000 in cash, and then the rest in some stocks and bonds.
Okay. No real estate? A home that I've been in for a long time.
We have a value of about $1.3 on the home. Outstanding more.
Gauge about $250. And I know you don't like that, but I'm at $2.65, and I can pay for that out of an investment account that's generating enough to pay for that.

So I don't really feel that.

Okay, so I'm not arguing with you.

I'm just trying to find out where you are.

Okay, so you have a house that has equity in it of how much?

About a million.

About a million.

Of your 2.26, a million is in your house?

That's correct.

Okay, that's what I wanted.

All right, a million at home.

Okay, cool. All right, and how much of all this did you inherit? Not a dollar.
Not a zero. Not a nada.
How old are you? About 58. 58.
What was your career? I did a lot of consulting. I'm like an operational consultant.
I can look at operational efficiencies and statistical analysis for financial statements to find inefficiencies. Gotcha.
Business degree? Business degree, yes. GPA? 3.8.
All right, very cool. What do you drive? Well, I drive a luxury SUV, but certainly not one that I bought new.
Okay. Now I bought my SUV three years old about three years ago, and I still have it.
Very cool. What kind of luxury? What is it? It's a Porsche Cayenne.
Oh, those are nice. Very cool.
Good for you. Good.
Well, you should. I'm a bit of an on-move enthusiast.
Yeah. Well, I mean, you've got $2 million on that worth.
You ought to drive a Porsche. That's pretty good.
I like it. All right.
Good. Good.
Can this still be done today? Well, I think if you're deliberate and methodical, it can, you know, and what I've said to my kids is, you know, as you enter the corporate world and you start to work with these corporations, anything that they're willing to give you, you need to take. If they're going to match your 401k, you take it.
If you can buy stock at

a discount, you take it. And it's not about how much you're going to make.
It's about how much

can you keep. And the more they give and the more you make doesn't mean it's the more you spend.

It's the more you can keep. And I think if you follow that and you stay true to that,

then certainly. So like we opened up, you're more of the tortoise than the hare then? Well, yeah, I think so.
I would have to say yes, that's true. Well, he wins the race.
It's a good thing. Well, even at home now, my wife and I are in, we built the home new back in the mid-90s.
It was a struggle for us to get there. And here we are 30 30 plus years later still in that home.
Yeah. So I'm curious, Ted, and even Dave, you can chime into this, you know, to reach a status like a millionaire status.
I mean, it's awesome. It's unbelievable.
People listening are like, gosh, I wish, you know, that'd be nice to get there. So what does that give you when you say, hey, I'm a millionaire for you? What is the what is the benefits versus, you know, obviously just the title is great.
But what does it give you in the quality of your life? Is it peace? Is it opportunity? Is it memories with family? Like what is this doing for you, Ted? Well, you know, I can come full circle with that because to me it's a sense of freedom. So I had been self-employed for the longest time, and my wife was fortunate with her career.
She had some flexibilities as well. So, you know, our give back was a lot of volunteering.
You know, we were the coaches. We were the mystery readers in the kids' classrooms.
We were the ones running the snack bar. You know, we were the ones volunteering for, you know, the cancer functions.
And I think now as we've come into this, you know, the volunteering now has changed into the ability to start to make monetary differences. You know, as our time becomes our asset that we want to keep now, we're willing to provide a little more funding than we could have before.
So it's really that sense of freedom and the ability to contribute into the community. I love that.
Well done, Hero. So good.
Very well done. Proud of you, man.
Congratulations. Very, very cool.
Thanks for sharing your story. Julie is with us in Houston.
Julie, what's your net worth? One million. Very good.
And give me a little breakdown on that. It's $500 in mutual funds.
My house is worth about $350. It's paid off.
And the rest is liquid and a classic car. Okay, cool.
And how old are you? I'm 39, and my husband's 40. Excellent.
How much of this did you inherit? 10,000. Okay.
So you did not become a millionaire mathematically from that. Okay.
All right. Good.
Good. And what's your best year working income, your worst year working income? Well, my husband, so I'm a stay-at-home mom and I've been at home for 10 years and my husband has only been making six figures the past two years.
And the job he's at currently, like he's been there our whole marriage. What's he do? What's he do? He's a field service manager, and he's been there 13 years, and he started at $30,000 with hard work and raises and promotion and he promotions he's now at 130

i quit my job when we decided to have kids and he was only making forty thousand dollars but we

always lived off of one income because we knew that that our goal was to have me at home with

field service engineer and what a field service manager in what um? Like UPSs. Okay.
All right. Cool.
All right. Good.
And does he have a four-year degree or do you? Yes. Yes, we both do.
In what? And he's actually the first one in his family to graduate college. So I'm proud of him.
That's what's his degree in and uh business business management

and he had 3.0 and i had a 3.4 in general he married a smart woman okay very cool so what do you drive a toyota forerunner of course you do okay very cool i love it congratulations millionaire very very proud of you. Folks, here's the thing.
You've heard the lie. It's all over the place that all wealth is inherited in America today.
We did the largest study of millionaires ever done in North America, 10,167 of them, in detail. Airtight research technique

had an outside research firm

look over our shoulder

because we knew some of the left-wing nut jobs

would not like the conclusions.

So this data is what is known as facts.

If you disagree with this,

you're what's known as wrong.

Eighty-nine percent

of America's millionaires

are not millionaires because of inheritance. Some of them, like these guys, got some after they were millionaires.
Some of them got a very small inheritance like this last one, and most of them got zero. Eighty nine percent.
Nine out of that should give you hope. That means you do it nine out of 10 millionaires in america did it without an inheritance this is the ramsey show listen guys i've heard just about every excuse for why folks think they can't get ahead with money.
So let's go ahead and settle this right now. You get the final say on what happens with your money.
That's why you have to start telling your money where to go so you can stop wondering where it went. So if you're going to start winning with money, you have to get on a budget.
The easiest way to get started and stick to it is with the EveryDollar budget app. It'll help you make a plan for every single dollar coming in and every single dollar going out every single month.
And guess what? It's free, so no excuses. Download EveryDollar in the App Store or Google Play today.
thank you for joining us, America. This is a Baby Steps Millionaire's Theme Hour.
We're so glad you are with us. It's important to know that wealth in America today is not coming from inheritance.
It's not coming from being famous. It is not coming from a 4.2 GPA.
Not a bad thing to be that smart, but most of us aren't that smart. And you do need some gray matter.
A 1.6 probably won't cut it. You're probably not going to get there.
If you graduated with a degree in beer pong, you might make it, but I doubt it. So what are we trying to do here? We're trying to say there are some uses out there.
There are some things that people believe if you get a high GPA and you go to an expensive college that is famous, that that's going to make you a millionaire. There's no data to support that.
Going to a good school, getting a good degree that's very usable in the marketplace and getting a reasonable GPA. It's typically around a 3.0.
So what we find is an indicator that you're going to be there. And I'm not telling you to goof off.
I mean, if you can get a 3.4, go get it a 3.8. That's fine.
Go get it. But that doesn't mean that you're more or less likely okay that's not how this works so the day the data tells us that you know that most of these people do have a four-year degree uh there is a correlation there but they have useful degrees you know electrical engineering business, criminal justice, didn't use it, became IT.

So, I mean, this is the pattern we see throughout these millionaires that we study.

What's the joke that B students, usually A students, work for B students later in life?

Actually, it's a joke, but it's also a data-backed thing.

It's just the idea of like, yeah, go figure it out. You're okay.
Don't stress about, I don't know, every single thing. You're not going to die over this.
Oh, and by the way, people don't steal their way into wealth either. You get to go to jail if you do that.
And in today's world, if you're a crook, everybody knows it because everybody tells everybody. There's all kinds of places to prove, you know, put out there, this guy's a crook,ok this girl's a crook so this idea that all wealthy people are crooks is absolutely asinine there's the same percentage or less percentage of crooks among the wealthy than there is among the regular other strata on the socioeconomic ladder and by the way all poor people aren't crooks either but some of them are all rich people aren't crooks but some of them are because there's always a percentage of morons it's just part of the deal and it's not getting to do with wealth yeah you know yeah and i think matter of fact integrity is actually an indicator that you're going to become well and i think a point of this segment number one is is to prove that you can still win financially today, right?

Like if you put things into place, you can win.

And the benefit of winning financially is not that because you have X amount of zeros in your accounts means that your life is suddenly better because there are rich, miserable people out there.

But it's what you do with that money that creates a life that is full. You can still have a full life and not be a millionaire, right? You can still have joy.
And this is not an indicator of any of that. But it is a ability.
Our last caller said, and I loved it, where he's like, it's just freedom. You know, like money is a tool to create a life that you love.
And you have options. And you have the ability to do things you want to do when you have the monetary means to be able to do it.
And if that's a spouse staying at home, like whatever that looks like for you. And so for this, you know, I think that's an important point in it, right? It's not just to become a millionaire because suddenly your life's going to be fixed because it's not.
There's a lot of really, you know, people that relationally are not great and they're millionaires, you know, and they don't talk to their families. Like it's not an indicator that your life is going to be perfect.
No. Matter of fact, what wealth does is it magnifies every area of your life.
It magnifies the good and the bad in your life. If there's crazy in your life, you get a lot of crazy in your life.
There's chaos in your life. You get a lot of chaos in your life.
If there's anger in your life, you're going to get a lot of anger in your life. Money makes you have more of whatever it is.
That's right. And so if you're happy and generous, you're going to have a lot of happy and generous.
Yep. And the character part of you.
So those of you that aren't here yet and say, okay, I'm going to get there. Who you are in the process is as important, more important, more important as the numbers in that account.
Right. So that's why giving, we always teach in the budget, giving is the very first thing you do, regardless of where you are financially, like practicing these habits of selflessness and living with an open hand.
Cause as you get more, you're going to become more of that. And that's an indicator of joy and peace in your life when you're a giver.
So, so who you are in this process is, is we care about that. It's very, very important.
Jesse is in Madison, Wisconsin. Hi, Jesse.
What's

your net worth? Good afternoon, Mr. Ramsey, and thank you for you and your team having me on

today. I truly appreciate your time.
Sure. My net worth is just over $1 million.
Good for you.

Give me a little breakdown by category. Sure.
So investments between Roth IRAs, 401K, TSP is just over $680,000. That's not including my military or state retirement.
$529,000 of $21,000. We've got about $280,000 of equity into our house.
We still have about $217,000 on our mortgage, and then the rest is emergency savings and some assets of about $72,000. Good for you.
That's great. And how old are you? 37.
And how much of this did you inherit? None. Zero.
And what do you make a year? This year, about $250,000, or $205,000. What do you do? Uh, I work in cybersecurity in the army national guard.
Good for you. Okay.
All right. Four year degree.
Uh, yes, actually. Um, and kind of when I was listening to the last caller and when you guys came on, it was a four year degree, but never really used it.
And ironically, I recently went back to a technical college for it and cyber security and networking yeah best investment i ever ever made it was cheaper and i was able to cash flow it because of the post 9-11 gi bill that's awesome big time so what was your gpa on that or is that a bachelor's it was a 3.12 for the bachelor's and then i kind I got my act together a little bit more for and i was a little bit wiser but uh 3.98 for the tech college i got okay so what was your four year degree in uh history history very good okay cool good for you you think this can still be done if you're a 37 year old looking at a 22 year old out there can still do this in 15 years? Absolutely. The three things that really worked for us were the budget.
My family jokes about me nerding out over our budget all the time, but one of the things I wish I would have done a lot earlier in my life because I would have seen not to spend on kind of pointless items that didn't really give me the opportunity down the road, as well as starting to invest earlier. I wish I would have done it, even if it was a little bit, it still would have made, you know, my older self would have thanked my younger self a lot more in time in the market.
What do you drive? Oh, a 2021 Toyota Sienna. A Toyota.
Of course you do. Good gosh.
It's the dad van, but I love that thing. We need a sponsor.
We need a sponsor for this hour, the Toyota. Toyota hour.
Toyota needs to sponsor this hour. It's incredible.
The minivan's a great choice, though, Jesse, with little kids. You have a beautiful family.
Yeah, we saw them pop up there on the old YouTube, so very cool. Congratulations, brother.
Very, very proud of you of you good stuff so one of the things that people get confused on is the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire millionaires do not have private jets second homes and they don't drive 245 000 lamborghinis billionaires do or can so you know sometimes people get really confused most millionaires do or can. So, you know, sometimes people get really confused.
Most millionaires

live in a standard house, maybe slightly above average, and they drive a Toyota.

And I think what's hard is I remember when I was a kid, so this was what, 20 years ago,

there was a movie called Blank Check on Disney Channel. You probably don't remember it.
But

this kid like picks up a blank check and he types in $ million dollars I mean this is in the early 90s and he buys a castle he gets a limo with a driver like he's like shows this like this crazy lifestyle for one million dollars so I do think there's like this nostalgia of like if I have a million dollars I you know what I mean like it's like it's like it will do more than it'll actually do I get to buy a castle and have a driver yeah probably not not much of a castle not much of a driver if you did but it's a great start and that's why we feature it because we want to give you guys hope that it is entirely possible. If y'all can find the Blank Check meme, that's your, Zach, that's the challenge.

That's it.

Hey, the next segment will be on the Ramsey Network app.

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Be sure and check that out on your Apple or Google Play. Hey! We'll see you next time.
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All right, I'm getting out of here. Enjoy.
We'll

see you on the app.