You Can't Stumble Your Way Into Financial Freedom

0:00Doing nothing with your Medicare plan could cost you hundreds or even thousands next year. Chapter can help you avoid that. Go to askchapter.org slash Ramsey. Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Call us bro can common sense is weird so we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network and the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio this is the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality. Number one best selling all their co-host of a smart money happy hour on the Ramsey Networks. And my daughter is my co-host today. Open phones at triple 8.825-5225. Hernan is with us in Tampa. Hi Hernan how are you? Hey Dave, how are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

1:00I'm made it. I'm 25. I just moved to Tampa, Florida. I'm making $2,000 a month across three jobs. And I want to build an online coaching business. I had three K and savings. And I don't know if I should just be saving for us or investing everything into building my business right now. Okay. Tell me about the coaching. What are you coaching people to do? Aftedness, hyper-training. It's just running and lifting weights at the same time. Okay. And brand differentiate yourself for me. Meaning if I'm your customer, which I'm probably not, Rachel might be. But if I'm your customer, why am I talking to you online rather than the 8,000 other people on YouTube? 20%. Yeah. Well, 25 years old and I've struggled a lot with being consistent in the gym and started 75 hard journey, which is.

2:07We sparked my passion again for it. I know the struggles of being on and off with the gym and being able to get back into it and not overwhelm yourself with everything because it is an overwhelming journey of getting into shape. So you have a story of starting and stopping and failure that other people can empathize with and you're going to use that to connect to them and help them on their journey. Did I get that right? Yes. I like it. Let me tell you what's beautiful about this. You articulated a brand position fabulously. It didn't take you a second. You didn't have to think about it. You spit it out. You have spent time thinking about this and it has paid off. So really well done. Is part of the 2000 you're making every month doing this in person, this kind of training or is it just like odd jobs that you're doing just to pay bills? No, it's just odd jobs to pay bills. Okay. So you're not making any money on this yet? No, this is starting crash.

3:08Okay. So how will you acquire your customers? Through my ideas through Instagram, through posting content online, give them value and hopefully getting my first two to three clients just to get some testimonials out of them to have proof. Okay. So, um, is there, I mean, in my mind, uh, you working out and creating content for Instagram, if you have a phone is free. You don't need to spend money to do that until you get customers and when you get customers, they give you money. Uh, then there may be a couple of things you could do to push some of those reels or enhance some of those reels or something to get people to see them that aren't seeing them yet. Yeah. How much is the online, the online coaching? How much are you charging? I don't have a price yet, honestly. It's starting to build it now, but it honestly ranges around a thousand to $2,000, I believe.

4:09Depending on how long you want to coach them for or they want you to coach them. Okay. And why are you not working in a gym as a personal trainer? Honestly, Dave, uh, try to go to gym once and getting a call back and that's just honestly the truth. I think I'm back to doing it. Yeah. You're going to have more than one rejection with customers and rest of your life. So, I think it's a good base of operation for you to be around people doing the stuff you're doing all day long. And it also gives you a place to, um, you know, to shoot some of your Instagram stuff. Yeah. And show some examples rather than just in your garage. And by the way, you need a job because you're not making any money and it's going to be a while before this actually monetizes. So I want you to go do this. I don't think it's going to cost you much money. I don't think investing money into the businesses, the answer. I think getting, getting an income while you grow this side hustle into a business.

5:11Yeah. And just be cautious because there's a lot of chatter on social media about, you know, buy my course on how to build a course and course it's all this, you know, a lot of courses. And some people make great money doing it. But don't fall for something that feels too good to be true as well because there's a lot of effort and work that goes into it. So move at the speed of cash, herna, and don't go into debt for any of this. And if you can, before you purchase, you know, someone else helping you in the any level of investment in the business, I would do my due diligence to make sure that what I am buying or purchasing is going to help me and has helped other people. Because I think there's a formula, there's a smart formula to do. Yeah, but I really wouldn't do any of that until you're making some a bunch of money. And you right now what you have is some really good theories. You have a great brand position that you, I told you that, but you made no money yet. You have no proof that this is anything but a theory. So you're the next stage and we're launching a product at Ramsey, whether it's a coaching product, detect a digital product or whatever.

6:18We want to see some social proof. And social proof is people tell you they will do all kinds of things. But when you actually ask them for their money, that's when you find out if you got something or not. Because they're not going to give you their money until you have proven value to them. People trade money for time and value. It's all they trade it for. And so, you know, when you start actually getting money on your theory, now it's not a theory anymore. It's a business, but you haven't got a business yet. Right now you've got a theory. And I think you might have one. And I want you to go do it. But while you're doing on this to give yourself some patience, you need to be making some money at a full time job. And I love having a full time job in the vicinity of what you're going to be doing. Rather than I'm going to go work at Costco and I'm working on my other thing, my personal trainer coach. Personal trainer coaching thing on the side. Now I want you to be in the training business. Be around trainers. Be around talking to people about this. Be all up in this industry. Be learning from people that are doing it wrong. Find you some anti mentors. You know, find you some mentors.

7:19And so yeah, you need to go to work at a gym and you need to keep, there's a bazillion gyms in Tampa, Florida. Somebody will hire you as a personal trainer if you tell them your story. And you know, you may learn some techniques of teaching while you're working there that will help you further this theory of yours into an actual business. So that's what I would tell you to do. But no, I would not spend any money growing this business to Rachel's point right now. Because you don't have a business yet. You have a theory. And I don't want to pay somebody to take my theory to market. You take your theory to market. That's your job. And you can do it. I really believe in you because the thing about you was you could actually articulate with no hesitation what it is you're trying to do. And that is very unusual. I have people coming that work on our team and they go, you know, we got this need out there. And I think we could do this or this. And they're not nearly as dialed in as you were just thinking. Yeah, and the testimonials, I think specifically with, I would say, I mean, physical fitness. I mean, I mean, probably any service, but especially with that is one of the promises that you said or one of the motivations is that it's so hard to start and stay with it and stay consistent.

8:28So if you can find a few clients and over the course of six months, be like over six months, they've stayed with me because of this. Here's your before and after. So yeah, I love a level of testimonial too. I think it's going to give you credibility. I think that's probably what you need starting out. Yep, very good. If you're serious about building a business, you need an easy way for customers to buy from you. Yeah, that sounds obvious, but a lot of business owners leave money on the table, not because their product isn't good, but because the buying experience is broken or complicated.

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10:32Nathan is in Houston. Hey, Nathan, how are you? Hey, Dave. Hey, Rachel. Thanks for taking the call. Sure. I'm calling today to ask the question about should we drain our take our emergency fund down to a level to pay off the mortgage. We've been following the baby steps and doing that for a long time. Our kids will be in a rampage of babies effectively and there'll be the beneficiary of all this wonderful. And so it's it's truly just a question from our wife. We've done this for so long. So budgeted and all these things are happening. And now we've got to take that final step to pay off of whatever 2% mortgage or something. So what's the balance? What's the balance on the mortgage? 280. Okay. And where do you have $290,000? We have we've sold some projects. We started a business a few years ago and we have some projects that were acquired by a major public company.

11:35And so we have some workouts that we've already received three out of the four payments. And we have one final payment coming. And so we've been accumulating that and then separately. Why are you not already chunking that on the mortgage? It's all happened so quickly. Okay. We have it. It's very recent. It's only happened. How much do you have say in the account today in those accounts? In total, we have $190,000 and then we have about $136, 156 maybe in non-retirement brokerage accounts. Okay. So that is what, $340,000, right? Yeah. $346,000, and you need $280,000. So why would your emergency fund disappear? Well, it wouldn't. It's just when I talked to my wife and we laid it out. We were discussing, you know, what level of emergency fund.

12:35Well, the emergency fund should be three to six months of expenses in what world is 66,000, not that amount. It 100% is way more than that, but it's more just the reality of the decision. The reality is not, the reality is you're not touching your emergency fund, which is how you ask the question. Yeah, but seeing that, but seeing that amount of money in the bank. That's different than it is. It's different than it is. I take my emergency fund down to pay off my house. That's not an accurate question. That's correct. It's more of the emotions of draining an account that has a lot of money in it and you're thinking, do we really? I'm fine with it, but my wife has, you know, as she's more hesitant, you know, and you're, you know, your mom and your wife's phrase or her feelings or, you know, she's in the state. It feels good. Yeah, we're safe to win. There's a couple of things to think about and yes, I would write a check out of the $346,000 and pay off $280,000 and have 66 still sitting there by nightfall. No question about the answer to the question, but then let's talk about, you know, the actual feelings that go with that and the sense of all of those things.

13:43Two things come to mind. One is it is a valid thing and we're seeing it more and more, we're understanding it more and more. That it's weird in the way your brain works. When you pay off a mortgage, it does not feel the same as when you have that same amount in a pile. Like you're diminishing this pile and putting it over on the house and it feels like it's gone. Yeah, because you're kind of like losing that. It feels like it's gone. It's not gone. It's not gone. You just moved it into equity, but so math wise, it's really not gone. You just changed it from a brokerage account to a paid off house. That's all it is. So now we have real estate into the other. So the mathematics don't tell you that, but the feeling is I'm diminishing one thing and I don't feel like I'm getting as much on the other side. That's the thing. One thing, two is when you pay off your house on the positive side of the ledger of this discussion, you're going to feel different. She's going to feel different because you've never been there. I've talked to literally tens of thousands of people over the last 40 years to say, it's like I could breathe again.

14:50Like somebody was standing on my chest and they got off. I didn't even know it. I got so used to it. I feel a little bit that way now of I can I can see that I'm about to be able to take a deep breath. Yeah. I can still feel that call from the guy that had to pay a restitution from being a bank robber. I can feel it. It's it's done. We've done this through business school. Yeah. So many things. Yeah. Exactly. Now that then the other one is the, you know, the end. This is for your wife is I have told tens of millions of people, tens of thousands in person, but millions in direct. I'm about millions in directly to pay off their house. And I get criticized for almost everything I do from the time I wake up till the time I go to bed. But no one has ever called me ever and said, I hate you. I hate the fact that I paid off my house because of you. I've never had that one. No one has ever mad at me for that. They all talk about it as before they do it. It's like, oh, why would I get rid of 2% Dave?

15:54You're stupid and you're wrong and you're crazy and all this and it's like, but when they actually do it, no one ever regrets it. And so in the joke is if you pay off your house and you hate it, Nathan, you can go get another mortgage. Right. That's what I've shared. I think I know it. I know it. I'm a big 6% but you know, the interest. I'm going to be a little different. But yeah, but but you know, I would just say, honey, we have $66,000 left in the bank and we don't know anything else on our house. We've got to do this. Everything else that Ramsey has told us to do. We went and did and it worked and they're not staring us wrong here. Yeah. And you're probably not going to like this. But I'm like, even if you wanted to slow-step and like, let's throw 100 grand tonight at it. Throw 100 grand and let's wake up tomorrow and see how we feel. You know what I mean? Like, nothing's on fire right now. You guys need to pay it off because you would have no mortgage next month, which is crazy. I know you would disagree. No, get your logic. But the problem is you don't get the feeling of reducing it that you do a paying it off. No, I know. But I mean, no, it's not relief. But I think it is a another step to show confidence of like, okay, we are okay.

17:02I'm okay because it's the amount that's being diminished in the bank that is scary looking. Yeah. If you had $66,000 in the bank and a paid for house, would you go borrow money on your house so that you have more money in the bank? No. No. And this is the same thing in reverse. It's exactly the same thing. Every day you don't pay this off. It's like you're borrowing on your house to put money in savings. It's exactly the effect. And so it needs to be paid off tonight. But we've got to get her on board and I appreciate that. And we empathetic and gentle and persuasive and all those things and do it. Yeah. Well, and run the calculations of how quickly you can build at $66,000 back to on top of when you don't have a mortgage payment like that. You haven't even gotten all your payments from your business sale yet. You still got more money coming. Yep. Yep. So it's not as to you know we're near the edge. Yes. And we'll do it Nathan. That's a lot of work on your part to get to get to this place on your wife.

18:04Yeah. So you're there. It's interesting. It's a study listening. So out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Right? The Bible says that. So the words we use tell us what where our heart is. And you know it took a minute for us to figure out that he actually was asking the wrong question. Because his heart feels like he's actually getting into the emergency fund. And once we got into it, he's not. Or maybe she feels that way and he was re re re casting what she was saying. I don't know. He may have been asking the question on her behalf. But it's interesting that that the feeling is that they're getting into the emergency fund and they're nowhere near it. Yep. And yeah, that's it's touching that same place. It's it's this feeling of security from a pile of money. Mm hmm. And instead of security from debt free. And once you've been a hundred percent debt free, you won't trade that for a pile of money. I mean, the stuff that I own that I could go borrow money on and make a pile of money.

19:05I could do it by the end of the day and have a big old pile of money and have all the debt to go with it over on the stuff I borrowed on. But I wouldn't trade that piece for any pile of money. The piece, the piece I can always feel like I'm up in the mountains and it's a cool morning and the sun's coming up. And you know, you get that deep breath and it's cold air into your lungs. It's like 46 degrees. I love that. That's how it feels to me when you pay off your house. And nobody hardly has that feeling. When you do have it, you won't trade it.

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22:13In just 15 minutes, you're going to find thousands of dollars in hidden margin. Don't be normal when you can live like no one else. Start every dollar for free in the up store or Google play. Thomas is in st. Louis. Hey, Thomas. How are you? Howdy, Mr. Ramsey. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I have a couple questions. I'm getting married in about a week. We're 100% debt free. I'm on baby step number three. I'm debating leaving a stable job with good benefits to go risk and entrepreneurial opportunity in another state to do window sales as a window representative to potentially make a lot more money. What are you doing now? I'm an HVAC technician. I'm four months into the trade and I'm bringing in 30, 800 a month. What did you hear about the window opportunity? My cousin is a manager down there in another state and Idaho. He's running a window company and he's making it considerably more than I am and he has reached out.

23:15Well, I kind of reshotted him, but. Dave's pondering. What I want for your first year of marriage for your relationship is stability and predictability. This sounds like a wild adventure. I do like wild adventures. I don't want to do those on my first year of marriage. I want you guys to invest in each other, not in a wild adventure. Where is you are in St. Louis? Where is she? She's out here. We're living separately right now. She's living in a hotel working for a hotel and then we'll get married. So if you go to Idaho, she has to get a job too, right? Yes. Have you talked about that?

24:15We did. We have. And she's okay looking at any job, Costco or just something random. Hopefully to get medical insurance, especially if kids come along. Because this job doesn't offer benefits because you threw in benefits with your current job. Right. Current job has awesome benefits and the sales rep doesn't, but for I. How long has your cousin been doing it? He was on and off with other companies and I think he's been with this company for two years now. And he doesn't own it. He's working. He's a manager there. He's working for the company. How big? How big of a company is it? It's growing. It's not a huge sales company, but it seems really stable. It's first year there. He he brought in 198,000 in the year and then doing better and better each year. Now, as as his client management and has extended offers to me to come out and work with him because he thinks I can do well and sales.

25:15But it's just nerve wracking. Yeah. Are you trained as a HVAC tech? You know what you're doing. So if this thing goes sideways, you could go to work for an HVAC company there. I'm getting trained. I feel pretty well versed, but I'm not. You don't have a set of credentials to walk into another HVAC company and get a job. No, I do in the world. I'll be getting my certification in a couple of weeks. Okay. Yeah. Well, obviously complete the certification. I don't know why I just have this hesitation. Thomas just a little bit of when things feel too good to be true. Sometimes they are not always. Sometimes they are though. And so I appreciate your patience on making the decision that you wouldn't just hear 198 and just be like, let's just jump ship and go. So yeah, there, I mean, there's a part of me that I'm like, I mean, yeah, you could try it because you have the question.

26:19You have the backup of the licensing to be able to plug into another trade, which is awesome. Finish up your certification for sure. So the thing that's bothering me, the thing I keep hesitating, I never want to tell people to not go make more money if you can. I think that's a wonderful thing. I don't think it solves all problems, but it solves some of them. So if you can go from making 40,000 a year to making $140,000 a year, it does change your life. That's the temporary thing. But what it doesn't do is it doesn't give you a 15 or 20 year trek to run on. Because you're not, you're very likely, you know, you said you're what 20 hold 21, 21. It's very unlikely that you will be selling windows at 31. Right. Even if you're making 198,000, it's very unlikely that you'll still be doing that a decade later for sure two decades later.

27:25So at 41 for sure. So the question I'm always asking is where is this taking me? And it could be, maybe we need to rethink it. I don't know. I'm a big fan of people learning how to sell. Because salespeople are some of the best paid people on the planet. And more people in marketing and sales end up as CEOs than any other trade. It's the fastest track into the C-suite. Into running a business, running your own business, running someone's business. Because you're developing people's skills and persuasive, persuasive. The ability to persuade. And not the ability to talk apparently, but the ability to persuade. That's a great point though. Where is it taking you? Not just making more money. I don't want to just go make more money and end up being something I hate. In a place I hate because my cousin called me. That's a dumb reason to do a career. I like my cousin, but I'm not going to do something because he said do it.

28:28There's nothing he's going to know. No. But I'm not saying he's a bad guy. But this just sounds like somebody dangled a carrot. And now you're the horse jumping after the carrot. So I want to think through where this is taking me. Who do I want to be at 35 years old? And how does this help me get there? And if the answer is I'm going to go over there and make $200,000 a year for four years. And then I'm going to move to X that I've always wanted to do. Or we're going to open a business doing Y that I've always dreamed of. And I'm going to use that $600,000 swing to do that. That's an OK answer. That's an OK answer. You're going to pick up a load of fuel. And the fuel is going to take you to your dream. And that's OK if that's what you're doing. But I want this conversation to go beyond. I'm taking a new job because my cousin called me. Well, and because of the money. There's a lot of people that they get a big bump in salary and they go work for a company.

29:29And they're miserable. And they're just like, oh my gosh, I liked this other company. I wasn't getting paid as much. But it was a better fit. That happens not always. But if money's the only motivation. I love the idea of back in the basement full of cash and learning the skill called sales. And that's going to take me on my journey this way. And define this way. Define where you're going with it. That's a better way of doing it than I'm just randomly going over there to make more money in another place. And I just got married. Oh, this sounds like stress. It sounds like tough times on the new bride's going to leave her job at the hotel and work at Costco. Oh wow. Yeah, I'd have a plan B Thomas and also a timeline that, hey, we're going to give it one full time. We're going to give it one full calendar year. And if this isn't picking up to X, Y, and Z that we thought, you know, if I were her, I probably would want some level of, um, because it's so new.

30:29Is there an out? Or are we going to be stuck in this dream from the cousin forever and ever, even if it's not working? So there's always kind of a, I like having multiple options. So even with that, even if you choose to do this, here's kind of the parameters around that. To go just something else if we need to. But if you're out there and you're 18 or 19 or 21 and you want to learn sales as a skill, I'm going to encourage you to do that before you do a whole lot of other things. Like studying and getting a degree in left handed puppetry. You know, let's learn something that's actually usable in the marketplace. And so. And. And. And.

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32:32Check out the Fair Winds smart bundle, including the all new live like no one else debit card. And fairwinds.org slash Ramsey. That's fairwinds.org slash Ramsey. Ensured by the NCUA. Today's question of the day is brought to you by Why Refi? If you've fallen behind on your private student loans, you don't need more shame. Why Refi helps borrowers explore refinancing options with low fixed rate payments based on what you can afford? Go to WhyRefi.com slash Ramsey might not be in all states. Today's question comes from Hope in North Dakota. My husband was so retired next year and we're trying to get out of debt. So we don't have any financial worries in the future.

33:32We are less than $50,000 away from paying off our mortgage. Plus we have two car loans and three credit cards. The house and the cars don't trouble me too much. The cards have a 25% interest rate. So we're not making much headway on getting them paid down even with extra payments. Should we take out a home equity loan and pay off the cards, then throw everything at the loan and pay it off as quickly as possible? We have no intention in keeping any credit cards going forward and have agreed to just pay cash from here on out. No hope, I would not do that because the problem is you're just moving your debt from other debts. And so there's no real progress happening. Yeah, you can play the interest rate game. But the truth is if you focus all of your energy, didn't pay more on the house, didn't pay extra on the cars, you throw everything at that smallest credit card and you work your way down. Honestly, by the end of it, you didn't say how much specific credit card debt you guys are in.

34:35But ideally, it'll be less than a year when all that's paid off. So the interest isn't really what matters at that point. It really is the focused intensity that's going to get you guys far. And then possibly selling these cars and setting yourself up because going into retirement with two car loans, three credit cards, not too much on the mortgage, you got 50,000. So I mean, you guys are getting close on that. You're not ready for retirement. It's not a retirement year next year for your husband home. Yeah, you guys need to get this money up. Your husband's not going to get the retire next year. You're not ready. You're broke. You have two stinking car payments and credit cards coming out your ears that you can't figure out what to pay off. You don't get the retire while you're doing that and make less money. You need to make more money. So he needs a double triple as ours and you guys need to quit spending like you're in Congress. This is out of control. So the deal is this. You presented two things in the email that are juxtaposed with each other. We're trying to get out of debt. So we won't have financial worries in the future. But the cars and the credit cards don't worry me so much. Well, they ought to worry you.

35:36They don't worry you so much. They'll solve you sell them. Because keeping your husband from retiring. So the problem is you're not worried. That's why you should do this. You need to get worried. You need to get fired up and wired up. You need to get pissed off that you're this old and still in debt. Well, why? Because you keep buying cars on payments. That's why. Sell them. Get you a couple hoopties and let your husband retire. Ooh. Now I got personal. See? Yeah, when? Yeah, you need to get worried. That's the problem with this email. You're not bothered. No. What bothers there is a 25% interest rate. Not the fact of debt to your point. But she acts like that's the reason she's in debt. No, she's in debt because it keeps spending. Yep. And keep buying crap they can't afford with money they don't have. That's called debt. That's where that comes from. And so when you got you got to get upset about this stuff and go city bank has been screwing me Ford Motor Company has been screwing me. I'm tired of getting screwed. I'm going to do something about this. I'm going to take control of my life away from these stupid bankers.

36:36And until you get that kind of thing going, you're not going to get out of that. Because you're not going to cut deep enough, sell enough, work enough to clean up the mess. Because it's all okay. I'm going to bother me that much. Well, of course, you're not going to bother me. You're going to stay right there then. You know, it doesn't bother me much. Well, then you're going to keep it. That's the thing. Till it bothers you, you're not going to fix it. Johnson, making. Hey, John, how are you? I'm doing this for a day if I buy you a sale. Better than I deserve or what's that? I had a question for you. So I just completed a college internship from 21 years old. And they have offered me a full-time role in sales and in ag sales. But the caveat is that to move off for a year before I can come back home. To kind of get me out my comfort zone and I understand that. But my question is, should I rent while I'm gone or should I buy a large size camper? And that way I'm putting money into something my own besides renting. You should rent. You should rent, okay?

37:37Yeah. But if you're going to go out and make sales calls and you're slipping a bed in an apartment, you're going to look different than if you slept in a camper. That's right. That's right. And sleep is done. I was going with it's going to go down a value. You're not going to have the money to pay, you know, to buy it out, right? Rent so you don't have to, you know, like, yeah, Dave's is your sleep scorch on. That's what that's what Dave's doing. No, it's your rumpled clothing. Yeah. Yeah. No ironing board fits in the camper. Okay. So the... You would look fine, John. I would think you would look good. John, why did you take this job? What does it pay? I didn't turn with them this time. I know. I mean, you took an intern, but... But they're running you out of town and putting you in an uncomfortable, bad position. Are they paying you to make the up for all this? Why am I sure you're going to be making it? Making 70, right? Okay. And your degree is in what? I make you... You got a degree in that? I got a agriculture. Yeah.

38:37And you're going to come back there and sell for them after a year in your hometown. Yes, sir. That's right. Okay. So, I think that's a good question. Is that a normal process? I never heard of it, but... It's not... It's a company process. And they were very upfront with me about this. I mean, I accept this role. And it's just... It's designed to get me out of my comfort zone because I have a lot of connections back home and I guess there... This is not just me. This is everybody that I deal with. They want to see what I can do where you don't know anybody. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. They want you to get your knuckles raw from knocking doors. I'm up for that. I like that. I just run an apartment, John. Don't go get a camper. Because you're going to get a loan on it. You're going to pay an interest. It's going to go down value. It's... Yeah, it won't happen. Bad idea. This is... You don't need a used camper when you come home. That's not a plan. No. I appreciate your thinking about... And looking at other options. But just get you an inexpensive apartment and work all the time.

39:37And you know... We'll live like you're still in college. Stay away from happy hour and work all the time. And get your couple of roommates and keep your expenses down and go make your 70 grand. And this is boot camp. I got this my one year trial by fire. And then I get to come home and have a great life and make good money with the commissions. I make off my connections and my family. You know, the people I've grown up with and all that. And you're going to get the advantage of a family network and a... So forth in a small town, which is wonderful, good for you. Sounds interesting. Okay. But yeah, no camper, yes apartment, one year, no big deal. Good sleep scorch on. Good sleep scorch. Good sleep scorch. What? We're worried about the sleep scorch. We were talking about him. Sleep scorch. No, I'm just... Yeah, in a sense. Yeah, that's... I guess that's... I know. You're talking about it. All right. Scott's in Minneapolis. Hey Scott, how are you? Yeah, how are you doing, Dave? I'm a child. Better than we deserve. How can we help?

40:37Well, first off, I just want to thank you. Are you guys have been a real inspiration to my family? We've learned a lot. And I think that's a very good answer now. Thank you. Because of listening to you guys as steps and ways of doing things. So long story short, we have a daughter that's in high... In high school, she's in her senior year. She got... Except to do a private school out of Minneapolis. We both contribute a full 20% into our Roth or 401Ks. We'll with each of my life working my own. We also contribute the max to our Roth 401K or Roth IRAs. Cool. We have a run out of time on this hour. What can I help you with? So what we're looking to do is... She has... We did the math on this and it looks like she's going to have about $17,000 left over after a four-year degree. Which is something we can watch out. About $60,000 in our emergency fund right now. We own our vehicles.

41:38Watch your question. The question is, should we have her go to this school with that balance? Or I know you guys have always talked about possibly not having a balance when you're done with school. So she'll be 17... She'll be 17,000 in the hole with tuition. That's what you're saying. Yes, that would be the leftover that we've done the math on. You can't cover that. Yes, we can. If you don't want her to know that. If you want to pay for college and that's a college everyone's in agreement with and you want to pay for it, go wherever you want to go. But if you feel like it's a stupid idea because it's too expensive for what you're getting and you want to just say, this is stupid idea. It's too expensive for what you're getting. It's not going to do the $17,000. You've all done well enough 17,000 in your problem. But we need to actually speak into, is this a good education decision? It sounds like you don't think it is. It sounds like between the lines.

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43:56That's zander.com. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Farer Wins Credit Union Studio. Rachel Cruz is my co-host today. Sherry is in Los Angeles. Hi, Sherry. How are you? I'm good. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Well, my husband and I are getting closer to retirement age. And we have 735,000 in combined IRA and 401K account. Why do you know? We have a hunt. Yeah, that's positive for sure. We do have $150,000 in cash. That's in the bank. That's obviously a waste. I just started the panic thinking, oh my gosh, we've got to get things rolling here and invest that excess cash. I'm just not sure where to do that. We're not contributing to our IRA and one other 401K that were separated from service from that employer, but we've never rolled that over to IRA.

45:03Sounds like you've got some cleanup to do. Like pull all these things together and point them towards a single strategy. Exactly. Yeah, I would just jump on RamseySolutions.com and hit the smart vester pros in your area. The broker's the financial visors that we endorse all have to have the heart of a teacher, or we don't put our name beside them. In other words, they're going to sit down and not tell you what to do. They're going to teach you what they would do in your situation and explain to you why, and then you will decide if you want to do that or not. That's the proper way to go at this. So it sounds like that some of those things just all need to be rolled into good, gross stock type mutual funds. In general, I just spread my portfolio and Rachel and Winston have spread theirs across four types of mutual funds. Growth, growth and income, aggressive growth and international. We put about a fourth in each. We want to move as much toward Roth as we can move because it's growing tax-free.

46:05And we don't have mandatory withdrawals at 73 called our MDs. Required by my distributions. So that's a couple of things you may want to kind of target. But they'll teach you all of that when you sit down with them because they're going to give you advice that's consistent with what you'd hear on the air also, or we wouldn't put our name beside them. Are those other accounts Sherry that you mentioned with old employers? Was that included in the 735 number that you gave us or is that more? That's included. Okay. So that's just on total. Yeah, and how did you say you were again? How old, 50? I'm 53 and I had me 57. Oh, you guys are going to have so much money. Oh, gosh. I hope so. Oh, no, you will. So let me kind of give you a real with them just to prove it to you. It's very interesting. If you take a number and divide it into 72, it tells you how long it takes a lump sum to double. So if you made 10%, it takes 7.2 years for it to double. So if you're in a decent growth stock mutual fund portfolio, your 735 is 1.5 and you're 60.

47:07It's 3 when you're 67 and it's 6 when you're 74. Oh. If you do nothing else. So I'm not kidding when I say you're going to have a lot of money. You're doing really well. But you need to get all of this stuff. You can't be sitting in cash. I'll be using some of that in retirement. You got maybe, maybe, depending on what's going on. What else are you going to get? Well, you may be drawing down on some of it at some point. I don't know. But that's also you probably will be adding to it between now and retirement. So those numbers aren't going to be that far off for that reason. So anyway, let's get the cash working. Let's make sure that those old junky leftovers from the other jobs are all pointed in good mutual funds. Everything's dialed in on Roth as much as it can be within reason. And we've got a good portfolio of long track record, high producing mutual funds that you feel really, really good about. And then you can really just watch this thing cruise and you're going to do great.

48:07Okay. Well, with that being said, I've been our goal is to have our house paid off when we do retire. Good. And I've been seeing extra towards that every month. Good. Saying that we're going to be okay financially, should I be putting this extra money into the house? Or should I be using that to invest? No, you need to get the house paid off because there's two things that causes people to get their first one to five million dollars of net worth. One is a juicy retirement program, which you have and two is a paid off house. We find the average millionaire that we find that becomes a millionaire. Say they got a $1.7 million net worth. We find, you know, $800,000 on the house and they got another six or seven, $800,000 in their 401 case. And that's the typical first two million dollars as somebody builds. Yes, but you are investing 15% of your income until then. Yes. And retirement, yes. But no more. Okay. Everything else goes on the house and we're going to get this all working. What's your household income?

49:07We make 242 combined. Yeah. So you got another. How much is left on the house? Two, I mean, 330. Okay. And I've been paying us 1,000 extra a month that according to the mortgage calculator, that's accurate. If I paid $2,400 extra a month, which would be an extra 1,400, which I could do, we'd have it paid off in seven years. I would do that. And so that's not too aggressive. No, no, there's no such thing as too aggressive. Get it paid off. Unless you're not having fun and life because you're aggressive. But I still want you going to cruise. I mean, you're making a quarter million dollars a year. So enjoy your life. But put 15% of your income away and throw as much at the house as you can get the house paid off as soon as possible. And then with the house paid off and you've got by then several million dollars saved invested. You know, you're in a really, really good spot at like 60 years old here. Okay. Well, that is a relief. I was starting the panic. No, there's no reason to panic. But I do believe in tuning up things.

50:09You know, this is a good piano. Let's get it tuned up so it plays a good song. Okay. You're doing a good job. Let's just do a little bit better. Excellent job. And that'll also give you the comfort, the emotional piece because you got your hands around the neck of this thing making it behave. Right now it feels like it's a little bit drifting and that's bothering you as much as the actual numbers. Yeah. So when you're on top of it and you're telling your money what to do, there's a sense of power. When things are drifting away, there's a sense of powerlessness. That's right. An anxiety that goes with that. Because yeah, by 60, I mean, a paid off house. And then if they're investing 15% over the next seven-ish years. And that would have two million dollars. Yeah, because of two million. Plus the house. It's probably three million dollars. Yeah. I don't know what the house is worth, but guessing it may. So yeah, that's, she's in great shape. You've done a wonderful job, by the way. This is what you aim at. I took a call earlier in the week from a 64-year-old that had $40,000.

51:13He didn't know what he was going to. He's a security guard. He's worried about eating. So that's the other side. I mean, so you know, that's a cautionary tale for the rest of us to get ready. You know, get ready. It's coming. Christmas is in December. Retirement's in your 60s, 70s, whatever. I mean, it's coming. The other option is death. So you probably ought to plan. You know, I mean, this is what you need to do. So this is the thing. And it's amazing how fast it comes at you. All of this. So yeah, you feel like you have forever when you're in your 30s. Yeah, I was just a daddy yesterday. And now I'm a grandpa. Who knew? You know, just like that. And now I'm a grandpa about 13-year-old. How does that happen? I have teenage. Now I'm thinking about being a grand grandpa. You know, oh my gosh. Stay alive, Dave. Stay strong. I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

52:34I'm working on it. As your business grows, everything becomes more complex. There was a time when Ramsey Solutions had too many disconnected systems and not enough visibility across the business. We wasted too much time chasing information instead of making decisions. That's why we got NetSuite. NetSuite brings your financials, inventory, CRM, and more together in one place. More than 44,000 businesses run on NetSuite, including Ramsey. And now they're taking the next step with NetSuite next, making it easier to put AI to work across your entire business. NetSuite next helps you make the most of your time, automating routine work

53:38like forecasting demand and following up on overdue accounts. With NetSuite next, AI is built into everything you do. So you can ask it questions just like when you're talking to a member of your team. And right now, you can try NetSuite next for free. If your revenue is at least seven figures, go to NetSuite.ai slash Ramsey. That's NetSuite.ai slash Ramsey. Andrea is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, Andrea. How are you? I'm Kate Waldee. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Yeah, so I want some advice on if I should buy a car if I'm already in debt. I am about $69,644 in student debt. I just finished my master's degree.

54:39I drive a 1994 F-150 and drive about 30 minutes to work. So I'm thinking I need a new car. I just started a new job and I make $65,000 a year. Cool. What's your master's in? A landscape architecture. Good for you. Thank you. How long you been driving the F-150? For about two years. Drive it for two more. Okay. You're broke. Do you have any money saved? Andrea? I do, yes. I have about 19,600 and some change. I think I'm going to have to buy a car. It's just a bit more expensive. Nothing's wrong with the truck. It's just old. I have had some issues with it. I'm searching T of driving 30 minutes every day and not being sure if something's going to happen to the truck. It's just, but nothing. It's not like there's one specific thing that you're like, it's about to go down. It's just the idea that something might.

55:43It's not going to happen, but I just keep preparing it. And throw 18,000 at this debt, too. We teach you to take pay. Everything down to $1,000. Don't borrow anymore. Live on beans and rice and attack your dad and clear your dad. You believe in investing in this master's degree. And so far you've gotten a $65,000 job as a result of it. Hopefully that's going on up from there to make your theory of investing in this education correct. So I want to see you making a hundred because of this master's and I want to get some of this master's paid off. As soon as possible, this is not a pet. It's a student loan. Kill it. Right. Exactly. And that's how I feel. The cars that I'm looking at are all within the $37,000 ring. You have $17,000. You have 19. You're going to go in debt while you're trying to get out of debt. And so that's why I was like, I don't think that this is the right position for me to make right now. 3700 isn't the right decision.

56:4537,000 is 10X, a bad decision. No, no, no. Right. No. Yeah. Well, that was my question. You know, I feel like I knew the answer to it. Here's the thing. If you will get in the business, if you'll set your head to say my number one wealth building tool is my income. And as long as I'm giving that away in car payments and student loans, I'm going to be what's known as a middle class broke person. But you can make $65,000, $75,000, $85,000 as your career expands here and become a millionaire. If you'll get out of debt and stay out of debt because you're not giving all your money away to other people every month. Right. And with my 19,000, you guys are saying, you know, pay everything but a thousand dollars. Yes. I do have my company that matches $5,000 in 401K. No. You do not need to be putting money into a retirement plan. You're broken in debt.

57:45Okay. Gotcha. Get the debt cleared up as fast as you can. Yeah. Andrea, when you walk the steps, we call them the baby steps. So it is that $1,000 emergency fund. Baby step two is paying off all of your consumer debt. So that'll be your next goal. And hopefully you can do that in two years. And then you want to save up a three to six month emergency fund. And by that point, you're probably going to be simultaneously saving up for a car. For a car. And then if you pay cash for yes, and that emergency fund. And then after that's done and that emergency fund is in place. And if you're single and you have a great job, you could do a three month emergency fund. It doesn't have to be six months. And then from there, you start investing. So yeah, you'll be you will not be investing probably for the next three, three and a half years. But that's okay. Because when you start investing, we tell you to put 15% of your income into retirement. So that is that 5% match and also a Roth IRA. So you will have plenty to catch up on. So just because you're not getting that 5% match in the next three years, you're going to more than be okay because you're going to be funding 15% of your income into retirement because you have that margin.

58:46So those are the baby steps. Really, we walk we walk people through. Hey, Andrea, if I give you a book that shows you how to do all this, will you promise to read it? Yeah. All right. I'm going to give you the total money makeover. It shows you how to do all those baby steps. Let's give her every dollar and we'll set you up on our budgeting app. Yeah. I was talking about. And it helps you walk the baby steps too on that. Yeah. It's going to guide you through the baby steps as well. And reinforce this idea that with no payments, you have money to invest. With no payments, you have money to invest. See, what we've done is we all make most Americans and make pretty good money. They just give it all to a bank. They give it all to Ford Motor Company, $37,000 car. They give it all to Sally May, $69,000 student loan debt. They give it all to our money away and then we wonder why they have tall buildings and we're broke. And they have Samuel Jackson saying, what's in your wallet? Apparently, my money is in your wallet. That's what apparently we can go with there if you're using that stupid city bank card, right?

59:49So that and whoever it is, what's the other guy, Bradley Cooper? Is that the one that lives in the lobby or something? I don't know. So that one the other day, the city bank guy that lives in the city bank man lives in the lobby. I think it's Bradley Cooper, maybe. Oh, no, no. I don't know. It's some actor. Oh, man. These actors are now all bankers. Jennifer Gardner. Yeah, Jennifer for sure, which is real disappointing because I was a fan. Oh, stop here. I still like Jennifer Gardner. I know, but I can't stand the, you know, this anyway, these companies are screwing you guys. It's what mounts to. And they're paying a, they're paying a pretty person to tell you to do it. And regardless of who it is. And so I don't know if Samuel is pretty, but oh, it was no. It was Dan Levy is what I'm seeing city bank commercial where he's where he's in the lobby of hotel. Is this what you're talking about? No, different, different one. I think no, this guy lives in the lobby of the bank capital one. Oh, wrong one, not city bank capital one. Okay. Thank you. We'll figure it out in a minute. All right. Will is in Atlanta. Hey, Will. Who is it? We're mad at. What's up?

1:00:55Hey, David. How are you doing better than I deserve? How can I help? Hey, well, thank you. First off, thank you for taking my call. My, even when I was a kid, my dad was watching your talk to business show, you know, back in 2009 when all that was going on. And I took a financial literacy course of how that they had set out for you in high school. So I'm wow. I've always really respected your work and thank you. That's why, yeah, I don't find that's why I wanted to talk to you today. I'm 25 years old enough. I've been married for two and a half years. And we're doing okay financially, but there's two things I wanted to really get your advice on. And that's we have a $17,000 car loan left from a car we purchased two years ago. And on the flip side, we want to know how we can maximize our cash and income. We already have in the bank and that we do make how much do you have in the bank now?

1:01:59Currently, but between me and my wife savings, we have almost 13,000 in our joint. I have 85,000 in a money market. And I need a car today. Pay off your car today. Well, do you remember the class you took? I mean, I was saying I wasn't that smart and I told you. No, you can say it was boring and you ignored it. It's fine. I didn't really like you, Dave, but I thought I would start out being nice on the call. Anyway, now pay off your car right now. You have $85,000 or $17,000 car loan. Pay off your car today. You understand? Okay. Instantly, instantly. And never borrow money on a car again. No, and we had a, she had an old car at the time and and Rutgers said, I did the, it did have a few problems here and there. I don't really want to hear your excuses. Just pay off your stinking car, man. Pay off your car and never borrow money on a car again.

1:03:06Never, ever, if you want to be rich, if you want to be poor, keep a car payment. Poor people drop big old cars with big old payments on them and walk around with stress. They don't have financial peace. Two words that don't go together like airline service. So I mean, you've got to think different, man. Break the cycle, break the cycle, break the cycle. No car payments. I don't care what's going on. Don't get a car payment. I'll run a bicycle before I get a car payment. When you're trying to hire, you don't have time to dig through stacks of resumes, hoping someone halfway decent floats to the top.

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1:05:41It's full of ramsy answers from three or four years on this show. We dumped it into the AI. Into the data set. We dumped all the books we wrote into the data set. We dumped all the articles several thousand of them that are on our website. Into the data set. So when you ask ramsy, you're getting a ramsy answer. There's no Reddit trash stirred in. There's no sewage from Tik Tok stirred in. It's just ramsy straight up. If you don't want to ramsy answer, you shouldn't ask ramsy. If you do, you should ask ramsy. It's completely free. You can do it at ramsy solutions.com or click the link in the description if you're on podcast or YouTube. Ask ramsy. Jocelyn is in San Diego at Jocelyn. How are you? Hey, I'm doing well. How are you guys? They're having me on. Sure. How can we help? Well, I am just trying to figure out how to get my husband on board with one pain off our debt and just really like getting that gazelle intensity. I don't think we've really had that.

1:06:45It just doesn't feel like. Yeah, he's really there and he's the money maker right now and I'm doing the best I can, but I kind of want to control things, you know, human nature. So what's the pace look like? What are you wanting to do with what? What is he pushing back against? What's the? He says he's on board, but our biggest expense is eating out. I mean, it's a lot. And so it's like, I'm like, could we could we naughty out? You know, yeah, I am down to bring it down, but like he is not really. It's not really happening. I just did our first budget last month. So we did have expenses. We didn't really exactly hit everything, but he's not unwilling. I just feel like it doesn't participate that much. I've made a mistake that is unusual for ladies to make. Usually the man makes the mistake you're making you because you're hard driving and I love you. I think you're awesome.

1:07:49But what you did is you started talking about what we're going to do and what we're going to do this. We're going to do that. What we're going to do instead of why? Yeah. And so I want to sit down tonight and turn off the television, put the kids to bed. And let's have a dream date. I have a dream. Why? I would be because the debt scares me to death. The idea of having no retirement scares me to death. The idea of having a car payment for the rest of my life scares me to death. And I have a I want us to dream about what it would feel like to have no payments and have a big old stack of money to be able to travel and to be able to do the things that you want to do. Honey, what would you do if we had a big stack of money and him dream with you? And then we've got a why a reason to not go out to eat? That's true. What would it be for you, Jocelyn? What's the what's the reason you want to get out of debt?

1:08:51I mean, we don't have much honestly like on the scale of things, but I want to be able to save up for a house. And right now, I honestly don't know even if I go back to work, like I'm a nurse, but right now I'm at home with our one and a half year old son. I can make a decent amount, but from what I'm understanding with numbers, I'm like, we don't have a down payment in homes here. You could get a tent for probably more than we could afford. You know, right. How much debt do you guys have? Honestly, we've got, oh my gosh, I just space. We've got just a personal loan with my parents because they bought my our truck off of us. We were in over our heads with it. Like we owed one it within it was worth. We had a $1,700,000. Okay, and that's it. That's your only debt. Yeah. Yeah, I just got him to play off the credit card. I was like, please, let's play off the credit card. Okay, so that's how much you guys make here? How much does he make? Right now he's bringing home $7,500 a month. Good. Okay.

1:09:51It's not bad at all. Okay, so I think you just sit down and you say, okay, let's talk about what are what it feels like in the future to have a stack of money and own our own home. Oh, my parents. And not all my parents anymore. Yeah. When we don't know your parents, I don't know anyone, anything. And we're stacking money for a down payment on a home. We're building a life for this one and a half year old. It's going to change his whole life. And I want us to have a home. I want us to be able to do this or that. Well, you know, I mean, would you join me in this dream and then let us sacrifice to hit the dream. It's. It sounds nice. Yeah, I want to dream in high definition. Yes. Let's start talking about I remember we were in a rental house and Rachel was eight. And no, yeah, Rachel was eight. Rachel is seven or eight years old.

1:10:51And we were in a rental house that we, because we sold our house to get the rest of our data for the bankruptcy cleaned up. And my wife hated that rental house. And she said, we have to get a house. This is life is too short. And I'm going to pray for a white kitchen and a three car garage for our two cars on our boat. And I'm going to pray that we can do that. And in the school system over here, where the kids are going to school already. And I'm going to pray for that. And you know, we were on this little weekend trip. And I got an email from a real estate friend of mine. And it was in the early days that they actually started putting pictures on the internet of a house. That's how long ago it was. And the dad gum thing had a three car garage in a white kitchen. That's crazy. Because we had dreamed in high definition with great detail. And we were both agreed. That's what we were pointing at. You had a poll. And we had pulled the money together to do that.

1:11:52And when we came home from that little weekend trip, we didn't even go home. We drove straight to that house to view it with the real estate agent. And then we went home. And we bought that house, by the way. It's the house that Rachel grew up in. And so that's the kind of stuff that you're together, joining. Well, it makes it feel real to a detailed thing. It's not just vague thing. I just want to have a pile of money. Right. No, no, no. It's not good enough. It's a life. What's the life that you want? Money is the tool to create the life that you want. What is that? What does that look like for you? Is it the white kitchen? Is it the certain school district? Whatever it is. But I think, and John Zilloni talks about this too, do you really do as detailed as you can create that? It just makes it tangible that it's not vague and it's not out of reach. But it's like, no, no, no, this is the type of house that realistically, because you guys were being really weren't like, we need a formula. A formula you don't have. A formula you don't have. We have the money for.

1:12:52Yes, that's right. So it's like, it's a realistic in there, but to pinpoint it and to have those details. And I would say to Jocelyn, I always love a timeline. Like, map it out. And you guys be like, hey, let's have a goal to be out of debt in three months. What do we got to do to make that happen? Okay, from there, building up that emergency. Oh, must be true. Yes. And you actually start painting it and looking ahead and be like, oh my gosh, in five years, he's going to be starting kindergarten. We may have another baby. What does life look like in five years? How much money do we think realistically we would have saved up with type of house? Yeah, and I'm going to go to nursing then to hit that next goal. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Go back to work for a little. Or I'm going to take ER weekends now to hit the goal of buying a house. Yes, or there was a mom in the lobby earlier and she was saying, for 22 years, she stayed home and that was her number one goal. And because they did the baby stuff, she, that was her goal to stay home. They did. That was the dream. That was the high definition dream. That's a good dream. So, uh, yeah, whatever it looks like. But in two jobs, you know, if you're super broke, I remember a dream we had.

1:13:55We were super, super broke and we've been so scared for so long. Sharon's dream at one point was, I want to have enough money to go the grocery store and fill up the buggy. And just the buggy. And not the southern. Southern. Southern. Fill up the shopping cart. The shopping cart. Yes. The shopping cart. The buggy. Yeah. And not have to look at prices. The whole thing with food and not feel like I broke the family. Yeah. That doesn't sound like a big goal, but that's a lot of money. You can mortgage a house for that today. Well, today, yeah, yeah. But. Oh my gosh. Wow. But it's more that feeling of freedom. Well, it's a clear. I want to get to this place. I can see it. Yes. It's very clear. It's not a dollar amount. It's what the dollars do. Hey guys, it's Rachel Cruz.

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1:16:14That's CHministries.org slash budget and promo code Ramsey. Holly is in Austin, Texas. Hey, Holly, how are you? I'm pretty good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm just wondering how you would approach. How can I better encourage my fiance to try to continue to better our income without him feeling like I'm telling him he's not making enough money? Hmm. Where's this? Where's this feeling coming from? Holly, do you feel like he's not making enough money? Oh, he's making plenty of money. So about a year ago, we started getting really serious about paying off our debt, following the baby steps, trying to get set up to where we can start saving to build a house.

1:17:24Right now, we're living on his. You're not married. No, we get married. Our marriage date is exactly a year from now. Well, you don't buy a house or pay off each other's debt until you're married. Our debt's combined right now. That's done. For about a year and a half. That's really dumb. You paid off a nightmarriage. You're going to have a nightmare in your hands. That's really no, no, no, no, no. Please do not do that with somebody you're not married to. Yeah, if you want to get married this weekend, you can start acting like you're married, but you're not married. This is a disaster. What's the combined debt, Holly? Cars? Yes. So it was two vehicles and then a credit card and then a car hauling trailer. Okay. And are these both in both of your names? Yes. Oh, please have a celebration one year from now and get married this weekend.

1:18:26You are so vulnerable that your goose is cooked if something happens here. This is so scary. You have no idea the mess you have potentially made. This is really, really dangerous for you. How much do you make, Holly? I make about 40,000 a year, 45, and then he makes about, this is all take home. And then he makes about $75,000 a year take home. And what is it you want him to do better about when he makes twice for you, Mike? Not necessarily doing better. He was told about, I would say, four to six months ago that he is making the best he can make. And he's shop right now. And he goes in on the weekends, he works late during the week. And I've kind of tried to encourage him to possibly seek a different shop or a higher position. And his job currently. And he feels like I'm not being appreciative.

1:19:26And I was just wondering how you would go about encouraging. Kind of like when is the end of the road of trying to increase your income? Yeah, I'm trying to figure out is he is he enjoying his job? He does. He's a body tech body shop technician. He does enjoy his job. He's had a couple of problems just with like co-workers and stuff, but nothing. He is. He is 25 and I am 22. Yeah, I probably honestly, Holly, I would focus in more on not only figuring out what to do with your 40,000. And we start paying off some of these debts and start working your journey separate than him because you guys are not married. And it's one thing to tell him that he, you see potential in him and what he's doing.

1:20:31But he may be very content with where he is right now and he's not making a bad living, you know. No, not at all. Yeah, so I'm just curious how those conversations go because he's not feeling appreciated apparently. Yeah, it's kind of back and forth. Sometimes he has a lot of feelings towards him wanting to better himself, wanting to become a shop manager potentially or starting his own business. As far as that goes. And then other times he's kind of down in the dumps about it. I do think that when they told him he was making the most he can in his shop, he was not very happy about it. And he really wanted to move and then he kind of changes mind. Yeah. Well, I don't think there's much that you're going to be able to do. I think the only thing you can do as a fiance. Now, as a fiance, you can't do anything. As a wife, the only thing you could do would be to you don't have the leverage from the fiance position to lift or to do anything.

1:21:41Because you're still in the negotiation phase, believe it or not. So you're barking up the wrong tree. But once you're a wife, then the thing you could do is just be say, honey, I think what I see in you. I see that you could run your own business. And you'd have to learn some skills that you don't know yet about running a business because being a body shop tech is different than running a body shop. The different set of skills you have to learn the business parts of it, the marketing and the economy. Sometimes we in 25 doing what he's doing and really getting good at it. It's not bad. It's not bad. But if we started planning and said, okay, five years from today we have a goal of you opening something. Let's start saving towards that and you start reading books about business and learning about business. I think you could be, I think you could make three times what you're making and own your own shop and have guys like you working for you. And I think we can get there and I think you can get there and as your wife, I would love to help you do that. I honestly think you're doing it from the wrong position and you're not listening to me.

1:22:43So that's okay. You do what you want to do. But I'm telling you from having sat in this seat for almost 40 years that you guys are, you are playing with fire. And if you don't get burned in this, I'll be shocked. And so please do not buy a house or someone you're not married to. You are doing what we call in legal terms, a general partnership. And if he dies and there is no will, you will own a house with his mother. This is the kind of crap you're playing with that you don't even know about. And you think I'm just being mean and telling you to get married. But you are really walking across the lake of fire and asking to fall in it and get your butt burned. You are playing with about four different things there that are going to take off your head if you guys aren't lucky. You might luck your way through this, but you might not too. And so please, if you're going to own cars together and buy houses together, get married first and do your celebration of your from now.

1:23:49But you're not listening. So you're not going to do it. No, I can tell. I've been doing this a while. You never know. You never know, Holly. So I think you could encourage him from that position to go do something with his life. But you know, I don't know. Something wrong in the air. Something wrong. No, they're just 22 and 25 and. No, there's something wrong in the air. No, I think they're young. Sorry, not that sounds demeaning, Holly, but you're young. And what she doesn't see either is that, you know, engagement, there's zero legal protection for either of you. And he, he or you in four months could be like, I think I'm done, you know? And you walk out and that's it. And then for the rest, and now you're on the trailer of those cars. For the next three years, as you're trying to get out of debt and date and all of this, you got the X. And I mean, it's just, it is not worth it. It's not worth the rest. Keep your money separate. And that's for other people listening, right?

1:24:50I mean, Holly, they're in it. But like, when you are dating, keep it separate. Do not combine finances. And then once you are married, even an engagement. But once you are married, yes, combine. It is so funny to me on the show. I don't know why it is like this. There's so many couples like that that are dating, engaged, and everything's combined. And then we talked to married couples and they refused to combine to do some more. How is this happening? How is this happening? How is this happening? Oh, it's so bad, I know. But yeah, there's just, it's the protection side. There's just not, there's not any hands. And the worst is the co-signing. And then we get the call and they're like, I co-signed with my ex-girlfriend. And she's not paying anymore. You know what I mean? And I can't find her or the car. Yeah, and I mean, it's just like, there's just, there's so much life that can happen. And when you're not legally married, you get to just walk out, you get to just leave. At least with a divorce, you're out of the go through a court system. And, you know, have a child. The judge will make you pay it then.

1:25:50Yeah, but there's a lot up in the air, Holly. So I'd lock it down if I were you. Yeah, I'm get married. This weekend. One of the biggest mistakes Homebuyer's make is talking to a realtor and shopping for houses before understanding their real budget. And that's how you end up falling in love with a house you can't afford and trapping yourself in a bigger payment than you can handle. That's why you should talk to Churchill Mortgage first. Churchill shows you what you can actually afford, not just what a bank will approve. And with their certified Homebuyer program, your financing is completely secured before you shop.

1:26:55So you won't miss out on your dream home while you're waiting for pre-approval. I've recommended Churchill for 30 years because they help you buy a home the Ramsey way. So here's your plan. Contact Churchill. Know your numbers. And then when you find the perfect house, you're ready. Go to Churchill Mortgage.com, slash Ramsey offer for a special offer only for Ramsey fans. That's Churchill Mortgage.com slash Ramsey offer or click the link in the description. Welcome back to the Ramsey show in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality. My daughter is my co-host today. Aaron is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Aaron. How are you? Hey guys, how are you? Better than we deserve. What's up? First of all, I just want to tell you you've changed our lives.

1:27:57Like we're in baby stuff too. And I mean, you guys are marriage. Everything is just on such a projectory that I never could have thought that a few years ago we'd be there. So thank you, thank you, you guys. Thank you. Well done. I'm going to cry. No. So, okay, so currently we're in baby stuff too. We have paid about 76,000 down in the last two years or so. Thank you. We have about 33,000 to go. Now, our question is, I have a mortgage on the house now. Our plan is once we get everything paid, we get our emergency fund. We want to take a couple of you. Our plan is to buy a house, a new house in a different location. We kind of want to move out in the country a little bit. And our plan is to stay. We want to stay, take about two or three years, save hopefully up to about 150, 200,000, you know, depending on, you know, wife and situations. But so to use on the down payment on the house and plus the equity in our house now.

1:29:01Yeah. How much equity do you think you'll get out of that house at the time you move? You know, unfortunately, I made a lot of stupid text sessions as you would say. We refinanced the house, we used to many times. And the last time right before we started the baby stuff. So unfortunately, the mortgage we have now, it's only a few years old. Oh, the big two or three years from now, you said, right? Yeah, yeah, true. So it's going up in value in Charlotte, North Carolina, isn't it? I don't know. I can't see what it's going to be like then. But right now we owe two, 43 on the house. And the last time we had it praised about three years ago, it was at about three times. So, um, only worth 400 to day anyway. Yeah, we'll say, hopefully, I think there's got. Um, but my question is, it's going up like two percent. And that what? Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's good. I think that's the most important thing is, um, the money that we're saving in the next few years, should that go to a high yield savings account or should we be putting that money on the principal of our mortgage?

1:30:06Since we're going to sell anyway and use that on the down payment of the house. I put it on the front of your mortgage. All of it. Yep. Really? Okay. Above your emergency. You wouldn't save. Yes. You wouldn't save any cash or like, um, you know, not for the move. Okay. Yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking. And I know sometimes they say you should have, you know, a certain amount of cash. What you're, uh, closing, I mean, you may want to have a little bit for the actual mover and the closing, some closing costs or something like that. But you're going to get all the money out of this house when you sell it. It's not like you're giving the money away or spending it. It's going to be there. It's just stored where you can't get to it. And what's your mortgage interest? What's your mortgage interest rate? Uh, it's 4.99. Okay. Which is more than your, uh, than your how you'll save. You're just paying. True. So reducing it. Yeah. It's almost like a forced savings account, Aaron. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As you're, as you're putting it in, you're like, we'll get it out. Yes. In equity. But it's not sitting there for a beach vacation to grab.

1:31:07Or you know what I mean? Like you really, you, it makes you, it forces you into that goal. And if your plans turn left and you end up staying there and paying off the house, then you didn't lose any ground. True. Yeah. So does it point to? Yeah. I don't know that that's going to happen. I think you probably will live your dream because you've been executing on the other part of it beautifully. So I think you're probably going to play through. So I think two years from now, three years from now, you sell this house. It's going to be $4,500 somewhere in there. And, um, probably based on the numbers you're giving me anyway. And you will have reduced the principle dramatically during that time. So you're going to walk out with this big fat check to buy this house in the country with. That's going to be beautiful. And you will have been making $4.99 on your money. Not bad, really, for that situation. And you won't accidentally go buy a basketball with it. So not that you would because I don't think you would. But, um, he might, I don't know, you wouldn't. I can tell. Races in New York City, high race, how are you? Living a dream, how you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up?

1:32:08So I just graduated from law school this past May and took the bar. And I have some law that are too low in debt that I need to pay off. And I'm planning on paying it off as fast as possible. Good. And I was wondering, would it be worth it to refinance the loans I have to get a better interest rate? Or does that even matter since I'm just playing on paying it off as soon as I can? What's the balance? 104. When do you think you'll pay it off, how fast? We've got it calculated out to, I think, two and a half to three years. Okay. And what's your current interest rate? So it's separated in between six loans. The highest rate is just a little over 9% at 9.2%. I believe. And when I did something through so far today, it said they could give me a rate of just under 6%.

1:33:08If I remember correctly, but I'm not sure your aggregate is not 6% already. Do you not have loans that are below 6? No. None. Okay. No, none of my loans are below, I below is just 7. I don't trust so far any further than I can throw their stadium. So I want you to get some other people to look at it, all right? Okay. And so they didn't pay for that stadium by giving you the best deal. So their stadium is sponsored. So, you know, the student loans at Ray started the one area that we would consider refinancing. You get one shot. These are federally insured, right? Yeah. Yeah, you get one shot. So shop around and check on it and try to find a company. What's the company we used to endorse it's gone? They were a good little company. I can't think of their name off the top of my head, but we had one on here for a while that was doing that. And they were dependable. But here's the thing, let's pretend that you can go from 6 to 9 on the entire.

1:34:10You're not thinking of why re-fi? On your why re-fi? No, yeah. No, why re-fi didn't do it. That's private. Yeah, it's private. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The question of the day. Yeah. Thanks. For your private student loans though, if they're in default, check out why re-fi. But Ray, that's not your problem. So the if you can move the entire portfolio is not at 9. What do you think the aggregate of the portfolio is? The average through the whole thing. 8. Probably 8 or a little under 8. Okay, let's call it 8. And let's say you could refinance it to 6. That saves you 2 on 100,000 paid off over 2 years means at the end of the first year you would have paid off 50,000 of it. And so your average balance that you're saving 2% on is 50,000 dollars. And so that is 1,000 dollars you're going to save through this whole exercise. Okay. And you don't have a one that if you want to do it, it's okay, but you don't have a 1,000 dollar problem.

1:35:13You have 104,000 dollar problem. Correct. Meaning that if you're paying this off in 2 years to your point earlier, the way you asked the question was correct, Rayce, was it does it really even matter because I paid it off so fast? And the answer is it matters about a thousand dollars. Okay. Assuming you can't beat so far as number and you might not be able to. But if you want to do it, it's okay, you get one shot at it. But the important thing is to find the other 103,000 during the 2 years by living on nothing, not going out to eat, and starting your law career on beans and rice rice and beans and get this mess cleaned up. That's the important part. That's 98% of the equation. Hey guys, Dave Ramsey here.

1:36:22Every day on this show, we help people work through real money problems and figure out what to do next. Now, you can get that same kind of help anytime with Ask Ramsey. Ask your money question and get answers built on Ramsey principles we use on the show, whether you're making a decision or just want something explained, Ask Ramsey is here to help. It's fast, simple, and free to use. Go to RamseySolutions.com and try Ask Ramsey today. That's RamseySolutions.com. Cat is in Des Moines, Iowa. Hi, Cat. How are you? How are you? How are you doing? Well, how are you guys?

1:37:23Better than I deserve. What's up? My husband and I are wondering if we should move forward on an opportunity for financial freedom. Yes. Yes. Of course you should. What kind of a question is that? Tell me about it. What's the opportunity? So my mother-in-law would like to sell us her home and about 10 acres of land for what she has left on her mortgage. She wants to help us. She knows we've been through a lot in the last few years and she is ready to move on from that property. She's tired of maintaining it when she doesn't even live there. How does taking on a mortgage equal financial freedom? Well, we would be right. But we would be selling our home in a different area of the state. And it's sold it even for what we paid for it four years ago, which it sounds like we would get more for it after talking to a realtor.

1:38:32We would be able to buy the land and property out right. Okay. So you currently have a home that you all have much on? We owe $177,000 and it's worth what? Well, when we bought it, you think you can sell it for what? He said that what we bought it for would be easy, but he's anticipating we'd get a little bit more. He didn't give me an exact number. So what do you think the number is going to be in real life when you put it on the market? What's it going to sound like? Probably around 230. It wouldn't be much more because we did 230. And so there's only 50,000 bucks. Okay. Minus expensive. So probably going to walk away with $40,000. And her mortgage on this land is only $40,000. She said 30,000. Okay. And what's the land in house worth? Probably more than what our house is.

1:39:34It looked like from what we're giving you $200,000 gift. Yes, yes. We owe you a huge gift for us. Nice gift. And what does your husband do for a living? He is a machinist. And he will be moving being a machinist there? Yes. So there are opportunities there, but it is a lower income area, which is kind of where we're... This is just a half-heartedly. The whole area is lower income? I'm sorry. What was your question? The whole area that you'd be moving to is lower income? Lower income, then where we're at. Yeah. It's not... There are opportunities, but they're harder to come by. Do you like the house care? No, we're all in there. Would you guys have moved there if the opportunity... If this whole deal wasn't happening, would you guys willingly want to move there just for your own family? Yeah, I would say so.

1:40:36My husband has been on third shift for a while. And I don't know. It's just been really hard for our family. We've been through a lot in the last year. What have you been through? He had emergency surgery in December of last year. We had another baby, which is wonderful and amazing. But I broke my ankle, so he's had to take less pay because his job doesn't pay FMLA. So he's had to take some on-paid time off because I was recovering from a broken ankle while heavily pregnant. And on top of that, I was heming on third shift. It's been really hard on our family. We have five kids, and I home school. And I've just watched my husband change.

1:41:38It feels like he's barely surviving. So moving to this land, you go with you. You still got five kids, and you still have a husband that's a machinist. Right. You're thinking you want to work third shift? Does that kind of the straw that? Yes, that's the hope. And you have to work third shift in order for you guys to live where you are today. He has not been able to get a job with similar pay. That is not third shift. What is he making? He brings home 1200 a week when he's not working overtime. He's making about $60,000 a year. Yeah. And the place that you're moving. Okay. So here's the problem. I'm a little bit afraid that you think you're going to run away from all of these problems when most of them are moving with you. You've still got a broken ankle or had one.

1:42:42He's still going to be a machinist. He's still going to be a machinist. And now you're going to be in an area that's not as economically viable. And it might even be harder for him to make this kind of money. So I love the beautiful generosity of your mother-in-law, and that's all wonderful. So I mean, there's other options. Okay. Option one, stay where you are. Option two. I mean, there's other options. Okay. Option one, stay where you are. Option two, take the deal. And the only way you would take the deal is if he first has a job. You cannot move over there if he didn't have a job first. Right. Okay. So he's got to go find a job, and then we can say yes to mother-in-law. That's option two. Option three is she sells the property and gives you the money. And you pay off your house and your husband finds a better job in the area where you are. Okay. It's the same thing.

1:43:42Yeah, I don't think she wants to do that. Oh, I think there's still. It's the same thing. She still gave up the money. Why does she care where the money goes? Is it sent the property sentimental to her? Yeah. Her. So what happens when you want to sell it? I don't know. Yeah, I don't do that. Okay. If you have to buy a property, if you have to take on a property that you can never sell or never do anything with, no thank you. I'll pass. Okay. So only, I mean, I would, I think it might be better for your husband to get a better job that's not, you know, in the area where you currently are and everything's already set up and just pay off your house with the proceeds of the sale of the farm. But it sounds like there's all kinds of emotional complications there that are going to be emotionally complicated. So you're jumping from one fire into a frying pan. Because now you got mother and law breathing down your neck about everything you did with the house she gave you because it comes with strings attached. Yeah.

1:44:42Ropes attack. Hang men's news attack. Oh, awesome. I don't say that. No, I mean, really, it's bad. You cannot get rid of it. You're stuck in it. And when I gave you that house and now you're stuck in the country and your husband can't find a job, he loses that job where he finds it. Yeah. You got five kids. You think you've got problems now. It might not, that might be a trap. You need to be careful. It sounds, it sounds great. But if they're, I mean, and honestly, Kat, I would, I would assume you guys are going to be leaving friends and, you know, possibly a community of people of where you guys are and it's just a lot to think through. Where the, the knee jerk is, oh, wow, we basically get a, we get a house like that's paid off. But then when you start on 10, you're written this narrative in your mind that it changes your life and it really doesn't. It might change it negatively. And then somehow that this, you know, no mortgage is going to make everything okay and make all the things that are causing you to cry, go away. And all the things that are causing you to cry are going with you.

1:45:43Five kids and a husband that's a machinist. I mean, that's, and he's probably exhausted. I mean, I, I can hear you. It's probably just tired. Very, very. But you're probably just tired. All of it. So I'm just wondering, is there a career difference, you know, a different decision in that? Mm-hmm. And that clears all this versus a house. Mm-hmm. And a house that you cannot sell. With that you can't sell. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to approach her and say, I think we would love to have the proceeds from it. How about that, mom? And that's not for you to do. That's for her son to do, by the way. And known as your husband. You do not make that phone call.

1:46:49You spend hours researching before making a major purchase like a home or car. But it's also a good idea to put in the work searching for the right insurance coverage. To protect your biggest assets, I recommend using Ramsey trusted pros. Whether you're looking for car, home, or any other type of insurance, Ramsey trusted providers have been coached and vetted to serve you like we would. Find what you need at RamseySolutions.com slash insurance. Well, one of our favorite things to do is have a debt-free scream on the debt-free stage here in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions.

1:47:55We do this show if you didn't know on the glass and our lobby from 1 to 4 every Monday through Friday. And so folks stop in and have a free homemade chocolate chip cookie and some free coffee and hang out and watch the show happen. And occasionally there's a debt-free scream happening as well. The only thing that we like more than that is when it's one of our own Ramsey team members doing a debt-free scream. And in this case, one of the most popular guys in the building, yeah look up, look who's here Rachel. One of my faves. Oh, thank you. Oh my gosh. Actually, Matt Rizzley, but we call him Rizzley. And Matt is like, Matt? Yes, I know. Good to have you. And we've got like 100 of your team members out here not working and watching you do your debt-free scream. Sorry about that. That's a productivity and the building has gone down caused by you. Congratulations, Scott. Well done. Hey, congratulations you two. We're very proud of you. Well done.

1:48:55So how much debt have you two paid off? It was $188,000. Oh my gosh. How long did this take? Five and a half years. Wow. This is how your sking comes because all your friends and coworkers are standing around. That would be a little strange and weird, Yeah, so, and awkward. So what kind of debt was the $188? Well, you're looking at weird people. It was our house. Yeah, oh, what's your house worth? It's about $400,000. Boom. Look at Rizzley. Oh my gosh. Look at you, man, so proud of you. How's it feel to have a paid four house? for house. Amazing. True freedom. Now he's the senior director folks of media distribution in the Ramsey network and so a lot of you that see things happen with the show somewhere on the internet it's all his fault. So he works really really hard going through every single episode and making sure it's distributed with all nerd probabilities and analytics and everything out

1:49:59there and does a great job and so a lot of you have found this show because of the work of this man and so we really do appreciate him. So house and everything you've been here what seven years? Yep well over seven years. Working here and and how long have you been on this journey? Yeah this journey started about 15 years ago to condense that 15-year story into something really quick. I was a baby Christian. I was really skeptical of the whole Christianity thing and I decided hey I've got something important in my life. Let's see if this prayer thing works. So I remember praying at the time hey do I go to the Lord to an in-state school and a crew no debt or do I go out of state with some friends and a crew debt? And the next day I went to a men's event and Dave you are on the screen at Willow Creek basically yelling at me to not go into debt and I can't imagine me doing that. And so it was a double whammy. You know I realized prayer works and also I became a

1:51:02rabid fan from that day forward and every week I'm listening to the show and then you come to work here. Yeah it was a dream come true. Totally get dunked in it. Yeah well and then you got to watch the show every day. You're totally dunked. Yeah I have to analyze how this segment does. You're going to be looking at yourself. Hey how long have you guys been married? Eight years. Eight years okay. So you've been working Madeline all this time with this guy who went Ramsey crazy. Oh yes. To the point he comes to work here. Yes. And has he been hard to live with during this time? No not at all. My dad raised me with the money mindset so you guys are on the page. Yeah. Was this did you guys have consumer debt before this or was the whole the whole thing was just the house. Yeah that's just the house. Okay. So you moved here took the job and then later bought a house and then took five and a half years to knock it out. Yeah. Okay. Way to go dude. Yeah. Way to go man. I mean you're right. Okay so we talked about when you're paying off the house we always say that's kind of like the intentional step right. You want it in joy life and all of it but the extra goes

1:52:06on the house and some people go crazier and they just stay intense. Where were you guys on that on that scale would you say? We were on the intense side. We weren't we weren't gazelle intense. We went out to eat once a month but uh once a month yeah you just blurt you. But there was a piece that left us because this is the only debt that we've ever had. And so we were very intentional together. We would talk about money every week almost every day. Hey what's our goal? Where are we going towards and we really wanted to pay off this house so that we could live and give like no one else. So you're saying when you bought the house took on the mortgage the piece left and you wanted it back. That's right. Okay I'm making sure I understood that. So good. Very cool. So what were things that you guys you mentioned the out-eat thing? The what what did you what did you say no to? Honestly a lot of trips and vacations both for our parents are in New Jersey. So we didn't go home often. Yeah. Was it worth it? I had to say so for sure. Yeah yeah. It's now that you're free.

1:53:07How's it feel? Yeah it feels amazing. We honestly can drop a hat go take a trip and that feels freeing. Yeah you can do anything you want to do. Yeah I pay much. I mean you do anything you want to do. That's pretty incredible. So um man talk to the person out there who's thinking about this and they're going I don't know if it's worth it or not. Is it worth it? It's so worth it. And there's nothing flashy about our story. There was no big paycheck or pay off. I didn't inherit it and anything. And so it was a daily choice to do something hard. And if you're seeing this or listening to this right now you have a choice before you to do something hard and take that next incremental step because it gets easier over time. And so when we had a tough decision it was relatively easy because we were just on the same page about everything. And so I just encourage you guys to take the next right step when it comes to your your money journey and that snowball

1:54:08into the rest of your life. Yeah have you run out the numbers of if you just invested the mortgage payment and where where it's too? How many millions that's going to be? Oh yeah yeah. I'm old school. I have a time value of money calculator. Oh my life. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. HP 12C or something. Yeah. Okay. Good. I like it. Very cool. Yeah. So you can run that out. You don't even need the Ramsey calculator on the website. And you can figure out that this is millions and millions and millions of dollars. It's holder you guys. Well we're 33. Oh I'm 32. Okay. So early 30s. Pay off house. Yeah. And we had all $400,000 house. Yeah. And we're kind of I'm a loser. I had a goal of paying it off at 30 but you know I missed that goal but I don't know I had a paid four house at 33. And I think you're going to be okay. Yeah. Yeah. The extra restaurants for worth. Yeah. That's one. That's one dead. That's exactly. No. No that's not you guys are

1:55:10impressive. I'm so proud of y'all. Thank you. Very very well done. And we certainly love the work that you've been doing here. And the team loves working with you guys is obvious with their mall standing out here to cheer you on today. That's very cool. So pretty pretty stinking cool. What was the driver? What was the motivation under this for you too? Yeah. We have a very clear goal of where we want to be long term. Early on it's really fun. I'm seeing the guy next to me. We wanted to support missionaries long term and I'm looking at the guy who was in China doing missions work and he came here to work here. I brought him. But when he came over I said man it would be great if we can house missionaries when they're in between things or they're getting ready to go out to missions or they're coming back. And so someday we'd love to own a big plot of land. Piss some houses on it so that we can serve the kingdom that way.

1:56:12Well you're gonna be able to do that's no that's no brainer with the math the way it is in your situation just a matter of when. It's not gonna be next week but you'll be there. You're gonna be there before you know it. Well congratulations you too. Thank you very well done. Okay now you got no payments in the world. What's the first thing you're gonna do for you to to celebrate? Big something big. We're gonna get Madeline a newer car. Yes. Good. Madeline needs up better car. I don't even know what you got but you need up better car. Yeah great good job. All right, Rizli and Madeline. No it's actually Matt Rizli and his wife Madeline. Let's make sure we get that right. 188,000 paid off. House and everything at 33 years old. Count it down. Let's hear a debt free scream. Three, two, one, we're debt free.

1:57:13And little Lilliana in there. My gosh precious. Dave Ramsey here for more than 30 years I've been talking to folks on the air and I can tell you that most people are broke. Not because they don't make enough money but because they don't have a plan. You need to give every dollar you earn a job because when you do that something changes. You stop guessing. You stop worrying. You stop stressing. Our every dollar budgeting app will show you how to find extra cash pay off debt and finally start winning with money but most people won't do it. They'll keep living paycheck to paycheck. Keep hoping things will change without making a change. It's time to say enough is enough. It's time to take control of your money.

1:58:16It's time to start your every dollar budget for free today. Go download it in the app store or Google Play. Our scripture today is Luke 637. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Robert Lewis Stevenson said don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. If you're buying and you're selling a home it's super expensive and you want to make sure you do it right and if you make a mistake it's always with too many zeros. So you need to get a pro in your corner that does a lot of real estate transactions that knows what they're doing. Ramsey trusted Connect you with vetted real estate agents

1:59:18who have high performance and the experience to guide you step by step to make the right Ramsey type smart decision. No expensive mistakes. Connecting is easy. Compare the agent profiles, interview your top choices, pick the right one for you. Find a local Ramsey trusted agent who has your best interest at heart for free at RamseySolutions.com slash agent or click the link in the description. The show notes for YouTube and podcast. Marshall's in Baltimore. Hey Marshall how are you? Don't worry Dave how about yourself. Better than I deserve. What's up? So I've got a quick question I got to give you a little bit of background. I'm 29 I'm married. I'm living in an apartment. My wife is out of the job right now and basically to my question should I liquidate my brokerage account to pay off my truck? What do you make? I make 71 a year. What did your wife make when she was working? She was at 75,000 a year.

2:00:19Are you able to live on yours? We're doing all right. Will she get a job? Will she go back to work? Do you think soon? We've been looking there's a potential opportunity but we haven't heard too much more about it. Okay. How much do you owe on the truck? I owe just about 26,000. How much is in the brokerage? 28,000. Okay. If you guys are not in the middle of an emergency and it sounds like it's kind of medium I would write a check today and pay off the truck. There's no reason I'd have borrow on my truck to have a brokerage account and that's basically what you've done. You may want to wait two weeks and get her a job and that would make it much more comfortable to do that. But it sounds like you guys are going to make it okay until she gets a job so it's not like you're going to need this money. How much is her car worth? It's a 2009 Nissan so maybe 500 or for lucky.

2:01:24Okay. Okay. I'll just see on how long you've been married? It'll be a year in October. You should give her your car. Marshall. I have to give you the unfair information that its federal law wife gets the good car. Okay. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, we're going to have to move her up in car quickly as soon as you guys that's your only debt, right? That is the only debt. Yeah, I want to move her up in car with cash after she gets lands a new job. You got to save up some money and let's get the emergency fund of three to six months expense. So do you have other savings? I have a raw fire ray and the 401k and then a little bit of cash in my savings account. How much cash in your savings account? 4 grand. Okay. Okay. That's a good little buffer too. Yeah. So you'll have six grand that you could get to if you needed it after you pay off this truck. Yeah. Pay off the truck though too into the savings and you were building an emergency fund of

2:02:27three to six months of expenses. As soon as she lands a job, let's save quickly and move her up in car so that way you get to keep your truck and don't have to give it to her. But I want her to land a position pretty quick to bounce back emotionally from the job loss because she's got this huge potential. I mean, you're all household income doubles when she lands that back and so I don't want to I don't want to jump into something bad and I don't want to take something for less. So let's continue to work the network and find that next position as soon as possible. But soon as you're comfortable with it, I would pay that off and if you're comfortable today living on your income, then I'd pay it off today for sure. Steven is in St. Louis. Hi, Steven. How are you? Jim, better than I deserve. I appreciate it. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I've been listening to you guys for a few months now and I really appreciate all the

2:03:28really practical, emotional and role clarity that you have with all of your decision-making processes. So I was curious about a car that is a lot of people on here are curious about. My wife and I kind of live in two very unique financial realities. I am a trust fund kid, but I have not used it really apart from education. So a little bit about my wife and I is combined in common is probably about $75,000 a year. And we just had a new little kid. He is doing great now, but at about two weeks of life, Steve had to have a pretty major hard surgery. And something, and yeah, no, I appreciate that. Luckily insurance is covering the vast majority of it, but I went a little bit more into dad mode and wanted to get more protective about things particularly about

2:04:32just wanting to make sure that we have the best safest car for him. So currently my wife primarily drives a 2015 Ford Lex. It's been pretty through the ringer in its own career. It has about 120,000 miles on it. I would personally be very pro into upgrading her into a newer car. Something that is either pre-owned is certainly newer, certainly has like the newest safety specs, all of that sort of good stuff. Just to make sure that her and the kids are about taking care of. Okay. What does you make? So I make $72,000 a year. But you said that was the household income. Yeah, yeah. So my wife used to work. We moved to Missouri a couple of years ago. Okay. And when we moved, she left her financial job where she was making probably close to a quarter

2:05:34of a million dollars. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So we were doing well. We saved up a lot of money then. A lot of it is still primarily in retirement funds. So we've never really funded the RRA and the RRA for one case. But you have no cash just on the side? No, no. So we have some cash also bought a new house when we moved to Missouri. Luckily, we are debt free from all that when my grandpa who was so much is in the truck. So in my trust, it's about 2.8 million. And what is your draw on that? I don't touch it. I've never touched it. But you have access to it. If I were to ask my parents, they would give me access to it. So your parents are the trustee, and it's at their discretion? Yeah, correct. And you're how old? Young 30s. And you're thinking about buying a car that's how much?

2:06:37I think probably if we were to get a new car, probably no more than 50 or 60,000. Okay. We tell folks not to buy a car that is more, or not to have vehicles that total add up to more than half their annual income. So no, I would not do that. Okay. I'm sorry. Wait a minute. We tell people not to buy new cars, unless they have a net worth of over a million dollars. And I guess you do, because I guess your net worth is 2.8 million. Okay. And so pay cash for it. I... Is your fear like lifestyle creep, but you're going to start tapping into this and spend the day? Is that dad? Is that your... Yeah. Okay. That's your, that's your hesitation, Steven too. Are you scared to touch it? Are you just like, oh my gosh, this is so... She's driving a $3,000 car. Why don't we go halfway and buy a $30,000 used car? No, so that's one of the other options

2:07:39in consideration. Yeah, I think I think that's what I would do. And I would do that more as an exercising restraint than I would as an actual mathematical guideline. Because you've been really restrained about dipping into the... You mean, you're showing good discipline in that. Yeah, and so... You're not a trust fund kid in the sense of the stereotype. I don't think you're going to destroy anything if you're about the 60, but I just like the restraint of, I'm going to buy used and half my annual income. And I'm going to stay with that. And it's still enough to take care of this. I'm not being emotional about the kid. That puts us out of the Ramsey show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember there's ultimately only one way to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace. Christ Jesus.