Cash Out Our Silver To Fund College?

Summary

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The Ramsey Show Highlights

Episode: Cash Out Our Silver to Fund College?
Date: May 16, 2026
Host(s): George Kamel & Co-Host (unidentified, likely Ken Coleman or Dr. John Delony)
Caller: Jackie ("B")

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Episode Overview

In this episode, George Kamel and his co-host advise Jackie, a soon-to-be-divorced mom, on whether her 18-year-old daughter should cash out her silver investments (encouraged by her dad) to help pay for college. The conversation navigates family tensions, financial planning for young adults, and the importance of delayed gratification versus chasing risky investments. The tone is empathetic and practical, focusing on setting up young people for long-term success rather than quick wins.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Situation Breakdown (00:10–03:18)

• Jackie's daughter has a $30,000 Educational IRA and was additionally gifted around $15,000, a portion of which her dad (Jackie's ex-husband) encouraged investing in physical silver.
• The father believes silver might reach $300 an ounce, urging their daughter to hold on for a big win, while Jackie is concerned about volatility and potential losses.
  • Host (sarcastic): “What kind of insider knowledge does he have? I think only God himself knows that information.” (00:46)
• The divorce adds complexity, as investment advice becomes a proxy battle between parents, making it emotionally charged for their daughter.

Parental Dynamics & Emotional Complexity (01:45–02:52)

• The hosts acknowledge the difficulty when divorced parents provide conflicting financial advice.
• Jackie feels she lacks credibility versus her ex in these financial discussions.
  • Jackie: “I’m not confident in, like, going up against all his knowledge. And I wouldn’t call it knowledge.” (01:33)
  • Host: “That’s a very generous word you used for his [knowledge].” (01:42)
• The co-host points out: “You got two parents, she's the one that's the victim in this deal.” (06:26)

Silver vs. the Stock Market—The Math of Compound Growth (03:19–04:49)

• George stresses that the stock market historically outperforms commodities like silver, referencing data:
  • George: “At a 10% rate of return…she’d have over half a million dollars. And that’s without her worrying about it, without her losing her physical silver, without worrying about what the economy is doing.” (04:02–04:17)
• Silver and gold ride economic cycles, but stocks gain more over time; referencing 70 years’ worth of data (1950–present).

What Should Jackie’s Daughter Do With Her Silver? (04:50–06:10)

• For short-term needs (college tuition), George advises selling the silver, parking the proceeds in a high-yield savings account so the money is liquid:
  • George: “I would just cash it out and leave it in a high yield savings account so that it’s liquid for her to pay for college…we need this for short term goals.” (05:25–05:45)
• The idea is to minimize risk and avoid volatility since the funds are needed soon.
• Her $30,000 Educational IRA may cover a year, but additional funds will be needed.

Navigating the Parent-Child Conversation (06:10–07:16)

• The hosts emphasize not making it a parental argument, but rather giving their daughter a new perspective:
  • Co-host: “This is not about winning the argument. I think you just have to say, can I give you another school of thought…Show her how that money should be used in your opinion. And then you gotta let it ride.” (06:27–06:58)
• Remind her, the opportunity is to invest in herself (her education) now, not in commodities:
  • George: “It’s not an argument about where to invest this money. It’s we need to invest in her right now and her current education.” (07:16)

The Power of Compound Interest & Teaching Kids to Invest (07:33–09:35)

• The hosts champion financial literacy for teens—using real numbers to highlight the power of early compound growth:
  • Co-host: “...if I can start telling [my kids] this now and they go get just a summer job at 15, 16, 17...it’s not as difficult as we might think.” (07:36)
• Use tools like the investment calculator on ramseysolutions.com to make abstract financial concepts real for teens.
  • George: “Now it’s easy to open a Roth IRA and any child is actually excited about it because they saw a TikTok about it…The problem is there’s so much noise that no one ends up doing any of it.” (08:15)
  • The “marshmallow test” is referenced as a metaphor for delayed gratification—explaining why young people struggle to invest for the long term.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On silver speculation:
  • Host: “What kind of insider knowledge does he have? I think only God himself knows that information.” (00:46)
• On parental conflict:
  • Jackie: “I’m not confident in, like, going up against all his knowledge. And I wouldn’t call it knowledge.” (01:33)
  • Co-host: “You got two parents, she's the one that's the victim in this deal.” (06:26)
• On long-term stock market growth:
  • George: “...if you just let it ride, she’d have over half a million dollars. And that’s without her worrying about it, without her losing her physical silver, without worrying about what the economy is doing.” (04:12)
• On teaching teens about money:
  • Co-host: “Calculator can’t lie.” (09:35)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:10–00:52 — Jackie outlines her daughter’s college savings and silver investments.
• 01:45–02:52 — Discussion of family dynamics, divorce, trust, and emotional baggage.
• 03:19–04:49 — George compares silver and stock market returns over decades.
• 05:25–05:45 — George’s practical advice: cash out silver for college use.
• 06:10–06:58 — Co-host encourages parenting with empathy and perspective, not argument.
• 07:33–09:35 — Conversation on empowering kids with compound growth knowledge and financial tools.

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Summary Takeaways

• For short-term college needs, cash out risky assets like silver and keep the money liquid.
• Avoid making financial decisions a battleground between divorced parents; focus on equipping the child with information and autonomy.
• The stock market offers far greater returns over decades than physical commodities like silver or gold.
• Use concrete tools and calculators to teach young people about the extraordinary power of early, consistent investing.

Overall: The episode combines actionable advice and parenting insight, encouraging listeners to prioritize investment in their children’s education and long-term stability over short-term speculative gains.

Transcript

[A]

If your private student loans are in default, you're not out of options. Go to yrefi.com Ramsey I have a situation.

[B]

My daughter is getting ready to graduate from high school. She has an educational IRA that grandparents have been giving her money ever since she was a baby. So we have that. We have about $30,000 in that. She was also gifted about 15,000 about four years ago, and I'm not exactly sure when, but her dad encouraged her to invest some. Take that. Some of that money and invest it in silver. He is under the impression that it is going to go to $300 an ounce.

[A]

What kind of insider knowledge does he have? I think only God himself knows that information.

[B]

Yeah, I keep asking those questions, and it's maybe conspiracy theory type stuff. He is very confident in his assertions, and hence my struggle with trying to get her to say, well, yeah, you probably have made some money recently in silver, but it's time to pull it out and put it into something less volatile, like, take advantage of what you've earned and, like, put it into something that you're not going to lose on. And he wants her to hold it on, hold onto it for the big win. And I'm seeing, like, it could also be the big lose. So I'm so sad. I would be sad for her to lose any gains that she's had. And I'm not confident in, like, going up against all his knowledge. And I wouldn't call it knowledge.

[A]

I think that's a very generous word you used for his.

[C]

Yeah, it's a strong opinion. I may be hearing something and I may not. Are you two married?

[B]

We're in the middle of divorce.

[C]

Okay. The way you were talking about it. Okay, that makes sense, number one. And so that makes this trickier because now it's a splintered situation. Who knows what she's feeling? I don't know if she's taking sides. So this is a little trickier, George.

[A]

Yeah. There's a lot of emotion and baggage behind it because if she takes his side, it feels like, oh, you're choosing now one parent over the other. He'll definitely see you have different advice. And because you're not the quote, unquote, financial guru, you feel like you don't even have a voice in this conversation.

[B]

Pretty much.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Which I'm. I'm gonna go out on a limb here. Part of all of this is probably why this marriage is being dissolved.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And so there's some really hard conversations you're gonna have with your daughter where you're not gonna make him look bad, but you're gonna share a different perspective and do it in a calm way that isn't conspiratorial or fear mongering, which is probably what she's hearing right now.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So how old is she?

[B]

You said she's 18.

[A]

Okay, she's 18 years old. And how much does she have total? Is it 15,000 total. And she purchased some silver out of that?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so how much silver does she actually have?

[B]

I asked her that and she's not exactly sure. Her dad told her that it may be up to 30,000 right now, but he's given her the impression that that's a static number, like you've got that and it's only on paper kind of thing.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I'm not sure of her original investment. I'm not sure what her.

[A]

And this is physical silver that was purchased?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay, well, I can tell you the less stressful way to go about this is to just park that money in a tax advantaged retirement account or even non retirement account, it really doesn't matter. But the idea here is if this was working for her in the stock market from the age of 18 to let's say 58. All right, let's give it a 40 year run and let's say she did all 15,000 over there, is that fair as well?

[B]

I don't think she did 15, but.

[A]

Okay, let's call it 10.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, $10,000. 18 to 58. She never adds another dollar. Do you understand that? She just parks 10k, lets it grow in the stock market.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At a 10% rate of return, which they're going to come at me. That's just the data. If you look back, in fact, from 1950 to now, it's more like 11.8%. So if you just let it ride, she'd have over half a million dollars.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's without her worrying about it, without her losing her physical silver, without worrying about what the economy is doing. And the truth is, silver and gold have gone up in value in times where the economy is shaky and they go back down in value as the stock market picks back up. But over time, if you actually look at the full picture, you will see the stock market has far outperformed any of these commodities and assets. So I'm on Team Jackie. I don't know how to convince your husband in the middle of that or convince your daughter while going through all of this, but the truth is, nothing is urgent.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

What did you.

[B]

She does have school like she's got college to pay for. Is this her college?

[A]

Does she pay for her school?

[B]

Completely depends on what school she goes to.

[C]

Well, so you've given us a lot of variables. What, how can we help you the most now that we got a full picture? Is there something we didn't address?

[B]

No. What you're saying is if we do cash it out, which is what I want her to do, so I'm going to, you know, you think that's a good idea, take whatever gains and so you're saying it should be put in like another IRA or. Because she's going to need to take it out in a year or two.

[A]

Well, in that case, I would just cash it out and leave it in a high yield savings account so that it's liquid for her to pay for college. Because what's going to happen is she's going to go deeply into debt for college because I guarantee you, unless she goes to the community college down the road, 10k ain't getting you very far.

[B]

That's right, yeah, yeah.

[A]

And there's no other money, you're saying

[B]

no, she has 30,000 in an educational IRA. She has 30,000 educational. And then this silver money is on top of it.

[A]

Got it. So that's an education savings account, esa? Is that what you're talking about? Okay, so that might get her through one year, potentially depending where she goes, but we got to think about the next three. And so that's where, I mean, let's keep it liquid. I don't think you're going to see a lot of growth in the next one year, two year, three year, in fact, that money could go down. So you want to keep it more liquid because we need this for short term goals.

[C]

And I would just add this, Jackie, she's 18 years old, you already know there's very little control. You have over a lot of the things she's doing now, what she will be doing when she goes to college. You've got an ex, soon to be ex husband who is going to be telling her hold it because I'm brilliant and I know this is going to pay off. And then you're given the exact opposite advice. So I'm just trying to encourage you as her mother, this is not about winning the argument. I think you just have to say, can I give you another school of thought and do what George did with you. Show her how that money should be used in your opinion. And then you got to let it ride because you're just in a tough situation where you, you Got two parents, she's the one that's the victim in this deal. And so we don't know the dynamics of who she's choosing, what she's feeling. Who does she listen to more on money? Does she listen to her dad or you? So there's so much there. I'm just trying to make what is already a very tough situation for you, hopefully as stress free as possible that you got to explain it and let it go. That's all you can do. You know what I'm saying, George?

[A]

Like, it's just, well, and hearing that she's needing to go to college and pay for it, I go, it's not an argument about where to invest this money. It's we need to invest in her right now and her current education, not what could happen in the future. If she does this right and graduates debt free, we're not going to have to worry about her investing for the future. She'll be just fine.

[C]

That's exactly right. I want to stay where you were, where you just gave such a really nice little masterclass on what, $10,000 one time, right. Turns into over half a million dollars. I don't think the average family with parents are saying, you know what, I, I may be struggling with debt, I may be trying to get out of this, but I've got a 15 year old or 14 year old and if I can start telling them this now and they go get just a summer job at 15, 16, 17, you know, it's not as difficult as we might think.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

For a young person to come up with ten grand over the course of three or four summers. Right.

[A]

Well, and then in general has been democratized in the last even decade to where now it's easy to open a Roth ira and any child is actually excited about it because they saw a tick tock about it. And so financial literacy is all around you. The problem is there's so much noise that no one ends up doing any of it. They just go, that's a cool, I'm going to save that for later. And yet no one's investing. And so if you can convince your kid that it's the deal, what is it? The marshmallow test.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You give a kid, hey, you can have one marshmallow now or you can have two in an hour. Most of the kids are going to go, I'll take the marshmallow right now. And what this is, it's a lesson in delayed gratification. And at 15, your brain can't fully comprehend that you want to go to the mall with your friends. You don't want to park it in a retirement account, but you use Our investment calculator, ramseysolutions.com they're going to go. Hold on, Mom. I'm confused. 10,000 turned into 500,000. Explain that to me. Now you've got an end. To talk about compound growth and the power of delayed gratification.

[C]

And get in that calculator, ramseysolutions.com and punch in different numbers. I did this the other day, George. You'd been very happy with my son.

[A]

Proud of you.

[C]

My son Chase and one of his buddies, I. They. We were talking about. I said, all right, let me get my laptop out. So I go downstairs, bring it back up, and I said, all right, guys, give me some numbers. After I explain it. They were losing their mind.

[A]

They thought you were a mathematical.

[C]

No, no, no. They just saw that, and they were like, that's real versus me telling them versus showing them. It's good stuff.

[A]

Calculator can't lie. Why Refi Refinances Defaulted private student loans for struggling borrowers. Learn more at Y r e f y.com Ramsey.