Episode Summary: "Don't Act Like This Is Helping"

Podcast: The Ramsey Show Highlights
Host: Dave Ramsey (with co-host Ken Coleman)
Date: November 17, 2025
Duration: ~8 minutes (00:02–07:00)

Main Theme

This episode centers around the dangers of co-signing loans for loved ones, especially children, and why it’s a financially risky and often emotionally fraught decision. Dave Ramsey addresses a listener’s dilemma about whether to pay off her daughter's car loan (which she co-signed) or focus on her own debt first. The advice expands into a candid, cautionary lesson on the perils of debt, the marketing behind credit, personal anecdotes of financial regret, and practical steps for getting out of such situations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener’s Situation: Co-signing a Car Loan

• Jessica from Illinois writes in: She has $20,000 in credit card debt and a cosigned $12,000 car loan for her 22-year-old daughter, who is making payments without help. Jessica wants to be rid of the cosigned debt for peace of mind and seeks advice on next steps with her debt repayment plan.

2. Dave’s Debt Repayment Strategy

• Clear Your Own Debt First:
  • “We’re going to pay off the car after you pay off your credit cards because the car is under control right now. It’s not in panic. So we’ll put it at the back of the debt snowball and clear your credit cards and then clear the car.” (01:00)
• Contingent Liability Risk:
  • Even if the daughter is paying, Jessica is legally responsible if anything goes wrong (job loss, accident, etc.).
  • “This is going to come back on you. It’s what we call a contingent liability, which means it’s a liability...they’re going to come after you really fast.” (01:27)
• After Paying Off:
  • Work out a repayment plan with the daughter since Jessica is paying the car note for her.

3. Why Co-signing Is a Trap

• Aggressive Debt Marketing:
  • Debt is more heavily marketed than almost any other product; the industry invests substantial resources in pushing debt to consumers, especially vulnerable ones.
  • “Let me just tell you the most aggressively marketed product in the United States today is debt.” (02:09)
• Banks’ Reluctance Signals Risk:
  • If lenders won’t approve a loan for someone, it’s because they assess a real risk of nonpayment.
  • “If those people, the sharks, will not loan her money — your sweet little daughter...it’s because she’s not gonna pay it back. So don’t act like that you’re doing somebody a favor by helping them buy something they can’t afford.” (04:08)
• Emotional Manipulation:
  • Banks and creditors exploit a parent's desire to help with offers that may seem generous but are actually self-serving.
  • “They’ve convinced you and brainwashed you of that so that you co-sign because she couldn’t get the car on her own.” (02:44)

4. Personal Anecdotes & ‘Stupid Tax’

• Dave’s Past Mistake:
  • Details how co-signing for a friend led to his personal financial loss in his 20s, culminating in bankruptcy.
  • “I have co-signed and I ended up paying it. And when I went bankrupt in my 20s, a friend of mine had co-signed for some stuff and he ended up paying it. I went back and paid him back even though the bankruptcy said I didn’t have to.” (01:45)
• ‘Stupid Tax’:
  • The monetary and emotional price paid for poor decisions like co-signing.
  • “You know what I wrote on the ‘for’ column on the check? Stupid tax. That’s good. I paid some stupid tax. Tax on your life when you’re stupid.” (05:40)

5. Biblical Principle Against Co-signing

• “As a matter of fact, it says it in the Bible. Proverbs 17:18 says, One lacking in sense cosigns for another…if you co sign for someone else, you’re stupid. That’s what it says because of what I just described.” (04:58)
• Dave clarifies he’s not attacking Jessica personally but calling out the act of co-signing as unwise.

6. Humorous Recap

• Co-host Ken Coleman injects levity with a playful misinterpretation of Dave’s message about underwear and credit cards.
• Ken: “So the moral of story is don’t do debt and don’t buy small underwear. Is that right?” (06:39)
• Dave (laughing): “I just said financing it. That’s all I said.” (06:56)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Debt Marketing:

  • “Debt is sold as a product more aggressively. More sophistication, more money, more bandwidth is spent selling you folks debt because it’s so profitable than any other product.” (02:15)

• On The Reality of Co-signing:

  • “If they won’t loan her money, it’s because they can’t pay it. And they’re not even looking to them. They’re looking to you.” (05:12)

• Biblical Reference:

  • “Proverbs 17:18 says, One lacking in sense cosigns for another...if you co sign for someone else, you’re stupid.” (04:58)

• On Regret (‘Stupid Tax’):

  • “I still remember how stupid I felt when I wrote those checks. I knew this. I knew this guy’s a deadbeat. I knew the bank was right. But I’m so smart, I’m going to help him and then I get to pay the bill. And you know what I wrote on the ‘for’ column on the check? Stupid tax.” (05:40)

• Lighthearted Banter:

  • Ken: “So the moral of story is don’t do debt and don’t buy small underwear. Is that right?” (06:39)
  • Dave: “I just said financing it. That’s all I said.” (06:56)

Important Timestamps

• Listener’s Question: 00:09
• Debt Snowball Advice: 00:51–01:32
• Co-signing Dangers Explained: 01:32–05:35
• Biblical Warning Against Co-signing: 04:58
• Stupid Tax Story: 05:40
• Humorous Recap/Banter: 06:39–06:58

Takeaways

• Don’t put co-signed debts ahead of your own; use the debt snowball, then pay off the co-signed loan.
• Co-signing exposes you to serious liability — if the primary borrower defaults, you are on the hook.
• Debt is aggressively marketed, and if lenders won’t lend, that’s a sign you shouldn’t either.
• The act of co-signing is called “lacking sense” in the Bible; it’s a mistake even generous, well-meaning people make — but you can and should get out of it as soon as possible.

Tone: Blunt, practical, sometimes humorous — classic Dave Ramsey style.
Conclusion:
Don’t ever co-sign. Pay off your own debts first. If you already did it, get out as fast as you can, and don’t repeat the mistake.