"Have You Ever Heard Me Tell Anyone To Get A Car Payment?"

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Have You Ever Heard Me Tell Anyone To Get A Car Payment?"

Podcast: The Ramsey Show Highlights
Host: Dave Ramsey with Financial Expert/Co-host
Date: September 12, 2025
Episode Length: ~8 minutes
Main Theme:
This episode features a call from a cardiologist who, after years of training and hard work, is about to start a high-paying contract. He seeks Dave's advice on whether, with his new income, it’s wise to purchase a $250,000 Porsche—potentially with a car payment. Dave and his co-host dig into the concept of financial discipline despite newfound wealth, highlighting common pitfalls for high earners, and reinforce Ramsey's principle of avoiding debt, especially for luxury purchases.

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Main Discussion Points

Caller’s Background & Dilemma [00:06–01:50]

• The caller is a recently graduated cardiologist with a $650k contract; his wife makes $100k, bringing the household income to $750k.
• They've saved about $60k as an emergency fund, own their primary home ($450k value, $300k mortgage), and a rental property (Florida, $250k value, $150k mortgage, nets $1k/month).
• About to receive a $75k–$100k signing bonus, considering using it toward the purchase of a $200k–$250k Porsche.

Ramsey’s Core Advice [01:50–03:05]

• Dave quickly addresses the real questions:

  • "Do you have any money?"—emphasizing cash availability over future income.
  • Affirms: he’s never advised anyone to get a car payment, regardless of income.

    Dave Ramsey [02:21]: “Have you ever heard me tell anybody in any situation to get a car payment?”

  • Tells the caller point-blank he won’t give “approval to do something stupid” just because the caller deserves a luxury for his hard work.

    Dave Ramsey [02:38]: “I’m not going to give you approval to do something stupid. I love you too much to tell you to do something stupid. You've done too good a job. …For just a minute here, you want to be a four-year-old and I'm not going to let you.”

• If he wants the car, fine—but only after he’s debt-free, emergency fund’s intact, and he can pay cash.

Path to the Porsche (and True Freedom) [03:05–05:05]

• Ramsey suggests waiting a year or so, becoming debt-free, then maybe buying the car for cash.
• Advises selling the rental, which isn’t meaningfully contributing to wealth and “burns too many calories for what it is.”

  Dave Ramsey [03:25]: “Thousand dollars a month is nothing. You want a $250,000 car, you make some…You’re screwing around with 12 grand in Florida.”

• Offers a more reasonable interim reward: use a portion of the signing bonus to buy a quality used Porsche outright.

  Dave Ramsey [04:27]: “The difference in the $250,000 one when you’re driving it, and the $75,000 version that’s a few years old is not much.”

• Co-host humorously adds the anxiety caused by owning a super-expensive car (“gastrointestinal distress when it hails outside”) is much greater with a new one!

  Co-host [05:05]: “But the difference in the gastrointestinal distress when it hails outside is a lot.”

The Opportunity Cost & Bigger Wins [05:23–06:34]

• With this income, the caller could

  • Pay off the house in a year.
  • Start family life without debt.
  • Fund a future kid’s college education outright.

  Co-host [05:53]: “With this income in one calendar year, you could have completely paid off your house…You could have $250,000 in cash just ready for that kid…If you can suffer through that [cheaper Porsche] for 24 months, you change the trajectory of everyone in your family.”

• The key lesson: just a couple of disciplined years can create lasting financial change.

  Dave Ramsey [06:08]: “Three to five years early on this purchase from changing everything…”

The Emotional Side: “Grown-up Fatigue” [06:48–07:42]

• Both hosts empathize with “grown-up fatigue”: after years of deferred gratification, it’s tempting to indulge.

  Co-host [07:03]: “I just want to get a bag of Twizzlers and some gummy bears at 4am on my ride home…My adult gets all used up and I just want to act like a kid.”

• But even doctors (with “doc-itis”) need to maintain discipline a little longer.
• Dave reframes delayed gratification as increasing enjoyment and removing guilt from the eventual reward.

Calling for Discipline Even With Success [08:11–End]

• Acknowledges that many high-earning professionals have worked harder (and delayed gratification longer) than their peers.

  Dave Ramsey [08:18]: “And so he's got an extra 10 years of being a grown up. But he also gets the payoff of $650,000 income.”

• The co-host jokes doctors deserve their pay, but that doesn’t change the financial laws of smart behavior.
• Dave appeals to the “grown-up” in the caller to hold out a bit longer for a more meaningful—and unburdened—reward.

  Dave Ramsey [08:34]: “I'm just going to call on the grown up that's down inside there to stay alive for a couple more years…You're going to enjoy the car more because it won't feel like a guilty pleasure. Instead, it'll feel like something you earned.”

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Memorable Quotes

• Dave Ramsey [02:21]: “Have you ever heard me tell anybody in any situation to get a car payment?”
• Dave Ramsey [02:38]: “I'm not going to give you approval to do something stupid. I love you too much to tell you to do something stupid.”
• Dave Ramsey [04:27]: “The difference in the $250,000 one when you’re driving it, and the $75,000 version that’s a few years old is not much.”
• Co-host [05:05]: “The difference in the gastrointestinal distress when it hails outside is a lot.”
• Co-host [05:53]: “With this income in one calendar year, you could have completely paid off your house…You could have $250,000 in cash just ready for that kid…”
• Dave Ramsey [08:34]: “You're going to enjoy the car more because it won't feel like a guilty pleasure. Instead, it'll feel like something you earned.”

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Key Takeaways & Actionable Advice

• Never buy luxury items on credit, even with a high income.
• Achieve debt freedom and a solid emergency fund before major purchases.
• Don’t rationalize financial decisions based on “deserve”—reward yourself only when it won’t sabotage your future.
• With patience and discipline, you can position yourself for truly lasting wealth—then enjoy the luxuries guilt-free.

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For listeners, this episode reinforces Ramsey’s core principle: Success doesn’t change the math—cash is king, and discipline is priceless, no matter your paycheck.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

So, you know, my wife and I, we, we've been living sort of very conservatively. I'm a doctor in training and now I have a big contract coming up. That's $650,000 a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

She makes about. Thank you. She makes $100,000 a year. And so we're projected to make 750 at the end of, after a year of working.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sweet. What kind of doc are you?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Yeah, Cardiology.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, wow. Good for you, man. You've worked hard, you've worked hard to get there. I'm proud of you.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Thank you. Thank you. The training has been very arduous and I feel like I want a Porsche. And my wife is in, is in agreement too that, you know, I've deserved a nice car. I deserve a nice car. The thing is, is I'm not sure if, if I can afford it. And so that's why I called in today.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Do you have any money?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Yeah, so I've saved up about $60,000, which is, I would say like an emergency fund type situation. We own two homes. One is in Florida where I did the beginning of my training, and that one is being rented out and it's generating $1,000 a month after all the taxes and bills are paid.

[Dave Ramsey]

Does it have a mortgage on it?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Yeah, it does. It has $150,000 left on it.

[Dave Ramsey]

And in your current home, what is it worth?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

That one is $300,000 or it's worth about probably 450. We bought it just a year ago and we have 300,000 left on it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So how much do you have in cash to buy your car with?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Well, that's the thing. I'm going to get a sign on bonus of between 75 to $100,000. So I wanted to, I wanted to use that to get the car.

[Dave Ramsey]

She wanted about $75,000. Car?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

No, the, the car itself is. I was thinking about a 200, $250,000 car.

[Dave Ramsey]

Remember that part where you opened the show, opened the call and you said, I'm a big fan.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Hey, hold on. What about your message?

[Dave Ramsey]

How much you've listened to the show, have you ever heard me told anybody in any situation to get a car payment?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

No, no, you know, I know, I know. You say don't do the car payment and I'm just, I'm searching for, I don't know, some kind of approval.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, because, oh, it's crazy. I'm not going to give you approval do something stupid. I love you too much to tell you to do something stupid. You've done too good a job. This is. Listen, you've been a grown up for so long. For just a minute here, you want to be a four year old and I'm not going to let you.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

All right.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you want to buy a $250,000 Porsche, I'm fine with that. With your income, as long as you are debt free and you have your emergency fund in place and you pay cash for it.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

I see. So I would probably wait a year or so until I'm debt free and then do it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Yeah, that sounds good.

[Dave Ramsey]

And what's the house in Florida worth?

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

You said it's worth about 250.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'd probably sell it.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Okay, sell it. And then even if it's cash flowing, you know, a thousand, I don't care.

[Dave Ramsey]

Thousand dollars a month is nothing. You want a $250,000 car, you make some. Or 50,000. You're screwing around with 12 grand in Florida.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Yeah, it's nothing. I got a property manager burning too many.

[Dave Ramsey]

All bull crap. It's burning too many calories for what it is. It's not worth it. I would use that money to build my new life. This is a new chapter. You just closed this other chapter. That house was part of it. And you're trying to act like it's some kind of smart rental property thing. It's not. And just start your life fresh. And if you want to buy a $250,000 car, you are able to do that when you can pay cash for it. It's a lot, but you could do that. And you deserve it when you can pay for it. Until then, you don't deserve it. I deserve it because I work hard. Wah. Everybody works hard. Okay. Your work has paid off beautifully again. I'm proud of you. You got an incredible income and you've worked really hard to get here. I don't doubt that. But working really hard to get to do something that's not financially smart is not a plan. I want to work really hard, so I want to hurt myself. No, that's not a reward for her working hard. No, I want you to get a nice car. I tell you what I would do in the meantime. I'd put that house up for sale and I take some of that signing bonus and I'd go buy a used Porsche for cash. That's not the 250. And get you on and enjoy the ride. Because honestly, they're great cars. I'VE driven them, most of them, including the 251. And the difference in the 250 when you're driving it and the $75,000 version that's a few years old is not much.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

But the difference in the gastrointestinal distress when it hails outside is a lot.

[Caller (Cardiologist)]

Better.

[Dave Ramsey]

One of those doctor parking spots inside the parking garage? Yeah, dude, the cardiologist spot inside the garage.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Here's another way to look at this. With this income in one calendar year, you could have completely paid off your house. You could have no house payment for.

[Dave Ramsey]

The rest of your life.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

For the rest of your life. And if you give yourself six more months, you don't even have kids yet. I'm assuming you could have a fully funded. You could have $250,000 in cash just ready for that kid to be born into to go to college. Like you have an opportunity if you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Will just drive a hundred thousand dollar board.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Yeah, yeah. Drive a hundred thousand dollar Porsche. And if you can suffer through that and for 24 months, you change the trajectory of everyone in your family. And Dave, I used to always tell grad students with their med students, law students, if you will just, you're three.

[Dave Ramsey]

To five minutes, three to five years early on this purchase from changing everything every, if you, if you delay the purchase that long and, and I know you've been working hard and I know you put in the hours and you're a smart guy or you wouldn't have been. You, you can't do this.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

You can take a heart out of a person and put another one in like you, you, you're obviously good at what you do, man. But dude, dude, dude, dude. Two years and you change everything.

[Dave Ramsey]

And let's just be real clear. You called me and asked me if you could get a car payment. So you know, we can't, we can't.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

You know, you're not that smart.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm just.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

No, dude, I, I, Dave, you, you know what? You nailed it because I've been there when it's like I would go to all day as dean of students, then I would go to a crisis call in the middle of the night and then I'd wake up.

[Dave Ramsey]

My grown up is used up.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

I just want to get a bag of Twizzlers and some gummy bears at 4am on my ride home and it's.

[Dave Ramsey]

Like chase it with a Mountain Dew.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Just be a grown up for a few more minutes, right? Yes, you're right. My adult gets all used up and I just want to act Like a kid. And you can do that. You can afford it. I could do it, but man, it just cost you. Just cost you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

That's a great way to put that, Dave. I've never thought of it that way.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's. Well, we all do it. I mean we run. We. It's.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

I've been under control. I've been under control. I just want to hit that guy. Right?

[Dave Ramsey]

And it's, it's. Oh yeah, that one. Yeah. And, but yeah, the. Yeah and the. You never struggle with that, the cost of that.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Yeah, I've been nice. I've been nice. I've been nice.

[Dave Ramsey]

He really needs his nose broken. But the. Yeah, that's a real thing. And what I'm trying to tap into with all these docs because they get this doc itis thing is they do, they're such a grown up for so long because I mean while he's been doing fellowship, residency, med school, the guys he went to high school with a decade ago started partying.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Oh yeah, A decade ago. They're already in the lobby to see him because their hearts are huge. Because they're about to explode.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And so he's got an extra 10 years of being a grown up. But he also gets the payoff of 650. That's right, $650,000 income. And I don't want a doctor who's underpaid. So I want my doctors to be paid.

[Financial Expert/Co-host]

Pay my cardiologist as much as you can get away with.

[Dave Ramsey]

I want them to be paid a lot. So I'm happy for you, Mo. And I'm just going to call on the grown up Mo that's down inside there to stay alive for a couple more years. And if you do that, you're going to be in a lot better shape. You're going to enjoy the car more because it won't feel like a guilty pleasure. Instead it'll feel like something you earned. Create your free everydollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.