“My Husband Wants To Get Rich Quick”

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights – Episode Summary

Episode: “My Husband Wants To Get Rich Quick”

Date: January 11, 2026
Host(s): Dave Ramsey (A), Co-host (C), Caller - Nicole (B)
Podcast: The Ramsey Show Highlights (Ramsey Network)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around a caller, Nicole, who seeks advice on navigating marital and financial tensions caused by her husband’s risky, debt-driven real estate strategies. She feels pressured to support high-risk financial decisions and is unsure how to set healthy boundaries without seeming disrespectful. Dave Ramsey and his co-host deliver candid counsel on respectful disagreement within marriage, the realities of real estate “get rich quick” schemes, and essential next steps when facing overwhelming debt.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Respect vs. Enabling in Marriage

• Nicole is concerned that disagreeing with her risk-loving husband is disrespectful.
• Dave Ramsey (A) clarifies the difference between respect and enabling poor decision-making:
  • "You're not called to respect your husband if every time he gets in a car, he drives it into a ditch. You go, you suck at driving. That's not disrespectful of your husband as a husband. It's disrespectful of his driving ability..." (00:44)
  • He urges Nicole not to confuse respecting her spouse with endorsing or tolerating “idiocy” or incompetence.

2. Nicole’s Financial Situation

• Nicole describes a “problem property” draining their finances, forcing them to max out credit cards and consider taking on more debt just to break even. Her husband insists they must keep going; Nicole disagrees.
• The hosts probe for specifics:
  • Properties owned: Three total, one is a persistent problem (02:57).
  • Amount owed: $6 million on troublesome property (03:05, 03:40).
  • Value: Roughly matches loan; the appraisal is “just over six” million (03:46).
  • It's a commercial apartment complex with poor cash flow and difficult tenants (03:54, 06:23).

3. Analysis & Action Steps

• Loan Recourse Clarification:
  • Dave repeatedly stresses confirming whether the loan is non-recourse, i.e., if they can “walk away” without personal liability (04:27, 04:38).
  • "Just because it's in an LLC doesn't mean he didn't sign it personally." (04:38)
  • Urges Nicole to get clarity: “I want you to be sure you’re not personally liable.” (05:09)
• Avoid Good Money After Bad:
  • Dave cautions against putting “good money after bad” by accruing further debt (05:36).
  • If the property’s upside is limited, and only more debt keeps it afloat, selling—even at breakeven or a loss—or handing over the keys may be preferable (05:09, 05:36).
• Spousal Agreement is Essential:
  • No major financial moves without both partners’ consent:
    • “We don't do big deals...without both being in agreement, period.” (06:54)
    • Even buying “things of size” or making large donations requires consensus.
  • If Nicole’s concerns are continually dismissed, it signals a problem that goes beyond money and requires professional help (06:37).

4. Communication & Marital Health

• The hosts emphasize that healthy marriages require both parties to have a voice, particularly in major decisions.
  • “That means she's a full grown woman with an opinion is all that means.” (08:25)
• Disagreements are inevitable and not inherently disrespectful.
  • Dave jokes: “We're hillbillies, so arguing is an art form.” (08:08)
• When conflict persists or escalates, couples counseling may be necessary.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• **On Respect
**
  “That's not disrespectful... That's just enabling. Then when you give respect and you give a compliment for something that he actually does right, we don't know if it's real... No, no. He can't drive a car. He keeps running in the ditch... that's not disrespecting the position. You love your man. You love your husband. You think he's a good guy. It's just he sucks at driving.”
  — Dave Ramsey (00:44–01:40)

• On Financial Reality
  “It's good money after bad is what you're thinking and I am too, but I don't know. I want you to verify the numbers and I'm not sure if you’re just pissed off or if that's the real numbers.”
  — Dave Ramsey (05:36)

• On Spousal Unity in Major Decisions
  “We don't do big deals...without both being in agreement, period.”
  — Dave Ramsey (06:54)

• On the Role of Disagreement in Marriage
  “I do not think my wife is a bad Christian wife because sometimes she looks at me and goes, oh, I don't like that.”
  — Dave Ramsey (08:08)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [00:06] – Nicole introduces dilemma: husband keeps risking more debt with real estate.
• [00:44] – Dave breaks down respect vs. enabling in relationships.
• [03:05] – Exact scale of financial trouble revealed: $6 million owed.
• [03:46] – Property value: barely covers loan, commercial/residential complex.
• [04:27–05:09] – Dave examines personal liability, stresses recourse clarification.
• [05:36] – Discussion about avoiding throwing “good money after bad.”
• [06:54] – Ramsey principle: never major purchases without unified agreement.
• [08:08] – Dave normalizes marital disagreements.

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Summary Takeaways

• Disagreement over major financial risks does not equate to disrespect—enabling is more dangerous than assertive disagreement.
• When real estate investments threaten family stability, verify facts, clarify liability, resist further personal debt, and seriously consider cutting losses.
• Joint consent is non-negotiable in healthy marriages for significant financial (and life) decisions. Persistent unilateral decisions indicate a deeper relational issue needing professional intervention.
• Open, honest, even uncomfortable conversations are marks of a healthy partnership—not disrespect.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

I'm in the situation where I very much want to trust my husband's judgment on finances and our future. But we've hit, like a rocky patch here where we just keep. Well, he just keeps kind of digging us into more and more debt in like, the hopes that we'll get out of it one day with some this risky real estate world stuff. And I don't know how to dig ourselves out of that and, like, maintain respectful marital boundaries doing that. And I just. My opinion kind of gets thrown aside because I'm not as risky. I don't want to take risks.

[C]

Well, it's not the risk. It's the get rich quick. Right?

[B]

The get rich quick. I'm not a fan of that strategy.

[A]

So here's the deal. You're not called to respect your husband. If every time he gets in a car, he drives it into a ditch. You go, you suck at driving. That's not disrespectful of your husband as a husband. It's disrespectful of his driving ability. Cause he sucks at driving. So don't get this confused that somehow respect is. I'm supposed to turn a blind eye to idiocy. That's not respect. That's just enabling. Then when you give respect and you give a compliment for something that he actually does. Right. We don't know if it's real. Because you also endorse stupid stuff and call it respect. No, no. He can't drive a car. He keeps running in the ditch. Honey, you need driving lessons. And I'm not riding with your butt until you learn how to drive. You suck at driving. That's not really. I mean, some version of that. Nicer than that. Is not disrespectful. That's not disrespecting. The position of that. You love your man. You love your husband. You think he's a good guy. It's just he sucks at driving.

[C]

Telling him the truth, and even a good friend would do that.

[A]

And he sucks at handling money. His views of money are broken. So that's how you balance it. You don't balance it. You're gotten confused about what respect means. It doesn't mean turning a blind eye to misbehavior or incompetence. That's not respect.

[C]

So tell us what he's. What hole you're in and what he's thinking of doing next to get out.

[B]

Yeah. So it's this week that this would be happening. And my answer is like, I don't want to do this. And so he, his opinion is we have to do this. And so that's why I'm so glad you took my call. Our hole that we're in is that he has a very problematic property. It's always been a problem property and it always takes the cash flow of my small business and his other cash flowing property. But it's hit the point now where we have to max out credit cards, which is against my everything to basically use those as to pay for all of the construction, all the things. And now it's hit a point where the threshold so high we have to take out a bigger loan to just cover everything to try and get it to sell.

[C]

How many properties? How many properties do you have total?

[B]

We now have three and we've been trying to get rid of this one for a while. It's just a troublesome problem.

[A]

What do you owe on it?

[B]

$6 million.

[D]

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[A]

What do you owe on it?

[B]

$6 million.

[C]

And what's it worth?

[B]

It just got appraised at like, like just over six. Not much though.

[C]

Is it residential or is it.

[B]

It's a commercial apartment complex. Residential.

[A]

And so you can't sell it for what you owe on it.

[B]

We, we can sell it. It's. It just takes so long to sell them. Like it's always takes over a year to like get the packages put together. So, so he says like again, I'm not in this world. I don't know what this all really means. Which is why I wanted to ask like if we just walked away from this mortgage and. But here take it like we're not personally liable for it. It's business liability.

[C]

Yeah, but that's.

[A]

No, I'm not. Are you sure you're not personally liable for it?

[B]

I am, I'm 90% sure.

[A]

I'm not.

[B]

Okay. Again, this is why I don't know what I.

[A]

They make non recourse loans but sell them as small as $6 million. If it's a non recourse loan and you can walk away from it. Yeah, I just walk away from it because it's not worth what you owe on it. If it's a non recourse loan, put the keys in a shoebox and tell them to come get them. But I don't think it is. I want you to be sure you're not personally liable. Just because it's in an LLC doesn't mean he didn't sign it personally.

[B]

Yeah, I think it's a non recourse loan, but I can be sure before I get that.

[A]

But if your numbers are correct. Okay, if it's an $8 million property, it's going to take a little while to sell it. Then let's sell it for seven million or six and a half and get a little bit out of it and sell it. But if your numbers are correct that it's worth what you owe on it and your only option to keep the thing running is to go deeper in debt again and this time personally in order to fix up this property.

[B]

Yeah, that's the option.

[A]

No, I'm not doing that. It's good money after bad is what you're thinking and I am too, but I don't know. I want you to verify the numbers and I'm not sure if you're just pissed off or if that's the real numbers. So I want you to get in there. Well, I want, I want him to say it.

[C]

Yeah. Because what if happens if you tell them, hey, I want to start the process of selling this today. I don't want to do.

[A]

We're not. I'm not going to borrow money on it. No, we're not that. Okay, that's off the table. Now what are we going to do? We either going to give it back or we're going to sell it as is. What are we going. Which one are we going to do? Well, we can't give it back. I did sign personally. Oh crap. Now then you got to sell it, right. Because you're going to get your butt sued. So. But if you, if it's a non. If it's a non recourse and it truly is worth six before I put another million into this sinkhole. Yeah. And, and this is a lower income property and it's a pain in the butt to manage. I can tell by the way you're talking about it. You got a bunch of crummy renters and it's not. It's not. It's not a fun property to own.

[C]

And by the way, if you say your opinion on this and do what Dave said and your husband says that that doesn't matter and he goes ahead and does what he wants to do, that's also your signal that you guys need help beyond. This is no longer a money problem at that point, right?

[A]

Yeah, we don't do big deals. We don't do deals of size, whatever size is at the Ramsey's without both being in agreement, period. And at the wash house as well, you know, I mean, we don't give, we don't give large sums to a charity or a ministry. We don't buy things of size without talking about it. And the things that we buy that aren't of size, we have talked about it in the form of it's a category and a budget. So it fits. And so, you know, you can buy that beef tenderloin, it's in the food budget. But that's, you know, whatever. So. But because yeah, that's the whole thing. So, Nicole, the deal is this, you guys are running on two different tracks and you get on the same track. That's first and foremost as far as the particular property goes. Then that if you get on the same track, that'll better inform what to do with the property and you'll feel better about if you decide to keep it and work it and you use some of the cash flow. But so far it's not been a blessing, it's been a curse.

[C]

But Dave, I like how you set up the very beginning because we get that call a lot about a spouse feeling like it's being disrespectful to go. To go in the opposite direction of what their spouse is saying.

[A]

I don't know. We're hillbillies, so arguing is an art form. So I don't know. I mean, we. I do not think my wife is a bad Christian wife because sometimes she looks at me and goes, oh, I don't like that.

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

That means like she's a full grown woman with an opinion is all that means. Create your free every dollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.