Building Wealth Is a Journey – Don’t Rush the Process

Summary

Summary of “Building Wealth Is a Journey – Don’t Rush the Process” Episode of The Ramsey Show

Release Date: November 20, 2024

In this enlightening episode of The Ramsey Show, host Dave Ramsey and co-host Jade Washaw explore the intricate journey of building wealth, emphasizing patience and strategic planning over rushing the process. The episode features heartfelt caller interactions, expert financial advice, and a dedicated segment showcasing real millionaires who have achieved financial success through disciplined approaches.

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1. Handling Hidden Debt Amid Personal Tragedy

Caller: Daniel from Kansas City
Timestamp: 00:48

Daniel reaches out to discuss a devastating situation where his wife, who is battling liver cirrhosis, has secretly accumulated significant debt before their marriage. This revelation has left Daniel overwhelmed as he grapples with the impending loss of his wife and the financial implications.

Key Points:

• Hidden Debt: Daniel discovers his wife incurred $50,000 in debt prior to their marriage, although he currently faces a bill of $15,000 from a collection agency.
• Type of Debt: Likely federally insured student loans, which are forgiven upon the borrower’s death.
• Financial Implications: Dave reassures Daniel that if the debt is indeed federal student loans, he will not be held liable after his wife’s passing.

Notable Quote:

• Dave Ramsey (04:00): “Student loan debt that is federally insured is forgiven when someone passes away... don’t pay it.”

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2. Homeownership Aspirations on a Limited Salary

Caller: Rachel from Cleveland, Ohio
Timestamp: 10:42

Rachel, earning an annual salary of $42,000 working full-time in ministry, inquires about the feasibility of owning a home and retiring comfortably.

Key Points:

• Current Financial Status: Rachel is debt-free except for her mortgage and is actively paying down $7,000 in debt.
• Home Prices: She has found homes priced between $80,000 and $120,000 in her small town.
• Advice: Dave encourages Rachel by highlighting the affordability of her target home prices relative to her income and recommends utilizing Ramsey’s home mortgage calculator to plan effectively.

Notable Quote:

• Dave Ramsey (12:25): “And you’re in ministry. And the stuff that we teach is biblical principles of finance, which is stay out of debt, save money, live on a written plan.”

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3. Strategic Mortgage Payoff Decisions

Caller: John from Boise, Idaho
Timestamp: 23:08

John seeks advice on whether to make a substantial principal payment on his $165,000 mortgage or continue saving his $142,000 in the bank.

Key Points:

• Interest Rate Consideration: With a 3.7% mortgage rate, Dave advises that paying down the principal can save interest over time.
• Emergency Fund: Emphasizes maintaining a 3-6 month emergency fund before making large payments toward the mortgage.

Notable Quote:

• Dave Ramsey (18:42): “You do have to make sure that you pay yourself first. I started maxing out my 401k in my very early 50s with some home equity.”

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4. "Baby Steps Millionaires" Theme Hour

A significant segment of the episode is dedicated to the "Baby Steps Millionaires" Theme Hour, where Dave Ramsey and Jade Washaw interview real millionaires who have built their wealth through disciplined financial practices rather than inheritance or luck.

Featured Millionaires:

1. Charlie and Stacy from Midland, Texas
   Timestamp: 42:59

   • Net Worth: $10.8 million
   • Financial Journey: Utilized the envelope budgeting system and adhered strictly to Ramsey’s Baby Steps, achieving financial freedom over 34 years without relying on inheritance.

   Notable Quote:

   • Dave Ramsey (43:01): “Let me help you with this. A millionaire is a million dollar or greater net worth. It is a math process.”

2. Matt from Kansas City, Missouri
   Timestamp: 55:21

   • Net Worth: $1.5 million
   • Financial Journey: Transitioned from high debt to millionaire status through budgeting, saving, and investing without any inheritance.

   Notable Quote:

   • Dave Ramsey (59:27): “Wow. 1.5 million dollar net worth in 15 years from being broke.”

3. Megan from Raleigh, North Carolina
   Timestamp: 68:52

   • Net Worth: $1.9 million
   • Financial Journey: Achieved wealth by following disciplined financial habits and maximizing retirement contributions from a young age.

   Notable Quote:

   • Dave Ramsey (72:11): “$2 million net worth at 35 years old. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. She wins.”

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5. Debunking Myths About Millionaires

Dave challenges prevalent misconceptions that millionaires largely inherit their wealth or engage in unethical practices to accumulate riches. He presents data from a study of over 10,000 millionaires, revealing that 79% did not inherit any wealth, while only 5% received minor inheritances, and another 5% inherited substantial amounts after already achieving millionaire status.

Notable Quote:

• Dave Ramsey (52:57): “So 79% of America's millionaires and have inherited precisely zero. That's 8 out of 10.”

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6. Emphasizing the Importance of Budgeting

Budgeting emerges as a cornerstone of financial success throughout the episode. Callers like Matt highlight how tools like the envelope system have provided clear visualizations of their spending and savings, reinforcing disciplined financial habits.

Notable Quote:

• Matt (47:42): “We followed the envelope system and I carried around envelopes. The white envelope with I penciled on each envelope...”

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7. Ethical Wealth-Building and Integrity

Dave underscores that ethical behavior and integrity are fundamental to sustainable wealth accumulation. He distinguishes between the genuine millionaires featured in the theme hour and the negative stereotypes often portrayed in media, advocating for a mindset of intentional financial growth grounded in honesty and responsibility.

Notable Quote:

• Dave Ramsey (53:41): “They don’t have to have that kind of money. It’s not a moral construct... it’s a math thing.”

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8. Inspirational Success Stories

The episode concludes with inspiring accounts from individuals like Richard from Kansas City, who shares his journey from inheriting modest sums to building a substantial net worth through strategic investments and disciplined financial practices.

Notable Quote:

• Dave Ramsey (75:43): “You did it without those things... but your 401k has to be payroll deduct.”

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Conclusion

“The Ramsey Show” episode “Building Wealth Is a Journey – Don’t Rush the Process” serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding and embarking on the path to financial freedom. Through real-life stories, practical advice, and debunking common myths, Dave Ramsey and Jade Washaw illuminate the principles of disciplined budgeting, strategic saving, responsible investing, and maintaining integrity as key to building lasting wealth. The episode reinforces that financial success is attainable through patience, intentional planning, and adherence to proven financial strategies.

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Note: Timestamps in this summary correspond to the original transcript segments for reference.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual amazing relationships. Jade wash all Ramsey personality number one best selling author is my co host today as we answer your questions about life and money. The phone number is, call-8825-5225. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for joining us. Daniel is in Kansas City. Hey, Daniel, how are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

I've been better, Dave. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve, sir. What's up in your world?

[Jade Weshaw]

My wife is about to pass away and she hid debt from me.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, my.

[Jade Weshaw]

That I didn't know that she had pre to our getting married five years ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. I'm so sorry. So what is her illness?

[Jade Weshaw]

She has cirrhosis of the liver and it's not working and she doesn't qualify for a transplant. And then it's starting to affect her other organs and she's kind of going into full shutdown.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you've been married five years?

[Jade Weshaw]

Yes, sir.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm so sorry. How old is she?

[Jade Weshaw]

She's 44.

[Caller]

Oh, my goodness.

[Dave Ramsey]

Whoo. How old are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

I'm 52.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Oh, man. Okay. And you open this with. She's hidden debt from you during the five years that you were married. So she ran up debt in her name.

[Jade Weshaw]

She ran up dead in her name pretar getting married back when she was in college. This is the second marriage for both of us. I had one daughter with her, technically a stepdaughter, but I consider her my daughter totally. And was saving money for her to go to college. And we were. I thought we were anyway debt free except for our house.

[Caller]

So the debt. The debt was rung up before you guys married got married. You just didn't know about it.

[Jade Weshaw]

I did not know about it.

[Dave Ramsey]

And how much debt?

[Jade Weshaw]

Her parents said she ran up $50,000. But I've only received a bill for 15,000 and it's on.

[Dave Ramsey]

What kind of debt? Student loan debt, Federally insured.

[Jade Weshaw]

I don't know. I just received it the other day. It's actually from a bill collection agency. I don't have it in front of me. I apologize.

[Caller]

Is it only. You might not know this. Is it only in her name or did her parents sign for it too?

[Jade Weshaw]

No, it's only in her name. Her parents offered to pay for her to go to school as long as she showed them the grades. And evidently she took the money was in school for a hot minute. And I didn't know this because she's hidden A bunch of stuff from me and used the money to go travel and went to Europe and blew the money.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right, well, let's talk through a couple of possibilities from a tactical standpoint. I'm sorry, Daniel. I know your heart's broken in about three different places. The deception, the loss, the illness, everything that's going on here, that's just overwhelming. And all of that's just a tragedy. I'm so sorry. Student loan debt that is federally insured is forgiven when someone passes away. Okay, so if this is a federal student loan debt, there's no issue when she passes away, you will. Or her parents, for that matter, can send them a copy of the death certificate and the student loan just evaporates. It's that simple. And don't pay it. Okay, that's probably what we're dealing with. Okay, let's go another route in case that's not it. Let's pretend this is private student loan debt, that she borrowed it from the university rather than through FAFSA and all that. Right. And that is not.

[Jade Weshaw]

I'm sorry, I believe she did because her parents income was too high for her to get fafsa.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, this is student. It could. Because there's not an income limit on getting a federally insured student loan.

[Jade Weshaw]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I'm thinking this is a federally insured student loan. If it's not, let's discuss that. So the. Do you own anything jointly with her and both of your names on it?

[Jade Weshaw]

The only thing with both our names on it is one car.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

Her credit. Her credit from her previous marriage was she's had two bankruptcies that she never told me about because I. I had money issues in my first marriage and got that all paid off. And I got your book, the total money makeover and followed that to get out of debt and to do.

[Dave Ramsey]

There's a mountain. Mountain of deception here. Okay. All right, let's pretend. Let's pretend that this is not federally insured. I would have you con. If it's not a federally insured student loan that is forgiven upon death, then I would have you contact an attorney there in Kansas City on probate law in Kansas. In most states, when someone passes away, what they own stands good for what they owe and nothing else does. Just because you're married to her in most states does not mean you're liable for her debts that have her name on it. And so the car is hers, a portion of it. And if the car has any value above what is owed that might be sold and paid towards this Debt, but other than that, you don't have anything that is. She doesn't own anything. It doesn't sound like.

[Jade Weshaw]

No, sir, she does not.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so let's pretend that she were single and she had a car and that was all. And she owed more on the car than it was worth. And you pass away with credit card debt and student loan debt. There's no assets to pay the debts. Those creditors get nothing when that person passes away with nothing. Your kids aren't responsible, your parents aren't responsible, and in most states, your husband is not responsible unless. Especially in a situation like this, where the debt occurred prior to the marriage.

[Caller]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I'm not an attorney in Kansas. I'm not an attorney, but I'm not attorney in Kansas for sure. So I'd want you to check that out. You won't have to bother and do that if you can discover that these student loans are federally insured. And I'm giving you a high probability they are. If they're federally insured, it's no issue at all. You got no issue. You're not liable, period. No one's liable. No one pays anything. If someone becomes permanently disabled or passes away with a federally insured student loan, it's forgiven, it's gone. So you're okay other than your broken heart.

[Jade Weshaw]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And your broken heart from losing your wife and to liver cirrhosis. Cirrhosis of the liver and your broken heart from all the deception that's gone on. And both are legitimate pain. Brother, I'm sorry you're facing all this.

[Caller]

Yeah, he's got to. He's got to get in counseling and deal with that because he's got a lot going on. He's got the loss. But then it's tough to lose someone that you're angry at or frustrated at or something that's gone on. Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so obviously, obviously, she had a pattern of this in her life and. And now it's coming to a tragic.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Conclusion.

[Caller]

So tough.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Ouch. Ouch. This is the Ramsey Show. Are you working the baby steps? One of the smartest and most impactful changes you can make is to ditch your cash value life insurance plan, if you have one, and replace it with a term life policy. Listen, the only thing a cash value policy is good for is overcharging you for the life insurance and then paying you a crappy rate of return on your overpayment. Stop wasting your money and really focus on getting out of debt and growing your savings for over 25 years. I've trusted and used Zander Insurance to find the best rates on term life insurance from the top rated companies. They keep the whole thing simple. You can apply online or over the phone and they even have low cost plans that don't require an exam. Go to zander.com or call 800-356-4282 even if you don't have a cash value policy. If you're one of the 70% of people who have no life insurance or not enough, it's even more important to get this done. 800-356-4282 or Zander Jade Washaw Ramsey personality is my co host today. Well guys, Black Friday deals are here early. Whether you're shopping for yourself or you're looking for the perfect gift to help someone get their money in order, now's the time to shop and get hard cover. Books and assessments for just $12, audio books for just $8. Rachel Cruz's brand new book that came out yesterday, the third kids book in the series. I'm glad when I it's here in time for Christmas 1999. Whether you're shopping for your own kids or your nieces or nephews, you can gift the joy of giving the season. It's fun and relatable and it helps kids discover why generosity matters. A lesson that will last a lifetime. Don't wait. Check out our early Black Friday deals today. Get gifts for everyone on your [e-mail] store or if you're on YouTube or podcast, just click the link there in the notes. Rachel's with us. Rachel is in Cleveland, Ohio. Hi Rachel. How are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

I'm doing well, thanks. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Jade Weshaw]

I have a question and it is can I, can, can I reasonably consider homeownership in my future? At my salary point, it is. I make about $42,000 a year before taxes. I work full time in ministry. I love what I do. And it's just my question is, can I retire well, someday and have home ownership as part of my future?

[Dave Ramsey]

How?

[Jade Weshaw]

35.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right, cool.

[Caller]

I think that it's possible. I think that right now you make 42, 000, but I can't imagine that your salary will never go up. So I think that there's an opportunity there. But it is going to depend on the decisions you make today. So my first question would be, do you have debt? Tell me a little bit more about your snapshot here.

[Jade Weshaw]

Okay, so I do have a little bit of debt. I have about 7,000. I'm working on paying it off. According to my figures, I'll probably be debt free by June or July.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

I've paid off about 12,000 to date so far this year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you.

[Caller]

Very good. Okay. And so after that, you're just walking the baby steps through, which anybody can do. The speed in which this happens is going to be directly reflected by your salary. So I'm not going to say that it doesn't matter. And there is something to that. And then the other part of this is, okay, are we choosing an affordable place to live? You're in Cleveland, Ohio. I mean, what's it cost for you to buy something for. Are you single?

[Jade Weshaw]

I am single, yes. And I don't live quite in Cleveland. I live in a small town. I've seen quite a few houses recently for between 80 and 120,000.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

It would be kind of what I was looking at.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's very doable on your income.

[Caller]

And what I would do is we've got a really great home mortgage calculator. It's like, how much home can I afford? And so if I were in your shoes, I'd be trying to put real numbers to these question marks and I'd say, okay, first things first. Yeah. How long is it going to take me to pay off this 7,000 then? How long is it going to take me to save three to six months of expenses then? And a lot of those equations, if I were you, Rachel, I would reverse engineer them and say, okay, for three to six months of expenses. Let's say I need $10,000. If I do the math on what I'm making now, it's going to take me X amount of time, and then you get to decide, is that time frame okay with me? Because if it's not okay with me, what do I need to do to make that go faster? And even though you're in ministry, I got to believe that you've got time on your hands to add to your. Your income by doing a side hustle. Right.

[Jade Weshaw]

I do have a second job. I work about 12 to 14 hours a week in a second job.

[Caller]

Okay, cool.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Hey, what is. What is your ministry? What do you do?

[Jade Weshaw]

I work in a children's ministry. We are basically a discipleship program for kids.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Very good. That's about as worthy a thing as I can think a human can do. Way to go. Proud of you.

[Jade Weshaw]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

So here's the thing. The probability that 15 years from today, you're 50 years old and you're doing this Exact same thing. Making this exact same income is zero. There's no chance, okay, you will either be making some more, you might still be there doing this, but you'll be making some more. But even the probability of that, just saying, okay, I'm going to be making 52,000, 15 years from now doing the exact same thing. And I'm a 50 year old single lady doing children's ministry at that point. That's fairly low. I mean, you're pretty much Mother Teresa if you're doing that. Okay, you just got the one thing and you stuck with it all the way through. Right? And that's not a bad thing. Mother Teresa's obviously had a good gig, right? So you know, that's fine if you go that direction, but it's just not the normal path for a typical person in America. And so what oftentimes happens is that you find other ways to serve children and you scale it and your income goes up and your expertise and your experience becomes more valuable in the marketplace. It might involve a move, it might involve some kind of life change in your situation, I don't know. But typically what happens is that people progress through their life, right? And that includes their income. And sometimes it means some stair stepping on their careers and those types of things. So I think that's really your future. I just don't know what, I don't know how to describe it exactly, but I think we can all agree the probability of you being 50 and making exactly the same money, doing exactly the same thing is very low.

[Jade Weshaw]

And even if I do, there's a slight increase every year. I do know that much.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, but I'm just saying, even that's a slight increase, it's not 42. So the average household income is 78,000 in America. That's household. And that includes a whole lot of dinks, double income, no kids. Okay? So that's calculated into that. So your income is slightly below the average today. And that's not a sin. There's nothing wrong with that. And that doesn't mean you can't do the stuff we just talked about, but you just kind of keep that. That's my deal. And then you're in ministry. And the stuff that we teach is biblical principles of finance, which is stay out of debt, save money, live on a written plan. Those are all from the Bible. Live on less than you make. Those are all from the Bible. And if you do that and start investing a portion of your income into a good Roth ira, you could have a serious amount of money. At retirement and not have a substantial change in income.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you stayed this track. Exact.

[Caller]

Yeah. You're just committing to a more modest lifestyle at the end of the day. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's your value that you get to choose.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Don't call me. You can't call me and say I was forced to buy a new car.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can't call me and say I, I was. I was so tired and fatigued from ministry that I. I took a year off and went to Europe. You can't call me and do that. That's not. No, you don't have these options. You don't have the money to do that. So you're in a steady thing and you're going to be a steady person. That. But I like your $80,000, $100,000 house idea. It fits the numbers you're giving me. You're not, you're not being a princess in this, a negative princess in this discussion. So I don't hear that coming from you, but you don't have those options.

[Caller]

Yeah. You're driving a used Camry for the foreseeable future.

[Dave Ramsey]

Exactly. Exactly. And that's not a bad thing.

[Caller]

It's not a bad thing. I think that those are the choices that we make when we decide, you know, where our passions are going to take us in life, career wise.

[Dave Ramsey]

So godliness with contentment is great gain. Rodney is in Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, Rodney. Welcome to the Ramsey show.

[Jade Weshaw]

Hello, Mr. Dave. I'm actually, I'm in South Carolina.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, that works, too. How can I help?

[Jade Weshaw]

Yeah, yeah. Yes. I'm. I just got a question. A few. A couple of questions. I'm in pretty good shape financially. I have managed to save in cash and sitting at a bank, $142,000. And I don't. I have zero. I have zero consumer debt. No loans. No, no, not anything but my mortgage. I owe $165,000 on my mortgage and which I'm gonna be able to. If I have another good 20, 25, I'll be able to pay that off next year. So what up? My question is, do I, Do I put anything down on my house now? Do I? Because I've been thinking about just writing a check for $100,000 and putting it straight towards the principal and only owe the 65,000 on it and then just pay it off about this time next year.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yep. What's your interest rate on the mortgage?

[Jade Weshaw]

3.7.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. That's what you're making on that 100K. When you do it, you're saving 3.7% on 100K.

[Jade Weshaw]

Okay. About how much? Okay, 3.7% on 100,000. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Because you just paid. You're not going to be charged 3.7% on that 100,000 because you paid it off.

[Caller]

Paid it off.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I might pay more than that. I don't know what your emergency fund of three to six months of expenses is, but that's all you need. Everything above that ought to be dumping towards that mortgage. We're on, baby. Step six and wide open. Way to go, Rodney. This is the Ramsey Show. Hey, guys. I've never done this before, but I'm partnering with a nutrition company, Field of Greens. Each fruit and vegetable in field of greens is selected by doctors to support heart, liver and kidney health plus metabolism for healthy weight. And your doctor will notice your improved health or field of Greens will give you your money back. I can get get behind a promise like that. Go to fieldofgreens.com Ramsey and get 15% off with promo code Ramsay field of greens.com Ramsey Jade, Wash All Ramsey personality number one bestselling author is my co host. Today, the Ramsey show question of the day is brought to you by. Why refi? Why refi refinances defaulted private student loans, which are different than federal student loans. Why refi refinances your defaulted private student loan and builds a custom loan based on your ability to pay? So kick your private student loan out of your life by going to yrefi.com Ramsey that's the letter y r e f y.com Ramsey might not be in all states.

[Caller]

All right, today's question comes from Alex in Florida. He says, I'm 42, married with no kids, and my wife and I are retired. We clear almost $10,000 a month from our pensions. We own brand new vehicles that should last us eight years or so. We own a waterfront home, but we are tight. But we were tired of the heat, hurricanes and insurance prices. I bet you are. If we buy our dream home for $1 million in cash, we will have over 400,000 in the bank. We have no bills other than our normal expenses, so we save on average $7,000 a month. I never dreamed I would be contemplating paying a million cash for anything. I've been penny pinching and saving for so long that it feels weird to spend. Is this a stupid idea? Let's see. You're 42, married with no kids. You've got this pension. I would love to know what his current Investing rate is if he's continuing to invest any of this money. He doesn't mention any of that, he'd still have 400,000 in the bank. Let's just pretend that that's it. A lump sum is going to double every seven years. So when he's 52, it'll be 800 and plus. So almost a million. By that, I probably do it. Dave, would you do it?

[Dave Ramsey]

I pay cash for it, yeah. There's no reason not to. My only concern, sitting with the money to do it. What else are you going to do with it? Take out a mortgage and put the money in an investment? No.

[Caller]

Well, the only other option would be. Well, only other option would be to buy something less expensive in cash. In my mind, that would be the only other option.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't see a need to.

[Caller]

I don't either.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think you buy it. Yeah. Pay cash for it. No, you're not stupid. It is an emotional thing to. You've been sitting on money to let that money go into a house, but it's not like you're spending it. If this goes sideways, what, are you going to sell the house for a profit later? I mean.

[Caller]

I mean, here's the thing. He's probably. Most of that money probably wasn't just sitting in an account somewhere. I mean, he's selling the waterfront house to get it, apparently. So that's exactly what you should do. You take the equity, maybe adds a little cash to it, and purchase this house outright.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, absolutely. And let's see here. We own a waterfront home. It doesn't say if it's paid for, but, you know. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm guessing based on this, we're going to sell that, and that's some of the million dollars. But anyway, the answer to your question is yes. Yes. Pay cash. Pay cash. Pay cash. Pay cash. Pay cash now. And then take your $10,000 a month. And I'm with Jade. You ought to be investing some of it. And your 400,000 doesn't need to be in the bank.

[Caller]

That's a good point.

[Dave Ramsey]

It needs to be in some good investments. So get with a smartvestor [e-mail]. find someone that we're endorsing in your area that you get comfortable with that has the heart of a teacher. Start learning about good investments. The bank is not on the list of good investments. John's in Boise, Idaho. Hey, John, what's up?

[Jade Weshaw]

Hi. Thanks for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. How can I help?

[Jade Weshaw]

So my wife and I just paid off our house. And my first instinct was to go ahead and ramp up our retirement contributions and try to max those out as much as possible.

[Dave Ramsey]

Absolutely.

[Jade Weshaw]

But then I'm looking back at what we currently have in our retirement accounts and we got about $623,000 sitting in traditional. And I'm wondering based on our ages, we're 36 and 38 if it would make more sense instead of maxing out new Roth contributions, if we should instead maybe try to focus on converting some of that, those additional or traditional contra traditional retirement contributions to Roth.

[Dave Ramsey]

You ought to do both. You ought to max them out and then start working on converting it to Roth. But I'm not going to, I'm not going to choose between the two. I'm going to max out first and then I'm going to get to the above that I'm going to get to it. What's your income?

[Jade Weshaw]

About 205 household income.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And you got no payments and you live in Boise, Idaho, no house payment or anything. So you're not going to, you're not going to be able to do that 600,000 in a one fell swoop anyway. You don't have the money, right?

[Jade Weshaw]

Well, I mean we also have some like home upgrades and wife's vehicle needs to be upgraded. I'm kind of looking at the extra money beyond maxing out retirement. You know, a lot of that's going to go that direction.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's fine, but that's not a forever thing. And once the home upgrades done, the car upgrades done, then you can start to peck away at it. And five years from today, you're going to be making more than 205. Agreed?

[Jade Weshaw]

Agreed.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So just, you know, you're 30, so take a seven year plan and let's get that 600 moved by the time you're 40 while maxing out, while upgrading the cars, while doing all of this other. You got room.

[Jade Weshaw]

Right. And then the balance of that traditional at 623 now is going to continue to grow. So it's just going to be more taxes that time goes on.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, but that's, that doesn't change it. I'm still going to do. Because here's the thing, you've got that under the umbrella. If you stop putting money under the umbrella in order to flip that out, I think that's a bad move. I want you to get, I want you to get it all over into Roth. All mine's over into Roth. I moved it all over, but I paid cash for it above and beyond maxing out everything and above and beyond being completely debt free and above and beyond upgrading cars and fixing the house. And so, you know, but, but you're not gonna do it quickly unless your income doubles. But you're, you will be able to do it over a five to, you know, a ten year period, seven year period, whatever. I mean, you're not going to be 45 asking this question. I can tell you that mathematically. Okay, so, and so you'll be fine. You're going to get there. And you know, but yes, I think that is a good strategy to move traditional to a Roth.

[Caller]

At what point? Okay, I'm trying to think through this. I'm thinking of a good question here. So if you're listening to the show and you say, oh man, Dave, like I've contributed to a traditional 401k most of my working life, I've got a lot over there. At what point do you go, this is too much to move? Or, and, or what's an, what's a fair percentage to have in traditional versus Roth? Maybe that's the better question.

[Dave Ramsey]

In game, I don't want you to have any in it.

[Caller]

Right. But if you're, if you've been doing that, it's okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, but I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be continuing traditional. I'd move everything to Roth today on fresh contributions. And in game, I want you to move it all out into Roth over a period of time. And here's why. Let's fast forward this 33 year old to 65.

[Caller]

Sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. He's not going to cash all of this out suddenly at retirement anyway.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And very likely this guy making quarter million dollars a year at 33 years old is going to have a bunch of other non retirement investments like Dave.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. I got a bunch of non retirement investments called real estate and other things. Right. Mutual funds that aren't in a retirement plan. So the chances of me actually touching. I'm 64 of ever touching my retirement accounts, it's close to zero.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

I will never touch them. So now what are we doing? Well, now we're looking at 72 and a half RMDs, required minimum distributions. I don't have those. Because it's roth.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Inherited IRAs, they are taxable if they're traditional.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

If they're Roth, they're not.

[Caller]

Ding, ding.

[Dave Ramsey]

So Rachel Cruz and her brother and sister will be getting someday all of our Roth products, no taxes. And guess what? Let's say I live 25 years from today. That's 64 to 90s. Right. Put that, put what's in there right now. All tax free, all dropped into their name. Tax free. Talk about changing a family tree.

[Caller]

My mind is exploding.

[Dave Ramsey]

The numbers are astra freakonomical.

[Caller]

Oh yeah they are.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean it's cray cray how big those numbers are. And that's where this kid's going.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because he's going to have other investments by the time he gets there. And if he gets all of this into Roth, he's got the inheritance benefit, the no RMD benefit, because you're really probably not going to use that money to live on.

[Caller]

It's very good. This is the blueprint.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. I mean, because he's, this guy's not looking at a two million dollar net worth here. This guy's looking at a $12 million.

[Caller]

Going to be very wealthy.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. If he stays on this track because of the numbers we're giving him. With compower, compound interest is magical. People, people, this is beautiful. Man. You are a bright guy, John. You have, you got to run these numbers out. It'll blow your freaking mind. Mortgage rates have dropped. So if you're thinking about buying a home in the next year, contact your local Churchill mortgage team right now. If you wait, more people will be in the market competing for the same homes and potentially driving up prices. Churchill will help you do the math to be sure your budget is correct, making your home a blessing and helping you build lasting wealth. Learn [e-mail] Churchillmortgage.com this is a paid.

[Jade Weshaw]

Advertisement in MLS ID1591NLSConsumeraccess.org Equal Housing Lender, 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100, Brentwood, TN 37027.

[Dave Ramsey]

Jade Washaw, Ramsey, personality, is my co host today. Stacy is in Spokane. Hi Stacy, welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[Jade Weshaw]

Hi Dave. Thank you very much for having me on.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. What's up in your world?

[Jade Weshaw]

Yeah, so I would like to just get an idea of how to deal with our situation. My husband is up in age. He is actually 72, going on 73. He has been working all his life and I am only 49. I have health issues that prevent me from being able to work a full time regular job. And so currently what happened was recently last year we were living on a friend's property taking care of the father, the father of the son that lives there. And we were doing really well. My husband was working. We were doing just fine financially. Unfortunately, we didn't have a home there. And we, we were told that the owners of the property, which is multiple family members, were having a dispute. And so we were having to get out of that situation due to the circumstances. And when we saw what was happening after Covid and everybody losing their homes and losing rentals because people were selling the rentals like crazy. We also had pets, which was. Restricted us from getting into a rental. So we decided to go ahead and purchase a home, knowing that technically the economy wasn't great for doing that. My husband makes about with Social Security included because he gets his retirement Social Security as well as his income, that is about 90,000 a year. We purchased a home last October at the price of 423.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good Lord.

[Jade Weshaw]

And unfortunately, the interest rate was at 6%, like 6.2. And so right now, currently I still owe a school loan debt of about 20,000. I was hospitalized this last summer and now owe $10,000 for a one night stay. And so. And then also my daughter, there's no schools in our area that are safe for her to attend, unfortunately. And so we had to send her to a boarding school.

[Caller]

What does that mean when you say there's no.

[Dave Ramsey]

What does that mean in Spokane, Washington, the schools are not safe to attend.

[Caller]

I was born in Spokane. Tell me what that, what does that mean?

[Jade Weshaw]

So actually we are actually in northern Idaho, but like right next to Spokane.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so in rural Idaho, the schools are not safe to attend.

[Jade Weshaw]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm not buying that.

[Jade Weshaw]

They've been pushing the whole gaping, you know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, Safe is one thing I don't agree with. What they're pushing is another thing that's very different. Okay. So I don't, I don't have a problem with that. Okay. Now. Yeah. So what's the question? Why don't you sell the house?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You bought a house you can't afford.

[Jade Weshaw]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sell it.

[Jade Weshaw]

Right. And then go with, well, move.

[Dave Ramsey]

Move to something you can have moved to something you can afford.

[Jade Weshaw]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You bought a house you can't afford.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yeah.

[Caller]

And to your point, you're in a rural area that's far less expensive than anything that'd be close to a city. So there should be options, right? There are options, actually.

[Jade Weshaw]

Unfortunately, the areas out here are really. It's. It's gone up just from the one.

[Dave Ramsey]

Stacy. There's not a situation. There's not a situation where there are no options except sit there and be bankrupt. Bull. Okay. You keep pulling the plug on everything seems to be forced upon you, and you don't have any choices. You don't have any choices. You got choices. You didn't have to send your kid to boarding school. You could have up sold the house, moved to a school system you agreed with in a $200,000 house and had no issues.

[Jade Weshaw]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You weren't forced into any of this. But, you know, but the language you use is if you're a victim of your own choices, you're not a victim. Change it. Yeah, sell a stupid house. It's a freaking house. It's a bad decision. And you bought it. And then you justified it as if there was no other choices. Of course there was other choices. There's always other choices. We have pets. Well, there's lots of choices with pets. And I'm not going to bankrupt my family for pets. I love my dog. It's one of my favorite people. But I'm not going to bankrupt my family for my pet.

[Caller]

Yeah. I also want to challenge the fact and she said she wasn't working. I know she said health issues, but I always filter at this point, whenever we get calls where someone is struggling to work, whether it's because of a disability or health, I always tell this story. I bought two recliners on Wayfair. They didn't work and I sent them back and all of the customer service was done via text. And I realized there's somebody on the other end doing this whole thing on their computer at home via text. There are jobs out there that you don't have to have contact, that you can be on your own timeline. So I even want to challenge the fact that you're not working. I bet there's something that you can do. So there's a lot in this conversation that needs to be accounted for.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. We've got to get on top of this and in front of it rather than behind it. Everything's not chasing you, kid. You got to start chasing life instead of it chasing you. So sell the house. Move into a house, half the price. Get the kid back out of the boarding school. Homeschool them. If you're not working, homeschool your kid. You can control the woke agenda that way. And you know, there's a lot of options here. There's a lot of options, but you guys just keep reaching over and doing crap you can't afford. And then you're shocked that you're broke.

[Caller]

Yeah. And in this situation, you really need to have some foresight. When you've got a 72 year old husband and you're 50, you've got to start thinking through what the future holds and how you're preparing for that because it's going to hit you like a ton of bricks.

[Dave Ramsey]

Now, Sharon is slightly older than me and she's planned for me to die first. So I'm not sure what that means exactly. I need to sleep with one eye open. Possibly. All of our estate plan is predicated on me pre deceasing her. I'm a little worried about this. Of course she is in much better shape than me, but other than that, you know. Come on. Yeah, so. I mean. Yeah, you're right. And I'm not 20 years or whatever it is 15 years older. So there you go. All right. Open phones at Triple 882-55-5225. Connor is in Pensacola. Hi Connor. What's up?

[Jade Weshaw]

Hey, Dave, this is. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve, sir. How can we help?

[Jade Weshaw]

So I made some bad financial decisions. Right when I turned 18. I thought credit meant I was rich.

[Caller]

Me too.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're the only one, Connor. Yeah.

[Jade Weshaw]

So I decided to. I was going to start my own lawn care company. It worked all out, but I ended up taking out a loan for a truck. While I did that, I ended up selling the landscape company. Not for much. I mean it was just. It was 1300 bucks. I ended up moving to Florida from Minnesota. And I'm just trying to figure out how to get out of this loan as I have no reason for a truck anymore. And I owe about 31,000 on it. It's worth about. Yeah, it's. I owe about 31,000. It's worth about 26.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you make?

[Jade Weshaw]

I've gone down. I make 20 $400 a month.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you do?

[Jade Weshaw]

I just got a job doing logistics sales.

[Dave Ramsey]

For $30,000 a year.

[Jade Weshaw]

It's 40,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

So it's.

[Jade Weshaw]

I mean it's really 2800amonth. But I mean there's potential for commission on average six weeks. I'm 21 years old.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, and you're working 40 hours doing that?

[Jade Weshaw]

I work in about 15 hour or 50 hours a week. But I'm on a base salary of 40,000 a year. After 26 weeks of training, I'm eligible for uncapped commission. But they like. There's really no guarantee that you'll make commission.

[Caller]

Well, it's how hard you work.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. All right, so you're 21, you're. You're in a place where you just moved to. You don't know anybody. You need six more jobs. Take it to 80 hours a week. You need $5,000 to write a check and cover the difference. So you can sell the truck, Right?

[Jade Weshaw]

Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. I want you to go get $5,000. Ready, set, go.

[Caller]

Then you're gonna have to figure out a way to get something in cash that you can drive around and.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Get you a $5,000 car. So we really need. We really need $10,000.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yeah, that was kind of. My plan is to just kind of get rid of this loan and just buy a car. Cash.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can do it, man. But you're going to be living on beans and rice, and you're going to increase your income. And there's no eating out. There's no happy hour.

[Caller]

And I hope you had a great.

[Dave Ramsey]

There's no weekend trips with the buds. You're a broke dude with a truck you can't afford. And the way to get out of that is go to bare bones and attack it with a vengeance.

[Caller]

Yeah. And get you a roommate.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, there we go. Ding, ding. This is the Ramsey Show. Do you ever feel like you're finally making progress towards your goals only to get quickly distracted by something else in your feed? Well, that's why we created the Ramsey Network app, your single source for content that keeps you motivated. The Ramsey Network app is designed to keep you laser focused on reaching your goals. Loaded with over 7,000 hours of Ramsay shows, this free app is the best place for uninterrupted content and no distractions. Plus, you can search specific questions to get more personalized content in seconds. So for the days you need some extra motivation, you'll have proven advice at your fingertips. It's time to get serious about your goals and shut out the distractions for good. Simply search Ramsey Network in the App Store or Google Play. If you're listening on a podcast, just click the link in the show notes to download our free Ramsey Network app. Today, live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Jade Wash, our Ramsey personnel, is my co host. Today, this is a baby Steps Millionaires theme hour. We're going to talk to real millionaires and ask them how they did it. We started doing this theme hour several years ago because I kept hearing all the mythology in the marketplace, the lies that are out there about where wealth really comes from. People don't seem to know where wealth really comes from. So let me help you with this. A millionaire is a million dollar or greater net worth. There is only one definition of a millionaire. It is a math process. It's not up to you to. It has nothing to do with your feelings. It doesn't care what your feelings are. Okay. What your assets are minus your liabilities is your net worth, what you own minus what you owe.

[Caller]

Not a salary.

[Dave Ramsey]

That is your net worth has nothing to do with your income. And when your net worth determines if you're a millionaire, when you have a $1 million or greater net worth, whatever you own minus whatever you owe. And there's no qualification on that. This is an accounting term. And just because you're on TikTok doesn't mean you get to change it. This is a definition. And so someone that makes $1 million might or might not be a million. A millionaire. That is not the definition of a millionaire. When people say net worth millionaire, that's redundant because 100% of real millionaires are no millionaires based on their net worth. You don't need to put an adjective in front of an adjective. It makes you look stupid. So it's just a millionaire. That's all it is. So we're going to talk to people that really have that net worth and ask them where they got it. And that's what we do. Here. The phone numbers. Triple 882-55-5225. We're starting with Charlie and Stacy in Midland, Texas. What's you guys net worth? Dave?

[Jade Weshaw]

We think it's about 10.8.

[Caller]

Hey.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hey. Way to go, guys. Okay, give me a little breakdown by mix on that. How much of that is like investments or retirement, Real estate, so on?

[Jade Weshaw]

We Both have an RA and they total about 2.5.

[Dave Ramsey]

Mm.

[Jade Weshaw]

Got two, got two houses, 1.4 and then got 6.7 in investment account, high yield, savings accounts and land.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go. Good for you. How old are you 2, 61. 61 or 5? 1. 61. 61. Good. Okay. How much of this 10.8 million did you inherit?

[Jade Weshaw]

Oh, wow. About 250,000 three years ago when my mom passed.

[Dave Ramsey]

After you were already millionaires?

[Jade Weshaw]

You bet. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

Spent a dime of that inheritance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And obviously that's not caused you become a millionaire because you already were. Now, income, your. Your lowest income since you've been working and your highest income since you've been working.

[Jade Weshaw]

I think when I got out of vet school in 1990, I got one of the best jobs in my class and I made $24,000. Healthy health insurance for my family and a car to drive.

[Dave Ramsey]

Stacy, you married a rich man.

[Caller]

24,000.

[Jade Weshaw]

I love it.

[Dave Ramsey]

And what's your what, Charles? What's your best year of Income.

[Jade Weshaw]

Oh, wow. Last couple years, half a million or so.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go. So now you own a vet practice? Obviously.

[Jade Weshaw]

I sold it. Ah, I did. Oh, for 34 years, yes.

[Caller]

Okay, so what portion of the net worth came from that would you bring from that cell?

[Jade Weshaw]

Oh, that was a bunch of. That was just realizing equity in the business. But then there was some goodwill on top of that. But you got to hear what Stacy, she taught when I was in vet school. She can tell you what she taught and coached two sports for when we were going to vet school.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yes. I taught elementary pe. I coached basketball on track. I also taught freshman high school physical education and my starting pay was $15,400.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go, guys. Way to go.

[Jade Weshaw]

Teaching and teaching in two sports.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go. Proud of y'all. So what, what would can do you think people can still do this today?

[Jade Weshaw]

Oh, it's easier today than it was when we did it, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why?

[Jade Weshaw]

Way easier. There's so many more investment opportunities. There's. We didn't have 529 for the kids. We didn't have college savings accounts. We didn't have health savings accounts. We didn't have 401ks like they do now. When you think back to the 90s when I found out about you, when you're the only vet in a small town, you get to go out in the middle of the night. And in the mid-90s, you had the prime time on AM radio about 3 in the morning.

[Dave Ramsey]

I did. In Midland. In Midland. Odessa. I remember this.

[Jade Weshaw]

That's right. Yes. And that's where I heard about you. That's where I heard about you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Jade Weshaw]

So much. It's so much easier, I think today because when you think in the 90s, I did not know what a no load mutual fund was. If you were going to buy stocks, you had to buy a block 100 at a time or something like that. And now you can buy fractions. You can. It's got to be so much easier now than it was for us now.

[Dave Ramsey]

The vehicles are a lot cleaner. You're right. Right. And there was no Roth. There was no Roth back then either.

[Jade Weshaw]

No, there was not.

[Dave Ramsey]

No. I agree with you. So what do you guys drive?

[Jade Weshaw]

She drives a Subaru.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Jade Weshaw]

And I drive a 3/4 ton Aggie maroon GMC pickup truck.

[Dave Ramsey]

Aggie Maroon? Is that. That's a particular color they sell in Texas volunteers.

[Jade Weshaw]

I really am.

[Caller]

So how important, how important is budgeting? Were you guys budgeters? Does that play a part in building wealth?

[Jade Weshaw]

Yes, Mm. Yes, yes, yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Jade.

[Jade Weshaw]

We followed the envelope system and I carried around envelopes. The white envelope with I penciled on each envelope, you know, where that cash was going to go, whether it was.

[Dave Ramsey]

Going to the grocery store, gas.

[Jade Weshaw]

The kids needs. And envelopes played a huge part because it just, it really gave a visual.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm a visual person.

[Jade Weshaw]

And it showed how much money we had and, you know, to use. And when it gone, it was gone. And starting off with the program, I was a little hesitant, but once we got started, boy, we stuck with it and we just went crazy with it. We also made our kids listen to the show on our trip.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. First Charlie stuck with me in the middle of the night, and then the kids are with the trip. Hey, I'm proud of you guys. That's amazing. $10.8 million net worth. That's where money comes from, boys and girls. I love it. Way to go, Charlie and Stacy. Hero. Both of your heroes. This is the Ramsey Show.

[Jade Weshaw]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. This month is all about gratitude, and most of us have people in our lives who we're grateful for. One of those people, for me, is the great Jean Noel Thompson. He taught me how to be a dad, a husband, a professional, and how to balance caring for a bunch of people all at the same time. We all know of somebody else we can be grateful for, but there's one person that we often don't take time to thank. Ourselves. We don't always acknowledge that we're surviving, that we're moving forward, and that we're working towards a better life and better relationships. And in a world where everything's gone bonkers, it's not always easy. So here's my reminder to thank the people that you love, thank the people in your life, and thank you. Sometimes we need some professional help to talk to. Somebody trained to help us discover true gratitude for ourselves and others, especially in the holiday season. That's why I recommend BetterHelp. BetterHelp is 100% online therapy, and you can talk with your therapist at any time so it's convenient for your schedule. Just fill out a short online survey to get matched with a licensed therapist. Plus, you can switch therapists at any time for no extra cost. Let the gratitude flow with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com DeLoney to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp.

[Dave Ramsey]

H E L p.com DeLoney well, it's decision time again. Every year during open enrollment, you have the chance to check in on your Insurance and make sure it's right for you and your family. Whether you have health coverage through your job, a private company or a government program like Medicare. You don't have to figure this out alone. We have reliable folks we trust to help you get the right coverage for whatever stage you're in. Go to Ramsey Solutions.com health coverage. If you believe a lie, an untruth, and you act on your beliefs, which everyone does act on their beliefs, it leads you astray. In other words, if you, if you thought one direction was north and that was actually south, you acted on a lie, you acted on untruth, and you get what's known as lost. Right. You didn't. You know, that way is Florida, that way is Maine.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you can't head towards Maine and get to Florida. Well, you can. It's just the long way around. Right. So you go all the way around the globe. But the. But, but. And the same thing's true with building wealth. And that's why we started doing this, because there's so many people out there. L. Some of them intentionally and some of them just because they're ignoramuses about where wealth actually comes from. Here's one. All wealthy people get their wealth by being crooks. That's just completely asinine. Here, let me give you an example. Okay? That guy was a veterinarian. Okay. If he was a crooked veterinarian, overcharged, people would take their animals somewhere else.

[Caller]

Yeah. His business would be out.

[Dave Ramsey]

If he stole from his customers, they take their business somewhere else instead. He grew a large business by not being a crook, by being an honest guy, sold the business later and became very wealthy as a result of doing that. So crooks actually do not prosper. Well, crook, you can, you can prosper as a crook, but it's not sustainable. It's not a long term strategy. And so what we find is most wealth building is long term. Now you can become wealthy for a hot minute being a crook, but we don't find the typical millionaire to be a crook. As a matter of fact, we find the percentage of crooks among them to be lower than the general population percentage of crooks. And so because one of the issues is integrity, has it seems to be correlated with building wealth.

[Caller]

Do you also feel that people have sort of a negative framework or an improper framework about millionaires? Because a, they're thinking of celebrity status, they're thinking of people who have 200 million and all the. They're not thinking of the everyday person that might have 2 or 3 million or 8 or 10 million. Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, they've gotten the confusion between the difference in a billionaire and a millionaire. A billionaire has a jet, Right. A millionaire does not. A billionaire has seven cars. A millionaire is driving a. What do you call it? An Aggie maroon pickup truck. Okay. Right. And you know, a billionaire has five houses. A millionaire has one medium sized home.

[Caller]

Yeah. You may not. You may not know. The person that's sitting next to you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Has generally won't know it.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And the methodology to build a billion dollar net worth is different than the methodology to build a $10 million network. Substantially different.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And neither one involves being a crook. But I think people get confused and I think they get a negative view on wealth because some of the uber rich are just weird humans. They're just.

[Caller]

I won't name any names.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, they're just wacko. They're wacko.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, they're not. They're not who you want to be.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, but that veterinarian. I want to be him.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you're a young person, you could want to be that guy. He's a man of character. A woman of character. She taught phys ed at the high school while he was going through vet school. Shut up. He made $24,000 a year when he started. Shut up. You do want to be that couple. They're people of character, of substance. But you don't, these wackos that are on TV and stuff. And here's the thing, here's the interesting thing. I'm not going to be a wealthy because I'm not going to be a celebrity. Well, only 1.6% of millionaires in the United States are celebrities. Wow. Sports figures, music people, actors and so on. And a lot of them are just weird.

[Caller]

Yeah, not all of them.

[Dave Ramsey]

Not all of them. Some of them are normal people that just play a get fiddle. But, but, but a lot of them are just weird. I mean, and I know some of them that are weird. I mean, they're weird. And so, you know, that's not normal either. Yeah, but what is normal is the guy we just talked to. And that should give you people great hope. If you're sitting there going, where's all the hope is gone in America. No, it's not. It's not gone. Don't let people steal your hope with bad information. That's what this is about. Matt is with us in Kansas City. Matt, what's your net worth?

[Jade Weshaw]

My net worth is approximately 1.5 million.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Give me a little breakdown by category.

[Jade Weshaw]

All right, we have $60,000 that we keep in cash just in the bank, just for emergency fund.

[Dave Ramsey]

Got it.

[Jade Weshaw]

We've got about $100,000 in 529s for our children.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you.

[Jade Weshaw]

We've got about half a million dollars in American funds. I've got. We've paid our home off, it's worth about 400,000. And then there's a bunch of other things that kind of break up. We've got a 401k, that's my wife's, that's $155,000. She's vested in a pension. I'm vested in a pension. She has a retirement plan that's worth about $203,000 if she were to cash it out. I've got a deferred comp through my work that's got about 70 or 80,000 in it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Gotcha. Matt, how old are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

I'm 45 years old.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cool. And how much of this 1.5 million did you inherit?

[Jade Weshaw]

We inherited zero.

[Dave Ramsey]

Zero. And what was your worst year of working income and your all's best year of working income?

[Jade Weshaw]

Well, I would say when my wife and I first got married was probably the worst and it was probably around 60,000 combined.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, what should been your best year?

[Jade Weshaw]

Probably this last year was right around 200,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cool. What do y'all do for a living?

[Jade Weshaw]

I'm a state trooper and my wife is a business analyst for a large global company that does pet food.

[Dave Ramsey]

Got it. Got it. Okay, cool. And what do you got? Have you got a four year degree?

[Jade Weshaw]

I do, yes. I have a four year degree from at the time was just from a state college and I taught high school for three years before I changed careers.

[Dave Ramsey]

What was your degree in?

[Jade Weshaw]

I have a teaching degree in secondary education.

[Dave Ramsey]

Gotcha. Okay, what was your GPA?

[Jade Weshaw]

My GPA was about a 3.75.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Well done. Okay, cool. Very good. What do y'all drive?

[Jade Weshaw]

My wife drives a 2020 Jeep Wrangler, a four door Jeep. I drive a 2001 Jeep Wrangler and I newly acquired a Harley Davidson motorcycle to replace one that I'd gotten rid of. And we also own a brand new 2024 Toyota Sienna minivan for the kids. And I've also got a 2018 Ford F150 that my 16 year old's going to be driving.

[Caller]

When did you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your 16 year old has a better car than you have?

[Jade Weshaw]

He does. I just want him to be in the. I want him to be in the safest thing. He.

[Dave Ramsey]

And yeah, you see, you see some stuff out there on the road, I'm.

[Jade Weshaw]

Afraid, but yeah, yeah, I've seen a few things. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller]

When did you get serious about building wealth? Because you're 45 years old. Somebody is listening. They're maybe 40 or 43 and they're going, gosh, how did this guy do it? When did you get serious?

[Jade Weshaw]

We were very fortunate. My Uncle Doug gave my wife and I a copy of the Total Total money makeover. This was probably, I want to say, about 15 years ago. And my wife, My wife is on the financial side of things and she just ate it up. It was really quick for her. Everything worked for her. We did envelopes, we did peanut butter and jelly. We did all of those things that were talked about in the book.

[Caller]

And so 15 year horizon from the time you learn the plan till the day that you're calling in today, basically.

[Jade Weshaw]

Absolutely. When we, when we started, we had car payments on two cars and a house payment, so. And maybe a little bit of credit card debt. Maybe just a few thousand dollars worth of credit card debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you're baby steps millionaires. I mean, this is pure. You did Ramsey all the way through?

[Jade Weshaw]

Absolutely. Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Very cool. I'm proud of you guys.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yeah, we're currently using one of your investors in the Kansas City area and he's been really good to us and, you know, no complaints from us at all.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Proud of you, man. Very, very well done. Congratulations, sir, and thank you for being out there protecting the people of Kansas on the highways and byways, brother. Very cool. 1.5 million dollar net worth in 15 years from being broke.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's a good question you asked there.

[Caller]

It. Well, I wanted to paint the picture because people think that, but this takes 40 years and 50 years to do.

[Dave Ramsey]

Our average in our millionaire study that we did is 17 years. This took 15. Yeah. And he's way about. He's above a million. Yeah. Good. This is the Ramsey Show. Hey, you guys, I'm not a fan of the big banks and you probably already know which ones I mean, but I do like credit unions because they're nonprofit organizations that focus on their members. And I'm proud to endorse Fairwinds Credit union because they share the Ramsey mission of helping people get out of debt and live generously. In fact, they design products to help keep you from going into debt in the first place. Fairwinds has been in business for over 75 years and they serve Hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. You can feel secure because your deposits are federally insured by the NCUA up to $250,000. It's easy to join, and Fair Winds partners with more than 5,000 credit union locations around the country, so you can bank in person wherever you live. But if you prefer the online experience, you can log on to Fairwinds and do anything you could do at a physical location. So go to Fairwinds.org Ramsey to learn more. And while you're there, look at the combined checking and savings account bundle they created just for Ramsey fans to help you take control of your finances. That's Fairwinds. F A I R W I n d s.org Ramsey hey, guys, George Camel here.

[Caller]

And it's that time of year again.

[Dave Ramsey]

The store shelves are packed with Little.

[Jade Weshaw]

Debbie's Christmas trees, matching pajamas for you.

[Dave Ramsey]

And your dog, you know who you.

[Caller]

Are, and giant inflatable Santas for the yard. I'm not mad about that.

[Dave Ramsey]

And speaking of inflation, Americans are about to spend close to a trillion dollars this Christmas.

[Jade Weshaw]

And get this.

[Dave Ramsey]

One third of that spending will be.

[Jade Weshaw]

Swiped on credit cards. Yikes. Now I get it.

[Dave Ramsey]

You want the holidays to feel magical.

[Jade Weshaw]

And you want to have a good time.

[Dave Ramsey]

But trust me, there is nothing magical.

[Jade Weshaw]

About staring down a mountain of credit card debt come January. So here's the deal.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you don't want January you to hate December you, I've got a money hack for you. Download the EveryDollar app.

[Caller]

It's free to get started, and you.

[Jade Weshaw]

Could find an extra $400 of margin.

[Dave Ramsey]

In your first month of using it. See, with EveryDollar, you'll keep your holiday spending under control. You'll track your expenses, you'll make a plan. You'll stay accountable and maybe even set yourself up with some sweet New Year goals.

[Jade Weshaw]

So skip the post Christmas regret and download EveryDollar for free in the App Store today. Your future self will thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's a baby Steps Millionaires theme hour. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. We're talking to real millionaires. What you own, minus what you owe is your net worth. Assets minus liabilities. When that reaches $1 million or greater, by definition, you are a millionaire. Well, Dave, a million dollars is just not enough anymore. Well, the. We're not discussing that today, Dave. No one should have that kind of money. It's not a moral construct for you socialist to discuss. It's a math thing. It's a facts thing. So if you have a million dollars, it's that simple. We Want to talk to you. I don't care where you got it, if you stole it, that's fine. Call us and tell us. Okay. If you want the lottery, call us and tell us. If you. Whatever.

[Caller]

I'd love that story to come through. If somebody stole it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, we'll put you right here on the radio and see if we can't get you convicted of your crime. But. Yeah, but I mean, really, I mean, we've. I've talked to lotto winners. I talked to people that did the Gamestop thing and that got a million dollars out of it, you know, I mean, when you do it ways Bitcoin guys, I've talked to them. They got a million dollars. I've talked to people that did it ways I don't recommend and that the data tells us are not normative. They don't normally work. But I'll talk to you. I don't care. I want to hear, I want everyone in America to hear where wealth really comes from. So you call 888-825-5225. Diane is in Sacramento. Diane, what's your net worth?

[Jade Weshaw]

1.2 million.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. And give me a little breakdown by category, please.

[Jade Weshaw]

Well, pretty simple. About 300,000 in home equity and 900,000 and IRA's in an 401K.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Good for you. How old are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

69.

[Dave Ramsey]

69. Very good. How much of this 1.2 did you inherit?

[Jade Weshaw]

Not a penny.

[Dave Ramsey]

Zero. What's your best year of working income and your worst year of working income?

[Jade Weshaw]

Working income, probably about 95. And my worst year was when I was just 18 and started working about 4,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Gotcha. Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

Long time ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

I hear you. What was your, what was your career?

[Jade Weshaw]

My career has always been in the insurance industry.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Okay, good. And you have a four year degree?

[Jade Weshaw]

No, I do not.

[Dave Ramsey]

No. Okay, good. Very cool. All right. Do you think people can still do this today?

[Jade Weshaw]

Absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why?

[Jade Weshaw]

I think it's. I think they need someone to give them guidance and encouragement and. I don't know. One of the things I'm proud of stuff are my girls, because they're both doing it and they started hearing this from me at a very young age. And when they were in positions at jobs with 401ks, they both started contributing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Jade Weshaw]

And I'm excited to see one of my girls just showed me her 401k balance the other day and she's just in her mid-30s and I was, I was so proud of her.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, very good.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

She's gonna be she's gonna beat Mom.

[Jade Weshaw]

They are. They both will. Yeah, they absolutely will. I did not start investing until I was 40 at the Strong encouragement of a coworker. And this was in about the mid-90s, before we knew an awful lot about 401ks, and certainly before the Roth IRAs, that I started investing a very tiny amount because my friend Bruce would not let up on me until I did. And you never did.

[Dave Ramsey]

You Never made over 100k?

[Jade Weshaw]

Never in my life.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. I'm proud of you. What do you drive?

[Jade Weshaw]

I have a 2015 little Subaru. That's my commuter car, and a 2018 Ram half ton pickup. Because I'm a mountain girl, I do not live in the city of Sacramento.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. We had to head to the mountains on the weekends. I like it.

[Jade Weshaw]

Oh, no, I live in the mountains.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right.

[Caller]

You sound intentional. You've been intentional about putting money aside, intentional about teaching your kids the same, you know, way of life. How much has a budget played into this? Because we know that that's a big part of this, right? Being intentional with our money.

[Jade Weshaw]

Absolutely. Absolutely. I started when I first learned the Excel product back in the mid-90s. That was when I created a budget for myself. And that developed into a document that I now project out a year ahead of my monthly expenses and my allocations. And when things are coming up so, you know, it contemplates savings, it contemplates money going into my 401k, you know, vehicle registrations, all the little details of life, and I make sure that I pay myself first. I started maxing out my 401k in my very early 50s with some home equity. Rather than putting all of the equity into my next home purchase, I reserved 100,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

So in the last 20. In the last 20 years. What's your. What do you do for fun?

[Jade Weshaw]

Enjoy my home. I've always enjoyed living in the mountains. It's always felt like a vacation destination for me.

[Dave Ramsey]

It is.

[Jade Weshaw]

So for me, my fun is coming to my home, it's working in my yard, and that's my fun. I do like to count, but I don't do much of it anymore. But my fun is pretty simple. I don't require elaborate vacations. I like coming home and sitting on my house and looking at my living room window to all the beautiful trees that surround me. It's lovely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Life is good. Good for you. I'm proud of you. Very, very well done, Diane. Excellent. I love it, I love it, I love it. Megan in Raleigh, North Carolina. What is your net worth?

[Jade Weshaw]

Hi, Dave. It is 1.9 million.

[Caller]

Yay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Very good. Give me a little breakdown by category, please.

[Jade Weshaw]

In Roth IRAs, 351,401K is 276,000. Our non retirement investment and savings, 260,000. And then our real estate portfolio, 1.062 million.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Way to go. How old are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

35.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Get it.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

Love it, love it, love it. How much of this did you inherit?

[Jade Weshaw]

My husband inherited $50,000 when he was a junior in college when his dad passed.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Did that money cause you to become a millionaire?

[Jade Weshaw]

Absolutely not.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. And what's your all's best year? Working income and worst year? Working income?

[Jade Weshaw]

Our worst year we made about 77,000. And our best year? 220.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. What do y'all do? What's your careers?

[Jade Weshaw]

My husband is a major in the army and I work in healthcare. It.

[Dave Ramsey]

Got it. Okay. You got a four year degree?

[Jade Weshaw]

We actually, between the two of us, have four graduate degrees.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

You collect them. Okay.

[Jade Weshaw]

We do though. Three were employee employer sponsored and one was fully cash flowed.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Caller]

I was going to ask about that. Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so what's the fanciest of the four degrees? We have a PhD in the bunch.

[Jade Weshaw]

No, no, they're all master's degrees.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, all right.

[Jade Weshaw]

But my fanciest one, I would say it sounds cool. Is cybersecurity management and policy.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ah, yeah, that's big. Good for you. You're right in the hot seat right now. And your GPA when you were doing that particular degree?

[Jade Weshaw]

4.0.

[Caller]

Nice.

[Dave Ramsey]

I got a feeling. Yeah. Yeah. All right, good for you. Well done, well done. Can people do this today?

[Jade Weshaw]

Yes. Oh, crap.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're only 35. Of course they can do it today.

[Caller]

All right, well, I want to know how long have you made 220,000?

[Jade Weshaw]

One year. Just.

[Caller]

I just want to clarify. I always hear the voice of the naysayers in my mind and so I like to debunk it. And when did you get started on this journey? Because 35 is really young and I mean you're. One point. I mean to $2 million really is where you're at. So when did you start this?

[Jade Weshaw]

Well, I first got plugged into the Ramsey show back in 2019. We had bought a house, we didn't have any other debt. So we were fortunate enough, even before I met my husband, we were both very financially savvy and knew not to spend. Spend more than you made. But I got pregnant with my daughter and instead of getting in that nesting phase of setting up the baby's room and everything, I got into the financial security mode.

[Caller]

Love that.

[Jade Weshaw]

And there was just a particular lifestyle I envisioned for our family and I wanted to be able to have the financial means to do it.

[Caller]

So avoiding debt and six years of being intentional about what comes after paying off and avoiding debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Way to go, kiddo. Proud of you. Well done. Wow. $2 million net worth at 35 years old. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. She wins.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

This is the Ramsey show, folks. The Ramsey Christmas cash giveaway is here and you could win big. We're giving away $500 prizes each week and one grand prize of $5,000. Enter daily for your chance to [e-mail] giveaway. It's that easy. Plus our 50 Days of Christmas deals right now get up to 30% off bestsellers and life changing gifts that won't break the holiday budget. Ramsaysolutions.com store Jade Washaw Ramsey personality is my co host today. This is a baby Steps millionaires theme hour, folks. We just launched a brand new tour. Dave Ramsey, that's me, and Dr. John DeLoney are hitting the road and coming to a city near you on the money and relationships tour and we're putting a new twist on these live events. You are going to shape the conversation each night in the pre show. We're going to give you a list of topics and you're going to pick the ones you want me and John to talk about that night and we're going to walk out and do it. Louisville, Kentucky, April 21, Durham, that would be April 23, Atlanta, April 25, Phoenix, May 5, Fort Worth, May 7 and Kansas City, May 9. These tickets are selling briskly. If you want to come, you should get one before they're gone. Go to Dave Ramsey and Dr. John DeLoney or join Dave Ramsey, that's me, and Dr. John DeLoney live in person that night. You're going to laugh, you're going to cry, you're going to learn, your ribs will be sore where your spouse is elbowing you. All of that will happen. Ramsaysolutions.com tour themoney and relationships tour. You can always look at the live events we're doing all over the place on our homepage and check in. There's all of us doing stuff all over the place all the time. Now, Diane, two callers ago, 69 never made over 100,000. That is one of the myths, one of the lies that are out there that you have to make $500,000 a year, $600,000 a year to be a millionaire. You don't. As a matter of fact, we did the largest study of millionaires ever done in North America. We studied 10,167 of them. The conclusions of that research and the methodology of that research are the white paper. In the back of my bestselling book, Baby Steps Millionaires and Baby Steps Millionaires goes through the discussion of where millionaires come from in detail. So if you want to learn about the millionaire subject, the study is in there. And also the bestselling book is in front of the study. One of the things we found in the study was 33% of millionaires never made over 100 grand. One third. Wow, that one surprised me. Yeah, I was, you know, if you told me not over 200 grand, okay, sure, I would. I could go with that one. But 33% never made over 100 grand. They fall in the category that Diane fell in. Pretty cool. Richard's in Kansas City. Hey, Richard, your net worth, 3.1 million. Good for you. Give me a little breakdown by category.

[Jade Weshaw]

Basically, Joint Account 117, Emergency Fund 110, 401K, which is now a rollover because I am recently retired. 1.167 million. And then we have my wife and I have Roth at 750,000. A donor count of 56. Our homes, about 425. Farmlands, 450 and miscellaneous items. About 4. About 40,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cool. How old are you?

[Jade Weshaw]

I am 57 years old.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Well done. How much of this did you inherit?

[Jade Weshaw]

Well, I did inherit a little bit, and that's part of my story a little bit. I got 200,000 when I was 35 and 200,000 when I was 4.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cool. Good. Very good. So that did really legitimately boost this.

[Jade Weshaw]

It did, it did. But the way I look at this is the 401k. My goal is to always get a million over that and did that, but it helps. But the big thing I find is one thing that I don't always hear you talk about, but you do, is people inherit things and sometimes it's a woohoo moment. Now we're going to go out and spend money. We're going to go, we're going to go buy that big car, that big boat. But my wife and I kept away from that. And so I like to feel that I did it without those things.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, well, what you did was you got the best use of that, but you've got 1.1 in your 401k. So you would have been a millionaire anyway.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yes, absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

But you, but this did legitimately. I mean, the $450,000 farm probably had something to do with that. Some of these other cash positions probably had something to do with that. But. But your 401k has to be payroll deduct. It's not your. None of that inheritance can go in there legally. So I know that didn't where that came from.

[Jade Weshaw]

Well, that and you know, my wife worked outside the house part time and raised our kids. So we are a one income household. And then with her, what she brought in is one of those things where you basically had to learn how to do without. And we did in those early years. And we have two young successful kids and I think they've learned from watching us. And I got to tell you, when they used to hear your music come on when we be driving down the highway, their heads would hit the ground.

[Dave Ramsey]

I love it. What's your, what was your career, Richard?

[Jade Weshaw]

I was in packaging.

[Dave Ramsey]

Packaging. All right.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. Very cool. Good for you, man. Hey, thanks for the call. You're a hero, man. I'm so proud of you. Excellent, excellent work. Okay, Baby steps. Millionaires theme hour. All right, Jade. We found one that actually inherited some money. Yeah. And here's the statistics on that because that's one of the last lies that we want to defeat. Okay. When we studied the largest, when we did the largest study, airtight research, an outside research firm looking over our shoulder so that we weren't doing confirmation bias, we wanted to get the surprises of the study. We wanted to learn where it really, really is, what are the facts. And this study is so airtight that this is. These are. This data is what's known as the truth. So if you disagree with the conclusions of this study, you're what's known as wrong. That's what I'm saying. Okay.

[Caller]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So 79% of America's millionaires and have inherited precisely zero. That's 8 out of 10. So when the wealth equality socialist, communist people are whining and crying and say we need to restructure society because all wealth is inherited, they are either ignorant or evil or both. Got it. 5% of millionaires inherited a small amount like $5,000 from their grandmother, which is not enough mathematically to cause you to become a millionaire. And another 5% inherited money after substantial money, like a couple hundred grand after they were already millionaires. So it did not cause them to become millionaires. So what I'm Going to help you with this. 79 plus 5% plus 5% is 89, 90%. 9 out of 10 of America's millionaires are not millionaires because of inherited money. So don't let some left wing communist professor tell you that in college. Don't do it.

[Caller]

I mean, I'm just sitting over here thinking, even if it was inherited, even if somebody did inherit money, who cares?

[Dave Ramsey]

It's not bad. But, but don't tell people. That's the only way. Because if you don't have a rich uncle that tells you you don't have a chance.

[Caller]

That's true.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, but people like me, people like you, we don't have a chance.

[Caller]

Yeah. I never even knew the idea of inheriting money.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. I never thought of it. Never occurred to me that was going to happen. Now, it's not to say if you inherited money, you did something wrong. I mean, our Last caller got 400,000. It was part of his equation. And it didn't cause him to be a bad guy. He wasn't a bad guy. There's nothing wrong with inheriting money. But there is something wrong with telling people that's where wealth comes from as the primary.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Methodology. And it's not. It is a methodology. It's like telling people people get wealthy playing the lottery. No, they don't.

[Caller]

Well, then there's a part of it that if you, if you paint that as a negativity in your brain, then it's never something for you to aspire to, to say, I'd like to leave an inheritance. Right. Because now you've told yourself this is an evil, horrible thing and so therefore you'll never do it either.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I'm, I'm 100 sure it's the opposite. That it is a godly thing. Because the Bible says a godly man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So those grant, those eight Ramsey grandbabies are going to, it's going to turn out well for them, thank goodness.

[Caller]

That's great.

[Dave Ramsey]

Assuming they have the character to manage it. Now, if you're doing heroin, you don't get any money in the Ramsey estate plan. That's not how it works. But, you know, you got to be an upstanding citizen and all that. But, but, but the deal is because we're not raising trust fund babies, snorting cocaine on the back of a yacht, doing a reality show. I don't have any need to produce those. Other people can produce those. I don't want to do that. But, but that's not the norm. No, the norm is good people work their butts off and they don't ruin their children. That Richard guy, his dad left him 400 grand in two blocks. And it didn't ruin him. As a matter of fact, it didn't even hardly change anything. He was already had. Learned to live on nothing. Two broke kids being successful. He was talking about that. And you know, he did a great job. And the money just accentuated his life is all he did.

[Caller]

Made him more of who he already was.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So don't let people tell you that wealth is evil or that wealthy people are evil or that it's the wrong thing to aspire to be successful. This war on success in our culture has got to stop. We need to teach people to go win. And how to go win. That's what the show's about. The book is Baby steps, millionaires. Check it out. That puts this hour of the Ramsey show in the books. Hey, you're still here.

[Jade Weshaw]

What are you doing?

[Dave Ramsey]

You do know that the rest of.

[Jade Weshaw]

Today'S show is playing right now over on the Ramsey Network app, right?

[Dave Ramsey]

All you gotta do to finish the.

[Caller]

Episode is search Ramsey Network in the.

[Jade Weshaw]

App store, Google play store, or just.

[Dave Ramsey]

Click the link in the show notes.

[Caller]

To download the app for free.

[Jade Weshaw]

Yep, you heard me right, for free.

[Dave Ramsey]

Then right there on the home screen, you can watch the rest of today's show. Bada bing, bada boom.

[Jade Weshaw]

All right, I'm getting out of here. Enjoy.

[Dave Ramsey]

We'll see you on the app.