Debt Won’t Fix What Discipline Can

Summary

Summary of "Debt Won’t Fix What Discipline Can" Episode of The Ramsey Show

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Ramsey Show
• Host/Author: Ramsey Network
• Description: The Ramsey Show believes you can build wealth and take control of your life—no matter what mistakes you've made with money. Join Dave Ramsey and his team of experts as they answer your questions on the top financial problems holding you back.
• Episode: Debt Won’t Fix What Discipline Can
• Release Date: July 28, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Ramsey Show, Dave Ramsey, alongside Rachel Cruz and Jade Warshaw, delves deep into the challenges of managing debt and emphasizes the importance of financial discipline over quick fixes like bankruptcy. The trio addresses multiple callers, providing tailored advice on various financial dilemmas, ranging from debt management to budgeting amidst unforeseen crises.

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Key Discussions

Caller John: Navigating Bankruptcy After Natural Disasters

• Timestamp: [00:40] - [07:42]
• Summary: John from Sarasota, Florida, shares his predicament following two hurricanes, Helene and Milton, which devastated his business and home. Facing $19,000 in credit card debt and a lawsuit, John contemplates bankruptcy as a solution.
• Advice Provided:
  • Rachel Cruz emphasizes the importance of recognizing that the worst is over and encourages John to utilize the Debt Snowball method to tackle debts systematically.
  • Dave Ramsey advises cutting up credit cards to eliminate the source of debt.
  • Key Quote:
    • Dave Ramsey [06:24]: "Cut everything up, John. Be done with the credit card game."

Caller Jay: Renting vs. Selling the Home Under Financial Strain

• Timestamp: [10:09] - [19:52]
• Summary: Jay from Detroit, Michigan, is unsure whether to rent out or sell his primary residence due to financial burdens, including a mortgage of $1,385 and multiple vehicle debts.
• Advice Provided:
  • Rachel Cruz encourages negotiating credit card debts and reassures Jay that his mortgage is not excessively burdensome.
  • Dave Ramsey suggests refinancing or selling older vehicles to reduce debt.
  • Key Quotes:
    • Rachel Cruz [10:15]: "Here's the thing... Buy a used car to minimize depreciation."
    • Dave Ramsey [19:31]: "I would say you would be bringing money. Does it cost a lot to maintain?"

Caller Annette: Utilizing a Settlement Wisely

• Timestamp: [27:10] - [29:56]
• Summary: Annette from Nashville, Tennessee, received a $400,000 settlement after her husband’s work injury and subsequent bankruptcy. She seeks advice on allocating the funds between paying off debt and saving for the future.
• Advice Provided:
  • Dave Ramsey recommends paying off as much debt as possible immediately to alleviate financial stress.
  • Rachel Cruz suggests reassessing time management and possibly redirecting some of her efforts toward more lucrative endeavors.
  • Key Quote:
    • Dave Ramsey [28:03]: "I would, I would throw it there because you want all this cleaned up in that to be able then to move forward."

Caller Olivia: Planning an International Trip Without Credit Cards

• Timestamp: [55:09] - [85:47]
• Summary: Olivia from Tulsa, Oklahoma, plans an international trip and prefers using debit cards over credit cards due to concerns about security and potential fraud.
• Advice Provided:
  • Rachel Cruz and Dave Ramsey reassure Olivia about the safety of debit cards, provided proper measures are taken, such as informing the bank of travel plans to avoid card freezes.
  • Emphasis on having a robust emergency fund to cover any unforeseen incidents during the trip.
  • Key Quotes:
    • Rachel Cruz [23:43]: "You need money. That's really what they're saying, right?"
    • Dave Ramsey [24:58]: "But I would give your bank a heads up because we ran into an issue in Florida..."

Caller Lisa: Balancing Gifts to Children and Mortgage Payments

• Timestamp: [96:29] - [101:04]
• Summary: Lisa from Cincinnati, Ohio, has loaned $50,000 to her daughter for home upgrades and is contemplating whether to apply this money towards her own mortgage or other financial goals.
• Advice Provided:
  • Rachel Cruz advises against lending money to children to prevent future financial strain.
  • Encourage putting the $50,000 towards the mortgage to reduce liabilities, allowing for greater financial stability.
  • Key Quote:
    • Rachel Cruz [98:17]: "I wouldn't lend any money anymore. Or borrow money anymore. From now on, let's just do gifts."

Caller Mary: Recovering from an Investment Scam While Managing Taxes

• Timestamp: [76:25] - [85:30]
• Summary: Mary from Salt Lake City, Utah, recounts her experience with a scam that led her husband to borrow $250,000 to cover losses. She expresses anxiety over upcoming federal and state taxes.
• Advice Provided:
  • Rachel Cruz emphasizes the need for professional tax assistance to navigate the complexities of tax liabilities resulting from the scam.
  • Dave Ramsey advises verifying all financial transactions and documentation to ensure transparency and accuracy in tax filings.
  • Key Quote:
    • Rachel Cruz [83:06]: "You've got to make sure you have a budget that tracks every dollar coming in and out."

Caller Chandler: Managing First-Time Home Purchase and Mobile Home Decision

• Timestamp: [66:00] - [85:30]
• Summary: Chandler from Dalton, Georgia, sought advice on whether her 15-year-old daughter, a burgeoning social media influencer, should purchase a $50,000 Jeep Wrangler.
• Advice Provided:
  • Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruz recommend setting realistic financial boundaries, suggesting a cap between $10,000 to $25,000 for the car, emphasizing maturity and financial responsibility.
  • Highlight the importance of the car not defining personal identity.
  • Key Quotes:
    • Dave Ramsey [46:12]: "You can never use a car as a symbol of who you are."
    • Rachel Cruz [50:56]: "I would stick to the $6,000 to $10,000 range."

Caller Edna: Combining Finances with an Amish Background Partner

• Timestamp: [34:12] - [43:08]
• Summary: Edna from Lexington, Kentucky, discusses the financial discrepancies between her Amish upbringing and her husband’s more conventional spending habits. They own a business together and are seeking harmony in their financial strategies post-marriage.
• Advice Provided:
  • Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruz stress the importance of open communication and aligning financial goals through intentional conversations rather than imposing solutions.
  • Encourage personal growth and mutual understanding to bridge financial philosophies.
  • Key Quote:
    • Rachel Cruz [38:16]: "Talk about the combination as a way to become one first instead of as a way to pay off debt."

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Insights and Conclusions

Throughout the episode, the recurring theme is that financial discipline and strategic planning are paramount to overcoming debt and achieving financial stability. Dave Ramsey and his team consistently advocate for proactive measures such as the Debt Snowball method, budgeting with tools like the EveryDollar app, and maintaining open, honest communication about finances within relationships.

Notable Takeaways:

• Eliminate Credit Card Debt: Cutting up credit cards is a fundamental step in breaking the cycle of debt.
• Prioritize Debt Repayment: Pay off high-interest debts first and avoid accumulating new debts.
• Maintain an Emergency Fund: Ensure you have a safety net to handle unforeseen expenses without resorting to credit.
• Open Communication: Financial harmony in relationships requires transparent and empathetic discussions about money management.
• Avoid Quick Fixes: Solutions like bankruptcy may provide temporary relief but do not address underlying financial habits and discipline.

Final Thoughts: The episode reinforces the notion that while debt can be overwhelming, consistent financial discipline and adherence to proven methods like the Ramsey Plan can lead to long-term financial freedom and peace of mind. Listeners are encouraged to take actionable steps towards budgeting, debt elimination, and open financial communication to build a secure future.

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Key Quotes with Timestamps:

• Dave Ramsey [06:24]: "Cut everything up, John. Be done with the credit card game."
• Rachel Cruz [38:16]: "Talk about the combination as a way to become one first instead of as a way to pay off debt."
• Dave Ramsey [46:12]: "You can never use a car as a symbol of who you are."
• Rachel Cruz [50:56]: "I would stick to the $6,000 to $10,000 range."
• Dave Ramsey [28:03]: "I would, I would throw it there because you want all this cleaned up in that to be able then to move forward."
• Rachel Cruz [98:17]: "I wouldn't lend any money anymore. Or borrow money anymore. From now on, let's just do gifts."

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Note: This summary encapsulates the core discussions and advice provided during the episode, ensuring that listeners unfamiliar with the podcast can grasp the essential financial strategies and insights shared by Dave Ramsey and his team.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Foreign.

[George Camel]

To you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

[Rachel Cruz]

From the Ramsey Network, it's the Ramsey show where we talk about your life, your money, and everything in between. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me, Rachel Cruz. If you want to get in on the show today, it's really simple to get involved. The number is 888-825-5225. And we'll try our best to get you on. Well, let's get to our first caller. We've got John. He's in Sarasota, Florida. What's up, John? Hey, how are you doing? Good, how are you?

[Jade Warshaw]

I'm doing great. Just trying to figure out if bankruptcy is the right aspect for me. So a little bit of backstory is last year we got hit with two hurricanes, Helene and Milton. We lost 50% of our business, my wife and I's business, because of that for about two to three months. And then two weeks later, we lost our house completely due to the fire from hurricane Milton. And now we're in like $19,000 worth of credit card debt. And I have them suing me currently. And I'm trying to figure out what makes the most sense.

[Rachel Cruz]

What did insurance pay for you? Did you not receive anything from the house? Did you not receive anything from those personal losses, business aside?

[Jade Warshaw]

So that's a good question. I'm still in the battle with FEMA at the current moment, so still haven't really received all that much from them.

[Dave Ramsey]

Was that through. Through FEMA or not? Your.

[Rachel Cruz]

Your personal.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, just your home insurance.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. So the home insurance didn't cover much because they. They're saying that there was a hurricane going on even though the power line hit the house due to the storm. So they're kind of not really wanting to take ownership there. So we really haven't gotten anything there. And then.

[Rachel Cruz]

So it's what was really at fault. Was it the hurricane or was it the power line? Is that the. What's in question?

[Jade Warshaw]

That's. Yeah, that's basically what was in question as far as the insurance company. But it was due to the. You know, it's due to the hurricane because that's what took down the tree, basically, which took down the power line.

[Dave Ramsey]

What are you guys doing for work right now?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, so I'm a property manager, and then my wife owns a salon business.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. How much you guys bring in in a month after taxes?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm bringing in right around 4,500.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

And then she's bringing in right around 4,000. Also have two kids, little ones, so obviously they're, you know, I'm also paying for a nanny for them too.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. Okay. And where are you guys living right now?

[Jade Warshaw]

So we were couch serving for a while and then finally we were able to get into a rental.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, good.

[Jade Warshaw]

We're all paying that. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

And what are you paying for that rental? Because with your family going to play a role.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, absolutely. It's about 2, 5.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, that's not as bad as I thought it might be. I mean, that's high, but it's not as bad as I thought. Okay, so right now the biggest thing that you're facing, I mean, obviously there's a lot tied up and what insurance or FEMA will or will not pay. In the meantime, you do have a place to lay your head. And it's not a ridiculous, it's not a ridiculous amount of your, you know, month to month take home. So now we've just got the debt to deal with. You said 19,000 in credit card debt.

[Jade Warshaw]

Not total 19,000, which I'm being sued for currently at 6,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

What's the total? Can you walk us through all of the debt that you have?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, absolutely. So I have 20,000 in a business credit card that was used to start the business. 20,000 in personal credit card that was used a little bit to help the business, but somewhat personal. And then another 19, obviously, which is basically right around 60. And then I also have student debt that I haven't really included there. So if we want to include student debt would be a total of 90,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, that's important because that bill is coming due too. Right. For you?

[Jade Warshaw]

Absolutely.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so the good news is if, and I'm, I'm not trying to make a joke, but the good news is this storm is passing like the, the hard part has happened. You've recovered somewhat where, I mean, you're both working again, you've got a place to live. It's. I mean, it's terrible what's happened. I mean, I can't express that enough. You guys have dealt with a lot of loss, a lot of change in a very short period of time. But the good news is everything's kind of starting to land and you guys, you know, it could, it could be a lot worse is what I'm saying. So I would really attack this the way I would tell anybody to. With the debt snowball.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Obviously the, the amount that you're being sued for, it's not a lump sum. Right. Is it broken into Smaller pieces.

[Jade Warshaw]

So I called the attorney, and they're basically saying they want everything up front and they're not really wanting to negotiate on anything, because I've listened to Dave Ramsey a few times saying, hey, let's try to negotiate it.

[Rachel Cruz]

And you try.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it's usually when it goes into collections at that point. Is any of it in collections?

[Jade Warshaw]

I have the other 40,000 in credit card debt that's was going to be in collection or is in collections. Yeah. So I could negotiate those.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, let's do negotiate those. And yeah, the 19,000, I think you're beyond that point, it sounds like. So you might have to pony up the cash. So at this point, this. This is the equation. I mean, it doesn't change. You've got to tighten up your budget. I'm sure you have a budget, correct?

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Rachel Cruz]

So, I mean, that's on bare bones. But then the other side of this is now that you do have a nanny for the kids, you and your wife have got to be working like crazy people. And it's almost the exact. It's the exact opposite of what you want to do right now. You've been through a lot. You probably want to rest. You probably feel like you owe it to yourself to just, like, take a breather. Right. But the truth is, you've got this debt breathing down your neck, and at least until you can get out of this 19,000 and clear that and, you know, settle this other 40,000 for half, you know, and then you can kind of take a breather. And then it's like, okay, now we. We're safe. And now we can start to tackle that student loan debt once you've. Taking care of those other crazy ones that are.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, yeah. And cut everything up, John. Be done. Be done with the credit card game.

[Jade Warshaw]

I mean, seriously, everybody's throwing everything away.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, I'm so glad. I'm so glad, because this is it. I'm like. It's just like another example to the world, like, this is the mess people get in. You know what I mean? And, John, you're pretty normal in that way. Like, we get caught. This is the show we're on. This is how normal it is.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's not from the hurricane. It's not from the storm. It's you having to react to the lifestyle you had before and the risk that you had created, probably unbeknownst to you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right. You know, before all this even happens. Yep, exactly. So, yeah, John. Yeah. It would not be. Yeah. I would not say you're in a Bankruptcy situation. But you guys have, gosh, a solid four years probably down this track of saying we got to, we got to start cleaning this up. And so again, any savings, any non retirement that you have, cash everything out, John, and put towards this if you guys have it and be, you know, and be aware of your expenses even from a business perspective, you know, from like yeah, I don't know, there's just something that. Where can you cut to save? Since you, I think you are running your business from a property management standpoint, where can you find some margin to throw at your personal finances here in the next year or two to kind of get a jump start as well?

[Rachel Cruz]

You know Rachel, I feel lately I've been hearing more calls about bankruptcy. Should I consider bankruptcy? I'm in this mess. Should I do bankruptcy? You know, I know you personally that I mean that's where your story with Dave starts. You know, I think of bankruptcy as you're losing control. Like you're going to have to sacrifice something. You're going to have to pay a certain amount of this debt. But when you're in bankruptcy, then the courts are deciding, right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Versus you've lost all control of your financial, yeah, your financial world. You don't get to make the decisions.

[Rachel Cruz]

Versus if you can just get on a plan, Ramsey plan, you can do a lot of the same things that bankruptcy would do, which is make you pay these things off, make you prioritize, but at least you have the control back.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's right. It's not with some hands of some judge somewhere, right. Doing it all, which we don't want. So that's great. It's a great point.

[Rachel Cruz]

This is.

[George Camel]

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[Jade Warshaw]

All.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right, let's head back to the phone lines. We've got Jay who's in Detroit, Michigan. Jay, you're on the Line.

[Caller]

Hi there. How you doing today?

[Rachel Cruz]

We're doing good. How can we help?

[Caller]

So my major question today is going to be should my husband and I go about renting out our house with the potential for, you know, not having the best tenants, especially because we would be asking a pretty high rent for what it is or if we should try to sell the house, which we, we would end up bringing money to the table to sell the house and we don't have that money right now. So we would either have to take a loan out for it or I don't even know.

[Rachel Cruz]

So yeah, that's what you're trying to accomplish.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is this your primary home or a second home?

[Caller]

It's our primary house. So we, we just are so financially burdened. You know, we're 23 and 24 and we got this house and we kind of jumped the gun and I took control of the finances in terms of being like, no, we can handle it. We can, we can do this. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

What's your, what's your income every month and how much is the mortgage?

[Caller]

So our total income between like combined between the two of us is about 4400 of take home. But I uber for a living so I'll have to pay taxes at the end of the year. I'm going to research what I can write off, of course, and you know, go about that way. But he is at a point where, you know, he, he is an apartment maintenance man and he gets a discount and he wants to go move into one of their apartments. So that's what we plan on doing. We just don't really know how much.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is your mortgage payment a month?

[Caller]

The mortgage payment is 1385.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so what else is going on? Because that's not, that's not bad.

[Caller]

So we, no, it is not bad. But we kind of bringing back a couple months around November. I took some time off of work. He felt he could handle it. I took about three weeks off. I was in between jobs. I was trying to get a new job, but we also took a pretty big pay cut because I quit that job where I was making 55 and I ended up landing a job. But then once I landed a job, come to see December, he decided to join the Marines. And he did not end up going all the way through. He got through some boot camp and he was supposed to get the basic allowance for housing, which is where, you know, if you have a wife or children, they'll send money home. They did not send over his paperwork for that. So that whole time while he Was gone. I was just struggling to pay because I had like just then phoned a job and it was a pay cut.

[Rachel Cruz]

So you guys got behind. Is that debt? Is that credit card debt?

[Caller]

Yeah, we got really behind. Yeah, we. We've got about 2, 500 of credit card debt, which isn't a crazy amount. But then the second week of him being gone, both of our vehicles broke down and one of them is still. We just haven't even fixed it. We're thinking about just junking it for like 500. Okay. But the other one we ended up preparing, but that was after he got back. So.

[Rachel Cruz]

So where are you now? Give us a picture of what's happened.

[Dave Ramsey]

Now because it's 20 in credit card debt. What El. What other debt do you guys have?

[Caller]

So our car payment is $557 for the new vehicle that we got and.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, so you got a new vehicle. How much did you spend on the new vehicle?

[Caller]

We didn't put any money down, which is kind of also.

[Rachel Cruz]

I understand, but what's. What do you owe on it?

[Caller]

We owe. Where is it?

[Jade Warshaw]

I wrote it down.

[Caller]

I want to say was 32 994.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. Is there anything else that's large that we should about briefly.

[Caller]

Insurance for all three vehicles is 537. Because I Uber, my gas expenses for the month are about 1100. So for bare minimum expenses, this is including food. So this has house car payment or. I'm sorry. Yeah, house, car payment, insurance, dte, which is a rough dte. Gas, gas, phone bills.

[Rachel Cruz]

Just your basic budget. What is it?

[Caller]

Food. Basic budget is 42.81.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so you're to the wire is what you're saying. There's nothing left extra. You don't feel like you have breathing room, no margin. A big piece of. This is the car. So I mean you do have three vehicles. Obviously one of them's not running right now. If you.

[Caller]

Two of them. Now two of them aren't running this past week.

[Rachel Cruz]

Four. So what does it cost to get both of your older. Are they paid for, by the way, the two that aren't the older cars?

[Caller]

Yep, both of the older cars.

[Dave Ramsey]

What could you get for both of them? One's going to be a junker, you said what could you sell the other one for?

[Caller]

The other one? Depending. We're gonna. There's a car shop across the street, so we plan on taking it over there. That one, it's a 2014 Honda Civic. The only problem is he's kind of trashed it, you know, Just tell us.

[Rachel Cruz]

What you think you could get for it.

[Caller]

If you sold them for like pure drivability. Maybe like 2500 for the Civic and then the other one.

[Dave Ramsey]

But you could fix it for how much?

[Caller]

I don't know yet. We have to take it to the mechanic. But this is the second time that it's broke down in a year now.

[Rachel Cruz]

So here's the thing. Here's the thing. I'm going to give you a quick overview because you've. You're meandering a lot, which makes me think that you want to make excuses. And maybe I'm wrong. But I feel like a lot of times when you're giving me all the. All the. All the. It's like, let's just cut it and dry it and say what it really is. Okay. For the two vehicles, your homework getting off of here is find out what you can sell them for private sale, then find out what it would take to fix them. And if you do have an older vehicle, yeah, you might. It's older, so you might have to have repairs on it. But it doesn't mean that it's a bad car. It just means that you have to do maintenance and repair on it and.

[Dave Ramsey]

See how much you can sell the $32,000 car.

[Caller]

Because I might said I would owe on that because I uber. I already have. I got it five months ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I don't care what the dealership said. I would look on Kelly Blue Book. Look on Kelly Blue Book and you're going to always get a better deal when you go private sale. Most always okay from selling the car or buying the car because you can negotiate more with a private party if you're buying. And you're going to get more bang for your buck when you're selling. So Kelly Blue Book it. Don't listen to the dealership.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. And I tend to think. I don't know, but I. I'm looking at this and for where you guys are right now, I'm probably inclined for you to sell the Turkey 302001 and fix the two that you already have that are paid for because we would have told you to do the same thing anyway. Sell the old one and get a junker. Well, you already have the two paid for junkers, so you're already there. And I just want to encourage you. It sounds like you guys, I mean, you're early in your marriage. It sounds like you're trying to get on the same page. And it's been a battle and it's been a struggle. I Want you guys to sit down tonight and look at the facts as they are today. Don't go to the past. Don't spend a lot of time talking about what we did before, but look at it today and say, here's where we are, and talk more about the future. I got. I want you guys to talk about where you want to be at the end of the year, and then I want you to talk about where you want to be at the end of next year and work backwards on a way to get there, because I feel like a lot has happened that's kind of keeping you lost in those. Lost in the sauce.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And Jay, and you guys run the numbers because I do want to just tell you from a normal circumstances, your $1200 mortgage is not the problem.

[Rachel Cruz]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

So because we always, we tell people and we're conservative when it comes to the housing item in the budget of 25% of your income. And you're right, you're right on it. Like, you are exactly where we would say percentage wise to be. So you. From a percentage looking at your income, you're exactly where you should be. And, but let me say this with the caveat. You guys are young. You said we kind of like rushed into this purchase. And if the whole thing is overwhelming, Jay, and you guys continue to feel paralyzed by this, and you're just like, oh my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh my go. And you can make some money with some equity. I don't know what the, what the turn would be. And you're like, listen, we could get out of it. I'm going to make this up, Jay. We can get out of this, and we can make 15 grand in equity, and we're going to go rent for two to three years, get our feet under us, and then we're going to make a different decision with housing. You guys can do that. But if you're. Are you underwater on the house? Is that what you said at the very beginning of the call?

[Caller]

Yeah. So we bought last year, you know, in a seller's market. And so we've already talked to our real estate agent, and I've thought about even doing private sale, but our house just. Just hasn't appreciated in value.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So I would say you would be bringing money. Does it cost a lot to maintain?

[Caller]

No. I mean, the house is pretty simple. We do have some repairs that we have to do, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Yeah. So, Jay, if I were you guys, stay in the house, I would not take the financial hit with losing money. On a home, a car, I might. If you're going to be underwater five grand, go take a personal loan. For five grand, drive your two beaters. And I'd rather have $5,000 in car debt than $32,000. So it's just a reminder, you guys, when your car breaks down, you don't have to go to the dealership and buy a $32,000 car, right? Even if you were going into debt for a car, which you shouldn't do, God forbid you go get $10,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Can you get a $10000? Thank you, Rachel.

[Dave Ramsey]

Man, oh man, thank you guys. Think, think you're this and cars are just like one of these things. We just go and buy and we don't think about it. But man, that's half of their annual income. More than half. Don't do that. J.

[Jade Warshaw]

Foreign.

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[Rachel Cruz]

If you're tired of living paycheck to paycheck and the feeling of not being able to get ahead, then you need to join one of our free every dollar training. There are these new trainings that we do every week of the month and they're all hosted by one of the Ramsey personalities Matter of fact, Rachel, you did one today.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just did one before the show.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's right. I did one yesterday. George is doing them. We're all into it. And we show you how to stick to your budget. And here's the most important part. We show you in real time how to find $9,000 of margin using every dollar so that you can get ahead of debt and start building wealth. I know I just said a lot, but trust me, you can ask us anything during the Q and A live. And if you're interested, that you can sign up for it right now for [e-mail] webinar. Very, very good. All right, let's go to Eric. He is local. Nashville, Tennessee. Hey, Eric.

[Caller]

Hey, guys. Thank you for.

[Jade Warshaw]

Thank you so much for having us.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, you're. You, us. Is there someone else on the line?

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, my wife's nearby. Huge fans of everything y' all do.

[Caller]

So I love it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Tell her we said hi.

[Rachel Cruz]

How can we help today?

[Caller]

Say hi quick.

[Jade Warshaw]

Super quick question. So we are planning an international trip next year. We are committed to all of the things that you all teach. This includes not having credit cards, period. So we are going to do that. No credit cards for that trip. Now, the thing that our TripAdvisor person is giving us is they are coming back to us saying, hey, well, what happens if you go there with just a debit card and. And your debit card gets hacked? That's the. That's the particular fear they're. They're throwing at us. And I'm just curious, you know, mechanically, what would you all recommend? Again, we are not going with the credit card, so we're not even touching that. But what, what would y' all recommend if. If the, the fear they're throwing at us is what happens if it gets. If it gets hacked?

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, I mean, I can.

[Jade Warshaw]

With our kids, we're bringing a couple sons.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. I mean, family thing, what we're solving for. I mean, the basis of what we're solving for is happen. You need money. That's really what they're saying, right? Is if somebody steals all your money here, you need to have money elsewhere in order to cover it in the meantime. And so that's. That's all it is. So if you say, hey, I'm not using credit cards, I'm just going to have a pile of money in my account. And I know if something should. If something should happen with my debit card, and I'll get to this in a minute, let's just say something happens and it takes 24 hours for that money to come back and be replaced. Then I have an emergency fund, and I have some savings that I also can have access to. And that's. That's. That's all I need.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Because what other accounts do you guys have besides your checking?

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, what accounts do we have checking into with a.

[Caller]

We have savings, we have savings.

[Jade Warshaw]

We have a couple things.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so, like, we have. We have a debit card. Yeah, yeah. We have a high Yield savings account with Fairwinds, and we have a Fairwinds debit card with that account. So I would have, you know, that's, you know, you would have one OR 2.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Three different accounts that you can use a different debit card for.

[Jade Warshaw]

Potentially.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, exactly. If you're. If you're worried about that, which I guess is fair.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And. But I would give your bank a heads up because we were. We ran into an issue. Not. It was. It. It was in Florida. It wasn't even international. And the bank, like, it was like this whole, like, limit thing. It was this whole thing. And we hadn't. We hadn't told the bank. And so our card did. It took us like 45 minutes to get on the phone with the bank and figure it all out, which was annoying. It's super annoying.

[Rachel Cruz]

But it's for your protection. They're like, hey, somebody's spending a lot in another area. That's not typical for you. So, yeah, they throw the flag on that.

[Dave Ramsey]

But so, so just I would contact your bank and then, Eric, the other thing to look out for. It depends on your bank and account. But we do get ding sometimes with international fees. So, like, if you swipe with certain merchants or whatever, you know, you. I know when we travel, we've, like, to Mexico or something. We've, like, come back into the EveryDollar app and it's like $2.99.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, I mean, like a fee randomly.

[Caller]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So just be aware of that. That's the other thing to think about. Do they get you.

[Rachel Cruz]

I think the other part of this question that he wasn't saying, but I do think that a lot of people think, Rachel, is that debit cards don't have the same protections as a credit card. So let's say you have fraud on your account. The big fear is that, oh, my gosh, if you have fraud, then a credit card company is going to give you the money back instantly. But the truth is, a debit card company will give you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

If it's a debit card, you'll get the money back instantly as well. And, and you can check the fine print. If you look at your Visa debit card, it does have the same protections, but you do need to report it, you know, within, I think it's 48 hours or 24 hours, you have to report it. And I can tell you, I have never had a problem with that. It's always been, I call and I say, hey, this looks like fraud. And they say, okay, and they'll, they'll give you the money back and ask questions later.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

So.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, and honestly, too, to your point about the protection, the way banks work today, I feel like at least our bank, they are way more on top of it than they were five years ago.

[Rachel Cruz]

100.

[Dave Ramsey]

I feel like I get texts a lot of like, say, why did this transaction sometimes scams? So you got to make sure it's your actual bank. But our bank, I don't know, I feel like they do a really good job at it, but they do.

[Rachel Cruz]

Very good question. All right, another local call. We've got Annette in Nashville, Tennessee. What's up, Annette? How can we help?

[Caller]

Hi.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hello, Annette. How can we help?

[Caller]

Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't hear you say that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, you're great. You're great.

[Caller]

My husband was, was injured at work and he received a hundred thousand dollar cash. Well, settlement, and it was through Workman. And we had to take the company anyways. We had to file bankruptcy because they wouldn't pay. Workman's comp. Wouldn't pay. So we did have to go to court and we were successful. Now my question to you is, do we take that 400,000 and take it to the bankruptcy court and pay off as much as we can, take half and put the other half in the bank and start saving for our future? What would your recommendation be?

[Dave Ramsey]

How much is left in.

[Caller]

150,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Left to pay.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

I have. And we have to pay the most back because we have 250,000 equity in our home. We, you know, bought it cheap and fixed it up, and then it skyrocketed. And so we're paying back everything, but right now we're paying 14 to 1500 a week. So everything that my husband makes goes straight to bankruptcy every week.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, gosh, yes, I would, I would, I would catch up on this immediately. So, yeah, I would, I would throw it there because you want all this, you want all of this cleaned up in that to be able then to, to move forward and think about the future. Like what you're saying when you try to do 18 different things, you're not going to solve for peace doing that because you're still going to have this bankruptcy looming. So as soon as you can get that in the rearview mirror, as soon as possible, the better off this is going to be.

[Caller]

So you take the full amount and put it on there?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, I would. Yeah, for sure.

[Rachel Cruz]

Are you working to Annette?

[Caller]

I am working, but at the time that he got injured, I had just opened my own business. So I'm at three years in my own business and I'm doing okay, but I don't, you know, only pay myself. Not a lot.

[Rachel Cruz]

What's not a lot?

[Caller]

4 to 500 a week. So it's not. I make sure all my bills are paid and I'm building the business and it's coming along. But, you know, what kind of business is it? Fitness. I opened the fitness gym.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, interesting. Okay. I'm glad that the business is growing. I just wonder, is there, you know, when it comes to these equations, I said this earlier today. It's good that you've got this chunk of money in, but it's almost like pretend that chunk of money hadn't come. What would you guys have been doing to pay off this 150? And you would have been getting busy out there. So would your husband.

[Caller]

Four jobs, right? I work four jobs right now. I work, I run this business and I took page teach 25 classes a week. And then I teach outside of this. And I'm also a DJ as well.

[Rachel Cruz]

And all of that brings in the 400 a week.

[Caller]

No, that's just from my business. So that's on top of all the other. So I'm still doing all those.

[Rachel Cruz]

What's the other stuff?

[Caller]

Well, you know, DJing is like here and there. So I would say that's about 5,000 a year. And then the other brings in 400amonth. Four to six, 600amonth. The other classes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. I just.

[Caller]

At other places.

[Dave Ramsey]

I just wonder if you can be putting your time somewhere where it's a.

[Rachel Cruz]

Little bit more valuable.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. From a money perspective, 100.

[Caller]

100%.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So I'd probably look at some priorities, Annette, from the time management perspective of how many hours you're doing all of this.

[Rachel Cruz]

A lot.

[Dave Ramsey]

And. Yeah. Where you could be, I don't know, working at Target. I don't know, like, run some numbers just to be like, if I put in this amount of money, this amount of time versus is what if I was making 30 hour, you know, $30 an hour somewhere else or I don't know. So just kind of run some numbers. Yep, exactly.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's a lot. You're doing a lot, Annette. And don't get me, don't hear us wrong. We love your dream of having a gym. You're in it now. It's just maybe there's a way to reallocate that time. Maybe you hire someone to teach some of the classes and give them a cut of it and figure it out like that so you have more of your time.

[Jade Warshaw]

Packages. By Expedia, you were made to occasionally take the hard route to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were made to easily bundle your trip Expedia made to travel flight inclusive packages are at all protected.

[George Camel]

Statistics show that half of Americans don't have enough life insurance or they don't have any at all. I don't understand this, John. Why don't people want to take care of their family? They think they're going to die or something.

[Announcer]

Well, I used to be one of those guys. I didn't even think about it. And one of my buddies said, hey, the only reason to not have life insurance is if you hate your wife and kids. And I immediately went and got term life insurance. Insurance.

[George Camel]

That's a gut punch.

[Jade Warshaw]

And.

[Announcer]

Oh, you're telling me. And for decades, Dave, I've sat across people who've lost a spouse, they've lost somebody important to them.

[George Camel]

Me, too.

[Announcer]

They don't know what to do next.

[George Camel]

Me, too. I mean, you're gonna have a crisis here and you know, you got two options. While you're sitting and talking to a young widow, she's concerned about how she's going to invest all this money properly and not mess this up or she's concerned how she's going to eat tomorrow.

[Announcer]

That's exactly.

[George Camel]

These are the two options. And take care of your dadgum family, man.

[Announcer]

Term life insurance can replace income, pay off debts, cover funeral expenses. So your family can actually have the opportunity to just be sad. Yeah, to just miss you.

[George Camel]

That's exactly what it's supposed to be. It's saying I love you to your family. Term life insurance, Jeff Zander and the team at Zander Insurance makes it easy and affordable. I've used them personally for 25 years. They're the only people I trust. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, if you're a listener to the Ramsey show, we really appreciate you. We're glad you're here. Matter of fact, you're the Reason that we have jobs because without you, there would be no show. So we're grateful to you. And if you like the show, the biggest thing we could ask you to do is just share it. And there's a lot of ways you could do that. Maybe there's a clip that you like to share and you could do that. Maybe there's, you know, you slide into somebody's DMS and you put it in there. There used to be a playlist. Do we still have the Ramsey, the playlist that we can share? We do. It's still out there on YouTube. All right, so if you go on YouTube, there's the Ramsey 101 playlist that you can share. And it's a great way to share it because it kind of curates the videos for you so that if somebody's kind of getting into the Ramsey verse for the first time, they're getting the information in the proper way. So keep sharing the show. It helps us out our. All right, let's go to Edna, Lexington, Kentucky. Hey, Edna, welcome to the show.

[Caller]

Thanks so much for taking my call.

[Rachel Cruz]

You bet. How can we help today?

[Caller]

Well, so I guess I need marriage advice and financial advice. So my husband and I have actually been together for over 10 years, but I finally married him last year. Not this past June, but a year ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you guys. That's great.

[Caller]

Yeah, I'm still a chicken. And I haven't combined finances, so I'm sure I get about that. But we just come from completely different worlds. I was raised Amish, so, you know, we had our. We raised our own meat, grow our own vegetables. We had milk cows, all the things. And he grew up very much cereal, microwave dinners, going out to eat, all that. So just financially, we're not in a grand really. And I know that should have been taken care of before we got married, but I have recently been trying to get him involved in the Ramsey programs and the baby steps. And even like, I bought him of addition of the total money makeover, and I don't even think he's opened it. I mentioned going through the Peace University.

[Jade Warshaw]

And he's like, all right, so we're.

[Caller]

Going to spend money to save money. And I was like, yeah. So I today purchase the Everdollar Premium and I send him an invitation to it. But I guess I just kind of, after I sent it, I'm like, maybe I should get some advice on how to have that conversation.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. My number one question is the way you guys, you explained your differences growing up makes total sense. It was like in a food category. I milked a cat.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

I milked cows.

[Rachel Cruz]

I milk a cow. He goes to the store.

[Dave Ramsey]

So from a financial perspective, what are the big differences? What are you bumping up against?

[Caller]

He thinks if you can finance it, you can afford it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

I think if you don't have cash, you can't afford it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. Yeah, that's big.

[Caller]

Which I do owe on my house. I have no debt, and he doesn't. Now, that was one thing that, you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Know, I was like, you're paying your truck off.

[Caller]

We're getting out of this before we get married. So between us, we have no consumer debt, but when we met, he had a very little equity in his house and owed money on his truck.

[Dave Ramsey]

That was 10 years ago. So what's he doing now financially?

[Caller]

We own a tire and service center together, and we've had a lot of life happen, but no.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so what's. What is he. So, besides debt, is he in debt currently?

[Caller]

No, he's out of debt. Other than our house. We. I own a house, and we just recently bought a farm.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

And is he suggesting you go into debt for something else right now?

[Caller]

No, but, like, he won't. Like, I'm all about doubling up payments. And let's, you know, get this. You know, we have. He has no savings, and he's 20 years older than me, so he has no savings. I am the only one that has savings.

[Rachel Cruz]

How much do you have?

[Caller]

And probably 35,000. Yeah, I have.

[Rachel Cruz]

So here's. Here's the tough part. You said earlier in the call, I feel like I heard you say, obviously, you've been together 10 years, married one, and you haven't combined finances yet. And I thought you were sounding like you didn't really want to combine finances.

[Caller]

Well, I do, but I'm scared to.

[Rachel Cruz]

But you're scared to. And yet we're having conversations as though we're combining finances. So it's almost like, I wonder if that's feeding into how you're talking about it versus it being more of. I want us to be together on the same page. I want us to finally be one. We've been together for 10 years. I just wonder if it's a shift in how you're talking about it. Talk about the combination as a way to become one first instead of as a way to pay off debt, pay off the mortgage, save money, like that sort of a thing. Do you see what I'm saying?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruz]

So talk about it from an intimacy standpoint for.

[Caller]

I'm sorry.

[Rachel Cruz]

Pardon Me, I was saying talk about it from an intimacy standpoint first, and then as that conversation continues to happen, then we can start to see the advantages from a numbers perspective.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, for sure. Because I think possibly the problem thus far with the communication has been, to Jade's point, situational and with purchasing or I want to do a budget. Budget, and you're not signing into the app. I want you to read this book. You're not reading this book. It's. It's more about action. Right. If that makes sense versus starting more with you, Edna. Of like, okay, why do I feel fearful? Why am I hesitant? What do I want? What do I like actually talking about more? What's going on with you and bringing you to the table and saying, hey, hey, listen, I love you. Obviously, we were together for 10 years. We are married now. And my hope and prayer, I don't know, I'm making this up, this may not be the case for you is that I always saw the future with my husband, that we would be one and that we could trust each other. We'd be on the same page. We'd be on the same team as we walk this road of life like we are hand in hand. And you know, you're always gonna have your personality, I'm gonna have mine. So, Edna, you may always be a little bit more nerdy and always be more conservative. He may be a little bit more of a spender, more of a free spirit, but that personality differences isn't changing the direction of where we're going. And that's. That's the safety I want in a husband. I want to know that we are united on these big topics of raising kids and money and spiritual. Our spiritual lives. Like, I don't know all of this if we're on the same page. That gives me security. Right. You're telling him this, but I fear that because you don't seem interested in a topic that I'm really nervous about. I don't feel like you're listening to me. Right. Like, you make it more of a marriage issue. Coming out as money through the lane of money. But to your point, it's not a money issue. You guys are just missing each other completely. Or he's just a jerk and doesn't really care what you think, Ed. Now, which hopefully you didn't marry him, if that's him.

[Caller]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So I think he. So, yeah. So he cares for you. Right? So I would go about it more from you and this tip. John. John Deloney said this years ago, and I just Love it. He's like, when you ever, you go into any level of conflict, you never use the word, you, you're doing this, you're not reading the book, you're not signing up for the app. It's all about you, Edna. You have to enter that convers.

[Rachel Cruz]

You.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I would tell him before too. Like, I wouldn't make this a casual thing. I think you've kind of been casual about it. But I would say, hey, tonight can we have, can we have like a big conversation about money? Because I, and kind of prep him of like, hey, I just have some things I want to share with you and tell him it's about money so it's not so secretive every, like, oh, God, what are you going to tell me? You know, but, but actually have a very intentional sit down together. And I, and I just wonder if he's a good man, you know, if he starts to actually see. Okay, gosh, she is really worried about this. And, you know, he may not get on board that night 100%, but at least he can have a level of empathy to enter in with you in this. And you guys can start this journey together slowly, but you can start heading in the right direction where it's, it's less about throwing a book at him, you know, and more about what's happening with you.

[Rachel Cruz]

Edna, I agree. What you said, Rachel, is exactly right. I think a lot of times, and not just with Edna's case, but in general, we, we, we want something from our spouse and we start with these actions of like, it's almost like giving them hints of what we want them to do. Do versus, like you said, sitting down, having the conversation. That way it's all laid out on the table. And then from that point on anything that we do, we can link it back to that conversation and say, we. Remember when we talked about this?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yep, yep.

[Rachel Cruz]

Now, now I can say I, I found this FPU class or I found this book, and you've got that conversation to kind of link it back or tether it back to. So it's not just because a lot of times we, we could be in one mental space, our spouse is in another, and they're just going on about their life. And next thing you know, you mentioned something about paying and they're like, what?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. She's like, I'm doubling up payments. And he's like, golly, Edna, wait, what's happening?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, where'd this come from?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, right, right. So give him, give him some of that grace, too, in it. But I think Getting on the same page is going to be your number one and then everything else. But the good thing is too Edna, in your case, you know, it's not like he's racking up all this credit card debt and spending all this, you know, spending stuff he doesn't have. Like it sounds like even from an action statement standpoint he's in the middle. It's just getting on the same pains page mindset wise. And it's going to be key for.

[Rachel Cruz]

You guys.

[Dave Ramsey]

When you go through a job loss or job change and lose your employer sponsored health insurance, there's no better time to try Christian healthcare Min Ministries. That's right. There's another option besides COBRA to take care of your family during that time. Because if you didn't know, the cost of COBRA has gone up a lot in the past few years. And CHM is an affordable, biblically based alternative to health insurance. So do your own research. CHM is a great option that's potentially a third of the price of cobra. It's a health cost sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families like yours take care of over $11 billion in medical bills since 1981. And the support you get from CHM goes beyond helping you pay for medical bills. Members become part of a family that prays for them when they have a medical event. Try getting that with cobra. So if you're going through a job loss, life change or just want to explore other options to save on healthcare, CHM might be perfect for you. CHM programs start as low as $98 a month. So find out more at chministries. Or [e-mail] Budget.

[Rachel Cruz]

From the Ramsey Network. You're listening to the Ramsey Show. We're talking about your life and your money all day long. I've got Rachel Cruz here next to me. I'm Jade Warshaw. Let's get right into the phone lines where we've got Wendy from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey Wendy, how can we help today?

[Caller]

Hi Jade, thanks so much for taking my call. We have a 15 year old daughter and she is a social media influencer. We've made her older siblings buy their own cars and they probably had six to $7,000 to buy a car when it was time. But obviously her situation is going to much different and we aren't necessarily in agreement as to my husband and I as to how much money we should allow her to spend on her car.

[Rachel Cruz]

What is she earning? This is crazy.

[Caller]

It is crazy. Her manager says that in the next year she'll make a hundred thousand dollars. Currently she, she has a fully funded Roth IRA. She has 32,000 in a brokerage, and she's averaging about 8 to $10,000 a month right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Rachel Cruz]

So what does she want to spend on a car.

[Caller]

To get what she wants? She'd want to spend around $50,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Wow. Okay. I can understand your conundrum. Is that, Can I just ask, Can I just ask honestly, is that more expensive than your car?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Wow. This is something.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Okay. Oh my gosh.

[Rachel Cruz]

This is juicy.

[Dave Ramsey]

And this is, this is, this is how I would feel as a mom. And I don't have a 15 year old. Let me just say that. Neither do I, I have a 10 year old. So I take this with a grain of salt. I always hate giving parenting advice when there's. I won't even say this is advice. This is like what just came up in me. Wendy, as a mom, we'll just be, we'll just be girlfriends, just chatting.

[Rachel Cruz]

I like that.

[Dave Ramsey]

What rose up in me is less about the dollar amounts and more about what I am. What am I, what am I helping her as a mom? See that is important in life. And she's in an industry which I'm not mad about. I'll link a dress or two. I'm not mad at the influencing world. I'm really not. That's how I buy half my clothes. As I see someone a lot older.

[Rachel Cruz]

And you've had a lot more maturity to grow over time.

[Dave Ramsey]

It can be, be it, it's like the, it can be a very vain self, inward looking type industry in general. I'm not saying that's your daughter. I'm just saying the industry. The industry, right. Hollywood has an industry influencer, has energy like every, everything has pros and cons. So as a 15 year old, what I want to facilitate in her is that our stuff cannot own us. And that's from a debt perspective, but it's also from an identity contentment perspective. Our stuff is not going to make us who we are. And the moment we live in a world where our stuff starts to define us. And if you took all the stuff away, if you took the hair extensions and the eyelashes and the cars and the clothes, who am I? Who am I? Take everything away. Who am I? So like I would be pushing a message so hard. Wendy, to her of this is incredible. Number one, what she's doing, like her tenacity to go out and do stuff. And she, I mean it's amazing. It's absolutely incredible. So I don't want to squash this entrepreneurial side of her, but there's just a lot of caution and flags that this is going to be the first big purchase that she makes that could go take her down a road. To say, how much does stuff influence who I am as a person? And to have the restraint to say, say I want this fifty thousand dollar brand new car. But also I'm gonna understand that I am 16 years old. I'm gonna have a level of common sense with my life. And I don't need a $50,000 car at 16. And it would show a lot of maturity and a lot of confidence as a mom to her if she was like, you know what, mom, I get it. Like, I, I want a $50,000 car. What does she want? Is it like, like a. I don't even know what that would be.

[Caller]

A Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. It's that, what if we went and bought a used Jeep? Right? Right. Like go and buy a used version. Like, what does that do to your identity? Does that make sense? Like, I'm trying to, I'm trying to kind of poke on the triggers of what I don't want to be magnified for her as an adult in her 20s. So like how do you make a purchase that. That doesn't influence. Influence it?

[Rachel Cruz]

I think what you, Rachel, I think you're spot on on that. I also think there's part of it and again, there, it's. There's part of this that's hard to put into words. There's. There's also part of it where it's just about building a maturity. You said building a maturity level. But it's almost like her, her following. Right. She didn't immediately start with a million followers. She had to work to build that up. And as you go through those stages, your character also builds to be able to hold it a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit bit more. Right. And so I think the same can be true from a f financial perspective with large purchases. With large purchases, when you're gifted large amounts, there also has to be a part of your personality that can carry that. Because here's the thing, she's gonna. If she does a fifty thousand dollar car, there's a lot that's going to come with that. There's going to be expectations from her friends. There's going to be things that she feels like, now I have to be here or I'm projecting this to the world. Now I have to be here. It's almost like it's. And again, I don't have kids this age, but it's almost like when I was in eighth grade and I wanted to start wearing makeup, I didn't have a bad reason for wanting to do that. I just wanted to improve my. The way I looked as a eighth grader. But my mom saw ahead and was like, hey, you're just not there yet. Like, you bringing makeup is going to bring a different type of attention. It's going to bring more. You know what I'm saying?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruz]

There's more that goes along with these things than we. Than meets the eye. So I'm with you on not doing a $50,000 car, but I think it's fair for her to have more than a 6 or $7,000 car. Hundred percent to reflect the work she's done.

[Dave Ramsey]

One hundred percent. Yeah. So maybe it looks more like, I don't know what's reasonable for a 16 or 20. Yeah. What's a. Yeah, 20, 25. I don't know. It's reasonable for a 16 year old that has the cash too, like, which is incredible. And she's buying her own car. So, like, I want to reward part of that in her, but I think for a teenage girl and that whole world and all of it, I'm like, I just want to. Where I can steer the motivation in a healthy way so that, that is what's magnified as she gets older versus just being like, oh my gosh, you can afford, you know, like, you can afford it, so just get it. And I, Wendy, to a degree, I have restraints on myself. I'm such a spender. I love clothes. I'm such a spender where I'm like, I probably could go out and get more, but I'm like, for my own dignity and my own sake, like, in my own contentment, I have to say no to myself sometimes, even though I can financially afford things, sometimes that I'm like, I don't. Does that make sense? Like, there's something there for her at 15 that I just want to protect.

[Rachel Cruz]

I agree. And I'm looking at our audience out here and I'm like, everyone agrees. Are we on point? Are we saying things that make points or are you like, no, you've missed it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Should she get a $50,000 car at 16? Is there any. Hands up. All right.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

We. Okay, we got a good. We got a good.

[Rachel Cruz]

It's mostly adults out there by way. The, the way. What about like 25,000? I, I feel like could. Is that still too high.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, we're getting some down below. Oh, we're getting some lower.

[Rachel Cruz]

20, 20.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

So you guys think she should stick to the six, the seven to $10,000 range? Okay, this is like we're getting mixed reviews.

[Dave Ramsey]

10,000. I'm going to give her some, I'm going to give her some money to spend.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'd be okay with 20, 25. Honestly, I would.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And let me say this too, Wendy. It's got to be in cash. And you said her manager said she could be making 100,000. That's not money in the bank. So it needs to be reasonable with what she has now. And I don't know what, I don't know how much money she has right now in that account.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, that's true.

[Dave Ramsey]

We just monologed. I apologize.

[Rachel Cruz]

But it also reflects our, our teaching, which is even at 100,050, that would be too much at this point. She'd be right at the line. So even from a rule of thumb perspective, not just from a, I don't know quote, kind of like morality.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Good call. Thank you for the call, Wendy.

[George Camel]

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[Jade Warshaw]

Fairwinds is federally insured by the ncu.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thanks for listening and being with us on the show today. We're going go to Go straight to the phone lines where we have Shayna in Portland, Oregon. Hi, Shayna. How can we help? Hello.

[Caller]

Hi, how are you guys?

[Rachel Cruz]

We're good. How can we help you?

[Caller]

Awesome. Well, I'm a single mom by choice. I will soon to be an empty nester as my son heads to college this fall. So that focuses me on retirement. And my question is, can you help me with a goal on how much to pay on my house between now and retirement, since it's my big focus area and piece to prepare to be ready.

[Rachel Cruz]

So how much do you have remaining on your mortgage?

[Caller]

My mortgage has 370,000 remaining.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. And what's your income?

[Caller]

It's in the, the mid six figures, so 150. 150ish. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. And like the big. What I'm getting to, without asking a bunch of questions, what I'm getting to is figuring out your margin every month because that's really what's going to speak to how quickly you can do this. So are you currently putting away 15, investing 15%?

[Caller]

Yeah, I'm clearly on baby step six with a margin right now of about 11 to 1200amonth.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. So what I would do if I were in your shoes is I would look on the calculator. The, like, how quickly can I pay off my debt calculator? You can find that on Ramsey Solutions.com and basically say, okay, it's your choice. Right. Because we always say that at this point it's all about intentionality. You don't necessarily have to be intense, but it just sounds like you want to know the exact numbers and know the game plan. So you can decide, okay, am I putting 600 extra extra or am I putting 800 extra? And how does that affect how quickly I get this done? And then it's really up to you how that looks like. And I mean, that can also be very seasonal. I know for Sam and I, there's some seasons where we're like, oh, we're going crazy and all the money's going to the mortgage. Then there's times where we're like, I'm just going on vacation. Like, I don't, I'm not hitting it like this today. And you get to make that choice. The, the point is, is that you're consistently paying more than just your, you know, your normal monthly amount.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old are you?

[Caller]

I'm 55.

[Dave Ramsey]

55. When do you want to retire? Do you know, do you have an age.

[Caller]

60.

[Dave Ramsey]

At 60. Okay, so five years. So that's not going to, I mean, yeah, if you put. What is that, six? Yeah. I'm just thinking if you. If you put a thousand bucks extra a month. Right. And being able to kind of extrapolate that and say, okay, it's not going to make probably a massive dent in 370.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much do you have in retirement right now?

[Caller]

Retirement? About 1.5. Targeting 2.5 by the time I hit 60.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, that's good to know. Yeah, that's wonderful.

[Caller]

I guess my question, because you can.

[Dave Ramsey]

Use some of that, I mean, be aggressive with your income now, but also while still funding that 15%. And then once you get to retirement, you can use some of this to pay it down.

[Rachel Cruz]

I mean, yeah, if you made it a point to pay off half between now, you know, between now and then and get it down to, I don't know, 150. And then you said, and I plan on by then taking 150 of the 2.5 million and finishing it off, I think that'd be just fine.

[Caller]

Absolutely. And so I guess that would be my question is, because I can work numbers, but it's that energy to put in extra work or take on a second job to pay down more. And so what would you guys do? I probably the tax hit on the back end of those retirement funds. If I do take it out to pay off half of the house. Well, half of the mortgage.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you would wait till. Because how many. How. What percentage of the 2.5 will be in a Roth versus traditional.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, that's. That's. Yeah. You're going to have to pay the tax burden on that then, of course.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right. Well, yeah. So all that to say, Shawna, I think. Let me say this. Overall, looking at your numbers, you're going to be fine even if you took, you know, I don't know, 100 and I don't know, by the time you get to retirement. 200 out.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And paid off the house. But you had to pay taxes. All of it. Your house is paid for, you're good, and you'll be fine into retirement even with what's left. So either way, you're fine. I think the question would be for you. You, what do you want? Like, do you want to work an extra job to put towards the house so that you don't have to take out as much at retirement or what? Because either way you're going to be fine. I think that's more of a personal question of what, what do you want to do with the next five years? I mean, you're going to be an empty nester, you said. And remember this too, your income should continue to go up. So hopefully you could put 1500 away with some margin in the next, you know, two years. So remember that too. Part of the equation, you'll be able to pay off more than what you, you think you will be today.

[Rachel Cruz]

And can you start with a Roth IRA instead of continuing to contribute to traditional funds? Can we start building over there instead of continuing this route?

[Caller]

Absolutely. Then it just creates a little net, it reduces cash flow up front for the house. So that was kind of my back end.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you did an additional Roth ira is what you're saying.

[Caller]

You said if I paid into a Roth 401K.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Instead of, instead of continuing to do your 15% into traditional funds, could you, could you max out a Roth instead? And in addition to.

[Caller]

Yeah, absolutely. So I can play with the Roth option as well.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. I'm just saying going forward so you have those funds, so you're 15%, it's going to be, I mean you'll, you will be able to max out a Roth and then, and then some, and then the extra would then fall into, would trickle, you know, over into the traditional is what I'm saying.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, but yeah, and it would, will mess up some of your formula because it's going to be after tax dollars going in.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So that's what you're saying. So mess with that too. But I think again you're, I appreciate the detail in it all because I think it's very fair. Great question to ask because housing is the largest expense that we have and if you can go into retirement with a paid off house, that's just incredible. But I think for you, make it a, or maybe it's a goal too, Shauna, that you're like, okay, maybe I'm going to work a little bit more extra and I'm going to try to have half of this paid, paid off. That'd be going in, you know, have, you know, some, some level of aggression with it because I think that's fair. But also I would not feel like a failure if you go into retirement at 60 with $2.5 million and a $200,000 mortgage that you can pay off with it. So.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think you're gonna, I think you're gonna be great.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. And just in case you were wondering, it's the mortgage payoff calculator, we can probably link to it in the show notes so you can play around with that or if you're Looking, listening. And you've wondered the same question. You can play along with that calculator. All right, let's take a couple social questions. Rachel, we haven't done one of those in a minute. Ooh. Hannah from Facebook says, how long should adult children stay on their parents cell phone and car insurance plans?

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, man. We. George Camel and I talked about this, and actually, I think John Deloney was on an episode of Smart Money Happy Hour. I don't think it's released yet, but we did a whole review recording, and this got brought up, and my mom heart went out. I don't know why. Subscriptions drive me nuts. Like, if people share Netflix accounts with their parents, like, get your own Netflix. But for some reason, the cell phone plan doesn't bother me. I don't know why.

[Rachel Cruz]

I wasn't expecting that. I don't know what I was expecting. I was expecting that. I know why.

[Dave Ramsey]

It just doesn't. I don't know. It just doesn't bother me because I think as a family plan, it's just. You just get a better rate. I don't know why. Jade, it's the number one thing. Okay. I don't know why the cell phone does not bother me.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's so funny.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because I think of Amelia. I don't know. And we have a whole family plan, and I don't know. I just don't feel like I'd get a rush to get her off. I would want her off my Netflix account before my cell phone. And it makes no financial sense. I don't get it. I don't know. I don't know.

[Rachel Cruz]

I get. So when I met Sam and we were getting engaged, he was on his mom's, like, Verizon.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Or whatever.

[Dave Ramsey]

And was that such a turn off?

[Rachel Cruz]

You were like, I drew a line in the sand. I was like, here's a couple of things that must happen today.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old was he? How old was he?

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, that would have been 23. 23.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, Cap. See, you're still pretty young.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, 23. And I was like, your mom is still. You're still on your mom's. Like, I'm so judgmental, but so funny.

[Dave Ramsey]

Which is fair. It's how it probably should be. Okay. Okay, well, we have a few. We have a few young people in the booth saying that they're still.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, you're still on it. Okay, no, listen, no judgment. No shade.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is it? Yeah. But again, every other. Every other part of life, I'm like, no, be on your own. But for some reason, the cell Phone plan just doesn't like cut me to my board.

[Rachel Cruz]

I mean the insurance, you can be on medical insurance till 26.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is that right? With Obamacare and stuff when all that went through. So yeah, beyond that, 26, what doesn't.

[Rachel Cruz]

Bother me Car insurance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Now you got to pay your own car insurance. Yeah, that drop. Yeah, yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Usually you're doing doing that like in high school. I feel like that's the. Yeah, that's the thing. Parents pay the. If you have a debt on it, parents pay the note, you pay the insurance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Insurance. Yeah. Yeah, that feels good.

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[Rachel Cruz]

You are listening to the Ramsey Show. Hey, thanks for hanging out with us. Let's see, buying or selling your home is a big deal, guys. And we believe that. And with all the clickbait headlines and conflicting data out there, it really is hard to know what's actually happening in the housing market. Uh, so we're here to make the latest trends easy to understand. Median home prices actually stayed steady last month at about 44,400. Gosh, $441,000. There you go. The number one, the number of homes for sale hit 1 million for the second month in a row. And buyers have more competition and have more options and negotiating power while sellers face more competition. The average 15 year fixed rate also held steady at 5.95% last month. And if you're debt free and have a fully funded emergency fund and a solid down payment, now is a great time to buy or sell your home. To learn more about housing markets and trends and to get free tools to help you buy or sell with confidence, go to ramseysolutions.com market or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. Alrighty, let's get to the phone lines. We've got Chandler in Dalton, Georgia. Hey, Chandler, how can we help today?

[Jade Warshaw]

Hey, I was wondering if I, I guess, took the right steps on purchasing my first home.

[Rachel Cruz]

Tell us about it.

[Jade Warshaw]

So I am 21 years old. When I turned 19, I bought three acres of property. I was been kind of clearing and setting aside, and I recently just went out and bought a mobile home, which I know y' all aren't too fond of, but considering the market and realistically the payments right now, I didn't know if there was a better option. And I just wanted to be able to live comfortably and I just didn't want to see. I didn't know if it would end up going under or not.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, yeah, the mobile home is going to go down in value, but let's talk about the land that you. You have it on that you purchased. How much land and what'd you pay for it? You know, what?

[Jade Warshaw]

Three acres. It's three acres and I paid 35,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

And that was cash.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, wow, good. Okay. And then the mobile home, would you spend on that?

[Jade Warshaw]

So it wound up being a $90,000 loan, but I put 10 down, so I only had to borrow 80.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so you owe 80 on the mobile home. What's your ultimate goal? I mean, I'm guessing your ultimate goal is to up and to be able to build a house on this land.

[Jade Warshaw]

Eventually. Honestly, I'd like to find more property in the future. I'd really like to have her own 10 acres currently. I guess I'm just trying to figure out. I don't. This whole life thing is getting kind of strange. A little bit older I get. I'd like to be able to pay it off as soon as possible, but also be able to enjoy myself at the same time.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so, yeah, the part that you said earlier when you of kind called was like, you know, you guys aren't huge fans of mobile homes. It's just. It's simply because they go down in value and it's hard to build wealth when you're tied to something that's constantly going down instead of up. So if you said to me, jade, you know, I. My goal is to have the thing paid off. I just want to live freely. I might have said spend less on the mobile home and just, you know, pay for it in cash. But you're locked into 80,000. How quickly can you. Can you pay it off and be done with it.

[Jade Warshaw]

I'm honestly not sure. I'm. I'm expecting hopefully maybe in five to 10 years. I know that's a wide range, but.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I think that's.

[Jade Warshaw]

How old are you, Chandler side hustles? 21.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're 21? Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

And what do you earn? What's your. What's your yearly and monthly income?

[Jade Warshaw]

Right now it's 52,000. That's pre tax. And I bring home about 800 a week. So be what, 8, 16, 32.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. So my goal. If you say your goal is to pay it off, then that's my goal for you to pay it off. Now, my me. If I were you, I would have thought, and it's not too late to do this, but is there a way that I can get into something less expensive so that I'm not going to lose as much of my shirt on it? And then I can be putting aside money to save for, you know, a down payment on building. So something.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Rachel Cruz]

That would be my ultimate goal.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. I just think, yeah, I'll definitely look to see. I guess I'm not really too set on moving, per se because I honestly don't know what I want to do. But I agree with, you know, going down from 80. That's. I can see where that's the, you know, depreciation of it. And as far as the future would go.

[Caller]

Because, I mean, what other.

[Jade Warshaw]

Even, even then I could come out without losing money. But I'm not sure I would even.

[Rachel Cruz]

Make any because I'm imagining you also have another vehicle, right? Like the, what you drive every day?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes, I have two.

[Rachel Cruz]

Huh. And what, do you have loans on those? They're paid for. Okay, but those are also going down in value, right? That. That's going down. Those other two vehicles are also going down in value. And eventually you'll have to replace. Replace those. So I'm just trying to get you into a situation where there's just more value in where you're putting your income. I love the goal of eventually having more acres, but I do think if I were you, I'd want to get into a stable living condition first before I start investing in more land with my cash.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And I would be thinking through, okay, what can I start do. What can I. What can I do now to start just saving in general. General for the future. So do you have any savings at all?

[Jade Warshaw]

I have about 17,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, that's great. You're doing really great. Can I just say that, like, you. You know what I mean? Like, I Probably wouldn't have made like this specific decision.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

On the housing, but, but overall, like you had 10,000 to put down. You have 17 saved. I mean, like you're, you're really moving and going. Are you investing at all into any level of retirement or into the market?

[Jade Warshaw]

At this exact moment? No. I just started a new job.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

Which is. I worked here before and then. But I started doing it when I was in high school, so it was on an internship and I really didn't pay well. So I left and then came back and there was a significant raise.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, that's great.

[Jade Warshaw]

Feels pretty set in stone. I'm still in the, you know, the 90 day grace. So in turn, when, you know, when it's time to start investing the 401k and whatnot, I'll be able to do the match and.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, great. Yeah. So that's kind of your next. You said something about all this adult stuff is a lot, so I'm just adding another to your plate though. But for real, I mean, Chandler, the way you're moving, I don't want you to lose ground from a future standpoint, which again, we're not in any rush. You're 21, you're fine. But the sooner, you know you get a Roth Open and a 401k, you start putting some money aside. Because, Jade, I get. Would treat this like a baby step six or would you move it to baby step two?

[Rachel Cruz]

I think that I would move this to baby step two because it's going down in value.

[Dave Ramsey]

You would do. And you would pay it off before even.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I'd either pay it off or like I said, if you're looking, I, I don't know the mobile home market. Well, yeah, but if you start looking and say, man, I actually probably could have gotten something for 40, that gets the job done. I might try to make that sale and make that swap just so that you're again right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're half the time in half the time.

[Jade Warshaw]

I will say I was looking and like the base price on one that you could get into is probably around 50 to 60. But that didn't, I don't think that includes. Included closing costs or warranties.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. I made sure to get a good warranty on everything that I got online. That way everything is covered if need be. And also I do a lot of side jobs just trying to make as much as I can to, to get somewhere.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. And listen, I'm always thinking ahead. I'm thinking about, you know, the future Mrs. Chandler. That when you Meet her. She might be like, I don't want to live in a mobile home. So I want you to be ready, you know, when that season comes.

[Jade Warshaw]

I've met her, I just haven't. I gotta, I'm trying to do it right. I'm trying to get her to. I want her to be special, you know, I don't want to go. I know it's, it's all different to some, but it's like she keeps telling me she's like, go buy a hundred dollar ring. Like, go to the pawn shop. And I'm like, look, I understand, but I wanted to be special for you. That's only going to happen once.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, There is a Mrs. Chan.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, okay. Where does she change things a little bit?

[Dave Ramsey]

Where does she want to live?

[Jade Warshaw]

She is 100% on track for a mobile home. She's excited, okay. I told her, listen, I.

[Rachel Cruz]

You hit the nail on the head when you said everybody's different. They have different preferences. If you're in this home, you guys are happy, she's happy. Yeah. The biggest thing is let's get, let's get out of it as quickly as possible into something that you're building. You may not end up paying it off. I'm not saying that the goal is to pay it off, but I am saying that the goal is to stay obviously current on it while you're saving for a down payment to build something that's secure on your land. That's what I would do. Chandler, thank you so much for the call.

[Caller]

Good call.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's great.

[Jade Warshaw]

Foreign.

[Rachel Cruz]

Are you staying on track with the baby steps? That is the question. And the baby steps is part of the Ramsey plan that we teach around here. And if you're wondering if you're on track, you can take the quiz to check your progress and receive a personalized plan just for you. Simply head to the show notes and click the link that's, that's titled are you on track with the baby steps? And complete that quiz today. Mary is in Salt Lake City, Utah. What's up, Mary? How can we help today?

[Caller]

Well, about a year and a half ago, my husband got involved with some online investment deal which turned out to be a scam. They just. He gave away all our retirement and then he borrowed another about $250,000 more to get out of it. So I wake up every day worried. But my question was about tax. I'm worried about next year's federal, state taxes. Are we going to start owing a lot of money? We're sort of going, okay, we got two jobs each. We paid off a lot of the debt. We're working on it. We paid off about half of it. But I just keep worrying the other shoe's going to drop. And I worry about taxes. We paid last year's taxes. We were able to pay our federal taxes, I think, and then we got a refund, a federal refund, which we used to pay our state taxes. But I'm just wondering, you know, how should we proceed from here?

[Dave Ramsey]

Gosh, Mary. Oh, I'm so sorry. How old are you guys?

[Caller]

Well, that's the problem. I'm 75. He's 72. I'm.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm so sorry.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, Mary. Okay, so your. Your worry is about taxes is what you're saying, first and foremost.

[Caller]

And, well, I'm thinking, yeah, everything like, we're doing okay. We're paying this stuff off. We got a reverse mortgage on the house, which gave us some money. Um, you know, but that was another. That was $250,000. Now, that is against our.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You went back in equity.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, gosh. Okay, so the lost three. Can you tell me how much was in the retirement that was lost? I hate to rehash it.

[Caller]

Well, that's the thing. I think there was about a little over 500,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. And that was not this year. That was the previous year. So you said you already paid the taxes on him liquidating. That is. Is that correct?

[Caller]

I guess so. You know, the thing is, every time I talk to him, I can't handle it. But he told me we were able to pay the 2024 taxes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, 24.

[Caller]

So this started in April, 2024. So we paid the 2024 taxes.

[Rachel Cruz]

This. This year. You did that. You did that in January this year, Right.

[Caller]

Okay. Did that in January.

[Rachel Cruz]

So you should be off the hook for the largest amount. If, If. If everything happened the way you said it did and that money was spent and used up in 2024 and 20. Maybe 2023. I'm not sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Do you have evidence of that, Mary? Like, I would want to see documentation here on out from him. I know he's saying. That's a good point, Rachel, but I'm like, I just want to make sure that things are actually happening the way he says. Because to pay taxes on that, I mean, that's a. That's a lot of cash. I mean, if you liquidated half a million dollars from your retirement, was that.

[Rachel Cruz]

What he borrowed the money for, to pay taxes?

[Caller]

No, no. He tried to get out of this thing. I think and he. They kept saying, oh, well, you need to pay these fees and you need to pay this tax. So he kept borrowing money and giving to them, thinking it was getting him out of this scam, but in reality, he was just giving them more money.

[Rachel Cruz]

Are you working. Are you. Is you or your husband working with the tax professional?

[Caller]

No.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, today. And we're going to make sure Kelly's going to pick up, we're going to make sure you're going to get hooked up with one of our Ramsey trusted pros. We'll find a tax provider in your area that's going to help you and.

[Dave Ramsey]

A financial coach on us.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just to get an hour with. To sort through all this. Because. Because depending on to Jade's point, the what, What? He. Because he borrowed money for what? Like, I know he liquidated the retirement. Why did he borrow 250,000?

[Caller]

Because they told him the scammers.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, it went into more of the scam. The 250.

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah. He built. He. They kept saying, has this been.

[Dave Ramsey]

Have they been. Is it a who? Is it. Is it a. I mean, is it a company? Is it a person? Like a financial advisor? Like who?

[Jade Warshaw]

No.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Where do you find them?

[Caller]

Okay, so my understanding is some guy he used to work with back then called him and said, hey, I've got this great thing going on. Do you want to get in on it? And I'll have my girl call you. Which she did. And he started investing. Now, the investor went through a cryptocurrency, so he had to give it to this account and it turned crypto, and then it went. Now, we reported this whole thing to the, I don't know, the FBI and the police and the Justice Department or something, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because sometimes there can be lawsuits out of all of this, like, like, I wonder if there's any.

[Caller]

I don't think. I don't think we can find these people.

[Dave Ramsey]

He's done. Okay.

[Caller]

Yeah, I mean, we have the information. We gave the information.

[Dave Ramsey]

The 250, Mary, was that when you said you bought. You guys. He borrowed 250. Was that a personal loan or was that against the house? Was that the reverse mortgage?

[Caller]

It was many things. He had 69,000 from a company, you know, to borrow. I don't know if I could say names of companies. The bad thing is he borrowed 88,000 in my stock. Son got 80, gave him 88,000, which he turned in some of his. He's a big crypto guy. He did a personal loan from somebody for 30. He went. He Took personal loans, he ran.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so this is car. This was beyond the 250s, beyond the reverse mortgage, the money you guys got out of the house.

[Caller]

Well then when this all happened, we got a reverse mortgage to pay some of this off.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, got it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, listen, you've got, this is way more than we can unravel in this few minutes you've got. Just promise me, promise me that when we give you this help that you're going to take it. And please, please, I just.

[Dave Ramsey]

The taxes is not what I would. I mean, I understand that you would worry about those, but, but for you guys in your future, I'm like, there's just, there's, there's bigger things happening and I know the urgency for you is the taxes next year, but getting, you'll get, you'll get answers with the tax professionals. They look at all of it to make sure, sure what was paid out of that specific retirement account for me. And then obviously that you guys are keeping up with your, you know, paying state and federal, which is what you're doing.

[Rachel Cruz]

And you're working, you've got money coming in, you've probably got Social Security coming and how much is coming in every month for you, Mary?

[Caller]

Well, our Social Security is about 5,000. A little over 5,000. And then our part time jobs, you know, it's so hard to say. We're maybe five to maybe $1,000 a month between all of our part time jobs. In the winter when the resorts start opening, we have a job there which pays well and so we'll make, be making more money, but we are working as much as we can. I had a garage sale today. I just got $218 this morning. So all of that goes to paying charge car cards, bills.

[Rachel Cruz]

Listen, Mary, you are, you're a gangster. Like your, your attitude in all this is stellar. The fact that you're willing to go back to work, you're doing garage sales, you're doing a lot. I am proud of you. I'm sorry that this happened. We're going to make sure that you get everything you need in your corner so that you guys can keep fighting through this. It sounds like you do need a budget, you need every dollar. We're going to make sure you have that the best version of it so that you can see where every dime of this hard earned money is going to go because you're going to to need it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Y And guys, listen, please listen. If something sounds too good to be true, it is. And I know people always kind of rag that our Advice is like, so boring. And it's just not new. And into the. All the cool new things. This is why.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, this is why.

[Dave Ramsey]

Please just like, be boring. Be boring. And if there's something that's like, oh, my God, this is amazing. This. There's a spirit of greed in that, too. It should be a red flag.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Slow and steady wins the race. You guys, don't fall for this crap in the crypto world. There. It's everywhere. Everywhere, Everywhere. And they prey on the elderly. This is it.

[Rachel Cruz]

This is literally it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So, oh, so sad.

[Commercial]

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[Rachel Cruz]

From the Ramsey Network. You're listening to the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me, Rachel Cruz continuing to take calls about your life, your money, and like I said, everything in between. You can get involved in the show by dialing at 888. 825. 5225. And our producer Kelly will pick up and try to get you on that line. Let's go straight to the phone lines where we have Olivia. She's in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hey, Olivia, what can we do today? Olivia, are you there? Are you there? I'm going to put her on hold. Oh, you're there.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hey, just in the nick of time.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hi, Olivia.

[Caller]

Hi. Thanks for taking my call. My husband just finished BSN school in May. We didn't take out any additional debt for him to go to nursing school. Once he finishes orientation in December, his estimated gross income will be about 88,000 with the opportunity to make 100,000 if he picks up an extra shift every pay period, which would net us about like 70,000. And after tithe and taxes, cool. Will get a $10,000 sign on bonus that comes in four installments over his first year of employment. He would like to go back to school in two years for a doctorate in nurse anesthesia, which is a three year program. It would increase his earning potential to 250,000. The cost of tuition is about 125,000, which you could get covered by going into the military or getting accepted into a rural medicine scholarship program. However, you're not allowed to work in years two and three of the program. We currently have 200,000 in student loan debt with varied interest rate. We have 4,300 in credit card debt with a 25% interest rate. We've been married for three and a half years. We're trying to start a family. We've been trying for about 11 months with one miscarriage at the seven month mark. And we have a 2007 Toyota which has like one to two years, years left of life in it. We're wondering what to put our money towards first. Between saving up for baby, the car needing a new 2S car and the debt, and then once we pay off the car and save up for, once we save up for a new car, save up for the baby and pay off that credit card debt. Should we start saving for him to go to school since it would increase the size of our shovel significantly to 250? Or should we pay off our student loan debt before sending him to school?

[Dave Ramsey]

What's the 200 student loan debt? Whose was that?

[Caller]

Half of it's my student loan debt and half of it is his.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, what do you do.

[Caller]

Currently? I work part time as a nanny. I make about $900 a month, just a little extra on the side.

[Rachel Cruz]

What was the degree for?

[Caller]

I did a grad degree in art therapy, but I did it out of state, so I'm not, I wasn't able to get that degree. Jump through a bunch of hoops.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, well, what is that? Well, like what kind of job is in art therapy?

[Caller]

So I would be like a licensed therapist. I would be a licensed therapist.

[Dave Ramsey]

Are you a license? Did you get your license? Did you get the license with the $100,000 tuition?

[Caller]

No. So you can get your license in some states, but the state that I'm currently in doesn't let me get licensed right away without having to pay like additional, like a couple thousand dollars for additional classes here in my state and having to like do a bunch of testing and go through, jump through a bunch of hoops.

[Rachel Cruz]

What does a person who does finally get that certification, what kind of money do they earn?

[Caller]

I'm thinking, I can't remember.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm just trying to decide, is it worth paying the couple of thousand for you to get your art therapy license so you can actually work in your field?

[Caller]

Yeah, I could also like work as an unlike, not through a license. I could work in a community center and say like, I can do therapeutic.

[Rachel Cruz]

Art with your clients.

[Caller]

I just can't be, like, a licensed therapist. If I could do that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

Which. That would be determined by the company.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

So getting my license here in Oklahoma, it would take me, like, five years to get there. And if he goes to nurse and Nexus.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so here's what I would do, Olivia. He's making 80, going to be making 100, because I would definitely take that shift. You guys are in debt. If I'm you, I'm applying for jobs, and I'm going to be a receptionist at a dental, you know, place. I'm just like, you're going to go and make it a goal to make $50,000 a year. You need to go do something, Olivia. Really? Because you guys have over $200,000 in debts and have a drive, dream of other big things, which is amazing. That's going to cost money. So we need money coming in. So he's going to be working an extra shift. Can he pick up an extra, extra shift? I mean, nursing is, like, an amazing field to be in.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because you guys are dual income, no kids. You're in the dink phase. And so take advantage of it, Olivia, start working your butts off. Because, yes, I want all of this debt pay paid off before you guys get a second degree. Okay. Even though it's going to cause a shovel to be bigger, the shovel will be bigger. You know, when you guys start working extra and you work in two jobs, right? I'm like, you can start making the shovel bigger now. And so that's what I would focus on. Save up 10 grand for a crappy car. When the Honda goes out in two years, create a sinking fund where you put, you know, 500, 600amonth, month away for a sinking fund. And then on the side, yeah, let's be trying for kids. And I'm gonna say, when you get pregnant, that's my prayer for you. Pause everything. You guys save up cash. When that happens, we call that stork mode and pile up a big part of cash. You guys still working? Working, working, working, working, working, working. Baby comes. All right, everyone good? Okay. Whatever's left in the savings, we're gonna throw at the debt. But my goal for you guys would be, gosh, I mean, if y' all could make when, I mean, try to get this paid off, I don't know, Jade, is this crazy to say two and a half years?

[Rachel Cruz]

I don't think so. Because if she starts making 50, that means you're making 150. But if you live on Half. Where are you guys? Yeah, you're in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

You live on 75,000. That's average income, you know, median income. So if you live on that. And so that means you're putting the other 75 towards your debt. You know, I get it. My taxes. I think that you guys could do this. No, I don't think you're crazy.

[Dave Ramsey]

Two and a half years.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, two and a half years.

[Dave Ramsey]

Make some crazy goals, Olivia. Crazy goals. And then in two and a half years, then in two and a half.

[Caller]

Years to get a job, like a full time job while we're trying for baby. I'm not going to be there.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes. Yeah. Because you don't know what the future holds. And you can still work for the eight of the nine months that you're pregnant. So, you know, there's. There's a lot that can take place in that nine months, money wise. With you at the full earning.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're currently expecting, are you? No. No. Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So I would now, if you were expecting, you would have to, you know, I would be forthcoming with an employer, probably. You know, in that case, just as good courtesy.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Okay.

[Caller]

I don't know. I don't know. Whatever.

[Dave Ramsey]

It depends.

[Rachel Cruz]

It depends on who you. Where you go to.

[Dave Ramsey]

All that to say. That's fair. All that to say. All that to say you can work and try and have the baby and that's great. And then you got nine months of working. We're both moms. We both expected it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Listen, here at Ramsey, because I know what kind of company it is. I'm being fourth coming.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's right. I wasn't. That's true. That is true, Jade. That is true. And you don't legally have to. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

You don't have to say it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So anyways. But you're not pregnant right now, so be applying for jobs and go work your tails off. Olivia. Get this paid off and then continue to live on nothing. On Nothing. To save up125 and take them through the program. And if you guys are in your early 30s doing that by the time all this is said and done, it's great.

[Rachel Cruz]

It's great.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're living a great life. Rachel.

[Rachel Cruz]

Rachel. You got a little spice today, Rachel. I. I'm here for this.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, in that one I think we can do. I think we can be a little. I like it a little snappier there. Thanks for calling, Olivia.

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[Rachel Cruz]

You know, investing may seem complicated or confusing, but it doesn't have to be. The Ramsey Investing and Retirement Hub is packed with interactive tools and resources that you can help you get informed and not be intimidated. You can check it [e-mail] retire or click the link in the description. If you're listening on YouTube or podcast, Lisa is in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lisa, how can we help today?

[Caller]

Hi. Hi. Thank you for taking my call. We, my husband and I are baby step millionaires. Probably about eight years now. Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Nice.

[Caller]

The house has never been paid off. Actually, we sold a house and bought another one since. In the meantime, during this. But my question is my. I loaned. Well, we did. We loaned $50,000 to my daughter because she needed to do some upgrades on her house and she is now selling that house. So she's going to pay us back with the equity that she has in it. My question is, is should I, my husband has. We both have a list on what we want to do. The 50,000 and it's things we want to buy. But should or should I put the 50,000 towards our mortgage that the only debt that we have.

[Rachel Cruz]

There's a couple of things in this.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much you guys owe on the mortgage?

[Caller]

300,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. How much do you guys make a year?

[Caller]

We are both retired and we bring in about $7,000 a month.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And how much is in retirement?

[Caller]

I have that. 890,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Great.

[Dave Ramsey]

890. That's great.

[Rachel Cruz]

Good job, guys. I think you could, if you were both in agreement that that's what you want to do with this money, I wouldn't have because it's almost, almost like it's not like a windfall. Like it was money that was already yours and you kind of took it away to do this and now you're just getting it back again. So if you wanted to put the whole amount, you totally could. Is there anything else on your list that you would do with the money?

[Caller]

Well, my husband wants a side by side, which I Think the total waste, but you know, that's what he wants, so I gotta kind of please him too.

[Rachel Cruz]

How old are you guys?

[Caller]

One thing I am 61 and he said 63.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Caller]

I would like to at least put away $2,000 per grandkids for, I don't know, just for future college or something, which I don't know where to put it. And that would be, you know, only 8,000 of it. And then like I would like to take a river cruise for me and him just to have a big splurge of a good vacation for us both. Yeah, I would do that.

[Rachel Cruz]

How much is a side by side?

[Caller]

It depends on what you get. Of course the most expensive would probably be 25,000, but you can probably get one for about between 15 and 20 that I know. I've looked at used ones and you don't know what you're buying with a.

[Jade Warshaw]

Used one, if it's really going to.

[Caller]

Work that long or anything. So I'm for a brand new one. If that's.

[Rachel Cruz]

I see. And I'm for a used one. I'd be for a used. Side by side. I'd be for maybe you just. I think if you both say, hey, we both want to put the 8,000 aside and 529s for the grandkids, you know, we'll get with the parents and figure out what that is. I love that idea. And I like you guys deciding on maybe one really cool thing, whether it's the river cruise or the side by side deal. And then I like another portion of this going towards the house. That way you're kind of, you're giving, you're saving and you're spending, you're doing the three things that you would do with money and, and you're doing it in a fair. What I think is a pretty fair ratio, I think. Do you like side by side? Like are you into that whatsoever or.

[Caller]

You'Re like, no, Yeah, I mean, I could go with it. Well, kind of. I had an accident on one side. I don't like them a lot, but I could go with it. But I just don't feel like we have six acres, but you really can't travel the whole six on a side by side. So I just feel like it's a waste for the little bit of.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, okay. Well, how's it going?

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't know. I don't know how I would split this. My other thoughts would be, do you take one of those big purchases, the river cruise or the side by side and you Guys, cash flow that.

[Rachel Cruz]

Cash flow it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

It would be nice to have a bigger chunk on the mortgage.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And just to throw a good amount on it early. Like as early as possible, which would be now versus in like, you know, 10 years or hopefully won't take you 10 years. But I don't know. There's a part of me that would Cash flow one of the big purchases and you guys decide what to do with that.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I would not do the side by side and the river cruise. I think you have to decide.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And then cash flow the other one. You can do them in these baby steps. Both of them eventually. But I would just probably pump the brakes on one and you guys decide together and the kids. Yeah. You could do that for eight grand if you wanted. For sure.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Thanks for the call. That's a really good question. It's the one thing that we didn't talk about, which I probably should have mentioned on was the, the gifted 50,000. I wouldn't gift any money anymore, Lisa. I would. Or the, the borrowed money.

[Dave Ramsey]

I should say.

[Rachel Cruz]

I wouldn't borrow or lend money anymore. From now on, let's just do gifts. It sounds like this is going to end fine and end well, but in the future I wouldn't do that. Thanks for the call. That's good one. Let's go to Brian. He's in Phoenix, Arizona. Hey, Brian, how can we help today?

[Jade Warshaw]

Hey, how are you both doing? So glad you took. Took my call.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, of course. Happy to help. What's going on?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. Cool. So basically we're in baby step three. Just got there. Paid off about 100 grand in debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Amazing.

[Jade Warshaw]

And so start. Thank you. So starting to build up that emergency fund. But I, I got married or we got married about six months ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

Congratulations.

[Jade Warshaw]

Anybody? Thank you. Thank you. Didn't really tell anybody because we didn't. We weren't at the point to like have a wedding. The in and stuff. So that's coming up.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

We've got a wedding coming up and then of course want to do a honeymoon as well. And so my conundrum is can I pay for the wedding and the honeymoon which is going to have, you know, some upfront costs to get things booked and whatnot while we're in the middle of saving for baby for our emergency fund.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh yeah, that's a great question. Okay. How much do you guys have? Do you have any level of an emergency fund right now? Like any amount of money just for that? Not for wedding or not for, for honeymoon?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. I mean, just a Thousand. Like I've gotten grand, but it's kind of earmarked for the wedding. And for sure, like, the venue fees are coming up pretty quick in the next couple of months, just based on the timing of when it's going to happen.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, for sure. Here's what I would say, Brian. I. Yeah. Cash flowing, the wedding. And then, I mean, I would want to go somewhere, do some level of destination. But also. So only having $1,000 in the bank and like going to the Caribbean just makes me nervous. I don't know, There's a part of me that I'm like, I would want maybe to get away to a degree.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

And then build up some of that emergency fund. And then you guys take a one year anniversary trip or something. You know, like, the destination doesn't have to be. I know we make it such a big deal. It's like a honeymoon and like, it's a thing. And I get that. And I think getting away together is great. I just don't think I would take a big extravagant trip without having money in the bank saved.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. And there's two parts of this, so. And I might be saying this wrong. I got married 18 years ago, so things have changed. But what if you. It's almost like you know that you're gonna get money from the honeymoon, like from the wedding. What if you did a trip, but it's just not like the day after the wedding. Right. Like, because you know you're gonna have money come in. I know a lot of people when they do their registry, they have like the little honey fund. And so you can give your gift to the honeymoon fund and then that money's there for you to then take the trip that you want to take, even if it's you planning it. Do you see what I'm saying?

[Dave Ramsey]

How much do you guys make a year together?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I do. I do see what you're saying. And I actually have kind of a caveat to what you guys are saying, but I agree with that. And it makes me nervous as well. I make. I make 160. I'm the breadwinner. That's great income. I make 160 a year. I've actually been like doordashing too recently just to get like an extra thousand bucks a month.

[Rachel Cruz]

Why doesn't she work?

[Jade Warshaw]

Here's some.

[Caller]

She's in between right now.

[Jade Warshaw]

She was. We were running like a dance studio, so we had like a dance business going, but it started kind of wearing us out in like late nights and stuff. And so she's going to go back to doing hair. She has her cosmetology license so she's getting that transferred over from the state she moved in and so that will get that additional income. Now here's another thing to add. I guess I maybe should have added it in the beginning. So I at the rate I'm saving, I will my plans like forecasting this. I will have the emergency fund saved up for by the time we have the wedding. It's just that right now I have to like I have to put all this money out. Right. I've got 10 grand that I've got saved is going to go out the door next month and then I'm going to have to book.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

I hear we're going to do like a Mediterranean cruise in Europe is the plan.

[Rachel Cruz]

Got it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Amazing.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, great, great.

[Dave Ramsey]

So yes, keep at it. Let's just cross our fingers we don't lose a job and that's right. I think you're good. Good. Yeah. If you're, if you're ear marking sounds like you have a plan. And so yes, you could be putting money towards the wedding and honeymoon while also simultaneously saving for the emergency fund. Emergency fund will be full by the time the wedding and honeymoon get here. So you're good to go. Okay, great plan.

[George Camel]

I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Bankrupt with a toddler and a brand new baby at home. Scared doesn't even begin to cover it. But I got mad enough to change. I started using God's and grandma's ways of handling money. That journey became the total money makeover, a plan everyday people can use to take control of their money. Millions have changed their lives following the plan in this book and found hope. Start your makeover [e-mail] store.

[Rachel Cruz]

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[Dave Ramsey]

Today's question comes from Sarah in New Jersey. I am $70,000 in debt. I used to work full time and we lived off my inc income except for 700 my husband gave me monthly for rent. My husband is extremely disciplined. He has a high Paying job and has been saving for a down payment while I have been living paycheck to paycheck. Our finances are separated. Yeah, sounds like it. And I was laid off last year and have been working part time to pay for childcare and my debt. I am always in the negative in my account and I can't keep up. We have our draw dream house in our grasps, in our grasp. But I don't know if we can make it work. I am using every dollar to cut expenses and has sold a bunch of stuff to pay down debt. I don't want my husband to lose his dream house because of me. I really want to know from an expert if we can make this work.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm so sad by this. Yeah, you know.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know. Okay, so, Sarah, I mean, can you make it work? I mean, you can, but it will take you on a road that continues to feel this way of you being stressed out financially, him being disciplined and doing his own thing. And you guys are completely on two separate planets. Like, even from a. It's not even like, oh, we both make the same, same, like socially.

[Rachel Cruz]

He's hearing you're here.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, like, what do you like classes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Like you're in a different class.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you do with that? I mean, yeah, Sarah, this is not a healthy outlook and habits around having a healthy marriage. It's not. And so I don't know if there's something on your end that he's seeing that he doesn't trust. I can't. I don't know what his take is.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I think you guys need to sit down together and say, hey, if we have a dream, it's our dream dream house is what you guys are saying. We have a dream to get this together. How can we most efficiently get this what we want together? And the most efficient way is to say, hey, all the chips are on the table and we're going to figure this out together. But that would mean not buying a house right now because y' all have debt. So, no, you can't get the dream house now. But if you continue your way, I guess he could with his salary do it. But I would not advise to keep doing what you've been doing because you guys are going to keep getting what you've been getting, which just feels so, so separate.

[Rachel Cruz]

I. I just can't imagine. I mean, and this is, this is. I'm not intending to sound judgmental at all, but I. There's a lot missing from this that we'll never know because she didn't Call in. But I, I can't imagine a world where. Let's just pretend, you know, Sam Warshaw was making a bunch more money and I was not making. And.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you're living paycheck.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm living the paycheck. Paycheck. And he's just watching it happen like you do.

[Dave Ramsey]

What?

[Rachel Cruz]

I mean, he's watching me struggle and he's watching me stress out about this and him not responding to that.

[Dave Ramsey]

And is he not paying for childcare either? Are you going? Not 50, 50 people. Because she's saying I have to pay for child care.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, Yeah. I. There, there's something about that for, for me that just out of marriage, respect and care and love level is just off.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. That a husband would sit there and watch his wife.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. Yeah. Yep. And again, maybe there's something on your end that you're not telling us, Sarah, possibly why he's doing this. I don't know. That's a. Yeah. Jade, I'm with you on that.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. It's so important to be on the same page. Oh, goodness gracious. Let's go to Ian in Portland, Oregon. Ian, thank you for the call. How can we help Today?

[Jade Warshaw]

I live kind of in a multi generational situation. We have five acres and it's me, my sister and parents. And I was wondering. I recently started a new job making about 1400 a week currently. No debt anything. Cars paid off. But in trying to figure out how to. I've had credit cards before so didn't go well. So I don't use credit. Just trying to figure out where to go from here. To get out on my own and.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And to start building. To be able to retire by 55 if I wanted to.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, let's, let's take the first step of moving out of your parents. I think that's a great first step. So we would say that your rent or mortgage should be no more than 25% of your take home pay per month. So, you know, we're looking at you for, you know, probably around what, 1500 ish. Can you get an apartment in your area for that?

[Jade Warshaw]

I could.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

I'm not, not ready. I don't want to immediately move out because I don't need to. I'm more than welcome. It was set up this way so that I'd be able to live there until I'm ready to buy something.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Well, how old are you, Ian?

[Jade Warshaw]

Currently 35 in 20s. Kind of messed things up, so.

[Rachel Cruz]

But you don't think it's time.

[Caller]

It'S fine.

[Rachel Cruz]

No, no, no. I'm saying.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ian, Ian.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

You need to move out. You're. You're a 35 year old man. I don't care if mommy says that you can stay as. As you long, long as you want. You're 35.

[Jade Warshaw]

No, no.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying my personal. I want within the next six months to a year to be out.

[Rachel Cruz]

And I. We're saying why don't you go?

[Dave Ramsey]

Like, why don't you.

[Rachel Cruz]

Why don't you instantly.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, go, go.

[Rachel Cruz]

Because. And I see you're wanting. It sounds like. Let me. Let me try to get in here. It sounds like you're wanting the perfect scenario of I leave when I'm able to buy a house. That's what it sounds like. And were saying the conditions don't have to be perfectly favorable for you to leave. You could leave as soon as you find an apartment which could really be in three or four weeks or three days, you know?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, true.

[Rachel Cruz]

And it. And you should. Because good for you. Because let's. Let's. We're. We're your buddies. Like, we're your friend that you sit down and they tell you the gosh darn truth. All right, so we're going to tell you the truth is you should have done this a long, long time ago. That's why we're pushing you to do it. It now. And there's nothing stopping you. We see no reason that you shouldn't do this immediately. For you. Not for us, for you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. This is a dignity play here. And forget the. The money side. Like this is for you. Like this is. This is good for you to be out on your own. I mean, are you dating?

[Jade Warshaw]

Not currently. Because, you know.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Yeah, we do know.

[Dave Ramsey]

So there's another reason. We want love for Ian.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

And. And Jade almost dumped Sam Warshaw. Cause his mom was paying for his cell phone, let alone living with him. So, yeah, I would. Yeah. Ian, let's get out. Let's get out. Let's get an apartment.

[Rachel Cruz]

The world is your oyster.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your parents are gonna be heartbroken. Cause they've set this whole scenario up. It sounds like it's gonna be a big conversation. Is it? Or are they gonna be great being like, are they gonna cheer you on or are they gonna cry?

[Jade Warshaw]

It would be definitely a difficult conversation.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. Which is another reason why we need to.

[Rachel Cruz]

It's. It's like a sticky web. Like the longer you stay in it, the harder it is to get out of It. Because everybody's pulling it back and there's probably some real.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm gonna just say it too, Ian. I don't know, some relational codependence probably going on. I mean, there's some stuff there. So, yes, as your two friends, if we were sitting down and talking to you in person, this is exactly what I'd say to you. I'd say, ian, come on, man, you can do this. You can do this, you can do this. So, yeah, I would get out a hundred and start renting. Save up for a down payment on a home. And I know you said you have no debt, which is amazing. You're not using credit. So good. So good. Get some cash, you know, for a. To have an emergency fund. And I think kind of just. Yeah. Feel how that feels. To pull up to your own parking spot at the apartment. And I don't know, there's just something really great about that.

[Rachel Cruz]

It's freedom. You. You get to see who you are in life.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. Zero dependent. There's like not a safety net there. Like, you got to stand on your own. And there's something about that that is so good, so good for people. And so if. If you want to move home for not uen. Sorry, but America, if you want to move home for a season because there's something like you graduated college and you need to move home for a few months while you find your first job. I don't know. There's time. What? I'm not. I'm not a. I'm not black and white about that.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, sure, me.

[Dave Ramsey]

But when we're 35, you got to go. You need to fly and be free. I. I don't know why I cringe to quote Dave, but I'll quote him cuz he said an eagle that doesn't leave the nest eventually becomes a turkey. We don't want that for you, Ian. You're a good man. And those. Those dating apps are going to do wonders for you knowing that you're out on your own.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

Sam.

[Rachel Cruz]

Your Ramsey show scripture and quote of the day, John 13:35 says this. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples. If you love one another, that one thing. And then Dolly Parton, love her, said, find out who you are and do it on purpose.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, I love that.

[Rachel Cruz]

I love it. You know, she collaborated with Beyonce on a tune, Cowboy Carter.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't think I knew that.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, she did too.

[Dave Ramsey]

Did they. Did she play it at the concert?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, two tunes. They're really good. Anyway, love Dolly Moving on, Thomas in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. What's going on, Thomas?

[Jade Warshaw]

So I'm currently a student at college. I got out of state and I was just wondering the best way to like tackle these student loans. When I graduate, by the time I'm done it'll be around 45,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so you're current, you're going to continue to take the student loans?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, it's, it's. It's about the only way that I'm pretty sure for out of state they required it for this school. I have no idea.

[Rachel Cruz]

But no, student loans are never a requirement. They're definitely a choice. I'm just wondering, what year did you say you're in?

[Jade Warshaw]

I'm 30 or fourth year.

[Caller]

Sorry.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, you're already fourth year. Okay, so it's kind of like the deeds been done.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's done.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, um, so what's your major in and tell us what you've done research on. On what you think you'll earn when you hit the market.

[Jade Warshaw]

So I'm doing cybersecurity and I have an internship lined up with this company that by the time I complete school I'll work there for about 1:30. And I think the take home is like 92, 93.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you.

[Rachel Cruz]

Good.

[Dave Ramsey]

Pay it off in a year, Thomas.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Work a little extra. Live on fit 50 and pay it off.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. And decide by the way that you're not going to go back into debt again. You know, use this as a learning experience. Rachel and I, if you had called us four years ago, we would have told you not to go into debt for school. You're here now. You can pay it off and, and Tom.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sorry. And live like you're a college student even when you're not in College. So this first year making 130 grand out of college is amazing. You're gonna feel like you hit the freaking lottery. Don't feel that though. Feel nothing. Have no emotion towards. Be numb inside, Thomas. Be numb inside and pay off the debt. Live still like you live with roommates. I mean like live like you are a college student for one year, get this cleaned up and then holy crap. You're gonna make $130,000.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

With no debt. Year two he's probably gonna be. And you'll probably get a raise.

[Caller]

You know what I mean?

[Dave Ramsey]

Like so just please, please, please sacrifice as early and as quickly as possible. Don't drag this out. Don't go buy a new car. Like don't do it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Cuz it's easy.

[Dave Ramsey]

He sounds like a bro, too. Thomas, you hear him? I don't know. I feel like Thomas is good. I think you can get some, like. Yeah, live with your roommates, eat nothing but crappy fast food for a year.

[Rachel Cruz]

No, don't do that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ah, see, I had Jade's Organic Health.

[Rachel Cruz]

Here's the thing, though. Rachel's right. The tendency. The tendency is going to be. Because this is. Here's what's going to happen. You're going to get your payment and you're going to go, oh, it's only a couple hundred bucks a month. That's no big deal. I can keep that around forever. Please. Rachel is 100% right. Don't fall into the trap.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yep.

[Rachel Cruz]

Ooh, good call.

[Dave Ramsey]

And 45,000. That's good. That's doable. You can do this. Yeah, he can do it if it's 145. We talk about that. That would be a little bit of a longer journey.

[Rachel Cruz]

100.

[Dave Ramsey]

Pay it off quick, Thomas.

[Rachel Cruz]

All right. Speaking of Thomas, we now have Tom in New Jersey. What's going on? On Tom, how can we help?

[Jade Warshaw]

Hey, guys, how you doing? Thanks for taking the call.

[Rachel Cruz]

You bet.

[Jade Warshaw]

Real quick question. Actually, two questions for you. So I am pretty much debt free. I have a few thousand dollars left on a credit card. So I'm just about at the end of baby step two, and then I plan on moving on. I kind of found you guys a few weeks ago and before that was kind of wandering aimlessly, just.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, awesome. Good for you. You made progress in a few weeks.

[Jade Warshaw]

A little bit. Bit of a debt, but two questions for you. So I got on the every budget app and every dollar app. Sorry. And I got into splitting everything up and mortgage payments being a quarter of your income. My mortgage payment is just over fifteen hundred dollars a month. Just the mortgage, principal and interest. And then I have my taxes bundled with it. So I started freaking out and I was like, oh, crap, this is way over a quarter. But are you guys including taxes escrowed in with the mortgage as part of.

[Rachel Cruz]

Your 25%, or is that taxes, fees, HOA, everything?

[Dave Ramsey]

How much do you make a month, Thomas?

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, take home is about 7,200 plus a little bit, you know, when I can get the overtime.

[Rachel Cruz]

Now is that. Are you doing any investing?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes. So that was. That brings me to the second part of my question. I do have a Roth IRA that's worth about 55 right now that I have been putting into. And I also have. I do blue collar work. I have a pension and an annuity which is somewhere north of 200. So I was kind of wondering.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can add those back in. So any retirements add back into that 7200. So would that bump you up to what probably closed. Close to 78,8000, I guess.

[Jade Warshaw]

You don't have a 401k, do you not though.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, it's, it's where it's your, it's your what you take home. Like you can take out you. But don't include, you know, things like investing, you know, or insurance. Insurance. It's just minus your taxes. That's it. So your take home, pay and then tell us what your mortgage is with HOAs, fees, insurance, all of that in.

[Jade Warshaw]

What is that all that added in with all the fees. Insurance is 25, 25, 40.

[Rachel Cruz]

So you're a little, I mean if your take home really is 8,000, you're a little over. But I think that it's survivable. Like it's, I mean it's 500 bucks over. I think that for what you're earning.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I threw it. You did originally say 7200, but I'm adding back in insurance. You said you're putting some money into investing. They're taking out money for a pension like all of that. So I think, I don't know. That's a guesstimate. But you look at your actual numbers and the thing is too, I would not make. Yeah, I wouldn't right now. I wouldn't change your situation by trying to move houses and all of it for 500 bucks. Because also you're going to probably get a raise. You'll probably be making more here in the next two, three, four years, which will kind of equal it out, which is great. Yeah. So you're not, you're not too far off.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, that's a good call.

[Jade Warshaw]

You guys have. You guys have one more second. Of course, when it does get up to past building the emergency fund for three, six months to babysit for investing, when I do have a pension and an IRA and an annuity that is contributed into from the union, what would I do with investing then as a 15%. Add those into the 15% partially.

[Rachel Cruz]

So we would usually count the pension as half. So let's say the pension accounts for 10% of your 15% amount. Yeah. Count it as five. Like count it as half. Simply because you don't have the same amount of control over the investments. You might not. I mean, and because of that, the rate of return might not be as great. We really don't know. What about this annuity business? Do you have to do that or can. Can you put that money elsewhere?

[Jade Warshaw]

No, unfortunately, it is all bundled into the package that comes in the union. It's already bartered for, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, so I would count part of that, too. Half of that as well. Take 50% of that to the 15%.

[Jade Warshaw]

I would be putting 5% into an additional investment.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, if that's what it calculates out to.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, good question.

[Jade Warshaw]

Good call.

[Rachel Cruz]

All right, thanks, Tom. Appreciate that.

[Jade Warshaw]

Thanks for the. Thanks.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. My, My finger moved too quickly for your voice. Yeah. Question.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, and you know, with the, with the 25%, we say again, it's. Yeah. I mean, as hard and fast as you can do it, but knowing that life is going to change and if you're already in a housing situation and it's just right above that, you're. Your income ends up changing, too, which changes the percentages. So just always remember that. But then, yeah, if it's eaten up 50, 60% of your income, you got to get out. You're not going to be able to. To survive. So. So there's some bigger changes. Yeah. That would have to occur if that was the situation.

[Rachel Cruz]

But there's also part of that where, you know, the rule of thumb is a rule of thumb. But it's like if you're. If your income is a lot lower, you're going to feel that 30% a lot more. A lot more than the person who is earning more money, you know, so in his case, I think, yeah. It being above, he can make it work. We believe in you, Tom. All right, that does it for this Ramsay show. Thanks for hanging out with us. We'll see you next time.

[Jade Warshaw]

Sam.