Discipline Is the Key to Building Wealth

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ramsey Show – "Discipline Is the Key to Building Wealth"

Release Date: April 1, 2025
Host: Ramsey Network (Dave Ramsey)
Co-Hosts: Ken Coleman, Emily
Guest: Sahil Bloom

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1. Opening Segment

Dave Ramsey and his co-hosts Ken Coleman and Emily kick off the episode by emphasizing the importance of discipline in building wealth. They introduce themselves and invite listeners to call in with their financial questions.

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2. Caller Q&A

a. Emily from Jacksonville, Florida – Understanding 401(k) Skepticism

Timestamp: [01:01]

Emily's Concern: Emily seeks advice on how to address her boyfriend’s dismissal of 401(k) plans, which he perceives as a scam. She is a dedicated saver with a 401(k) and Roth IRA.

Dave’s Response: Dave empathizes with Emily, suggesting that her boyfriend’s skepticism may stem from instability in his home country, Albania, which fosters a distrust of long-term financial planning. He emphasizes the importance of planning for the future and warns that not doing so can jeopardize their financial stability.

Notable Quote:
"What he’s saying is, without planning for the future, your future sucks." – [02:42]

Emily’s Follow-Up: Emily encourages patience and gradual education, likening the process to teaching someone to ride a bike with training wheels.

Ken’s Input: Ken agrees, highlighting the need to honor her boyfriend’s fears and work through them collaboratively, possibly involving a financial advisor.

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b. Jacob from Dallas – Navigating Baby Steps and Homeownership

Timestamp: [10:00]

Jacob's Situation: Jacob is following the Baby Steps program, having saved $3,000 and paid off $3,000 of his $10,000 debt. He feels overwhelmed by the prospect of saving for an emergency fund and eventually buying a house.

Dave’s Guidance: Dave commends Jacob’s progress and urges him to intensify his efforts by cutting unnecessary expenses and possibly taking on extra work to pay off his vehicle loan swiftly. He predicts that adhering strictly to the Baby Steps will lead Jacob to significant financial milestones within five years.

Notable Quote:
"Momentum theorem says focused intensity over time multiplied by God and His blessings creates unstoppable momentum." – [07:04]

Emily’s Reinforcement: Emily adds that building financial momentum positively impacts all areas of life, encouraging Jacob to stay dedicated.

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c. Sahil Bloom – Guest Segment on "Five Types of Wealth"

Timestamp: [20:08]

Guest Introduction: Sahil Bloom discusses his New York Times bestselling book, "Five Types of Wealth," introducing the concept that wealth extends beyond finances.

The Five Types of Wealth:

1. Time Wealth: Freedom and flexibility.
2. Social Wealth: Relationships and community.
3. Mental Wealth: Purpose and personal growth.
4. Physical Wealth: Health and vitality.
5. Financial Wealth: Money and investments.

Key Insights:

• A balanced approach to all five types leads to a more fulfilling life.
• Physical health acts as a catalyst for success in other wealth areas.
• Agency and intentional actions in one area can create positive ripple effects across all areas.

Notable Quote:
"Discipline begets discipline." – [24:31]

Dave’s Commentary: Dave echoes Sahil’s sentiments, noting that improving in one area often leads to improvements in others, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all wealth types.

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d. Craig from Delaware – Tax Preparation Choices

Timestamp: [33:30]

Craig's Question: Craig inquires about Ramsey Solutions’ shift from recommending tax professionals to promoting their own tax software, SmartTax.

Dave’s Explanation: Dave explains that data showed a significant portion of their audience preferred a more affordable and straightforward tax solution. The introduction of SmartTax aims to cater to those with simple returns without burdening their endorsed tax professionals with unqualified leads.

Notable Quote:
"We don’t upcharge you and get you six ways from Sunday on this." – [33:30]

Emily’s Support: Emily recommends SmartTax as a reliable alternative for those with straightforward tax situations, ensuring cost-effectiveness and ease of use.

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e. Jack from St. Louis, Missouri – Considering a Move to a Bigger City

Timestamp: [38:01]

Jack's Dilemma: Jack is contemplating moving from St. Louis to more exciting but expensive cities like Chicago or New York City, seeking greater fulfillment.

Dave’s Advice: Dave suggests testing the waters by temporarily relocating through short-term stays rather than committing to a permanent move. This approach allows Jack to evaluate whether the change of environment truly fulfills his desires.

Notable Quote:
"If you don't change other parts of your life, moving alone won’t bring the fulfillment you’re seeking." – [40:36]

Emily’s Input: Emily concurs, advising Jack to focus on achieving fulfillment in multiple life areas, not solely through geographic relocation.

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f. Eleanor from Charlotte, North Carolina – Opening a 529 for a Friend’s Child

Timestamp: [57:08]

Eleanor's Question: Eleanor asks if it’s morally wrong to open a 529 college savings account for a friend’s child while maintaining ownership and control over the account.

Dave’s Clarification: Dave explains that while you can act as a custodian for a 529 account, the funds legally belong to the child once they reach the age of majority (typically 18). As the custodian, Eleanor can manage the account until then but cannot take back the funds once the child is of age.

Notable Quote:
"You are the custodian and are acting on behalf of the minor, but it’s not your money anymore." – [58:43]

Ken’s Conclusion: Ken reassures that as long as Eleanor is transparent with her friend and understands the legal boundaries, offering to open a 529 account is not morally wrong.

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g. Caleb from St. Louis – Selling a Classic Car for Daughter’s College Fund

Timestamp: [50:04]

Caleb's Proposal: Caleb considers selling his grandfather’s 1965 Mustang, valued at $10,000, to fund his daughter’s college education.

Dave’s Strong Stance: Dave firmly advises against selling the car, emphasizing that Caleb should find alternative ways to fund the college fund without sacrificing sentimental assets. He suggests taking on additional work or exploring other income sources instead.

Notable Quote:
"Life's not that simple. Go find some money." – [51:27]

Emily’s Agreement: Emily concurs, reinforcing the importance of keeping valuable and irreplaceable items unless absolutely necessary.

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h. David from Houston – Tackling Student Loan Debt

Timestamp: [66:19]

David's Situation: David, a recent engineering graduate, seeks a game plan to eliminate $80,000 in student loan debt. He has secured a job with a $120,000 salary plus a $10,000 signing bonus.

Dave’s Strategy: Dave advises David to live modestly, using his income and bonus to aggressively pay down the debt. He highlights the importance of following the Baby Steps framework, emphasizing discipline and commitment to financial goals.

Notable Quote:
"Follow the process exactly like it was a chemistry formula. You follow it and get yourself out of debt super fast." – [72:42]

Emily’s Support: Emily encourages David to leverage his skills to increase his income further, suggesting networking and seeking higher-paying opportunities to expedite debt repayment.

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i. Ashley from Atlanta – Managing Multiple Debts and Retirement Contributions

Timestamp: [76:32]

Ashley’s Inquiry: Ashley is evaluating whether to continue contributing to her 403(b), 401(a), and Roth IRA while handling $169,000 in student loan debt, $300 in credit card debt, and $1,800 owed to her parents.

Dave’s Guidance: Dave instructs Ashley to prioritize paying off debts by halting retirement contributions temporarily. He emphasizes focusing on clearing debts efficiently before resuming investments.

Notable Quote:
"You do not keep something for a tax write-off because you’re trading dollars for quarters. It’s a bad trade." – [62:42]

Emily’s Reinforcement: Emily stresses the importance of increasing income through career advancement and taking on additional roles to accelerate debt repayment, advising against taking on new debt for perceived immediate benefits.

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3. Guest Insight: Sahil Bloom on Building a Comprehensive Wealth Portfolio

Sahil Bloom delves deeper into his concept of the five types of wealth, stressing that financial prosperity alone does not equate to a fulfilled life. He argues for a balanced approach where time, social, mental, physical, and financial wealth are harmoniously developed.

Notable Insights:

• Physical Wealth as a Catalyst: Maintaining health enhances agency and confidence across all life areas.
• Interconnectedness of Wealth Types: Progress in one area positively influences others, leading to holistic success.
• Narrative and Agency: Building a wealth portfolio requires intentional daily actions that compound over time, fostering a sense of control and empowerment.

Notable Quote:
"Anything above zero compounds in all areas of life just as much as it does with your financial future." – [23:55]

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4. Conclusion

Dave Ramsey wraps up the episode by reinforcing the central theme: discipline is essential in building and maintaining wealth. He encourages listeners to adhere strictly to the Baby Steps, maintain discipline in financial planning, and seek a balanced approach to wealth that encompasses all aspects of life.

Final Thought:
"Discipline begets discipline." – [24:31]

Listeners are reminded to stay committed to their financial plans, leverage available resources, and seek support when needed to achieve lasting financial stability and personal fulfillment.

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Key Takeaways:

• Discipline and Consistency: Essential for navigating debt repayment and building wealth.
• Comprehensive Wealth: Balancing time, social, mental, physical, and financial aspects leads to a fulfilling life.
• Strategic Financial Decisions: Prioritizing debt repayment over investments until debts are cleared can lead to greater financial freedom.
• Importance of Planning: Long-term financial planning is crucial, even if initial skepticism exists.

Resources Mentioned:

• Books: "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey, "Five Types of Wealth" by Sahil Bloom
• Tools: Ramsey SmartTax, EveryDollar App

Contact Information: Listeners are encouraged to visit www.ramseysolutions.com for more resources and to participate in upcoming tours and offerings.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Foreign Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality is my co host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money. Emily is in Jacksonville, Florida. Hi Emily, how are you?

[Ken Coleman]

Hi. How are you guys doing today?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Ken Coleman]

So quick question. I've been dating a lovely young man for about nine months and we had a random conversation that came up about retirement savings. I'm a big saver, so I'm really into. I have 401k and a Roth IRA. And his response was that all that matters is working and making money now and that 401ks are a scam. And I just want to know what the best way to approach this conversation is to try to help him maybe understand the importance of saving for retirement.

[Emily]

Did you ask him why he thinks they're a scam? Was there any kind of follow up on that particular classification of it?

[Ken Coleman]

Not necessarily. He is actually. He moved here from Albania six years ago and he just became a citizen this year and he's 32 and I'm 30.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. Well, I mean what he's saying is without, I mean, I don't know why he thinks 401ks in particular are a scam, but what he's saying is, is that I came from an area where we are living hand to mouth and thinking about the future is not something I want to do. I want to just enjoy the moment because the way the situation I grew up in, there might not be a next moment for whatever reason. I don't know. I'm guessing. Okay, I'm going to try to give him a break here because what he's saying is basically he's saying I'm immature and I don't want to think about the future.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And we can give him a lot of grace as to why he might be in that based on, I mean, I don't know what the situation was in his area of Albania. I'm not privy to that. But I can guess that maybe the instability politically or whatever, safety wise or whatever in the area he was in has influenced this viewpoint. Agreed, agreed. But it is a broken and stupid and immature viewpoint regardless of how he got there. Regardless of how he got there. Okay. And so that's a problem for you because you get to live with someone who's going to do no planning for the future, which guarantees your future sucks.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's a problem. So that has to be solved relationally going forward. So we have to solve for this and walk him out of that or walk away from him.

[Emily]

Yeah. I'm going to recommend Emily. I'm going back to the days when I taught all three of my kids to ride a bike. And if, in fact, he is truly scared of this product, 401k, because he doesn't understand it, maybe there was corruption, all the things that Dave pointed out. If in fact he's truly afraid of it and that's why he calls it a scam, then, in fact, now you can deal with fear because he doesn't understand it. So it's like teaching someone to ride a bike. They're scared to death to ride a bike. So what do you do? You put training wheels on first. Right. And then you move from training wheels to. I would hold the back of the seat and I would run with them for a bit. The point is, this is going to be a gradual teaching process for you.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think, before we talk about this relationship being permanent.

[Emily]

That's right.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, Now. And so I'll give you another example that runs parallel. If you come from a Latin American country where the banking system is full of fraud and is unstable and doesn't have an FDIC underpinning and people lo lose their money when the bank goes broke like they did in the wild, wild west in America, if you come from one of those Latin American countries and you come here, it's not unusual at all for people from that type of a culture to have a deep distrust of banks. And yet the banking system in America, even though I hate banks, but, I mean, your money's not unsafe in a bank in America, that's an absurd idea. But it's based on where they come from, not based on reality. Now, if you're gonna marry someone who says, I'm going to stack $200,000 under our mattress in cash, because I refuse to accept the fact that American banks are safe based on the country I grew up in, they're not safe. Then that's not marriage material. You're marrying someone that has not adapted well to the new culture that they live in. And you're gonna have problems as a result and shortages and issues. And so, you know, you've gotta make. They have to make the transformation, if that's what it is. If it's simple immaturity. I'm 14 years old and I'm gonna live for Friday. Thank God it's Friday party for the weekend. And I meet 57 year old Americans who do that, okay? They have no where there is no vision. The people perish and they end up retiring and trying to live on Social Security and griping and whining because all the opportunity is gone in America because they drank theirs on Friday night because they were so freaking childish. Now I meet those that are Americans that are 57 years old. You don't want to be married to that guy, you know, 25 years from now. Agreed?

[Ken Coleman]

Agreed? Yes, sir.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I think you got to work. I think you're wise to bring the question up and you got to work through this with him or I'm going to be your old ugly Uncle Dave and say I love you. Don't marry this guy. Ain't worth it.

[Ken Coleman]

Yes, I appreciate all the advice. Thank you so much.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's a really cool question.

[Emily]

It really is. I would take him to your smartvestor pro if you have one, if you don't need to get one. But I would literally take him in there. I'd honor all of his questions. If in fact. And Dave and I don't know, but if in fact he's scared. I think the best way to help someone who's scared is to honor their fear.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, there's two types of fear.

[Emily]

What are you afraid of?

[Dave Ramsey]

False evidence appearing real. Which is, you know, if I invest. I fell on my bicycle the last time you let go of the seat and I skinned my knee. So the next time you let go, I'm going to die.

[Emily]

That's. That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's false evidence appearing real. You know, actual fear is of something that is logical. If you're standing in the middle of the interstate and 18 wheelers coming at you at 100 miles an hour, you should move.

[Emily]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's actual fear. You're going to die. You know, that's a lot different though. And so this is a, this is false evidence appearing real or it's immaturity, I don't know which. And, but it's one of those two things. And either way you got to deal with it to go forward. So we got to go, we got to drill down, we got to get the ground to zero on this and then work our way out. Really good question.

[Emily]

And I just want to point out again, when you're in a relationship and you're not on the same page and it's really fear holding the spouse or a boyfriend, girlfriend back, honor their questions, don't dismiss them, don't Always try to explain them, let them sit in that and ask the questions and get with somebody, a third party, in this case a smartvestor pro who can answer every question about fraud and anything like that. And then hopefully they get there and the light bulb goes off and now we're on the same page.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, it's tempting to roll your eyes at something that's stupid.

[Emily]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

But you can't, you got to honor it and go, okay, there's a reason for this and then let's get to the root of why and can we solve for it so we can go forward because we're not aligned on what reality is here. And when you can't align on reality, you have a problem. This is the Ramsey show. Hey, when you're Gazelle Intense, you sell so much stuff the kids think they're next. But when you've gotten rid of all, you can save money by switching your cell phone plan to Boost mobile. It's just $25 a month for unlimited talk, text and data forever. Boost is a major nationwide network that offers reliable 5G service. And here's my favorite part, transparent pricing. There's no hidden fees, no contracts and there's a 30 day money back guarantee which means no risk. Go to boostmobile.com Ramsey to switch today. That's boostmobile.com Ramsey thank you for joining us America. I'm Dave Ramsey. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality is my co host, number one best selling author and host of a brand new show that's blasted off, I mean super fast on Ramsey networks called front row seat where he does long form interviews with people that'll help you with their information, change your life. A very interesting interviews. You won't want to miss these, I promise you. Front row seat on the Ramsey Networks. All right. Jacob is in Dallas. Hi Jacob, how are you doing? Good.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. What's up?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes, I'm going through your baby step program. Currently I'm past baby step one. I have about 3,000 in savings. I'm on baby step two paying off debt to be debt free. Currently have about 10,000 in debt. But my question is after I pay off all my debt and I'm looking at baby step three to save three to six months of emergency fund, you know, but I ultimately want to be able to buy a house and with our current financial situation, to me I just don't see a way of being able to get there even following the baby steps.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much debt have you paid off so far?

[Ken Coleman]

So it was a little over ten thousand. I've already paid off about a fifteen hundred dollar toll bill. I paid off a $343 bill in collections. I'm looking at paying off another $700 bill in collection.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you paid off two or three thousand of your ten thousand so far. How long you been working on this?

[Ken Coleman]

This actually was more recently. So I started doing this this month with my tax return.

[Dave Ramsey]

So in one month with a tax return and by focusing and being on the needle. $3,000?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

How does that translate to being hopeless about the future? That doesn't make sense. You're killing. Proud of you.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. Appreciate it. But I have about 9,000 left in a vehicle loan which should be paid off in a year and a half if I know. Make it the payments as I am.

[Dave Ramsey]

You paid off. I know, but we're not going to make the payments as you are. You're going to roll up your sleeves. You're going to sell so much stuff, the kids think they're next. We're going to get this stupid car paid off. If you got to work an extra job, fine. Stay out of a restaurant and quit going on vacation. Get your dadgum car paid off so you can build an emergency fund so you can get a house.

[Ken Coleman]

Understood.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, you. You've already moved the needle. $3,000. That's. That gives me reason for hope. More than you seem to have.

[Emily]

And you've got 3,000 in savings. Baby step one is actually just 1,000. So you've got two grand that you need to be putting on that car today.

[Dave Ramsey]

Exactly. Okay, so this is all new to you. This whole Ramsey thing is new to you, isn't it? Jacob.

[Ken Coleman]

Your name has definitely gone around my church a lot. And that's.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, but I'm talking about you actually looking at the information and applying it as new.

[Ken Coleman]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Okay. Because it sounds like you're fresh in this. That's fine. I get that. The thing that I've experienced in walking with people now for 30 years, doing the baby steps in detail exactly as we teach them. Okay. So you stop all 401k contributions temporarily. You don't get any more tax refunds because you adjust your W2 to where your take home pay is accurate. If you get a refund, it's because they're taking too much out of your check. Santa Claus doesn't live in Washington D.C. okay? It's your money. You got it back with no interest a year later. So go ahead and adjust your W2. Stop putting money in 401. K Stop eating out, stop going on vacation, take an extra job, sell everything in sight that we can get our hands on and let's get this car paid off as soon as possible. When that is paid off, then build your emergency fund very quickly and then start talking about saving. Now if you start saying, Dave, it's going to take me three years to pay off $9,000 because of my lack of focus and sacrifice, then yeah, you do have a problem. You may never get a house because you're living without really leaning in and focusing on this and sitting down with your spouse and saying we're going to sacrifice, we're going to live like no one else so that later we can live and give like no one else. As I've walked with people doing that, Jacob, they pick up momentum so that by the time the car is paid off and the emergency fund is in place and they come in here and do a debt free scream, they almost always have seen an increase in income. The number of people that their income went up dramatically while they're getting out of debt is substantial because they're just focusing on it. They're going, I need more money, I gotta get this moving. And so I predict that if you follow the stuff exactly as we teach that five years from now you will be making 130,000, you will be debt free, you'll have an emergency fund in place and you'll have a good strong down payment have already been made on a house with a 15 year fix. That's a good starter house. And you're going to be putting 15% of your income into retirement and be on your way to be a millionaire. That's how, what we show people how to do. And you can do that with what you're doing, but you're not going to do it sitting there half, you know, it takes me three years to pay off $9,000. That's, you know, no, that's not okay. You're going to have to lean into it harder than that. Hang on. I'll send you a copy of the book the Total Money Makeover which gives you every detail of what to stop doing, start doing and when to do it on the baby steps. And if you'll do that formula. Exactly. And not try to make it Jacob's plan, but instead just do what you're told. It's going to blow your mind how you'll move the needle and get your spouse on board with you. Jacob, that's a big deal. Yeah.

[Emily]

I just would underscore what Dave said. We have Heard so many debt free screams just right across the studio here. And every time their income goes up. I've never. I'm not saying it's always the case.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I've never heard something.

[Emily]

Percent and to your point, it is the momentum, mental and emotional momentum of the baby steps is what's the genius about it. When you start ticking off the debts, even In Baby Step 2, Momentum takes place and good things happen to people who have momentum. I'm just telling you it's not a mystery. It just because you're happening to life instead of life happening to you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, and we know we're in momentum. Hey, throw that book in Christian as well. Throw in the momentum theorem. Because momentum theorem says this. It's a thing we developed to try to communicate that idea. Focused intensity over time multiplied by God and his blessings creates unstoppable momentum. But wandering along doesn't create any momentum. Dancing through the rose garden doesn't create any momentum. As we say in Tennessee, in the country, you lay your ears back and you get into it, right? You stick your face in there and go. You stick your face right in the middle of the war, right in the middle of the battle and you get after it. And that's when stuff starts to move. But just going, well, I think I can just. No, no, you can't do it. You got to have more energy and focus in your voice than that and in your actions. And Jacob, you can do all of that. You've got the ability. You've already just, in the limited time you've had some focus, paid off $3,000 just because you thought about it. I mean, that's just the power of thinking about, just the power of intentionality. It's very good. I'm proud of you. All right. William is on the line in Pittsburgh. Hey, William, what's up?

[Ken Coleman]

How's it going? I'm doing good. How about yourself?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. How can I help?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, what inspired this phone call is I'm getting a bonus check. It should clear on Friday. I will clear $3,800. I'm still working on paying off debt should. And my truck broke down earlier this week and I found out I'm gonna be losing my job sometime after one year. But before two years.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much debt have you got?

[Ken Coleman]

About 60k.

[Dave Ramsey]

On what?

[Ken Coleman]

Lines of credit, that kind of stuff.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much on your cars?

[Ken Coleman]

Nothing. They're both paid off.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's it going to take to fix the truck?

[Ken Coleman]

2K.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, there's two of your 3800 right correct. Okay. All right. And what do you, what'd you say you make?

[Ken Coleman]

I make with the overtime, about 58 or 58, 000 a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you do?

[Ken Coleman]

Did I mention I was trying to start up a landscaping business as well? I'm sorry if I didn't.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, but I mean, you're trying to figure out what to do. That makes sense. If you're going to lose your job, it's gonna be a while before you lose it. You make 58,000. So what, what do you, what's it take to get the landscaping business going?

[Ken Coleman]

I need $400. And I know that sounds a little bit ridiculous, but I used to own a landscaping business and I shut it down.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I already have all the, you.

[Ken Coleman]

Know, I already have the trucks, the trailers, the equipment. I just need to do a few tune ups and a couple carburetors is all I need to get that up.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you oughta gonna make $400 in a week doing that. If you do, if you do the tune up. Right?

[Ken Coleman]

Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, go do that.

[Ken Coleman]

I should be able to do about 800 a week.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, go do that. And then, then let's get this business up to 8,000 a week before you go before you quit, before you get fired. You quit before you get fired, Right. Because you're making so much money in landscape.

[Emily]

Right?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, definitely. Let's get this thing tooled up and get going. I'm in. That's what I would do if I were you. Good question.

[Sahil Bloom]

There's a time in your life and did the baby steps for renting, but you don't want to do it forever because when you rent, you're still paying for a mortgage, just somebody else's. Plus rent means instability in your budget because it always goes up, never down. So when you're ready to buy, make sure you work with a mortgage partner. You can rely on Churchill Mortgage. Churchill is Ramsey trusted to help you make the move from renting to home ownership. Wisely, Churchill understands that when you buy a home the Ramsey way, your mortgage payment will be a consistent, manageable part of your monthly budget. Plus when your home is paid off, that was your largest expense. Now it's extra money in your pocket and an asset towards turning you into a baby steps millionaire. So get started on the American dream of home ownership [e-mail] that's churchillmortgage.com this.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is a paid advertisement in MLS ID.

[Jacob]

1591 in mlsconsumeraccess.org equal housing lender 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100, Brentwood, Tennessee, 37027.

[Dave Ramsey]

I was just talking about Ken Coleman's front row seat a minute ago. One of the guests recently was Sawhill Bloom. And Sawhill has a brand new New York Times best selling book out the Five Types of Wealth. And we asked him to stop by while he was hanging out with the Ramsey team here and be a part of our show today here live on the air. Welcome, Sahil.

[Jacob]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Dave Ramsey]

Congratulations on all your success, man. Well done. Thanks. Blowing up.

[Jacob]

I appreciate it. I appreciate it. It's fun to see the impact in the world, you know?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Writing a book's a pain in the butt, but the results of it and how long it sticks around it makes it worth doing.

[Jacob]

Yeah. Something permanent about a book versus anything else that you do. Social media, writing, etc. Just does feel different.

[Dave Ramsey]

Something very analog in a digital world. For sure. Very cool stuff. All right, five types of wealth, I gotta hear, what are they?

[Jacob]

So the five types of wealth that I talk about in the book, Time, wealth, all about freedom. Social wealth, it's about your relationships. Mental wealth is about purpose and growth. Physical wealth is about your health. And then financial wealth is about money, what we all know and love.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And I'm going to guess and say you figured out that if those aren't all working, that none of them work. Yeah, the whole idea as well anyway.

[Jacob]

Exactly. The whole idea is that our default scoreboard, the way we have traditionally measured our lives, has been incomplete and that has been entirely based around money. And that is part of building a wealthy, a fulfilling life. But it's not the only part. And for a lot of people, the chase and the obsessive quest to do the one thing comes at the expense of everything else. You get the Pyrrhic victory, you win the battle, but you lose the much bigger picture, war. And so focusing on a more comprehensive scoreboard, a way to measure your life across all of these areas, that's how you go and build the comprehensively wealthy life that we all really want.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, that's. We often get a question about work, life, balance in the middle of getting out of debt, you know, you're going scorched to earth while you're getting out of debt. Following our process and as if there's no way to have high quality relationships or even a social life while you work hard. People have this idea that it's on a spectrum and there's an automatic trade off. If I get a bigger piece of that there's a smaller piece of that. It's not always that way, is it?

[Jacob]

No, I totally agree with you. The whole idea of even saying work, life, balance fundamentally places the two things in tension and that tension is made up. The reality is that the two can actually be part of a harmony. Right? I mean, your family is on the mission with you that you are on when it comes to your work and they should feel that way because it's part of building a life together that you're on that journey.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your wife did the COVID of the book.

[Jacob]

My wife did the COVID of the book. Exactly right. We're all on this mission together. I do think that the mindset of on off switches in life is one of the most dangerous mindsets we all have. We say, oh, I'm going to be focusing on making money, so too bad, you know, health, too bad, family, friends, all those things get shut off. The reality is that you can just have them on dimmer switches. Just because you're prioritizing making money and getting out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle doesn't mean you shut off these other areas. Anything above zero compounds in all of these areas of life just as much as it does with your financial future.

[Emily]

You know, we were talking about this when you were on front row seat, but I want to bring this up because I think there's clear data now. We can look at CEOs, we see a correlation between healthy people and actually financially wealthy as well. It's pretty interesting how that correlates. And I think a lot of people overlook their physical health, right, because they go, hey, I'm doing well here. What have you seen on that and how do you correlate those?

[Jacob]

In the book over and over again we find that physical wealth, your health and vitality is a catalyst for every single other area of your life. When you take care of yourself, fundamentally what you're doing is taking back agency over your life. You believe that you have the ability to take an action, do something for your physical health and create a desired outcome. That belief that you have instilled in yourself through the physical pursuits applies to everything else that you do. You now believe that you can take an action at work and create a desired outcome, that you can take an action financially, create a desired outcome, that you can do that in your relationships. All of that is about reassuming agency.

[Dave Ramsey]

I can reassume the hero in the stories role. I can take control of this, I can control the controllables. The number of times we've over the 35 years doing this, that someone says, oh, while I was getting out of debt, my marriage vastly improved and I lost 40 pounds. Not from not eating, but from physically taking care of myself. And so it turns out discipline begets discipline is one saying that fits right with that.

[Jacob]

Yeah, absolutely. And you become a different person by taking these actions. So as a result, you are doing one thing, but it has those ripple effects into every other area of your life.

[Emily]

You know, we were talking earlier, Sahil, I want you to share this because we agree on this. This book has really taken off. It's hit a nerve. And the title itself is somewhat provocative without trying to be the five types of wealth. But in America today, we're beginning to see kind of a groundswell, a negative groundswell that's anti successful people. Why do you think that's happening?

[Jacob]

I think that for a lot of people out there, success has become something that they don't feel they have access to. And that is fundamentally giving up your agency. Right. You are saying that other people have the opportunity to do things and create success, but I do not. And so I'm going to bemoan that success because I don't feel I have access to that. If you change one thing about your life, you create that one tiny piece of momentum, reassume that agency, you will no longer believe that. You will recognize that you have the capacity to take an action and change your life.

[Dave Ramsey]

I would add to that that as a couple, particularly a young couple, we see them once they lock arms and fix their eyes on the same goal and then they go slay that dragon together, they start to realize we as a couple can take agency over all these different areas of our life. And it just builds confidence. The empowerment gives you confidence to go forward. Time, Social, mental, physical, financial. The five types of wealth. Sahil Bloom is our guest. This is now a seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller. It's a legitimate, very good book and strongly recommend you pick up a transformative guide to design your dream life. Talk about designing your dream life.

[Jacob]

It is all about taking deliberate daily actions to actually go and build the life that you want. The tiny action that you do today is going to be the thing that creates the momentum for tomorrow. The problem is that when you stare at this big wall, you're trying to go create this enormous change in your life. It's too intimidating. You look at it and you say, like, I can't possibly get to the other side of this thing. You don't have to do that. It's just about creating a little bit of awareness and then taking a tiny bit of action. Because again, that tiny action is what creates the momentum for you to get a little bit better tomorrow, a little bit better the day after that.

[Dave Ramsey]

When you're staring at the blank screen. I'm going to write a book. Do you have that same feeling? Absolutely. I better put a word down here fast so that another word comes. So that another word comes because otherwise I'm going to be two days staring at this blank screen.

[Jacob]

Absolutely. And Again, anything above zero compounds the 10 words that you write today, the 10 minutes. But successful, ambitious people are the worst about allowing optimal to get in the way of beneficial. They say, I'm not going to. I don't have an hour to work out today, so I'm just not going to work out. I don't have two hours to write, so I'm just not going to write. I don't have an hour to call my mom, so I'm not going to color. The reality is that a five minute call is better than nothing. A ten minute walk is better than nothing. Five minutes of writing is better than nothing in all areas of your life.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So make the call, do the walk. A walk, you know, could lead to a run. You never know. So good stuff. Very good stuff, Very fun. And so they can also hear you on your podcast.

[Jacob]

No podcast right now, but maybe one to come soon.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, very cool.

[Emily]

A robust newsletter.

[Jacob]

Yes, newsletter. Several times a week. And you can get the book anywhere books are sold.

[Emily]

And I want to point out, how.

[Dave Ramsey]

Do we get the newsletter?

[Jacob]

Newsletter [e-mail].

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, H ilbloom.com Very, very good.

[Emily]

That's where that book came from, by the way. I want to brag on him. I had been following you for years because of that newsletter. And even on X you would put out these little nuggets and he lives what he believes on that. That's how this book came about. You tested this content for a long time and now you're seeing the results of it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I wrote a book with an absolutely horrible title that didn't do. Didn't do very well. It's called More than Enough. So answer that question. What does it mean to have enough?

[Jacob]

I love the whole idea of enough because fundamentally, enough is where you build your best life. The chase for more is a plague. More is the most dangerous word.

[Dave Ramsey]

The minimalists would love you. Yes, they would. I love it. The Five Types of Wealth. Sahil Bloom. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Thank you for Having me so proud of your success. Very well done. This is the Ramsey Show.

[Sahil Bloom]

All right, Dave, you have some strong opinions, possibly? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Because you really prefer credit unions over big banks. So why, why is that?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, credit unions, for one thing, are non profit, which means that the members, the customers own the credit union. So any profits that the credit union makes goes back into customer pricing. So you get better interest rate on savings, cheaper checking and so on, that kind of thing. And what's more important than that, though, is the fact that the customer is the owner, changes the spirit on the credit union. So I find very few credit unions that aren't very customer centric.

[Sahil Bloom]

Yes, well, and I think we have found one that is incredible and that's Fairwinds. They are an incredible credit union that is really out with the heart to help the customer.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, that's why we're partnering with them, because they've got a scope to be able to handle the Ramsey audience. And they're the right kind of people with the right kind of values and they've done a really, really good job with customer service and the deals that they're offering. The Ramsey Tribe is incredible.

[Sahil Bloom]

Yeah, absolutely. And you're right, their customer service is unbelievable. Winston and I just signed up and we got an account.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Sahil Bloom]

And I'm not kidding, it took, it took less than five minutes. It was so user friendly. Like the step by step approach was unbelievable. And then the next day my phone rings and it says Fairwinds on my phone. So I answered it and talked to someone there and they said, yeah, they give calls to every new customer. And so again, they just really care about your experience and I, I so, so appreciate that. So again, you guys, I know it can be a pain to switch banks or to open up new accounts, but Fairwinds, again, they make it so easy. Plus, anything that you can do at a traditional branch, you can do with [e-mail] or on their app. And you'll have free access to over 33,000 ATMs.

[Dave Ramsey]

You guys know how much I hate banks in general, and so for me to do this is a big deal. Talk to our friends at Fairwinds and check out the combined checking and savings bundle that they created just for the Ramsey Tribe. You guys, it's incredible.

[Sahil Bloom]

Yeah, you guys, it's so easy to join Fairwinds no matter where you live. So go to Fairwinds.org Ramsey to learn more. That's F A I R W I n d s.org Ramsey hey, you guys, health insurance costs are only moving one way and that way isn't down. And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer and it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you, try a biblically based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is 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 CHM has also helped them stay true to their values and avoid miles of red tape. And CHM support goes far beyond meeting financial needs. They'll also help meet spiritual needs. Members become part of a family who will pray with them and for them when they experience a medical event. So listen y'all, there's no better way to take care of healthcare costs. CHM programs start as low as $98 a month, so learn more today and [e-mail] budget that's chministries.org budget foreign.

[Dave Ramsey]

C show Question of the day is brought to you by why Refi are your defaulted private student loans keeping you up at night? Why Refi can help you lower your payments and your interest rate? Visit yrefi.comramsey and start resting easier. That's the letter Y r e f y.com Ramsey may not be available in all states.

[Emily]

Today's question comes from Craig in Delaware. In previous years you've advised using a tax professional, but lately you've been promoting a software that listeners can use to do their own taxes. We've had professionals do our taxes for years, so I don't disagree with that advice. But what is the reasoning behind changing your stance on tax preparation data?

[Dave Ramsey]

We did a better job than flying by the seat of our pants analyzing who was coming to the website. So if someone came to the website Ramsey Solutions.com and clicked on ELP Endorsed Local Provider for Tax preparation, when they went to a tax professional and they had a extremely simple return and the tax professional would charge two or three hundred dollars to prepare a return that takes 15 minutes, the people would say, no, I'm not going to do that. And so we were seeing like 60% of the leads that went through to the tax professionals were not qualified leads, meaning the people were they were not in the market to spend that kind of money to do a simple tax return and they would opt out and go do something like TurboTax. And so we weren't serving the listener well. And it was aggravating our tax professionals because they were getting about. Over half of their people calling them were not turning into customers because they were not qualified leads. And so the data told us that about half of our audience would prefer to do a quick, easy, digital tax return. About half of our audience has a complicated return. They own a business, they've moved, they've gone through some kind of life change or they have investments or whatever. And they need a tax professional. And a couple hundred bucks is no big deal to them to have a more complicated return done. And they continue to use the tax professionals. But basically about 50% of the people that in our audience were just saying, bye, bye, you're not helpful to me and to our tax professionals. And so we said, oh, we need to be helpful. Let's figure out something. Because TurboTax is, is not really free most of the time. Most of the time you go in there, they give you some kind of an up charge and they promote the snot out of financing. They'll loan you the money against your refund, they'll send you a credit card. They get you all. They forget they're there to do taxes and try to sell you a bunch of debt. And I thought, well, if I can punch that in the nose, I'd like to do that. So simultaneously with serving our customers, we created a product with the Tax Slayer people and white labeled it. And the Ramsey Smart tax is now there to serve the half of the customers we were dumping in the street. And we don't feed them a bunch of crap about credit cards while they're doing it. Oh, and it's actually what it says it is. Whatever we charge a couple of dollars is not much. It's. That's the number. It's not. We don't upcharge you and get you six ways from Sunday on this. So that's why we did it. Yeah.

[Emily]

And be paying attention, folks. It's two weeks away. Ramseysolutions.com SmartTax by the way, that's where you go. Fabulous product.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you have a simple return. If you don't, go to the ALP's page and get you a professional just like Craig is asking. But Craig, that's a great question because really, that was what, four years ago or something? We started working on that, but the team came in and said, dave, we're losing. We're not serving half of the people that are asking for help. We need to find something to serve them. And prior to that, I was just like, everybody needs a tax professional. But I've always had some kind of weird return my whole life because I've been self employed or straight commission or some kind of a thing going on in my. I've had real estate, all this other stuff. So I've always needed a. So I couldn't imagine just, you know, blip, blip, blip, with a piece of software and being done. It doesn't occur to me, but it turns out half of our audience has a very simple return. If you don't have a simple return, don't use Ramsey Smart Tax. Get a professional. But if you have a simple return, don't pay somebody 300 bucks to do something you can do in a few minutes with a simple piece of software for like 30 bucks or something. That's a much better deal for you and it's a lot faster and it's very accurate. That was the other thing. I was worried about it being accurate. It's extremely accurate. So. Good question, sir. Jack is in St. Louis, Missouri. Hey Jack, what's up?

[Ken Coleman]

Hi. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. How can I help?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, I am facing a decision of wanting to move to a bigger, more exciting, yet more expensive city. And I'm trying to rationalize it to myself.

[Emily]

What's the reason beyond it being exciting or why is it exciting?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, so I've lived in. I've been renting in St. Louis for about 10 years. I've stayed here for school and then I just happened to get a job here, but never really felt like thrilled or passionate about life.

[Dave Ramsey]

St. Louis is not a small city.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, I know it's not a small town. You know, I guess my big city, I mean like big metropolitan, you know, Metropolis is like New York City or.

[Emily]

Where do you, where do you want to move? Where do you want to move?

[Ken Coleman]

I've been looking at Chicago and New York City.

[Emily]

Okay. What do you do for a living?

[Ken Coleman]

I'm a software engineer. I work remotely making 110k.

[Emily]

Okay, so you're going to keep your current job and move to those cities or are you going to try to upgrade?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, I guess that would be a good question. Like because for example, New York City, like that would be very difficult. Yeah, 110k.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Emily]

You're going to live in a cardboard box and you'll probably have a rat companion at that. I'm kidding. It's not that bad. But you're going to have to really think about that cost of living.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Your real estate is going to double. Other cost of living is going to be higher. But not double, but.

[Ken Coleman]

And there's another fear I have, if I can tell you. I'm 33, I'm not married, no kids, I'm squared away. I'm big step, 2, 3, and I'm saving 15% for retirement in 4. But I don't own any real estate and I never have. And so I'm, like, worried that if I'm delaying homeownership to move and making life more expensive, if that's something.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you would be. What is it you're wanting to get out of the move? What's the move give you?

[Ken Coleman]

I guess just invigorated passion and just lighting up my world a little bit.

[Emily]

I'm going to tell you something. I seriously doubt that moving to Chicago or New York in and of itself. In other words, the proximity to those cities, I don't know that that's going to give you this passion that you're looking for.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, if you don't change other.

[Emily]

Parts of your life. In other words, you're getting excited.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you're single, you're debt free. You make 110, you're 33 years old. You could just move there and live there a month and see what happened. Leave everything in your apartment. Just pack a suitcase and go to an Airbnb for a month. You can afford it.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, that's true.

[Dave Ramsey]

And see if it does what you think it's going to do or see if Ken's right.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Emily]

I'm hearing so much uncertainty on you, and that's not a. That's not a negative. I'm not. I'm not criticizing you, but I. I'm hearing so much uncertainty, there's no clear why on this. And so I would hold. I like Dave's idea of kicking the tires and see what it is you're actually searching for. But I'm going to challenge you that I think what you're searching for is more fulfillment in multiple areas of your life, not about where you live.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, that's true. I am looking for fulfillment. And, you know, can I tell you something else? I spent my 20s in grad school living poverty line, and I spent my early 30s with dealing with, like, chronic illness. And I've just gotten better and I'm ready to just live.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you're ready to, like, backpack Europe or something?

[Emily]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, you need, you need, you need. You're ready for an adventure.

[Emily]

I. Dave nailed it. That's what's going on.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're looking for an adventure. An adventure is different than moving.

[Emily]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so Go have some hey finance, pile up some cash and go do your remote job from a backpack and go to New York for three weeks and go to Chicago for three weeks and go to San Francisco for three weeks and have an adventure and then come back home and sit and pray about it for two weeks and see what what you think. But that's different than loading up the truck and heading to Beverly. That's different than moving, right? So that's probably what I'm gonna do if I'm in your shoes. I get it, I get it. There's a pent up lust for adventure that's fair and accurate. You know, one of the first things I discovered working in the financial world is how absolutely devastating it is when the breadwinner of a family dies and there's too little life insurance or none at all. Grieving families are suddenly left behind, scrambling to pay bills and trying to make ends meet. I also discovered that there are a lot of rip offs in the life insurance world like that whole life crap posing as an investment opportunity. What you need is level term life insurance, usually 10 to 12 times your income, which is the smartest, most affordable way to protect your family. The key is finding an independent broker who represents a ton of companies and works for you, not for the insurance company. This is exactly what my friend Jeff Zander and his team at Zander Insurance are all about. They shop the term life companies to find you the best options and they've been around for over 95 years so you know they'll be there when you need them. Zander is the real deal and that's why they've handled all my personal insurance for over 25 years. I trust them and you can too. Visit Zander.com for instant online quotes or for a more personal touch, give them a call at 800-356-4282. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the welcome to the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality number one best selling author is my co host. Phone number is 888-825-5225. Clara is in Tallahassee, Florida. Hi Clara, how are you?

[Ken Coleman]

I'm good. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Ken Coleman]

This is a career financial question. So I'll set the question and then I'll give you a little bit of back. I've been, am I crazy to turn down a job? So I've been unemployed for five months. I'm an older worker and financially I'm doing fine. So I could. I'm not in a rush, but I do need a job. So I've been applying and interviewing for different jobs. This is the first job that I've been offered and great people. It is a ministry organization, so good stuff. Yet as I'm going through the process, there are just questions that I have. Not ethical questions, but just process questions. And I want to turn it down, but I feel should I turn it down? Because it's the only job I've been offered in five months. It would require a move across the country, which is big and expensive and I've done that before and it's not easy. So I guess going back to the beginning of this career, financial question. Great place, great people.

[Dave Ramsey]

What is the process concern? I don't understand.

[Ken Coleman]

It just everything seems like an emergency to them. So lots of last minute changes. And I've worked in an industry where emergency industry. So there's always going to be changes. And that's not what I'm implying, but it just seems like everything is last minute and I'm not so sure I want to be in that type of environment.

[Emily]

When you say you're fine financially, yet you need to work, can you be very specific with us on that from a number standpoint? Because it's going to affect my answer here.

[Ken Coleman]

Awesome. Okay. I have savings that will keep me for about two years. I get a small pension from a previous job, so I can afford to not work for a while. But I want to work. I'm not ready to retire. What do you do? Marketing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Are you going to be in a leadership role with this next place?

[Ken Coleman]

No. It would be a step or two down.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you can't help them from that position necessarily. Clean up their, their lack of planning, which is creating emergencies, I think you're saying.

[Ken Coleman]

There you go.

[Dave Ramsey]

Unnecessary emergencies.

[Emily]

This has got red flags all over it for me, Clara. And the reason I wanted to know the money situation is because that determines our response here. You would not take this job if you were currently employed. You wouldn't even consider it.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Emily]

And so for that reason, I'm out. I would not do this. I would not move across country for a job that you're already concerned about. Frustrations mounting. And I think you've got enough wisdom here. I can read between the lines and what you're saying. Be patient. But I think that it's okay for you to stay where you are and let's get, let's get a bridge job. Let's just find something. Even if it's a part time marketing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Role or a remote role.

[Emily]

Yeah, remote. Be. Get active, get back in the game.

[Dave Ramsey]

Freelancing.

[Emily]

Yeah. I think there's a lot of freelance opportunities for someone like you. I would keep your chin up. I'm going to give you a copy of my book called the Proximity Principle. I think it's what you need right now. I think you need to spend a lot of time getting around the right people and in the right places and you know who those people are. But I think that's what I do.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old are you?

[Ken Coleman]

60.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, then you already knew the answer to the question.

[Ken Coleman]

I think I just needed your confirmation. I respect you guys.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Your wisdom. The spirit of God inside of you is saying don't do this and you need to listen to it.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's what's happening because you're seeing things there that aren't. You're seeing the symptoms flare up of some deep rooted problems that are going to drive you bananas and you're not a fit.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, you're right. Being out of work, you start not panicking. But you know what I mean, you start getting concerned if you don't know.

[Dave Ramsey]

How to put yourself out there as a freelancer in the digital world. Get a 14 year old to show you. But you can make a lot of money as a marketer right now just sitting remote, working a few hours a week from your computer. And that'll even give you more staying power till you land the exact right thing for you to enter into a quality place at the right thing. So yeah, this is when in doubt, don't thing right here when the bell rings. My dad used to say if that bell is ringing inside your head, listen to the bell. Listen to the bell. Pastor friend of mine, Pastor Don Finto, Legend. Legend. He used to tell us he's like 90 something years old now. He used to tell us, don't say I'm listening to my gut. Don't call the Holy Spirit a gut. Right?

[Emily]

Yeah. Don't insult him.

[Dave Ramsey]

So yeah, it's really good. Yeah, but it's your. Listen to the bell, listen to your intuition, whatever you want to call it in this case. And you already know. Good question. I love it. Caleb is in St. Louis. Hey Caleb, what's up?

[Ken Coleman]

Hey, it's honored to speak to you.

[Dave Ramsey]

You too, sir. How can we help?

[Ken Coleman]

Hey, I was wondering about selling my classic car to fund my daughter's college fund.

[Emily]

What is it?

[Ken Coleman]

It's a 65 Mustang.

[Emily]

Oh, what's your asking price?

[Ken Coleman]

$10,000.

[Emily]

Oh, I might put you on.

[Dave Ramsey]

How did you get it?

[Emily]

Sell it to me. Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

Must on his way to St. Louis.

[Emily]

I'm not kidding.

[Dave Ramsey]

A mere $10,000.

[Emily]

That's a classic.

[Dave Ramsey]

So how'd you get the car?

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, so the main issue is it was given to me by my grandpa when I was 15. I'm now 28.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you make a year?

[Ken Coleman]

My household income is about 45,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd take six extra jobs and fund my kids college fund and keep my car.

[Emily]

I agree.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's not an either or. It's not the only way you fund your kids college to sell the car. Life's not that simple, sir. Go find some money. And 10 grand my grandpa gives me a 65 Mustang. You know, that's like asking your wife to sell her wedding ring. No, we don't do that. We go find some money by working and doing some other things. Working on our career, taking side gigs. What's your wife do for a living?

[Ken Coleman]

She works at my daughter's Christian school that she goes to and that pretty much pays for her private schooling. We're currently in baby step seven, excluding college fund.

[Dave Ramsey]

The house is paid for?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes, sir.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you're how old?

[Ken Coleman]

28 years old.

[Dave Ramsey]

You haven't paid for a house? No. You definitely don't sell this car?

[Emily]

Yeah, not at all. How is the 10?

[Dave Ramsey]

Even if Ken wants it, don't sell it.

[Emily]

Well, yeah, I got to tell you, I was going to be your huckleberry there. I was going to jump in and help out, but I'd have to run it by Stacy first. But in all honesty, why is the 10k the. The number? Is that all you've got left in the 529 that you need to fund.

[Dave Ramsey]

Or it's a baby.

[Emily]

That's what I'm saying.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're not. You don't. You're not. 10 grand off.

[Emily]

It's an odd number.

[Dave Ramsey]

Go. Go get you some money.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Emily]

Keep the car, man. This is from two guys who. Who have classic cars.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, but I would tell you to sell it, but this is a priceless. Yeah. A thing you can't get back. I have a 1960 Corvette that I bought from a guy that's different than your grandpa gave it to you. I agree. If I get in trouble, the Corvette's gone. Okay, but that's different than grandpa gave it to you. Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? You can take control of your money and your relationships. And it starts with just one night. Join me and Dr. John DeLoney live in a city near you on the Money and Relationships Tour. We're covering the real life stuff that matters so you can break the cycles that have left you stuck. It's coming up fast so get your tickets for Louisville, Durham, Atlanta, Phoenix, Fort Worth or Kansas City at ramseysolutions.com tour today. Well guys, our research team has been working very, very hard and we have a new product we want to introduce you to.

[Emily]

What if I told you that car.

[Dave Ramsey]

Payments, student loans and maxed out credit cards shouldn't be the reason you missed out on a rizzed out weekend with your closest photogenic friends?

[Emily]

Or maybe you're on the other side.

[Dave Ramsey]

Of that age equation and you made some questionable business decisions back in the 90s. So now you're forced to rent out the entire first floor of your home to pay back that second mortgage. Uh oh, looks like 20 something's got your book solid for the next four months. It's debt Zempe. Whatever stage of debt you're in, every dollar's Debt Zempic promises to help you lose debt fast. Debt Zempic rewires your financial metabolism, making smart money choices almost effortless. From the moment Debt Sempic enters your system, impulse spending disappears, your money stretches further and your budget totally sticks because you can't overspend. We dare you to try. It won't work. It's dense. 20 somethings everywhere agree this thing works. No cap. You don't have to stay trapped upstairs waiting on the police to arrive after you filed a noise complaint on your renters just to keep the deposit. Now there's Debt Zemping because getting into debt is a lot more fun than getting out. This commercial was created entirely from stock footage and actors have no idea how they are being portrayed that Zemping is not a real product as there is no quick fix or a one shot solution to paying off debt. It's Debt Zemping. Face it, financial fitness sucks. No one wants to exercise self restraint with those doordash. But what if you could shed those stubborn high interest payments without all the hard work? Well now there's debtzempic Everydollars. Debt Zempic is a debt reduction treatment that has nothing to do with similarly sounding medications. But we'll admit we are sending a bit of a mixed message here. See if Debt Zempic is right for you. From every dollar this commercial was created entirely from stock footage and actors have no idea how they are being Portrayed that sempic is not a real product as there is no quick fix or a one shot solution to paying off debt. Wow. We got the booster shot here.

[Emily]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you. If you don't believe in the vaccines, you got a problem. But you can get vaccinated with debt. Ceck, we got the vials right here. Ken, you ready?

[Emily]

It's the only shot that I will willingly take. I'll say that. And the booster, that's pretty great. What are the side effects? Being called weird.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sleeping peacefully, falling for an April Fool's joke.

[Emily]

Could you imagine? Ramsey solutions is in big pharma, baby. We figured it out.

[Dave Ramsey]

They actually made these vials up for an April Fool's joke. You guys don't have a job in there? I mean, don't you have work you need to be doing? They got printed up, took it. I mean, somebody in creative actually made debt Zimpic vials.

[Emily]

Oh, this one says debt and mortgage on it. This one says baby steps millionaire.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, that's the booster.

[Emily]

So the boosters get you this baby.

[Dave Ramsey]

And then you got to get the booster shots.

[Emily]

Yeah, that's how that works.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Well, and there's no guarantee you won't get it, but you just were told you might not get it. You know how vaccines work, right? So, like, you probably will get it, but you won't. But you Fauci would like these, you.

[Emily]

Know, you think Fauci would like these?

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't. I don't think that needs to even be part of this conversation. It's an April Fool's joke. Now you've left the part of funny and gone to sorry.

[Emily]

I did do the trigger word.

[Dave Ramsey]

Trigger word.

[Emily]

That's great.

[Dave Ramsey]

Very good job. Creative team with too much time on their hands now. Really good. That's fun.

[Emily]

Debt Zimpic brought to you by every dollar.

[Dave Ramsey]

I wonder how quick I'm going to get sued for running that. Okay, we'll see. Just. Oh, well, hey, you know, some people don't have a sense of humor. That's all I'm saying. And they work for drug companies, so. All right, here we go. Funny, guys. Really well done. Eleanor is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hey, Eleanor. What's up?

[Ken Coleman]

Hi, Dave. Hi, Ken. Big fan of the show and of both of you. Thanks for having me on.

[Dave Ramsey]

Thank you. How can we help?

[Ken Coleman]

So my question is if it would be morally wrong to offer to open 529 for my friend's children, but with the stipulation that I get to maintain ownership of the account and I can give a Little bit of background on why I'm asking that question. But so I was listening to the show last month and George and Rachel had somebody on who had a baby and his brother opened a 529 for the baby and wanted to maintain ownership of the account. And they felt like that was a strings attached situation. And so this is really relevant for me because I've been wanting to do this for a friend of mine with that same stipulation. But now I'm wondering, is it morally wrong to make such an offer?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, let's clarify. There's no such thing as you can maintain ownership. When you open a 529, it is in the child's name permanently.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You are the custodian.

[Ken Coleman]

To withdraw from it.

[Dave Ramsey]

You are the custodian.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Until they're 21. And when they're 21. Or I'm sorry, on a 529, when they're 18, it's their money. You have no control. After they're 18. You are not the owner of the account.

[Ken Coleman]

The owner draw on it with penalties or something like that though. That's my concern.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're the custodian. You are in control of the account, but you no longer own it until they're 18. When they're 18, you disappear and they have 100% agency, 100% control.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's how it'll work. And so if you want to maintain the control of the account and you also would be the one that could make the decision to move the investments around inside the 529 if you wanted to. All of that. You're the custodian. You are acting on behalf of the miner. But it's not your money anymore. You can't take it back.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, so then there's nothing wrong with me offering to.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm gonna. I'm offering to open a 529 if you can't fund it this year. I will fund it, but I'm gonna leave myself as the custodian. And when the money's. When they turn 18, the money will be theirs.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I can't take it back legally, but I do manage it until they turn 18. That's how it works. And just tell your friend that and ask them if they're okay with that. That is not morally wrong.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, great.

[Dave Ramsey]

Nor is that controlling if your friends are not handling money. Well.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, that's my concern.

[Dave Ramsey]

Or life. Well. Or whatever. You know, I mean like if you got a. Let's say you got a niece or a nephew or A friend that one of the. One of them's got a problem with substance abuse. Right. Then this would be a perfectly natural way to do it. And I would want to maintain control. I'm not going to leave someone that's doing cocaine in charge of a kid's money.

[Ken Coleman]

Right, exactly.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so, you know, or if they're just grossly irresponsible and lazy or whatever. Right. Anywhere in there. But, you know, if you want to do that now in a different case would be when each of our grandchildren are born. We have responsible children that are their parents that are very good with money. The Ramsey kids, the next generation. Rachel, each of the grandchildren, the parents, me and Mimi, fund the first year. That's like a tradition. We want to fund the first year of their 529. But they're the custodians there because there's no issue of addiction or responsibility or whatever.

[Ken Coleman]

Right, Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I do turn it over in those cases. But it's not controlling at all if it needs to be controlled for the good of the child. Because what we're dealing with here is we're wanting to benefit the child, no one else. We're not really worried about anybody else. In this scenario, you're not going to benefit because you've given the money away. The parents aren't going to benefit because they have no access to it. But you're the custodian and that. Yes, that's the only way I would do it. In that case, good question. K's in Lexington. Okay. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[Ken Coleman]

Hi, Dave. Hi, Ken. Thanks so much for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. What's up?

[Ken Coleman]

My husband and I are. We have a very comfortable life thanks to the programs that you have. But we have one debt that I think I want to pay down and my husband says that we probably need to keep it just for tax purposes for the deduction.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, okay. How much do you pay in interest last year?

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, gosh, 32,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And are you filing a standard deduction or are you filing an itemized return?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, we are a farm.

[Dave Ramsey]

Are you doing an itemized return?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes. Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Then that $30,000 is deductible. What's your household income?

[Ken Coleman]

190.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And so you are giving the government or you're giving the bank $30,000. That creates a write off, which saves you 39% of $30,000. So $12,000. So you're sending the bank 30,000 to keep from sending the government 12.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your husband's wrong.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Pay the land off. You see what I'm doing?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes, I do.

[Dave Ramsey]

You do not. You do not keep something for a tax write off because you're trading dollars for quarters. It's a bad trade.

[Emily]

This show is sponsored by Better Help. All right, you've heard me say it a thousand times and I'm going to keep saying it. You're worth being well. And listen, therapy can help. I see a therapist. And let's be honest, a lot of you should too. But let's be real. Taking that first step to see a therapist can feel overwhelming. Maybe it's the time. Maybe you have some preconceived notions about therapy. Maybe it's the cost. But we spend money on gym memberships, organic groceries, essential oils, Little league practices, tracker watches. But for some reason, when it comes to our mental and emotional well being, we hesitate. Listen, your mental and emotional health are just as important as your physical health. And the good news, BetterHelp makes therapy more affordable and convenient than ever. Since it's online, you can talk with your therapist when it works for your schedule. No waiting rooms, no long commutes, and no six month waiting lists. Just fill out a short online survey to get matched with a licensed therapist. And if it's not the right fit, you can switch at any time for no extra cost. Listen, your well being is worth it. Visit betterhelp.com DeLoney to get started. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.com DeLoney all right, this one's for my classroom superheroes. AKA the teachers out there. You know what's better than an unexpected classroom observation? An unexpected getaway. This Financial Literacy month, you could win a dream vacation with the Ramsey Teacher Appreciation Giveaway. Because honestly, you deserve that Colorado cabin, that Tuscan winery, or that tropical resort where everything's included except the motivation to leave your lounge chair. There's no purchase needed to win, plus you'll get bonus entries if you refer other teachers. So don't wait. Enter before April 30th at ramseysolutions.com teacher that's ramseysolutions.com teacher.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co host today. Guys, if you want to help us out, we would appreciate you subscribing following leaving a nice five star review on the show. Share the show with a friend. Click the share button. Click click Cut the link out. Send it to them by email. I don't care. Let them know the Ramsey shows out here. We appreciate you doing that. If you're a business owner or you know someone who is, you know, running a Business is hard. Once you become self employed, you know what happens? You find out you're working for a jerk. When you're self employed, your boss will drive you into the dirt, man. I mean they will work you like a rented mule. I'm just saying they will whoop you. I mean it's bad, y'all. And the self employed thing, it's tough, it's hard, but. But I tell you what, it's worth it when you get it working and when you get it moving. We've been coaching small businesses, 10,000 of them for about 10 or 15 years now through entre leadership. And we put together the entree leadership system, the five stages of business. This new book, build a business you love that comes out in two weeks from today. It shows you the baby steps of small business, how to walk your way through the six drivers of business and the five stages of business to get your business to level up and begin to get some sense of control. It is the clear path to winning. You can pre order right now for $29.99. We'll give you over $350 in free bonus items including instant access to entree leadership hiring playbook, the ebook, the enhanced audiobook. You can get the book at entree, I [e-mail] store. David is in Houston. Hi, David. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you. I'm in $80,000 of debt after I graduate and I heard you're the guy to get me with a game plan to get me out.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. What's your degree in?

[Ken Coleman]

It's an engineering.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's good news. So you're an engineer?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

What type of engineering are you going to go into?

[Ken Coleman]

I'm going to be working in oil and gas.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, good. And you've graduated?

[Ken Coleman]

I'm going to be graduating this semester.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Okay. Have you lined up the new job?

[Ken Coleman]

I have very anxious about it.

[Dave Ramsey]

What are you going to make?

[Ken Coleman]

120 with a 10k signing bonus.

[Dave Ramsey]

Awesome. What'd you make last year while you're in school?

[Ken Coleman]

Only internship money, so not much.

[Emily]

Okay, well done.

[Dave Ramsey]

So guess what we're going to do next year? Live like an intern.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay. Live like a college student.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Emily]

Yeah, I think I just.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think I just freed up the majority of your 120 to pay off your 80, including your $10,000 signing bonus. You don't get to buy a car with.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You have to clean up. You have to clean up the poop before you can buy a car.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Does that make sense? Is that logical to you?

[Ken Coleman]

It does make sense.

[Dave Ramsey]

Let me give you some great news. Our company, Ramsey Solutions, has worked in this. In this space, helping people with money for 35 years. About five years ago, our research department did an airtight research project studying, did the largest study of millionaires in North America ever done. One of the things we asked was, and we figured out was what are the top careers of the person who becomes a millionaire? By the way, 89% of America's millionaires, according to that study, and it's accurate, are first generation rich. Meaning they started with nothing. They did not become a millionaire because of inherited money. They became a millionaire because of hard work and getting out of debt and then saving and investing. You follow me?

[Ken Coleman]

I do follow you. Loud and clear.

[Dave Ramsey]

Top five careers with the highest probability to become millionaire. Number one, engineer.

[Ken Coleman]

I'll take that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Number two, accountant. Number three, teacher. Number four, business executive. And number five, lawyer. Medical doctors didn't even make the top five. And you were number one. But here's why. One of the things your academic discipline has taught you is that there are systems and processes that must be followed. There's only one way to do it. You don't get to be like, Creative arts is not part of engineering. You follow me?

[Ken Coleman]

I do.

[Dave Ramsey]

There's, you know, there's a set of chemistry formulas, there's a set of stress formulas. If you're building a bridge, and if you don't build it that way, the freaking thing falls. There's one way to do it. There's one way to do accounting properly. There's no such thing as creative accounting unless you go to jail. Okay? So that kind of stuff. So all of these people in this top five are process people. You're a process person. It's what your discipline has trained your brain to do. So I'm gonna send you a graduation gift. It's called the Total Money Makeover. It's the book that we did. We're coming up on 12 million of them sold now and that many people have gotten out of debt. That's why somebody told you to call me. Okay.

[Emily]

Okay, Perfect.

[Dave Ramsey]

That sounds wonderful.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you follow that system exactly like it was a chemistry formula, like it was an engineering formula, math formula. You follow the process, be a process guy, follow it and get yourself out of debt super fast. And then you got the rest of your life to live with a fabulous income and building wealth and building the ability to be generous and help others. Okay.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay. That makes sense.

[Emily]

David, I'm going to warn you. You Agree with everything Dave said rightfully. But you're going to go out and tell people that don't know what we teach or have no idea who we are or why we are the way we are, and they're going to try to talk you out of this because you got a good income. They're going to tell you to live a little and enjoy it. I'm telling you, you've got to have that engineer brain fully engaged right now and treat this as a problem that you can solve and you know how to solve it. On the other side of this, you are going to stack wealth really, really quickly, and you're going to have no stress in your life when it comes to finances.

[Dave Ramsey]

So.

[Emily]

So please remember that when somebody tries to talk you out of it, because they will.

[Dave Ramsey]

Number one mistake people make when they graduate college and get the big job, they go buy a new car. Yeah. What are you driving right now?

[Ken Coleman]

I drive an old Honda, but I already have it paid off.

[Dave Ramsey]

So. How old?

[Ken Coleman]

It's only like 20. 15. So it's not.

[Dave Ramsey]

Dude, that's going to be perfect. Yeah. You know what that is? That's a millionaire car.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, it is.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's a car that makes millionaires 45.

[Emily]

Miles of the gallon and they're super.

[Dave Ramsey]

Relax. Your buddies start pulling up in the engineering parking lot in their new F150, decked out.

[Ken Coleman]

Yep, I know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, the Raptor. Yeah, it's a beast. I got one that's incredible. And I want you to get you a Raptor later. They're. They're awesome.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

But right now, you just be happy that your car will fit in the back of it.

[Ken Coleman]

Fair enough. Take the 10 and then pay off.

[Dave Ramsey]

Throw it at it. You got 70 left. You make 120. And so we know that if you live on 50, not counting taxes, that boom, you're out of debt in one year. If you did it even faster, nobody here would be mad, because the sooner you get out and you're free, the sooner you get to live all the dreams that you had when you worked so hard to get this degree.

[Emily]

And you pay cash for a Raptor.

[Dave Ramsey]

You pay cash for the rent.

[Ken Coleman]

Exactly. So that makes sense. I could probably pay off all my debts in like, a couple years. Three at most, then.

[Dave Ramsey]

Honey, you weren't listening. I thought you said you had $80,000 in student loan debt.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You had other debt?

[Ken Coleman]

What? No. No other debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. You're making 120.

[Ken Coleman]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Let's do some fourth grade math.

[Ken Coleman]

All right.

[Dave Ramsey]

One plus a $10,000 signing bonus. If you make 120, you throw 10,000 at the 80, it becomes 70.

[Ken Coleman]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

You live on 50. Pay 70 off in one year.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's what I was saying.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, now I get what you, what.

[Dave Ramsey]

You'Re saying, like super fast. How much?

[Ken Coleman]

How much? Because it'll be 120 or 130 pre tax.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know, I know. You're going to lose some to taxes, which means you're not going to live on 50. You're probably going to live on 30 or 40. But you lived on a lot less than that this year. Live like an intern. I wasn't kidding, dude.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And clear it up in one year. How old are you?

[Ken Coleman]

I'm 21.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. If you do this, you'll be a millionaire by the time you're 30.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, that sounds good.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right, hang on. I'm going to send you the book. I think you can do it.

[Emily]

Oh, it's only another year of ramen noodles, Dave. He can do it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Or whatever. College kids, the pure pressure from his broke friends.

[Emily]

That's what's gonna happen.

[Dave Ramsey]

Driving a new Ford with a twelve hundred dollar payment. Yeah, but I'm looking good. I'm broke, but I got no money. But I'm looking good at the stoplight for people I don't know. Hey, guys, good news. Pre sale is on. Now for my new book, build a business you love. If you're a business owner, you know running a business is hard. That's why I wrote this book, to share what we learned over the last 30 years so business owners can grow your business faster with fewer mistakes. Pre order your copy today and you'll get access to over $350 in bonus items only at ramseysolutions.com store. Ramseysolutions.com store pre order. Ken Coleman Ramsey Personalities. My co host, Peter is with us in Vero Beach, Florida. Hi, Peter. How are you?

[Ken Coleman]

Good. Great, Dave, glad to talk to you.

[Dave Ramsey]

You, too.

[Ken Coleman]

Actually, when I sent you an email, I was talking about this woman that had a 401k with a million and a half in it, and she was living in New York City and that was on her bucket list.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you suggested that maybe she should.

[Ken Coleman]

Move back out of New York City.

[Dave Ramsey]

And, you know, go there and visit.

[Ken Coleman]

But I'm thinking that if she was invested in the right stuff with her one and a half million, and I'm big on dividend stocks, so my opinion is that she could invest all that money into dividend stocks and basically she could stay there making $20,000 a month with a million and a half dollars.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, there's not a dividend stock that pays that. $20,000 a month is $240,000. You're talking about a 25% rate of return on a dividend stock. Not a chance. No, no, no, no, no, no. You don't get $20,000 a month on a million two.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your math is screwed up. You said $20,000 a month. That's $240,000 a year on a million five. That's our million. That's a. That's a unrealistic rate of return. I guess that's why she didn't call your show. I guess that's why she called ours. Open phones here at Triple 882-55-5225. Ashley's in Atlanta. Hi, Ashley. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you. How are you guys?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than we deserve. What's up?

[Ken Coleman]

I had a question. I currently am on step one of your. I'm reading your book, and I wanted to know. I have two jobs together. They total about 76,000, I would say year. I have a 403B, a 401A, and a Roth IRA, all with my employers. My question is, should I stop contributing to them? Because I do have 169,000 in student loan debt. I have about 300 in credit card debt, and then I owe my mom and my father together about eighteen hundred dollars. So I wanted to know if I need to take care of that first and then start back contributing after.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, ma'am. That's what we teach. We've taught folks for several decades that baby step one is you should have $1,000 saved as a starter. Miniature emergency fund. Do you have any more money than that saved?

[Ken Coleman]

I have 1,400, and then I have saved because I don't have a car. So I put 1,500 aside for a vehicle.

[Dave Ramsey]

When are you buying the car?

[Ken Coleman]

I haven't decided because I try to be smarter than I was. I let them take my vehicle because it was a. So now I'm going into it, but I don't want to go into it stupidly. So I'm trying to be smarter.

[Dave Ramsey]

That would be pay cash for a car.

[Ken Coleman]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Not. No debt.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, no debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, no more, dad. That hadn't worked well for you, girl. Okay, so we're gonna go. No debt. So you have 1500 saved towards a car. Do you have any other money saved.

[Ken Coleman]

Other than the emergency fund of 1400? That's it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so you have 1400 and 1500 for a car. So you have. If we threw it all together, you could get a $3,000 car. Okay, go do that. That's a good idea, because you can make more money if you got a car, right?

[Ken Coleman]

Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, let's get you. Let's get some wheels under you then. Your first goal is to save $1,000 back in your emergency fund. Your second goal is list all your debts, smallest to largest, and pay them off in that order. Stop all investing while you're doing that temporarily, but I want you to zoom, zoom. Now. I want you to kick your income up because you got wheels. I want you to be on beans and rice, rice and beans. And total focus on each of these steps as you're going through it. So we're gonna knock out the credit card and your parents within just a few months. Agreed?

[Ken Coleman]

Yes. I do have four children, so I do kind of budget them into.

[Dave Ramsey]

My extra food is in the budget. I'm talking about finding money out of the budget while you eat, keep lights on and the rent paid. And that's about all we do and work. And we throw money at these student loans and get rid of them as fast as we can. What's your degree in?

[Ken Coleman]

So I have an undergrad in community health and a master's in human resources, which I should never have done, but I know that now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why are you only making 76,000 in Atlanta, Georgia, then? You should be making more than that with those degrees.

[Ken Coleman]

I agree.

[Dave Ramsey]

Are you qualified to be in hr?

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I'm currently in hr. Both of my employees are in hr.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, but you're. It sounds like you're doing entry level HR stuff.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I feel like that's what I am doing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, but you got a master's in it. Okay, so, Ken, what are we going to do to get this income up?

[Emily]

Yeah, this becomes primary focus right now. That is, who do I know? Connections. Connections. Connections is a big marketplace in Atlanta. So I'm looking to upgrade as quickly as I can or take on some fractional HR duties, maybe for some smaller businesses. And I'm thinking, what do I have to do to make an additional two to three grand a month? Set your sights higher.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ask your supervisor, what can I. How can I do here to add value, to be worth more so that I can make more? Not I need to get paid more because I have a degree. That's not what. We would never say that. But going there and go, I've got this master's. I've got these tools in my belt. I want to be able to do more for this organization because I want to move up. Help me do that. Mentor me, show me what to do. Show me how to add value. And if the supervisor refuses, then you need to move.

[Emily]

But I can tell you how many times great opportunities come to people when you start telling everybody that'll listen and your friends, your family, your acquaintances. You have got to put the word out that you've got talent, you've got experience, and you're looking to work. And that's how you increase your income quickly. And you get a couple quick wins, you know, if you get some contract work, even something like that. Here's what I don't want you to do. I don't want you to default to getting in your car and driving rideshare. I'm not against that at all.

[Dave Ramsey]

You don't need to do that. You have too many tools to do.

[Emily]

Too much talent for your time.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, go. Let's have a goal of moving up through the career with all this training that we have and doubling our income in the next three years. I want you making 153 years from now. But you're gonna have to concentrate on how can I add value? How can I make myself value? What have I got to do to make myself more presentable as I interview for these positions within my company or outside my company? And we'll send you a copy of Ken's book, the Proximity Principle, which is what he's talking to you about right now. And then we'll send you my book, the Total Money Makeover, which is what I was talking to you about with the baby steps and showing you how to walk up through. Let's get wheels under you, let's get the thousand dollars in the bank, and then let's start paying off these debts as fast and as hard as we can. And as your income goes up and you get better and better control with your Money, use the EveryDollar app. It's a free download. As you get more and more and more control on your budget, you're going to see your money work harder and harder and harder, and you're going to plow through that 169,000. Most mornings you wake up right now, you think you'll never get that paid off in your life. And I see people in your situation pay it off in three years all the time. But it has to do also with maximizing your career potential.

[Emily]

It does. And one of the things that people overlook is the most underutilized question in the world, Dave. When we're talking about professional advancement and getting more income. It's this. Will you help me? This isn't a handout type question. It is a. I'm a mom. I got four babies. I'm trying to get out of debt. It's a compelling story. People respond to that kind of stuff to say, hey, I'm looking for work over here. I'm an HR pro. I can do this, this, and this. And here's why I'm doing it. I want to get out of debt. I want to have an emergency fund, set my babies free on this journey. People love to help people who are helpable. And this is a great story. So we can't forget. I know there's a lot of people listening and watching us right now. When you share a story that's tied to a vision of becoming debt free, of building an emergency fund, all the kind of things changing your family tree. People respond to that. You'd be surprised. But we forget that the narrative is what's attractive to people because they want to help somebody who's helpable.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And who are willing to help themselves.

[Emily]

Bust your top, your chops. You're saying, hey, I'm going to work.

[Dave Ramsey]

Give me, put me in, coach. Give me a shot. Give me a shot. You know.

[Emily]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And. And, And I'll, you know, I'll work so hard. It'll make you, you know.

[Emily]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Happy that you did this.

[Emily]

By the way. Opportunities. And you know, this. They show up for people like that.

[Dave Ramsey]

They do. They just randomly. But not so randomly shows up. This is the Ramsey show.