Learn the Power of the Magical Word, “NO”

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ramsey Show Release Date: November 19, 2024

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Introduction The Ramsey Show, hosted by Dave Ramsey and featuring co-host George Campbell, delves into practical advice on building wealth, managing finances, and fostering healthy relationships. In this episode, aired live from the Ramsey Solutions headquarters, Ramsey addresses various financial challenges faced by callers, offers strategic solutions, and highlights inspiring success stories.

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Caller Megan’s Dilemma: Supporting Aging Parents Timestamp: 01:00 - 06:28

Megan from New Orleans initiates the conversation by seeking guidance on assisting her aging parents who lack sufficient retirement savings.

• Megan’s Situation:

  • Married for seven years with no debt except their mortgage.
  • Two young children with established emergency funds, retirement accounts, and college savings.
  • Parents in their 80s: father still working full-time, mother never worked.
  • Parents express uncertainty about their retirement, hinting at expecting Megan and her husband to provide support.

• Dave Ramsey’s Advice:

  • Emphasizes the importance of honoring parents without financial obligation:

    “We don’t. We can honor them and it doesn’t require we give them money.” [04:30]

  • Recommends a candid, in-person conversation with parents to establish boundaries:

    “We need to talk about what happens, dad, if you can’t work anymore because your health fails...” [05:00]

  • Suggests tactical steps such as creating a budget together, downsizing, and seeking professional financial advice without enabling past financial missteps.

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Understanding "Silver Squatters" and the Sandwich Generation Timestamp: 08:36 - 11:00

The discussion transitions to a societal observation coined by Yahoo Finance: “silver squatters,” referring to Gen X individuals nearing retirement without adequate savings, potentially relying on their adult children.

• Key Points:

  • Silver Squatters:

    “Live free or die is your history lesson.” [29:33]

  • Sandwich Generation:
    • Individuals caught between supporting their children’s education and their parents' retirement needs.
    • Risks creating a cycle where the younger generation becomes the next silver squatters due to financial strains.

• Ramsey’s Perspective:

  • Urges the sandwich generation to set boundaries and prioritize their financial stability to prevent perpetuating the cycle:

    “You have to institute...you need to find spending cut somewhere else.” [81:46]

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Caller Alex’s Accident Settlement: To Pay Off Mortgage? Timestamp: 15:01 - 19:44

Alex from Phoenix discusses receiving a $1 million settlement from a car accident and contemplates whether to pay off his mortgage.

• Alex’s Background:

  • Age 23, recently involved in a severe accident resulting in fatalities.
  • Currently in recovery with some physical limitations but largely healed.
  • Married with a wife earning approximately $3,500/month; their mortgage stands at $290,000.

• Dave Ramsey’s Guidance:

  • Advises prioritizing setting aside funds for taxes and emergencies before eliminating the mortgage.

    “If your income into the near and future is affected, we need to set the money aside...” [16:16]

  • Encourages Alex to focus on restoring his career and emotional well-being alongside financial decisions.

    “It sounds like this wreck hurt you physically but might have slowed you down emotionally as well.” [19:44]

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Debt-Free Success Story: Kyle and Samantha Timestamp: 21:11 - 29:17

Kyle and Samantha from Manchester, New Hampshire, share their journey to becoming debt-free by paying off their $130,000 mortgage in four years.

• Their Strategy:

  • Combined their incomes of $130,000 to $150,000 annually.
  • Employed a disciplined approach by sticking to the Ramsey plan, emphasizing budgeting and aggressive debt repayment.
  • Leveraged early financial education and support from their community and family.

• Impact of Debt Freedom:

  • Achieved a combined net worth exceeding $500,000, primarily through eliminating their mortgage.
  • Experienced significant emotional and financial relief, enabling them to prioritize investments and family time.

    “You're on your way to millionaire already.” [23:00]

• Key Takeaways:

  • Communication and having a supportive community are crucial for financial success.

    “You have to be on the same page... have a village around you that supports you.” [25:20]

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Generosity Highlight: Jimmy Darts’ Acts of Kindness Timestamp: 53:20 - 61:42

Jimmy Darts, a TikTok sensation and expert on generosity, joins the show to discuss his mission of transforming lives through random acts of kindness.

• Jimmy’s Mission:

  • Creates viral videos where he asks strangers for small favors or items, only to surprise them with substantial financial support.

    “When you give to people, God can also bless you more.” [60:00]

• Inspirational Stories:

  • Lulu’s Transformation:
    • Approached for help due to her dental issues affecting employment prospects.
    • Surprised with over $42,000 to cover dental expenses, leading to renewed job opportunities and personal growth.

      “Over $42,000 was donated to help you out.” [55:54]

• Ramsey’s Praise:

  • Commends Jimmy for his impactful and empathetic approach to generosity:

    “What you do makes people want to help out.” [59:27]

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Caller Cindy’s Financial Struggles: Balancing Debt and Income Loss Timestamp: 74:15 - 82:35

Cindy from Orlando seeks advice after her husband, a software sales professional, was laid off, leaving their household with debts and limited income.

• Cindy’s Situation:

  • Married with two children; husband recently laid off from a $50,000/year sales job.
  • Current household income: Cindy earns $73,000/year.
  • Debts include a $44,000 HELOC from her father, personal loans, and an $11,000 car payment.

• Dave Ramsey’s Recommendations:

  • Encourages immediate action to restore income through any available means, emphasizing the importance of maintaining dignity and purpose.

    “I want him to go do something for him because I want him... you need to find spending cut somewhere else.” [78:07]

  • Advises against cutting essential insurance policies, suggesting to preserve defenses while addressing financial vulnerabilities.

    “Do not cut your life insurance and umbrella.” [81:46]

• Practical Steps:

  • Increase income by taking any available job opportunities, regardless of the field, to stabilize the household finances.
  • Maintain financial protections such as life insurance while aggressively tackling debt.

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Conclusion In this episode, Dave Ramsey effectively navigates through diverse financial issues presented by callers, offering tailored advice rooted in the Ramsey Plan’s principles. The show underscores the importance of budgeting, disciplined debt repayment, setting boundaries, and fostering generosity. Success stories like Kyle and Samantha inspire listeners, while segments with influencers like Jimmy Darts highlight the transformative power of kindness and community support in financial wellness.

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Notable Quotes:

• Dave Ramsey on Honoring Parents Without Financial Obligation:

  "We can honor them and it doesn’t require we give them money." [04:30]

• On Generosity Setting You Free:

  "It's the word that no one is allowed to speak anymore... When you learn this magical word, it will set you free." [13:38]

• Jimmy Darts on Generosity:

  "Generosity is addictive... When you live within your means, you can give to other people." [59:25]

• Dave Ramsey on Taking Back Control:

  "Take the power back that debt had over you and make it, how fast can I do this?" [68:37]

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the episode's key discussions, insights, and motivational narratives, providing valuable takeaways for listeners seeking financial guidance and inspiration.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual amazing relationships. Number one, best selling author and host of the George Campbell Show, a big hit on YouTube on the Ramsey network. Mr. George Campbell himself is my co host today. Open phones here as we talk to you about your life and your money. Triple 882-55-2225 is the number 888-25-5225. The call is free and some say the advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. Megan's going to start us off. Megan is in New Orleans. Hi, Megan. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[George Camel]

Hey guys, thanks so much for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. What's up in your world?

[George Camel]

Okay, so I have a question and just to paint a small picture, my husband and I, we've been married for seven years. We have no debt other than the mortgage on our house. And so we're very thankful and have worked very hard for that. We've got two young kids able to establish an emergency fund and retirement accounts and college savings for them. But with all of that said, my parents are really not on a same financial path as we are. My dad is in his 80s now and still works full time. My mom does not work and she hasn't worked before. But just recently they've been bringing up to us kind of my husband and I, that they don't know what they're going to do for retirement. They have no retirement savings, very little in a savings account. They're not even really in a place to afford the house that they own with, with the money that they're making. And we're starting to get this feeling that they're, they're expecting us to take care of them at some point or to do something to help them. And without tapping into our own retirement or savings for our children's college and things like that, we're just really not in that type of space. And so my question is, is it too late for them to start putting together a retirement plan? What are some options for them or how best really, what kind of boundaries do we need to set as a young family in helping out that other generation in retirement?

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. I mean, it sounds almost ludicrous to just say out loud he's 80 and now he thought about retirement. Golly wow. Who's late to the party here like 20 years. Oh my gosh. Oh, man. So he's working every day and he's 80?

[George Camel]

Yes, every single day. And he's one of these people he loves to work, so I think he always will. And at one point, if he can.

[Dave Ramsey]

But you can't always. You don't always have that as an option. I mean, his health, his health may fail him. What does he make?

[George Camel]

So he's, I want to say he's making around, right. At about $100,000 total because he does have Social Security coming in as well, but around $100,000. But my mom has never worked. And so the question kind of is, if and when one of them passes before the other, what are they going to do? And that's where they're turning to us, is this younger generation and asking us that question. And I don't really know what to say. And the Bible teaches us to honor our father and mother. But how does that translate into something like this?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, let me address that before I forget it. Honoring your parents means you honor the position of fatherhood. It's like honoring the president. I may or may not agree with the president, but I honor the position of president. Does that make sense? And I can still disagree with the president because he might be wrong. You know, that kind of stuff. Right. So if mom's doing cocaine, we don't honor that. Okay, that's a misbehavior, but we honor her position as mother. Does that make sense? So we don't. We can honor them and it doesn't require we give them money. That scripture has nothing to do with giving them money.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So there's no financial obligation.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I mean, just honor them. But it's just like, gosh, okay, well, I think we got to head this off with the pass. And I think it's just time for a real, clear, in person talk the next time you're in town and the holidays are coming up. So here we go. Right? So we're going to sit down with them and leave your husband out of it and leave, you know, whoever else out of it and just sit down and go, mom and dad, couple things. One is I love you and I'm worried about you. Two is, what's your plan? Three is I'm not your plan. Okay? And so since I'm not your plan, I will coach you, I will cheer for you, I will help you in any way I can. I don't have the financial mathematical bandwidth to be your plan. So if you've got this in your head that somehow I'm going to pick this up when one of you can't. We need to talk about what happens, dad, if you can't work anymore because your health Fails. We need to talk about what happens, mom, if dad dies and $100,000 a year is not coming in anymore, how are you going to stay in this house? We need to talk about. Because I want to love you all well. And walk with you as you face what looks like some very difficult decisions to me that you're going to be making. And I hurt for you. And I want to help if I can, in the coaching and cheering aspect, but not in the financial aspect. And I think you say all that out loud, what you might discover is that they maybe have done something you don't even know about. Maybe they're further ahead than you think. Maybe they're worse off than you think. But knowing if they open up the. If they put their cards on the table face up, knowing what's going on is going to be a lot better for you than just guessing, because guessing always makes us think it's worse than it is.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And some tactical pieces you can do, Megan, is sit down with them and go, let's make a budget together. We're going to sit down. Use everydollar. Let me get you connected to a smartvestor pro. Let's get you investing some of this $100,000 while you still have it. Let's look at your total debt load. Do you need to downsize in home? What sacrifices must be made for you guys to retire with dignity? You can help them answer the questions, but I would not just start funding their misbehavior for the last 20 years.

[Dave Ramsey]

You do not have a moral, ethical, obligation or moral or ethical or spiritual obligation to write them checks.

[George Camel]

And that's what we've been worried about, you know, and we want to see them do well. And we've had some of these initial conversations saying we don't have that bandwidth.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, what do they say?

[George Camel]

So they. I think it may be just some of their own nervousness coming, and they kind of laugh it off a little bit and kind of jokes saying, and this has been said by my mom, like, well, I'll just. I'll just move in with you guys and help take care of your children. And that's. That's not really gonna happen. That we want. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And just say, you know, mom, I love you, but I would kill you if you moved in here, and you would kill me. And so we don't want any murders. So we need a different plan.

[Dr. John Deloney]

She might stop laughing. Oh, gosh. That was too real.

[George Camel]

Right?

[Dr. John Deloney]

But that's. These are tough boundaries conversations.

[Dave Ramsey]

We're going to sell your house and we're going to buy you a condo that's one tenth the size of this house. You're going to pay cash for it and live on Social Security, Mom. That's what you're going to do. And that's going to be your best life now. And, you know, you just got to work. You got to push them on through it. And the problem is, it's just very difficult. It's very difficult. But I don't want you to have. I don't want you to misinterpret that scripture and let that be turned into an enabling vibe. And that's what you're. That's what you're struggling with. You're like, I want to be a good daughter. I want to be a good spiritual person, but I don't want to be an enabler. And it feels like they've been not dealing with this, and now they're going to want me to deal with it since they didn't deal with it. And that's. That's most of America right now, by the way.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, this is an epidemic. They call them silver squatters, Dave. Relying on the kids.

[Dave Ramsey]

Silver squatters don't like it, but that's.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What they called it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Got little silver hair going, and they just squatted right there in the old living room. Said, I'm going to take care of your kids. I'm going to take care of your kids. The silver squatters. Oh, that's awful. This is the Ramsey Show. These days, it's not if your identity gets stolen, it's when. And the only ID theft protection plan I have ever recommended is from Zander Insurance. It helps real people with real life situations. Like the call we got on the show recently where a woman's abusive ex opened a credit card in her new name and racked up over $8,000 in debt. Then the bank sued her even though the charges weren't hers. What a mess. With Zander's help, she was able to get the entire nightmare cleared up. And now her family is officially debt free. Listen, Zander's identity theft protection is the best option out there. They have all the cyber tools and monitoring services you need. They cover all types of ID theft, and they even include up to $2 million in stolen funds. Protection. In the end, though, you need an ally, someone on your side to the work and fix the problem. That's what Xander is all about. Go to zander.com to learn more or call 800-356-4282. George Camel Ramsey personality is my co host today, Yahoo. Finance. Generation X has gone by many names over the years. They started as the MTV generation, became known as the latchkey Kids were labeled America's forgotten middle child. But as retirement looms closer for Gen X, a new term is popping up in conversations that captures the anxiety and uncertainty many are feeling. Silver squatters.

[Dr. John Deloney]

There it is.

[Dave Ramsey]

There it is. It's a phrase that vividly paints a picture of a generation grappling with a looming financial crisis as they edge into their mid-50s without the cushion needed for a secure retirement. The silver nods to the graying hair. Squatter suggests where they might end up staying with their adult children. There it is.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Median retirement for 55 year olds, which.

[Dave Ramsey]

We call these adult children the sandwich generation. They're sandwiched between their kids college and their parents lack of retirement planning. And they're supposed to take care of people on both ends of the spectrum and in the middle you get squashed.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I feel like that would just create a cycle where they become the next silver squatters because they had to take care of the people on all sides and therefore couldn't invest in retirement because they were trying to fund mom and dad's retirement. Yeah, that's scary. I say you change your family tree and go, we're not doing that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I think you have to institute. You have to bring out the secret weapon.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What's that?

[Dave Ramsey]

The ancient word. Oh, the word that no one is allowed to speak anymore. You're not allowed to utter it in the American public.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Has it been canceled?

[Dave Ramsey]

You can't say it in any place, particularly around government or around entitled people. You want to hear the word.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I want to hear it. No, Dave, you can't say it on air. We're going to get taken off.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know. You press your tongue towards the roof of your mouth, make a kissing motion with your lips. I know you've not used it in a while. No, no, we're not going on vacation. We can't afford it. No, we can't keep this house. We haven't saved anything for retirement. No, you can't lease that car, bozo, you're broke. No, you can't afford a boat. No, you can't even afford the fish the boat would catch. No, you can't afford to put gas in the boat that the fish won't catch. But no, no, no, no, no, no, Dave, you're no fun. Yes, I am. I'm a lot of fun.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No, Dave loves saying no. It's one of your. It's how you got here today.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's A great. It's a great boundary exercise. No, mom, you're not moving in with us. No, I've just. I just found out today you're called a silver squatter. Who knew?

[Dr. John Deloney]

I want to know what.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's kind of derogatory. I'm not sure that's honoring your parents, but yeah. No, no, no. I have to feed my kids. No, you. You're 80 years old. You just now woke up and realized there's retirement. Where the heck Was your brain 40 years ago? No, no, no, no. No. You can't afford to go on vacation. No, you can't afford to eat out every night. No, you're going to eat beans and rice. Rice and beans. No eating out. No, no, you're broke. People broke people don't do things like that. No, no, you can't have a cell phone. No, you're broke. No, no, no, no. It's the ancient word. It will set you free.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I want to make that a ringtone and sell it so badly. It's just Dave saying no. No, no.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it's not a killjoy thing because you're saying no so that you can say yes to living. It's live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else. It's no discipline. Seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest. If I want my belly to be smaller, I have to look at a donut and say no, because my belly grows exponentially just by walking past donuts, much less eating them.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I didn't know. Smelling calories.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, fat boy, no more donuts. No. No.

[Dr. John Deloney]

This could change America.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm telling you, it's an amazing. It's an amazing thing, but no one says it to each other or to themselves. And when you learn this magical word, it will set you free.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Because I want to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good wife. So I'm just going to say yes to it all.

[Dave Ramsey]

No. No, you're not an enabler. No, no. I love you too much to lie to you. No, really, seriously. Set you free.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I love it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So our Black Friday sale is here. And you don't have to say no to that because the deals are so good.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Some things you should.

[Dave Ramsey]

How do you. How do you segue out of that good transitioning piece? No, you can't. Okay, shock. Well, if you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

If you've budgeted for Christmas.

[Dave Ramsey]

There you go.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What do I buy?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you can get hardcover books right now for just 12 bucks and audio books for only 8. Bu. Jade's new book, Bestseller Money's not a math problem. On sale right now. Get rid of the we ain't got no money mentality. Total money makeover. We've sold a couple of those. Great gift right now for 12 bucks. Go to Ramsey Solutions.com store. Check out the Christmas deals. Don't miss it. And if you think you're going to miss it, don't. I said no, don't miss it. No, don't miss it. All right, I did. I should see that. That was pretty smooth.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Record count.

[Dave Ramsey]

Alex is in Phoenix. Alex, what's up?

[George Camel]

Hey, how you doing, Dave?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. How can we help?

[George Camel]

So I had a question. I recently just received or I haven't gotten the check yet but I'm receiving the second half of a settlement from a car accident I was in two years ago, which is for a million dollars. And I'm wondering if I should pay off my mortgage.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good lord. On what happened.

[George Camel]

So I was. Me and my buddy were on a trip to Vegas and gotten a head on collision. There were two fatalities and the rest of us were all airlifted to Thunderbird.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hospital and fatalities in your car, hon?

[George Camel]

There was one in ours and then one in the other.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh man, I'm so sorry. Wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

How are you doing now?

[George Camel]

I'm doing really good. Still have like some minor things that bother me like my wrists. The. I have like 90 mobility in it used to be a lot worse but that and then my, my abs are still healing because I had. I'd been two holes in my small intestine, a hole in my colon. So they had to gut me wide open. So that was quite the healing process.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you kind of crushed in the accident then? Wow.

[George Camel]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Unbelievable. Okay, well first question is if your income into the near and future or the long term future is affected, we need to set the money aside to some of the money to saturate whatever amount to offset that. Are you back to work? Are you. Are you moving again? I mean what's happening with your income?

[George Camel]

Yeah, so before the accident I was. Remember what I was doing? I don't think I was working a full time job at the time.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old are you?

[George Camel]

I've got my. I'm 23 years or 22 years old.

[Dave Ramsey]

Were you working on education?

[George Camel]

No, I got my EMT out of high school and then didn't like it and have done a bunch of like construction jobs.

[Dave Ramsey]

So let me ask you this then. Okay, you're 23, you've got some aches and pains, but it sounds like you're largely healed. What's the 30 year old Alex going to be doing with his life career wise?

[George Camel]

Probably real estate. I got my real estate license and I also do real estate wholesaling and I've done a couple flips in the past with my family. Imagine I continue doing that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. And how much debt do you have?

[George Camel]

So the mortgage on our house is.

[Dave Ramsey]

Who's our house?

[George Camel]

Me and my wife.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, you're married. Okay. All right, I missed that. What does she make?

[George Camel]

She makes roughly 3,500amonth.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, and how much have you been making in real estate?

[George Camel]

I honestly, I have been slacking and haven't pulled in much in the last three months.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why?

[George Camel]

I just, I. The only reason I got my license was so that I could get clients that my parents own a probate company and they have clients from that.

[Dave Ramsey]

What I'm asking, I'm asking why you're not working? You're 23 years old and you're married. Is it medical condition or why are you not working?

[George Camel]

I am like working. I just haven't been working as hard as I could have and I haven't been making the calls I need to call. I have, but also just haven't. Nothing's been working out with.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And how much do you owe on your home?

[George Camel]

290.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. Yeah, I pay off my house. I'd set aside if there's any taxes on any of this. Some of it will be taxable, some of it won't be, depending on how it's structured. And I want you to sit down with somebody and address what it is that makes the sun come out again and makes you get your ambition bone moving again. Because it sounds like this wreck hurt you physically but might have slowed you down emotionally as well. It would of me, by the way. Sounds like a horrible accident. I'm so sorry. This is the Ramsey Show.

[Jimmy Darts]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

George Camel, Ramsey personality, is my co host today. If you're ever around the Nashville area, we're in Franklin, a beautiful little town just south of Nashville. And you can come by and watch the show. We do it live on the air on the glass from 1 to 4, meaning folks sit in our lobby, anywhere from 50 to 200 of them watching the show. And we charge like nothing. It's worth every penny. And there's free coffee to bribe you, and even better than that, free homemade cookies to bribe you. So when you walk in here, it smells like Mama's kitchen in the middle of that lobby, right here on the glass so we can look out the glass and see them. And used to have a sign in here with me that said, don't feed the monkey. But then I wasn't the only one on the air and other people took offense to that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It wasn't me.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I thought it was hilarious. It was Ken.

[Dave Ramsey]

Any of us monkeys. But yeah, there you go. So anyway, in the lobby is also the debt free stage. Kyle and Samantha are with us. Hey, guys. How are you? Good.

[Caller]

How are you, Dave?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. It's good to have you. Where do you live? Manchester, New Hampshire. Wow. Welcome to the South. Thank you. Good to have you. And how much debt have you two paid off?

[Jimmy Darts]

$130,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. How long did that take? Four years. Four years. And your range of income during that time?

[Dr. John Deloney]

It started out at $130,000 and ended at around 150.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. What do you all do for a living? I'm a dental hygienist.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I'm a mechanical engineer.

[Dave Ramsey]

Excellent. Very good. So what kind of debt was $130,000? It was our house. You Paid off your house? Yeah. How old are you two? 36. And you have paid for house?

[George Camel]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's this house worth?

[Dr. John Deloney]

About 340,000 right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Very cool. And how much have you guys got in your retirement nest egg so far?

[Dr. John Deloney]

In total with the house, it's over 500,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. You're on your way to millionaire already. Way to go. And you're not even 40 years old. Way to call you two. Thank you. Look at smart people right here. Love it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So you guys hit your early 30s. You're, like 32 years old, been married a little while. At what point were you married? We got married in 2012.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right? Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. That's kind of deep in the marriage. And you guys woke up four years ago and said, let's just go ahead and knock out the house. What started that journey for you?

[Jimmy Darts]

We. One of my co workers at my.

[Dr. John Deloney]

First job, he said the best $12.

[Dave Ramsey]

You ever spent was on the total money makeover.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So I ended up buying it, and it was the best $12 I spent.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Thank you.

[Caller]

I don't necessarily always agree on this journey.

[Dave Ramsey]

I wouldn't.

[Caller]

Would have be lying if I said that you weren't.

[Dave Ramsey]

A swear word at times in our house, it's a gift.

[Caller]

It's a trigger. When I hear the word spreadsheet trigger.

[Dave Ramsey]

I've been a trigger now. I thought of myself as a trigger. I did think of myself as a swear word.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But, yeah, I, like, were you dragged? And then as you made progress, you went, okay, I get it. And what happened here.

[Caller]

Yeah, I definitely.

[Jimmy Darts]

It took a while to win her over.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's still.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's still a work in progress.

[Dave Ramsey]

So the engineer nerd. Yeah. Is coming in, nerding out your life, and you're like, I want to have one. A life that is.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you're trying to steal my life. I hate Dave Ramsey. That sounds good. I like that. Is that kind of how it went?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. That's what we're going with that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Did he walk in with the spreadsheet going, babe, we could save so much time and money if we just paid it off early?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

12 years. You're married to an engineer. You didn't know that he thinks spreadsheets are sexy. Right.

[Caller]

I know that now. This is love language.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What's your goal? Four years? Or was it more aggressive? Did you do it slower, faster? Well, once we decided to pay off the house, it was around two, two and a half years. But we had two kids in that amount of time to add to our three kids, we already had. So party. Yeah. So it took a little bit longer.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Got the gang here.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Look at that.

[Dave Ramsey]

I look.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And the dog.

[Dave Ramsey]

And the dog. Yeah. Wow. Beautiful. Well done, y'all. Well done. Life is good, huh?

[Caller]

It is.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. We're very blessed. The number one career in the millionaire study that we did, the one most likely to be a millionaire is an engineer. So there you go. So that stuff all pays off after all.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So stereotypical.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yep.

[Dr. John Deloney]

There it is. Just like you guys are doing it.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's perfect. You guys. Well done. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? It's communication, for sure.

[Caller]

You have to be on the same page. And it's also important just to have a village around you that supports you and make sure. And what was.

[Dave Ramsey]

What was your village?

[Caller]

We have our parents for sure. And then we got our friends over.

[Dave Ramsey]

Here that are with us, too. So. Made the trip down for the debt free screen. They did all right. Very good. Cool. So what was the thing that drove you? What's your. Why. Why. Why do this? I was.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I was more worried when we started having kids and trying to pay for college and stuff. So we. I just wanted to get out of debt because I had student loans and I didn't want my kids to have student loans. So that was a big motivator for me.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Changing the family tree. And you got a lot of kids. That's a lot of college to pay.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yes. I know where that freed up. Mortgage payments going straight to the 529 plans.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What's the first big thing you guys did or are going to do?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I tripped to Nashville. We're calling it our yes year now.

[Caller]

So now we can say yes to things.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yep.

[Dr. John Deloney]

As Dave said earlier, you gotta say no a whole lot.

[George Camel]

We did.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you can say yes. Yeah. You did it. You did it. You did it. So, Samantha, what was it that actually did? All kidding aside? You actually did join the crusade here at some point. What caused the change that allowed you to do that just for me?

[Caller]

My heart's always been forgiving.

[Dave Ramsey]

And just one, making sure that our.

[Caller]

Kids see how important that is. And really just being able to be generous and let our kids know the importance of that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Yeah. And you get yourself in a real strong financial position. You can do giving at a different level. 100%. Yeah. And you're there now. Way to go. And you're only 36. You're going to be so wealthy, so generous, so out of control. Well done. Y'all very, very well done. Very good stuff. So now that you're there, when you flip the switch and you paid off the mortgage, did you notice a change in the way just it felt? Yeah, yeah, it does. Definitely feels different.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Especially every first of the month when.

[Dave Ramsey]

That money doesn't come out of your.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Account and you can see your account growing. Budgeting gets a lot more fun when you get to just delete the mortgage payment out. You got property taxes and insurance, but man, that principal and interest not being there, that frees you up emotionally, mentally, financially.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. Yeah, it's huge. Yeah. Way to go, you guys. I'm proud of you. Thank you. Who's cheering you on along the way? Your friends and your family. And who else? Co workers.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, my. My parents were. We were.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We were actually in a race to see who could pay off our house the first.

[Jimmy Darts]

And we won.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So it was a little competition.

[Dave Ramsey]

I love that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Were the kids aware of what was going on? The older ones? Were they like, okay, we can see the sacrifice. We're feeling it too.

[Dave Ramsey]

We got to make beat grandma.

[Caller]

I wouldn't say that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Snack budget.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, they weren't going along anything. I take away his snack money. Oh, well, there you go. There you go. And now if you snack like no one else later, you can snack like no one else. So there you go. Good stuff. Well done, you two. Proud of you. Excellent, excellent job. All right, it's Kyle and Samantha. Manchester, New Hampshire. 130,000 paid off. That's house and everything. They're debt free. No mortgage America. You know what their interest rate problems are? None. They don't have one. That's right. They did this in four years, making 130 to 150. And it's hard, but is it worth it? Yes, definitely. Count it down. Kyle and Samantha, let's hear a debt free scream.

[Jimmy Darts]

Three, two, one.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We're debt free.

[Dave Ramsey]

This is how it's done.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I like the irony because New Hampshire's motto, live free or die. What better way to live free than knowing nobody is there.

[Dave Ramsey]

Really?

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's it. That's about as rock and roll as it gets.

[Dave Ramsey]

How did you know that?

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'm from Massachusetts. I was always jealous we didn't have a cooler state motto.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Wow. Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Apparently from. Adopted by the state in 1945. It was from a letter from General John Stark in 1809. The Live Free or die. Live free or die is your history lesson.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's good. All right, I got. I. Yeah. Trivia lesson. But yeah, I'll go with that, though. I mean, here's the thing. All I can hear about when I'm doing media interviews and you're doing media interviews is that there's a whole generation that feels stuck. There's a whole generation that doesn't think they can get ahead. There's a whole generation Gen Z that says, and Gen X and Millennial. I mean millennials and Gen Z that says they can't make it. And then you meet Kyle and Samantha and we get to meet them every week. You know how stuck they are. Not stuck.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No excuses.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's how stuck they are. Not stuck. Not stuck.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Get a reasonable home, pay it off aggressively.

[Dave Ramsey]

Live the same interest rate on their mortgage I got on mine. Zero. Don't have one. Not stuck.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Take that for the 2 percenters out.

[Dave Ramsey]

There who go, I'll never pay my Ramsey show folks. Crap. Dave Ramsey's not stuck. Zero mortgage, zero percent interest. You gotta love it. It's how much I'm worried about the Fed. Not stuck. This is the Ramsey Show.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, guys, George Camel here for Delete Me. I saw a headline the other day that made me squirm. One third of the US population's background info is now public. We're talking 115 million Americans. Personal info out there in cyberspace for data brokers to buy, sell and trade like Pokemon cards. And data theft happens all the time. Data brokers get your info like your name, address, phone number, even your kids names. And then boom, it's available to online bad guys. But to that Deleteme says, not so fast. That's because Deleteme finds and removes your personal info from hundreds of these data broker sites. And they send you an easy to read report showing you exactly what they did and how much time they've saved you. What I love most is that Delete Me reduces the risk for scams for me and my family. Not to mention that we get fewer creepy ads and robocalls. So it's time to take control of your online privacy. Their individual Delete Me plans start as low as nine bucks a month and you can get 20% off if you go to join deleteme.com/ramsey. That's joinedelete me.com/ramsey.

[Dave Ramsey]

George Camel, Ramsey, personality number one bestselling author, is my co host. Today, the Ramsey Show Question of the day is brought to you by. Why refi. Why refi refinances defaulted private student loans, which are different than federal student loans. Why refinance? Why refi refinances your defaulted private student loans and builds a custom Loan based on your ability to pay. So kick your private student loan debt out of your life by going to why refi.com Ramsey that's the letter Y, R, E, F, Y might not be in all states.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Today's question comes from Andrew in Switzerland. I'm an American, but I live in Europe where salaries are much lower. I'm a seasonal restaurant worker, spending winters in Switzerland and summers in Australia. I also get free rent and food, so I'm able to save 30 to $35,000 a year. I invest heavily in crypto and I know it's not a safe method for long term investing. What are some other investment options where I can diversify my investment portfolio? I know I need to diversify, but I'm an aggressive investor who thinks without risk there is no way to win. This is a tortoise and hare situation here. He's the hair. He's going, I gotta have the risk of my life, Dave. And you're asking us to diversify because you know you should have less risk. You know that you could lose your butt if one thing happens in the crypto world.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Statistically, Andrew, the fastest way to get rich quick is to get rich slow. Because people doing the crap you're doing end up losing everything and they get start over several times. You know how I know that I did it? I was doing flip this house before Chip and Joanna were born. Okay? And I lost my butt because I never met a risk I didn't like. I believed in me and I knew I knew everything. And I'm so smart I could out work the real estate market and the banking market just like you're so smart you can invest in something that's not even real, called crypto. And you're going to lose your butt and then you're going to get the opportunity to start over. And then if you don't fix this broken thing in your brain that's causing you to look for a shortcut called pride, which comes right before the fall. Quit looking for a shortcut. There's no place worth going that there's a shortcut to. So you're not going to do any of this because I winter in Switzerland. A nice summer in Australia. Oh brother. Seriously, lean in and get in a grind and grind your way into some wealth, honey. That's where it comes from. There's no statistical evidence anywhere in any wealth building study that I've ever seen or ever done that indicates anything you're doing is going to work. None of it's going to work. So how's that for depressing? But, yeah, I mean, we're here would love you so much. We tell you the truth. To be unclear is to be unkind. We are anything but an enabler. We want you to win. So I'm talking to you like you were my little brother. Worse than that, one of my kids. And so, no, if you're going to do this thing you're doing for your career, which also feels like some kind.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Of a loss, doesn't feel like a career vacation.

[Dave Ramsey]

It feels like the whole thing to use a game and. But hey, dude, you do whatever you want to do. You're not an aggressive investor. You serve tables. You're not an aggressive investor.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, it doesn't look as good in the Instagram bio.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know. You need to. You need to steadily invest steady, steady, steady in things that are boring. The antithesis of everything you're talking about is the best way to get what is the best way to become wealthy. All the data, which are called facts, indicate that that's not a difference in your opinion and Dave's opinion. No, your opinion's wrong and mine's based on facts, data. So please don't do this, honey. You're gonna, you're gonna.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So we'll answer your question. I mean, you want to diversify, diversify across some type of.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cancel all the crypto. And I'd start investing in good growth stock mutual funds that have 50 and 100 year track records.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And this means owning little shares of a whole lot of companies.

[Dave Ramsey]

That much more money at the end of the story because you won't get the opportunity to start over three times because you're going to lose your butt in crypto. One of the wealthiest men in the world said if he could buy all the crypto for $5, he wouldn't do it. His name is Warren Buffett. If he said if he could buy the whole thing for $5, he wouldn't.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Take it because it has no utility. What's he going to do with it?

[Dave Ramsey]

It's not even a commodity. It's a currency. You're investing in currency. You know, just go buy the Iraqi dinar. Oh, my God. It's a currency that failed and that, you know, that's what we're dealing with here. It might make it, but it's not an appropriate investment for someone in your situation. It's an appropriate investment for someone worth $2 billion to put in 50,000 and play with it like they were playing a roulette wheel or something. But this is Russian roulette. Here. This is dangerous. Please, please, please stop it. Andrew. This is just a mess. Everything in this is a mess. Nick is in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Hi Nick. What's up? Hey guys, how's it going? Better than I deserve. How can I help?

[George Camel]

Me and my wife just started the second baby step a couple months ago and I guess I'll just paint a picture of what I'm looking at. So after we started the second baby step, we started to kind of just put the ducks in the, in a line and see what needs to be paid off first.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So we, we had a bunch of credit card debt and those credit cards.

[George Camel]

Were high in interest. So we pulled out a personal loan and combined those with a small a lower interest so we would have an extra $100 going to the debt instead of interest. So we're working on paying that off right now.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And then we have a bigger credit.

[George Camel]

Card that we're still paying normal minimum payments to.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much is the personal?

[George Camel]

It is just under 4,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

And how much is the bigger credit card, Nick? 11,000. Okay. And what's your household income, Nick?

[Dr. John Deloney]

About 78.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And how much is your car payment?

[George Camel]

The card payment is two.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, no, no. Car with payment. Auto.

[George Camel]

Oh, car payment. 258.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you owe on it?

[George Camel]

11,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. What other debt have you got.

[George Camel]

Other than mortgage? We just have those three.

[Dr. John Deloney]

About 26 grand total in debt. You make 78. We don't need to play shell games moving dead around anymore. We just need to aggressively attack it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What's your question?

[Dave Ramsey]

$100 a month screwing around with all this. You could have found in a budget by staying out of restaurants.

[George Camel]

Correct. So the question was I was just kind of looking for a little more money to pay down that personal loan.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cut your lifestyle quicker.

[George Camel]

What's my lifestyle?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, cut your lifestyle. That's where you're going to find it.

[George Camel]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You working 40 hour job?

[George Camel]

I'm a truck driver.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Are you working a 40 hour job? Are you gone all week or what?

[George Camel]

Yeah, it's a, it's a 70 hour.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so you're gone all week?

[George Camel]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And what's your wife make?

[George Camel]

She is a stay at home.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. All right. So what we're going to do is we're going to, George and I are going to put you into every dollar, which is our budgeting app to show you how to make the money that you have behave. Because we can tell from these numbers that it's not behaving. You're looking for a math hack. There's not a math hack. There's a spending hack. And you make a good amount of money and don't your debt is not an overwhelming number. This is a number you can pay off very, very quickly, probably in a year or just a little over a year. But you're going to have no life. Rather, your wife's going to have no life while you're on the road. And you're going to have no life while you're on the road. Peanut butter and jelly beans and rice, tuna fish. These are the things that are in your future while you get out of debt. Okay? We're not spending money in restaurants. We're not spending money on vacations. We're not spending any money anywhere because we're going to clean this debt up really, really fast. So what I'm telling you is I want you to find around $2,000 a month in this budget to attack this with. And I think you can do it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

If you're bringing home six, that shouldn't be hard.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you your spending and you ought to be bringing home around six, it might be your withholding, it might be some other stuff. We'll help you with this. We'll even put you into Financial Peace University. You and your wife go through all of that. I'm going to pay for it for you and help you get moving. It's not a hack you're looking for, it's a grind. This is the Ramsey Show.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, here's the hard truth.

[Jimmy Darts]

Your investment dollars could be winding up in the pockets of companies that hold positions you don't agree with.

[Dr. John Deloney]

People are unknowingly putting money into tech giants and household brands that don't match up with their core values. But here's good news.

[Jimmy Darts]

Timothy Plan is at the forefront of biblically responsible investing.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That means Timothy Plan uses a strategy that lets investors chase competitive returns while staying rock solid in their beliefs.

[Jimmy Darts]

So if you're ready to invest with.

[Dr. John Deloney]

A clean conscience, it's time to check out Timothy Plan. Request [e-mail] to learn more or contact your financial advisor today to see if Timothy Plan is right for you. Timothyplan.com Investing includes risk, including possible loss of principal.

[Dave Ramsey]

Before investing, carefully consider a fund's investment objective, risk, charges and expenses contained in the prospectus or summary prospectus available@timothy plan.com Read carefully before investing. Mutual funds distributed by Timothy Partners Limited and ETFs distributed by Foresight Fund Services, LLC. 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. I'm Dave Ramsey, number one best selling author, host of the George Camel show on YouTube is my co host today. Ramsey personality George Camel. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Haley in Savannah, Georgia. What's.

[George Camel]

Hi guys. Thank you so much for taking my call today. My husband and I are both firefighter paramedics and we've been together four years now. We got married this past May. We both want kids. We're both ready emotionally and me biologically, to go ahead and start having children. And I've heard what you said on the show before about, you know, not, not waiting around to have kids. My husband and I kind of disagree about something. He thinks that our current situation, it would be irresponsible for us to have a child. And I just, I don't agree.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're right, he's wrong.

[George Camel]

That's what I keep telling.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you're right, he's wrong. Let me ask you something though. Is he saying to you without saying to you? When you quit being impulsive and overspend and make our finances all screwed up, then I'll be ready to have kids? Is he trying to rein you in? Are you out of control? Are you out of control?

[George Camel]

I don't think I'm out of control.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, I didn't ask that. I asked if you are out of control. Is that what he's saying to you?

[George Camel]

No. He wants like, I don't want to.

[Dave Ramsey]

Already have a kid. I don't need more. Is that what he's saying?

[George Camel]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Are you sure?

[George Camel]

I'm positive.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Who's the nerd? Who's the nerd? Who's the free spirit?

[George Camel]

He is the nerd. He is the nerd and I'm the free spirit.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So what evidence does he have that you guys are not in a place to have this kid financially?

[George Camel]

So we have a HELOC and it's around. It's got 44,000 left on it for us to pay off.

[Dave Ramsey]

What'd you buy?

[George Camel]

3,000. We were really stupid and had a big wedding.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Wow. So you own the home before you were married, then took out a HELOC to pay for a big fancy wedding.

[George Camel]

So the HELOC was my father's and I'm on it with him. So we're obviously off what we put on it together. Yes. We're making really big payments on it. $3,000 a month payments. Combined, he and I make $136,000 a year. Our cars are paid off and the only thing we're paying on our living arrangements is property taxes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so you're together on your plan and you're living sacrificially to hit your goals.

[George Camel]

Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

So he wasn't calling you a princess then, was he? I was wrong.

[George Camel]

I know he. I mean, I am his princess.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, that wasn't what I meant. I'm talking about a negative princess. Not like you're my princess. I'm not. I don't need that. That's not, that's not for the show. That's the Loni show. No, but, no, the. All right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So is it because of the heloc? He's saying, hey, we've got this big HELOC we're trying to pay off. Now's not the time to have a kid.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, he's just super conservative and he sees, sees all kinds of pain every day.

[George Camel]

He's very conservative and he just. I think he would feel more comfortable knowing that we were completely debt free.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, he feel more comfortable if you had $2 million, but you don't wait on that to have kids, so. Well, gosh, you win the whole argument today, girl. I don't, I don't even get to pick on you. I don't even get to pick on you. You fought your way through that way to go.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I don't know if he knows how kids works, but you have like a nine month lead up to get your act together and get this HELOC paid off. So it's not like an instantaneous thing.

[Dave Ramsey]

$3,000 and you only owe 40. You're done in a year.

[George Camel]

I want to respect him and his feelings though about it. I don't, you know, I don't want to push him and I do feel like he is head of the house.

[Dave Ramsey]

Here's the thing. Opposites attract. Assuming both of you are healthy and living sacrificial towards a plan, opposites attract. The spender always attracts the saver. The free spirit always attracts the nerd. And you need both of you. You need both sets of input. Because if two people just alike get married, one of you is unnecessary. So you need each other. Right? So he needs you. He needs to respect you too in this. So the year that Rachel Cruz was born was the year we filed bankruptcy. That's how irresponsible we were. And that didn't have anything to do with Sharon. That had to do with me being an idiot. Sharon didn't cause any of that, so. But I think you guys face a Lot of trauma in other people's lives all day long. And that can translate into being super conservative and trying to keep control on everything at home, can't it?

[George Camel]

Yes, sir. And I think part of the issue or nervousness for him is I, obviously my. My lifestyle is going to change. I can't work the physicality of the job while being pregnant or obviously things will be different afterwards. It's a very demanding job.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, it is.

[George Camel]

We're away from home at night, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

You guys are heroes.

[George Camel]

That makes them nervous.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I think he's got reason to be nervous because he's a young dad to be. And that's mandatory for all young dads to be. To be nervous. It's like, comes with the territory. But as the old guy here, I'm gonna tell you, have babies right now. Right now. That's what I would do.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And really, when you look at the actual cost of what it's gonna take.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, it's not cost.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You know, like what's gonna be in the budget. You can do all the math. But I don't think that's enough for him. I think he truly is just. He feels like he's. He's not ready.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, if she is responsible and I was accusing her of maybe not being. And I was wrong because I think she held up to that. That interrogation. That's pretty strong. Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

She wasn't bowing down.

[Dave Ramsey]

She didn't back down. It's good. Good strong lady. Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So, I mean, because I, you know, because sometimes for you ladies out there, sometimes husbands speak is they're saying one thing, but they really mean something else. Oh, wait a minute. Wives do that too. Yeah. Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's human condition.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. But yeah, so sometimes, you know, your husband's saying, we can't afford this. What he's saying is because of you. And that's what I was going. But I was wrong. I missed that one. I missed that one. I don't miss them often, but I missed that one. Rick. Rick is up. He's in Albany, New York. Rick, what's going on?

[George Camel]

Hey, thanks, Dave and George, for taking my call. I'll be quick. My wife and I just completed Financial Peace University. And during lesson six, which is about understanding insurance, I bought up. I brought up a question about a whole life insurance policy I have. It's well over 100,000. It's got a fairly large cash value and I know I need to get rid of it and I want to sell it. And my question is, you hear about all these ads on tv like Coventry Direct. And that they say before you let it lapse or you sell it, find out what it's worth and that you could probably get more for it. What are your views about selling it to someone else?

[Dave Ramsey]

That's a viatical and I would stay completely away from that. There's no point in that because it's still in your name. It's still all screwed up. No, it's real simple, Rick. You're right. It is a quick question. Just the things that you learned told you it was not a good product and you decide to get out of it. You're just trying to figure out the best way to get out of it. And the best way to get out of it is just cancel it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Surrender the policy. Surrender it and get term life in.

[Dave Ramsey]

Place first before you do that. And then get your cash value back and use your cash value on your baby steps. And certainly that includes investing. And investing in anything is better than a universal policy putting it in a fruit jar. You'll end up with more money. This is the Ramsey Show. What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts and you'll get 10 different answers. Economic growth or a recession? Business taxes will go up or down. AI will help us work or it will replace us all. But there's no such thing as a crystal ball. That's why more than 40,000 businesses have future proofed themselves with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud enterprise resource planning system. Ramsey Solutions uses NetSuite, and you should, too. Whether your company's earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities with one unified business management suite. There's only one source of truth for the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. NetSuite's real time insights and forecasting help you see into the future with actionable data. And when you're closing the books in days, not weeks, you can spend less time looking backward and more time focusing on what's next. And speaking of what's Next, download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning at netsuite.com Ramsey it's free at netsuite.com Ramsey folks, the Ramsey Christmas cash giveaway is here and you could win big. We're giving away $500 prizes each week and one grand prize of $5,000. Enter daily for your chance to win at Ramsaysolutions.com giveaway. It's that easy. Plus, our 50 Days of Christmas deals is on right now. Get up to 30% off bestsellers and life changing gifts that won't break the holiday budget. Ramsaysolutions. I'm Dave Ramsey. Your host, George Camel, Ramsey personality is my co host in the studio. Well, we've got a celebrity with us today, Jimmy darts. Jimmy is a media personality TikTok sensation known by his videos of him giving money and other random acts of kindness. Jimmy is a, an expert on generosity, man. I mean, you have done some of the best video work on randomly messing up people's lives in an awesome way with generosity. I'm so proud of you. Well done, sir.

[Jimmy Darts]

Thank you. Thank you. It's a blast. It's, it's what we're all called to do and when we do it, we feel like we're in our purpose and we're alive. So seeing someone else's day made because you gave a sacrifice, whether it's small or big, it's always worth it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So Jimmy, you DM me out of the blue and I was like, did Jimmy, does he, did he get hacked on Instagram? And you were going, man, I'm a big Ramsey fan. And so we got connected and it's been a blast becoming friends with you. And I want everyone to know the story of how this got started because it's powerful and it started with your own life change.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. When I was a little kid, the first time I really experienced what it's like to give something away and to bless someone, my parents for Christmas gave us 200. They said 100 for you to keep. Buy whatever you want. 100 you got to give away to someone else. And so the very first time I gave was a guy on the street. He had a sign. I gave him 100 bucks. And just as a kid, seeing his face just melt changed my life and marked me. And then kind of lived for a knucklehead the rest of my high school years and did a lot of party videos. But then When I was 18, I just met the love of Jesus, got transformed, and never thought I'd pick up my video gift again. And I was out reading the Bible one day and I felt like the Lord said, jimmy, it's time to go back and make videos, but this time do it for me. And I said, all right. I mean, what do you want me to be, a preacher? What does that mean? He goes, no, I want you to ask people for help and when they help you, change their life. So that's when I started doing these videos, asking someone to help me get a tank of gas in my car or to you know, buy me a gallon of milk. And when they did that, we gave them 500 bucks. And just to see their. Their reactions was powerful. And then the Internet started donating, and that person's $2 or $5 they gave me turned into them getting back, like, $50,000. And so it was pretty powerful.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. The videos are. I can watch them all day. I mean, it just makes you cry. Makes my eyes leak. I love it. And just watching these people's face change and. And I mean, you're. You're really, really good at your craft, too. You develop this. I mean, it's not manipulation at all, but. But I mean, your editing and the process, you. You build such a great story in such a short time frame. The arc goes through that thing, and it works so powerfully. I watched, like, 10 of them this weekend.

[Jimmy Darts]

You got to get back to work. People need you out there.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And like, Dave talks about, you know, you're the. You're not the hero in these videos. The person is. And it's why you don't. We don't see a lot of Jimmy in the videos. You want to make it about them. You're simply the guide. And we've got a clip, and I. This is one of your favorite moments. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With our friend Lulu.

[Dave Ramsey]

Can we watch it?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Let's check it out.

[Jimmy Darts]

Over $42,000 was donated to help you out.

[George Camel]

No way.

[Jimmy Darts]

24 hours earlier, I met Lulu, a struggling mom who couldn't get a job because of her smile.

[Dave Ramsey]

Excuse me, ma'am.

[Jimmy Darts]

Sorry to bother you. I'm just trying to ask people for a dollar to get the bus out of here. I don't know if you have anything, but it's not going to hurt you.

[Caller]

No, it'll help you more than it'll hurt me.

[Jimmy Darts]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's your name? Lulu.

[Jimmy Darts]

I then surprised Lulu with $11,000 for her kindness, and then she shared this with me.

[Caller]

Thank you. You say yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

I got five kids going through a lot not finding the job. They act like they want to hire you, but then when you got a messed up smile, they think about different.

[Caller]

Things, and they just.

[Dave Ramsey]

They say that they don't hire you because of that, but I feel like it is.

[Jimmy Darts]

The next day, I met up with Lulu to give her the surprise of her life. Over $42,000 was donated to help you out.

[George Camel]

No way.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. No way.

[Jimmy Darts]

So you're going to be able to get new tea? Is this something you've been praying for?

[Dave Ramsey]

Definitely. All right. What actually happened? You walked up asking her for a dollar to get on the bus. She gave it to you, and then you did what?

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, she. She gave me a dollar to get on. Then I, I, I asked her her story, and. And she started telling me that she's been trying to get a job as a single mom, but it's been really hard because her teeth were kind of messed up, and people assumed she was on drugs and all this. And so it was just the saddest story ever. And I ended up giving her $500. She starts bawling her eyes out. And I gave her a hug, got her number, and I said, I'm going to be praying for you, knowing that she doesn't know, but there's millions of people watching on the other side of that phone that are going to want to change her life. And so we ended up raising over $50,000 for her and ended up flying her out to Nashville. And she got brand new teeth. Jason Aldean and his wife, their dentist, they helped make that happen. So she's got brand new teeth now. She moved, went back to Vegas, got a job. She's given her life to Jesus, I've heard. And so her life's got back on track.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And we got the photo here. If you're watching on YouTube, look at that smile.

[Dave Ramsey]

Before and after. Yeah, that's awesome.

[Jimmy Darts]

And those are the temporaries. They'll even look better than that.

[Dave Ramsey]

So.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, that's incredible.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's so fun. Yeah. And, And I mean, so you, your whole approach as you walk up, find someone and ask them for help, and then they finally. I bet you get turned down.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, yeah, a few times I get turned down. And when I do, I mean, you know, I'm just looking out there for, for the people that do pass the test, because we're really trying to find people that have lived a lifestyle of generosity and kindness their whole life and never got rewarded for it, but in that one moment, they become the hero. And if you read the comments of my videos, like, 90 of them are about the person and not me. And that's why they want to help out. And so it's. It's been really powerful, and there's been a lot of amazing stories. Yeah, my favorite one is probably Steve. He was a homeless vet. He was in Anaheim. He was just sleeping on the side of the road. Went up to him, saw he was struggling with addiction. And I was like, man, I don't know if there's anything I do to help this guy. So I almost kept walking. And that's When I felt the Lord say, no, no, no, maybe not money this time, but ask him, what do you want? What's on his bucket list? So I said, steve, what's on your bucket list? And he just perked up and he goes, man, I want a skydive, hot air balloon and go deep sea fishing. It was like he was ready for me to ask the question. And I said, all right. And sure enough, a few hours later, I came back in my little Honda, picked him up, and he was jumping out of an airplane, and we were going over the sky. And he then got out of addiction, got moved into a housing, got his life turned around, and. And all he needed was a spark to realize life can be fun again.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's powerful. And we talked about this, Jimmy, but you've got to have the margin to be generous. You've got to have your eyes up, looking for opportunity instead of looking inward, stressed about your own life. And that's part of why you follow the Ramsey plan.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[George Camel]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Darts]

You know, yeah. Having your fists like this with money in it, you know, obviously if God tries giving you something, it'll just hit the ground. And so when you're generous and give to people, God can also bless you more. And so that's just how it works. And yeah, when you live within your means, you don't buy stupid stuff, you save your money, you can give to other people. And that. That's just something that will never get old. And yeah, whether you've got a million dollars in your bank account to bless someone and get them a new car, or just like the poor widow in the Bible and all you got is a coin. Heaven is moved by generosity, and it'll make your heart come alive when you do it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Wow. So Instagram and Tick Tock sensation Jimmy Darts is with us. Immydarts is where you pick him up. You guys gotta watch these videos. They'll make you work your tail off to get your act together so you've got some money, you'll live like no one else. So later you can live and give like no one else. They're inspiring. It's really, really inspiring.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We talked about, you know, I love the Rachel Cruz quote, give a little until you can give a lot. And so what Jimmy's doing with even the GoFundMe, I might only have a few bucks to give to this campaign, but. But what we're doing as a community, to change someone's life is powerful and it makes you want to give more. It's a generosity Is addictive.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, absolutely. Generosity is addictive. And yeah, I mean, if all you have is a couple dollars to give what's worth a couple bucks a coffee? If you just. If you, if all you have in Your budget is $10 a month to give away and you buy a stranger a cup of coffee every month might be outside of your comfort zone, but it's gonna, it's gonna blow them away because when's the last time someone bought you in the line a coffee in line? I can't remember. That happened to me.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So probably Dave Ramsey.

[Jimmy Darts]

It probably was in the lobby here.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But yeah, that's why we give away free coffee. Oh, man, it's powerful. And you've got a lot going on, Jimmy. You've got your kindness challenge cards. People should check out and it's kind of a scratch off you can do with your own family, your own friends, help strangers out. So everyone needs to go check out Jimmy on Instagram, TikTok YouTube @Jimmy Darts. You're an inspiration, man. I'm honored to know you.

[Jimmy Darts]

Thank you. Couldn't have done it without you guys or I'd probably be in dead over my ears.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I got a feeling you're going to be okay, brother. Yeah. Thank you. I'm proud of you. It's good work you're doing. Thanks for hanging out with us. We appreciate you.

[Jimmy Darts]

Thanks so much.

[Dave Ramsey]

This is the Ramsey Show. Mortgage rates have dropped. So if you're thinking about buying a home in the next year, contact your local Churchill mortgage team right now. If you wait, more people will be in the market competing for the same homes and potentially driving up prices. Churchill will help you do the math to be sure your budget is correct, making your home a blessing and helping you build lasting wealth. Learn more@churchill mortgage.com Churchill mortgage.com this is.

[Dr. John Deloney]

A paid advertisement in MLS ID 1591 in mlsconsumeraccess.org/equal housing lender, 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100, Brentwood, TN 37027.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it's decision time again. Every year during open enrollment, you have the chance to check in on your insurance and make sure it's right for you and your family. Whether you have health coverage through your job, a private company, or a government program like Medicare, you don't have to figure this out alone. We have reliable folks we trust to help you get the right coverage for whatever stage you're in. Go to Ramsaysolutions.com health coverage George Camel, Ramsey personality, is my co host. Today in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on The debt free stage. Jill is with us. Hi, Jill. How are you?

[Caller]

I'm good, Dave. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. Where do you live?

[Caller]

Atlanta, Georgia.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. Welcome to Nashville. How much debt have you paid off?

[Caller]

$102,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. How long did that take?

[Caller]

About 27 months.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. And your range of income during that time?

[Caller]

Started at around 60,000 and ended up at 124,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cool. Good for you. Well done. What kind of debt was the 102?

[Caller]

Let's see. About 11,000 in credit cards, about 9,000 in medical bills and some IRS debt, and then 82,000 in student loan.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. You were kind of normal.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Not fun.

[Caller]

No, it was not.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Okay, so what happened two years and some change ago, that was your wake up call, and you said, we're going to get out of this and doing this Ramsey stuff. How'd that all happen? Tell us your story.

[Caller]

Yeah, so actually, my story starts back in 2018. I was working full time and decided I want to go to graduate school. But even then, I told myself, I'm not going to take any more student loan. If I'm going to go to school, I have to pay for this in cash. And then that fall, my church was hosting fpu and I said, yes, this is my chance to make sure I'm doing this right and not have to take out any loan and just make this whole process a little bit easier. So I did that. And I can tell you, Dave, I completely, 100% cash flowed. My master's program.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Okay, step one.

[Caller]

Yes. Got that done.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's your master's in?

[Caller]

Nutrition and Dietetics.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Okay, good.

[Caller]

Yes. So then later, the end of 2019, due to some contract changes, all the dietitians and myself, we were all let go from our hospital. And so starting 2020, I had started a new job. And then we all know what happened in 2020. Covid happened. And so I just kind of went in survival mode. I had finished paying that last semester of grad school, and so I just wanted to save because I had just lost my job recently, you know, didn't know what was going to happen with COVID So I just kind of just started saving and just, you know, continue to work some side hustles and some side gigs just to see, you know, kind of what happened. So once I got settled in my job and, you know, had kind of built up some savings. All right, let's get this started again. So I tackled the medical bills and the credit card debt on about 10 months.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Caller]

Yeah. And then so I was like, okay, I can breathe a second. I've paid off some of these, some of these big ones. All I have left is the student loan. So at that time, I decided to move to Atlanta for a new job opportunity, pay raise, all that kind of stuff. And then I was like, okay, we're settled, let's do this. But the thing, Dave, is my student loans were private. So while everyone else's student loans were on pause, the interest payments, all that, this whole time might have been going. And so I could have paused my loans, but I was like, the interest is still going to go. I just can't take this anymore. It is keeping me from having time to do what I want. I'm working all these jobs. I can't save her. I house, I can't. I can't have a car emergency, nothing. And so I was, okay, we're doing this. This is the Goliath I'm looking at. Let's go, let's do it. So January of 23, I put my foot on the gas pedal and had a full time job, two part time jobs, two other side hustles. I was doing 60, 70, sometimes 80 hours a week trying to pay this off. And then my church in Atlanta did FPU again. And so I was, okay, this is step, baby. Step Three is actually in sight. Like, I'm getting so close. I'm in like the last six miles of this marathon. Like I can do this. So I had a great support system, went through that. And then in May of this year, I made my final student loan payment.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Way to go.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's definitely putting your foot on the gas.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sprint to the finish. Through the tape, she wins. I like it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Doubled your income.

[Caller]

I did.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You went all right. I'm going to sacrifice for a short time so that I can be done with this faster. And it worked.

[Caller]

It did. It did.

[Dave Ramsey]

So that was, that was hard.

[Caller]

It was.

[Dave Ramsey]

Was it worth it?

[Caller]

Oh, 100. 100. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're free now.

[Caller]

I am, I am. I finally have time to do the things I want to do. Get more involved in my church, investing in people and, and just being able to live. It's. It's very freeing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I guess. Congratulations. You. So proud of you. Who was cheering you on?

[Caller]

Oh, man. My. My parents. First, first of all, when I made that last student loan payment, I had them on Facetime and we, they were with me when I hit send or hit pay and we all just cried.

[Dave Ramsey]

I love it.

[Caller]

It was great. My Aunts and uncles, my coworkers are amazing. When I paid off my debt, they had a little party for me, had a little banner made that said, jill is debt free. Friends, family, just, it's been amazing. And being somebody who's single, it was important to me to kind of have that support and accountability. I couldn't have done it without them.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You brought a crowd with you just to support you. You got your own posse over here, which is awesome. And that is huge for folks that are single out there, because it's so much harder when you don't have that built in accountability of a spouse.

[Caller]

Correct.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So I'm proud of you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Did people think you were crazy?

[Caller]

Oh, yes. People were like, why are you. Why are you paying this off? Like, you need to be investing, like. And I said, well, these student loans, this is keeping me from investing in my future, and this is keeping me from living. And I'm doing it this way. And here I am on the Dave Ramsey Show.

[Dave Ramsey]

I love it. You did it. Very, very cool. Good stuff. So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? You are very successful at it.

[Caller]

Yeah. So first and foremost, my faith in Jesus Christ is what helped me get through it. Having that great support system to help keep me accountable. And then when I got to the student loan part, I was at 82,000, and I was like, okay. So I made some payments, got into the 70s, and I was like, okay, how fast can I get to the 60s? And then I just kept going. So I made it a game, and I took the power back that debt had over me and made it, how fast can I do this? And that really changed my mindset. So changing that mindset and having that support system is huge.

[Dave Ramsey]

Taking the power back, it really does come down to hope.

[Caller]

It does.

[Dave Ramsey]

I can. You know, when you take the power back, that means that you now see that this is possible. Ding, ding. Hope kicks in. Belief kicks in. And then you. Then you don't even feel the sacrifice then, because, like you said, it's a game. I'm sprinting to the finish line. I see the tape. Yes. I'm in pain, but I can see the tape where this is not forever.

[Caller]

It's not.

[Dave Ramsey]

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness. Well done, young lady. Well done. Very well done. Now you're free. How's it feel?

[Caller]

Well, Dave, you know how you tell people when they pay their house off, the grass feels different? Dave buying groceries feels different. Now, being able to say yes. To trips or friends or going to this restaurant, this new place open in Atlanta. Let's all go. Like, being able to say yes to that, just being able to change, like, my priorities and my time, it's just. It's been amazing. Deleting the student loan app off my phone was huge.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Caller]

Yes. That was a moment.

[Dave Ramsey]

You are now dust done. I like it.

[Caller]

Never again will I go back.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Worst app ever. Do not recommend. Zero stars.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Zero stars.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Oh, that is incredible. So what's next for you?

[Caller]

Obviously, coming to Nashville. My family were all going to Texas next month to celebrate another family member's birthday. So I got to do that. And I was recently promoted. I'm a registered dietitian and I was promoted to clinical nutrition manager.

[Dave Ramsey]

Somehow I'm not shocked. Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

In the midst of working your tail. Off they go, hey, she's a hard worker. Let's give her the job.

[Caller]

Yes. Yes. God was just blessing that student loan balance coming down. The job opportunity came in. I finally got to get rid of some of these side hustles. And it's just. I'm just excited what God has in the future.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. It's going to be big. Gonna be amazing.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We want to bless you. We've got to everydollar yearly subscriptions for you. You can use them, pass them on to someone to kickstart their journey as well.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go.

[Caller]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old are you?

[Caller]

36.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. There's no stopping you. There's no stopping you. You're wide open. I bet you were wide open when you were a little kid. Mom. Yeah. Mom's shaking her head.

[Caller]

Yeah, okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, it's kind of a Rachel Cruz thing right there. Yeah. Rachel was wide open when she was a little kid. I mean, we told. I told Sharon, I said, we're going to point this one to something. She's going to go off.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You've got to use these powers for good.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's it. You're something else. You're amazing. I'm so proud of you.

[Caller]

Thanks.

[Dave Ramsey]

Very, very well done.

[Caller]

I made you proud.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. Jill is in Atlanta, Georgia. She paid off a hundred and two thousand dollars. 82. Which was those dastardly student loans. 27 months. She did it making 60 to 124. Lots of work. Count it down. Let's hear a debt free scream.

[Caller]

Three, two, one. I'm debt free.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Yeah, baby. That's how it works around these parts. This is the Rams show. Listen up. Trying to reach your money goals without a rock solid budget is like Trying to climb Mount Everest in ice skates. It isn't going to work. That's why we built the Every Dollar app to help you win with money. It's the simplest, most straightforward way to track your spending and give every dollar a job. That way you can stop letting your money push you around and start reaching those money goals. Download Every Dollar for free on the App Store or Google Play. Well, we just launched a brand new Tour. Me and Dr. John DeLoney are hitting the road and coming to a city near you on the Money and Relationships tour. We're putting a whole new twist on these live events. You, the audience that have bought tickets are going to shape the conversation that we have each night. At each stop on the tour, you get to select the topics that matter most to you in the pre show and then we're going to design the show right before we walk out. Whether it's budgeting or relationship dynamics or achieving your financial goals, whatever the question is, you get to choose the topic. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to be in Louisville April 21, in Durham April 23, Atlanta, April 25, Phoenix, May 5, Fort Worth May 7 and Kansas City May 9. Dave Ramsey, Dr. John DeLoney, live in person in those cities. On that date, you're going to laugh, you're going to cry, you're going to learn and we're going to do some Q and A. We're going to have, it's going to be very, very interactive. A way different kind of live event for the Ramsey bunch. If you're tuning in on YouTube or podcast, you can click the link in the show notes or you can go to Ramsay Solutions.com tour and get your tickets right now. Cindy is with us. Cindy is in Orlando. Hi, Cindy, how are you?

[George Camel]

Hi. Thank you for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. What's up?

[George Camel]

So we, my husband and I are on Baby step three. But six months ago he lost his job and we're trying to figure out do we get rid of the life insurance, the umbrella to help with everything, or do we want to keep those things on our budget?

[Dave Ramsey]

Why isn't he working?

[George Camel]

He was laid off. He's in sales and he's been trying, and praise God, he's been humbled. So he's been trying everything. And now he's even taking classes. And we only have the one car because we went Gazelle Intense. So the car that we have for like Lyft, I think it's too old, the year of it.

[Dave Ramsey]

What was he doing when he got laid off.

[George Camel]

Sales.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sales. Selling what?

[George Camel]

Software. Software sales.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why did he get laid off?

[George Camel]

I think, like production based, like if you don't hit a quota.

[Dave Ramsey]

So he wasn't making sales. Okay, what did he. What kind of income Was he making?

[George Camel]

50,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Mm. Okay. And so what's he want to do with his life now?

[George Camel]

He's for the unemployment. He's doing the cyber security. He's taking the classes for that.

[Dave Ramsey]

He's taking classes for what?

[George Camel]

Cybersecurity.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cybersecurity?

[George Camel]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What do you make?

[George Camel]

73.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, so you've been living off of your 73, but you're also trying to build up this emergency fund, and he's not doing.

[Dave Ramsey]

He's not creating any income at all?

[George Camel]

Unfortunately, no.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, what did he make his last year in sales? What did he make in sales? You said 50k.

[George Camel]

Yeah, he made 50 altogether. We did 130 in our taxes last year. So he made like 30,000 in sales.

[Dave Ramsey]

How many kids do you have?

[George Camel]

Two.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old is he?

[George Camel]

And one's in daycare. How old is he? He's 41.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right, well, there's. There's. Here's the thing. When you are. When you have zero income coming in and you go for a job interview, you walk differently and your voice tone is different than if you have income coming in. Right. And so the fact that he's doing nothing is not helping him land a position. So I would prefer that he cut grass and drive Uber 80 hours a week, clean toilets, whatever he has to do to get some income coming in and actually put his hand to something other than YouTube or whatever he's spending his days on. These days, he really needs to get to work for his own sake, and that's going to make him more employable at one of these other jobs. It's not that he's lacking a class. If he wants to take a cybersecurity class at night while he's working full time during the day, that's fine. But sitting on his butt taking one class or two classes is not cool. Y'all are broke.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So you said he was humbled, but I think he needs more. We got more to go. We need to swallow our pride and go do something.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't really care if he's humble. What I want him to do is go to work.

[George Camel]

Understood.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. My grandmother used to say, there's a great place to go when you're broke to work. So, yeah, I mean, and here's the thing. He's got. I don't I don't. What? I don't. I don't care if he takes a career job until he gets a career job, okay? But I want him to do anything he can do to go make some money. And what that does is it gives him dignity and it gives him purpose. And believe it or not, it gives you energy when you're working hard. And then when you walk in to a job interview, you got a little swagger instead of your head hung down and your lips stuck out.

[Dr. John Deloney]

They can smell desperation.

[Dave Ramsey]

Every human can smell it. We see the body language, we see the pacing in your voice, the tone, the energy level. The eyes are lit up or they're glazed over, which is it. And all of these things happen. And the guy you're describing to me right now is not going to survive a good interview.

[George Camel]

Understand?

[Dave Ramsey]

If he got one. How many interviews has he actually been on? Two in six months.

[George Camel]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So sometimes what happens when we get fired, which is what really happened because he didn't make his sales, then it takes some of your personal. It takes some of your dignity and some of your self confidence, some of your mojo. So I think you encouraging him to go be somebody is going to be really good for him. It's not nagging him, it's lifting him up. So I'm going to be his coach at halftime and go, we're behind and you've got the stuff. I want you to get up in the morning and shave and put on nice clothes like you're going to work. Oh, and by the way, go ahead and go to work while you're doing that.

[George Camel]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I don't care if you're serving at a restaurant. I don't care if you're delivering pizza. I don't care if your Uber eats. I don't care if you're cutting grass. I don't care if you're working cleaning toilets. You can get a job and then by the end of the week doing one of those things or all of those things. And believe me, Orlando needs the help. There's people in Orlando need help. Get you a leaf blower from Home Depot. Rich people are afraid of leaves. And so you know that kind of stuff, Right? So, I mean, go. Go do something. Because what that does is it gets you up off the pity party that we all. I went through that. When I went broke, it took my confidence. Like when you get fired, it took my confidence and it took me a while to get. And I was. But I had two little babies and I didn't have a choice. I had to go make something because we were starving to death. And so I went out there and did anything I could do for a period of time until I could get the income moving again and that. And then with that came my confidence. It came back and slowly the more I did it. And so, you know, I hope that's all it is with him. I hope he's not lazy, but most people aren't lazy. Most people struggle with hope. And he's probably not, he's probably not a lazy guy, but he probably just doesn't feel great about him. You're over there making money. He got fired. And so I want him get back out there and get back out in the marketplace, get back at the, get back up at the plate, start swinging the bat again. And I'm going to send you Ken Coleman's two books, Proximity Principle and Paycheck to Purpose and time to get on kencolman.com and start that proximity principle to get some positions and get some things moving. He's got to get an income moving. That'll help your household and help the mathematics, but more importantly, it'll help his mental state.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's right. And to answer your question, do not cut your life insurance and umbrella. Like you gotta keep the defense there while you're playing offense. So you need to find spending cut somewhere else.

[Dave Ramsey]

Don't, don't. You don't do spending cut. Increase your income. And he's gonna make some money. He could make three or $4,000 a month falling off a log, man. I mean he can almost get his old income back. You know, really. I mean the number of people we talk to that make 1500 bucks a week delivering pizzas right now, there's no excuse. I mean you can do. There's people in the economy, there's a shortage. You can do anything to go make money. So. And there's a shortage of everything out there right now. People that will work show up, that have bathed and smile. Amazing. It's amazing. They'll pay. You can get a job. And so I want him go do something for him because I want him. I kind of smell that old. I remember how that felt. It wasn't a good feeling. And I want better for him. And with that goes better for you, hun. This is the Ramsey Show.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, you're still here. What are you doing? You do know that the rest of today's show is playing right now over on the Ramsey network app, right? All you got to do to finish the episode is search Ramsey Network in the app. Store, Google Play Store, or just click the link in the show notes to download the app. For free. Yep, you heard me right. For free. Then right there on the home screen, you can watch the rest of today's show. Bada bing, bada boom. All right, I'm getting out of here. Enjoy. We'll see you on the app.