Financial Wisdom Replaces Fear With Peace

Summary

Podcast Title: Financial Wisdom Replaces Fear With Peace
Host/Author: Ramsey Network
Episode Release Date: June 12, 2025
Summary by: [Your Name]

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Introduction

In this episode of The Ramsey Show, host Dave Ramsey, alongside co-host Rachel Cruz and her daughter, delve into various financial challenges faced by listeners. The central theme revolves around replacing financial fear with peace through strategic planning, budgeting, and investment. Throughout the episode, real-life stories highlight the impact of financial decisions, while Ramsey and his team provide actionable advice to guide listeners toward financial stability and peace of mind.

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1. Divorce and Financial Recovery: Lisa from New York

Timestamp: [00:43] – [08:18]

Caller’s Story:
Lisa shares her heartbreaking experience of a seven-year relationship that ended after lending her partner $200,000. Her ex-partner's involvement in cryptocurrency led to significant financial loss, leaving her with only $95,000 at age 55. She seeks guidance on optimizing her remaining funds to avoid prolonged employment.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave emphasizes the importance of budgeting, avoiding further debt, and investing wisely. He advises Lisa to:

• Maintain a Roth IRA and continue saving.
• Use mutual funds for growth and stability.
• Collaborate with a SmartVestor Pro to design a comprehensive investment plan.

Notable Quote:

“You need to invest 15% of your income into mutual funds to start rebuilding your wealth.” – Dave Ramsey [05:19]

Key Takeaways:

• Establish a clear investment strategy.
• Seek professional investment advice.
• Prioritize long-term financial health over short-term fixes.

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2. Gifted Property Dilemma: Scott from Charlotte

Timestamp: [08:35] – [18:08]

Caller’s Story:
Scott contemplates accepting his mother's offer to gift him a house in Minneapolis to alleviate financial strain in Charlotte, where rising mortgage rates have priced him out of the market. He weighs the benefits of proximity to family against the desire to avoid returning to an area he previously left due to unfavorable conditions.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave advises against accepting the deal due to potential long-term family strain and suggests exploring more affordable housing options within Charlotte. He highlights the importance of:

• Avoiding irreversible commitments.
• Prioritizing personal and family well-being over financial incentives.

Notable Quote:

“Half of Americans don’t have enough life insurance or any at all. Don’t put your life in someone else’s hands.” – Dave Ramsey [18:08]

Key Takeaways:

• Carefully evaluate the implications of accepting gifted assets.
• Consider long-term familial relationships and personal happiness.
• Explore alternative housing solutions within your current location.

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3. Entrepreneurial Challenges: Mason from Huntsville

Timestamp: [20:21] – [27:25]

Caller’s Story:
Mason, a 20-year-old college student and full-time software engineer, runs a mobile RV repair business. Despite generating $68,000 in revenue with a $20,000 profit, he faces cash flow issues due to significant investments in tools and a company vehicle. He contemplates opening a business credit card to manage expenses.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave discourages the use of credit cards for business expenses, emphasizing the risks of debt-induced business failure. Instead, he recommends:

• Strengthening profit margins by minimizing unnecessary expenses.
• Implementing stricter payment terms for large expenditures.
• Using business profits to create a personal line of credit.

Notable Quote:

“Don’t borrow into your business. Your potential is being held back by cash flow problems caused by business debt.” – Dave Ramsey [20:46]

Key Takeaways:

• Avoid accumulating business debt, especially through credit cards.
• Optimize business operations to increase profitability.
• Establish a personal financial cushion to support business expenses.

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4. Navigating a Financial Windfall: Michael from Palm Springs

Timestamp: [27:25] – [35:23]

Caller’s Story:
Michael is set to receive a $4.7 million windfall from a legal settlement. He seeks advice on creating a sustainable financial plan to ensure long-term security for his family, particularly his wife who requires support due to medical issues and recovery.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave underscores the importance of simplicity and understanding in wealth management. He advises Michael to:

• Avoid complex trust structures unless necessary.
• Stay with familiar investment vehicles like mutual funds.
• Collaborate with knowledgeable financial advisors who align with his values.
• Maintain financial peace by avoiding high-risk investments and focusing on steady growth.

Notable Quote:

“Keep it simple. Don’t put money in anything unless you understand it.” – Dave Ramsey [34:25]

Key Takeaways:

• Prioritize clear, understandable investment strategies.
• Seek professional advice tailored to personal financial goals.
• Focus on long-term financial peace over short-term gains.

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5. Dealing with Debt After Tragedy: Jennifer from Chicago

Timestamp: [60:53] – [73:04]

Caller’s Story:
Jennifer lost her 15-year-old daughter to suicide and subsequently faced eviction and financial instability. Recently securing her first full-time job, she is now in debt ($30,000) primarily from funeral expenses and medical bills. She seeks guidance on whether to pay off her car loan or establish housing independently.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave emphasizes the importance of creating a budget to manage finances effectively. He advises Jennifer to:

• Prioritize essential expenses (housing, utilities, food, transportation).
• Pay off the car loan to avoid repossession.
• Develop a sustainable living situation before tackling additional debts.

Notable Quote:

“Creating a budget removes the trauma and drama from your brain and replaces it with a clear financial roadmap.” – Dave Ramsey [67:05]

Key Takeaways:

• Establish a foundational budget to cover essential needs.
• Address high-priority debts to stabilize financial standing.
• Seek support and structure to rebuild financial health.

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6. Evaluating Real Estate Investments: Tina from Trenton, New Jersey

Timestamp: [73:04] – [87:53]

Caller’s Story:
Tina, a retiree with no debt and an $800,000 nest egg, considers purchasing a condo valued at $200,000. The condo's HOA fees and taxes amount to $1,400 monthly, which is $600 less than her current rent. She seeks confirmation on whether this investment aligns with her financial goals.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave approves of Tina’s decision, noting that purchasing a condo can offer financial stability over renting. He advises ensuring that:

• The HOA fees are reasonable and in line with other local properties.
• The neighborhood is safe and has potential for property value appreciation.

Notable Quote:

“Owning stabilizes your largest budget line item and can protect you from future rent increases.” – Dave Ramsey [74:25]

Key Takeaways:

• Evaluate HOA fees and property taxes to ensure affordability.
• Assess neighborhood quality and future property value trends.
• Consider long-term financial benefits of homeownership over renting.

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7. Handling Debt Collections: John from Salt Lake

Timestamp: [76:43] – [97:46]

Caller’s Story:
John, struggling with credit card debt collections, seeks advice after being served a lawsuit. With $1,200 owed to a collection agency and a pending court date, he is unsure how to navigate the situation while managing limited savings ($3,000).

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave educates John on the nature of debt collection agencies, emphasizing that they often buy debts cheaply and employ aggressive tactics. He advises:

• Remaining calm and seeing interactions as a non-personal game.
• Refusing to make payments without written agreements.
• Setting boundaries to avoid giving personal financial information.

Notable Quote:

“This is a game. Their job is to make you afraid or angry so you lose your critical thinking skills.” – Dave Ramsey [94:18]

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the motivations and tactics of debt collectors.
• Do not provide personal financial information to collectors.
• Negotiate settlements only after obtaining written agreements.

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8. Financial Planning for Special Needs: Jason from Tampa

Timestamp: [100:57] – [117:50]

Caller’s Story:
Jason, a nurse and stay-at-home mom, discusses financial planning for her 7-year-old child with level 3 autism. With a household income of $540,000 and no debt, she seeks advice on securing her child’s financial future.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave advises establishing a Special Needs Trust to ensure long-term financial support for Jason's child. He emphasizes:

• Keeping investments diversified in mutual funds rather than single stocks.
• Prioritizing debt elimination and wealth building even when planning for special needs.

Notable Quote:

“A Special Needs Trust ensures that your child's financial future is secured without compromising their eligibility for benefits.” – Dave Ramsey [116:55]

Key Takeaways:

• Implement specialized trusts for children with special needs.
• Maintain a diversified investment portfolio for long-term growth.
• Balance immediate financial responsibilities with future planning.

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9. Divorce and Fair Asset Division: Wendy from Cincinnati

Timestamp: [118:29] – [End]

Caller’s Story:
Wendy discusses her impending divorce after a decade-long marriage where her husband mismanaged finances, leading to significant debt. Despite owning rental properties and a family home debt-free, she faces familial conflict over asset division.

Dave Ramsey’s Advice:
Dave advises Wendy to:

• Consult with a divorce attorney to understand asset division laws in Ohio.
• Prioritize equitable distribution of assets, even if it means taking on some financial loss to gain personal freedom.
• Focus on establishing financial independence post-divorce.

Notable Quote:

“Divorce turns a marriage into a business transaction and a legal transaction. Understand your rights and seek professional legal advice.” – Dave Ramsey [84:03]

Key Takeaways:

• Seek legal counsel to navigate asset division fairly.
• Prioritize personal financial stability over maintaining shared assets.
• Establish clear boundaries to protect against financial misuse post-divorce.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Ramsey Show underscores the importance of proactive financial planning, disciplined budgeting, and seeking professional advice to overcome diverse financial challenges. Whether dealing with personal debt, navigating significant life changes, or planning for future security, Dave Ramsey and his team provide listeners with the tools and insights needed to achieve financial peace.

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Notable Quotes Summary:

1. “You need to invest 15% of your income into mutual funds to start rebuilding your wealth.” – Dave Ramsey [05:19]
2. “Don’t put your life in someone else’s hands.” – Dave Ramsey [18:08]
3. “Don’t borrow into your business. Your potential is being held back by cash flow problems caused by business debt.” – Dave Ramsey [20:46]
4. “Keep it simple. Don’t put money in anything unless you understand it.” – Dave Ramsey [34:25]
5. “Creating a budget removes the trauma and drama from your brain and replaces it with a clear financial roadmap.” – Dave Ramsey [67:05]
6. “Owning stabilizes your largest budget line item and can protect you from future rent increases.” – Dave Ramsey [74:25]
7. “This is a game. Their job is to make you afraid or angry so you lose your critical thinking skills.” – Dave Ramsey [94:18]
8. “A Special Needs Trust ensures that your child's financial future is secured without compromising their eligibility for benefits.” – Dave Ramsey [116:55]
9. “Divorce turns a marriage into a business transaction and a legal transaction. Understand your rights and seek professional legal advice.” – Dave Ramsey [84:03]

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Resources Mentioned:

• SmartVestor Pro: Professional financial advisors recommended by Ramsey Solutions.
• EveryDollar App: Budgeting tool sponsored by the Ramsey Show.
• Zander Insurance: Trusted insurance provider recommended by Ramsey.
• BetterHelp: Online therapy service partnered with the show.
• Fairwinds Credit Union: Recommended credit union offering favorable rates for Ramsey listeners.

For more detailed information and personalized advice, visit www.ramseysolutions.com.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual amazing relationships. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Rachel Cruz Ramsey, personality number one best selling author, host of the Rachel Cruze show, co host of Smart Money Happy hour. My daughter is my co host today. Open phones at Triple 882-55-5225. Lisa is in New York. Hi, Lisa. Welcome to the Ramsey show.

[Rachel Cruz]

Hi, Dave. What. What an honor. And I can't even believe I got through. I will make it quick. I am a divorced now, single woman, was in a relationship with a man for seven years. He needed to borrow money. I know how you feel about that, but I did it anyway because I thought we were going for the long haul. $200,000 later, he lost all the money. He was doing some crypto something lost all the money. He has since ended the relationship. So now I am out $200,000, which was basically the majority of what I had. I gave the money with my heart so I can say I'm leaving it in God's hands if I get the money back. He is making monthly payments, but he's basically just paying me back the interest at but with the money that I do have left to my name. I'm 55 years old and I approximately have $95,000 left to my name. I would like to know how can I make that money work better for me so that I'm not working forever and ever and ever, which I may have to be, but I want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing with what I have left.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow, that's a sad story how we got here.

[Rachel Cruz]

It is, it is. And I really thought that I was going to be going the long haul, but I still love him. I'm still in contact with him. Obviously he has his own financial problems.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I think. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

And I.

[Dave Ramsey]

You kind of got that part figured out, I hope. Yeah. All right. The good news is he's in the rearview mirror. The bad news is we're $200,000 poorer. The other news is this. Let's just play pretend that none of that happened.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you were sitting here and you just called me and said, I'm 55, I got 95,000. Am I going to be okay? Answer is yeah. If you get on a budget, you stay out of debt, you invest in your 401k and plan on working for the next 1012 years.

[Rachel Cruz]

Absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're going to be okay right now, but the 95 is not going to make you okay. Lisa, your work.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you earn?

[Rachel Cruz]

I between 56 and $60,000 a year on the server in a high end restaurant. So some days it's great and some days it's bad. It's not a consistent paycheck. But I do love my job.

[Dave Ramsey]

Do they have 401 available to this?

[Rachel Cruz]

They do, but they don't recommend doing it through our company because they don't match. So I don't. I save my own money. I'm not a spender. I'm very, very reasonable with myself. I own my own car. I have zero debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Okay. So really what you've got to do is you've got to fund a Roth IRA and you need to be saving. Are you out of debt completely?

[Rachel Cruz]

No debt, zero debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, good. Do you have an emergency fund of any kind? Three to six months of expenses.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, that's my, you know, hundred thousand dollars.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. That's not an emergency fund.

[Unknown]

Where is that money, Lisa? Right now, that 95.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right now I have 90,000 in a high yield savings account which I was making about $600 a month in interest with all the money that I had, but now I'm down to like 130amonth in interest, which is hideous. And then $14,000 I have in a stock from my ex husband's work that I just leave. I don't even look at it. And it grows a little bit and does what it does and I'm just leaving it there.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, here's what I want you and.

[Rachel Cruz]

I keep the bag.

[Dave Ramsey]

Here's what I want you to do.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Dave Ramsey]

I want you to go to ramseysolutions.com and click on SmartVestor Pro and find one in your area that can sit down with you and design your investment plan. Your investment plan needs to sound like this. Of the 90,000, three to six months of expenses, which is $15,000 for you, needs to go in a high yield savings. The rest of this, including cashing out that stupid stock, needs to go in good growth stock mutual funds and some of it needs to go into a Roth IRA in growth stock mutual funds. Okay. And you need to do a Roth IRA every year and you probably need to be doing some in this 401k even though they don't match because I need you to investing 15% of your 65 or $70,000 a year and the Roth IRA won't quite get you there.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you start investing that, you're gonna be investing 10, $12,000 a year in good mutual funds in a retirement account. In 10 years, you're gonna have some money.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so who am I calling?

[Dave Ramsey]

Smartvestor pros. There's a list of [e-mail] and it's the people we recommend in the investment world. Them, they'll sit down with you and have the heart of a teacher. I want you to understand what you're doing. That's why we require them to have the heart of a teacher. But basically, we're going to put all this money in good mutual funds, most of it in Roth IRAs, where we can, and maybe some in a 401k. And you're going to systematically start rebuilding your wealth by steadily investing over the next 10 to 12 years.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you'll. You'll end up further along than you were before you met crypto bro who screwed you over. Wow. And don't do that again, by the way.

[Unknown]

I think she learned her lesson.

[Dave Ramsey]

I hope so.

[Unknown]

I don't think she. I hope so.

[Dave Ramsey]

The next time someone comes along and pulls at your heart, tell them to take a walk when it comes to your wallet.

[Unknown]

I know. And that's where people get in trouble, though, because, I mean, she said it and it's true. It's like you're in a relationship for years and years and years and years and you never get married and it's as much liability. No. I think she had an ex husband. I think this was a guy she was dating. That's how I understood it.

[Dave Ramsey]

You might be right.

[Unknown]

I think that's.

[Dave Ramsey]

What.

[Unknown]

I don't think they were ever married.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, that's even worse.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Because that. I thought we were going the long haul. I think I could be. I could either way. Lisa. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Dated you so he could fund his crypto.

[Unknown]

Not because of. I don't believe that. Lisa. No. I think he dated you because he loved you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And then she had money that he could use and he. And he believed the crypto thing, that's. The thing is they just. It's the quick cash. It's the. It's the Vegas of today. It's like, hey, here's the smart investing. Here's the shortcut.

[Dave Ramsey]

If only it was only as risky as Vegas. That would be nice.

[Unknown]

More risky.

[Dave Ramsey]

Definitely. Definitely more risky than Vegas. This is like a sure thing. You're going to lose it.

[Unknown]

I know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. It's just. I mean.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And Lisa and the single stock. Because she was like, I just want to leave that. So I know, but, but explaining and understanding that that puts you at a level of risk, because if that company for some reason has a downturn, then that 14,000 is going down. And you can earn so much more from a. From a diversification standpoint, but also from the interest rate, you can earn more diversifying and putting these in. Putting that money in mutual funds. Lisa. So when. When we were talking about the single stock, and that's what the SmartVestor Pro is gonna be able to help you.

[Dave Ramsey]

To, they can guide you through all of it, teach you all of that. And so, you know, we've just got to get the majority of that 90,000, 95,000 to work for you. It's not working. $130, like you said, is horrendous, and you said that properly. But guard your heart, kiddo. You don't get a second one of these. You've already. You've got. You've done your one. You don't get another one.

[Unknown]

Would you have him still pay her? She said he's kind of just still paying me.

[Dave Ramsey]

Would you just let that. Yeah, I would love him for. To pay her, but my expectation of this is close to zero. I mean, crypto bro is going to pay his debt. Come on. Really? I doubt it. Scott is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hey, Scott. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thanks so much. How you doing, Dave?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

So my wife and I were. We moved to Charlotte a few months ago in hopes of trying to find a house. And just with mortgage interest rates, we've kind of been priced out of the market around here. And my mom offered me the option to be gifted her house with the caveat that the house is in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And my wife and I are trying to. We're trying to figure out. We don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, and we kind of want an objective opinion on. We're trying to balance safety and concerns with where we want to live versus being gifted a house. And we thought. I respect both you and Rachel a lot, just on money principles and in a lot of other aspects. So getting just an outside perspective would be awesome.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't think you want to live in Minneapolis the way you framed this sentence.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, I moved out of the twin cities in 2020 for kind of obvious reasons. And no, it's. It's. We. We. We don't want to live in.

[Dave Ramsey]

In Minneapolis and don't.

[Rachel Cruz]

But at the same.

[Unknown]

But you feel like it's crazy to pass up a house.

[Rachel Cruz]

It's, it's crazy what you feel like. Yeah, essentially a house that we, we'd be so close to family. I have, I have two little kids, a two year old and my daughter is being. Going to be born in August. It'd be close to family. It'd be close to everything. Part of the deal is my mom, it's a five bedroom house, split level. My mom would get a room in the basement. We kind of take care of her until, until she passes. She gets the rest of her life with her grandkids and we'd get a, you know, a house for half the, half the mortgage because I'd be, I'd have to buy my brother out because that would be the inheritance, but I'd get the ability to raise my family.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you, what do you make a year?

[Rachel Cruz]

I make 125.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right, Well, I, you know, if I were in your shoes, I would not go for the same reasons that you left are the reasons you don't want to return. And you're creating a family situation that's unusual and potentially strained with a permanent lockdown. You don't have a choice. Once you get into this, you can't get out of it. So 10 years from now, you can't do anything with it. You're screwed until she dies. And so, you know, here's another idea. If you want her to live in your basement and your wife wants her to live in her basement, tell her, sell her house in Minneapolis and come buy a house in North Carolina.

[Rachel Cruz]

I thought about that. The problem is because my brother and his family lives in Minnesota, it's, it's hard for her to be. Impossible really for her to do that. She, it's, it's been her home too. So it's the trail at home. I hear what you're saying.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know, but I mean, it's, it's the same.

[Unknown]

Scott, would y' all move there because you, the way the pros were, there's family and all of that. Would you move there if you weren't, you know, given this deal? Would you guys look for houses in Minneapolis, in that area?

[Dave Ramsey]

They already left.

[Unknown]

Well, no, I'm asking. It's a hypothetical question.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, no, Minneapolis would not be our choice.

[Unknown]

Okay, so that helps the answer. I need Scott to answer.

[Dave Ramsey]

We know that because you left. Yeah. Okay, so he's talking about going back.

[Unknown]

So my thing was, if the deal wasn't there, is there any part of Scott that would want to go Back at all.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're a good son, and your mom misses her grandkids, and it tugs at your heart, and that means you're a good guy, but it's a bad idea.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

I appreciate that. I. Can. I. Can I just say, too, I really appreciate. I. I started baby step two in 2018 with $220,000 in student loan debt. And in three years, four months, and 21 days, I became debt free. It was all due to your teaching. So. I know. It's. I'm honored to speak with you, Dave. So you, too.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much do you have safe for a down payment?

[Rachel Cruz]

We have about 70,000 saved.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Go 20 miles further out of Charlotte than you've been looking, and it's going to start to feel like the boonies, because it is.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And you'll find a d. And you'll find a real estate deal.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Charlotte's a good market, but it's like a. Any typical good, solid midsize city. Charlotte, Nashville are very similar, except Nashville's outgrown it lately. But the further you get from downtown, the cheaper the prices are. It's like if you drop a pebble in the middle and the rings that go out. That's an urban growth theory. As the rings go out away from the city, it gets cheaper, unless you run into a mountain or a lake and then it goes up because of those things. But other than that, it's going to get cheaper the further out of downtown you get, and you'll find something there. You've just been looking in a neighborhood you can't afford, and you make 120,000. You have $70,000 down. Honey, you can buy a house in Charlotte, and it's not the interest rates that are keeping you from doing it. It's just the whole shift in your whole life. And things shifted on you in the economy while you were making these moves around. And so you're still reeling a little bit from all these moves and all the, you know, you left your home in a violent Covid rioting situation, which is why you left. And two things really going on there bad in the Twin Cities at that time in 2020. And a lot of people left there at that time. And. And you're looking for freedom and you're looking for safety and security for your kids. And. And then while you did that, everybody came out of their caves after Covid like a Baptist looking for a casserole and buying houses left and right and that they ran the dad gum prices through the roof. And then interest Rates bumped on top of that. And it's kind of giving everybody a little bit of deer in the headlights.

[Unknown]

For sure and has been for a while. But I think what's hard is his dilemma. What I was hearing him say is, are we crazy to pass up this crazy financial opportunity? You know, you're not crazy. And so that's the thing is that when people get presented, they feel like, oh my gosh, I need a shift. My whole life, my gut check is like this.

[Dave Ramsey]

Everything around that.

[Unknown]

Yeah, because it's such a huge deal. Cause to your point, the market, the housing market can feel so impossible. So someone like kind of gives you what feels like a get out of jail free card and you're like, is that crazy that I'm not taking that card? But the way he phrased it is what you were saying too earlier is that he didn't really want to go. Right. I mean, you're just doing it because you feel like there's this asset out there and I'm crazy if I pass it up. But. And it wasn't a free and clear house either. I mean the, the ties to family.

[Dave Ramsey]

With your mom in there, a lot of strings.

[Unknown]

And we hear this a lot even with family members that have like a plot of lands. We got this call a few weeks ago and they want to, everyone wants to build on it and everyone chip.

[Dave Ramsey]

In the old family compound nightmare.

[Unknown]

But what's hard is like you're stuck there because if you want to move your family want to live, you know, with some stranger in the house, you know, so like I'm like you do you get put in these permanent situations because other people build their lives around your decisions.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that's what you discover is there are no forever homes other than heaven. And so locking yourself into something forever, you're going to set yourself up for getting your head taken off.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you know, there are some daughters in law want their mother in law in the basement, but not many as.

[Unknown]

The audience is laughing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I mean you can love them, but they're easier to love from a distance. You need a little boundary here. It's, it's nothing. It's not, it's not a lot. Doesn't mean you don't like them. Doesn't mean you don't love them. That's not the point. But yeah, really good question. And the beautiful part about that question is just his sweetheart, he just, he loves his mom, he loves his brother and she misses her grandkids, you know. She does.

[Unknown]

Oh yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

I can relate if you guys try to take the grandkids and leave. I'm going with you. And so I'll live in your basement.

[Unknown]

Here comes Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

Here comes Dave in the basement. But yeah, I mean, it's just. I can. It's hard. It's hard when families have been separated by these, by this political thing, really. I mean, the number of families that have left California and left the Twin Cities and left New York and have moved to other areas during this time is. It's record setting. It's a record migration. Chicago, one of the largest migrations in American history in the last five years. And so. And changing the shifts in population, the shifts in voting blocks, everything. It's very interesting and it's very, very real. But in the middle of all that is grandma doesn't get to see her kids grandkids. And they were down the street. And that just tears your heart out, man. I appreciate his heart being sweet about that. That's important and that can skew you. So it's good to ask in the multitude of counsel, their safety. I understand why you'd want to do it, but I wouldn't do it. That's the answer to your question. Statistics show that half of Americans don't have enough life insurance or they don't have any at all. I don't understand this, John. Why don't people want to take care of their family? They think they're going to die or something.

[Rachel Cruz]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

That's a gut punch.

[Unknown]

And.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, you're telling me.

[Unknown]

And for decades, Dave, I've sat across.

[Rachel Cruz]

People who've lost a spouse, they've lost somebody important to them.

[Dave Ramsey]

Me too.

[Rachel Cruz]

They don't know what to do next.

[Dave Ramsey]

Me too. I mean, you're gonna have a crisis here and you know, you got two options while you're sitting and talking to a young widow. She's concerned about how she's going to invest all this money properly and not mess this up. Or she's concerned how she's going to eat tomorrow. That's exactly. These are the two options. And take care of your dadgum family.

[Rachel Cruz]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

To just miss you.

[Dave Ramsey]

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

[Unknown]

Hey, you guys. Health insurance costs are only moving one way and that way isn't down. And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer. And it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you, try a biblically based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families like yours take care of over $11 billion in medical bills since 1981. CHM has also helped them stay true to their values and avoid miles of red tape. And CHM support goes far beyond meeting financial needs. They also help meet spiritual needs. Members become part of a family who will pray with them and for them when they experience a medical event. So listen, y' all, there's a better way to take care of healthcare costs. CHM programs start as low as $98 a month. So learn more today and [e-mail] budget. That's chministries.org budget.

[Dave Ramsey]

Mason is in Huntsville. Hi, Mason. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey, guys. How are you doing today?

[Dave Ramsey]

Great. How can we help?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, sir. I just had a quick question. So I've started a business within the last year. I'm coming up on a year in business and I'm curious if I should open a business credit card or to continue to cash flow my business. I feel like cash flowing. The business is almost holding me back from my potential.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's holding you back from going broke. That's your potential. The number one cause of small business failure is cash flow problems. Cash flow problems are caused by business debt. Don't. Don't. Listen, if you love your business, don't borrow into it. Okay, so what are you doing?

[Rachel Cruz]

So I'm a. Running a mobile RV repair business.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Full time or are you working a side job too, or is this a side job?

[Rachel Cruz]

I. This is a side job. I'm 20 years old. I'm in college, and I also work full time as a software engineer.

[Dave Ramsey]

Great. Good for you. You're a hustler, man. I'm proud of you. That's good. Okay, so how much volume did you do in your business of mobile RV repair?

[Rachel Cruz]

So in the past year to date, I've done 68,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you.

[Rachel Cruz]

In revenue. That's not profit.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know, I know, but, yeah. So how much of that would you call profit?

[Rachel Cruz]

So profit, I would say probably about 20,000, give or take.

[Dave Ramsey]

So why did you. How'd you spend 48,000 on a mobile repair? You've been buying tools and trucks.

[Rachel Cruz]

So, yes, when I started out, I was running my business out of my Tahoe, and then I purchased a company vehicle to run calls on, as well as purchasing all the tools. And a lot of the parts in this industry, unfortunately, cost a lot. So anywhere from 1100 to 2100 on just one singular part, most of the time.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, okay. So your cost of the call, I got you. Okay. All right.

[Unknown]

How'd you learn to do this, Mason?

[Rachel Cruz]

So I have a really big mentor back home that kind of got me into this. And overall, just. I've always enjoyed working with my hands. A lot of it is just pretty common sense, honestly.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, it's common as common sense, which is a guy like you. Way to go, man. I'm proud of you. So here's the deal. Here's the thing I want you to grasp. If you're looking for secret sauce in your business, his name is Mason. You're the secret sauce. No one else's brain works just like yours. What you're doing here is an anomaly. It is wonderful. You are the key to this. Not more tools and trucks. Your brain works fabulously as an entrepreneur. You're doing a really, really stellar job. The only thing you've got to do is keep from getting caught up in. If I spend more, I'll make more. Not necessarily. Okay, so what would you buy on this credit card? Because you've got the truck and the tools, primarily parts. So, for example, you want to stock parts.

[Rachel Cruz]

Not stocking parts, necessarily, because I do already have a stockpile of parts. Most of the parts I use on everyday basis, but there's certain things that I don't carry in stock on me that will cost a few thousand dollars. Like, recently, I had an air conditioner that was 1900 and an awning that was 1800, which left me with, like, 400 bucks in my business account.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, two answers to that. That's a really good example. Thank you. This is very helpful. Dude, you're, like, 10 years ahead of yourself. I'm so proud. This is amazing. So I really want to encourage you, but I'm begging you to not use a card. Okay, so, number one, I want you to start setting Back a larger percentage of your profits because now your profits should be greater than they were last year because you're not buying a truck or tools anymore. Quit spending all your money on crap in the business and use the crap that you already own to make some money. Okay? Your investment year was last year. Your profit years this year.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

You following me? Yes, sir. If you don't spend it all on more tools and parts this year. So be careful with that. If you're doing that, a larger percentage of your 70,000 a year will be profit than it was last year. Agreed?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Then we're going to take some of that profit and start to build a little pile of cash for buying parts with that's fix number one, you're going to be your own line of credit.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Number two fix is I'm going to change my terms with these customers. Anytime a part that I'm bringing As a young 20 year old college student to your freaking $300,000 RV, anytime I'm bringing you apart in excess of $1,000, you're advancing that. Okay, Let them pay for it. Because they're going to pay for it anyway when you're building it.

[Unknown]

That's what I was wondering. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. Yeah. Because recently I've only been doing 50%.

[Dave Ramsey]

50%'S fine. But if it's over 1,000, I don't need you to cover my labor. I don't need a deposit on my labor. I'll risk that. But I'm going over here and picking up a $3,000 air condition. And I'm 20 years old and in college, so you need to pay for the air conditioner, dude. And the guy's gonna go, well, sure, okay. And just let you know, listen, here's the invoice. You just cut me a check for that and then you use his money to go buy the air conditioner and then you just charge him for the other stuff. And that's not an unreasonable thing. You don't want to nickel and dime them on little stuff. But if you set a limit, anything above two grand or upper 1500 or whatever, so that gets rid of the cash flow problem. And if you did have a cash flow issue and you want to dip into it, you can build your own line of credit with your increased profits. Don't fall into the credit card trap, Mason. You're way too bright to do that. You got way too much potential. This thing's got upside, man. And the way your brain works, you're going to be able to start something in A few years, this or something else and go. You're going to go bananas. You're getting some really good business training right there. I love America. I mean, you know, I'm unemployed. I'm unemployed. I'm not. I'm fixing RVs out of the back of my Tahoe and I'm 20 and I made 70 grand. While you're sitting on your thumbs talking about how everything's falling apart in Trump world. Give me a break. This is an awesome country. I love the free enterprise system. As long as we got kids like that, there's hope, man. Life is good. Michael. Michael is in Palm Springs. Hey Michael, how are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey guys. Thank you so much for taking my call. Really appreciate it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Our pleasure.

[Rachel Cruz]

My wife and I are going through a bit of a financial challenge. Really need your advice. Longtime listener. So I kind of have a general idea of what you guys will say already. But I lost my job in August. It was a higher paying job and we have a significant amount of consumer debt, about 120,000. And we're considering selling our home to get out of the consumer debt. And then also the home, we used a family friend to finance it. It's on a private note right now that is interest only. And if we were to sell the house, we would clear all of the debt and then also have about maybe 80 or 90,000 in a savings. So I wanted to get your advice around that.

[Dave Ramsey]

What were you making before you lost your job?

[Rachel Cruz]

I was making. I was bringing home about 150 and doing what brings home. I'm in the financial services industry and.

[Dave Ramsey]

That was August and this.

[Unknown]

What are you doing now?

[Dave Ramsey]

Why are you not re employed?

[Rachel Cruz]

I am, I am. I got rehired at a different firm in January. But it's a different position that makes significantly less.

[Unknown]

What are you making now?

[Rachel Cruz]

About 65.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why did you do that?

[Rachel Cruz]

It was a bit of out of necessity, but because I did lose the job, I couldn't really find another higher paying position.

[Dave Ramsey]

What were you doing?

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm a branch manager for a retail bank.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. Now.

[Rachel Cruz]

Now I'm, I'm just a traditional banker.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, I see.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm not in. No longer in management. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Well, if you're going to adjust your life to your new income, then yeah, this whole deal makes sense. But I'm still wondering, once you make 150, you ought to be gravitating back that way and not be settling for 65. Maybe banking ain't your thing because that's a big drop. I think you're worth more than you're getting paid. So, you know, is selling the house fixes the temporary, does it fix the permanent? That's what you got to ask. Buying or selling real estate right now is a big deal. And between all the clickbait headlines and the confusing data out there, it's tough to know what's actually going on because people try to hype it up one way or the other. The real world is this. The median house price in America today is 431,000. That means half of them are above that and half of them are below that. That's what that statistical measure means. Interesting. And inventory's up. More houses on the market right now, over a million right now than at any time since 2019. And prices are up and interest rates are down, they're down under 6%. So it's a good time actually to buy and it's actually a good time to sell. So 15 year fixed is 5.9 right now, just to give you an idea. And so if you want to know data like that, you know, check out the housing market trends. We help you do this with free tools. Doesn't cost you a thing. Go to ramsey solutions.com market or you can click the link in the show notes and we'll show you the stuff that's going on out there for real. No hype. Josh is in Atlanta. Hi Josh, how are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey, Dave, how are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

Same here, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

Same here.

[Rachel Cruz]

So about two, two years ago, I started my financial journey and it was partially inspired by you. I came across one of your video and I was at a point in my life where I met my wife and my family really needed me to step up. And my wife has some medical issues. She also was touched by tragedy. She had lost a child previously and it kind of exacerbated some issues and it got in the way of her job and she was in recovery. Anyway, long story short, on that note, once we got together, I was able to pull us out and I was able to overcome and become debt free.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you.

[Rachel Cruz]

Recently, about eight months ago, I found out about a massive windfall that she would be receiving. It was due to a legal settlement. And for the past eight months, I've just been on a journey where I've been dead dedicated to not getting this wrong. And I'm basically at the point now, Dave, where I had my plan. I've been doing nothing but working on it. And I'm kind of circling back to where I started Because I'm at a crossroads. I have an appointment with a wealth management firm tomorrow, and I'm looking to get the money on Monday. And I have my plan in my hands. I have all the voices out there that are telling me all different types of things, and I'm just kind of bringing it back. Because what you did worked. And your overall life philosophy and ideals align with mine. So you don't need my money. I just don't want to get this wrong, Dave. So I'm coming to you just to say, what do I need to know? What don't I know? Because the scary part is I think I kind of have an idea. And that's what scares me, thinking that I know what to do.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much is this?

[Rachel Cruz]

It's going to be 4.7 million after tax.

[Dave Ramsey]

Lump sum.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, sir.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Yeah. That's enough to scare you if you're wise. And you are wise, obviously. So a couple of basics we can cover. And you probably already know. These is the wealthy people that I know. And I know thousands of them, and I've studied them as well. Our firm does research on them. Violate the stereotypes that not wealthy people think they do. Not wealthy people think that wealthy people have some kind of trick bag that you can do a double backflip. Family partnership, limited Bullcrap. They don't exist. Okay? The secrets of the rich are this. Keep it simple. Very simple. Rule number one. Rule number two. Don't put money in anything unless you understand it. Rule number three, you and your wife meet with the people that are teaching you. And don't ask your wife what she thinks. Ask her how she feels.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her and he will have no lack of gain. If Sharon has a bad feeling in a meeting, it's the last one.

[Rachel Cruz]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

She doesn't even have to explain. Might be he just had bad breath. I don't care. We're not going back in there, okay? And that has saved me, okay. That has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars of Dave doing stupid stuff. Okay? I'm serious.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Those are three very simple principles, okay? You don't have to be fancy. You do have to understand it. And your wife and you need to have a piece about it. You've had a lot of turmoil, a lot of medical issues, a lot of drama. It's time for some peace. And the finances need to add peace, not anxiety.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

And if you feel yourself tightening up in your chest, that's God talking to you. Take a breath, walk out. Don't do it right now. If it's not adding peace, we're not doing it.

[Unknown]

Josh, I want to. I'm curious. You said I had a plan, and now I'm. I'm thinking about it, but I don't know if it's right. All of it. I'm curious. What. What would you have done with this money if you hadn't called? What. What. What was the plan?

[Rachel Cruz]

So what I came up with, and I'm going to get it wrong because I'm nervous, half because I got that meeting tomorrow, half because I'm on air.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I'll try to get this right.

[Unknown]

You're good.

[Rachel Cruz]

I was going to establish a trust. I was going to put money into the four types of mutual funds. You know, growth, growth, income, growth, aggressive growth, international, little thing. I came up with Dave on my own. And then I was going to have an emergency fund, and then I was going to look at. And getting into some physical real estate. Growing up, my parents had a service industry locksmith, and they based their business off of property managers.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you're going to pay cash?

[Rachel Cruz]

I know a lot of property managers. I'm going to pay cash, and I'm going to start off small. I'm not going to get greedy.

[Dave Ramsey]

I would do everything you're doing, except I don't think you need a trust.

[Rachel Cruz]

Really?

[Dave Ramsey]

No.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Trust does nothing here. You don't. You don't have an estate tax problem, and trusts are mainly for estate tax problems.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I think everything. I think you're. Everything you're doing there, assuming you can be competent in the real estate part of it, which I think you can. You were getting ready to explain that when I cut you off, but, yeah, I. I'm with Rachel. I think that's wise. Now, the other thing is, I don't. When you. When I hear the phrase wealth management, I get a little bit hair on the back of my neck. Okay. So I don't know what you're going into over there tomorrow. And so just. Just keep it simple, which is what you've done so far. Don't put money in stuff you don't understand, which is what you've done so far. And if they want to change the direction of that walk, I see you're capable of doing this. This is not rocket surgery. You can do it.

[Unknown]

Rocket surgery?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it's a combination of brain surgery and rocket science, right? Yeah.

[Unknown]

It'S very complicated.

[Dave Ramsey]

Kind of like brain science and rocket surgery.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, absolutely. That's it. I mean, I guess the core of.

[Rachel Cruz]

My question, to be specific, and I don't want to take up all your time with her issues with being in recovery. They're kind of at a sensitive point in time. She kind of needs me for at least 24 months. And so what I'm looking at, I'm weighing the options of can I do the work? I have a fire in my belly, Dave. I'm ready to go to work, but my family may need me. And before I was selling my time for money. I'm a federal security contractor and make about $50,000 a year. I'm no longer keeping the lights on. I'm keeping my family healthy and guiding us and orientating the ship.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I mean if this generates a 10% rate of return, you're gonna have 400, $500,000 a year coming in.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Managing the family office. Yes.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, sir.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So I mean if you're, if your rental properties are cash flowing to the tune of net. Net net of 10% of everything.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And your mutual funds are averaging 10%, I mean you're going to be dealing with that, which is more than you've ever money and you've ever made.

[Unknown]

Do you guys have kids, Josh?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, we do. We're blessed with a 14 year old and an 8 year old.

[Unknown]

Okay. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is she, is she emotionally capable of attending these meetings?

[Rachel Cruz]

She is emotionally capable of attending these meetings. Our strategy has always been the same, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm not wanting to stress her and ask her to make all the financial sophisticated decisions. I just want her feeling on the room. I want her to feel the room. And I want you to meet with more than just the person you're meeting with tomorrow. Meet with a SmartVestor Pro 2. Get some other people on your corner. Get a second opinion or six.

[Unknown]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

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

[Unknown]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

They're the right kind of people with the right kind of values, and they've done a really, really good job with customer service and the deals that they're offering. The Ramsey Tribe is incredible.

[Unknown]

Yeah, absolutely. And I love that the things that we teach, they so line up with. And you're right, their customer service is unbelievable. Winston and I just signed up and we got an account.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

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

[Unknown]

Yeah, you guys, it's so easy to join Fairwinds no matter where you live. So go to fairwinds.org/ramsey.

[Dave Ramsey]

Larry is with us in Atlanta. Hi, Larry. How are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

Pretty good. How you doing?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

I love to hear it. Well, my question today isn't really about me. It's about my parents. So both of my parents are completely debt free. They've always been really good with their money. They have about $110,000 in savings and they have nothing invested in no 401k, no Roth, no nothing in their retirement. Because I think it's mostly more my dad always viewing the stock market. It's more of a gamble and he fears it. And now that they're in their mid-50s, I just want them to retire at some point of me being an only child. You know, it's going to be kind of more burden on me when they kind of get older because, you know, I can't really split, you know, help between siblings and all that stuff. And, you know, any little extra income probably on their end would help because they can't work forever. So I'm just trying to figure out how can I convince my dad to stop being scared of investing and finally get him to start doing it and trying to convince him that's not too late.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is he asking?

[Rachel Cruz]

No, he, I brought it up first and then he kind of asked me like, you know, why are you kind of worried about me retiring so much? I'm just like, I just want you to retire, have a good luck. You see, you know, my grandparents, they've, they're doing well. They're never worked in about, you know, 10, 15 years or so. They're doing good. And I just want you to have the same thing. But right now I just not really seeing it going that way, you know.

[Dave Ramsey]

How old are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

I am 24.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

All right.

[Dave Ramsey]

I appreciate your heart forum. You're. What you're running into is what's called the powdered butt syndrome. Once, once someone has powdered your butt, they don't really want your opinion on sex or money.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so it's very difficult for 24 year olds to advise 55 year old dads. Oh yeah, it's just a, it's a, the dynamic of that relationship is very hard. It's very unusual that your dad would go, hey Larry, tell me everything you know about investing. It just doesn't really come up that way. Usually it's almost like they snicker and roll their eyes when you start talking. That would be more normal. Anyway. The only thing I can do is there's two things that have three things that have worked. One is I would pray for them and ask God to speak to them in some way or another. And two is one of those prayers is who could speak to your dad that he would listen to? Does he have an uncle, a brother, a friend that is your childhood friend as well. But he admires them and respects them and never powdered their butt?

[Rachel Cruz]

Not quite. He has been kind of listening to me somewhat, but I think in my approach to it, maybe because I'm still learning all this stuff.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, it might be. That's fair. But I'm saying, is there a person that someone else that's 65 that he looks up to, probably his parents, which.

[Rachel Cruz]

Be my grandparents I talked about, they.

[Dave Ramsey]

Might have more, they might have more say than you would have. Matter of fact, I know they have more say than you would have. Your grandpa sat down and said, hey, if you had parked that hundred thousand in an S and P for the last two years, you'd have an extra 50 grand right now that you don't have. That's what it cost him. In the last two years, it cost him $50,000 in the last two years, right. We had a 23% year and a 26% year, 23 and 24. That's what the S and P did. If he just parked it in a simple standard and poor. So it cost him $50,000. So that's the other thing. Now the third thing is you can do is don't talk to him about him. Tell him your story. This is what I'm learning. This is what I'm doing. This is what's happening when I got out of debt. This is how I feel different. I feel more hopeful than I did. And I've learned. Here's what I learned about the market. I'm investing in the market. And the reason I am is I looked at it and I realized it's the track record on the stock market. Even though the bad news is always on the news, the track record on the stock market is as solid as that house you and mom live in. You didn't get a guarantee on it. And I want to own real estate and I want to own mutual funds because both of them have a long term track record of going up and neither one of them have a guarantee. And that's what I'm doing, dad. But you don't have to say and you should do it too. Don't add that. So you're changing your approach to telling your story.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

How do you. I'm curious, Larry. How do you know that they have nothing invested? Are they pretty open with you about where they are?

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, yeah. I growing up, my dad, like he never told me not to invest in a 401k or nothing like that.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

But I can always. I've always heard him say marks like I was just gambling, might as well just go to a casino. I started learning about, you know, S&P, 500 and Ross, all that stuff. And he's known about it for a long time. Longer because he's been live longer than that. But he just sees it that there's just no difference. And I think he started listening to me because I did buy him the book, Retired, inspired. And I recently gave him two of my copies of Dave Ramsey's books. And he's been skimming through it. I think he's starting to open up. I'm just trying to like this. There's just like something I'm not wording right where I think he will do it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, the statement that the market is the same risk level as Vegas is an inaccurate statement mathematically.

[Rachel Cruz]

I agree.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's just, I mean it's very simple. The market is close is more akin to single family homes than it is Vegas.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so you can, it does go down more than single family homes when it goes down. Single family homes seldom go down, almost never. But you don't have a guarantee on either. And when you're investing, what you're learning to invest based on is the track record. And when someone makes a statement like, oh, it's the same thing as going to Vegas, that means they just don't understand the track record of the market. And so there's some interesting, I'll tell you one to pull up and look at and you might even just send him the link over and go, hey, I was studying this. What do you think about it? There's an interesting chart on American funds. Go to American funds website and it shows what the market has done. And they have a fund called ICA which is one of the largest and oldest funds investment company of America. And you can look at that or you can look at the S and P. It's the same, it'll do about the same thing. And you can go, okay, looking at the S and P, in the last 25 years there's been three down years.

[Rachel Cruz]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Interesting. That's way different than Vegas. That's the S and P which is the market. We've had three down years on an annualized basis in the last 25 years. That's kind of shockingly stable. Yeah. So I mean pull ups, you can pull up stuff like that on the S and P. That old ICA fund is just interesting because they've got a great illustration.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And just have some patience. Larry, if he's been saying this your whole life, this is going to be an untangling of a mindset that he's had for 20 plus years. So just have some patience.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

You know it's not going to happen overnight.

[Dave Ramsey]

You got a long project when you.

[Unknown]

Try, when you try to change your parents. Doesn't happen overnight. Trust me. I'm kidding.

[Dave Ramsey]

I knew this was coming. I knew I wasn't getting out of this call unscathed. Today's Ramsay show question of the day is sponsored by why Refi? When you're tired of making no progress on your defaulted private student loans, why Refi can help you explore a fresh start with low fixed rate financing. So it's time to stop spinning your wheels. Go to y refi.comramsey to learn more. That's the letter Y r e f y.com Ramsey might not be in all states.

[Unknown]

Today's question comes from Is it? Michaela in Virginia. What do you think about the recent government proposals to give a baby bonus payment to encourage couples to have kids? I'll be honest, I'm not up to date on all this stuff. But is it. I don't think it's. Is it to encourage people to have kids or is it like a, hey, here's like an assistance to like a child tax credit. Opposite. You know what I mean? Like, I kind of see it as like a opposite of a tax credit, but it's like, here's a. Here's a thing, here's the deal.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's the only reason you had a kid. Just because the government's gonna give you money. You got issues.

[Unknown]

If I could sing, I would sing.

[Dave Ramsey]

And your kids gonna have issues after you had issues. So it's a. It's a bad motivation.

[Unknown]

How much is it? Do you know?

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't know.

[Unknown]

I should have.

[Dave Ramsey]

It doesn't matter. The government needs to stay out of this crap. Having babies shouldn't be a government operation. I'm just saying they can screw up Christmas. They don't need to screw that up. So, I mean. No, it's not. No, no.

[Unknown]

I would go for like childcare stuff.

[Dave Ramsey]

How about just everybody live your own life and you don't need the government for your own freaking life. How about you go do something with your bone butt and I like child care stuff. Waiting around on the government to give me a money.

[Unknown]

Not waiting around.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your life is not going to be better because of the government ever. There's never a time where you went, oh, the government saved my bacon. No, they stole my bacon regularly. That's what they did.

[Unknown]

So there you go.

[Dave Ramsey]

There we go. Yeah, Kevin's in Cleveland. Hi, Kevin. How are you? Not bad.

[Rachel Cruz]

How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. How can I help? So I'm gonna. I'll keep this as brief as I can, but there's a lot to it. So basically about 10 years, my dad died. My sister moved in with my mom. He had her set up.

[Rachel Cruz]

My mom set up to where she.

[Dave Ramsey]

Could live in her mid-90s without having any.

[Rachel Cruz]

Any issues, any change of lifestyle at.

[Dave Ramsey]

All with that ranch house and everything. They ended up buying a large two story, five bedroom, four bath house where.

[Rachel Cruz]

Currently they have a mortgage.

[Dave Ramsey]

My mom's savings is gone.

[Rachel Cruz]

She's got early stage dementia.

[Unknown]

Wait, who? I'm sorry? Kevin, who bought the house?

[Dave Ramsey]

His sister screwed the deal on this. My mom.

[Unknown]

Your mom. But your sister's the one kind of assisting in all of this causing It.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. Yes.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Your sister screwed it up. I got. That's what I heard you say. Did you say that?

[Unknown]

Would you agree with that?

[Dave Ramsey]

I agree with that, yes.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sadly, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

So basically neither of them would be.

[Rachel Cruz]

Able to afford this house on their.

[Dave Ramsey]

Own at any point. So my mom's monthly income is going.

[Rachel Cruz]

Solely towards the mortgage and she's got early stage dementia. Her savings is gone. Been trying to get it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Me and my brother been trying to get, you know, things situated and what we think would be a better.

[Rachel Cruz]

Better situation, but there's backlash from my.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sister and I think.

[Rachel Cruz]

I think.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think my. My mom is convinced by.

[Rachel Cruz]

By her to have it.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, like, she. I don't know who has power of attorney, so I'm not sure anyone has power of attorney. It's not a medical power of attorney.

[Unknown]

Well, I don't think she's been diagnosed with any my.

[Rachel Cruz]

So she.

[Dave Ramsey]

She was on some medication for it to kind of slow it down. Is there a will and a health care power of attorney? There is a will.

[Rachel Cruz]

There may be a health care, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

I was thinking you were meant financial. Well, it's the same thing. Health care can dictate the care, but once someone is declared incompetent due to dementia, then the power of attorney takes over and runs the estate. Who is that? Probably your sister. I know my bro. Well, my brother was. My brother's the oldest out of us and he was the one that was talking several months ago about going and getting it.

[Rachel Cruz]

And I keep on having to remind him.

[Dave Ramsey]

Last time I was like, hey, did you get that? He's like, oh, no, it's my mind.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thanks for reminding me.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm assuming it still hasn't been done, but I don't know. There's a copy of that stuff somewhere. That's what you're saying? Go get.

[Rachel Cruz]

I get.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, Yeah. I don't know. It's not publicly recorded. It's the family lawyer or your mother has it in lockbox or wherever the will is. That's where it is. My understanding is he was going to get going with my mom to get.

[Rachel Cruz]

For him to get power of attorney.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, too late. She's got early onset dementia. She can't grant it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh.

[Dave Ramsey]

If she's been diagnosed as not as being semi mentally competent, she can't start signing documents.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Has she been diagnosed as that or is that yours? Just your own suspicion?

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, I know she.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know she's been to a doctor. I don't know whether or not she's. She she definitely has it because, I.

[Rachel Cruz]

Mean, you could sit there and talk to her and she' she'll repeat the.

[Dave Ramsey]

Same thing over and over again and you would lose. If she signed it, if she signed over something, you would lose it in court when your sister contested it. And your sister will contest it because what you're going to do with it immediately sell this stupid house? Yeah, if you got it. But. Oh, well, okay, so what are we going to do?

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, I guess.

[Dave Ramsey]

I guess that's a question.

[Rachel Cruz]

At this point.

[Dave Ramsey]

It seems like I'm the lone dog, if you will.

[Rachel Cruz]

I mean, I'm the only one that's.

[Dave Ramsey]

Really willing to do anything about any of this. So I think, I think that I.

[Rachel Cruz]

Have to kind of look out for myself in this at this point.

[Dave Ramsey]

What have you got in it? Well, I guess that's my question is what if she has to go into long term care or anything, or if there's any, any debt that before. I mean, what, what kind of liability do I have? Zero. Unless you sign for it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you go over at the nursing home and you sign up for it and you say I'm liable, then you're liable. But if she just goes in on her own, your children, you do not inherit your debts.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

And so any. So if this house gets foreclosed on and your sister, Your sister made. She probably signed on it. She probably, they probably go after her. But, but you know, you're not. Let's say your mom had a credit card, okay, and owed $50,000 on it, and she dies, you're not liable.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

The estate is. If she owns anything. When you die, what you own stands good for what you owe. Assets minus liabilities, that's the estate. But the end. But the heirs are not liable for anything.

[Unknown]

But your sister would be. If her name's on the house, if she signed.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. I mean, you're not liable. You're not liable just because you're the kid.

[Unknown]

Are you worried, Kevin, that she's not gonna have money into an assisted living even? Like, is that part of your.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, she's. That, yeah, that's.

[Rachel Cruz]

That, that's.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's part of my question. My, my whole question. Ideally, I would want. I mean, I, I've offered to have her live with me, my mom live with. And then sell the house and, and.

[Rachel Cruz]

Get something where my.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's. It's my sister and her and her.

[Rachel Cruz]

Daughter and my mom that's in a.

[Dave Ramsey]

Gigantic house that they can't afford.

[Rachel Cruz]

And it doesn't make sense to Me? Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ideally, I would like all that, you know, everybody to have money, but does.

[Unknown]

She have insurance, Kevin, like long term care or anything?

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, that's. That's another thing.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't. Apparently they do, but I couldn't get the specifics on it, and I.

[Rachel Cruz]

I asked probably a year ago for it, and then when I asked again, I kind of got yelled at.

[Dave Ramsey]

And accused of some things, so. Well, I don't know that you're going to be able to affect this situation no matter how bad you want to. Unless, prior to her dementia episodes, she had signed a power of attorney that in the event that she became incapacitated, this person was assigned. That is a standard package with a will, usually. So if there's a will somewhere, there may be a health care power of attorney and a power of attorney in the event of diminished capacity. That would not be unusual. That's a fairly. Like if you go to Mama Bear legal forms and you do a will, they're going to have those two things in the package. Okay. That's a fairly standard basic will set. So if that's laying somewhere, your brother probably has great power here to help your mom.

[Unknown]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

And put your sister where she belongs in the street. And so that's where she should be figuring this out instead of being a parasite. I can't stand parasites. Parasites in the family are awful. They're just awful. Just gross.

[Unknown]

I get it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So, yeah, take care. Take care of your mom, buddy, if you can, but you're not liable.

[Unknown]

Hey, you guys, if you're looking to save big on groceries without sacrificing quality, you've got to check out Aldi.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's right, Rachel, because let's be real, I'm bougie, but I'm also frugal.

[Unknown]

So Bougie.

[Dave Ramsey]

George, thank you for admitting it. So why pay more for the same stuff just because it has a fancy label?

[Rachel Cruz]

Aldi shoppers save up to 36% on a typical shopping trip over name brand.

[Dave Ramsey]

Products at other stores, which adds up to about $4,000 per year for a family of four.

[Unknown]

It's crazy.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And you know what? Their organic produce, their fresh meats, and even their private label, it's all delicious. So it's good quality stuff. It's not going to bust the budget.

[Rachel Cruz]

And the.

[Dave Ramsey]

The best part, no membership fees, no gimmicks, no headaches. Just a simple shopping experience with the lowest prices of any national grocery store.

[Unknown]

So beautiful. Okay, so stop paying more and start shopping at Aldi. Find a store near you today at Aldi Us. That's Aldi Us.

[Dave Ramsey]

Two weekends are on sale now for the money and marriage getaway. You can spend three incredible days in Nashville with your spouse, learning the tools to strengthen your connection and deepen your intimacy. And more. Dr. John DeLoney and our own Rachel Cruz. Both of them are our own. I guess here in November or in February, you can decide. The February is over, oddly enough. The marriage weekends, oddly enough over. Valentine's Day tickets started. Only 4,95 per couple. They sell out every time. There's just a handful left for November if you want to come. It's November 6th through 8th, February 12th through 14.

[Unknown]

749 a couple.

[Dave Ramsey]

What'd I say?

[Unknown]

449.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, I was about to give my discount.

[Unknown]

Well, I know I thought. I just wanted to make sure everyone.

[Dave Ramsey]

Knows Dave can't read.

[Unknown]

Clear it up. Just clear it up.

[Dave Ramsey]

Clear it up. Clear it up before. Before we get out of this. All right, so check it out. Ramseysolutions.com getaway or if you're on YouTube or podcast, it's in the show notes. Christine's in Chicago. Hi Christine, how are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hi Dave, how are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. How can we help?

[Rachel Cruz]

About three and a half years ago, my 15 year old daughter passed away.

[Unknown]

Oh my gosh.

[Dave Ramsey]

What in the world? I'm so. What happened?

[Rachel Cruz]

You know, she was really struggling with mental health and she just gave up.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm so sorry.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow, three. Did you say three and a half years ago?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, she died in 20, 22.

[Dave Ramsey]

I can't even imagine. I'm so sorry.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thank you. After she passed, I let go of everything. I was evicted out of the house I was rented for five years. Lost everything, just kind of gave up on everything. My ex husband, I was staying with him for a little bit and then I got to the point where, you know, it's like it came to sink or swim. So I started door dashing, grubhubbing. I was living in my car for a short time and I have a family friend that reached out to me and she was like, come to my home, you know, I'll help you get on your feet, you know, mental health wise and so forth. Well, I just got a job opportunity. I just signed my offer letter. I started job in two weeks. This is the first full time job I've had since my daughter passed. I'm going to be making roughly about 64,000 a year.

[Unknown]

Good for you.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm in. Thank you. I'm in debt about 30 and part of that is my car, my car loan. I have one more payment for funeral expense, and the rest is just like, you know, medical bills, no credit cards. I just don't know. I just don't know how to, like, get on my feet. I don't know. Do I jump into this job and go run and get an apartment? Do I pay off my car? I feel like I just don't know what I should do once I start this job.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm so proud of you.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're crawling out, kiddo.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm trying. I really am. It's been real hard. It's been real hard.

[Dave Ramsey]

I can tell.

[Rachel Cruz]

Very much.

[Dave Ramsey]

I can tell. So how's your. How's your emotional state? Are you doing okay?

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm a lot better. A lot better. I would say probably the last year has probably been.

[Dave Ramsey]

So this. This friend giving you a safe spot, your. This friend giving you a safe soft spot to land was a. Was a godsend.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes. Wonderful lady. Wonderful lady.

[Dave Ramsey]

So how much longer do you stay there? Should you stay there? Is she expecting you to stay there?

[Rachel Cruz]

You know, with me getting this job, you know, she's motivated me a lot. Everything from getting out of bed to shower and to, you know, finding this job that I finally got. You know, she wanted to see me in my own space, but she's not, at the same time making me leave anytime soon.

[Dave Ramsey]

I would. I would ask her what the timeline is she thinks is appropriate.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

She has been such a blessing. The last thing you want to do is silver stay. You're welcome. Agreed.

[Rachel Cruz]

Absolutely. I agree. Absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And so, because I don't want you thinking three months and her thinking three days.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

I want us to be aligned. And then you know what you've got to deal with, because your first job, with the new job and with the emotions and everything is to create a sustainable situation.

[Rachel Cruz]

Definitely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And that's food, shelter, utilities, and transportation and clothing. And that's it. The debt. The debt. I'm not worried about today other than you got to pay the car payment because you got to keep a repo in it. What do you owe on the car?

[Rachel Cruz]

I owe about 18,000 on it right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Do you want to keep it and pay it off quick?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, that was like, my, you know, my plan. And that's like, the biggest reason why I've always, like, kind of, I bet, to be honest, I've been teeter tottering with, you know, it being repossessed. You know, like, how far behind are you right now? I'm just Shy of two months right now, behind on it.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. Job ones get current on the car.

[Rachel Cruz]

Definitely. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Job two is figure out housing and the timeline.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

So is the timeline three weeks, three months, three days? I don't know. Let's figure that out.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so once the car is current, then we're going to establish when we move out. And when we do move out, we're going to establish food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and utilities. If you keep all that going, this is your first step to reestablishing your life. Agreed. Foundational. It's foundational. Then we can worry about getting out of debt, building wealth and being outrageously generous.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

But right now we're worried about eating and car payments and apartment.

[Unknown]

Christine, have you written down any numbers, done any level of kind of even a mock budget? Have you done any of that?

[Rachel Cruz]

You know, I really haven't. You know, as, you know, as weird as it sounds, is that, you know, you know, sometimes just I have to be on a schedule, otherwise I can't get out of bed, I don't want to shower, you know, so this job is going to be a big deal for me because.

[Unknown]

Yep.

[Rachel Cruz]

Giving me a routine structure, the goal to, you know, keep going.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Well, and I think for the. I think the first one of the first steps possibly that could be a gift to you, is just to sit down and we're going to give you every dollar premium. Our budgeting app is to kind of just create a mock budget. It doesn't have to be for real. The numbers that you type in don't have to be, you know, locked in stone by any means. But just to say, okay, the apartments around this is kind of probably like the average rent for a one bedroom. Here's what I think I can find. Okay, I'm just. Put that down for rent, for food. How much will groceries be? And just estimate some of these things. And again, they're not real life because you're not living there right now. But once you kind of start to get these facts. Dr. John Deloney, our friend, always says facts are your friends in like especially kind of a crisis situation. And this could. This could ground you. There's a level of anchoring, of peace, of. Of facts that it's not driven on emotion. It's just, this is exactly the reality of my life and what I have to have. And then. And then compare that to what you'll make after taxes, what will hit your account on that first paycheck. And all of that's gonna in the car. Loan. I mean, all of it. I think it's gonna give. It'll give you another plan with your money. Just like a plan and a schedule you have for your day. It's just another routine to have in your life that's really healthy and it's really good because I think it'll. I think it'll ground you. And I really believe it's gonna give you some confidence to see. Okay, here's my. Here's the reality of what's about to happen when this first paycheck hits. And here's what I'm going to do with it. And again, it may take you a month or two to kind of get caught up with everything.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sure.

[Unknown]

But I think that's. I think that's a great first step financially.

[Dave Ramsey]

It takes. It takes the trauma and the drama out of your brain and puts it on paper and makes it look like what it is, a non issue.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, you're.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're going to be okay. Mathematically, you're okay. Okay, you're going to be fine if you just stick with this. How much is your car payment?

[Rachel Cruz]

It's about 4. What is it for?

[Dave Ramsey]

Mathematically, you're gonna be okay. If you're making 65,000. Just make sure you take. Make sure you load up the W2. And you don't have hardly any withholding. There's no point you having a bunch of withholding because you're not gonna have hardly any taxes in Chicago.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I want most of this money coming home. And then we're gonna get the car payment current. We're gonna get a apartment. We're gonna buy food, we're gonna buy lights, we're gonna buy water, and we're gonna put gas in the car. And you probably got some clothes and, you know, and now we. Now we're set. Now we can start talking about going from here. But what. That, what. Rachel's right. When you put it down on paper, it looks back at you and it says to you, you're okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

That's what it. That, that's what that structure does for your brain. It says, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. Cause I can see the budget, But I've done 10,000 of them.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I know what your budget is. I can already tell you. But that doesn't help you when you write it down and you go, this is what, an apartment? This is food. This is my 400 car payment. This is life. I can do this. This is going to work.

[Unknown]

Christine, you're amazing.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's going to make you smile. It's going to make you. I'm so proud of you.

[Unknown]

You are amazing. Walking through what you've walked through, it's incredible. Absolutely incredible. So we are cheering you on the line.

[Dave Ramsey]

We're going to put one of our hang on the line. We're going to put one of our Ramsey coaches at our expense should not charge you a dime. We want to make sure, we want to be part of your story, part of your healing story. And they're going to walk with you and show you just exactly what we're doing here. And we'll get you the every dollar full package and FPU and the whole daily whatever. We'll get you and everything. You're amazing. Wow. Wow. Tina is in Trenton, New Jersey. Hi, Tina. How are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm doing well. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

A quick question. I am retired, sold the family home and I've been renting for six years now. So my house money is in the bank. And now I have an opportunity to buy a condo which is in the mid-200s, which will take a good part. 75% of what's in the bank. But the HOA fee and taxes are about $1,400 a month versus rent, which is around 2,000amonth. And I'm just wondering, is that worth it? Like, I'll be stating 600amonth in fees for the month. So it's $600 less than my rent and I'm taking money out of the bank to put it in.

[Dave Ramsey]

So your total nest egg is how big?

[Rachel Cruz]

The total nest egg of the cash. The free cash?

[Dave Ramsey]

No, everything. Everything you own.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, everything I own would probably be 700,000 and some thousand.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And you're putting 200 into a condo and then the question is the high HOA fees. Well, I kind of got a little sticker shock like you did listening to this. And then I look and I see you live in New Jersey. So which you got ultra high property tax there, right?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I don't know if this is high or not compared to other condos in the area. If you said, I mean, if you, if you went and bought a $400,000 condo five blocks away, what would be the HOA fee again?

[Rachel Cruz]

They would range from 500 to 1,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so this is unusually high.

[Rachel Cruz]

It's about, yeah, 800.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why is it high?

[Rachel Cruz]

It's a condo in a resort town with great.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The HOA fee is for running the hoa, which would be doing repairs, maintenance, and taxes and insurance on exterior structures. Okay. If the taxes are the same as the one across town, that's 500, then we don't have a tax issue. Okay. If the insurance is the same as the one across town, that's 5 or 600, then we don't have an insurance issue, which tells me the thing that the HOA may be run poorly.

[Rachel Cruz]

Ah, okay. Then this is just the hoa. The taxes are. Would be like.

[Dave Ramsey]

The taxes are separate.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes. Taxes are 500. HOA is like 860. Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, I want to know some history on this HOA if I'm you and figure out if it's being run poorly because there has to be a reason that this is high.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

If I don't get a logical reason, like we just put in new parking lots and we're assessing everyone so it's in there. That's a logical reason. And then the fee may come down later. Okay. Or it may be. There may be something else going on. But when. If the average in the area is 8 or 900 or 1000 and this is 1400, they are devaluing these condos by running them poorly.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, I'm sorry. The 1400 included the taxes. So if we back the tax out, the HOA for this condo was like 860.

[Dave Ramsey]

So it's. It's about the same as others in the area.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, I'm sorry, I've completely misunderstood. All right, then we don't have a problem, do we?

[Rachel Cruz]

It's comparable. And the question is, and it's less than rent. So is that a reasonable thing?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes. You own it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I suspect it's going to go up in value, is it not?

[Rachel Cruz]

I would hope so.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I mean, is the area okay, or are you moving into a bad neighborhood.

[Rachel Cruz]

Has potential?

[Dave Ramsey]

You sound like someone dating someone. It has potential.

[Rachel Cruz]

I mean, I just feel like I'm going from the potential of savings account with in guaranteed funds to real estate.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I'm like buying a piece of real estate for 200,000 and having fees associated with it still around 1400. If they're compared, if they're. If they're market comparable in the area does not sound like a bad idea. As long as you're not buying in a bad neighborhood where you're going to be unsafe or where the property values are going down instead of up because of crime or something else. And so that's the only thing you've got to consider because 200,000 sounds like a very inexpensive condo in Trenton, New Jersey to me. Property values there are pretty high. But I mean, you look at that and if you feel comfortable with the, the long term implications of owning this, meaning it's going to go up in value and the HOA fee is comparable to others and the taxes are comparable to others. I like the idea of you owning rather than renting to stabilize your future.

[Unknown]

Yep. Amen. Good luck, Tina. So going to be a condo living lady.

[Dave Ramsey]

There you go. So. Right. So it's one of the things that, you know, your most expensive line item in your budget, folks, is housing in almost everyone's budget anyway. And if you rent, it goes up every year for the rest of your life. And so if you retire at 60 or 65 and you say I'm going to rent until I'm 90, your most expensive line item is going up every year. And so what you get when you buy, even if you had a mortgage payment, a fixed rate, 15 year mortgage payment, even if you had that, when you buy, you have locked in and stabilized the largest line item in your budget. So it's stabilizing your golden years is what we're doing. In her case, she's paying cash, which is awesome. It's even better way to go. And she's only got, you know, to the maintenance issues.

[Unknown]

Totally.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, she, the HOA is covering her maintenance on the exterior portions anyway.

[Unknown]

And there's no line item there. I mean, besides the maintenance and the.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hoa, she's got this coming out.

[Unknown]

There's no mortgage.

[Dave Ramsey]

The HOA fee may go up some as taxes and the taxes and insurance probably will go up, up some as you go along and make sure you have your insurance reviewed every year and that you keep the proper amount of coverage, even if it does go up a little. And property taxes, I mean, politicians just can't keep their hands out of our pockets. So you can count on that. And you know, the maintenance stuff may or may not go up or down. You can run into all kinds of stuff there. But I would rather be in an ownership position because A, it's going up in value and B, I've stabilized that more that most expensive line item in the budget. And that's why we always tell people, especially when you heading into your retirement years from 60 and above, that you really need to get into a property, you really need to get it paid off because you're locking in your future. You've got a foundational issue here in your future. It's not as much about the investment as it is, the sustainability.

[Unknown]

That's good.

[Dave Ramsey]

Open phones here at 888. 825. 5225. Thank you for jumping in America. John is in Salt Lake. John, I'm short on time. Go straight to your question.

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey. So I got an infant and a new. A toddler and a new baby. And we got about $36,000 in debt. And I make about 3, 200 a year and I have no idea.

[Dave Ramsey]

3,200Amonth?

[Unknown]

32,000 a year.

[Rachel Cruz]

3,232 thousand a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, thousand. Okay, that's helpful. Okay, good.

[Rachel Cruz]

I don't know what to do with it. I'm still over my head with what do you do? What do you do for a living place? I'm a scrap iron worker.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, and what do you make? Are you an hour?

[Rachel Cruz]

So I usually make about $15, but I get some overtime too.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right, well, targets paying 20.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. I've never had a birth certificate or Social Security number and that's a whole deal of itself.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, that'd be something to work on, wouldn't it?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, it's been a long ordeal.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruz]

Expensive one too.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I think I'd work on that because it's going to help your employment options because your, your biggest issue is you have a very low income.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Unknown]

What is the 36,000?

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm not picking on you. That's not a shaming thing. It's a math thing.

[Unknown]

What's the 36,000 entail? The debt.

[Rachel Cruz]

So we had different credit card debts. And then like the majority of it is I had to take a loan from my dad for the first baby and that was $9,000. There was a complication. We were trying to have an at home birth and it had to be a C section. And so we were able to pay for that through a thing called a stork program. It was 9,000 and then we just had to. I had to borrow that from my dad. We had had it paid down about 4,000 of it. And then we also had to pay for the surgeon and doctors. And then we had another baby and there was another complication.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sorry, John, it's a hard time, dude. The answer to the equation is, is the things you were already working on is you get a more stabilized, more normalized life with a birth certificate and then you're able to get more normal employment and raise your income considerably. And that's going to help a bunch, honey. And that's what you need to be working towards.

[Rachel Cruz]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. My friends, listen, I know it feels like the world is falling apart. And I know that we're all under huge pressure to perform and to look like we're keeping it all together at the same time.

[Unknown]

Here's the statistic that blew my mind.

[Rachel Cruz]

76% of people globally agree that mental health care can help resolve personal problems. Yet 6 out of 10 people still believe that society discourages people for asking for help.

[Dave Ramsey]

Here's the truth.

[Rachel Cruz]

Real bravery, real strength comes when you open up about what you're carrying, how you're hurting and learning something you can do about it so that you can be your best for yourself and for everyone else in your life. If you're feeling the weight of the world, please talk to someone. Anyone. A friend, a loved one, or yes, a therapist. I see a therapist every week. If you're thinking about trying therapy, contact my friends at BetterHelp. BetterHelp is 100% online therapy, so it's affordable and convenient for your schedule. To get started, just fill out a short online survey to get matched with a licensed therapist. If it's not the right fit, you.

[Unknown]

Can switch therapists at any time, easily.

[Rachel Cruz]

And for no extra cost. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com deloney to get 10% off your first month. That's better help.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ever look at your phone bill and feel like you're trying to decode a top secret message? 17.42 for advanced signal Optimization. What even is that? Well, luckily Boost Mobile keeps it simple. Just 25amonth for unlimited talk, text and data with no contracts, absolutely zero nonsense and a price that's guaranteed forever. Plus Boost backs it up with a 30 day money back guarantee. So you can, you can try it without feeling trapped. Go to boostmobile.com Ramsey to make the switch today. That's boostmobile.com Ramsey Wendy is in Cincinnati. Hi Wendy, how are you?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hi. I'm doing good. Thank you for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure.

[Rachel Cruz]

Hi. Sorry. My question is. So now my husband and I, we are looking into getting a divorce and I am trying to. He won everything in half. Half of everything. But I'm trying to find a way that is more fair for both of us. So back to when we got married.

[Dave Ramsey]

How long have you been married?

[Rachel Cruz]

10 years.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why are you divorcing?

[Rachel Cruz]

That's where I'm about to get to is financial infidelity. So. And just a lot beyond that. So 10 years ago when he walked into the. We got married and he was in 300,000 student loan. So we, you know, I kind of came up with a plan to help him pay it off is that we basically spend nothing and he has to make another extra $1,000 a month. So which is, you know, working, picking up a weekend a month. About that.

[Dave Ramsey]

So 10 years ago he came into the marriage with $300,000 in student loan debt. You guys teamed up and paid it off.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sorry, I couldn't hear, But I know.

[Dave Ramsey]

10 years ago you said you got married and he came in with $300,000 in student loan debt and you guys teamed up and got it all paid off.

[Rachel Cruz]

I wish the team up is the case, but that wasn't really the case. So 10 years ago I kind of came up with a plan. So he has to pick up another $1,000 a month and we are going to invest in rental unit and the rental income basically going to help pay off our expense and pay it off. So what ended up happening is he did not ended up doing any of those extra hours which refused to pick up any shift because he said that's not his life passion. And the rental income he ended up took, he took it and spent it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what do you, what have you been making, Wendy? What do you make a year?

[Rachel Cruz]

I make 140,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And you put up with this crap for 10 years?

[Rachel Cruz]

I would put on for way too long. And the thing that now it gave me a lot of. I just try to always believe that, you know, he just needs some more time. So I ended up working two jobs. I am the one ended up picking those extra shift to help him pay. Because every time when it comes to when bills need to be paid, just say he doesn't have the money. Why is it spent excessively?

[Dave Ramsey]

I got really bad news, honey. I'm sorry. The law doesn't care in Ohio when you get a divorce, you're going to split things 50, 50. Unless there's something else other than you just earned more and he was lazy. That one doesn't work. That's what the lawyer's going to tell you when you sit with them. But you need to go sit with a lawyer and find out for sure. But I think that's what you're going to hear.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

That you put up with us for too long.

[Rachel Cruz]

For way too long. Yeah, way too long.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what do you guys actually own? Do you actually own anything? Money.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Rental property. And also our current home. Also the rental property worth 300,000 around there. Our current home worth about 400,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much debt on the 700,000 in real estate.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. So everything is paid off.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, it's all paid off.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, geez.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, God. And you did all of this with your sweat while he sat at home and because it wasn't his passion to work much.

[Unknown]

Do you have kids, Wendy?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, we have a kid. And that's what my, my. So we moved to the state where his family is, so I really don't have a support network. And when we got married, he agreed that we're only going to live here for a few years and then we're going to move to.

[Dave Ramsey]

You volunteered for this? Okay, you can't. You stayed put when you. You. You had the option to say no on any of this and put it to an end earlier than you did. So it's now over. I'm sorry.

[Unknown]

Where are you guys in the divorce process, Wendy? Have you filed?

[Dave Ramsey]

She hadn't even talked to a lawyer yet. Have you.

[Unknown]

We.

[Rachel Cruz]

We are just. Yeah, we.

[Unknown]

At the beginning of it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. I'm sorry. But what you're going to discover is what a friend of mine who does divorce recovery figured out, and that is, is that divorce turns a marriage into a business transaction and a legal transaction. And the law will state that child support, maybe some alimony, maybe you'll get some alimony out of him, but I doubt it. Doesn't sound like this guy's exactly going to be coming forth with a bunch of money. Maybe you can negotiate a large, you know, let him have the rental and you take the big house or something. You may get a little more than half in a settlement in a settled deal if the judge will approve it in Ohio law. I don't know Ohio law and I'm not an attorney even if I did, so you need to talk to one. But most states don't care if the mom was a stay at home mom and didn't earn an income for 10 years. She gets half.

[Unknown]

That's what I was thinking about.

[Dave Ramsey]

She gets half. And your husband's a, you know, not work much while you work all the time. Yeah, he gets half. I mean, you tolerated it and so I'm not saying you did something wrong. I'm glad you hung on, tried to make it work, work, but that's where you're stuck with ghetto. I'm sorry, that's an ouchie.

[Unknown]

Well, it's one of those things too. I'm like, where things start when it's starting out, all the intentions are good. Right? And then you start to watch it just drift and drift and drift and until a huge Red flag is thrown. It ends up getting here. But. But that's the thing too is I'm like if it was a. If it was opposite. If this was a guy calling and saying his wife was home. Right. Why does it make us anchor.

[Dave Ramsey]

If she was at home saying it's not my passion to work much after she had made a commitment with $300,000 worth of student loan debt to be committed to work and help get it paid off. I'm gonna bring down on her just like I'm gonna bring down on him.

[Unknown]

That's fair.

[Dave Ramsey]

Nobody gets out of that one alive.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So that's. You know, this is someone who. Someone else. His mommy has taken care of him.

[Unknown]

Oh no. I was hearing.

[Dave Ramsey]

So his wife was his mommy and that's what happened. He's a mama's boy and. Oh yeah.

[Unknown]

Well, the only. The only positive Wendy out of all.

[Dave Ramsey]

Of this is he's gone.

[Unknown]

Well, I mean seriously, I'm like the. The attitude and the. The mood that he probably brings her down day after day.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And you'll be free from it. And you may make more money Wendy being out of this situation. So you'll definitely will it is one of those things you just have to.

[Dave Ramsey]

Easier to swim without an anchor tied around you.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's just ways easier.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're gonna bust out, girl. It's gonna be great. I'm sorry.

[Unknown]

I hate do get a lawyer because.

[Dave Ramsey]

I do the people in. In marriages. But you know, it's sound like you got rid of a. You get a. You get a fresh start, kiddo. And with or without some rental property and with or without the details on the house. But you know, even if you just sell it all and pile it up in one pile and split it down the middle, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be alright. And you can live wherever you want to live. You don't have to live there if you don't live near his family. Take off. Go back where you were. Go back where you want to be. You get to decide now. And so the future is bright. There were a lot of storms in the past in the rearview mirror, but they're all in the past. Well, soon. Soon to be anyway. Ouch. You ever tried to explain this Ramsey stuff to a friend? It's kind of all encompassing. A little bit hard to just go and put it all out there. Right. So we're gonna help you with that. We built a Ramsey 101 playlist. I say we. I had Nothing to do with it except I'm on it. But it's an easy to share playlist. It covers all the basics for somebody who's just getting started with this whole Ramsey thing, like, what are the baby steps? Or how's the debt snowball work, or how's a budget work, or how to build an emergency fund, or why do they talk about God? All this stuff, it's all on there. Click the link at the bottom of the show notes. You open Ramsey one on one playlist on YouTube, text it, DM it, send it to a group chat, say, hey, guys, I think this might help. Don't go, you're stupid. Start doing this. That won't help. Don't be condemning with it. Be nice and just go, I hope this helps you. It helped me. Or I think this is funny. Give it a look, whatever. So if you're listening on the radio, we got a playlist featured at the top of our YouTube channel. So think of at least one person in your life and share it with them and it could change everything. We appreciate it because, by the way, when you guys share our stuff and you like, click the, click the share button or you click the follow button or the subscribe button, all those kinds of things, it changes all the algorithm stuff and it moves our stuff to the front of the line and people start seeing it because of you. So thank you for sharing. And when you say nice things like five star reviews and stuff, kind of nice. Thank you. We appreciate it. All right. Jennifer's in Chicago. What's up, Jennifer?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hi, Dave and Rachel. I'm just so excited to be talking to you today. I literally just found you guys literally 30 days ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, wow.

[Rachel Cruz]

Excited.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, thank you. Welcome.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thank you. I have a question. I got served a lawsuit last night.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh.

[Rachel Cruz]

I have credit card debt. That's all in collections for context. I'm 38 years old and I'm finally awake to my life. I've spent my adult years in and out of psychiatric hospitals trying to, you know, suicide due to my childhood. So now that I've unpacked that and I feel like I'm in a healthier spot. I really just. I want to be debt free and listening to you guys, like, I feel like this is my first route.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. What do you make? What's your income?

[Rachel Cruz]

40,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you. Okay. Well, I'm proud of you for getting stable. That's quite a journey.

[Rachel Cruz]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well done. Okay, how much do you owe on this particular credit card?

[Rachel Cruz]

This one is 1200.

[Dave Ramsey]

And how long has it been since you paid on it?

[Rachel Cruz]

20, 22.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. And who was the original bank credit one? Okay. There's a high likelihood, like, almost for sure that they have sold that debt.

[Rachel Cruz]

They have sold it to a credit.

[Dave Ramsey]

Bureau or credit agency, a collection agency. It's a debt buyer. Okay? Debt buyers buy old, bad credit card debt for around a nickel on the dollar. And so that means they've got somewhere around $75 invested in this.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

And what they do then is they buy like 8,000 of these accounts and they badger the crap out of people and sue people until they get some money out of some of them. Most of them bankruptcy. And they get nothing, but a few people will pay it. And they end up. Because they only paid a nickel on the dollar, they end up, on average, making some money. So this is not personal. This is not personal. This has nothing to do with you. You just got put on a conveyor belt in a factory. That's what this is. Okay? There's 8,000 that look just like you that they processed last night. You follow me?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

I want you to get that.

[Unknown]

It's scarier than it is.

[Dave Ramsey]

I want you to get that because it's different than you owe your little brother money, okay? A different set of emotions. But they're going to try to tap into the little brother money emotions when you get on the phone with them. Because most of them, the function that they use to collect is being a jerk. So they're going to be jerks. No, you can count on it. So just make a game of it. Okay, I'm calling a jerk. Here we go. Ready, set, go. It's not personal. He doesn't know anything about me. He has a crummy job where he abuses people verbally over the phone to try to get money. That's who you're calling. Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just kind of have fun with it. And they even change their name. They make up funny names.

[Unknown]

Well, in the end, the. The turnover in that industry is like 30 to 60 days. So the guy you're talking to will probably have a new job in two months anyway. So just remember that, like, this is like.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because cleaning a septic t is more pleasant than doing what he's doing. Okay? Really think about it. I mean, what a horrible job.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So this is what you're dealing with. If you have these pieces of information, then it helps you. So do you have any money?

[Rachel Cruz]

I have about 3,000 in the bank right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Do you have. Did they give you a court date when they Served you?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, they did. When it is on the 24th.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Okay. I don't care if it goes to court and they win. No big deal. Nothing really changes. They're still trying to collect from someone that they don't get money from. So when you get on the phone, here's a couple of pointers. Number one, this is a game. Don't let this get into your psyche. Okay?

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Their job is to make you afraid or angry, because when your brain does that, you move into fight or flight mode and you lose your critical thinking skills. That's their job, and they're very good at it. Be ready. Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

One of them called from American Express when I was going broke 30 years ago and asked my wife why she would stay with a man that wouldn't pay his bills. And she called me crying and said I was thinking the same thing.

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, my God.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right? This is what they do. Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Bit ready. And so this is a game, by the way, that guy's. That Woman's name was Mrs. Savage.

[Unknown]

Oh, stop it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, So, I mean, this is how ridiculous this world is. It's ridiculous. So this is what you're entering into. You need to know that because you got to stay above it, especially with what you've been through. Okay?

[Rachel Cruz]

Absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

So this is a game, number one. Number two, they didn't pay anything for it. Number three, we're not giving them payments. Say no payments, Dave.

[Rachel Cruz]

No payments, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

No payments. My financial counselor told me I can't give you payments. I'm your counselor, and I just told you you can't.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, wonderful. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can bad guy off of me and tell him Dave Ramsey said it. That'll make him real happy. Yeah. And so. All right, this is just fun. Let's have some fun with it. Right? And so no payments. And what we're gonna do is. I just came out of a mental episode where I've been fighting suicide and I don't have any money. I think I can scrape together $300 if you will accept that as, here's the phrase, settlement in full.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

And somewhere, 300 to 500 bucks, you'll get this done. And do not give them any information about you. No contact information. No new job, no bank account. No bank account information. They get no information. We're not going to give them any leverage. This you're playing with evil. Don't give evil a foothold. Okay?

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so no information. It's a game. We're going to settle it for a lump sum. No payments. And lastly, do not give them any money until you get it in writing what the agreement is, because Jim Bob ain't going to be working there in 30 days.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm writing all my notes down.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Emails. Fine. Has to be in writing in some way. And then you print the email out hard copy and keep it in a file for the rest of your life.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because you can tell these people are lying if their mouth is moving.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. This is what you're dealing with. It's a different culture.

[Rachel Cruz]

Now. I have all my credit card debt is in collections. Can I handle.

[Dave Ramsey]

Do every one of them that way if you want to.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Or if you got a small one, just pay it for God's sakes. And get it out of there.

[Unknown]

How much do you have, Jennifer, in debt total?

[Rachel Cruz]

So I had $10,000 in credit card debt. I actually hired a credit consultation company and they got 6,000 just wiped away.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, good.

[Rachel Cruz]

So now I'm down to four.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, then you. And you got three. So you can get this clear pretty quick because let me tell you, with what you've been through and with you establishing a new life of sustainability, putting this stuff in your rear view mirror as soon as possible and not keeping it, not screwing around with it for six months is a good idea.

[Unknown]

Is that all the debt you have, Jennifer, is just the credit card debt or student loans or car loans.

[Rachel Cruz]

In student loans.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. You'll have to circle back and pick that up, too. But I want to get these. I want to get the. You've got all these. A beehive that got poked and the bees are flying around your head.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

And they're scary and they're bothersome. So let's get rid of them. But you got to just play this game. It's a part of it, and get it in writing. And no electronic access to your personal bank account. You can do a prepaid debit card with the exact amount and send them that. You can do a wire. You can do something. But no, no, no. They do not get your bank account numbers because they'll clean it out. They lie. You can tell they're lying if their mouth is moving. Can you tell? I've done this for 30 years.

[Unknown]

Hey, guys, you know what I love about summer? All the fun yeses. Yes to pool parties, yes to snow cones, and yes for all the fun in the sun moments that you can have with your family. But summer goes fast. Summer spending. And if you're not paying attention, you're going to look up from your slushy and wonder where is all my money going? That's why I love the EveryDollar app. It's so simple. It helps you create a custom budget and give every dollar a job to do. And let me tell you, you'll know exactly what is happening with your money and that gives you such freedom and guilt free spending. So do yourself and your summer a favorite. Go download EveryDollar for free in the app Store or Google Play today.

[Dave Ramsey]

These days the Internet is chock full of so called investing advice from random goobs with zero qualifications. Listen folks, you deserve guidance from someone who knows what the flip they're talking about. That's why I recommend the SmartVestor program. SmartVestors can help you find a professional financial advisor who can teach you to make your own best decisions with your own money. Get [e-mail] smartvestor again ramseysolutions.com smartvestor Ramsey Solutions is a paid non client promoter of participating pros. Learn [e-mail] SmartVestor you spend hours researching before making a major purchase like a home or car, but it's also a good idea to put in the work searching for the right insurance coverage to protect your biggest assets. I recommend using Ramsey Trusted Pros. Whether you're looking for car, home or any other type of insurance, Ramsey Trusted providers have been coached and vetted to serve you like we would. Find what you [e-mail] insurance. If you're tired of living paycheck to paycheck and wondering where your money's going, there's a way to fix that. It's called a plan. In our world we call the plan a budget. And in our world we do it on the world's best budgeting app called EveryDollar. Matter of fact, it's a full encompassing app that'll help you work all the baby steps. It's going to help you do everything, not just budget. You need to check this thing out. Our team is hosting free budget trainings this month on the Free Every Dollar app. Have I mentioned that it's free? And you'll learn step by step how to stick to a budget using every dollar. There's Q&A sign up for [e-mail] webinar. Jason is with us in Tampa. Hey Jason, what's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh man, I got the goat on the phone. I can't believe it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yes, Rachel's here.

[Rachel Cruz]

I like you too Rachel.

[Unknown]

Oh thanks Jason. I know who you called for though. And you he's in the seat. He's not in the seat as much anymore, but here he is.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

So, Dave. All right. And Rachel, I need. I got to figure this out. My parents home was flooded by Hurricane Helene last September. So they came to my brother and my sister and myself and said, hey, we're too old. We can't fix it. If you. One of you wanted it, pay the other, each other sibling, two siblings, a third of the value that we come up with, and we want to be done with it. Oh, we're just going to sell it. What do you all want to do? Well, I was the only one that wanted it, so we came up with a value. And. And I paid my sister and my brother a third of the value that everyone agreed to. Well, actually, they didn't even agree because they thought, well, my value was too low. So I actually went and got an appraisal done just so there would be no hanky panky. It actually came in 60,000 less than what my original assessment was, and I still agreed to pay 60,000 more than what the actual appraisal.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why?

[Rachel Cruz]

Because I wanted this little home. Because it was just a little beach house that it was just meant something to me. So I wanted it. I paid my sister and my brother the money. My parents quit claim, deeded it to me. I fixed it all up. It's back to being beautiful. Just in time for hurricane season again. But it's back to being beautiful. And now all of a sudden, my sister says, oh, this was such an unfair deal. I can't believe we even did this. I'll never feel comfortable with it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, wow.

[Rachel Cruz]

No one ever. So what do I do? I mean, now it's causing a strain in the family, and I don't know what I did wrong. I thought I did everything right. Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you didn't have agreement.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's what I thought. We. Well, we did. And then all. Now all of a sudden, we don't, because we did.

[Dave Ramsey]

But that's what I'm like, what did they. Did they. I mean, it was all ver. It was all verbal, correct?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

But they were. They were bitching and moaning on the front end that.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's what I said. No one said anything.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, they did. They said it was not enough. And so you went and got an appraisal. They were moaning.

[Rachel Cruz]

And then my appraisal came in.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know, but they still didn't think it was right. They still didn't think it was right. And you did it anyway.

[Rachel Cruz]

So what should. Yeah, what?

[Dave Ramsey]

I would have walked. Yeah, I would have walked, or I would have had him sign something.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Maybe I should have done some kind of signature.

[Dave Ramsey]

Not a legally binding, but just to remind them that, you know, because their memory is bad, apparently.

[Rachel Cruz]

I thought paying 60 grand.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, not if they thought. Not if they thought the amount even was 60 was not. Right. Right.

[Unknown]

Was the value lowered because of the damage at all, Jason.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I'm sorry.

[Unknown]

And the value was lowered because of the damage, Correct?

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So you had a number, you put it out there, and they said, that's not fair. And you said, I'll show you. You went and got an appraisal, and the appraisal was 60,000 lower. So you paid them the higher number, but they also thought that number higher wasn't fair.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, with just the sister. Everyone else.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I mean, still, that. So what'd you expect? I mean, she'd already told you she was going to be unhappy.

[Rachel Cruz]

This just came up a couple weeks ago.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, honey, you told me in the original deal that they thought it wasn't enough. So you went and got an appraisal, and you agreed to pay the original amount that they thought wasn't enough, and when you paid it, they still thought it wasn't enough. And now she still thinks it wasn't enough. Well, that's not a shock.

[Rachel Cruz]

And I guess she's gonna have to deal with it because that's. That's.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, she cashed the check, right?

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm sorry?

[Dave Ramsey]

She cashed the check.

[Rachel Cruz]

You bet she did.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right.

[Rachel Cruz]

Sure did.

[Dave Ramsey]

Deals done, you know.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. And no one lifted a finger to help me fix it up, either, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it wasn't their job. They didn't own it. That's your job.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I'm like. And that's. And that was fine, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I'm like, yeah. You know, I just say, listen, you did a deal. You're like a grown adult woman. Act like it.

[Unknown]

How old are you guys? Jason?

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm 50. She's 45. Oh, and then my brother's in his 50s, older than I was. He's 55.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, we're all. We're all older adults. And.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I think. I think she told you on the front end she was going to be unhappy, and you just didn't want to hear it.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And then now she's coming through it. Now she's coming through with her promise. But that's okay. I mean, she. She cashed the check, and I just look at her and go, hey, babe. Good luck with that.

[Rachel Cruz]

That's kind of what I've done so far.

[Dave Ramsey]

But, I mean, anything you can do, you can't make people behave.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Even if they're in your DNA line.

[Unknown]

You know, have you guys sat down and had any level of conversation in person about this?

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, originally when we first. But not since the last thing or this. That I'm talking about. This was this. She. We talked on the phone about something else, and then this just. Just was brought up, and I'm like, where did that come from? That would have been valuable information.

[Unknown]

If there's any level of you that wants to save the relationship, I would have a conversation in person. Take all your defensiveness about this. You know, swallow a humble pill for a little bit, let her kind of get out what she needs to get out and just say, okay, how do we move forward? Because I don't want to lose a relationship with my sister. Right. It's family. And for a house to do this. That's not that. For the future. But you. But again.

[Dave Ramsey]

And there's that part where you cash.

[Unknown]

The check, put your. Yeah. Put the olive branch out. And if she won't accept it, that. And that's her choice at that point. Right. But I would go in.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm never gonna be okay. Well, that's, you know, very humble.

[Unknown]

Very humble, though. You have a big personality, Jason. We heard it from the moment you got on. I love it. I think it's wonderful. But maybe just, like, take a pit. Like, take a little bit of a chill as you go in, like, low. Like, right. Like, I mean, go in not defensive, not aggressive.

[Dave Ramsey]

Go watch Jefferson Fisher videos and just.

[Unknown]

Yeah, but. But honestly, if want to repair it, like, there's. There's something there, and then beyond that, you've tried.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can't control it.

[Unknown]

Yeah. You can't control her then.

[Dave Ramsey]

But, yeah, you probably don't. I think you need to follow Rachel's advice, not mine. Mine's just smart Alec.

[Rachel Cruz]

I know.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's my problem.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm like you, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think Rachel's right and I'm wrong. I think Rachel's right, and I'm wrong. Really?

[Rachel Cruz]

Oh, man. All right, Rachel, can you call my sister for me?

[Unknown]

Yes, I will.

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey, by the way, that Jefferson Fitch episode was next to the Trump episode, was two are two of my favorite.

[Unknown]

Yeah, he's really, really good.

[Dave Ramsey]

Really good. I wasn't kidding. I probably would go watch some of that because that's the type of stuff Rachel's talking about, rather than doing Dave thing. And Just smacking her sideways.

[Unknown]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because that's not gonna work. Because that's all I'm saying. I'm just being a smart.

[Unknown]

What are the other siblings being a smart? Jason, what's your other siblings like? You say brother.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, he's okay. He hasn't had any issues.

[Unknown]

Okay, so it's you three.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just three of us. Brother sign. Sisters.

[Unknown]

I know. I just hate when, like, assets, money, all of that gets in between family. We hear it a lot on the show, and it's really sad. It's really sad. So if you want it repaired or maybe. Maybe she's crazy and you're like, I don't know. I gotta put up a boundary. I don't know. I don't know her. But if you want to repair the relationship, you want to give it.

[Dave Ramsey]

You want to give it a shot.

[Unknown]

Give it a shot.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think Rachel's right. I'm wrong. Okay.

[Unknown]

Good man.

[Dave Ramsey]

My boy's more fun, though. Our scripture of the day, Proverbs 21:20. Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours all. That's the Bible saying, if you spend everything you make, you're a fool. Hello? Think about it. Michael Douglas said, a fool and his money are lucky to get together in the first place. Gary's in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hey, Gary. What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey, gang. Thanks for taking my call. So I retired about a year and a half ago. I'm 69, and I've got my assets, no debt. And I'm just wondering if what I have everything invested in is if I'm doing the right thing. So my house is worth about 700. It'll be paid off by the end of the year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good.

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm holding off on social when I turn 70 in January and take with my wife, taking advantage of the spousal benefits. So I'm estimating that we'll have about 80,000 a year in Social Security. And the remaining is 2.1 million in three IRAs and another account that's cash and some stock.

[Dave Ramsey]

What are the IRA asnall invested in? Mutual funds.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes, yes. Three different mutual funds. About. They're about 1.7 million. And then the cash and stock is about 430 of that. The about 80,000 is in four or five different stocks and about 300 or so in a money market which is currently drawing around 4%.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. Your question is, what then? You've done really well. Congratulations.

[Rachel Cruz]

Am I. Am I. Could I be doing Better than what I'm doing as far as what, what I'm invested in?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I mean, all. I'm 64. All of mine is in mutual funds and paid for real estate. And so, you know, we put it in four types of mutual funds. You've heard that. Growth, growth in income, aggressive growth, and international. I don't play single stocks just because I don't like the risk associated with them. I'd rather have that money diversified in mutual funds. But it's not the end of the world. It's a small percentage of your world and you've done extremely well. And it sound like you're maybe a little heavy in cash, unless you got something you're wanting to do with that or you're getting ready to buy a car, go on a trip or something. Something.

[Rachel Cruz]

No, not.

[Dave Ramsey]

Not particular.

[Rachel Cruz]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. I mean, you don't need a $300,000 emergency fund.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Also, when I started getting our social and in January, I. Based upon our expenses, I'm hoping to maybe save about 2,000amonth out of that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So be great. Well, and be sure you're being, you know, enjoying this and that your generosity goes up because you're a multimillionaire. Congratulations.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I'm already starting to plan a couple of good trips, like over to Europe and stuff.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good, good. Yeah. I mean, you've earned it. Well done. And I assume you guys did not inherit this money. It sounds like it's 401ks, like you saved it. Right.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah. Right, right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're not. You're not an inherited. You're a baby step millionaire, meaning you did it following.

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, my mom. My mom. My mom did pass away about almost five years ago, and my sister and I finally sold our house. Plus the assets I think I ended up getting over the last five years.

[Dave Ramsey]

You cut out getting. How much did I lose you? Oh, no. Well, okay. You're in good shape, dude. You've done a good job and you're fine. If you want to fine tune it a little bit and, you know, get a little bit more dialed in with it, that's fine. It sounds like you are not a millionaire that you already were probably before your mom passed. And so you've just added to your wealth. Wealth, whatever that amount was that cut out.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And his question, I think was, is there anything different he needs to be doing? Because when you retire and you start living off of these. Invest off of some of these investments, is there a big shift in.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't. The strategy, A lot of the wealth, a Lot of the financial planning community believes in a theory I don't believe in called the asset allocation methodology, which is you move everything towards bonds and money markets as you get older. And I don't. The bond market's as volatile as the stock market and underperforms the stock market. So I'm 64. I'm not moving a thing. And so I'm just. You know, when you're 64, if you're healthy, you are statistically likely to make it to 90, where the average death age is 76 to 78, male, female, right now, but you're statistically likely to make it to 90 if you're healthy at 65. So you've still got 30 freaking years to outpace inflation. And when you dumb down your portfolio in the name of safety, inflation is going to come back and tag you in the back of the head. So I don't need the money. He doesn't need the money. He's going to be living off the social.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's a lot.

[Dave Ramsey]

So that money's just going to be that pretty.

[Unknown]

Is that pretty average? 80 grand.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's heavy. Well, it's. He and his wife and they're both 70. Doing the long term.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So that's the. That. Yeah, that could be. But yeah, I don't do that. I'm going to ride it all the way out. Because here's the thing. If you've got 2.1 million and you're living off $80,000 a year with a social, you're not really investing this money for you. You're not going to use it. It's laying there, but it's going to be an inheritance. So you're investing it for the next generation, which means you would not shift it and dumb it down in the name of the asset allocation model or the. And people act like that, like that's a given and it's a law or something. It's not. It's a theory. And I think it's a bad one. So I don't use it. I am investing all the way through. And he doesn't need to use it. He's fine. He's in good shape. Diane's in Atlanta. Hi, Diane. How can we help?

[Rachel Cruz]

Hey, guys. So excited. Thank you for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Absolutely. What's up?

[Rachel Cruz]

I'm middle of cooking dinner for two hungry boys. And you may hear them in the background and I apologize for that.

[Unknown]

So I really wanted to call because.

[Rachel Cruz]

Just in a nutshell, I am a nurse. I went to school, I had my Bachelor's of science in nursing.

[Dave Ramsey]

I am not working right now. I'm a stay at home mom.

[Rachel Cruz]

My husband isn't physician and makes good money.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's good money?

[Rachel Cruz]

540.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, that's good money. Okay, I'm with you. Alright, so I'm a little short on time. Ask your question right quick.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so our oldest has special needs. He has level 3 autism, he's non verbal. He's 7 years old now. So it's really hard to look far into the future. But the way his development is moving.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, he'll be with us. He's gonna be our roommate forever.

[Rachel Cruz]

So you know, my.

[Dave Ramsey]

I just don't know how much we need to be saving for him. Like you don't. You don't. You need to save for you. You need to build wealth and you need to have in your estate plan a special needs trust that if you and your husband both pass away, that a chunk of money, an inordinate chunk of money is left in trust, the income of which invested in mutual funds, the income of which will support him for the rest of his life. Okay, but it's your money, it's not his. You don't put money in his name.

[Rachel Cruz]

No, I don't have any. Oh, oh, in his name?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you put it in your name. You make $540,000 a year. You go build wealth. And some of your wealth is earmarked upon both of your deaths to go into the special needs trust to take care of him.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, so.

[Unknown]

Okay, so as far as debt and.

[Dave Ramsey]

What we make and all that, just you got to work the normal stuff. Just work with that snowball. Get out of debt, get your house paid off. Go become a multimillionaire making a half a million freaking dollars a year.

[Unknown]

How much debt do you guys have?

[Rachel Cruz]

We have about. We don't have any student loans.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good.

[Rachel Cruz]

We have probably 70,000 in cars.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, that was stupid.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it was very stupid.

[Dave Ramsey]

Let's get it paid off.

[Rachel Cruz]

So we got, well, we got. I kind of got my car as a push present, if you will, in.

[Dave Ramsey]

20, 21 and then my husband. Okay, push.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Poof it off. Come on. You've got to be kidding me. Oh my gosh. All right, no, that's. No, we're gonna work. You need to get this mess cleaned up. Okay. And you guys need to get on the baby steps and work just because you need to. The special needs thing is almost a sidebar in the sense of it gives you yet one more motivation to build wealth and get your act together to make sure you have enough to leave in there if you're broke and have no money. Right now, you need life insurance here marked for the special needs trust until you get some wealth built. But with the kind of money y' all make, you get rid of the stupid car payments and start stacking cash and building you some investments. Get your house paid off. There'll be plenty of money to take care of your kid and to see your your estate planner. Make sure there's a special needs trust set up earmarked with term life insurance until you have some money. And after you have some money, earmark some of the money into that to take care of him and he'll be fine. Assuming you guys get your act together, he'll be fine. That puts this hour of the Ramsey show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the prince of peace. Christ. She.

[Unknown]

Hey, you guys. I was shocked to learn that 88% of you out there are sharing the Ramsey show. I mean, that is so incredible. Thank you so much. And I want to tell you that we're making it even easier to share. So this June, we have pulled together the brand new Ramsey101 YouTube playlist. A quick start collection of how to get started walking the Ramsey plan. Now, this playlist is perfect for that one person in your life who needs help winning with money and just doesn't know where to start. So here's what's inside, what the baby steps are and why they actually work, how the debt snowball helps you pay off debt fast and how to build wealth and invest for the future and so much more. So here's what you needed add to click the link at the top of the show notes. It'll take you straight to the YouTube playlist. Copy it, text it, send it in a group chat. Just say, hey, I thought this might help. Because one playlist shared at the right time could be the turning point. One share, one playlist, one step could change everything for that one person in your life. So click the link, share the Ramsey show, and let's help someone out there start winning with money. Money.