He’s Still Living With His Ex’s Parents and Needs a Way Out

Summary

The Ramsey Show – Episode Summary

Episode Title: He’s Still Living With His Ex’s Parents and Needs a Way Out
Date: November 7, 2025
Hosts: Dave Ramsey & Rachel Cruze (with guest appearances by Jade Warshaw and Jimmy Darts)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Ramsey Show is characterized by a series of unique and heartfelt listener calls that range from deeply personal career and relationship struggles to practical questions about debt, housing, generosity, entrepreneurship, and family finances. The recurring theme: No matter where you start, practical advice, honest self-assessment, and determined steps forward can change your financial life. Dave and Rachel bring tough love, encouragement, and clear action steps to each caller’s situation.

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Key Discussion Points and Notable Calls

1. Caller John: Career Setbacks and Mental Health (00:40–08:40)

• John’s Situation: At 40, John has struggled with steady employment, cycled through 14 jobs, lives with his parents, has $70,000+ in student loan debt, and is considering the Navy or starting a podcast. He’s been diagnosed with NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) and describes consistent behavioral challenges.
• Hosts' Guidance:
  • Dave and Rachel emphasize his work difficulties are symptomatic of unresolved behavioral issues, not merely a career problem.
  • They challenge the practicality of John’s Navy idea and address the social and employment obstacles related to his behavioral health.
  • Both urge him to pursue professional therapy, emphasizing healing and developing coping tools as preconditions for sustainable employment and relationships.
• Quote:

  “There’s not a career, self-employed especially, that pays people for misbehaving... Your customers are gonna experience what your bosses were experiencing.” – Dave Ramsey (06:28)

• Action: John is referred for further help with Dr. John Delony, Ramsey Network’s mental health expert.

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2. Caller Jacob: Living with Ex’s Parents (11:03–17:42)

• Jacob’s Story: A 21-year-old in Atlanta, earning $35/hour, $4000 in savings, and minor debts, but has awkwardly lived with his ex-girlfriend’s parents since breaking up nine months ago.
• Hosts' Reaction:
  • Strongly encourage Jacob to move out immediately—saying nothing good comes from staying in “the middle of weird.”
  • Advise avoiding complications like rent-to-own arrangements or jumping to homeownership. Instead, get a cheap, simple apartment, clean up debts, and build a strong, independent foundation.
  • Encourage Jacob to find a supportive community, such as a good church, for mentorship and emotional health.
• Memorable Moment:

  “Dude, this freaking week. Get out of there right now. Right now.” – Dave Ramsey (16:45)

• Tone: Supportive but direct, clear separation of financial advice and life logistics.

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3. Melissa: Small Business Bonus and Mortgage Tension (18:07–20:31)

• Dilemma: Should Melissa invest her company bonus back for equity, or use it to pay down her mortgage?
• Advice: Ramsey firmly advises against minority investments in small businesses, labeling them riskier than single stocks.
• Quote:

  “If you don’t own 51%, your vote doesn’t count… they can vote for stupid and you have to stand there and watch it.” – Dave Ramsey (19:21)

• Recommendation: Pay down the mortgage with any windfalls; avoid equity stakes where you have no control.

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4. Jade Warshaw Segment: The Emotions of Money (22:20–28:58)

• Book Release: Jade discusses her new book, What No One Tells You About Money.
• Themes:
  • The emotional side of financial progress – fear, frustration, guilt, and how human factors hold people back more than numbers.
  • Encouragement: Progress comes from hope and consistent action, not just spreadsheets.
• Quote:

  “You’re not going to see the inside of a restaurant unless you’re working at one.” – Jade Warshaw (24:08)

• Notable: Her honesty, life stories, and message about embracing behavioral change in finances.

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5. Jimmy Darts: Generosity & Viral Kindness (33:32–42:21)

• Jimmy’s Story: Social media influencer and author of Undercover Kindness. Famous for giving surprise cash to strangers who show generosity.
• Highlights:
  • The power and contagiousness of generosity for both giver and receiver.
  • Most impactful giving is specific to a real need and not conditional.
  • Reflections on stewardship: “We’re just called to give. We’re not responsible for every single thing they do for it.” (Jimmy Darts, 39:07)
• Dave’s Note on Generosity:

  “The amount is not what matters as much… you’re flexing a muscle that a lot of people don’t even use. The generosity muscle.” (40:13)

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6. Brittany: Airbnb Cabin Regret (44:56–51:01)

• Brittany’s Scenario: Bought a cabin intending to Airbnb, but the market collapsed, leaving her stressed, barely breaking even, and regretful.
• Hosts' Analysis:
  • Affirm that the purchase was a “bad set of ideas.”
  • Urge her to separate her identity from this sunk investment: “Your net worth is not your self-worth.” (Rachel, 51:57)
  • Advise selling the property (if possible) and learning from the mistake without shame.

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7. Negotiating Medical Debt (54:54–62:37)

• Caller: Andrew from Washington, DC, with a $24,000 ER bill in collections.
• Advice:
  • Bill collectors have little power. Negotiating directly with hospital administration may yield better reductions, especially by highlighting market rates for procedures and appealing for mercy.
  • If a bill is old or uncollected, write-offs and settlements become more likely, but credit may suffer in the meantime.
• Tone: Realistic, a bit tough, but encouraging not to waste excessive effort for marginal gain.

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8. Fractional Jet Ownership: When Is Luxury Okay? (88:39–94:03)

• Caller: Greg, net worth $45M ($150M including business), considering buying into a private jet for personal/business use.
• Hosts' Wisdom:
  • “If you burned that much money in the floor, would your life change at all? ... If not, it’s OK.” (91:13)
  • The importance of healthy generosity, sound motives, and not letting shame dictate spending for the ultra-wealthy.
  • Caution: Don’t justify decisions solely by tax benefits.

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9. Debt-Free Scream: Jeremy & Deborah from Charlotte, NC (108:45–117:07)

• Their Journey: Paid off $86K, including their mortgage, in 62 months (making $72K–$82K/year), while overcoming infertility and personal setbacks.
• Key Takeaways:
  • “You have to have a team. You have to be a team.” – Jade Warshaw (112:53)
  • Eliminating debt creates options and peace for the family.
  • Even after mistakes (like luxury car buying), change is possible.
• Memorable Debt-Free Scream:

  “Three, two, one... WE’RE DEBT FREE!” (116:57)

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10. Coachable Moments and Listener Q&A

• Housing Decisions without Kids or Mortgage: Save heavily for a down payment, invest 15% into retirement, and maximize high-yield savings (98:00–101:51).
• Should Dad Finance Our House? Ramsey strongly cautions against parent-child mortgage arrangements:

  “It will change your relationship. ... Don’t entangle Thanksgiving dinner with your master.” (72:32)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "There's not a career... that pays people for misbehaving." – Dave Ramsey (06:28)
• "Get out of there right now. Right now." – Dave Ramsey to Jacob (16:45)
• "If you don't own 51%, your vote doesn't count." – Dave Ramsey (19:21)
• "Your net worth is not your self-worth." – Rachel Cruze (51:57)
• "The amount is not what matters as much... you're flexing a muscle..." – Dave Ramsey (40:13)
• "If you burned that much money in the floor, would your life change at all?" – Dave Ramsey (91:13)
• "Three, two, one... WE’RE DEBT FREE!" – Jeremy & Deborah (116:57)

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Episode Flow & Tone

• Language & Tone: Practical, direct, occasionally humorous, always rooted in hope and accountability. Dave and Rachel don’t sugar-coat but always encourage action.
• Guest Contributions: Jade Warshaw and Jimmy Darts add personal experience and fresh energy.

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Useful Timestamps

| Time | Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | John’s employment struggles/mental health | | 11:03 | Jacob: Living with Ex’s Parents Situation | | 18:07 | Should I invest bonus or pay off mortgage? | | 22:20 | Emotions in money—Jade’s book discussion | | 33:32 | Jimmy Darts on radical generosity | | 44:56 | Brittany’s Airbnb cabin regrets | | 54:54 | Negotiating medical debt in collections | | 88:39 | Fractional jet ownership, luxury spending | |108:45 | Debt-Free Scream: Jeremy & Deborah | |117:07 | Reflections on family money roles |

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Closing Reflection

This episode serves as a microcosm of The Ramsey Show’s mission: no matter your predicament, there’s a path to stability, but it requires honesty, decisive action, and sometimes the courage to step away from both comfort and unconventional situations. The support of others—whether family, church, or professional help—is critical, and, above all, generosity, humility, and learning from missteps are central to both wealth and personal peace.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network and the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality number one best selling author, host of the Rachel Cruze show and my daughter is my co host today. Open phones at 888, 825-5225. John's in Orlando. Hey John, how are you?

[Caller]

Hey Mr. Rams, it's nice to meet you. So I've actually struggled to keep steady employment over the past decade. I've been fired several times due to personality and behavioral challenges. You know, I've got over 70 grand in federal student loans. Considering joining the Navy as an officer. But to pay off debt and to build a career at the same time, considering joining, starting a podcast with my friend Ben. But I'm unsure what to do. I wouldn't be alive today without God and my parents funded me. But at 40 years old, I'd like to be independent. At this point in time, no employer will hire me. Even low paying jobs that you have suggested other people do to build a work record. I'm not sure what to do. What kind of advice can you give me to help me out?

[Dave Ramsey]

How many jobs in 10 years?

[Caller]

Actually 11 years, but 14.

[Dave Ramsey]

14 jobs in 11 years. You're 40. So what'd you do before 29?

[Caller]

Well, I was actually, I spent eight years in, you know, in college because I, I made a mistake early on in my life. I didn't have a plan. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I had a brief window of time where I had good grades, but that was only, you know.

[Dave Ramsey]

And go back to the other then. Thank you. I go, I go back to the other then. You had 14 jobs in 11 years. So it's not even a year each. And you said behavior and personality challenges caused you to lose your jobs. Is that what you said?

[Caller]

So I have a disability. I have a personality disability and it took me many years to figure that out through different neurological assessments.

[Dave Ramsey]

What is your, what is the diagnosis?

[Caller]

NPD is what I've been told I have. But I was, my mom believes when I was, I was vaccinated when I was a kid and my body rejected the vaccine and it caused me to have epilepsy when I was younger and ADD and a few.

[Dave Ramsey]

So how does this manifest itself in the workplace? Like you're just a. But.

[Caller]

So what it's caused me to do is challenge authority, to be difficult employee to work.

[Dave Ramsey]

What you describe would be normally, I would think, belligerence.

[Caller]

Yeah, I guess you could put that in that category.

[Rachel Cruze]

And is it episodes, John, when it happens, like when it occurred? Do you. Are you aware of it? Like when it's happening or how does that work? Because I'm just trying to figure out the tools to put in place for your life going forward to. To be able to function in society. Right. I mean, to be able to hold a job.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, hold a relationship of anything.

[Caller]

I haven't been able to function in society.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's the point. And the Navy's not. Navy doesn't do well with people who have trouble with authority. Yeah, I realize that's gonna be a nasty. That's gonna be a nasty conflict. I mean, the whole military thing is authority, you know that. So it's command structure. And you will respect that even if your commander's an idiot. So. Wow. Okay. So are you. Are you getting help with this in some way? Because I wish Dr. Deloney was here today because Rachel and I are going. Oh, no, but, yeah, but the. I mean, is there. So is there a treatment for this where you can become functional?

[Caller]

Honestly, no. There's no cure for it. I've proposed an idea to. Because according to research, the reason why people have NPD is because of low gray matter in the brain. I think that it can be cured with nanobots that you can. You can inject nanobots in the body and then have it. Have them programmed to heal the frontal cortex of the brain.

[Dave Ramsey]

We just. We just left my page. I'm. I just. You just left me behind at the airport, dude.

[Caller]

But. But no, there's no. There's no support really.

[Dave Ramsey]

What I. What I. You know, just from a common sense, Your older brother talking to you, listening to you, who loves you, just from that. What I'm reaching for is to try to find some way that. Because there's not a career, self employed especially, that pays people for misbehaving. Okay. And so I'm trying to find some way that you create a sustainable life that allows you to be employed, that allows you to be engaged in other relationships, that allows you to do those things. And.

[Rachel Cruze]

I think that's what I'm wondering, is there.

[Dave Ramsey]

The problem is not the career issue, it's the symptom.

[Rachel Cruze]

Right? So that's what I'm asking you, John. Are there other tools, whether it's through therapy or whatnot, that when things happen. Right. And even, like, you could take anxiety as an example, like neuro, like something is happening chemically in your body when that happens. But there are tools to get you back grounded when it comes to that. Is there anything when you feel that rising up in you? Has anyone given you any set of tools of awareness? I do this, I do that. To at least be able to. With saying like just a 9 to 5. Right. To be able to have any level of function. Has anyone given you any tools at all or are you just kind of sure.

[Dave Ramsey]

Any kind of form?

[Caller]

Yeah, I mean I have been given tools. But one of the things that happens when I go into these jobs is I bring bitterness from previous jobs into it and kind of self sabotage at the early stage. And they already have this. I don't know how to say this, but they already know they can see my resume, that I haven't kept jobs or kind of looking my mind.

[Dave Ramsey]

It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. That's logical. That makes sense.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. So dude, the answer is that this is above Rachel and my pay grade. I don't know how to answer your question because the answer to your question is to find some healing so that you can hold a job, so that you can hold a quality relationship because there's not a career path. And self employed people oftentimes become self employed because they can't do anything else. But it doesn't keep you from having to struggle with that because your customers are gonna experience what your bosses were experiencing and you're not gonna be customers. I mean, if you're my mechanic and you're a butt when I'm the customer, then you're not my mechanic anymore and you go out of business. So I mean, you fix my heat and air, but you're a butt. Well, you're not my heat and air guy anymore. Okay? And so, you know, if that's how it's. If belligerence is how this is manifesting, which I'm not an expert in your area, so I don't know what I'm talking about, but I'm just listening to you as a friend and saying I'm going to be in the therapy realm. I'm going to be talking to Dr. John Deloney, which I will put you on hold. We'll try to make you a caller on his show. Maybe he can actually add something intelligent to this conversation because I, I don't know what to say other than you've got to get your ability to cope.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, well. And we have found people that are successful when they have very obvious limitations. Whether it's a mental illness, a physical illness, a disability. You know, we talk to people on the show and they are, you know, legally blind, but yet they're making $150,000 a year because they figured out something that got them a job, and they figured it out. So there is a level that I don't want. John, the thing I would not want for you is into any level of victimhood.

[Dave Ramsey]

No.

[Rachel Cruze]

That this is a horrible thing. But people do have serious setbacks, but they overcome them, and we talk to them on this show all the time. And so I don't know what that looks like for you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Create a predictable environment 100%.

[Rachel Cruze]

So that's what I'm saying, though, is don't. Don't fall victim to this.

[Dave Ramsey]

No.

[Rachel Cruze]

And make excuses. So that. That's where the work of the healing and the proactive, you know, being proactive in that way is going to be your next step. It has to be, man. But I think it is possible. I think there's something that you can do, honestly, John, to find healing and to be a productive member of society.

[Dave Ramsey]

I, too, I think there's something other than nanobots. Hold on. Christian will pick up. We'll get you hooked up with Deloney. I've been doing this show for over 30 years, and some of the saddest calls I have taken are from situations that are completely preventable.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. And what's so hard is I feel like one of those, especially the ones that I'm like, oh, it's terrible. People that call in and their spouse has passed away suddenly and they don't have life insurance. We actually took a question of a lady, and she had three kids, pregnant, and husband didn't have life insurance. And I'm like, I can't even imagine. Or even if it was opposite. Right. If a mom passed away, there's a dad with kids and trying to figure out, how am I going to afford child care? How do I. How do I outsource some stuff that maybe she was doing? Like. And it just takes the grief and the sadness of something like a sudden death to a whole new level. Like, when you have to think through, how am I going to pay my bills?

[Dave Ramsey]

How about next week?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

In the middle of all that grief, like, it's just. It is. It's terrible. So life insurance is the one thing, especially as a mom with three little kids, that I'm, like, so big on for people to get because it's inexpensive. Zander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life Insurance. And we keep re upping it because I'm like, I just want it there. Like there's something about that safety of knowing that you have money. If something suddenly happens and it doesn't.

[Dave Ramsey]

Cost much because Zander shops among a gazillion different companies, it doesn't cost much. You just have to admit that someday you're not going to be here. You got to say it out loud and you got to say, I'm going to say I love you to my family by taking care of them and taking the time to put this stuff in place. The cost of stinking pizza there really is.

[Rachel Cruze]

So that is one thing to do, to say I love you to your family.

[Dave Ramsey]

So we've used Zander for all of our family's needs for insurance for many years, including, of course, term life insurance. To get a free quote, go to 800-356-4282. That's 800-356-4282. Or go to zander.com Jacob is in Atlanta. Hi, Jacob. How are you? Good.

[Caller]

How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So I'm kind of in a predicament. I'm having to move out. I'm only 21. I make 35 an hour at my 40 hour job and then I get to do my own side work on Fridays and Saturdays and I've got owe 2900 on my truck and I have a thousand dollars in credit card debt and never been on my own. So I guess I'm just kind of nervous about being out on your own.

[Rachel Cruze]

What, what caused you having to move out?

[Caller]

So funny story. I actually live with my ex and her parents at the moment.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your ex wife?

[Caller]

No, my ex girlfriend.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so you, when did y' all break up?

[Caller]

I'm sorry, we broke up in February of this year.

[Rachel Cruze]

And you've been living with your ex girlfriend's parents for this long?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh. Jacob, blink twice. Are you okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

Awkward.

[Caller]

Yes, I'm okay.

[Rachel Cruze]

But you got to get out. I would assume that her parents.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow, these are some unusual humans.

[Rachel Cruze]

They are nice. They sound very nice. Good humans.

[Dave Ramsey]

They're weird.

[Jade Warshaw]

Just.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Number one, that you were in there in the first place, living with their daughter under their roof. That's weird. Number one. Super weird. Y' all break up and then they don't throw your butt out. Yeah, that's super weird.

[Caller]

Okay, we, we didn't. We built like a tiny house at their house for.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, okay, well, on their property. Excuse me, maybe the roof didn't extend.

[Rachel Cruze]

Over maybe makes it a little bit better out on your own for the first time. And you're 21. Are you. So are you out now or you're moving out?

[Dave Ramsey]

You've been there for February. I knew this was coming. Since February, how much money have you saved, honey?

[Caller]

Well, I've only got, I've got $4,000 saved.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so go get an apartment.

[Caller]

Well, I found a house that's rental rent.

[Dave Ramsey]

You don't need rent to home straight from owner. You need non homelessness. That's all you need. Don't be homeless. That's it. Go get a cheap one bedroom apartment and get your butt out of weird as soon as you can. And then plug yourself into a good church and we'll get you onto every dollar and get your money stuff working for you. And let's start making every dollar that you have behave. You should have more than dollars because you have no overhead. And I don't know where your money's been going since February, but you make enough money, you should have a stack of cash right now.

[Caller]

I haven't always had this job since February.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, good, okay, that makes more sense then.

[Caller]

Okay. I've had this job for about two months.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Would you agree with me that if you make 35 an hour for 40 hours plus side hustle, you should be able to stack some cash if you keep, keep your rent cheap and go ahead and knock these two debts out pretty quick?

[Caller]

Yes, I've been, I've been saving about a thousand dollars a week.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, there you go. That's my man. Okay, good.

[Caller]

And the house that I'm looking at written is, it's a thousand dollars a month. It's pretty cheap for around here.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that'd be real cheap around Atlanta.

[Rachel Cruze]

So are you, and making sure too that when you're doing that that you're not signing yourself into this idea that you have to buy this house either. I don't want you locked into anything weird. So making sure contract wise you can get out.

[Caller]

I mean, yes, I can get out, but I also feel like the house would be a bit of an investment.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, you don't need an investment.

[Rachel Cruze]

Not right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

At 21 you have $4,000 and $3,000 worth of debt. You don't need an investment right now. You need a place to live and not be homeless and not be in the middle of weird. So let's get your life sustainable on a rhythm that's normal before we start talking about investing. Okay, so no, I actually would not do this house deal. I Smell a rat. Okay, I want you to get an apartment that's $1,000 or less for a one bedroom and get out and have no human beings bothering you, no weird crap swimming around in your head. It's just you, some bread, some milk, some electricity, and go to work. Get the truck paid off, get the credit card paid off, start stacking some cash, Build Jacob a life to where you can stand with your shoulders square with a pocket full of money and no debt. And then we can talk about really becoming a millionaire, building some wealth. And you're going to be able to do all of that, but we've got to get you so far away from where you are to even get you to zero. You're at your subterranean right now. You're at a negative 32 degrees. I got to get you up to zero before we can get you warm. Okay? And so there's so much crap in your life that you've got to clean out. And so if you were my nephew or my son, I would put my arm around you. I'd walk you into a great church there in Atlanta, Georgia, that's got some good men in it that can walk along beside you and say, hey, here's how you be a man. Here's how you walk with God. Here's how you handle your money. Let's get you out of debt. Let's get you in a sustainable, boring situation. And then that's where you build exciting from. You don't build exciting from desperation. You build it from boring. Let's get up to boring first. And so go get you a simple one bedroom. Don't try to buy a house. Don't do the rent to own thing. I'd pass on it. And dude, this freaking week. Get out of there right now. Right now.

[Rachel Cruze]

We're cheering for you, Jacob.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. You can do it. You can do it, man.

[Rachel Cruze]

Here's to Jacob.

[Dave Ramsey]

This is.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

I cannot imagine the percentage of human beings that allow this person that broke up from their girlfriend to stay on their property for nine months. I don't understand. I don't understand being there in the first place. But I said that already. But the likelihood. No, no, no, no.

[Rachel Cruze]

Well, less about the parent. It would be more for me if I'm him. I don't want to be there.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

Going into the kitchen. You know what I mean? You're like, hi, Sally. Sorry me and Ashley broke up. You know, like, I mean, that's just weird. All right, here we go. Jacob, we're for you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, we want you to win we want you to win. But yeah, you got, you're also processing all the emotions of this and a separate clean location that doesn't have a complication to it of any kind like rent to own or former in law. Sortas all that stuff is going to clean your mind out. And that's what I mean by boring. That's what I want to lead you towards. Melissa's in Hartford, Connecticut. Hey Melissa, what's up?

[Caller]

Hi Dave and Rachel. Thanks so much for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. How can we help?

[Caller]

So I work for a home health agency. They put me on a bonus structure where I'm now making 5% on the incremental above my quota. As long as I hit my quota, I get 5% of the gross profit above my quota and they pool it pretty much to the end of the year. They cap my bonus at 2,500 a quarter and then they're going to pool and whatever is left over, I'll get a lump sum at the end of the year. I'm wondering if I should take that lump sum and invest it back into the company for equity or if I should focus on paying off my mortgage, which is my last remaining debt.

[Dave Ramsey]

Regardless of whether you have a mortgage, regardless of whether you have a mortgage or not, you do not invest into a small business where you're a minority shareholder, okay? Because you have absolutely zero control. You could wake up six months later, the owner starts doing cocaine, runs the thing into debt, runs the whole thing into zero and all your money's worth zero. And you have absolutely no governmental say the governance documents when you're a minority shareholder. In other words, if you don't own 51%, your vote don't count.

[Caller]

Okay?

[Dave Ramsey]

And they can vote for stupid and you have to stand there and watch it.

[Caller]

So it's like a single, it's like almost investing in a single stock.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's worse.

[Caller]

It's worse, okay, because you can't get out of it. And I have a follow up question for you, Dave. We have, we have a pretty significant mortgage. We have like 650,000 left on the house. We have about 410 in a brokerage account, 200 in our 401ks and a small emergency fund. And it does put a lot of stress on us the amount we pay in the mortgage and the taxes. Would you recommend anything on how to make.

[Dave Ramsey]

You sound like you've been listening a while and you know we're going to tell you to take the 14 and put it on the mortgage. You knew that, right?

[Caller]

Okay, I Think so. But it's scary to do.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's also scary to have 650,000 breathing down your dead gum neck.

[Caller]

Right?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I put the 410 on it. Refinance and get you current. Current rates are down. Let's get. Let's get the thing refinanced.

[Rachel Cruze]

Get your new mortgage bonus at the end of this year too, Melissa. That's gonna be some extra cash to throw at it too. So.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, it's great. Yeah. Invest in something you can control the outcome and. Or get out of. Minority shareholder positions aren't one of them.

[Jimmy Darts]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

[Caller]

This time of year can be tough.

[Jimmy Darts]

So make sure you check in on your friends, check in on your loved ones, and reconnect with people you haven't talked to in a while. I recently called one of my childhood friends. We had a great conversation. It was awesome. The conversation was hard, but we also laughed a little bit too. It can take a little courage to just send that message or go grab coffee or even get in the car and drive across the country to reach out with a friend. And reaching out for a therapist can also feel hard.

[Caller]

But often it's worth it.

[Rachel Cruze]

And if you're thinking about therapy, I.

[Jimmy Darts]

Recommend calling my friends at Better Help. BetterHelp has over 30,000 therapists. They're the largest online therapy provider in the world and they've served over 5 million people globally. And they have an average rating of 4.9 stars out of 5. It's totally online and it's easy to fit into your schedule.

[Caller]

To get started, just answer a few.

[Jimmy Darts]

Simple questions and BetterHelp will connect you.

[Caller]

With a licensed therapist.

[Jimmy Darts]

And if it's not the right fit, you can switch therapists at any time for no extra cost. This month, don't wait to reach out. Visit betterhelp.comramsey to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp h lp.comramsey.

[Dave Ramsey]

You ever feel like you're doing everything right with your money, but you're still like a rat in a wheel, you're not getting anywhere. Well, you're not alone. Our own Jade Warshaw Ramsey personality has a brand new book out called what no One Tells yous About Money. The real key to getting unstuck from someone who's been there, done that. Got the T shirt right?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, got the T shirt. Wore it out, gave it to Goodwill.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm telling you. There we go. Good looking cover on there too. Good looking cover. I like it. So you just got back from la. You've been out doing book tour stuff.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Promoting it. You were out there doing a podcast.

[Jade Warshaw]

I guess that's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

What were y' all talking about on that? About.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. Ellen Fisher. Great podcast, if you haven't seen it. Yeah. We're just talking about how the emotions of money are really what hold people back. Right. We give, we give them a plan, we give them a baby. The baby steps. It's very logical, it's very practical, it's very number heavy. But it's not usually the numbers that are the problem. You know, when you start working that plan, you do come against different emotions. Because we're asking you to change your behavior. Yeah. And whenever we're talking about changing your behavior, you know, the, the child inside comes out. Right. And there's a lot of fear and there's a lot of frustration. Some of us are dealing with a lot of guilt and frustration. Guilt and shame, pity. So many things. And if we don't recognize it for what it is, we can't solve it. And therefore a lot of us get stuck.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. I love that you wrote about this, though, because I'm like, it just brings the humanity to the system. Right. And we talk so much about emotions on the show in the sense that we know it's. We're dealing with people. Right. And I do think a lot of people in the financial space, they do like, they talk numbers all, all day long. And I do feel like that is something that is so true and it resonates with people because they are waking up and, and, and what they are feeling, what they are thinking that day is going to drive their choices and decisions. And so you kind of like hitting that straight on is so smart.

[Jade Warshaw]

I mean, absolutely. Think about the advice that we give here. Every day we're telling people, hey, you're not going to see the inside of a restaurant unless you're working at 1A. Were giving people tough news like, hey, you might need to sell your home. This is not something that in one second you're okay with.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

This is something that you take home. You tell your spouse you're mulling it over, you're feeling a type of way about it.

[Rachel Cruze]

All the logistics.

[Jade Warshaw]

All the logistics. That's right. In the book I talk about when Sam and I were walking the baby steps, we had been in it for a while. And for those of you who don't know, two, $460,000 of debt we were paying off, long time frame, seven and a half years. And at one point, I had just Gotten so frustrated because the bill collectors calling me and it was just like two steps forward, one step back. And I realized in that moment with all my trying to do good, I was leaving out pieces of the plan and I wasn't doing it exactly as it stated. And a lot of us come up against that. We're like, I feel like I'm doing everything right. Why am I not going forward? And you kind of hit that wall and you want to give up, but then if you step back and you kind of do a little bit of an audit, you go, wait a minute, I am missing something here. For us, it was instead of paying minimum payments on all the debt and then putting, you know, everything else on the smallest debt, we were just taking all the money and putting it on the smallest debt. Well, yeah, you're going to have a problem. Right. So sometimes we're so excited about moving forward, we're leaving things out, we're doing things wrong. And that can cause frustration. I talk about that in the book.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, the. Because you don't get traction.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Anytime you have set a goal to move from a place to another place, the thing that starts you is hope.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

And the thing that keeps you going is hope. But you lose hope if you're not making progress.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so, you know, if you go to the gym and you work out and you diet and you gain three pounds after 30 days, nobody's going to keep doing that.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's just weird.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. I call that toil with no traction. In the book, it's when your results aren't matching your efforts. And that's frustrating. And then there's the fear part. Right. Where we're asking people to change and do things in their life to have an outcome that many of us have never actually seen in real life. I remember when Dave, I used to listen to Dave on the radio when I was going through our debt free journey and he was talking about buying cars in cash and one day you'd be able to pay off your house and one day you'd be a millionaire. I never saw that. So there was this part of what he's saying makes a lot of sense to me, but this guy better be right because I'm about to embark on serious life change. And if it doesn't pan out. So there's this what if, what if I do all of this and it still doesn't work, is it going to be worth it? What if I make all these changes? You know, I'm working extra. Instead of going to my kids recital. I'm working extra. Right.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

It better be worth it on the other end. And so there's a lot of fear of the unknown, a lot of fear of change. I talk about that in the book and how to change.

[Dave Ramsey]

So there's three chapters in the book called It's a pain in the butt.

[Jade Warshaw]

It's a pain in the butt to change.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's hard.

[Jade Warshaw]

Change requires change.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes, yes. Well, and that's scary. I'm like when you're doing something that is so different and so new, we all feel that. Right. Or you're like you're entering into a whole new world.

[Dave Ramsey]

You ride a bicycle the first time. It's anxiety.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. And you're about to fall good at this. And I don't want to not be good. Right. And so you feel like you're kind of going backwards in that sense because you're like, no, I'm good at this. Even if what I'm doing is stupid.

[Jade Warshaw]

At least I know.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes, I know how it feels.

[Jade Warshaw]

Exactly.

[Rachel Cruze]

Changing that is hard.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what no one tells you about Money is the new book from Jade Washoe. And this is from someone who's actually done it. So if, you know, if you don't like theory, you'll like this book. I like practical application. I want to find somebody who did it and won. This is what it looks like to win. Ask her and Sam. They pull this off pre order right now for $24.99 and you get over $100 in free bonus items including the enhanced audiobook, early access to the ebook, instant access to an exclusive video, your financial check, Jade Wajau. And you can book exclusive three week online book club which includes live Q and a with Jade. And Jade is one of the personalities that does this show every day. In case you hadn't noticed, for some reason or another hadn't been around here or you're new this week. And so she knows how to answer the questions and not only she done it personally, but she's been sitting at this desk answering questions for a couple of years now and doing a great job. So you can pre order right [e-mail] store. So I know when Rachel and I have written books and this is a fabulous book. I remember going through the manuscript a few months back when we were building the thing. You were building it. And I get to look at it because I'm a CEO. I was thinking this is a book about hope, but not fake hope, where real Hope comes from.

[Jade Warshaw]

Well, that's the thing here. I really wanted to shoot people straight and not dilly dally around the reality of what you're going to face. And so when you read this book, you're gonna go. You're gonna go on an emotional ride because I'm telling stories in it that I've never told anybody about. Some of the things you can encounter, some of those real emotions that pop up when you're working with a spouse, when you're dealing with guilt and shame over past mistakes. How many times do we take calls on the Ramsey show when one spouse has brought in an inordinate, an inordinate amount of debt, and the other spouse has to say, okay, I'm on board. Right?

[Dave Ramsey]

How.

[Jade Warshaw]

How often do we deal with. That was me. That was Sam and I. How often do we deal with situations where, you know, a spouse has gambled or they've, you know, made bad choices with money, a bad business plan? Right. Those are real things that really affect or, you know, you're ready to start a family, but you've got this debt. That was one of the stories in the book from our side. You know, we would never tell anybody that you can't have a family with, you know, if you have debt. But for Sam and I, we decided we're going to wait. And there was a lot of emotion that went along with that. So it's not just telling you what you're going to face, it's also showing you exactly how to work through it. Because one thing at Ramsey is we're going to give you a plan. We're going to tell you exactly what to do next. And that's what I do in this book. I'm helping you see the problem for what it is. Because it's like the old adage, you can't solve a problem without admitting there is one. Right? And then. So once you see, oh, man, that might be me. I think she's describing what I'm going through now. I'm showing you. And here's exactly what you do next. We talk about things like daily habits. We talk about ways to set daily rewards. We talk about all the different things to keep you motivated, to pull you out of those stuck places. So anybody who's ever been stuck, this book is for you.

[Rachel Cruze]

So good. Oh, y' all, go get this book. Seriously, go order it today. Because. And I'm such a reader. I love. I do. I love to read, and I love to read books where there is a subject matter. And this one, obviously is Money and to put myself in a position of that author. And the fact that you're so honest in this and you bring such a story element to it of what you guys walk through, I'm like, regardless of where you are financially, you're going to relate in this book. You're gonna find something in this book not only that you feel like, okay, that is me, but also it's gonna show you where to go. It's aspirational of like you're at the end right from the quote unquote baby step. Like it's like, yeah, yeah. Like you've done it. You've walked through all of this. And so whether you are starting this journey, you're at the end. Seriously, this book is for you. What no one tells you about Money by Jade Warshaw. Love you, Jade.

[Caller]

Thank you so much.

[Dave Ramsey]

We'll be shipping them in a couple of months, so get about 45 days for the ship.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so you can pre order right now and get the deal. $24.99. What no one tells you about money.

[Rachel Cruze]

From Jade Washo and a good Christmas gift. So just get a box of them, hand them out to your friends.

[Dave Ramsey]

Times are tight and one of the easiest ways to save more money right now is to stop, stop overpaying for your phone plan. Boost Mobile gives you one low monthly price, just $25 a month for unlimited talk, text and data. And that price never goes up with Boost, there are no contracts and they're so sure you'll love it. They've got a 30 day money back guarantee. So take the easy win and switch today at boost mobile. That's boostmobile.com Ramsey restrictions apply. See boostmobile.com Ramsey for details. Well, a couple years ago, George Camel brought in a couple of YouTube videos and said, you got to watch this guy. He is redefining generosity. And I got to meet Jimmy Darts on the small screen the first time. And then Jimmy was in town. I don't know Jimmy, what, a couple years ago, first time you came by.

[Jimmy Darts]

Sometime last year somewhere. I know the years blend together, but.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, it starts running together with the miles you're putting on the airplane, man.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So this Jimmy is a star in the world of social media, particularly YouTube, and a champion of kindness and generosity. As a social media influencer, he's known for his heartwarming random accent of kindness. You've seen him on cnn, Fox News Today show and the Ramsey show here. This is the second time he's been with us. He does an incredible Job of walking up to someone, asking for their help, someone who obviously needs help, and excuse me, ma', am, can you give me $5 or something like that? Right. And then when they do, he ends up giving them, in some cases, a lot of money.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, yeah. Usually, you know, 500 to $1,000. That's kind of the seed form. The video goes up, and then it's really up to the public how much they want to bl. Yeah, it can be anywhere from 50 grand. Last week, I think a couple weeks ago, we raised over 400,000 for a guy.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what was this? What was his situation?

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, he was homeless, living in his car with his wife. They was traveling pastor doing ministry with their one year old. And he actually passed the honesty test. So I went up to him, asked him for help, and he went, I seen your videos. I know who you are. I'm not gonna fake like I don't. So I was like, shoot, I'm gonna have to leave. I can't help this guy. And I was like, wait, wait. Actually, he just passed the honesty test. So, sure enough, we blessed him. But it's. It's an honor getting to travel around and just see that there really is good people in this country.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, for sure. Well, and it's so encouraging how well your stuff does, because I feel like it shows that people want to see that content. You know what I mean? Like, the amount of views and stuff that you get and what you've built just shows people are craving generosity. They're craving to see good in the world, I think. And that's what you represent for a lot of people.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There's. I've been blown away from Laundromats to Walmart aisles, to anywhere and everywhere you can think of just the kindness of people. And it's. It's just so cool to see because in that moment when they're kind and I say, actually, I don't need your help. I want to bless you. It's like a mirror is. Is shown to their face, and they realize. Wait, they actually realize they're a good person. You know, like, we're all. Obviously, you know, we need a savior. We're born into sin, but to understand that, man, we're also made in the image of God. And that even though I'm going through a struggle, they realize that they were generous. And so that's why I think the blessing hits so hard. And it's really the opposite of the lottery. You know, the lottery usually lands on a foundation of greed because they're trying to get rich. Where these blessings land on the foundation of generosity, because these people are giving when they get the blessing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ten days ago, his first new book hit the streets, and it's already a best seller. Undercover Kindness. Saying yes to love, no to fear, and embracing the life changing power of ordinary generosity. And absolutely incredible. So what caused you to. I know the answer to this, but I'll give you the underhand pitch. What caused you to start this whole thing with radical generosity?

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, man. Really? My parents, when I was a kid, I was 10 years old, and they said, hey, Jimmy, for Christmas, instead of just doing gifts, we're gonna give you $200 in cash. So I was jumping up and down, doing backflips off the coach, and. And my dad's go, settle down. You got to give half of it away to a stranger. And I'm like, what? A tie is 10%? What do you mean, half of it? And so, sure enough, we're driving through the city, and I see this guy freezing out in the cold, and I get out of the car, hand him $100, and just the look on his face, knowing he could get a meal that night, he could get a jacket. I got back in the car, and, you know, I'm sitting here today, I'm 29 years old. That was 19 years ago. And the crazy thing is I have no idea what I bought with the other hundred dollars and. But I know the face and the look on that man's face. And so I think my parents instilled it into me. And then also just the gospel, when you really understand that Jesus gave, you know, God gave his one and only begotten son. So of course I can give five bucks out of my pocket. You know, if I really believe that God did that for me, it can't help but explode your heart for other people.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. And the joy that comes through it, you know, generosity, it's a big message for us. Like we talk about even at Ramsey, like, when you're doing your budget, it's the first line item in the budget for every dollar. Because we believe in that principle so much to the point that, you know, we know that the. That people, when you're handling your money, you are a person inside, like, the soul inside of you, the character inside of you is the person actually handling it. And when your character changes and you become a selfless person through the act of generosity and giving, you know, there. There is such. There's such joy and such meaning and purpose in that, and it really does create I think a level of depth in your life, when you get to ongoingly experience that generosity, it's a really beautiful thing.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, absolutely. When people are generous, like you said, their character begins to change. And what do they see? They notice, oh, when they're doing their job at serving tables or driving Uber, when they're a kinder person, that people want to tip them more. When you're a more happy person, people want to say, hey, you want to come in on this business? Deal with me. So generosity and just. Yeah, your character really just attracts more blessing.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, it's beautiful.

[Dave Ramsey]

So talk about the difference in generosity and how stewardship is woven into that. Because when you're talking, walking up to someone who's on the skids and you give them 50 or 100 grand, how are you doing that quote, unquote, responsibly? Because you don't necessarily need to say yes. You could just go, I'm just doing it. Shut up.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, absolutely. 99% of the time when we raise money for someone, it's usually for a specific reason. So when we were here back in Nashville, there was a lady who. Her son needed, you know, like, a heart transplant. It was something with. With her baby's health, and so she had to leave her job. She was staying at the hospital. Her husband lived, like, an hour away. And so, you know, she's stuck here draining their savings account. And so we were able to get her, capture her story, raise, like 50 grand for her. And we just saw her video come in a couple of weeks ago. It was like a year later. She sent me a video carrying the baby out of the hospital. Everyone was clapping in the hospital, and it just took so much stress off them, you know? So usually when we raise money, it's for a specific cause or situation, but really, you know, the key is God calls us to give. And I think so many times people are always caught up in, well, what if I give this guy $5 of that? What's he gonna do with it? Well, the truth is, we're just called to give. We're not responsible for every single thing they do for it. It's like, God loves the crap out of us, and he forgives us and loves us and loves us, and. And if he was to pull back his love on us because we made a mistake, that'd be crazy. You know? And so I think, really, people, we just need to focus on, man, go out there, love somebody, be generous, obviously, be smart and wise with how you do it, but just go and do it and It'll actually change your heart probably more than the person you're blessing.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, for sure. That's so good.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, and what's weird is the amount is not what matters as much when you are the giver. It's just the actual. Because you are. You're flexing a muscle that a lot of people don't even use. The generosity muscle.

[Jimmy Darts]

Absolutely. Yeah. A lot of people are like, man, when I have this much money or this or that I'm going to give, I'm going to be generous. And the truth is you actually probably won't. You know, like, you can start today. Let's say you got 10 bucks to your name. Well, find a quarter, buy someone a gumball. You know, like you. You start doing that now the Lord's like says, be faithful a little and you'll be given much. And he knows if you can't be faithful little, you're not going to be faithful with much.

[Dave Ramsey]

When you started this channel, it was on YouTube to start with. And you're on everything now. What's your primary channel now?

[Jimmy Darts]

Where people see it, probably Instagram is probably the main place now. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Immidarts D A R T S. The new book is Undercover Kindness. Saying yes to love and no to fear and yes to generosity. Big time. But I remember the story you were telling me before we got just a minute, but quickly, how you got started with nothing. Pop up a camera and here we go.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, absolutely. I just was talking to my dad on the porch and he goes, what do you want to do with your life? And at the time I was working, I didn't restaurant. So I realized, well, I guess it must not be working for you. And he goes, what do you want to do? I go, man, if I could be Santa Claus year round, just go around, share the gospel, love on people, give away cars and houses. I'd love to do it, but there's nowhere on Craigslist to apply for that. And he just looks at me and he goes, start tomorrow. And I was like, what do you mean start tomorrow? And I actually was like, man, the world has amazing drive, but sometimes lacks purpose. And the church has great purpose, but a lot of times lacks drive. If I can put drive and purpose together, I think I can make something happen. So I got in my car, started going around the country and, yeah, just spending time with people, whether that was having a conversation with a guy asking someone for a hug. And it started with $10, $20 and just kept climbing and climbing. And so you really can start tomorrow and go after it, get after it and do it with the Lord and you'll be amazed at what he can do.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's one of the biggest shows on the social media platform and it's all about generosity, all about loving people. Well, the new book is Undercover Kindness from my good friend Jimmy Darts. Proud to say I know you, brother.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, thanks so much. I couldn't do it without you. If I was in a snowball of debt, I wouldn't even be able to think straight. So my dad put me on to you a while ago.

[Rachel Cruze]

Aw, Jimmy, congrats on the book.

[Jimmy Darts]

Thank you so much.

[Rachel Cruze]

Absolutely amazing. Amazing.

[Dave Ramsey]

You already know the power of generosity. And the best gifts make an impact now and eternally. That's what preborn does and you can trust them to do it. Well, they don't just offer free ultrasounds. They support pregnancy clinics across the country with ultrasound machines, training grants and evangelism tools. They're faithful with each dollar. So moms in crisis can see the life in their wombs and hear the truth that brings eternal life. Because here's the thing, when a mom sees her baby on that ultrasound screen, she chooses life 80% of the time. And your gift of just $28 cover of one ultrasound. Or if you're able, you can purchase an ultrasound machine through preborn and have it placed in one of their clinics so women will choose life for years. Your donation brings hope and truth when mothers feel alone and fear is loud. So I'm asking you to give to preborn today even just $28 to provide one ultrasound. Go to preborn.com Ramsey or call 855-601-2229. Because every baby saved is more than a life preserved. It's a life changed. That's preborn.com Ramsey welcome back to the Ramsey show in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio. I'm Dave Ramsey. Your host. Rachel Cruz Ramsey, personality number one best selling author, is my co host today and my daughter. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Brittany's in Los Angeles. Hi Brittany, how are you?

[Caller]

Hi Dave. Hi Rachel. Thank you for taking my call. I am in a bit of a pickle right now. I bought a house a year ago and I am an in a bit of a financial rut. So I'm wondering if I should sell my house or if I should put it up for rental.

[Rachel Cruze]

Is this your primary home? Brittany?

[Caller]

Yes. No. It's kind of complex. I did buy it as a primary. However I did have the intent to also well, the intent was to live in it, but also I was going to Airbnb it because I do work in la, so it, but I don't live there. My house is in the mountains. It's a cabin in the mountains. Mountains. So when I decided to buy a home, I asked my mother, you know, to help me, and she has a cabin up here. I should preface this by saying I also do have another cabin, but I own that one with my dad and he pays 100% for that one. I haven't had to put a dime into it upon getting it in, you know, post. It's been about two years, so I was able to qualify for one on my own because of that. I had the intent of getting the house as an Airbnb whenever I'm not here. My mom's Airbnb was doing phenomenal, but I came in at the absolute worst time I, when the market started dropping was earlier this year, pretty much right after election and I had gotten my permit in about February.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I think I heard you say in the last few months, I wish I hadn't done this. Did I hear you say that?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Did I hear you say that? Okay, so what's, what's the cabin worth? What's the cabin worth?

[Caller]

So, so the cabin is worth 360. It's what I bought it for.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. And what do you owe against it?

[Caller]

I owe about 350. Yeah. 350. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you put almost nothing down.

[Caller]

I did put money down, but the interest is so bad that when I put it down, it was like 353 at the time.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, but you didn't put much down.

[Caller]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So you don't have a lot of equity, so I'm not even sure you can. If you sell it, you might not even break even. Agreed.

[Caller]

That's agreed. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Have you thought about putting it up for sale?

[Caller]

I have, I have a, a realtor actually going to come over tomorrow morning because I put a lot of work into the home. So when it got appraised, one of the things that was noted was the fact that it hadn't been touched. The house was built in like 1978. Most of the cabins up here are very old.

[Dave Ramsey]

So if you've done all this work to it, why has it not gone up in value?

[Caller]

You? Well, I, I, I'm gonna get the comps tomorrow.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, so you don't know what it's worth right now? Okay.

[Caller]

I, I don't know. I'm just going based off of what Zillow is saying.

[Jade Warshaw]

Like, the market.

[Dave Ramsey]

Zillow is not. Don't. Don't use Zillow as truth. Okay. That. Gross.

[Rachel Cruze]

Hopefully. Hopefully it'll be more. Hopefully.

[Dave Ramsey]

Let's pretend it's 400. Yeah, let's pretend it's 400. And you. And you can sell it. And you sell it, and your problems go away.

[Caller]

Mm.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is there something wrong with this plan?

[Caller]

Nothing's wrong with this plan. The only thing is. So that's why I'm. I'm debating. I just don't know, because I'm seeing. I follow houses on here on Zillow, like, religiously.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. You need to. This is not a good addiction for you.

[Caller]

It probably isn't. I like to see what houses are actually selling for versus what they're being, you know?

[Jade Warshaw]

You know, you can list it for.

[Caller]

Whatever you want to list it for, but right now it's, like, not a buyer's market. So I'm very. I'm kind of stressed about that. I'm like, well, could I actually really sell it?

[Dave Ramsey]

But you're kind of stressed about keeping it, too.

[Caller]

That true?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So, listen, I think you need to really carefully define that. What you did with this purchase, the way you did this purchase, the purpose you did this purchase for as a group, those set of ideas were bad. They did not bring you a good result. Cause you're stressed, you're behind on your bills. Life's not good. Nothing turned out like it did in your little dream when you were surfing Zillow. Right. And so now you need to reset and go, if I'm going to do real estate, it has to be different than the way I did this. This sucks.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Sell it.

[Caller]

Yeah, okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sell it. I want you to have your life back. I like you.

[Caller]

Thank you. I want my life back, too. I. I do a lot in my life and have a lot of hobbies, and obviously everything has had to been put on hold because I'm barely keeping up.

[Rachel Cruze]

Brittany. Yes. Dr. John DeLoney always says, says, solve for peace. What creates peace in my life? This is not bringing you peace. This is bringing you stress and harm and lack of sleep because you're stressed about all of it. Right? So. So just. Why. Why would you. I'm just curious from you, I. That there's a little bit of the hesitation. Why. Why are you hesitant?

[Dave Ramsey]

She hasn't given up on the Airbnb Zillow surfing dream.

[Caller]

No, actually. Actually, I. I don't care for Airbnb, and I And I did say that after I got into it, I was like, it's something about. And it's because most people. Airbnb, obviously, that home is a secondary home for me. I am here whenever it's not booked because, like I said, I own a cabin with my dad four minutes away. So I don't have personals here. I was kind of all over the place. My personals is at my mom's house. I have a bag here of things that I need.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that doesn't answer Rachel's question. What's your hesitation?

[Caller]

Yeah, I bought the house, and I felt very proud of myself as a young girl. Buying a house in California is really hard. And so I'm just. Because I'm like, am I going to be able to do this again? I went through, like, leaps and bounds to get it the first time, and it was really hard.

[Dave Ramsey]

You took a lot of jumps and did a lot of dances and ran around the barn three times and clicked your heels and finally got the house. And it ended up not being anything like you thought it was going to be. You forced a situation. I am proud of you for getting something done, but I was your age when I went broke because I did it wrong. You don't have to go completely broke. Thank God. You can just dump this thing and learn your lesson and go the way I did this. The set of assumptions I used to make this decision were wrong. And Brittany, everybody makes mistakes.

[Rachel Cruze]

And yes, buying a home is a great thing, and we want that. I think that's a smart decision in life, but that's not who you are. Right. I feel like you're tying your identity to this decision that you've made. And for some reason, if you go back on that, it's like you're a failure or something. Like who you are. Your net worth is not your self worth. This is. It's not. It doesn't equal who Britney is. And so separating those things out and saying, this is who I am with a house or not, with a nice car or not with a second home or not, like, you are who you are, and then all of these other things are additions in your life. We want to make sure the things that are additional in your life are blessing you and are good for you and not taking away. So this is. This may feel like a step back for you, but it's not. I think it's a learning idea and you will buy a house again. I really do believe that, Brittany, you will, but you just have to be smart about it and just to be able to have the humility to say, yeah, this was not a smart decision right now, but it's not who you are, you're not a failure. Right? And so you gotta separate those two things. They feel very intertwined to me as you're speaking.

[Dave Ramsey]

I love entrepreneurs. Don't forget guys. I started my company on a card table myself. So I know what it's like to have people counting on you, your team, your family, not to mention your customers. And when you're the one signing the paychecks, you can't afford to fly blind. But I'll be honest, early on, one thing that nearly sunk us was wasting time with spreadsheets that didn't add up because business units didn't talk to each other. I finally told my team, just fix it. And they did. We got netsuite. That was years ago and we've never looked back. See, netsuite isn't just for tech giants. It's built for growing businesses like yours. Over 40 businesses already run on NetSuite, including a lot that started just like you. And now with built in AI, NetSuite is helping them even more. It's one system connected to every part of your business for real time insights, not guesswork. NetSuite AI flags inventory issues, cash flow risks, even supplier delays before they become problems. So you can trust the day data, stop wasting time and make the right decisions faster. Take a free product tour [e-mail] Ramsey that's netsuite.com Ramsey. Andrew is in Washington D.C. hi Andrew, how are you?

[Caller]

Hi Dave. I'm good, how are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

And thanks for taking my call. Yeah, I wanted to get your advice. Last year in July, I had to take a trip to the emergency room. Eddie had two CT scans at the time. Everything turned out to be fine, no issues. But unfortunately because of my insurance situation at the time, the bill was not covered in any aspect and I am currently sitting on a $24,000 er, bill that is gone to debt collection. The debt collector initially offered 75% of that payment. So like 18K, which I was not going to accept because I think it's just ridiculous. So I'm now on probably my third back and forth with the debt collector and I just wanted to see what kind of advice you may have for trying to improve the situation.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's your household income?

[Caller]

I make around 115 every month, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you have money then to write the check?

[Caller]

I do. I could write it outright. It's really just A principal thing for me.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And the principal is what?

[Caller]

Well, number one, I'm actually trying to save up as much as humanly possible.

[Dave Ramsey]

For the principle of why you don't want to pay them $24,000 that they say you owe is what?

[Caller]

Sure, because they charged 9,000 for one CT scan, 8,000 for another. The remainder is the rest of the six hour ER visit it, which at least in my, in some of my research, seems to be well above the average payment for CT scans, etc.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what did your research say?

[Caller]

Probably around 5000. 4 to 5000 at most for CT scan. Okay. And I am in the D.C. area, which means it's more expensive.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Were you incapacitated at the time?

[Caller]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And you knew you didn't have insurance when you went in there?

[Caller]

Well, technically I didn't. So I was in between jobs at the time and I had purchased insurance, but I didn't realize I was outside of my 30 day window from the purchase date when I went in is the problem. I didn't read the fine print.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you ever visit a collections operation that collects medical bills, you will find people sitting in small cubicles with lots of fluorescent lights, with headsets on calling all day long. And these are people that couldn't get a job at a 7 11. This is who you're dealing with?

[Caller]

That's correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And their average time on the job is about 30 days because as soon as they can find something better and almost anything's better, they take it. This is who you're trying to get to negotiate with on a basis of logic and market value of a CT scan. This guy hasn't got two brain cells to rub together to do this deal with, so your only shot is to continue to just beat on that organization because you're probably seldom even gonna talk to the same person. And how far, how much of your calories are you gonna burn to do this? The other only option I can think of is to call and actually try to get a meeting with someone in the administration of the hospital and sit down and say, I don't have insurance to cover this. I thought I did when I was in there. I guess I wouldn't have cared that you were screwing my insurance company, but I do care that you're screwing me. And so I think you ought to charge me market rate, which is half of what you're trying to charge me for a CT scan. This is ridiculous. And try to negotiate it. Right? Or try to negotiate it and just say, you know, I had no idea what I had gotten into. Please, you're a mercy operation. Have some mercy on me. But you've got the money, so we really can't play the mercy card. But I think you just try to get someone that is actually in a position to make a decision. And this bill collector is not?

[Rachel Cruze]

No, but the bill collector could be negotiated with.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, a ways. But you're not. I don't think you're gonna get them down to where you're gonna end up happy with this. So, again, I don't know how much time and effort you wanna put into five grand. You make 11,000amonth.

[Caller]

I'd be happy slicing it down, you know, at least to get 10k off of it is sort of my mindset. I don't think it' consumed so much.

[Dave Ramsey]

You might get that from a bill collector, but I don't think they're going to have the power to do that unless the bill gets very, very old. And all that time, every day, this sits its ding in your credit, by the way. It's an unpaid bill that's out for collections. So your credit goes down every day. If you're worried about that. I don't worry about that personally, but, you know, but we've had some luck sitting down in person and asking for mercy on the behalf of broke people or asking for reasonableness on the market value of something. If I pay cash for a medical procedure.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. That's why I always wonder, the moral card. I mean, I get. He's frustrated because he's like, you know, there is market value elsewhere and you could probably have a whole discussion about, do things really cost all this? But there is a point that, you know, you got the service.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you got the service and you didn't. The time to have negotiated it would have been while you're sitting there.

[Rachel Cruze]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

What are you charging me for the CT scan?

[Rachel Cruze]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

I guess if you're sitting there in the emergency room, I don't know. I mean, that's a. They kind of got you cornered in a sense. Yeah. Over a barrel, so to speak.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I. Yeah. The only moral thing you've got is that they're basically charging you double market because they can and because it's the er and because it's after the fact, which is really an immoral practice.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, really. It is. So.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

So is the good fight worth the extra? Because they said. He said they would take 17, the bill collect. You know what I mean? So if you're trying to get half to your point, it's five grand. How much is your time?

[Dave Ramsey]

Push on it a little bit, but you need to push on a little bit with a bill collector or go all in and try to get. Try to circumvent the bill collector and go to the administration at the hospital. And again, I find very reasonable people at the administration and the hospital. I mean, we've had people going with $200,000 bills that had $2, they were broke and had no insurance.

[Rachel Cruze]

You actually got to talk to a.

[Dave Ramsey]

Human and you end up with an ICU bill. And the hospital looks at him and goes, we're not going to collect this. So if you'll pay us 5,000 bucks, we're going to write it off as charity. And that's what it is. It's a gift. And we've had hospitals do that. The hospital themselves are generally.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, but it is usually with people financially that are in need.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's if they're in need. That's if they're in need. The only time I've had luck with this negotiation is on the front end, not on the back end. Meaning, for instance, an mri. Oh, my gosh. We've actually advertised for private cash upfront MRIs on several local radio stations over the years. And it's like a fourth of what they charge your insurance company. And you can walk in there for, I don't know, whatever it is, call it 100 bucks instead of 400 bucks or 200 bucks instead of 800 bucks or whatever, but it's nothing if you just walk in, pay cash for it. But if you walk in there with your insurance card, they. It's 4x. And then you wonder why your insurance is expensive. So. But that. That's, you know, that's the. That world. So. Wow. Strange. Harsh. It's tough. Yeah. And the moral story, of course, is make sure we have our insurance in place between jobs and be very, very diligent about all that kind of stuff. Cobra, whatever else you got to do while you're making a step from one career to another.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, Christian Health Care Ministries is a great place that if you are in between jobs, even they're a healthcare provider. They're like a substitute of insurance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well. And they're actually sponsoring. They're one of the sponsors for this weekend's Marriage of Money.

[Caller]

Right.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes. Money and Marriage.

[Dave Ramsey]

Money and marriage.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

I got it backwards.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yep. The weekend with a lot of people here already that are gonna be joining us. So fun.

[Dave Ramsey]

A couple hundred of them in the lobby watching the show today because there's starts tonight and goes through the whole weekend with Rachel and Rachel Cruz and Dr. John DeLoney. Again, another sellout. This is a huge event.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, it's been fun. This is our gosh, I don't even know what number we've done, but it's been. Yep, very exciting. Always fun. We try to do new content.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is the one in February for the Valentine's Day one? Is it sold out? No, not quite.

[Rachel Cruze]

No, not quite yet.

[Dave Ramsey]

If you want to come to that. It's on campus here. And the show, by the way, is on the class. We do the show show from 1 to 4 every day on the glass and so you can sit in the lobby, get homemade chocolate chip cookies on us, get coffee. That's incredible on us and sit and watch the show. And there's always a crowd here of anywhere from two to 200. Sometimes there's two people, but sometimes there's 200. Like today there's probably 300 out there. But yeah, and it's going to be a great weekend. There's a lot of incredible speakers lined up up. Lot of, lot of mystery speakers. I wonder who they might be.

[Rachel Cruze]

Going to be fun. I know y' all are in for a treat. It's going to be great.

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Jimmy Darts]

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[Dave Ramsey]

Available in Minnesota and Oregon. Results vary and no specific outcome is guaranteed. Debt settlement may negatively affect credit and not all creditors will negotiate or settle. Savings vary and may be taxable. Please review our website terms for more information. Our question of the day is brought to you by Y Refi. If your private student loans are in default, it can feel like the end of the road. But why? Refi helps you find a way forward with a low fixed rate payment plan that fits your Life. Go to yrefi.com Ramsey that's the letter y r e f y.com Ramsey not available in all states.

[Rachel Cruze]

Today's question comes from Drew in Pennsylvania. My wife and I are 35 years old with no children yet. We are on Baby Step 7 and have $750,000 in retirement and a half a million dollar home with a balance owed of 250,000. Okay, so you're not on baby step seven quite yet. I hear you talk about having enough life insurance to replace our income. But my current income is 375,000 and my wife wife's is a hundred thousand with no debt. Is it really necessary to have insurance in place before we have children? Well, again, life insurance is there to replace your income. And you guys are living, I don't know, lifestyle wise. I mean you're, you know, close to half a million making that per year. And so I would consider you self insured. Once the home is. If the home is paid off, that feels self insured to me. But if something were to happen to you and your wife was making 100 grand, could. Would she be okay with the mortgage? Could she pay all of that and be self sufficient? So I know. Yeah. So I like the idea of still having 10 to 12 times your annual income for a buffer. And if you guys are both healthy at 35, when Winston. I just redid our life insurance probably two years ago and we did term life with Xander and it's just so inexpensive that a part of me is like, just do it now and then once the house is paid off, then you guys can have that discussion. But it's so inexpensive. Yeah, I would definitely still keep it because again, if something happened to you, your wife makes 100 grand. You know, what's that stress gonna be for her of having to still make that mortgage payment every month?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. There's less of a burden on you guys than if you had children and your wife did not have a wonderful career that she has. Okay. But if something happens to you, she's in a pinch right now. That's a lot of house for 100k. And so, yeah, you need to be carrying some on you. Now if you want to do a different formula than the typical. The typical formula I recommend, and Rachel just quoted it is 10 to 12 times your income in insurance. Now the reason for that, let's just back up, let's pretend someone else called in, they said, okay, I make $80,000 a year. So 10 to 12 times would be 800,000 to a million dollars, which on a 35 year old is the cost of a pizza. If you don't smoke and you're not fat, okay, it's simple. Obesity and smoking are kill your rates. All right? And so if you're in good decent shape and you don't smoke, and those are both things you can control, by the way. Hello. And so you know, now you get good rates and it's very inexpensive to have a million dollars. Now if you got a million dollars and you die just for general, this is why we have this formula. In other words, your wife is left with two little kids and they count on your 80,000 dol to eat with and you get a million, she gets a million dollar check when you die. You put that in good mutual funds and let's say just for easy numbers, it makes 10%. 10% of a million dollars is 100,000 minus taxes. Looks a lot like what you used to make. 800,000 invested, 10%, that'd be 80,000, which is what you used to make. And so it creates that perpetually every year it will send your widow or widower with the little kids what your check used to be. That's why we get the formula now. So if you want to use that idea in this situation, say well, we don't need $4 million worth of insurance on this guy because she doesn't have to have 400,000 his $375,000 income to eat. She's going to be okay. But let's say she that you guys looked at and said, well, we want to make sure she does have 100,000 to help her to go with her 100,000, that's a $200,000 income to pay this house. Or I want to leave her enough to get some and enough to pay off the house. So you could say million dollars instead of $4 million right now.

[Rachel Cruze]

Because yeah, she'd pay the house off.

[Dave Ramsey]

And then she'd write a check, pay off the house, put 750 in the bank in a good mutual fund with a good smartvestor pro, not the bank. And now you're making $75,000 a year with no house pay payment. And that's really, really inexpensive again. And so yeah, I would do something. In other words, and here's the other thing, you're 35 years old with no children yet. I'll just kind of tell you from 35 years of doing this, as soon as you get the life insurance going, the kid's gonna come. So you're gonna have to re up the. You're gonna have to double the life insurance. Anyway, it's come. So go ahead and get the million with plans to get three more million, because it's coming.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know. Yet. Yet. All right. Jack is in Wyoming. Hey, Jack. How are you?

[Caller]

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

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So I have a dad who's always helped me out with pretty much everything in my life, and I'm. I'm extremely grateful. And I love him. I love him to death. And he's mentioned that my fiance and I, once we get married and we sort of decide to buy our first house, that he'd be more than willing to kind of buy it for us and then have him. Have him just kind of act as the bank. He's mentioned no interest on that and all the good things that come along with that. But I was just wondering, how do we make sure that it doesn't affect our amazing father son relationship? And how do I do it?

[Rachel Cruze]

Dave's looking at me, Jack, for me to be the bearer of bad news for you, it will change your relationship. So, I mean, there's no way around it. It does. And so when scripture says the borrower is slave to the lender, your dad is now your bank.

[Dave Ramsey]

He's your master.

[Rachel Cruze]

And so now it changes the relationship. Whether you like it or not, as healthy and wonderful as the relationship is, this almost always ends up putting a strain. And so I wouldn't do it. I would not sacrifice the most amazing relationship you have with him, which is such a gift to be a grown son and have that much respect and love and honor for your father. Keep it pure. Keep it simple. Keep it clean. And you and your fiance, you guys just go. Go and go have your life. Yes, go have your life. Do not entangle hard to eat Thanksgiving.

[Dave Ramsey]

Dinner with your master. Now, let me tell you. And it will affect your wife more than it will affect you. She'll feel that. She'll feel the strain in the air more than you will, because you and your dad have a quality relationship. So you won't feel it as much. All right? But it's there, and it's an unnecessary strain for a few interest points. Now, let me give you one other question, and then I'll tell you one more thing. The It's a great question, by the way. And I'm so happy you got such a good relationship with your dad. That's such a wonderful gift, especially in our culture today when it's more and more rare. Yeah, the. What's your dad's net worth? You any idea?

[Caller]

I don't, but it's. I mean, he does very well for himself.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean, is that a million or 20 million?

[Caller]

It's probably somewhere around 10. 10 to 12.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And the house price would be about what?

[Caller]

That's. That's. Would. Would have been part two of my question had we. Had we gotten to that point.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I mean, you're. What are y' all thinking? I mean, if you just threw out a number like a 500,000, you're brand new, getting married in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Half million dollars to buy a great house, right?

[Caller]

Exactly.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yep. So if I were your dad, I might give you a house.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruze]

Instead of being the bank, a gift.

[Dave Ramsey]

Has not got the strings tied to it. I might ask you to make sure that you invest the equivalent of a house payment so that my grandkids never have debt. He could break the cycle forever.

[Rachel Cruze]

Now. I feel weird for him asking his dad that.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know I said I might ask your dad. I'm not sure you would, but you might play this for him.

[Jade Warshaw]

David naturally asked him.

[Dave Ramsey]

I might have just asked him. He might hear this. So, I mean. So the other thing is this. The other thing is. Okay, when we went broke 35 years ago, Sharon and I lost everything. Her dad loaned us a little bit of money to get the water turned back on and to catch the car up so it didn't get repoed and some stuff like that. Okay. And it was not a huge amount, but it was an amount of money. Okay. And he is an absolute saint. He is one of the nicest men I have ever met on the planet. And my wife and him have a great relationship. Relationship. The fact that I owed him money drove me bonkers until I got it paid off.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so that's your wife? That's the in law. That's where she's sitting. I wouldn't do it.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, just keep it clean, Jack.

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Caller]

I'm doing great. How are you and Rachel?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than we deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

Hey. Yeah. I own a service business in the H VAC industry, thermostat masters. And we've been running that business now for a few years. And during the. During running this business, we've started to develop a product. I'm about 80,000 in on this product for R and D. And we are now at a point where we've got the minimal viable product. We're ready to essentially take this to investors as the direction that I want to go, because we bootstrapped it this entire time. And really the advice that I'm looking for is how do I acquire funding for a product? Especially, I've just opened a new LLC for the product in order to protect my service company from any debt or, you know, any kind of suing that may occur during this process. So this new LLC doesn't have any history. How do I acquire funding for this? And also how do I structure the conversation with investors? I have some in mind, but then there's going to be locating the ones that I that don't know me as well. How do I structure that conversation?

[Dave Ramsey]

It's very difficult because you don't have any track record. All you've got is a modified dream at this point. You've got a wish. And so if you were shark tanking this, they'd throw you off because you got no history of cash flow. You didn't come in and say, I've sold 80,000 units and I want to take it to 8 million units and I need an investor. You came in and said, I have a dream. And I turned it into a prototype and I've made no money switch so far. So what does your. What do you think it's going to cost you to produce this thing per unit?

[Caller]

So per unit, we're looking at about $98 per unit. And what kind of volume at 220 on what kind of volume that that is? I'm not sure what kind of volume that is, but that's the projected.

[Dave Ramsey]

How did you project it? I mean, did you get a bid from somebody to produce it?

[Caller]

Actually, yeah, I've got Okay. For how many years on it? I don't have the answer to that question. I'm sorry.

[Dave Ramsey]

So they gave you a bid to make one for 98 or a million for 98? We don't know.

[Caller]

No, right. No. If I had to say it, probably 20,000 units. If I had to say. But it wasn't going to be a gigantic number. No, not. Nothing like a million.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. Well, it's very difficult to attract an investor to this. I mean, you got a.

[Caller]

You got.

[Dave Ramsey]

Got a cost of goods sold at 50% is what you're telling me. You think you can sell it for the $220 range? Where is it going to sit in a Home Depot? Or is it going to be wholesaled out to other H Vac guys and they sell it to their customers? Or how are you going to distribute it, do you think?

[Caller]

The idea that actually goes into business model, and it's something that I wouldn't be able to really discuss on the business model of how that's going to go for legal reasons.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, yeah, you can. It's not. Nobody can steal the fact you're going to put it in Home Depot because they don't have. They don't even know what we're talking about. But anyway. All right, so you're going to have a real hard time getting an investor for this, a very hard time. And I would honestly, I would counsel you against getting an investor, but you're dead set on it. I have a friend that says when you bring in venture capitalists, it's like picking up a hitchhiker and then they hijack your car.

[Caller]

Well, I'm not. I'm not dead set on anything right now. I'm actually just calling for advice.

[Dave Ramsey]

What I would do. Let me give you an example. I'll make up a thing. It's not your thing, but I'll just make up a thing. Let's say that you wanted this thing to sit on the shelf in Home Depot, Lowe's and Ace Hardware and Tractor Supply. Okay. Then I would go. Go pocket and put out. I'd go make a thousand of them. You've already got 80 grand in it. Put another hundred grand in it of your money. Make 80,000. Make a thousand of them and let's put them on some shelves and let's see if we can get them to come off the shelves. If that's your model. If you're going to go on the Internet and just create a webpage and try to get an Instagram buy or, you know, keywords on Google or whatever then. And you can post it there and try to sell it just online and actually sell some units. That's gonna give you two things to attract capital. One is a track record. And the other is anyone that's gonna put capital in this knows that your prototype is not ever gonna make it to market. You put out the first thousand units. You're gonna get customer feedback that makes you change the design 100% of the time. Oh, yeah, 100% of the time. We don't know what we don't know until we put it out in the world wild. And that's business. And the three rules of business apply. It takes twice as long as you think it's going to. It costs twice as much as you think it's going to. And you're not the exception. Those are the three rules of business. And so just plan on that. And I would cash flow it and walk it out organically and see if you can't make the thing cash flow itself and keep the ownership. I would rather you sell a thousand and then 10,000 and then 20,000 and then 100,000 and 10 years from now sell 800,000 and you own 100%. Then you give up 90% or 80% of your equity and they bastardize your whole idea, which is what's going to happen. You're going to end up pissed when you're through dealing with these people because they're going to take your company over. That's what's going to. They're going to take your little baby and they ain't going to rock it the way you want it rocked because they know more than you do. And it's their money.

[Caller]

Money.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that's what's going to happen. That's how these deals work, dude. And I'm not mad about it. If you're a venture capitalist, I'm not mad at you. That's what you do. You know more than this guy. And so you take it over and you go do it for him and he gets a little something and he would have gotten nothing if he had done it himself. Maybe. But I'm going to tell you to do what we did. And that's. We've cash flowed everything from the ground up.

[Rachel Cruze]

And it is. It's a slower process. It's way slow.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

But you're not going to be on the COVID of Fast Company magazine. You're going to be on the COVID of Slow Company magazine. Magazine. But you're gonna be open and you're gonna own it. Pay Cash for your experiments. Because you can call them failures if you want, but they're experiments. This first prototype's an experiment. Get it out there in the wild, let people kick it around, let them tell you your baby's ugly. And then you put some lipstick on that sucker, put it back out there. Right? And that's what we do, man. That's those of us that are entrepreneurs. We live in a state. I mean, entrepreneurism's like golf. It's a series of failures. Failures. It's a series of experiments. Even professional golfers, it's a series of failures. They still don't ever hit exactly what they want to hit. Never. Otherwise every time they swing the club, it'd be a hole in one. Right. I mean, it's impossible. So in business is exactly the same way. We don't ever have a book do what we think it's going to. It does about what we think it's going to because we've done a bunch of books, but still, it's a thing. So it's a cool discussion, though, Riley, I'm really glad you're doing it.

[Caller]

This.

[Dave Ramsey]

Guys like you are the ones that you could end up worth 10 or 20 million dollars off this one idea if you don't let it break you and if you'll just be comfortable being the tortoise and not the hare. But there's no one. I kept thinking when we first started, man, that someone was going to come along and discover Dave Ramsey and get me on all these radio stations. We're on 680 radio stations today. We're the second largest talk radio show in America. 3 radio hall of Fames. 35 years later, we got every one of those stations one at a time. No one has still discovered me. There are people that still don't think I'm in radio. And so. But you know, and it's me and Sean Hannity. We own the place. You know, I mean, it's like. And so. But it's. And now we've got. You know, I just got 100 million streams on freaking Spotify.

[Rachel Cruze]

We did the Ramsey show.

[Dave Ramsey]

What? I guess, you know what, I was here part of the time. That's right. And then I picked up the little trophy thing to take a picture with it and broke it.

[Rachel Cruze]

You have.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know I broke the trophy thing from Spotify.

[Rachel Cruze]

But what you've done.

[Dave Ramsey]

Spotify Trophy was cheap. I broke it.

[Rachel Cruze]

To your point, though, what you've done, and I feel like we've even.

[Dave Ramsey]

We did it incrementally.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes. And yeah, you and the team. I mean, it's amazing. And even knowing people that we've interacted with in life, that started with an idea, kind of a small thing. They grew it and then, you know, we had friends over, they did a thing for 10 years and then sold. Sold it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

And now they are sold it for a good amount of money.

[Dave Ramsey]

A lot of money.

[Rachel Cruze]

Even Raleigh.

[Dave Ramsey]

That could be a liquidity, a moment.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. Of like, hey, what if you have an idea, you have a thing and you run it to ground for 10 years and then it's done? Well, then you sell it to some cat, you know, venture capitalists, and you get to ride off into the sunset.

[Dave Ramsey]

Like you're gonna make a lot more that way. Yep. So the sweat is not over. Riley, my friend. More sweat, more calluses are in your future. Before more money. You have not gotten there yet. Okay.

[Rachel Cruze]

Before YouTube hates me. You did. You built this. Well done, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, no, it's okay. I got it to a certain level and you guys have taken it to the moon. It's okay. I'm a good platform to jump off of. I'll take.

[Rachel Cruze]

Hey, you guys, Rachel Cruze here. Look, I know you want to do better with money, but let's be honest, life seems to be getting more and more expensive. And lately you hardly have any breathing room in your budget to do anything but cover the basics. You work way too hard to feel broke. Our EveryDollar budget app can help you free up margin fast. Most people find an average of $3015 in their first 15 minutes of using the app. Think about it. That's thousands of dollars just sitting right there in your budget waiting for a job to do. With EveryDollar, you'll find the margin and the motivation you need to start making real progress fast with your money. Start for free today. Download the EveryDollar app for free today. Today.

[Dave Ramsey]

Welcome back to the Ramsey show and the Fair Winds Credit Union studios. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rachel Cruz, number one best selling authority, co host of the Smart Money Happy hour and this weekend's sold out Marriage and money or money and marriage event with Dr. John DeLoney. Rachel Cruz, my daughter, she's my co host. Today open phones at 38-825-5225. Greg is in Phoenix, Arizona. Hey, Greg, how are you?

[Caller]

Hey, good afternoon.

[Dave Ramsey]

Afternoon. What's up?

[Caller]

I am interested. I'm looking to see when it's okay to spend some of our wealth that we've accumulated on some fractional income ownership airplanes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

Well, we've created quite a bit of wealth. We are looking at taking advantage of the bonus depreciation for our business, and we're really interested in some, you know, private travel.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And so how much wealth have you.

[Caller]

Accumulated without the value of our business? Our assets are 50 million and assets 45 million in net worth. And if we had to add value to the business, it would be 150 million. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Way to go, dude. Congratulations. Thank you. Very well.

[Caller]

Lots of hard work.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Yeah. And. Yeah. And you're probably like me. You get a little angry when people say you're so lucky.

[Jimmy Darts]

You're right.

[Caller]

A lot of luck.

[Dave Ramsey]

I got a few calluses, and I've been wearing overalls a long time, but yeah, the. All right, so congratulations. I'm so proud of you.

[Caller]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, obviously, there's a couple things here. So private air travel. Travel falls in the category of ultra luxury, obviously. But you're in a category of ultra wealth. You're in the top 1% of wealth holders in the United States, without a doubt. And so you qualify financially to be able to do that. It makes sense. And the way I look at that kind of thing is Sharon and I, when we're looking at something that feels emotionally uncomfortable because it's so weird from the neighborhood we grew up in, do what.

[Caller]

It's exactly how we feel.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Like, I bought the 700 horsepower Raptor R. Okay. Which is a pickup truck, but it's a race car. Okay. Yes. And it was ridiculously expensive. It's like, cost more than I used to make a year kind of thing. It like, freaked me out for about.

[Caller]

30 seconds with those purchases.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, for about 30 seconds. And this kind of falls in that category. So we ask ourselves, when we're making. Doing something something like that is number one, is our generosity healthy? Are we healthy with our giving? Number two, if we take the amount of money we're getting ready to blow on this toy and burned it in the middle of the floor, would our life change at all? And the answer in your situation is no, it would not.

[Caller]

Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because it's not that much money. I mean, you're talking about, what, a couple million bucks?

[Caller]

It's $5 million over three years with a guaranteed buyback over three years as well. So it's $3 million spent on. And that's without using any of the tax benefits.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And we don't do deals for tax benefits. You brought up tax benefits twice. That always makes me nervous. Don't use that to justify it. Do it, do it and do it because it makes sense. And then take the tax benefits and it makes sense for you in your work to never see another TSA agent.

[Caller]

That is what my wife says.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I think it makes sense. I mean, because you know, you're making serious bank and a million dollars a year for three years, it ain't spit, man. It's like, it's like, it's like other people buying a biscuit.

[Caller]

I do, I feel guilty the way I grew up with.

[Dave Ramsey]

But again, you check yourself. Is this all about me? And am I out of control, trying to be like some reality show person or something or some influencer or some kind of crap? Or am I doing this for other people? Am I doing this for me and my family? And my generosity is probably far superior to this small purchase ratio wise. This is a small purchase. Then you are not spiritually or ethically or morally. I out of line.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're supposed to enjoy some of your money. Okay.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

I have a friend that makes about 60 million a year and he, his net worth is probably 2 billion and he just bought a 52 million dollar challenger. 100%, no fractional.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that's a sweet aircraft by the way.

[Caller]

Oh, that is a nice.

[Dave Ramsey]

Anyway, yeah, but anyway, that's the deal. I would go do it. I would go do it. That's the answer to your question. And enjoy it and don't feel guilty and expect other people to not understand. There are no statues erected to critics. Except actually I said that and a guy sent me one.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh no.

[Dave Ramsey]

Did you know, remember the movie critic Roger Ebert?

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. There's a statue of Roger Ebert and he's a critic.

[Dave Ramsey]

So there's actually one statue somewhere in the the world erected to a critic. But critics don't, they don't get a vote, okay? Because they haven't done what you've done. It's not their money, it's your money. God didn't trust them with it. He trusted you with it. And it's a small percentage of your world. And again, check yourself with can I burn that much money in the floor? And is my generosity very healthy?

[Rachel Cruze]

And is my motivation good?

[Dave Ramsey]

And is my motivation for other people or for me?

[Rachel Cruze]

Yep, that's right. That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

If no one knows you did that, this ever, is it still a good purchase? And that's what, you know, I, you know, I, I probably shouldn't say that after I just said this, but I didn't buy the Raptor because I thought it was somebody else thought it was cool. I bought it because I thought it was cool.

[Rachel Cruze]

You thought it was cool? I parked my Tesla right by it today.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

In the parking lot. Well, you plugged in and I bet. I bet it was.

[Dave Ramsey]

Did you feel a bit. A bit of shame?

[Rachel Cruze]

No. I bet it would be beat your Raptor.

[Dave Ramsey]

I probably would. Probably would. So I think I could beat your Tesla in a 100 foot run, though. I think on foot, I can beat it for the first 100ft.

[Jade Warshaw]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Nothing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Nothing comes out. Don't ever take that bet. Nothing comes out of the hole that fast. Not even a Tesla.

[Caller]

Wait, what?

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm just telling you. I. I'll talk to you about it later. Open phones at 888. 825. 5225. From 0 to 60. From 0 to the first hundred feet, a person can outrun a car.

[Rachel Cruze]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

100% of the time.

[Rachel Cruze]

That is not true.

[Dave Ramsey]

Check it out. Go try it. Y' all go down the parking lot. We're gonna do it after the show.

[Caller]

All of us.

[Rachel Cruze]

Meet me down there. And then we'll all go up on the hill and go.

[Dave Ramsey]

We'll see when Dave pulls a hammy. Oh, man, you never know. Oh, the Tesla will outrun the Raptor, though, to your point.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes. Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Thank you.

[Rachel Cruze]

No, but the. That is a question we get. I feel like more and more probably.

[Dave Ramsey]

But I do have been on the show. I don't have the shame of driving a rolling battery.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dave Ramsey]

I do have that.

[Rachel Cruze]

Don't ever have to go to a gas station. We can keep going. We can keep going. We can keep going.

[Dave Ramsey]

Welcome to Thanksgiving dinner at the Ramsey.

[Rachel Cruze]

But the question of spending, because we do get that more and more, and especially people on bab.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because people are winning with money. That's a wonderful question.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes, yes. But the. The emotions, to your point, it's hard to catch up. Don't catch up always mathematically, to where people are when they start winning.

[Caller]

And.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you know, we have 1100 employees. We buy coffee. Our coffee bill, when I see it, is emotional. I mean, it's like, I don't make. What in the world? Unbelievable. I remember years, you know, you start telling those old dad jokes. You know, when I walked uphill both ways in the snow, you know, it's like, golly, man. But it's a coffee bill. Everything with scale is just whack.

[Rachel Cruze]

But I will say money, it can be. It can be a dangerous thing, too. So the fact that he's kind of pumping the brakes and asking, I think is a very. That's a healthy mindset. So I think that's really, really wise.

[Dave Ramsey]

The ones that are in trouble are the ones that don't ask about it. Yes, you're right.

[Rachel Cruze]

Amen.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hey, guys, Dave Ramsey here. Winning at money is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. What to do isn't the problem. Doing it is. In her brand new book, what no one tells you about money, Jade Warshaw dives deep into the reasons you've been so stuck. This book exposes the real emotional fight with money and shows you how to win that battle. Pre order now for $24.99 and you'll get over $100 of free bonus items. Get your copy [e-mail] store. Tara is in Hartford, Connecticut. Hi, Tara. How are you?

[Caller]

Hi. Good. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So my question for you is, how do I continue with the baby steps if I don't have a home or any children?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you obviously wouldn't need to save for kids collection college, so baby step five does not apply. What's your housing situation?

[Caller]

Right now? I live at home and so that.

[Jade Warshaw]

You know, I basically, my parents go.

[Caller]

Away and I take care of the house and I stay at home. And that's kind of where I'm at right now with that. I've been looking to purchase a house, but things are incredibly expensive. So until that happens, I'm just saving.

[Rachel Cruze]

Money and living at home.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you make?

[Caller]

Sorry?

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you make? How much money do you make?

[Caller]

I make about $60,000 a year. It can be kind of flexible because I'm a 1099.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruze]

And when you say your parents go away, are they traveling and you like house, you take care of the house while they're gone?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

And do you do that as a favor or do they pay you as like a house manager when you're, when they're gone?

[Caller]

No, I do that just.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay.

[Caller]

Part of it, but kind of in exchange.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay. Instead of paying rent, for instance, you're helping take care. Okay. Perfect.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

So I would say you're on baby step 3B, Tara. At that point, I mean, I would be investing money into retirement, but I would be saving for a down payment for a house. That'd be my next financial goal.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller]

Yep. That's what I'm. That's what I'm doing. So for now, would you say that I'm just kind of, kind of like just ride on that and keep saving.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, build up, Build up a nice huge down payment for a house. Because long term, you said it. But also it's proper, it's good financial planning. Long term, you want to be the.

[Caller]

Owner of a home, correct?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And it doesn't have to be today, don't have to be tomorrow. You got a good situation right now. But you know, if you got a big old pile of cash, then the options start opening up. And also long term, your income could go up. You could increase the quality of your, you know, your contacts and your 1099 business. And you know, instead of making 60, be making 120 and you look up and you got 100,000 saved and then something changes with the housing with mom and dad and you're ready to go buy. And that's perfect.

[Caller]

Okay. And would you say so when I'm investing, I am maxing out my Roth IRA and the rest of my money I have in like high yield savings and in cv, would you say that my money is best spent anywhere else?

[Dave Ramsey]

No, I would either be putting it in high yield savings for a down payment for a house or I would be investing beyond the Roth IRA. And as a 1099, there's a couple of other things you can do. You can do a SEP IRA or you can do a simple ira. Either one. And they're very easy to set up with your smartvestor pro if you want to put more than just your Roth IRA in, you can do both of those as Roths. Very easy to do. So just if you want to do more investing and less towards the down payment, just get in touch with one of the smartvestor [e-mail], one of the people we recommend for setting up a good mutual fund account. And they'll help you with your IRA investing. They can help you with high yield savings for that matter. But yeah, you're just chunking money for one of two things, either retirement or house down payment. And you can just get as at this position in the baby steps, you can go as heavy on one or the other as you want to.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, I would probably try to hit that 15% and then anything above that put in your high yield for, specifically.

[Dave Ramsey]

For a down payment given that you have no rent.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so I'm probably going to add another retirement program to your thing. Like I'm talking about a SEP IRA or a simple ira. One of the two. Either one will work and they're, they're very easy.

[Rachel Cruze]

Well, you Might be. Well, honestly, not making 60, you're probably right at that. 15% into the 8,000 of the Roth IRA.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you're getting close, so. That's true.

[Rachel Cruze]

Great, Tara, Good job.

[Dave Ramsey]

Get yourself to 15% and then go on towards the house. That's what I would do. Open phones at Triple 882-55-5225. Allen is in Kansas City. Hi, Alan, what's up?

[Caller]

Hey, thank you so much, Dave, for taking my call. Really appreciate it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. How can we help?

[Caller]

Yeah, here's my question. So I was a pastor for many years and after I got married we had some health issues that were kind of long term that insurance wasn't going to be covering. And eventually I had to leave pastorate as an occupation and take up another job. And I've been working in now IT and CRM. I'm the head of those two departments here in Mobility, Missouri. And anyway, I'm working for previous church member and I'm just really wondering should I stay or should I go? I don't know if I'm getting the best pay and vacation is what. You know, I'm thinking of my family. Am I really doing the best for them? Because, you know, we don't have a lifetime of savings. We've done the best that we can, but I'm playing a lot of catch up just because of where we came from. Okay. So there's a lot of background information to all of that. I'm more than happy to share. But fire away with any questions you have.

[Dave Ramsey]

Have you done any investigation on comp. You know, what your compensation is worth? I mean, have you looked at what I can get a job for doing the same thing, you know, somewhere else?

[Caller]

I've done a little bit of looking on that and it seems that in the area that I'm in, if you only look at the IT work head of it that seems to be around 100. What I'm having a hard time finding is what if you're doing it, but you're also involved in sales and you run the whole CRM and you're writing code for the CRM. I don't know if that boosted a lot or if it doesn't.

[Dave Ramsey]

It probably should boost it some. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

Because how much are you getting paid now?

[Caller]

I'm right at 100 gross before anything's taken out.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay. And you're saying for just one part of your job it's 100. But then you, you're, what, you're, you're doing additional work which you feel like you should be Compensated for above what you're seeing?

[Caller]

Yeah, I'm wondering if I. If I could be. I've been pretty heavily involved in the sales department. I made the sales process and we didn't have a sales.

[Dave Ramsey]

How many people work at the company?

[Caller]

About 50.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Do you have any idea what the top line or grocery is?

[Caller]

Gross revenue is 9 million right now with 50 people.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. I got a lot of payroll. Okay.

[Caller]

Yeah, the, the staff, the employees that we have has grown a lot over the past eight years that I've been here. The amount of money the company makes has not grown so much, but a part of the direction is sort of planning for the future. There's been a lot of investment in product and the owners believe that the company is going to explode over the next five years. Maybe not explode, but there'll be a good steady growth.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Okay. That I would hope. I would hope that in other words, all this investment in payroll pays off, so. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm not sure they're in a position to afford a lot more more right now, but as they start making more, I would expect to see some pretty good kicks in my income. Based on the fact that you're basically doing one and a half jobs at a minimum. And so the other thing you can do is this. Okay, so here's the thing. You're not a belligerent person, you're not a prideful person, but you're just asking an honest question of value. And so an employer wants to know what they can make as a result of the work you do. In other words, if they pay you 100, they need to be making more than 100 off the work you do. I suspect they are. And then the second thing they want to know is if you leave, what does it cost to replace you? In other words, what's the market value of that position? And so if I were you, you're a detailed person. I would do a detailed comp store study with LinkedIn and a few of the other sites and try to figure out as close as you can what you think this is worth. And have a series of facts. One page of facts, not a 26 page study. Okay. And sit down with your owner with one page and go, I'm asking myself an honest question. I want to ask you an honest question. This looks like, tell me what I messed up. But this looks like my positions were 150 in the marketplace or 125 in the marketplace. This is what this looks like. What do you think? And I want to Be honest and I want to be humble.

[Rachel Cruze]

And what's my. And if not, what's my growth trajectory look like? How can I.

[Dave Ramsey]

What can I do to become worth that? Since it seems that this position is worth that?

[Caller]

Foreign.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hey, guys, George Camel here. Do you ever feel like insurance companies.

[Jimmy Darts]

Only care about your money and not.

[Dave Ramsey]

What you actually need?

[Jade Warshaw]

Well, there's a better way.

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Jimmy Darts]

Coverage you need, you can connect with.

[Dave Ramsey]

A R.A. ramsey trusted insurance pro who will only get you what you need at the best price. Go to ramseysolutions.com insurance ramseysolutions.com insurance the all new everydollar is here and now. It's way more than just a world class budgeting app. Ton of advanced features to help you make faster progress on the Ramsey plan with your money. The average person finds thousands, literally thousands of dollars in margin in just the first 15 minutes of starting up. Start every dollar for free today. Get it in the App store or Google Play. All right. Jeremy and Deborah are with us on the debt free stage. What's up?

[Rachel Cruze]

Hey, Dave.

[Jade Warshaw]

Hey, Rachel.

[Dave Ramsey]

Welcome, welcome.

[Caller]

How are you guys?

[Dave Ramsey]

Where do y' all live? Charlotte, North Carolina, just over the hill. Welcome, man. Welcome. Good to have y'. All. And if you're on the debt free stage, it can only mean one thing. You're debt free. And how much have you paid off? $85,614. Very cool. And how long did this take? 62 months. Good for you and your range of income during that five years. 72 to 82,000. Cool. What do y' all do for a living? We own a small business in Charlotte doing a custom window treatments. Oh, very cool. Good for you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Awesome.

[Dave Ramsey]

What kind of Debt was this? $86,000.

[Jade Warshaw]

It was our house, Dave.

[Rachel Cruze]

All the way.

[Dave Ramsey]

Who has an $86,000 mortgage?

[Jade Warshaw]

Right?

[Dave Ramsey]

What was left?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, we had what was left on our mortgage. We had a little bit of a backstory with our. With ours. We actually got out of debt, consumer debt, about 10 years ago. Following your principles. And then we went through a stage of infertility and ended up getting pregnant with our first daughter.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yay.

[Jade Warshaw]

That we. We unfortunately lost her in 24 weeks. But we knew that we needed to stack money for her. We knew she was gonna have needs. So we Put the house, you know, we paid the payments, but we put some extra on the side.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And in 2020, we were able to bring our first daughter home. Oh, my gosh. And then in 21, we were able to bring our son home. Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, it's much better than paying off a mortgage.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes, it was. And over that time, we knew that we wanted to put them in really great school, take care of them like we were going to take care of their sister. And we kind of had that money sitting to the side and we had that left on our mortgage and we thought, you know what, let's just do it. Let's be weird people.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just pay it off and we'll use the fact we don't have a mortgage to take care of the kiddos.

[Jade Warshaw]

Exactly. Yes. It has blessed us. They're able to go to a private Christian school and, you know, little things like that that we wouldn't have been able to do. Have not done this.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Jade Warshaw]

Huge blessing in our life.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's the house worth? About 350, 000.

[Jimmy Darts]

Way to go. Very good job.

[Dave Ramsey]

You guys stacking cash for this. Have you been investing as well?

[Jade Warshaw]

We have.

[Dave Ramsey]

And how much in your retirement nest egg? Probably about 200,000. All right, so over half million dollar net worth already. Way to go, y'. All. And no stinking payments in the world.

[Rachel Cruze]

Done.

[Dave Ramsey]

How's that feel? I don't know.

[Jade Warshaw]

Amazing just happened. It feels amazing to me.

[Caller]

It's got to sink in.

[Dave Ramsey]

Make the last payment and had some major house problems, so we had to deal with that. We're able to write a check for it and so it's not really fully sank in yet, but.

[Rachel Cruze]

But the next few months it's been.

[Jade Warshaw]

A blessing to be able to do that and not go back into debt, you know, to be able to take care of the house needs.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes, for sure. You know, because a lot of people are call our show with that situation. They have the 85 in investments or something non retirement and they're like, oh, but I'm making a good spread on, you know, we're making good money. Would you say it's 100% worth it to just know that there is no mortgage?

[Dave Ramsey]

At least 100%.

[Jade Warshaw]

At least. Not more. Yes, not more.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. We spoke with you and John last year at the Money Marriage and had some. Some advice for us for the situation where we were in. And yes, it helped us, guide us to where we needed to do. And one day we're just like, no more. Write the check.

[Rachel Cruze]

Just do it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Build that Account back up. Yeah. I love it.

[Caller]

Y. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Boom.

[Rachel Cruze]

So great, you guys. Well done.

[Dave Ramsey]

Thank you.

[Rachel Cruze]

It's good to see y' all again. I'm glad you're back.

[Jade Warshaw]

We're so excited to be back. So fun.

[Dave Ramsey]

Welcome back on the Ramsey campus. Yeah. Thank you. So now with all this you've been through, you pay off the consumer debt, you stack cash, you fight the whole infertility battle, which is an emotional roller coaster. And the. And then you turn around, look up and go, stack of cash, mortgage gone.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so, like, three different major parts to this story, almost timeline wise. What's your advice to people on what's this? You know, when you. When we always ask people, you know, what do you tell people about what you do to get out of debt? What was the key thing that enabled you to go through all three of those phases?

[Jade Warshaw]

I would say, yeah, we. You have to have a team. You have to be a team. You have to be on the same page. Because it could have easily tore us apart. You know, what we walked through infertility wise and then losing our daughter, that was very rough. But it almost fueled a piece of me that it didn't fuel and him. And. And I was able to say, you know what, let's double down. Let's do this. Let's. For our future, for our future children. And we're. We're able to do that now. And the feeling of. Of knowing that we've changed our trajectory for our kids in their lives, you can't. Can't put money on that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you change your family tree.

[Jade Warshaw]

Exactly.

[Dave Ramsey]

We say it all the time, but it really does mean something. Yes, it does.

[Rachel Cruze]

Where you guys came from, how you grew up, do you look and think like that was like, where do you. You standing today? Did that feel impossible?

[Jade Warshaw]

1,000% for me.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

I had great role models as a kid. My dad was probably a Ramsey fan, but he didn't know it until. Until I met you. And then, you know, then he. He was all on board because he's like, that's how he lived his life. And I, I tried, you know, but then get married, make stupid decisions and, you know, pay lots of stupid tax on a lot of stuff, you know, and then just, you know, being able to turn that corner and know about the, you know, future that we want to have and the possibilities and, you know, are endless. What's the dumbest thing you ever did with money? Oh, boy. Much time we got, I just pick one, the best one, probably. Vehicles.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Buying vehicles that we had no.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I bought a 2016 fully loaded off the showroom floor. Maxima with 20 inch rims on it.

[Dave Ramsey]

No money.

[Jade Warshaw]

And I had no money to my name.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And now you bought that in 2016? Yeah, yeah, in 2016. Yeah. That wasn't. Now you didn't buy that the other day.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, no, no.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's, that's it. You know, since this whole journey we've, we've financed, you know, three pregnancies, you know, cash flow.

[Jade Warshaw]

Cash flow, not finance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Multiple vehicles in cash. You know, it's just, you know, a whole reverse trend.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Never, never go back. Well, I just want. I wasn't doing that to make fun of you. I just want to remind people that you can do dumb things and not be dumb.

[Jade Warshaw]

Absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

I have done some incredibly stupid things and I'm not stupid, but I have done some stupid butt stuff in my life. And so I look back on them like you, you're. Man, that's dumb. But yeah, but then you go, but I don't have to live that way. I can change.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just the peace that you get to, you know, have foundation issues at your house that you, you know. Oh, it's just an inconvenience thing like you say in terms of. From an emergency fund, you know, it's just, you know, be able to pay for our kids school and you know, it not be a question.

[Rachel Cruze]

So good. How old are the kids now?

[Jade Warshaw]

Five and three.

[Rachel Cruze]

Five and three. So great. Were they kind of part of it? Was the five year old like, funny.

[Jade Warshaw]

Enough, she's, she's, she's learning. We have a school store at school. So she's learning about the privilege of earning and being able to buy what she wants. And we have the, the, the kids.

[Rachel Cruze]

The financial piece. Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

For her. So we're working through that with her. I love it. Sometimes, you know, at 5, it goes in one ear and I'll put it 100.

[Rachel Cruze]

I was gonna say because some kids, you know, people that are working the plan now that are listening.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruze]

They have kids in the home and they're kind of, you know, part of that journey. Those are obviously. Yeah, they're younger. But to think that they'll never know. They'll never know. Parents with stress around money and hope.

[Dave Ramsey]

They'Ll project them to live the same.

[Jade Warshaw]

Live the same way.

[Rachel Cruze]

100%. That's all done, you guys.

[Jade Warshaw]

Thank you so much.

[Dave Ramsey]

So good.

[Rachel Cruze]

Proud of y' all cheerleaders.

[Dave Ramsey]

Who was cheering you on?

[Jade Warshaw]

We did.

[Dave Ramsey]

We got family friend here. We met at the Money marriage retreat last year, became friends and they. They said they'd drive up to meet us whenever we did it. And obviously we've had family. Some here, some not here anymore. No.

[Rachel Cruze]

Wonderful.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, congratulations. We're very proud of you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

Jeremy and Deborah. Charlotte, North Carolina. Carolina. $86,000 paid off house and everything. Yes, they are official weirdos. They did this in 62 months, making 72 to 82. Count it down. Let's hear a debt free scream.

[Caller]

Three, two, one.

[Jimmy Darts]

We're debt free.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, I. You watch their body language, you guys. If you're not watching this on video, you watch their body language. Rachel. And the way they're interacting, the unity is apparent just in their presence. So strong that they're. They were. They were knitted together by the. By the tragedies and by victories. And by the victories.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

And. Pretty cool.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

Pretty cool stuff.

[Caller]

Sam.

[Dave Ramsey]

Our scripture of the day, Matthew 10:16. Look, I'm sure sending you out as sheep among wolves, so be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. Ronald Reagan says the best view of the government is seen on a rear view mirror as one is driving away from it. Amen and amen. Oh, Elijah is in Nashville. Hi, Elijah, how are you?

[Caller]

I'm doing great, thanks. Thanks for calling, you guys.

[Dave Ramsey]

Certainly. How come we help?

[Caller]

Well, my parents are in their mid-50s and don't really have a retirement plan in place, but they do have a car payment and an RV payment, so they're definitely upside down right now. So for me, my parents can't. It feels like my parents can't see what's so clear to me and my wife. What do you think we can share with them to help them understand? And ultimately, what do you think they should do in their situation? Situation?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you're in a very difficult position. We call it the powdered butt syndrome. Once someone has powdered your butt, they don't really want your opinion on money or sex, so they don't really care what you think. And so trying to give them advice, even though what you're saying is probably perfectly correct, you're in the least, least leveraged position to actually have influence. Does that make sense?

[Caller]

Totally.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So what I do in those situations is a couple of things. I never talk to them about what they should do. Although, by God, it's tempting, you know, Instead I talk about what I've been doing. And so, you know, I have a friend who trades cars and borrows money every time he trades cars. And we're still friends, but he's dumb, okay? And so he's in car debt all the time. It's just dumb. And he knows I think it's dumb, but I've never said a thing to him about it. But I have told him some wonderful stories about the peace I have driving cash paid for cars.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I would just say, you know, my wife, you know, if you're having Thanksgiving dinner or you and your dad are having a cup of coffee or whatever it is y' all do together, you say, hey, you know, we're doing this thing, and, you know, we've gotten out of debt, and we don't have any car debt, and we don't have any this. And we built an emergency fund. And, gosh, Dad, I gotta tell you, I'm so peaceful.

[Caller]

That's the thing.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm so peaceful. I'm so hopeful.

[Caller]

It's tricky because they're the ones who taught me how to budget, and they put me through fpu. And so we're already.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I would just bring it back on them then. But don't tell them they have to do it. Don't shame them. It'll have no benefit. Just say thank you for teaching me all those FPU lessons. This budgeting stuff y' all made me do, it's changed everything. We're going to, my wife and I, because you guys taught us that stuff. We do it all. We don't borrow money. We're on a budget, and we're going to be really, really wealthy. We're tracking to be millionaires by this date. Thank you so much. And. Wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And then eventually they're going to go, oh, well, maybe I ought to do it. But, I mean, you really can't. You can. If they say something like, I wish I could do it or something, then you could just go, I know you could.

[Caller]

Good.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're the one taught me. I know you could do it.

[Caller]

And I think some of the fear that we have that my wife and I share is that, you know, we. At this point, it doesn't really seem like they have a plan A. So plan B is to live with their kids. And we love them enough to know that if they were forced to move in with us, our friendship would likely implode.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller]

So that's kind of like the only thing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Therefore, we're not planning to do that. That's not a plan.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

They can plan to do that, but that's not an issue today. They're in their 50s. 50s. Okay. They're okay. They got an RV payment and a car payment. They could turn this around in three years. It's not a problem. Sell the rv, get rid of the car payment and start saving for. They could be millionaires by the time they retire very easily if they turn around today. So I'm not worried about them moving in with you, but I'm just trying to figure out how to influence them. So thing one is I do that. Thing two is I bring in experts. And I was going to say give them a total money makeover book or give them one of Rachel's books or something and go, hey, this book really influenced me. I thought you might have enjoy it. But a problem with that, if you give a fat person a diet book, it's kind of insulting.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. I think you might ought to read this. You know, it's probably, it's kind of harsh, right. So you got to be careful with that.

[Rachel Cruze]

And they know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. I mean, but in this case, they've already got the stinking book. They just aren't doing it. And then the third thing I do is I ask myself who I do four things. The third thing I do is I ask myself who could have influence? Is it the old FPU coordinator? Is it the pastor at the church? Who is it that's a sold out FPU person that they would listen to where they might not listen to that young whipper snapper. Okay, right. And so forth. The fourth thing I do is I pray and I ask God to send someone into their lives that's going to mess with them, God make them uncomfortable.

[Rachel Cruze]

Or that they have a change of heart.

[Jimmy Darts]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

And Elijah too, I think part of growing up, which is so funny saying this next to my dad, this, you are not. This, this has nothing to do with you at all. With.

[Dave Ramsey]

Major disclaimer.

[Rachel Cruze]

No, but really, I'm like, it is, you know, as you become an adult, it is weird when you look at your parents, you're like, oh, wow. I feel like whether emotionally, spiritually, financially, business, like, whatever. The thing is, when you start to surpass them in wisdom in an area and you with money, with your parents in this way. Right. I mean, honestly, it is a weird thing. It's just like one of those parts of growing up that you have to learn, like you can't control them. Like, and I think we all have this thing in us and we have people in our lives that are doing something that you're like, oh yeah, I wish they were doing something else. And we have this belief of, if I could just have this one conversation, or I could phrase it in this one right. Particular way, they're suddenly going to get it and the light bulb's going to come on. And I think I've just learned, like, you can't. You just don't have that control over people. And I think we believe we do to a degree, and we really. And so I don't know, Elijah, there is a point that, you know, you can do all. And I agree exactly with what. What Dave said of, you know, you guys celebrating where you're at and you're able to share where you are, but at the end of the day, it is a little bit of a. I mean, grief sounds like a really strong word, but it's a. It's this, like, kind of like, oh, wow, I'm starting to surpass my parents in one area of life.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that's the irony is they taught it to me.

[Rachel Cruze]

Seriously. I mean.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's very weird.

[Rachel Cruze]

I mean, it's bizarre a little bit, what you're saying. It's one thing if they had no, you know, no idea, but they know it. So I don't know. There is just.

[Caller]

Seems like a lot of these stories have to do with buying campers and RVs, don't they?

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, they do. They do. You're right. It's a little bit of a midlife crisis sitting in the driveway out there. I'm just saying.

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Rachel Cruze]

And like a lifestyle, I do wonder, how do you know that they have no retirement? Have they? Have they said that to you guys?

[Caller]

Yeah, we've. We've had some candid conversations, and they're pretty transparent about their finances. And, you know, they'll ask, ask. They'll ask for financial advice. You know, they'll say like, well, what should I do? And I'll be like, roth, ira. It's just. It's just this pain point, I think, for them is the rv. And it's. It really does come down to just, like, a heart for.

[Jimmy Darts]

You know, we want to raise our.

[Caller]

Grandkids in this rv and we want to go on these trips in our retirement. But the thing is, I think they just bought it 20 years too early.

[Rachel Cruze]

Could be.

[Jade Warshaw]

Could be.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think you nailed that one, buddy.

[Rachel Cruze]

I think you nailed it that they're asking and, you know, all of it and. Yeah, and I think if you come out of it with some curiosity of like, hey, you know, how are you guys feeling about it? And truth be told, they may be.

[Dave Ramsey]

Fine with the rv.

[Rachel Cruze]

I'm going to look back on them.

[Dave Ramsey]

And say, okay, you know, if you want to have wealth in the future and a quality retirement to be able to enjoy with the grandkids, what do you think you should do?

[Caller]

Yeah, and I'm trying to help them connect the dots between the. The financial strain that they feel right now and the, you know, $900 in, you know, car payments that they're paying, you know, but it's hard for them to connect those dots, I think.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, they're just. They're in denial. That's all it is. They just don't want to connect the dots. They know. They know.

[Rachel Cruze]

I think that's.

[Dave Ramsey]

They taught you this stuff. I mean, you turned out, dude, you got all the answers. You could do the show. I mean, you. You called up asking questions, but you already knew the answers and. Yeah, so I'm going to try to get some people to influence them, some situations to influence them. Talk about your successes. And if they ask a question I'm going to ask, answer it with a good, strong question. That is basically a statement.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you think you ought to do about the rv?

[Rachel Cruze]

I mean, seriously, have them answer. Have them be answering what they're feeling and thinking and making them say it out loud. That could be a light bulb moment.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't know, a little mirror action.

[Rachel Cruze]

But I kind of appreciate that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

That they're so open with you guys.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think they're going to be okay. I think they're going to be okay. I think they're probably closer than you think they are to waking up. And part of the. Part of what makes me think that is, is the way that they raised you to where you know the answers, which means I know they know the answers. And they'll come back around to common sense. It'll. It'll start to haunt them eventually. And.

[Rachel Cruze]

But the. But the fear he's having of them living with them is like.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, put that down. Yeah, yeah, no, just tell them, stay in the rv.

[Rachel Cruze]

Just keep the rv.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's a really old RV at that point. Cousin Eddie's here. That puts the sour 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 Jesus.

[Caller]

Sam.