Take Ownership Of Where Your Life Is Headed

Summary

The Ramsey Show: Take Ownership Of Where Your Life Is Headed

Date: February 20, 2026
Hosts: Dave Ramsey & Ken Coleman, Ramsey Network
Main Theme:
This episode centers on taking personal responsibility for your financial decisions, building wealth no matter your past mistakes, and overcoming obstacles—from toxic living situations to complex family dynamics. Dave and Ken tackle tough questions live from callers, delivering both practical advice and tough love in their trademark no-nonsense manner.

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Episode Overview

The episode opens with Dave Ramsey setting the tone: “Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life.” Throughout the show, Dave and Ken Coleman field questions on real-life money dilemmas: real estate in politically uncertain climates, escaping toxic environments, massive debt, money and family issues, and building generational wealth. The episode is rich in actionable advice and classic Ramsey tough love, particularly emphasizing ownership over one’s circumstances.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Real Estate in Uncertain Political Climates (00:47–08:31)

• Caller Concern: Should her daughter buy property in NYC amid political rhetoric about community land trusts and anti-ownership comments by city officials?
• Dave’s Advice:
  • Cautious but pragmatic: “I wouldn't do it today. I'm gonna let some of this flame out or gin up. If it flames out, I'm gonna buy. If it gins up, I'm walking out of there.” (04:20)
  • Real estate usually works itself out, unless property rights are threatened.
  • Notable quote: “Most things work their way out, particularly real estate...but it doesn’t work its way out if you start stealing property from the private property owner in the name of virtue.” (03:44)
• Ken’s Suggestion:
  • Influence adult children through questions, not demands: “Ask really good, thoughtful, critical questions. Not with an opinion attached...Your only hope of influencing them is actually walk them through the financial case, the risk...” (07:26)

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2. Escaping Toxic Environments and Job/Income Struggles (10:38–18:51)

• Caller: Single mom with two kids, living with her mother after escaping an abusive marriage. Income is $1,200/month from two part-time jobs.
• Dave & Ken’s Advice:
  • The issue is income, not just environment. Find a full-time job, and potentially move to Arkansas for better opportunities.
  • “Time, job, full time, 40 hours a week...then when we get things moving and there's groceries and lights and rents paid, then we'll think about classes [college] later.” (14:26–14:45)
  • Don’t cling to Pell Grants as lifelines when real opportunities (like state jobs with tuition support) exist.
  • Emotional support: “If you sit in poop, it's 100% chance it's gonna smell. 100% chance. So, yeah, you gotta get up and go, I'm not sitting in this stuff.” (18:51, Dave)

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3. Getting Out of Debt—Fast, Efficient, and Permanent (23:21–31:05)

• Caller: Married couple, $210k annual income, $40k consumer debt + $69k truck loan.
• Dave’s Formula:
  • If you can't pay off all consumer debt (except your house) in two years, your car is too expensive—sell it!
  • “You have a car that is keeping you from getting out of debt within two years...then you need to sell the car.” (24:05)
  • Only keep the truck if you’re willing to go scorched earth: “No vacations, no dining out, no fun, just work and get out of debt.” (25:28)
  • “Don’t just sell the truck immediately—try the hard path for 90 days to establish new habits. If you can’t keep pace, reconsider.” (29:03–30:54)
• Ken’s Encouragement:
  • Celebrate every win and build permanent, healthy financial habits.

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4. Lease Breaks, Collections, and Facing the Consequences (33:12–35:52)

• Caller: In collections after breaking an apartment lease.
• Dave:
  • Face the facts: “They don’t have to negotiate with you. You signed a lease.” (33:56)
  • Don't evade the issue or play games with details: “I can't help you, honey, we're just going to move on.” (35:44)

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5. Navigating Raises & Job Scope Changes (35:53–42:41)

• Caller: Unsure if she should ask for a raise after her job expanded but her base salary didn't.
• Ken’s Advice:
  • Validate your feelings but deal in facts, not emotions.
  • Find out the standard comp for your new role and ask management, not tell them.
• Dave:
  • “That last little thing you gave us [different base for your role] was a game changer.”
  • Approach the conversation with curiosity, not confrontation.

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6. Retirement Crisis: Coaching a Parent (44:42–52:35)

• Caller: His 62-year-old father has only $3k in savings, makes $100k/year, high expenses, possible looming judgment.
• Dave & Ken:
  • Dad needs a budget and to eliminate overspending.
  • “If he doesn’t pay attention, he’s going to retire and eat Alpo.” (47:45)
  • Retirees must avoid desperate, get-rich-quick moves and focus on steady, proven methods.
• Quote:
  • “The problem with my money is the guy in my mirror. If I can get him to behave, he can be skinny and rich, but he likes donuts.” — Dave, (52:35)

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7. Single Mom with High Income But Deeply in Debt (54:25–63:16)

• Caller: $160k/year, $90k student loans, $9k credit card debt—considering hardship retirement withdrawal to buy property.
• Dave:
  • Absolutely not.
  • The real issue is emotional struggle post-divorce, not a math problem.
  • “You have to take this by the throat and shake it and just go—‘You are going to do what I say to do. I am in charge of you.’” (60:49)
  • Strong encouragement to budget and regain control via EveryDollar app.

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8. Job Loss and Supporting Adult Children (86:39–93:39)

• Caller: Laid off 9 months; husband’s self-employed plumbing business is struggling; also paying rent for non-functioning, substance-abusing 24-year-old son.
• Key Points:
  • Cut financial support to adult son.
  • Husband should seek employment with a plumbing company for stability.
  • Mom should leverage project management skills in other industries.
• Dave:
  • “Love does not pay the bills. In this case, you're going to have to pay your own.”

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9. Mortgage Choices, ARM vs. Fixed (97:04–105:49)

• Caller: Young couple, chose a 7-year ARM for home purchase to “ease in” with intention to refinance later.
• Dave:
  • Flatly against ARMs: “What you’re doing is with an adjustable rate is you’re taking on more risk. And 100% of adjustable rate mortgages start in the hole.” (100:58)
  • “Be the third pig. Build the brick house. Take a little longer, buy a little less, take a little more time.”
• Ken:
  • “You're just. You're assuming risk with the loan and then assuming that you'll have nothing bad happen in your life. ... You're in your early 20s, but you're talking to two older guys.” (102:50)

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10. Family Investment Clubs & Learning to Collaborate (118:10–123:14)

• Caller: Parents gifted $40k to adult children to start an investment club; focus on learning to work together.
• Advice:
  • Traditional investing principles (no debt, no single stocks long-term), but treating this as an educational experiment is valid.
  • Ken: “It's a great learning experience. But learn not just about the money piece, but about each other.” (122:33)

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11. Debt-Free Scream Spotlight (106:57–113:24)

• Guests: Manuel & Elia from Avondale, AZ
• Their Journey: Paid off $320,549 in 8 years, including their house. Income grew from $103k to $240k. Rebar business owner and accountant.
• Key to Success?
  • Elia: “It's the budget. If you’re not on a budget, you're not gonna make it.” (109:31)
  • Manuel: “When I saw how much money we were really doing and throwing away...we were not making any progress.” (110:12)
• Dave: “The great American dream, baby. ... You’ll be millionaires by the time you’re 45.” (109:10)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Dave Ramsey on Facing Reality:
  “Personal finance is 80% behavior, 20% head knowledge.” (52:35)
• Ken Coleman on Raising Adult Kids:
  “The problem with adult children is you don’t really get a vote.” (08:29)
• On Taking Action:
  “Don’t plan to be poor.” (15:01)
• On Budgeting:
  “If you're not on a budget, you're not gonna make it.” (Debt-free scream, 109:31)
• On Hope:
  “For entrepreneurs, if they can grab this—this is the other side of this deal. Debt free entrepreneurship, solo ownership. That's exciting stuff. ... That's changing family trees right here.” (115:05, Ken)
• Dave’s Recurring Wisdom:
  “Live like no one else so later you can live and give like no one else.” (Throughout)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Topic | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------------|----------------| | NYC Property Ownership and Political Risk | 00:47–08:31 | | Toxic Parent Living Situation / Breaking Free | 10:38–18:51 | | Getting Out of Debt, Fast and Permanently | 23:21–31:05 | | Lease Breaks and Collections Consequences | 33:12–35:52 | | Raise/Comp Structure After Job Scope Change | 35:53–42:41 | | Retirement Crisis – Coaching Your Parents | 44:42–52:35 | | High-Earning Single Mom, Drowning in Debt | 54:25–63:16 | | Job Loss, Family Support Boundaries | 86:39–93:39 | | ARM vs Fixed Rate Mortgage Debate | 97:04–105:49 | | Family Investment Club – Learning to Work Together | 118:10–123:14 | | Debt-Free Scream: Manuel & Elia’s Story | 106:57–113:24 |

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Tone & Style Highlights

• The episode is classic Ramsey: tough, unfiltered, at times humorous, but always anchored in practical, proven financial principles.
• Dave and Ken alternately dole out encouragement, tough-love reality checks, and hands-on advice.
• Listeners are urged to take actual ownership of their mistakes and futures: “Quit saying ‘I can’t’...figure out how you can.”

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For Those Who Haven’t Listened

This episode weaves together life’s hardest money moments with actionable, often immediate solutions—whether you’re dealing with a nightmare landlord or a mountain of debt. The message: no matter your past, no matter your income, you can build a new future by taking ownership today. Expect to walk away both sobered and motivated—ready to do the hard thing and take the next step.

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“There’s only one way to financial peace, and that’s to walk daily with the Prince of peace, Christ Jesus.” — Dave Ramsey, closing out the show

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 Fairwinds Credit Union Studio, this is the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey. Your host, Ken Coleman. Ramsey, personality number one best selling author is my co host today. The phone number here is 888-825-5225. The call is free and some say the advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. Suzanne is going to start this off in Chicago. Hi, Suzanne, how are you?

[Caller]

Hi, how are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

Me too, me too. So, okay. My daughter and her husband have been living in New York City for several years and of course paying, you know, exorbitant rent per month. But their goal is to someday like move out of the city, purchase a home. But for right now, their jobs require them to stay in New York. Okay. So they've now decided that they want to purchase property there to live in and hopefully gain some equity to put toward a house someday. Okay. So normally I would think, okay, that's fine, but with the current mayor and the administration there, I'm just not so sure this is a good idea. So, because that administration is called property ownership, and I'm quoting, a weapon of white supremacy. And he also said they want to, and I'm quoting again, establish a community land trust to gradually buy up housing on the private market and convert it to community ownership. So everyone's saying, oh, no, that'll never happen. You're overreacting. That'll, you know, but I mean, things have happened that I never foresaw. So I'm just nervous that my daughter and her husband, let's say if they bought property, would not be able to sell it profitably in the years to come if this happens, if it turns into communal property. So am I wrong to discourage them or am I overreacting like they say?

[Dave Ramsey]

Hmm, that's interesting. So I'm 65 years old. How old are you?

[Caller]

73.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, because I, you know, I, because I agreed with your statement. There's things that have happened in this world that I never dreamed I would see.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And some of them have been normalized. And I'm really never dreamed I would see that. And then, but worse than that, you're evil if you thought that something that was completely freaking crazy has been normalized and you say it's crazy when you say it out loud. You get, you know, you're a Horrible person and you should be sent straight to hell. And so this is a weird world we live in for old people like.

[Caller]

Me, too. Me too.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So. But what I try to do on the show and Ken does, too, and all of our guys here, we try to answer the question, what would I do if I were in your shoes? Would I, I personally buy a property in New York City today in this uncertain environment? Yeah. You know, what I would have to weigh out is whether or not this goober can actually pull off some of this stupid butt stuff he's trying to do. If I thought he could pull it off, there's no way I would do it. If I thought it's just a pipe dream and there's no chance that socialism survives in New York City, then, you know that it's just crazy and it's, you know, it's hyped up in the news and, you know, it gives Fox News something to talk about. And, you know, if I, you know, all that kind of stuff, if I thought that, then I would just buy and just move on and not worry about it. Because, you know, most things work their way out, particularly real estate ends up working its way out. But it doesn't work its way out if you start stealing property from the private property owner.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

In the name of virtue.

[Caller]

Well, that's what happened in Venezuela.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, yeah. This. We're not a banana republic yet.

[Ken Coleman]

What are they planning? What is the current. What is the current thing that they're looking at?

[Dave Ramsey]

Where, what, how they just step out of the city itself and go buy something out on the island or out at Westchester or something? Just step out of New York. They.

[Caller]

They like being right close.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I bet they like it. But I mean, I don't think, matter of fact, I don't think they're going to do anything you and I say too, by the way. I think they're going to do whatever they're going to do after this conversation.

[Caller]

So that's true.

[Dave Ramsey]

We're probably wasting our breath, but it's an interesting discuss.

[Caller]

If it were your daughter, you would say.

[Dave Ramsey]

I would say. I wouldn't do it today. I'm gonna let some of this flame out or gin up. If it flames out, I'm gonna buy. If it gins up, I'm walking out of there.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

So same thing's happening with Guten with Goober Newsom. He's adding one more reason to leave California.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. The billionaire tax. And isn't actually him. I take that back. He's come out against it. Some of the other communists over there. So there's like, we're going to tax billionaires. Let me help you with this. You can't tax billionaires. They leave.

[Caller]

Right, right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And they've been leaving your state like a Baptist after a casserole. I mean, they've been getting out of there, you know, and so it doesn't work. But then if you say, I can tell you I have five, six friends in Nashville that are billionaires that are all former California. And they paid cash for multimillion dollar houses with what they saved on California income tax the first year that they left there. I know one guy that owns a winery over there. It's the only asset he's got left over there. And he gives all the wine away every year because he refuses to pay California a dime. He gives it all to charity.

[Caller]

I think he announced the New York City budget. I think it was yesterday or the day before. And it exceeds the entire state of Florida. So how. I think it was 127 billion or something. And he said, well, how are you gonna fund that? Well, he said, not just the billionaires. I'm gonna tax everybody.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, welcome to socialism again.

[Caller]

Yeah, again, he told you what he

[Dave Ramsey]

was gonna do and then you elected him. So you get what you pay for.

[Caller]

That's right. But again, things that I thought would never happen, Dave. Have happened.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't know. I have to watch myself. Cause I get all ginned up and hyped up myself and my drama queen kicks in. And then a lot of this stuff flames out.

[Caller]

And.

[Dave Ramsey]

And these people that, you know, they just go. They're yesterday's memory of something stupid. And if that happens, you're gonna. New York real estate's obviously been a wonderful investment for 100 years. Okay?

[Caller]

Right. Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And as long as this flames out. So I might give it a hot minute and let it see if it flames out or not. I probably just push the pause button. But it's not like I'm running out of here with my hair on fire. Cause the whole place is going to hell. I don't think that's gonna happen. Not quick, anyway. It's harder to turn this ship that size than he thinks it is.

[Caller]

I really hope you're right. And that's. So you would say.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'll just say, wait a minute. Why don't you honestly would go out to Westchester and get outside the city and buy something and shut up. You can. Well, how, When I live downtown. Well, get your dad gum. Car. Get a car service and go downtown and then you don't get your property confiscated by a communist. I mean, I mean that's not that hard a decision. But they're giving you again, they're not going to do any of this, Susan. So they're going to do whatever they're going to do. They're not going to listen to you or me. We're just boomers. What do we know? And so, but when I'm analyzing something like this, Ken, I always just say, okay, what is the risk? And if the risk is high enough, I may want to just pause a second and let's just see what happens.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. My advice for Susan is dovetailing off of what you said. If you just go in there and you tell, tell, tell, there's a low probability that your adult kid is going to go with your advice. I think you've got to take the posture of asking and so not tell. And I can tell you're fired up and you have reserved the right to be fired up. But that's going to go in one ear and out the other. So if I'm you, I would be asking really good, thoughtful, critical questions. Not with a opinion attached to the question, but enough that they lose sleep at night. This is the form of a good interview. You know, if you're doing customer interviews, you want to create quality questions that customers sit with or somebody you're interviewing for a job, same deal here. So I think your only hope of influencing them is actually walk them through the financial case, the risk, the far term, the short term, and just ask questions and hopefully they have enough discernment and common sense to see some of the red flags that you see. I think that's the approach I take as a problem.

[Dave Ramsey]

The problem with adult children is you don't really get a vote.

[Ken Coleman]

You don't so ask, don't tell.

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Caller]

I'm good. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

I am a single mom living in a toxic environment, and I make 1200amonth right now. How do I get out of this?

[Dave Ramsey]

What is a toxic environment?

[Caller]

I'm staying with my mom. I have two kids, and I'm staying with my mom right now because I couldn't figure out a way to get myself stable housing for me and my kids.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, and so she lets you stay there, but she's a jerk?

[Caller]

Pretty much, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is that what. Is that what toxic environment means, or is there something else going on?

[Caller]

Well, I was married and got divorced 10 years ago when my daughter was born. She didn't believe me about the. How abusive he was, and she ended up. I was living with her after I got divorced, and she ended up moving him into the house without telling me.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is he there now?

[Caller]

No, he's in jail.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, there's that.

[Caller]

He should be going to. He should be going to prison for a while.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why? So

[Caller]

CSC charges against my daughter

[Dave Ramsey]

as well. Okay. Does she believe that now since he got arrested?

[Caller]

She does, but she keeps saying, I can't believe it. I just never saw it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, well, she didn't like being wrong. Okay. So.

[Caller]

And it's.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow.

[Caller]

She. She doesn't let me parent my kids either, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

The answer to your question is economic. It's your income, isn't it?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

What I was trying to establish is there's not an emergency. There's just an unpleasant human being I want to get away from.

[Caller]

Yeah, okay. Pretty much, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, the emergency's in jail.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So now we're down to an unpleasant mother who's not real bright. Okay. And so, yeah, I, you know, but obviously the issue is your income sucks, right?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what are we doing about that, Ken?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, I want to know what you're doing now. Where are you getting the income?

[Caller]

Well, I have two jobs. I work about three nights a week. Cleaning a medical facility for 1750 an hour, which ends up being about 800amonth. And then I have a job at a chain store working. I get 1550 an hour and I work one or two days a week. And I'm also taking two college classes.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, well, we need to probably pause the college classes. I'll come back to that in a minute. But mostly likely we're pausing that because the college classes will be there. What do you need? If we could wave a wand right now and gave you take home pay of what? What's that number that would allow you to move out of mom's house and also have some margin living somewhere else?

[Caller]

Well, if I want to stay where I am, I would need 4,000. But if I move where I want to move, I could make it on 1500-2000amonth.

[Ken Coleman]

I really like that. What's keeping us from moving where you want to?

[Caller]

Well, I have to finish out school.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, you don't know.

[Caller]

This semester if I drop out of college, I lose my fund. Like I, I get the Pell Grant, I get scholarships. And if I drop out, I'm afraid I will.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, let me put it this way. Do you want to continue to have a miserable life and be behind the eight ball and all the negative things you're experiencing just because of these classes and these grants that I'm telling you to pause? Anyway, I think you take the loss, we take the loss on the college classes and we move to a better place. We reduce our expenses, we get on our feet and we start a new life. You've been in massive crisis mode.

[Dave Ramsey]

Time, job, full time, 40 hours career, 40 hours a week. You work two part time jobs now

[Ken Coleman]

and barely making anything.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you need a full time job in a new place. And then when we get things moving and there's groceries and lights and rents paid, then we'll think about classes later.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

By the way, if you make $80,000 a year, you don't need a Pell Grant.

[Caller]

But how am I going to make 80,000 a year?

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't know yet. But we hadn't got there. We just got started on this 10 minutes ago.

[Ken Coleman]

We got to get stable before we start planning for the long term. But let's just go there for 30 seconds.

[Dave Ramsey]

Don't plan to be poor is my point.

[Ken Coleman]

What are you taking these classes for? What path was it putting you on?

[Caller]

Bachelor's degree.

[Ken Coleman]

I know. In what?

[Caller]

Wildlife or environmental conservation.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why?

[Caller]

I looked it up. That something that I would enjoy doing and at 60 to 80,000 a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, great. Doing what?

[Ken Coleman]

Who cares if it's 60 to 80?

[Dave Ramsey]

Who pays 60 to 80,000 for a wildlife. What in the world? What are you talking about? You know, work at the zoo.

[Caller]

Well, you could. I mean there's lots of different parts

[Ken Coleman]

and lots of things.

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, lots of things. Especially the state that I would like to move to.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Which is where?

[Caller]

Arkansas.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So I'd be talking to them, for instance, the park and rec department at the state about what they need to have somebody hired. And that can become your long term goal and your short term goals. Get down there and get a job and have money for food.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And get away from all this craziness.

[Ken Coleman]

And what you might find is that when I move to Arkansas, and maybe I'm working at Target or Walmart or whatever, but I'm making good money, I've got some benefits. And then I start to look at what are the non degree jobs in the Arkansas Wildlife Department. Every state has a natural resources department. So there are government jobs all across the board. And I know this cause I worked for the governor of Virginia. So there are jobs in Arkansas that are adjacent to, to the ultimate job you want that you might need a degree for. So you're thinking about a ladder right now. Ladder number one, get to Arkansas 40 hours a week, good pay, get margin, lower my expenses, get healthy.

[Dave Ramsey]

Step two.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, step two, I look, where can I get into a non degree job in the department of, you know, Natural resources?

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, and by the way, they have a program that pays for tuition. Yeah. Okay. You don't need a Pell Grant, so this is doable.

[Ken Coleman]

But you got to move, right? You got to make the first step move.

[Dave Ramsey]

The reason you're stuck is you have no income.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's why you're stuck.

[Caller]

So when I move, should I rent or buy?

[Dave Ramsey]

Rent.

[Ken Coleman]

You're broke, get a roommate.

[Dave Ramsey]

But rent, the cheapest thing you can

[Caller]

rent, cannot get a roommate.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, bad idea. But it was at least had to be.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't know why you can't get a roommate. All roommates aren't evil sex abusers.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just the one you picked last time. You can definitely get a roommate. Just because your mother's a fruit loop and you were hanging out with a guy who abused your daughter. That doesn't mean all people are that way. You just ran into a couple of losers in a row. But that doesn't mean all humans are that way. There's great people out there that need a place to stay and would love being around a lady who's trying to get herself together. So anyway, quit saying I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't. And figure out how you can. I can't do this because I'm going to lose a pell grant. Well, whoopty doopty, we just told you why you don't even need it. And then let's get up and get going and get some income coming in. And otherwise you're going to sit there and talk about what this is and what this isn't. But I'm getting out of there if I'm you. Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

And again, back to the roommate thing and why we suggest that now we take $1,500, which will be your greatest expense, and we cut that in half. And margin for you financially right now is going to turn into emotional freedom, and emotional freedom is going to turn into confidence. And I'm telling you, Dave, and I can hear it on you, you need some confidence. And that's why we're telling you this move is going to absolutely generate confidence. You're a mama bear. Nobody's stopping you. You're going to take care of those kiddos or your child. And so you've got to channel that. That's where this will all take place is when you actually move. Things will move in your favor.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's. And it is about hope. It is about believing that there is a chance that if I do these three things, this is. One of these things is gonna work. Somehow this is gonna work. But. And 100% chance this is gonna get worse. If you sit there, if you sit and poop, it's 100% chance it's gonna smell. 100% chance. And so, yeah, you gotta get up and go, I'm not sitting in this stuff. I'm gonna go do something else. I'm gonna completely move anymore. And. But that's a. Again, you gotta. There has. There's a belief that Ken's talking about that comes with that, a confidence that comes with that, and it will be multiplied as you start to have some wins. Because it's been a little while since you had a check in the win column. Most of your checks are in the losing column. So you need some checks over in the side where I win. I won that one. I won that one. I won that one. So, yeah, if I'm you, I'm working 16 jobs right now, piling up some money, loading the car up with the kids and the clothes, and I'm heading to Arkansas. There you go. Just like that.

[Ken Coleman]

Hey, what's up? This is Dr. John DeLoney for my friends at Mama Bear legal forms. I spend a lot of time talking with people about anxiety, relationship challenges and all kinds of other things that keep people up at night. One thing I'm always telling everybody is that peace does not come from avoiding hard things. Peace comes from facing hard things and directly walking through them. One of the hard things we all face is is our own mortality. And if you've got kids or people you love, creating a will is one of the most important things you can give them. I'm such a big fan of Mama Bear. When I moved from Texas to Tennessee, one of the first things I did was set up my will through Mama Bear so that my family was protected in my new state. Mama Bear will help you make a clear, legally valid will in about 20 minutes. They provide step by step guidance that makes getting a will simple. Believe me, if you're ready to love your family in a real impractical and lasting way, go to mamabearlegalforms.com and use the promo code RAMSEY to save 20%. That's mamabearlegalforms dot com use code RAMSEY.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, if you're debt free and you're working your baby steps four and beyond, we want you to come with us on the live like no one else cruise. It's your chance to celebrate. You hang out with me. All new sessions on building wealth. Live episodes of our shows. The world's largest debt free scream. All the Ramsey personalities will be there. Last year was the first time we ever did this and it was epic to get on the ship's PA and everybody standing, thousands of people standing around the ship, all over, around the pool area, all through the ballrooms, everywhere. And on the count of three, the world's largest debt free scream. It was freaking epic, y'. All. Yeah. You can still get a cabin with only a $600 deposit. You can join us. We're going to be doing this March of 27. So a year from now is when we're going. And it's the western Caribbean, which means Jamaica. Yeah, no problem. One. Yeah. So come on, come on. Go with us. Right?

[Ken Coleman]

Come on. There for just more of that. I think America wants more of that accent. That's great.

[Dave Ramsey]

The hillbilly Jamaican accent. I kind of like can't get those just anyway. No, no, you have to work years to develop that. Ramsey Solutions.com events. You can book a cabin right now. We'd love to have you guys go with us. It's going to be a lot of fun. John's in Charlotte. Hey, John, how are you?

[Caller]

Good. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So me and my wife were new to Ramsey. We just got the Every Dollar app, kind of plugging things in.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good.

[Caller]

And we want to get out of debt as efficient and quickly as possible. We have about 40 consumer debt on credit cards, 69,000 on a vehicle, and we make about $210,000 a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much money do you have in the bank? That's not retirement.

[Caller]

We have $17,000 in savings right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's it.

[Caller]

I was wondering also, should I sell my truck? Probably kick start this off.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, probably. I mean, it's. It's the glaring problem in the numbers, isn't it?

[Caller]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Dave Ramsey]

So here's the formula. Okay. I have a truck that I love. And I'm guessing you like this truck. Yes. Okay, good. That's fair. It's okay to like your truck. I've got a. I got a Raptor R and it's a freaking beast. I love it, so. And I wouldn't want to sell it. I won't want you to sell your truck. But here's the formula that we use, okay? What we've determined from 30 plus years of doing all this stuff is if you have a car that is keeping you from getting out of debt within two years, 100% debt free except your house within two years, then you need to sell the car. So what I'm going to do in that, on that basis, if I'm in your shoes, if you're going to use that as your measure, and I suggest you do, is you sit down, you say, okay, we're going to live on beans and rice, rice and beans. We're not going on vacation. We're not going out to eat and shut up about buying anything. We're getting out of debt. Scorched freaking earth. Okay? No life. We're chopping up the credit cards tonight. We're gonna light some candles and have a plastic surgery party. No credit cards, no debt, no fun. All we do is work and get out of debt. And if we do that, making $200,000 a year and we lived on $100,000 a year, you would be debt free in one year.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, that's the numbers, right? You have 69 plus 40. You have 109,000 in debt. If you're unwilling to cut your freaking lifestyle out of 200 grand far enough to pay off 109,000 within two years. Then, yes, you should sell your truck. But you're probably not going to make it even if you sell your truck, because you're not willing to cut out the stupid butt stuff you've been doing that got you here.

[Caller]

Yeah, I think we're ready now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. I think you are. I think I hear it in your voice. That's why I said that I wouldn't have been that mean to somebody that I didn't think. Got it. Yeah, I might, but probably not today, but 50.

[Ken Coleman]

50 chance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. But, yeah, I think you got it, man. So what I'm gonna do if I'm you is I'm gonna say I'm gonna. We're gonna go hardcore on this. We're gonna drive to ground. We're gonna try to. I'm gonna work extra. We're not. We're not going on vacation. No. We're not buying a couch. No. We're not buying a fill in the. Okay. We're going to feed the family. We are going to have a little bit of Christmas. But this family has been living on more than we make, which is absurd. We're not in Congress. We have to stop this. Right. And when you guys get. When you and your wife get that, and then you start putting that in the EveryDollar app, and it translates into margin in the math. That passion that I'm using in my voice right now translates to margin in the math. And you say, okay, we're going to find $8,000, $6,000, $10,000, whatever it is, a month to put on this, and we're going to be done in 14 months or nine months, or you start mapping it out, then you keep the truck. Is it worth that level of sacrifice to keep this truck? It might be. Probably a pretty good truck. Or you're like, I don't know if I want to give up that much. I'd rather give up the truck. Okay, that's cool. Give up the truck then.

[Caller]

Yeah, the truck. KBB has it at like $52,000, and it's paid off. So I'm thinking if I just sell it, then maybe it can take us less than a year to get out of this, Right?

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, you've got a debt in 20 minutes. If you got a $10,000 truck, 52 minus a $10,000 truck pays off the credit cards. You're done. But you still got to fix your freaking spending problem, right? Yeah. You still got to learn to live on less than you make. You still got to not be waving those credit cards around like they're money.

[Caller]

Yeah, those are done.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, but you see what I'm saying? So if you. If you go that route, that's the shortcut out. But make sure you fix the thing all the way at the source so you're never back here again.

[Caller]

Right? I gotcha.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Hey, how old are you?

[Caller]

Appreciate that. 35.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you do for a living?

[Caller]

I'm a truck driver.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. John, I think you're gonna do this. I think you got the ability to do this, and I don't care which way you go. I tell you what you could do. Here's a third suggestion. Suggestion one's got it out like I talked about. Suggestion two, sell the truck like you talked about, and you're out. Now, suggestion three could be a medium. Let's try this for a few months and see how much progress we can make. And maybe we can keep the truck. But if we try it for a couple months and everybody's whining, everybody's barking and everybody's chirping, then we still got to fix the spending, but we got to sell the truck.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You could try it for, like, three months. Hardcore. And see how much progress you make. See how encouraged you and the spouse become, and then that's okay. I'm okay if you sell it. Doesn't make me mad at all. But if you want to gut it out, as long as you pay it off in under two years and the credit cards too, and you fix the problem, I'm okay.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. You know, I think you ought to do what Dave says, and I think you ought to try it for 90 days and hold onto the emotion of that truck. You like the truck. So you're going to say yes to the truck by saying no to everything else you've been doing. That's the mindset switch you've got to do. And I actually like that, Dave. I like that approach because you don't reset your brain. Yeah. You don't feel the sacrifice if you just sell the truck immediately. And we know that you can always go back to it. But here's the deal. 40,000 in debt. We didn't ask his income.

[Dave Ramsey]

200.

[Ken Coleman]

Was it? 200. I'm sorry I missed it. My point is that could be paid off really quickly anyway. So I kind of like the idea of going. It's like losing weight. It's like saying, I want to lose £50. Well, there's only one way to do that. One day at a time.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, like, you don't.

[Ken Coleman]

You're not week One looking in the mirror going, how am I doing? Because then you're discouraged. It is. I got to win each day. And I like that because you and I know there's a higher probability that the habits change.

[Dave Ramsey]

You got to have a permanent change in the process you use and the habits you use and the spiritual look you have on money so that you don't come back here again. And if you have that permanent change, you got what we wanted for you. We love you and we want you to win. And John, I think you got the right stuff. I think you got the right attitude. If your spouse is on board with you and feeling the same way you're feeling, then I'm with Ken. I think I would give this a hard, hard 90 days. See how much progress we make. See how good this works. I mean, you might look up and go, hey, man, we paid off, you know, 30,000 of the 40,000 we can run through this thing, you know. And by the way, you got 17 in the bank. And baby step says you're going to take 16 of that and throw it at these credit cards anyway. So that's going to move the needle, too. You start plowing through this stuff, you go, okay, living on less than we make is possible in America. Hello.

[Ken Coleman]

Realistically, Dave, let's take 24 off. So he's now got 24. If he does what we teach, how quick can he pay it off?

[Dave Ramsey]

Knowing what you know, maybe it'd be done in 90 days.

[Ken Coleman]

That's what I think too.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Yeah. He could be done in 90 days with the credit cards. By using the 16. Off the credit cards. Yeah, I mean, off the savings account. 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 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 43,000 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 data, stop wasting time, and make the right decisions faster. Take a free product tour [e-mail] Ramsey that's netsuite.com Ramsey. Cliff in Austin, Texas. Hey, Cliff. How are you?

[Caller]

Hey, I'm doing all right. How are you guys?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than we deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

Yeah, so I. A apartment complex that refused to negotiate with me when I got a new job out of state, some media collections, the.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because you broke the lease. Hello?

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right.

[Caller]

Yeah, I'm still here.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, you broke the lease. Right.

[Caller]

Well, they wouldn't negotiate.

[Dave Ramsey]

They don't have to negotiate with you. You signed a lease.

[Caller]

Okay, that's fine. That's fine. That's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about how. How to move forward. And hopefully you're willing to help me out with that.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'll try. But let's establish that they're not legally obligated or morally obligated to let you do whatever you want to do. Is that okay?

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. So what do you. How much do you owe them?

[Caller]

Just under 6k.

[Dave Ramsey]

Six grand. And what do you make a year?

[Caller]

Right now we are going back to school. The reason I'm doing this is because I now have a wife, but she

[Ken Coleman]

didn't answer the question. How much do you make?

[Caller]

Well, right now we're in school. We're not making anything.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right. So.

[Ken Coleman]

$0.

[Dave Ramsey]

How are you paying the current landlord?

[Caller]

We. We have some money saved up.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, good. We have.

[Caller]

We have a lot of money. We have. Yeah, we're. We're in good hands.

[Dave Ramsey]

3.

[Caller]

The reason that this. The reason that I moved, you know, I moved for a new job that paid better than what I was making, and they just didn't really want to work with me, so I just didn't know. And now that I have a wife, because I was single at the time, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much. How much money you have saved? Honey,

[Caller]

we have an emergency fund of 12k and we have more than 40k. I won't go into the exact number.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, nobody's gonna come get it. It's okay. Not from here anyway. Maybe from the landlord. What state was the landlord in?

[Caller]

I prefer not to say.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, it matters because the. I can't help you, honey. We're just gonna move on. This is just bullcrap. Miranda's in Raleigh. Hey, Miranda, what's up?

[Caller]

Hey, how are you guys?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. How can we help?

[Caller]

Good. I listen to you guys every day. So happy to be here. So I just have a quick question and it's about I don't know whether or not I should ask my boss for a raise. I don't know how to bring up the conversation or if it should even be brought up. I keep getting mixed messages from like friends and family. And I guess the reason why I want to raise is I joined the company a little under a year ago and they basically just changed the scope of the role. So I just feel like for the pay and the scope, like it's just not lining up anymore. But again, I got people talking in my ear saying, okay, good question.

[Ken Coleman]

Very good. Stop listening to all the friends and family. Okay, so we have to logically walk through this and then we have to validate your feelings. Okay. How did the scope change? And be very specific. In other words, did it increase the amount of work? Did the job description itself change? Give me a quick summary.

[Caller]

Basically everything. So I joined, I'm in sales. When I joined the company, he had me as an account manager working underneath the territory manager. So the scope of the role in terms of what my territory would be and the amount of travel and things like that.

[Dave Ramsey]

So more territory, more travel?

[Caller]

Yeah. They basically, when I join one of the territory sales reps retired. So three weeks in, basically just bumped me up into that role.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, what is your current territory? What's your current. What's your current comp structure? Is it base plus commission?

[Caller]

It's base plus commission. Originally when I joined the company, it was based with a set amount of commission. It was like a $500 just monthly flat. And when I moved into the new territory role, I asked them about salary. They told me basically nothing changes on the base, but the commission structure would able to get more money on that end.

[Ken Coleman]

How has it changed?

[Caller]

It honestly hasn't changed too much. The commission did almost. Right now it is usually anywhere from like 8 to 1400 extra months. Is that the 500 before, is that capped? But it is not capped.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, so you got.

[Caller]

When I brought up salary negotiations and stuff like that, they've always told me, well, hey, if you're doing new business.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right.

[Caller]

Be able to grow that commission and where you'll see the increase.

[Ken Coleman]

So I'm completely objective. Okay. And Dave comes from a sales background. So what I'm hearing is opportunity. And I'm hearing pretty standard language here. In a sales role, that they're not going to bump your base, but if they don't limit you from a commission standpoint and they've increased your territory. So the real question I would want to know, and for sake of time, you don't have to answer it, but you need to know what your potential commission could be based on some previous numbers. You had a person just retire in that role. I'd want to know over the last five years, maybe seven years, one year, what did that person make? What was the total commission? You got to be dealing in facts, and right now you're dealing in feelings. And I understand the feelings, but I don't recommend you go in and ask for a raise in less than a year in this scenario, when you've effectively been given a chance for a raise. Dave, am I missing.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, the raise. Your raise is effective when you are. So when you go make more sales, you're going to make more money. That's what they told you. And that's not a bad thing at all. Matter of fact, salespeople make more money than just about any other role in America today. If they're not in a situation where they're trapped or have some kind of a ceiling on them. It doesn't sound like you do here. The only ceiling is your effort, your ability, the hours in the day, the logistics of getting to the customer, all those kinds of things. But those are all things that you can control and manage for efficiency to get more and more money coming in. Because, I mean, if you went and sold a whole, let's say you doubled your sales, you'd be making a couple grand a month plus your base, wouldn't you?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Can you do that?

[Caller]

I can. I mean, I think I can, yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is there anything that the company is doing. Is there anything the company's doing that's keeping you from doing that?

[Caller]

No. I do think when they switched me into the territory role, that the territory I took over as much further away. So my biggest thing I've had is just time management with now the new commute and the new area I'm over and just time management on that end. But there's definitely opportunities.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, so here's what I just heard. Yeah, so here's what I just heard. Thanks for sharing that. Here's what you're dealing with. You're dealing with expectations have been shifted. And with the expectations being shifted, it has inconvenienced you, and the inconvenience is a real emotion. And you're going, well, compensate me for making me travel more.

[Dave Ramsey]

If.

[Ken Coleman]

Do I have it about right?

[Caller]

A little bit. And I guess, too, I know this is so bad to not talk about other people's salaries and things like that, but I just know from like the account managers versus territory managers, there is a big jump in the base salary. So I guess I get. I guess emotionally held up.

[Dave Ramsey]

Are you a territory manager?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Now she is.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Are you getting territory manager base or account base?

[Caller]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Now that you can bring out, that's a valid thing. Okay. Hey, listen, you move me into a territory. You move me into a territory, and I'm willing to eat what I kill. Thank you for moving. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. But also, I understand that territory managers make a different base. And when you move me to. That I don't understand. Would you please explain to me why I didn't get the increased base? That's a fair question. But that's different than slamming your fist on the table and demanding a raise. But that last little thing you gave us was a game changer.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I think you have to sit down and ask them. Hey, listen, from what I understand now, again, posture is everything here, okay? There's no need to create tension. And you can create tension with a leader really quick because we don't know if they're a healthy leader. We don't know if there's some limitations. We don't know that. So the advice has got to be, I'm going to sit down and ask. Hey, I understand that this is true. Is this true? It's a question. I'm not telling. I'm asking. Then if they say, yes, this is true, then you could say, obviously, if you were in my shoes, you'd probably wonder, is that going to happen? And why isn't it happening? Or when can it happen? These are good.

[Dave Ramsey]

Under what circumstances do I start earning territory manager base after you made me a territory manager? That's a fair question. That's right. And I would want to ask that.

[Ken Coleman]

And by the way, wait, the answer doesn't make any sense. There's your sign. It's probably time to start making plans to go somewhere else.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, yeah. Not gonna work out for you there because they're messing you over at that point. But, yeah, You already know the power of generosity. And the best gifts make an impact now and eternally. That's 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 of just $28 covers the cost 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 855-6012. 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 Fair Winds Credit Union studio. Josh is in Detroit, Michigan. Hey, Josh, how are you?

[Caller]

I'm doing well. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So calling relating to my dad, he's 62 and about a month ago had a conversation with him about retirement and where he was with that. And I found out that he has a little over $3,000 to his name right now in a checking account and he makes good money at his job, makes over 100,000 a year. But he has really high expenses and recent medical debt has wiped out a lot of his savings. So my question's relating to how can I help him start moving towards realizing an actual retirement in a timely amount of time?

[Dave Ramsey]

Mostly it would be coaching him. Right. That's what you mean by help. Right? Showing him some things to do. Number one, why did medical debt that wipe out his savings? Did he not have health insurance?

[Caller]

He does, but he has, he has a chronic health condition and so his deductible is really high. And he has to, he has had a couple procedures over the past couple years that he has had to pay out of pocket for because his deductible didn't cover all of it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, now after the deductible, then copay kicks in. Yeah.

[Caller]

I mean, I don't, I don't know the specifics of this.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, that's how insurance, here's how insurance works. The deductible, you pay 100% of the bill until you meet the deductible. After you meet the deductible, typically it's an 80, 20. After that, they pay 80% and you pay 20% and so do you have any idea what his deductible is? Like 10 grand or something?

[Caller]

Yeah, it's pretty high. Something like that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so he's gone through 20 grand by meeting the deductible two different years, and then he had a procedure beyond that that he owed 20% of that procedure, and that took some more money. Maybe another 10 or 15,000, we'll just call it. So maybe he's gone through 30 or $40,000. So he still didn't really have any money. Right, Right. I mean, he didn't go through 200,000 bucks. He went through 30 or 40.

[Caller]

That's correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. I'm just making sure that we get the table set here. So he's worked all his life and he makes six figures and he saved no money is what we're really dealing with. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And so is he single? Yep.

[Caller]

Yeah, my parents divorced a few years ago, so he's been on his own for a while.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, if he called us on the air, we would say, get on a detailed written budget and pile cash. You make a hundred grand. Well, my expenses are high. Cut your expenses. You're living too high on the hog, as we say in Tennessee. So what is his stinking expenses?

[Caller]

From what I know and he's shown me, he pays about 4,000amonth in expenses.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, he makes 8,500 or 8,800. Yes.

[Caller]

So, yeah, that's part of my dilemma, is I don't know where.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller]

I don't know where the money's going.

[Dave Ramsey]

He doesn't either. Okay. So that. You know. So if you took over a company that was bringing in $100,000 a year and spending $48,000 a year, and they didn't know where the other money was going, the first thing you would do is they need a better system. Right. They need to know where their money's going. And so if you're going to coach him, he needs to know where his money's going. And if he doesn't pay attention, he's going to retire and eat Alpo.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's time to get your crap together. You're 62. You probably got 10 years of good, hard work to do, and he could pile up several hundred thousand dollars in the next 10 years making 100 grand very, very carefully. He could have a decent nest egg at retirement. Yeah.

[Caller]

There's a second part to this as well, if you have the time for it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

He was recently involved in a real estate deal that went sideways, and there's a Chance he could be looking at a judgment payment to a bank of around $500,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, that will bankrupt him.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

He hasn't seen $500,000 ever.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so the only chance he's got there is to negotiate down. And do you have partners in that deal?

[Caller]

Yes, he was one of five partners.

[Dave Ramsey]

They didn't have him signed up because they thought he was going to pay. They had the other guys signed up because the other guys had assets. They're not going to bother your dad. Yeah, they're not. I mean, there is zero chance they're going to get any money out of your dad. Zero. He has no money. And if they start putting lien on his stuff, he'll just file bankruptcy. They know they're not going to get money out of him. And by the way, they knew that when they got his signature because he was already a broke guy then.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So they must have been leaning on someone else's asset base to make this loan.

[Caller]

That's correct. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So they're going after the. They're going after the rich guy, not the poor guy. That's what they do. If I'm suing them, I'm going after the guy that's got money. I want to get the money.

[Caller]

Me.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm not gonna bother your pat. That's a waste of paperwork.

[Caller]

Yeah. If they don't pursue him heavily, he shouldn't declare bankruptcy.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, he doesn't file bankruptcy on what might happen.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

If he has $200,000 saved and they're gonna come get that, we'll have to talk about what we do. But he doesn't have any money today. And so what I'm gonna do is not worry about that. I'm gonna put that on the shelf and let it sit over there and cook, and I'm gonna get my crap together and start stacking cash and building. Get with a smartvestor pro and let's get this stuff filled up and. And quit spending money like you're in Congress. You know why he did the real estate deal? Because he was desperate and scared and thought he was going to retire bankrupt.

[Caller]

Yes. It was a Hail Mary.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's exactly what it was. It's exactly what it was. It's a move of a desperate man. And so let me get. Let me stop doing desperate things, and let's start doing steady things. Steady, steady, steady, steady. The tortoise wins the race, not the hare.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I just would encourage you. Josh, this is going to be really hard to hear and even harder to do at Some point, you're going to have to talk to dad and see if he's willing to be guided or coached by his son. And if he's not, you're going to have to put up a boundary there and it's going to be really, really hard. And the reason you have to put up a boundary is because you can't make your dad do anything. And you're just going to have to really grieve that and then move on. So I hope that doesn't happen. But super clear in your heart and your desire to help, if he doesn't receive it, you're going to have to put up a boundary.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So mathematically, your dad has the ability to build a nest egg by 72. That's pretty substantial. But 62 years of sucky habits are in the way. So is he going to look in the mirror and go, after 62 freaking years, I'm going to grow up or not? And that's not up to you, is Ken's point. That's up to him.

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, I need to come to Jesus moment.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, he does. Not you by looking in the mirror and going, you're the problem. It's not somebody. Nobody took advantage of him. And it's not medical. That's not the problem. None of these excuses are the problem. The problem is you make a lot of money and you piss it away and it's got to stop. And that's what it comes down to. Now, you don't want to say that to your dad, but that's what it comes down to. That's the math that we've got. And fixing the math is easy once the human being starts to get their crap together. But the humans are now the humans, they're an issue. But the math thing, it's pretty easy. So we say it around here all the time, personal finance is 80% behavior. It's 20% head knowledge. The problem with my money is the guy in my mirror. If I can get him to behave, he can be skinny and rich, but he likes donuts. It's a problem. And that's an issue. So, I mean, but it's a behavior thing. It's not a. It's not a lack of knowledge, it's not a lack of ability. It's not. That makes 100 grand hand. It'll do it.

[Ken Coleman]

The donuts are good, though, Dave. They're really good.

[Dave Ramsey]

Shut up, Ken.

[Ken Coleman]

Tax season is coming up fast, which means a lot of you are paying more attention to your money and maybe realizing the holiday damage so if you're trying to clean up the budget and start the year strong, cutting your phone bill is an easy win. With Boost Mobile, keep the phone you love and pay just 25 bucks a month for unlimited data. Talk and text forever. No contracts, no traps. Just predictable savings that help you stay in control. Switch [e-mail] Ramsey restrictions apply. See website for details.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. Tax season is here. If you want to get some free checklists and some guides that'll help you with the filing process, we'll help you for free. Go to ramseysolutions.com taxes ramsey solutions.com taxes Elizabeth is in Washington D.C. hi Elizabeth, how are you?

[Caller]

Hi, Dave. I'm doing well.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. How can we help?

[Caller]

So I'm phoning. I'm 38 years old, a single mother with two children, and I'm feeling stuck financially. I have about $90,000 in student debt, $9,000 in credit card debt, and I can't seem to get past baby step one. I'm thinking about making a hardship withdrawal from my retirement account to buy a multifamily home to start generating some income and like build stability for my family. I want to get out of debt sa invest, but I, I just feel stuck.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

I don't know what to do.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, well, that move is not going to bring you stability. That move is going to destabilize your situation. It's going to have the opposite effect of what you're hoping for. So no, we wouldn't do that. What do you make?

[Caller]

I bring in roughly around 160k a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And on 160,000 with two kids, why can you not reduce debt?

[Caller]

Always an emergency. That happens again, a single parent. I have no other.

[Dave Ramsey]

Give me an example of a $60,000 emergency.

[Caller]

I had to have a medical procedure done last year that, it was a real financial blow for me. It wasn't 60,000, but it was in the thousands. Just my monthly bills alone take about half my take home pay.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, where's the other half? Where's the other half go?

[Caller]

I have a lease on a vehicle. The insurance where I live is also very high.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so how much is your car lease?

[Caller]

My car lease currently is $600 a month and the insurance for it is about 340amonth as well.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well that's $7,000 a year.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's probably closer to 10 with the insurance. Okay. But you make 160. How much is your, how much is your apartment rent or your house rent?

[Caller]

It's 1800amonth.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

All Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so. I don't know where the money's going, but you don't either. After talking to you, you still have not given me any numbers that sound anywhere near like $160,000. There's nothing here. There's nothing here that says you can't do this debt reduction idea. I'm making $160,000 a year. But how long have you been a single mom?

[Caller]

It's been around four years. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so having worked with for 30 plus years, almost 40 years now doing this, what I run into with people that go through a divorce and is it rips your heart out, it turns the whole world upside down, and there's a certain amount of emotional paralysis that happens because you kind of lose your confidence, you lose your swagger, you feel desperate and stuck. And then that gives you an excuse to not manage 160,000 watts. Well, it gives you. It's a reason that A valid. Not a valid reason, but it's a reason that people. Because emotional recovery after going through a divorce and trying to run a household with two kiddos. How old are these two kiddos?

[Caller]

My youngest is 13 and the oldest is 21.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Is the 21 year old supporting themselves?

[Caller]

He is working. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is he supporting himself?

[Caller]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. It's time he did, young man. Help him with that, mom. Okay. You cannot carry a 21 year old, number one. Number two, I need you to get the Every Dollar app and download it. I'm going to give you a free trial on this thing and let you get started with it. And it's going to coach you and show you exactly what to do. But. But I think that you can make substantial progress in one year. I don't think you're going to be debt free in one year, but you are spending some money somewhere out of grief, out of, I don't know, emotional salve of some kind probably. And that's okay because you've been hurting, you've been through hell, and you're trying to figure out what to do next and all that. But the good news is you don't make 16,000. You make $160,000 a year. Your rent is 1800, your car payment is 600. That's only 30,000 bucks. Okay. And that's shelter and transportation. We got to buy some clothes. Some clothes. Not much. You already probably got a bunch. And we got to buy some electricity and some water and that's it. And then you got to get an attack market.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I just from all the experience that we've Had. And this is a privilege to sit and help people. But, Dave, I have a sense here in this situation that what is presenting as an emergency at times now, this is not withstanding health and an H vac system going out in the middle of the summer or the winter.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Ken Coleman]

But some emergencies, Dave, feel like emergencies. And they're just emotional emergencies. They're not actually emergencies. And I know you've seen that a lot. And I think you touched on it with being a single mom. You got a 21 year old, I suspect, had we had time to ask, give us five more emergencies that have popped up recently.

[Dave Ramsey]

They're all under ten grand and they're all emotional emergencies.

[Ken Coleman]

They don't actually have to be spent on. And I just think you have to be careful there. I think there's a lesson there sometimes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, when you're tired and when you're grieving, you're not making good decisions.

[Ken Coleman]

Exactly.

[Dave Ramsey]

And when you're not living on a detailed plan that holds you, the numbers of the app, the EveryDollar app, will hold you accountable. Accountable for doing this stuff. You've got to do that, honey. I'm going to give it to you. I want you to get started on it today. But you have enough money coming in where you should be making substantial progress. If you're not debt free within 18 months, you've done something wrong. You should have all of this paid off in 18 months. You may need to get rid of this stupid car. You may need to do some other stuff, too. But you got to quit buying stuff and an emergency withdrawal to go buy a freaking multifamily. That sounds like you've been looking at something on TikTok. My God, this is the worst idea I've heard and I don't know when. Do not do that. It's not gonna do anything except get you more in debt and more problems and you got less emotional bandwidth than to work on all this. You have gotta tighten up your life and make the money that you. This incredible income that you make, you've gotta make it behave. I want you to develop a sense of disgust that I'm not getting any more use out of $160,000 than I am. I've got a little sense of disgust about it. So I want you to develop it for you. I want you to go win. I want you to have a good life. I want you to have some margin, have some wiggle room. But you're going to have to go take it back by the throat. It doesn't move until you take it by the throat and make it behave. Money will not behave unless you. Unless you force it to. Money will just wander off and go to people who are making it behave. It leaves people who don't make it behave and it goes to people who make it behave. It's a natural flow of life. And so you've got to take this by the throat and shake it and just go. You are going to do what I say to do. I am in charge of you. And when you get this attitude, this swagger about it and you start taking that every dollar attitude and squeezing these dollars and making them win, you know it's pretty serious. So what are we talking about here? We're talking about $14,000 a month income. Wow. That's a lot. That's a lot. You can do this.

[Caller]

Sam. Foreign.

[Ken Coleman]

This show is sponsored by Better Help. If you feel like you're the one holding everyone else together while you're slowly falling apart, I want you to hear me for a second. If you feel stuck or anxious or overwhelmed, yet you find yourself always saying, I have to take care of everybody else and I'll get to me later.

[Dave Ramsey]

Later.

[Ken Coleman]

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[Dave Ramsey]

Our question of the Today is brought to you by why Refi Defaulted Private student loans don't go away by ignoring them, but you can face them with a plan. Why Refi helps you refinance into low fixed rate payments built around what you can afford so you can take control and get back on the baby steps. Go to y refi.com Ramsey that's why refi r e f y.com Ramsey might not be in all states.

[Ken Coleman]

Today's question comes from Isaac in Nevada. Nevada I'm two years out from retiring. I'd like to know the best strategy on how to start withdrawing funds from my 401k. Do I change the dividends to not reinvest? Is there a certain percentage that's safe to withdraw every month or year? And if so, how often should I withdraw?

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, well, what I would do is sit down with your financial planner, your smartvestor pro, if you have one, or your advisor, and help them have them cross crunch some numbers with you. The stock market has averaged 12%, 11.8% since it began. Okay. Inflation has averaged for the last 40 years, 50 years, somewhere around 4.2%. It's below that right now. Was above that during President Biden's tenure due not to President Biden, but due to inflation. I'll just make a comment and keep rolling. Protect him just a little bit there. He got blamed for something that wasn't his anyway. But inflation comes and goes, in other words, and so do returns. Last year, you would have made over 20% on your money. The year before, you would have made over 20% on your money. The year before that, you wouldn't have made that. So just go back and look at some of the track record on the market. If your funds are invested, figure out what they're averaging, have been averaging over the last many years and what you think they're going to average. But let's just use some easy note numbers. Let's pretend that your funds are like mine and they're averaging around 12. Again, I made 26 last year, but they're averaging around 12. Okay. And inflation's 4. So if I draw out 12, the value of my nest egg starts to go away at the rate of inflation. The math is all still sitting there. If I only pull off the income and I let the nest egg sit there, that's fine. But a million dollars, 10 years from now, because of 4% inflation, it won't buy as much as it buys today. So it begins to erode your purchasing power. If you take out the full amount that you're earning. Okay. If you took out 8% and left 4 in and it made 12, 12 minus 4 is 8. You would leave enough in to cover inflation and you'd be pulling off enough. So your million dollars would grow by 40,000, but the purchasing power would lose by 40,000. So you would break even on what it would buy because It'll take a million, 40,000 next year to buy what a million would buy this year. If inflation's 4%, that makes sense. Good. Okay. So if you pull off eight or less, your money is growing still more than or equal to inflation. And it would run forever if you're. If that math is correct. Okay? Now that's assuming you're earning 12. And inflation is truly for average over years. So if you had a million dollars and you pulled off $80,000 a year, you'd be just fine. And you know, you could do that monthly, you can do it quarterly, but you can say, I want to pull out an average of X percent of this nest egg. You can set it up at 60,000, I don't care. And leave a little more in there if that makes you nervous. You know, what you don't want to do is draw out so much that you end up running out of money before your life is over. Hello. And so if you're making, if you're making 120,000 on your million this year and you pull out 150,000, eventually that's going to run into a wall. If you live long enough. Enough, right, because you're pulling out more than you're making. And so next year you're going to make even less because you don't have much in there. You're killing the goose that's got the golden eggs coming out. So pull out less than the average that you project to earn by at least the rate of inflation. So what's your projection to earn and what do you think inflation is going to be? Sit down with your advisor. A lot of people in the financial world say 6%. I'm comfortable with 8. Because very few people live, outlive their money once they built a sizable nest egg. Now if you're starting with 200 grand, it's different than if you're starting with 2 million. Two changes the formula. Because if you whittle away at your 2 million and it gets down to only a million 5 before you die. Oh, well, you didn't kill anything, right? No big deal. But if you, if you're 2 million grows to 3 million before you die and you live out of it, well, you leave a better inheritance is all. So you kind of get of got to, you know, how much do you want to leave behind? Engage that. It always helps too, to know exactly when you're going to die, then you can run the map.

[Ken Coleman]

That's true.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's helpful.

[Ken Coleman]

There'll be an app for that soon, I'm certain of it.

[Dave Ramsey]

But that's how this works. So you will also find, my dear Isaac, that there's a lot of financial nerds out there that are complete freaks about this stuff that actually hates advice. I just gave you this Is true. They are very vocal about how stupid I am. And how many people are going to die broke because of Dave Ramsey. I don't want you to die broke. I want you to get broke right before you die because you've enjoyed the money, gave the money, done with the money, what you wanted to do with it, whether it's an inheritance or something else.

[Ken Coleman]

Can we mess with the critics just

[Dave Ramsey]

real quick, just for fun? Why not?

[Ken Coleman]

What are we talking, Dave, 48 hours, 72 hours broke, right before you die.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because you know they're going to come

[Ken Coleman]

after you for saying that.

[Dave Ramsey]

You gotta dial it in. You gotta dial it in. You gotta really know. But here's the thing, too. What ends up happening is that this stuff is not static. See, like, last year was 26%. The year before was 24%. And so if you're pulling off eight, you've got huge gains. You got a million dollars. You made $250,000, and you pulled off 80. Now backtrack that math, and that gives you a lot of pad for some years that have some down years, and they don't quite earn 8. So most people, once they get to a million dollars worth of retirement savings and a lot of people have, in addition to other assets, then they're able to navigate their way through the next many years. So let's say this person is, by the way, at 72 and a half. You have mandatory withdrawals called required minimum distributions. What I'm giving you will beat that. So you don't have to worry about it. And oh, by the way, too, you got to pay taxes on this. If It's a traditional 401k and not a Roth 401k. So taxes come out of that 80 grand. That's $80,000 worth of income. And so minus taxes, that's what you got to live on on that example. So that's the way you can back into it and then play with the numbers back and forth. If you want to be a little bit more conservative, fine. If you want to spend a little more, that's fine, too. Most of the time. I find, though, Ken, it's harder to get people to actually spend that have been savers. Oh, yeah, yeah. We get a lot of calls here asking for permission to enjoy the money that they built up over the last 30 years. A lot of those calls. Yeah. And we want to give you permission. We want to teach you to live like no one else. Sacrifice so that later you can live and give like no one else else and be in a position that if someone you love is in trouble, you can just help them. Got the money? Shut up. It's not a big deal. And so a lot of times, here's the thing, we find people that have been living on 60,000 bucks. When I talk to them about pulling 80 out, they think they're in heaven. It's true, you know, and so that's more what we run into than some financial nerd on TikTok. Who's decided? Dave Ramsey's good Clickbait. All right. Jeremy is in Nashville. Hi, Jeremy, Welcome. What's up?

[Caller]

How you doing, brother? Appreciate you guys taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. How can we help?

[Caller]

Yeah, so me and my wife are debt free except for our mortgage. We have our fully funded emergency fund and we're funding both of our retirements to the max that we can. So my question is, we have a fair amount that we're saving every month right now. Is there a ratio? We started doubling our mortgage last month, but I'm wondering if I'm putting too much towards my mortgage and not enough towards future cars, home repairs, that kind of thing. Is that a ratio you recommend?

[Dave Ramsey]

It's not a ratio, but I would run some numbers on the car repairs. I'd run some numbers on the car repairs and that kind of stuff. You probably already got another 100 grand built up the way you're talking, don't you?

[Caller]

No, we had to do IBF our

[Dave Ramsey]

first year of marriage.

[Caller]

We're kind of late to the game, so we're.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's your. What's your income?

[Caller]

Probably 275, 300, something like that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Okay, well, first thing is I figured out what my income is, and then from there the ratio doesn't matter. What I want you to do is save just enough to take care of those items and everything else goes towards the car. I mean, everything else goes toward paying off the house. So if you need to replace a car, you stop putting on the house. Buy a car. If you need to go on vacation, you don't put as much on the house. Put. Put on the vacation, that's fine. But you need to be chunking on this house. Don't build up another side. Savings account of 100 to 200 grand. Get the house paid off, man.

[Caller]

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[Ken Coleman]

biblical community based way for Christians to

[Caller]

share each other's medical bills. That means no enrollment deadlines and you can choose any doctor or hospital you want. That kind of freedom is big, especially if you're self employed between jobs or you just need something that fits your budget better. CHM has been around for decades, faithfully

[Dave Ramsey]

serving the Christian community.

[Caller]

And many members save hundreds of dollars a month compared to traditional health insurance. And that margin gives you breathing room when you're working the baby steps and trying to steward your money well. And right now, CHM is offering new members a 50% credit towards their first month of membership. Get [e-mail] budget and use promo code RAMSEY. That's chministries.org budget and promo code code Ramsey.

[Dave Ramsey]

Walter is in Montreal. Hey Walter, how are you?

[Caller]

Good, good. Dave, how are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So starting next week, I'm eligible to join my employer sponsored stock purchase plan. I'm just wondering if that's something I should be taking advantage of.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I don't know the specifics of how that might work in Canada. In the US it's typically a 15% discount.

[Caller]

So the way my company does it is they'll match up to the first thousand dollars dollar for dollar. Mm.

[Dave Ramsey]

And there's no, there's no discount on the stock. You're just buying it at market value.

[Caller]

Yeah, and then they'll match it.

[Dave Ramsey]

But no discount.

[Caller]

No, no discount.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, no, I wouldn't buy that. I would just put your money in good retirement investments and the equivalent of mutual funds or whatever you've got available to you. That's along that. But you're just buying stock that you just could have called your broker and bought. The only advantage it gets, 1,000 bucks. And that's not gonna make a difference if the stock goes south. The Stock could lose $1,000 in 20 minutes. Now I'll pass. I'll just go ahead and do traditional investing. And for those of you in the states where you have a 15% discount on a lot of these programs, they're almost all identical. What I always challenge you to do is go back and look at your company. It's publicly traded and look at the 52 week the last year, high on the stock and low on the stock. It won't be unusual for you to see a more than a 15% swing during that time, up or down. Meaning that the 15% discount isn't squash. What? It's not enough to offset buying a bad stock. And single stocks are much more risky than buying in mutual funds. If you put $5,000 over the next several months in a good mutual fund. You're in 90 to 200 stocks. If you put it in one company, you are betting on one company. You're freaking DraftKings. You're betting on one game. You, you know, with your whole deal. And you don't have any control over that game other than you work at that place. And you really probably have zero knowledge of what's really going on in the back room. So I don't buy any single stocks. I did run. And one of the worst ones I ever ran into is years and years and years and years ago. I had a lady that was in her 70s that had 950,000 and it was in her retirement. It was all in her company stock. Big name company that makes a whole lot of the items in your house, particularly cleaning items. It went down 38% in two years. Her nest egg that she had saved her whole life went from 900,000 to just over 600,000. She was not a happy 76 year old. She was pretty pissed. But she had bet the entire thing on one game. One name, household name. But it is a publicly traded stock. And so that's the risk you take. You avoid risk when you lower risk when you spread out your money. Diversify not being all in one thing thing. And so that's why I do that. Because I don't like the risk. I like making the money, but I don't like taking the risk. I'm not looking for a big play. I'm looking to be the tortoise. Steady wins the race. Emily is in Nashville. Hi Emily, how are you?

[Caller]

Hi. Great. How are you doing?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

Okay, so my husband and I are in baby step three and we are also expecting our second second sun in May. So we're also in stork mode.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yay.

[Caller]

Trying to save all the money. But we both are also driving kind of junker cars. And my car we just found out this week needs about a fifteen hundred dollar repair. And I only paid like three thousand dollars for the car. So it's like kind of a gut punch to think about paying half a devaluation you for another fix. But with trying to stock money away.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's wrong with the car?

[Caller]

The air conditioning is out which is not going to work with babies in the Tennessee summer.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And the air conditioner on a $3000 car is $1500.

[Caller]

Yeah, that's what they're saying.

[Dave Ramsey]

Who's they?

[Caller]

And labor. We've had it looked at by a couple different, different auto places in our town.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. That's unusually high. Okay. Especially when the mechanic's sitting there looking at a hooptie and with a straight face going, spend 1500 bucks to keep cool.

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So.

[Caller]

Right. So we are thinking, what kind of car is this? It's a 2010 Ford Escape.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. So if you sell it without an air conditioner right now, what can you get for it?

[Caller]

I mean, we're, we're probably looking at maybe fifteen hundred dollars.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So you don't fix that car. Here's how you do the math on this equation. If the repair plus the value of the car is more of the current value of the car, the broken car. If the repair plus the broken value of the car is plus the repair is more than the finished value after the repair, you don't do the repair. So example here, you could get 1,500 for it as it is. But if I had got to put 2,000 in it, that's like having 3,500 in the car. Okay. And you could have sold it, I mean, and it's only worth 3000 after you finish. So you don't want 3500 in the car. You take the 1500, put it in your pocket. Pocket. And you take the 1500. You were going to spend 1600 on the air conditioner you were going to spend and you buy another $3,000 car with that same amount of money.

[Caller]

Yep.

[Dave Ramsey]

Now don't do the pregnancy. I have to upgrade my car because the air conditioner went out. No, you just go buy another $3,000 car and this time don't buy an Escape.

[Caller]

Okay, noted.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. This is a piece of crap of an automobile here. And so, yeah, I mean, get you something. Get an old beat up Camry that's got an old beat up Honda Accord that's got a lot of value left in it. Okay. A lot of life left in it. Escapes didn't have life when left in them when they came off the assembly line new.

[Caller]

So yeah, this is not the first problem we've had with it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, I bet. So. So, yeah, but I mean, these cars that have a reputation of running forever and ever and ever, that's what you spend a three. That's what you buy with a $3,000 car. It's a Camry. It's a, an Accord. You know, for guys it might be an F150. I don't care. Buy something that's got, you know, that's got a lot of life. I Don't care if it's pretty. I just want life left in it. We're not going for pretty. At $3,000, how much have you got in your stork mode?

[Caller]

We're at $12,000 right now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. And what's your household income?

[Caller]

We're right at about $6,000 a month.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good. And how much debt do you have?

[Caller]

No debt besides our mortgage.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, then I probably would put a little money with this and move it up maybe to a $5,000 car.

[Caller]

Okay, I will tell my husband you told me to do that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because stork mode around here is you're in baby step two, paying off debt, but you're pregnant. So we're going to stop paying off debt temporarily till the baby comes and pile up cash. That's what we call stork mode. But you're out of debt. This is just an emergency fund situation. And you have an emergency.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. But this is not an excuse to go buy a $25,000 car.

[Caller]

Absolutely.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. With payments on it and go, well, I had to. I had a baby on the way. That's bull crap. Okay, that's not true. Okay. And that people do that. You know that, right?

[Caller]

Not us.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know, but you, you've heard of people doing stuff like that. If you listen to the show, they do it all the time. Okay. So.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So I think you're. I think you're incredible and I think you're very level headed. Isn't she? This is amazing. Oh, yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

I mean this is. There's not impulse here. This is a real situation.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Very thoughtful.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hauling. Hauling around two babies in the Tennessee sun. Yeah. Because we have humidity in Tennessee. You can cut with a knife. I mean you can set blocks of the humidity in the back seat if you want to. You know, it's like it's pretty ridiculous.

[Ken Coleman]

That is true.

[Dave Ramsey]

It's like, you know, you know that feels like thing. Yeah. Feels like 500 degrees because you walk outside and you're dripping.

[Ken Coleman]

You can draw in the air.

[Dave Ramsey]

My grandfather just try having babies in the back seat of that hot car. Yeah. I don't blame you on this. I'm with you. I'm on your team this time, Emily. Welcome back to the Ram Ramsey show in the Fair Winds Credit union studio. I'm Dave Ramsey. Your host, Ken Coleman Ramsey, personality number one bestselling author is my co host. Amy is in Cleveland, Ohio. Hi, Amy, how are you?

[Caller]

Hello, sir. Thank you so much for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. What's up?

[Caller]

I wanted to see how can I create and stick to a budget after being laid off nine months. And my husband is self employed.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, Is that code for he doesn't make any money?

[Caller]

It's code that we cannot count on a lot. I mean, you know, he's really trying.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm self employed and I do okay. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

[Caller]

Yeah, he's a, he's a plumber and he's doing amazing job. It's just that, you know, lately the jobs were kind of like scattered. Not a lot of jobs.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, then he needs to go find a local plumber who's got a thriving business. And that's just about every plumbing company that's been around, around. And he needs to apply because they've got more customers, more problems than they have plumbers most of the time. And he needs to make a fortune compared to what he's making for somebody else. And I'm talking tomorrow he gets her

[Dave Ramsey]

in his car if he's not making a living to support his family as a plumber in today's world. Honey. Yeah, he's not working. Okay.

[Caller]

Yeah, we've, we've had several big issues, for example, and that's why I'm actually super grateful that, that you're on the show, Mr. Ramsey, because I know you have other people also in the show, but I know you're a parent, but I just love it because you're very fair and strict. So our biggest issue was I have a 24 year old who's not functioning. Like he dropped out of school in 10th grade and he's been doing substances for the last 10 years and we've been paying his rent and it's been crazy hard. We're also from overseas, so.

[Dave Ramsey]

What country?

[Caller]

I, I, Romania.

[Dave Ramsey]

Romania. Okay, cool. Why have you not gotten a job for nine months?

[Caller]

Well, I worked in big Pharma and I got laid off. It's been crazy to get back on the, on the market. I mean, I have LinkedIn, I have everything. And I've been told that a lot of people, very good people, are, have been laid off.

[Dave Ramsey]

What were you doing in Big?

[Caller]

Project management.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So, you know, I do project management. Why don't you do it for something else other than big Pharma?

[Caller]

I, I tried. I even, I even opened up kind of like a consultancy, you know, but it's, it's super hard to, to get clients when people don't know you and I.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, let's stop. Okay, so there's, there's three points that we can be Fair. Fair and strict on that's what you asked me to be. Okay, point number one is your family is struggling with finances because of an income issue. Is that fair?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is that true?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so you need to call the 24 year old and say, we can't pay your rent anymore. You're going to have to get a job and you're going to have to get clean. Honey, we love you, but we, your dad and I are starving to death over here and you're going to have to, you're a grown man and you're gonna have to figure out what to do. We love you, we're gonna be cheering for you, but we're not giving you any more money. We don't have any money, number one. Number two, your husband either starts making a lot of money next month as a self employed plumber or he takes a job with a plumbing company because they will pay him a lot of money. That is a field that desperately needs help. And if he can't make a living because he doesn't know how to get the client and run the business part of it, but he knows how to do the plumbing part of it, there's no shame in that. But the shame would be if he continues to try to stay self employed when he could go make three or four times what he's making now by getting a job like Ken said. And then the third step is we've got to get you employed doing something. Ken.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I mean again, as a project manager, forget the title of project manager at so and so pharmaceutical companies. Company. What does a project manager do and do? Well, you don't have to answer it, but you know what it is? What kind of skill sets do project managers bring to the table? Well, project managers are able to juggle a lot of different balls. True or false?

[Caller]

Yes, true.

[Ken Coleman]

And then project managers are really probably good at communication and organization. True or false?

[Caller]

Absolutely true. They speak three languages fluently.

[Ken Coleman]

Boom. So let's stop trying to play the big pharma game because we are seeing a lot of layoffs in big white collar jobs. I'll go go with that because there's some evidence of that. But that doesn't matter to what we're talking about. Who in your zip code needs somebody that has your skill set and you start going out and making connections. Not applying online. We go, we make a connection. I know somebody.

[Dave Ramsey]

LinkedIn is not going to do it.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right. They need an office manager. You go, well, I'm a project manager. Well, you're A project manager has been out of work for nine months and you're broke. So what you can do is go, hey, I've been a big time project manager. I'm dealing with a kid who's got substance abuse issues and he's. And it's been hurting us. And so I'm getting back in the game. There's a story there, there's a narrative that people will say, this is a mama bear who's, who's got to make money and she got laid off from a big time company. Happens every day. No shame. And so this is what you do. You forget about what you did in the past and we focus on what you can do now and where you can do it. And what companies would be thrilled for you to walk in off the street with your skill set and experience A lot of them.

[Dave Ramsey]

A lot.

[Ken Coleman]

And I gotta say this one more time, we just kind of. You kind of glossed over what I said. I rarely disagree with Dave, but I don't think your husband waits a month. I don't think he's a good business guy. And that's not a negative. I'm just, I'm not criticizing him, but I don't think he knows how to run the business. Number two, he's hurting just like you are with this kid. And I think he needs the safety of just showing up every day and turning the wrench and fixing plumbing problems and getting paid top dogs dollar. So I wouldn't wait a month. I think he's getting in the car and he's driving around construction sites all day. If I were in your area, that's what I do. I do a ride along and I go, we're going to show up on construction sites until we get you a job because it take a belt.

[Caller]

He actually did that too well.

[Ken Coleman]

But he needs to keep doing it.

[Dave Ramsey]

This is not necessarily a job for his plumbing company. A job for him to quit owning a plumbing company and become a plumber for someone else.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right. He has his toolkit in the car with him.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm ready to start today.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you know, you guys. But doing him making one third of what he should, the 24 year old siphoning off what little you have coming in and you making nothing while shooting for the stars is killing y'.

[Caller]

All.

[Dave Ramsey]

So what we're saying is it's not necessarily what you're going to be doing 10 years from now.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right.

[Dave Ramsey]

But for today, all of you, you two raise your income and lower your outcome.

[Ken Coleman]

That's Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

By cutting the 24 year old off. And well, he's gonna, well, he's gonna, he quit, you know, quit doing the substance. I mean, lots of 24 year olds face this and don't have parents that bail them out. Happens every day. And sometimes that's the very thing that helps them turn their life around and say, here's, here's a, here's a coach you can go see. Here's a counselor you can go see. Here's a homeless shelter for you to move into. We're cheering for you. We hope you get dry and you turn your life around. And we, we love you, but we're not giving you any more money because we don't have any money. We're broke because of you and because I lost my job and your dad's business is not going well. So, honey, I'm sorry, but you know, love does not pay the bills. In this case, you're going to have to pay your own. And so cut him off. Have a sweet conversation. I'm not trying to be angry about it, but this is. You are not making him better by paying his bills when you're broke. Definitely. By the way, even if you're not broke, you're not making him money better by paying his bills. This kid needs some problems. How many times have you started January saying this is the year I'm finally going to get my money under control? But then months go by and you still feel broken. You work too hard to keep living like that. Look, there's only one way to move the needle on your finances this year. You've got to have a plan. So start by downloading EveryDollar. EveryDollar is way more than our world class budgeting app. In 15 minutes, we'll build you a personalized plan to free up extra margin in your budget and use it to beat debt and build wealth. You'll find thousands of dollars on average just the first day. And you'll get new steps and new lessons every day that help you stay on track and create unstoppable momentum. Don't waste one more day feeling broke and stressed. Get your plan in just 15 minutes by downloading every dollar for free today. If you're working the baby steps, the best and fastest way to do it is by using EveryDollar. It's more than just our budgeting app. It is the plan built right in. You track your progress. You get personalized recommendations and coaching for your situation that'll help you free up more money and work the plan faster. It's like having one of us walking around with you on your phone going do this. Now you do that and oh, you need to do this. Hello, do this. Start every dollar for free by downloading it in the app store or Google Play. Willis is in Salt Lake City. Hi Willis, how are you?

[Caller]

Better than I deserve. Dave, how are you guys doing?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

We have a quick question. My wife and I, we are in our twenties. We are completely debt three debt free. We're a baby step 3B. We've been saving for the last about

[Dave Ramsey]

two years for our down payment of a home.

[Caller]

We decided to go with a new build and we chose a seven year arm as they were having some end of the year incentives for quick move ins and we thought that would be a good idea. I kind of think I know what you're going to say. I have all the numbers and specifics up it but we feel like it's going to allow us to ease into the home buying purchase and you know, all the payments that go with it. And we can afford it once it, you know, the seven years is up. But we want to get your opinion on it.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can afford it once the seven years is up? What do you mean?

[Caller]

For the first seven years we're going to have a lower rate. So the first year will be a 1 7.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller]

Second year will be a 2 7. And then you know, at the end of it it's going to go up our payment and it's going to like plateau at a certain point. Point. But the first seven years are kind of giving us a discounted rate so we don't have to pay as much.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And 100% chance at the end of that it's going to be more. Yes.

[Caller]

Yep. All right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you bought a house you couldn't afford.

[Caller]

No, we could afford it. Yeah. It's actually quite, quite in our budget.

[Dave Ramsey]

I mean if you took out a 15 year fixed, can you pay it?

[Caller]

Well, the 15 year fix would be 32% of our takeover.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you bought a house you can't afford. Okay, Yeah. I mean you called in here Willis, knowing what I was gonna say, right? You've been here before. You've been listening for more than 20 seconds, haven't you?

[Caller]

For the most part. For the most part we our goal and you know I've heard a lot of finance guys talk about in spreading, making the spread on the stock market and those sort of things. You know, we plan on starting a family and you know the first time home buyer and we thought that it'd be incentivized to have like that lower payment the first couple of years and use that extra money to pay towards the principal. We plan to be super aggressive while we have that wiggle room to pay down the principal as much as possible and then refinance at the end of the seven years.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, that's assuming something doesn't happen that prohibits you from refinancing, in which case you get foreclosure closed on because you've added risk to your scenario. And for 35 years I've taken calls from people who things that they didn't expect to happen to them happened to them and they were unable, they were unable to refinance. And so. And you can't pay aggressively on this. Aggressively might be the emotion, but it's not the math because you don't even have the money to pay a 15 year. You don't have enough income coming in to pay to a 15 year. So that mean it tells me you can't pay. You can't aggressively have enough. No, you don't. We have about your 15 years, 32% of your take home pay.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

That tells me mathematically you don't have any money to be aggressive. The aggressive word is an emotional word, but it's not a mathematical reality.

[Caller]

I guess the point we were looking at an income of last year where I came home with about 180,000. Looking forward to this year, I'm projected to make at least 200,000 and my wife is not working right now, so we're going to very quickly double our income as this year.

[Dave Ramsey]

So assuming everything goes the way the plan of mice and men want it

[Caller]

to go, the last two months is the plan that the numbers that we're looking at, you know, we should be able to with this new.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sorry, let me stop this, okay. What is it that you want from me?

[Caller]

I guess your opinion. With the seven year rate, I think it's stupid. With our extra margin, it is stupid.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Caller]

Should we.

[Dave Ramsey]

Should you. You should have a 15 year fixed rate where the payment is less than a fourth of your take home pay. I've said that like 9 million times on the show. And otherwise you're buying too much house. And if your income is going up so quickly and you're going to be so prosperous, that should be no step for you, should be no issue for you. But you rationalize the piss out of this man. I mean, you got rationalization down and you've crunched so much math that your eyes are crossing and it's wrong. Because what you're doing is with an adjustable rate is you're taking on more risk. And 100% of adjustable rate mortgages start in the hole. It's a margin over an index. And the margin plus the index is always more than the introductory rate, which means at the first point of adjustment, it's going to max. At the next point of adjustment, it's going to max. At the next point of adjustment, you've lost your debt job and the thing maxes and you lose your house. Because all this prosperity that you projected is the only possible outcome in your life is wrong. Other things happen in your life. And you've set your life up to not survive any storms. And when the big bad wolf comes and he blows your straw house down, that's what's going to happen. I'm telling you to build a brick house. Be the pig with the brick house. Be the third pig. And that's what we teach. This stuff works in good times and it works in bad times. And it's the only system that does. So you got, man, please rethink this. You asked me my opinion, and I love you enough to tell you the truth. I want you to win. I hope you prosper. I hope you go make 160 and 260 and 360 and 460 and nothing bad ever happens in your life. But you'll be the first person I ever met that never had anything bad happen in their own life.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, you're just. You're assuming risk with the loan and then assuming that you'll have nothing bad happen in your life. And I understand it because you're in your early 20s, but you're talking to two older guys. And honestly, you got more time with Dave on this topic than I think anybody else would get. You're very generous right now. I can't believe the call lasted as long as it did, but you're very generous.

[Dave Ramsey]

I think he's got a good heart.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, of course he does.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I. And I'm such a math nerd. It's the same mistake I would have made at 24. It's the same mistake I did make at 24. That's why I went freaking burnt.

[Ken Coleman]

That's the point. So don't call somebody who's been doing it for four decades and who made the mistake himself and try to talk them into your version of it. This is the thing. We don't know what we don't know when we're in our 20s.

[Dave Ramsey]

So listen to wisdom and experience what I'm looking for. After I went broke when I was 28 years old, I lost everything, Willis, because I was so stupid. And I assumed the mythology that everything was going to keep going like it had always gone and it never does. Things change. And the tax law changed, the banking laws changed, the SNLs went broke and Dave was on the hook for something that couldn't possibly go wrong. And it went wrong big time. A lot bigger time than even what we're talking about about with you. A lot bigger time. And so what I've learned is, is that I'm looking for systems and elements of truth in my marriage, in my relationships, in my money that work in good times and they work in bad times. Yeah, because I'm going to have both. If it only works when everything's working, it's. That's not the truth. It's a facade. You're driving down the street and you walk through the front door of the house and you realize you're on a movie lot and there's nothing behind the front door. That's a facade. That's a fake truth. It looks like it's something, but there's nothing back there. And so I want to build my life after having gone broke and almost losing my marriage almost 30 plus years ago. And I want teach other people as often as I can can to build something that is the third pig. Be the third pig. Be the brick house. Take a little longer to build it. Buy a little less, take a little more time. Be a little more careful with the budget. Don't try to be tricking everything. Don't look for a shortcut. The only shortcut. There's no shortcut to any places worth going. And just take your time. No discipline seems pleasant at the the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness. Live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else. And that's the basis for everything we teach on this show. If you want to do the hot and bothered sexy thing and go do it, all of you, you're not going to like it when you call in here because I'm going to love you enough to tell you the truth.

[Ken Coleman]

You know the one thing you missed? You gave him great advice. But your very first response should have been, what you talking about, Willis?

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, that's a dad joke.

[Ken Coleman]

Hey, George, Camel here. So you're thinking about buying or selling your home. It's exciting, but there's a lot to think about. And all those decisions can feel overwhelming. Well, here's the good news. You don't have to tackle the process alone. Ramsey's real estate home base is the

[Dave Ramsey]

place to find all of your free tools and resources.

[Ken Coleman]

Resources for help to get prepared to

[Dave Ramsey]

buy or sell your home with confidence.

[Ken Coleman]

You'll find calculators, start to finish guides, a podcast, and even an in depth video course hosted by yours truly.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's not to love?

[Ken Coleman]

So if you're ready to take the next steps toward your home goals, go to ramseysolutions.com realestate that's ramseysolutions.com realestate.

[Dave Ramsey]

On the debt free stage in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, looking at us through the glass. Manuel and Aaliyah are here. Hey guys, how are you?

[Caller]

Hi, Dave.

[Dave Ramsey]

Welcome. Where do you guys live? Avondale, Arizona. Very fun. Welcome to Nashville. And all the way here to do a debt free scream.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

I love it.

[Ken Coleman]

That's true.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much debt have you paid? Paid off?

[Caller]

We paid off $320,000. $549.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Good for you. And how long did that take?

[Caller]

Eight years.

[Dave Ramsey]

Eight years. Wow. And your range of income during that time? We started around 103 and ended about 240. Wow. Cool. What do y' all do for a living?

[Caller]

I'm an accountant and I have a small rebar company. We do swimming pools.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right. Yeah, very cool. Doesn't sound like it's too small to me. Sounds like it's doing pretty good. It's growing. Yeah. You guys are making some money. Way to go. You work hard too, don't you?

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, all the time. I try my best.

[Dave Ramsey]

I bet, I bet. So 320,000. Eight years. And in Arizona, I'm guessing you paid off your house. It includes our house. Dave, I'm looking at weird people. Yeah, way to go, you weirdos. A paid for house. What's this house worth these days? I'm guessing around 4. 450. Okay, very cool. Have you started retirement savings and investing?

[Caller]

Yeah, we have.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much is in that nest egg?

[Caller]

Around 300.

[Dave Ramsey]

300. Wow. Okay, so already 750,000. How old are you two?

[Caller]

40.

[Dave Ramsey]

40 years old. You're on your way to be a millionaire is by the time you're 45, pretty easy, easily hopeful. Very cool, very cool. So Manuel, how long ago did you start this business about?

[Caller]

We started at 2017, but we really started growing up like in 2021.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, all right, Very cool, very cool. Now what country are y' all from?

[Caller]

Mexico.

[Dave Ramsey]

Mexico, okay. And how long you been in the States?

[Caller]

All life. All My life.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

Me, 30 years.

[Dave Ramsey]

Thirty years. Yeah. Okay. Wow. Very cool. All right. Fun, fun, fun. Well, congratulations, you guys.

[Caller]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

American dream, baby. You'll be millionaires by the time you're 45. Your house is paid for, you run your own business, you're making bank, you're working your butt off. You're doing it. I'm so proud of you. Thank you.

[Caller]

Thank you.

[Dave Ramsey]

What do you tell people? This the key to having a paid for house in Arizona worth 450,000 when you're 40 years old, like everyone else

[Caller]

says, it's the budget. If you're not on a budget, you're not gonna make it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow. Yeah, that's true.

[Caller]

You gotta know where our money's going.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so whose idea with this how'd this all get started with Ramsey stuff? I was in. The accountant, I'm afraid. Yeah, Yeah.

[Caller]

I was in Italy with my sister vacationing, and she's like, you gotta listen to this guy.

[Dave Ramsey]

He says not to use credit cards.

[Caller]

I'm like, what?

[Dave Ramsey]

You're crazy. I have to use my credit card anyway. Points.

[Caller]

So that's where it started. And then I got back, we ordered the book, and I told Manny, we're gonna do this. He's like, okay, whatever

[Dave Ramsey]

you feel like. You're pretty easy to talk into this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Caller]

So from the beginning, it took me a little while because I was spending a lot of money. And I didn't know I was just stopping at any store and whatever, spend money. But suddenly she hit me with. When I saw how much money we were really doing and throwing away, like most of it was coin. Like we were not making any progress. So.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Caller]

And then. Yeah, 20.

[Dave Ramsey]

20. We started our business. How many people working for you, Manny?

[Caller]

Well, right now we have six people working for us.

[Dave Ramsey]

How many of you talked into starting to do this since you started doing it? Two guys, I bet.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

They're starting like, hey, Manny, you know, not buying stuff at the market every day. What's going on, man? Then you got to tell them the story, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Caller]

I told him that we paid a house, and they asked me, how did you do it? And I tell them how. How to handle money. And like, I try. And then I put the show, that Dave Ramsey show, so they can hear.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Very cool. Very cool. We also do my Espanol's on Poco, so not. Not much help. Right?

[Caller]

Right. We also coordinate FPU.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, thank you.

[Caller]

I work at St. John Paul II and they lend us space to do FPU there. We do pass financiera as well.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Very good. Have you run into Andreas Gutierrez?

[Caller]

No, we've called him, but we haven't.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So he's doing a lot of those lessons now, the old pas Fanciero. Yeah, he's great. So that's very cool that that can help your guys working on the team, for sure. Yeah. So proud of y', all, man. This is so great.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. I'd love to know, for our audience, eight years is a long haul. That's a long deal. So I want to know what were the toughest moments or seasons, and how'd you press through those?

[Dave Ramsey]

I think some of the harder parts

[Caller]

were, like, when our business was a little slower, like in the winter, he

[Dave Ramsey]

wouldn't have a lot of jobs, so

[Caller]

we couldn't really do a lot of

[Dave Ramsey]

progress during the those months.

[Caller]

But in September, we took over a couple of other companies because one of the rebar companies shut down. So we've gotten a lot of work since then.

[Ken Coleman]

Good.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that's. That's really helped us.

[Ken Coleman]

So what kept you focused? That's what I want to hear, I think.

[Caller]

Just not owing anyone anything.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. You're playing the long game. Yeah. If we're gonna do all this hard work, we need to have something to show for it, right?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Good for y'.

[Caller]

All.

[Dave Ramsey]

If we live like no one else, maybe later we can live and give like no one else. Yeah. Cool. Very cool. Well, you guys are amazing. I'm very, very proud of you. All right, one more time. You tell people the key is the budget.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I guess you need a manny, because he really didn't resist much. He just did whatever you told him to do, right?

[Caller]

Yeah. Yeah, for the most part.

[Dave Ramsey]

There was. Was some parts where he was like, no, I work, so I gotta spend money.

[Caller]

I was that kind of guy. It's different now.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's good. Well, there's eight years worth of work there. That's good. Yeah, Good stuff. Very proud of you guys. I'm honored to meet you. I'm proud. You're heroes, man. You're on your way to be a millionaire, so it's very, very cool. All right. Manuel. Manny. And Eli. Elia.

[Caller]

Elia.

[Dave Ramsey]

Elia. Ellia. I'm gonna mess it up. I'm sorry. From Phoenix, Arizona area. And who's this?

[Caller]

This is Yasmine.

[Dave Ramsey]

And how old is Jasmine?

[Caller]

14.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ah, okay. All right. Very cool. Manny, you need a gun? Yeah, yeah. To protect her?

[Caller]

I do.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right, count it down. Let's get a debt free scream going

[Caller]

3, 2, 1. Gratias. We're debt free.

[Dave Ramsey]

Very cool. Congratulations you guys. Very, very proud of you. Very proud of you, man. That's fun. Yeah, I mean, I tell you what, you start doing rebar, that's like work right there.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, I have.

[Dave Ramsey]

Your back is hurting just thinking about it.

[Ken Coleman]

This will shock you, but I have a little experience with rebar. Dave, My. One of my college summer jobs. Very little, but it was a full summer working on a masonry crew.

[Dave Ramsey]

You did?

[Ken Coleman]

I did. Now, I was the lowest man on

[Dave Ramsey]

the more, I'm guessing. So you carried that a while. You were even lower sunk into the sand.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm telling you, man, that's hard work, but it's rewarding work. And here's what's fun about this. They take over a company. So on this debt free journey, this is what's great. He starts a company and they keep going, they're slogging through it and then an opportunity arises to take over a couple other companies and he's on his way to creating a lot of jobs. And what's really fun jobs for guys are going to eventually become debt debt free. And for entrepreneurs, if they can grab this, this is the other side of this deal. Debt free entrepreneurship, solo ownership. That's exciting stuff. As you say, that's changing family trees right here.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, yeah. It changes everything. It's a completely different way of looking at things. And it's why you work so hard. Yeah. I mean, it's why you get up. I want to change. I want to change my legacy. I want to change my destiny. That's right. And that's what those two hard workers have done. Really proud of you guys. Very, very well done. That's very, very cool. Wow. Well, and here's the other thing. Our data says that if you come here from another country legally and set up shop like those two have done, that you're four times more likely to become a millionaire than one of us that was born here. Really? Because the great American dream. Yeah, we're here to get it, man. We're here to do it. She's second gen. That's right. But he's first gentleman and that's the numbers tell us that. And so, you know, I believe it can happen. I believe it can happen. And that's why I came to America. Because it's the land of opportunity. And that's why it makes me so mad when some little snot on their eleven hundred dollar iPhone is preaching socialism. Because it's not the land of opportunity for Them. Oh, you. You found out there was work involved. Wah.

[Caller]

Sam. Foreign.

[Ken Coleman]

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[Dave Ramsey]

Our scripture of the day, James 1 and 4. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Thomas Edison said, when you've exhausted all possibilities, remember this. You haven't do like that. That. That is a. That's a definite Edison mindset too, for sure. All right, up next is going to be Avery in Columbus, Ohio. Hi, Avery. How are you?

[Caller]

Hi, Dave. I'm great. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

So, my gift. My parents gifted my two siblings and I $10,000 each to start a family investment club. And they're also adding an additional 10,000, so we'll have 40,000 altogether. It's a small start, but we formed a corporation with four equal shares, all of our family members. And we'll be meeting quarterly to decide how to invest. And part of this plan really is just to learn how to work together financial especially as my parents have accumulated a really nice nest egg through rental properties and businesses. And we want to be prepared to steward that really well down the line one day together. So my question is, if you were starting with $40,000 in this situation, where would you invest it?

[Dave Ramsey]

Wow, that is a neat goal, a neat reason for doing this. It does scare me a little bit, but it's a neat reason for doing it. It scares me because, you know, of course, you didn't have to put money into it. Your parents just nest egg the whole thing. So it's not. You don't really have anything at risk personally other than the fact that as soon as somebody said $10,000 is in your name, you emotionally take ownership of it. But, but it really, I mean, they, they, they set the whole thing up. That's a pretty cool training wheels to get you guys to work together so well. I mean, I'm always going to go with the things that I live by and that we teach, which is, I don't borrow money, so I'm not going to use 40,000 as a down payment on a rental. Okay.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I don't do single stocks because of the risk. I do mutual funds. The problem with putting the whole 40,000 just in mutual funds, which is probably what I would do with it if it was my money, is it doesn't give you any reason to work together, because you just put it in there and forget it. And then there's no reason to have a meeting. There's no friction in the relationship that you need to learn to work through, which is the reason for doing. Doing this is for someone to disagree about something. Right. And we go, okay, how are we going to handle this disagreement? And everybody gets a different vote and all of that. And so that only comes up if there's something moving around in the investments. And so it kind of defeats the purpose if you just plump $40,000 into a mutual fund and forget it and let it. And let it run, which is kind of what I do. Okay. I don't. That's kind of. I mean, I buy real estate that I pay cash for, but you're not buying any real estate for 40. 40 grand. So I guess you might be playing some single stocks and get to have some healthy discussions around which ones to keep and which ones to buy. And if you blow the whole thing up, you just lost 40 grand. It's not the end of the world, because the purpose of it is not as much turning the 40 grand into 400 as it is the learning that comes from. From everybody having to work together. Right. So it might just be that I just start running a single stock portfolio. Although I wouldn't. Do I need to say real loud and clear, I wouldn't do that as an investment, but this is not really an investment. This is a relational exercise. Does that make sense?

[Caller]

Yeah. Like practice for what's gonna happen in the future.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And so, you know, how do we make a decision about this piece of real estate after mom and dad are gone? Well, the same way we did when we were talking about these other two things over here four years ago. Right. And so that. But there has to be some movement in order for there to be a discussion.

[Caller]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And so, you know, that's what. It kills them. So I don't think I'm going to use the investing principles, although I would not go into debt at all on this period. If they want you guys all to sign up for a mortgage, no, thank you. Okay, no, that's not the case. But I guess it's a small single stock portfolio and you guys study and learn about each other in the buying and selling of some single stocks. I guess. But that's again, that's more about the game than it is the actual investment.

[Ken Coleman]

I actually think you. I was leaning towards where you were headed and then you said it. And I think the best part of this is not just the practice and learning stocks and things like that. I think it's the research piece. And then watch the siblings, all of you watch each other. Who's a little bit more into the numbers, who's got a greater tolerance for risk. You know, just. It's a great learning experience for one day. If you've got to work together on something like this, that is far bigger. And I think it's a wildly kind of fun experiment. As long as you're smart and savvy about it, let it be a learning experience. But learn not just about the money piece of it, but about each other. I think that was a really great observation.

[Dave Ramsey]

And I agree.

[Ken Coleman]

Agree with that.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's why this is a fun exercise. Not because of the investment aspect. Yeah. But because it forces them to work together. I'm thinking about my three kids.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, I was gonna ask you about that because they're in the business here.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. And so. And they are all arguing about the operation of the business. You know. Cause they all sit on the operating board. Right. And even though Daniel is the president, but the other two, you know, are part. You know, they're functioning as owners together. So they're having that discussion. I've got a bunch of real estate. Rachel's husband Winston, runs most of our real estate estate. And I can imagine that if we're not here, that a lot of Winston's brother in law or sister in law's wife would defer to him on what they want, what the family want to do with real estate. They would consider him the expert because he is. Okay. And that kind of thing. So that's the interaction and the play. I guess. We've accidentally done this. It wasn't with as much intentionality as that, which is very interesting. Yeah. Molly is in Nashville. Hey, Molly. How are you?

[Caller]

I'm well, Dave. How are you?

[Dave Ramsey]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[Caller]

Well, I have a question. I have inherited a 160 year old home.

[Dave Ramsey]

Whoa.

[Caller]

That's located on our family's farm. And trying to figure out how to navigate this. Then the renovation, whether it be taking out a massive renovation Loan or to just go as I can.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much in renovations need to be spent?

[Caller]

Between 250 and 300.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. So the home has not been maintained or updated for decades.

[Caller]

It's livable. I'm living in it currently. I spent about 40,000 cash and renovations for.

[Dave Ramsey]

Are you the sole air last year?

[Caller]

Yes, I am. Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. And how many acres is it sitting on?

[Caller]

The acreage is between my other family members, but 70 acres.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, so they don't. They have the acreage.

[Caller]

Correct, but it's sitting on the farm.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much acreage do you have?

[Caller]

What's with this? Is three. Three acres.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, none. Okay. All right. But you're just surrounded by your brothers

[Caller]

and sisters ownership that part of the farm. The I should get another 15 acres, but that has not been distributed yet.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, what is that worth,

[Caller]

the home or the land?

[Dave Ramsey]

15 acres.

[Caller]

Well, right now the going rate in Robertson county is about 33, 35,000 acre.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so a few of those acres, were they to be sold? If you could put them in a way that didn't damage the family property off on one corner, you might get a little bit there to fund some of your renovation. If you sold a five acre track in the corner, that would pay for a lot of your renovation, wouldn't it? What's your household income?

[Caller]

Last year was 115. Tax taxable.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

All right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And where were you living before? On.

[Caller]

It's pretty much a family compound.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you're living in a different property on a different house within the property, Correct?

[Caller]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

But you didn't get that?

[Caller]

No.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so you don't have any other assets?

[Caller]

Correct.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. Yeah. I'm going to cash flow whatever renovations I do here. Because an old house can be a black hole. It can be a money pit. They don't build them like they used to, thank God. And so cash flow it with the acreage sale or with your income is what I would do. Sounds interesting though. That puts us out of the Ramsey show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of peace, Christ Jesus. It.