The Ramsey Show - App - 8 High-Paying Jobs That Don't Require a Degree

Episode Date: March 31, 2022

Ken Coleman & George Kamel discuss: How much to spend on a car, Dealing with a toxic work environment, How to get a house without a credit card, Changing careers during the baby steps, How to use an inheritance. Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help you live your best life by being healthy, relationally successful professionally and peaceful financially. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague George Campbell with a K. Thank you very much. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. It is a free call. 888-825-5225. We'll talk about your money issues, your work issues, your relationship issues, and just getting going on a path forward so that you can live the life that you desire to live.

Let's get started with Mindy in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mindy, how can we help? Hey, Ken and George. Thanks so much for taking my call. I'm excited to be on today. Well, we're excited to have you. What's going on? Yes, so, yeah, I'm in what I would call a toxic work environment, and all of my friends

and family and advisors are encouraging me to leave. However, I don't have another job to go to. So I'm wondering at what point do you leave? At what point in the toxicity do you leave before having another job to go to? Unless it's abusive, and I mean true abuse. Okay, I mean something where it's like, get out of there today. You don't feel safe. Other than that, I would not leave until you have something else to leave to. Unless, Mindy, you have no debt and you have a fully funded emergency fund that you're not going to use, and maybe you've got some cash put aside to allow you a 30- or 60-day window to really go all in. But again, very few people do that, but I put it out there as an asterisk

for all the cynics. I just don't think you have to do that. I think you can find a job if you get really serious about it and you make it your primary focus outside of taking care of yourself and staying employed so that we don't have an interruption in a paycheck. But you can look and you can find right now, Charlotte, North Carolina, at this juncture of history, that particular market, it is a job seeker's market right now. I'd be shocked if you can't find multiple opportunities to make more than you're making now. So I want you to be careful to find the right thing. The other reason

I don't want you to jump is because I want you to take your time. You're tough enough to deal with a little toxicity. You've done it up to this point because now you know what to look for, what to avoid. I don't want you to go from one toxic environment to another. That would be very, very discouraging. So Mindy, what job is this? I'm a customer service representative. Okay. And it's all in the office? It's remote. However, I'm on the phone with my boss most of the day and there's yelling and hanging up on and um so it's your boss specifically that is the point of toxicity it's not the company it's not the culture it's just one person correct so you're in customer service but you spend most of the day on the phone with your boss i don't understand that yeah we make um it we're a small company so we all wear a lot of hats

but yeah we make a lot of sales calls together do you love this company specifically no no not even why can't you go find another customer service job today there are so many out there especially remote yeah yeah i can try it just it's been a rough week and people are definitely on me to quit right now okay i've been looking okay i got it. So, Mindy, I'm glad you said that. It's been a rough week. This guy's a jerk, all caps. And that'll wear you down pretty fast. And then the people that you love and trust the most are going, get out of there, get out of there. But the problem is, financially, that's not a good move, I'm guessing. Right? Right. You can't miss a paycheck, can you? Not without going into my emergency fund, no. No, and don't do that.

That is not an emergency. Okay? And so get after it, Mindy. Love the people that are telling you this. I love them. You love them. It's not their life. It's not their emergency fund that you're dipping into, right?

So I want you to just hold strong right now. And the next time you have an awful phone call, which is probably 12 minutes from now, and the guy acts like a jerk again, you're going to be so tempted to quit. But you better quickly look towards your future and go, I don't want to burn through my emergency fund that I've worked so hard and put up with this clown to fund, right? You got to go, hey, I've got to find something else that's better for me and I'm going to find it because I can't put up with this that much longer. It needs to drive your intensity, okay? Not drive you to make a bad financial move. And simply put, you leaving right now today without a job is a bad financial move.

Yes. All right. Appreciate the call. You got this, Mindy. I'm telling you, you got it. Hey, listen, go to my website, kencolman.com, and download the resource of the resume guide. I think it might be helpful to you to help stand out. We want to help you get connected better, get noticed better, so go check that out.

It's a free resource. Let's go to Brianna, who joins us now in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brianna, how can we help? Hi, guys. Thank you so much for taking my call. You bet. What's up? So I was just calling. My husband and I, we are on baby steps four, five, and six. We both have 800 plus credit scores, and we have one card left open that we just have one bill set up. It just kind of gets paid automatically every month and paid in full to keep our credit score up, which I know is not the Ram's UA. I'm fine with closing it out, but my concern is that we still have a first mortgage and we're planning on moving in the next like two years or so. So we will need to apply again, which if our mortgage is still reporting, that's going to cause an issue

when it comes to manual underwriting from my understanding. So I'm not sure what to do, whether to close it out or not. So you're worried if you close it out, your credit score takes a dip, but it doesn't disappear. Right, exactly. I even called Churchill just to confirm, and they were like, yeah, no, the mortgage is still going to be reporting. Okay. And you think you would have a bad credit score at that point? I mean, we're both 800 plus, so I don't know that it would drop to the point where it would be an issue necessarily. I'm not sure how fast it would drop like that. I wouldn't be super concerned about it. And if it does become an issue, you can close out the account six months later. I mean, you know, once you don't have a mortgage anymore, maybe you guys rent for a little bit,

the credit score disappears, and then you can do manual underwriting with no problem because you don't have any open credit lines. So that does pose an interesting scenario when you already have a mortgage, but you guys want to buy another house, correct? And you're going to have another mortgage. Yes. Yeah, we would use the proceeds from the sale of this home to put towards the next house. How close could you be to paying cash for your next house? I mean, we owe about $115 on this right now. It's worth probably like $200. So we'd have a pretty good down payment. But I mean, we can stay in it longer than the

next two years, but it's just kind of tight. Yeah. Well, if you close out the credit card, I'd be curious to see what happens to your credit score. I don't think it's just kind of tight. Yeah. Well, if you close out the credit card, I'd be curious to see what happens to your credit score. I don't think it's going to tank if you keep paying your mortgage and your bills regularly without issue. I think it'll stay high. And I don't want that, but hey, you can do it and you get the other mortgage with a good credit score and you'll be just fine. The only thing it would affect is your interest rate. And at that point, if you're following our plan, that house is going to be paid off so fast that we're not even concerned with the interest payments.

That is a valid point that I did not consider. So that's definitely our plan. That's a win, Ken. That's why George comes to work every day. He just nailed it. It's rare that anyone

says I have a valid point, including my wife. Is that right? So that's a win from Brianna today. Brianna, thank you for the call. You've got a plan now. And thank you for making George's heart swell with pride.

He's such a happy guy. Three sizes bigger this day. You better be careful. That shirt's a small. Be careful. Hey, coming up next, more of your money is more important than ever while some circumstances can't be controlled there are items within your budget you can take charge of, such as your health care costs. For nearly 40 years, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, has provided a budget-friendly means of

sharing for medical bills when our members need it. Learn more by visiting chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org slash budget. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a Ramsey-trusted provider. Welcome back, America. You're joining the conversation here on The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, George Kimmel. And, hey, how many of you out there would like to do work you really love in a place that aligns with your values? I would love that. Would you like that, George?

I'm doing it right now. Yeah, you are. And it's ironic that you say that because we are hiring at Ramsey Solutions and we need really smart people, George. Absolutely. These are much smarter people than me. With emotional intelligence. That would be great. You can have both. Okay. Soft skills and hard skills. Well, you know where I'm going. UX designers, developers, writers to help us build digital products that actually change people's lives. If you want to see what it's like to work here before you apply, follow us on Instagram and Facebook by searching Ramsey Careers.

We need you. And if you'd like to do work that matters with us, apply for your dream job at RamseySolutions.com slash careers. That's RamseySolutions.com slash careers. You know, Ken, when you said we need you, it reminded me of the Uncle Sam poster. And I thought, we need an Uncle Dave poster. You know what? That would be some good marketing.

Next time I'm on with him, I'm going to steal that unless you do it first. Now you got this. Because he'll get so irritated by that. He would be like, rawr. He might be tickled by it. We don't know. But seriously, I love this place. And it really is one of the nicest buildings I've been in. On top of the amazing team, the culture, the work that we get to do, the impact, it's fantastic.

I met my wife here. Been here nine years now. Now, George, that's a high bar. High bar, I know. You might meet your future spouse here. Whitney's an amazing woman. The only thing wrong with Whitney is she has poor judgment. Yeah.

But, hey, caught her at the right time. Yes, you did. And good for you. Don't tell me George Campbell can't sell. Thank you. You did it, pal. RamseySolutions.com slash careers. Come join us. Yeah, we'd love to see you. You can see me and Ken in the cafeteria. Yeah, nobody cares.

Okay. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Ryan is on the line in Orlando, Florida. Oh, the Hall of Disney, George. It's very exciting. Ryan, how can we help? Oh, hello, Ken and George.

Thank you for taking my call. You bet. What's up? Well, I am currently 48 years old, and I've been an engineer for about 15 years. I have a very good and secure job, but I have been interested for a while in changing careers altogether. And so right now I'm in baby step three, and I was curious as to when is a good time to actually start to, where within the baby steps is a good time to begin the career change journey. Oh, I love this question. Just to be a little more specific, I have a program that's a 10-week program,

so I'd have to take some time off from work because it's full-time. So that's why I'm wondering when is the best time. So the 10-week program is what's necessary to be qualified to change gigs. Yes. So you'd have to take 10 weeks of work off? Yes, because it requires being there full-time, and the work that I do also requires full-time, so something's got to go. So what happens after the 10-week program?

I would return back to my job. I wouldn't quit it right away, of course, because there's going to be a lot that needs to be done to prepare for the other career but um i just want to make sure that financially i would be yeah okay yeah i was wondering yeah so uh yeah and i'm going to get to that but how are you going to take 10 weeks off of your current employment and then that be a problem you don't have 10 weeks of vacation do you um i can if i work long enough i might be able to actually accumulate about eight weeks. And so then at least two weeks of that will probably have to be leave without pay. And that doesn't raise questions.

I have enough saved to be home. Okay, I know. But I'm coming to the financial, but there's some background before I can give financial advice as it relates to changing careers. So let's play that out. Let's say you do have eight weeks. You think you can. We need to know we can because now we've got two weeks of unpaid leave. Does that not create question marks that could make it pretty rough on you

returning back to this job that you said that's part of the plan? Honestly, I don't know. I haven't gone that far yet. have any questions that's okay well but hey that's why you called so that's what i'm doing i'm walking you through what you need to know i'm really concerned about this plan uh involving you returning back to the place you're at what you're at now that you don't want to be and And the two weeks of unpaid leave, that's going to generate all kinds of questions from your leader unless they've got their head completely in the sand. And that could create problems for you.

Can you not do the 10 weeks? I don't know how to ask this. Is there not another way to do the 10 weeks where you wouldn't have to take off 10 weeks of work? I mean, do you do it at nights and weekends, or is that a totally silly question? No, it would not be. I would not be able to. I'm actually interested in carpentry. Okay, so let me—

And the program is basically working in the daytime. Oh, okay, so you want to be a carpenter? Yes. Oh, my goodness. Okay want to be a carpenter? Yes. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so let me ask you this. Why can't you walk out of the 10-week training program right into a job? That's a good question. I did not consider.

Okay. Okay, so now we've got the background, because I want to answer this question for the entire audience, not just Ryan. On when in the baby steps should I change jobs? I'm going to answer that in a minute. So I haven't left. I just want everybody to know I'm getting to that. Yeah, I'm teasing it.

Ryan, in your situation, I don't understand why, if you haven't gotten that carpentry training or licensing or whatever it is, is it a certification? It's actually a beginning because I have zero experience in it. So that's why I was figuring on being in the program and then possibly taking other courses because I'm actually interested in incorporating that with some architecture courses as well. I understand, but you need a job.

And so you cannot take 10 weeks off without pay. You're going to end up losing your current job. So we've got two ways we go about this. Either you just buckle down and you press pause on the carpentry training until you have, let's call it to be safe, three months of living expenses above and beyond your emergency fund. You have to have what I would call a floating fund here. We can't interrupt income. And so if we're going to take the carpentry school, that will then bring in money. We've still got to be able to pay the bills.

Do you understand what I'm saying? So this is going to be wait longer to be able to take the carpentry deal or go back and do more homework and find out could i go in and start slinging a hammer after this 10-week course i gotta tell you in the construction world i shared this on the show the rams show two days ago i talk about it every day on the ken coleman show i was on mornings with maria on fox business george yesterday talking about the trades and how construction workers are needed everywhere. I just think that you can make this transition, Ryan.

So go find out. Go ahead, George. I know you're going to say something. No, I'm just curious. What job are you doing now, Ryan? I'm an engineer. Okay. And what do you make?

$95,000. So the question is, if you have an entry-level carpentry job... Not going to make $95,000. Is that going to hurt you financially? Can you live? Well, as you were saying, I would definitely have to make sure I have good enough savings before I could do something like that. What baby step are you in?

I believe I could live. What baby step are you in? Three. Huh? Three. Three. How close to fully funding that are you? Oh, I just started Baby Step 3.

I just finished paying off my vehicle. Okay. So this could be another four, five, six months for you to get your emergency fund in place? Yes. See, and the emergency fund is not this, what I call a floating fund. I didn't have another word for it, George. The emergency fund is not for the job transition. You're planning to take this 10-week course. You're planning to be away from

the job, so it's not an emergency. Yeah, so the emergency fund can't be used for job transition, is what we teach. So back to the bigger question for Ryan and everybody else. You can change jobs at any point in the baby steps, as long as there is not an interruption in income and not a sizable, serious, backwards movement in pay. So if we have parallel pay or we have more pay, that only helps us. I think we need to look into more options for how to get this carpentry skill set going. Maybe it's trade school at night. Yeah. And I also think

she needs to do more homework because I don't know that she wants... I heard architecture. Ryan, I want you to delay this move until you know what you can actually make slinging a hammer because it's going to take longer to move into the architecture piece anyway. More homework. How do I get there?

What's it going to cost me? How long is that going to take? In light of no debt and working through the baby steps. But it's a really good question, and I really appreciate it. Folks, you can change jobs in the baby steps. Just no interruption of income. All right, don't move. More Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by George Campbell.

And, George, you know, there's a cultural myth that I don't have time to break down as to how it started. It's just not enough time. But there is a myth that the best way, the only way to be successful professionally and financially is if you have a college degree. It's a magic ticket to a better future. Well, I think more and more people are becoming aware that that's a myth, George. I wrote a blog for the mothership, RamseySolutions.com. It's entitled 25 High-Paying Jobs That Don't Require a Four-Year Degree. You and I, this is a reveal.

It's kind of fun for us. We chose during the break some of our favorite jobs and why in this category. Yeah. So based on our last call, I thought I'd start with one of mine. Okay, hit me. And we had Ryan on the line, and she wants to, she's in the process of, is she going to decide to take a carpentry course to become a carpenter well it just so happens that uh one of the 25 high-paying

jobs that doesn't require for your degree is carpenter and the median salary now let me explain this to some folks because i've done social media posts george get crushed on tiktok because people don't pay attention they don't understand I didn't say it's the income. I'm saying it's the median. Let's explain what median is, George. Tell folks at home. Median means middle. Middle.

Middle. So if you take the high, not average, by the way, middle. So if you take the high across the country, all 50 states, and you take the low, this is the median, the middle of the range of carpeted cars. You learned this in third grade. You learned this in third grade. You didn't learn after that. Well, but people don't care on social media.

They just want to hammer you. So here we go. Hey, nice pun there. Thank you. They just want to hammer you. You know what? James is going to, I'm going to hear about that one later. That's perfect.

I didn't even know I said that. Oh boy. Okay. So what's the median salary for Carpenter folks? $49,500. Education needed, high school diploma, and some form of apprenticeship. So there you go. What do you got, George? I have electrician. Oh, another trade. I just had an electrician at the house. Oh yeah? And then I got the bill and I went,

oh boy. Okay. Hey, he's doing well. But I'm not messing with those wires. No. Okay. And median salary for electricians, $57,000. Education needed, diploma, apprenticeship, and there's positive job growth in that area. Okay. All right. Let's go a little more high tech, George. What about a radiologic or MRI technologist? Oh, that's a good one. Now, this isn't going anywhere.

This is healthcare, right? Like, you talk about stability, George. Also pays really well. Median salary, $63,710. What education do you need? Associate degree only. So, boy, that's budget friendly. I like that one.

That's a two-year community college. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Without the tag from med school. That's right. Leaving the old bill there. Yeah, nice. Okay, this one's personal. This one's close to home. Executive assistant was number 11 on your school. That's right. Leaving the old bill there. Yeah, nice. Okay, this one's personal. This one's close to home.

Executive assistant was number 11 on your list. I know why. Median salary, $63,000, and education needed, high school diploma. And this is close to home because my wife is an executive assistant here at Ramsey Solutions. And if you know Ramsey Solutions and you know the crowd here, we have a huge, huge team of assistants. And then on top of that, there's executive assistants that serve our operating board members, our senior leaders, and my wife is one of those rock star executive assistants

that serves someone on our operating board that reports to Dave, and she crushes it. And so I think that's a great, great option for folks out there beyond the old school mentality of a secretary. This is so much more. This is a partnership with leaders to help them accomplish what they want to accomplish. They truly are the gatekeepers that make the world go round. It's basically their COOs.

That's how I like to see it. All right. Let's do a couple more real quick. Occupational therapy assistant. This is a median salary of $60,950. Only need an associate degree. And listen to this. If you're

in the people business, you love taking care of others. You would call yourself a caretaker. Great job here. This is all about helping people learn and practice skills to live and work. Most of it takes place after someone has had some type of accident or elderly people who need help performing daily tasks around their homes. So another really people-centric job, good money. Yeah. Let me hit you with one more. This is a big one. Web developer. Oh, yeah. Man, median salary, $77,000. Yeah.

And education needed, an associate's degree. And even now, there's so many options out there, affordable courses online, and companies are so hungry for web developers. I mean, we are hiring them like crazy right now here at Ramsey Solutions, and you don't need to go to the fancy name brand school to get the degree in computer engineering, software engineering, and there's some crazy growth in that area. And by the way, that's the median salary. You're going to be in the six-figure range pretty quick if you are good. And let me also tell you, if you have people skills as a developer, watch out. All right, one more. We got to give one that is an associate's degree required only. And Georgia's is over six figures.

High demand. Now it's high stress. So if you are a low pulse kind of person, you handle high stress pretty easily, air traffic controller might be the gig for you. Airplanes aren't going anywhere. Median salary, George, you ready for this? $130,000. So there you go.

That's median. Yeah. If you'd like to see the entire list, dive into it a little bit more to learn what it takes to win in those areas, you can search that blog up, RamseySolutions.com. 25 high-paying jobs that don't require a four-year degree. All right. Let's get back to the phones. The phone number for you to jump in on the line today is 888-825-5-225-888-825-5-225 samantha is up in dallas texas samantha how can we help

hey guys um so i recently inherited three hundred thousand dollars whoa yes it's exciting but i'm like stuck on what to do. I'm thinking I want to buy a house, but I'm confused if I should like just use it all and buy the house in full or save some, invest some. I'm just stuck. Well, Samantha, where did this money come from? My grandma. Oh, well, that's very sweet. What a legacy to leave.

Yes. Very cool. Okay. So do you have any debt currently? No, I paid it off yesterday. What? Congratulations. Samantha, that's amazing.

So how much money do you have to your name right now in cash, in savings? I mean, in savings, I have started my emergency fund. Now I'm only at $4,000. Okay. Well, today you get to fully fund that emergency fund. Now I'm only at $4,000. Okay. Well, today you get to fully fund that emergency fund. Congratulations. Okay. And then with what's left, I want you to be investing for the future. I want you to be investing that 15% of your household income, but that can be done through your cashflow, through your future paychecks. So this money, is a house the next goal for you

financially? Are you renting right now? I'm renting, yeah. Okay. And have you looked at homes in your area that would be reasonable that you'd be okay living in, in the Dallas, Texas area? Yes. Okay. I'm assuming you're going to have a hard time paying cash for a place in that price range. Am I wrong?

Yeah, probably. It would be a good down payment, but the ones in my price range might not be in the best areas. Okay. So if you're looking, I'm going to start doing some research and go, okay, what's it going to cost? And I know I can put 70, 80% down as a down payment. That's going to make your mortgage payment super, super tiny. And that's going to help you pay it off really, really fast. And then how much do you make? $66,000 a year. Wonderful. Now imagine making $66,000 a year and you get to keep every penny after you pay your taxes. It's not going to a mortgage lender. It's not going to payments. That is what's going to help you create wealth. So I would be throwing the rest of the money

beyond the emergency fund at your next home purchase, trying to pay cash or putting down a huge down payment if possible, do it on a 15-year fixed rate, and pay it off as fast as you can. How old are you? 29. Oh my goodness. Oh, this is so exciting. Samantha, you're going to be so unbelievably wealthy, and part of that is due to the legacy that grandma left you, and I think she'd be smiling about this situation. Okay, great. Well, thank you guys so much. Yeah, thank you for calling.

I love the advice, George. You know what? To young people, be patient on the house, man. It's so worth waiting. Yeah. You know, I mean, I think about how many houses Stacy and I, so we're coming up on 24 years of marriage, and we're now in our fifth house and i look back on the first house we go oh it's great we have great memories but like we didn't we did we weren't

dumb with buying it but we could have waited yeah we could have waited and saved the money because we were only at two years before we were moved for work and we didn't make much on i think we cleared seven grand or something on that first sale of the house. And I just think back, I go, I think I would have rather rented. And kept saving that money, investing that money, and wait and wait and wait and wait until you can go so much into that payment

where you have no payment at all or such little payment that you can pay it off in a short matter of time like you, and you're white. Yeah, we've got to stop putting pressure on these young people to get houses immediately. Yeah. Because you could beat George Campbell. Who doesn't want to beat George Campbell?

A lot of people. No house payment. He's saving up for the big boy. Let's go. Oh, it's going to be a palace. Are you going to invite me over? Yeah. Good moment.

This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. The Ramsey Show continues from our national-based world headquarters. I'm Ted Coleman, joined by George Camel. We're taking your calls, 888-825-5225. Money calls, relationship calls, work calls. You just want to win in those three areas, and you're not winning to the rate that you want to be winning or you feel stuck or scared or unsure where to go we're here for you 888-825-5225 i could not be any more excited

that the ramsey 18 wheeler george is uh warming up in the parking lot uh just got an email you and i got an email today we did fall live event fall live event schedule we've already got a couple on the spring schedule. That's what I want to talk about very briefly. I thought they'd never let us out of here, Ken. I know. I know. We are coming back on the road. Building Wealth is the event that we're most excited about because it's coming up in May. Two great cities, Las Vegas and Orlando. Couldn't be any different when you think about the makeup of those cities. And geographically, opposite sides of the country. Geographically different.

We're going to be at those two cities with a great event called Building Wealth. Obviously, I think the pandemic in many, many ways made us focus on the future so much more than we probably had been. And Building Wealth is a big part of that focus. And a lot of people are freaking out because of inflation, George. Gas and groceries, man. They're killing people. Killing us. And so we're going to talk to you and show you how to build real wealth.

The financial principles we teach are the only principles that work in prosperous times and hard times. And you're going to become a baby steps a millionaire if you follow those steps. So join me, George Campbell, Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruz, Dr. John Deloney, as we come together on one stage for a great, fun night. Yesterday I did try to get a yes or no on a tiger, and Pete Young, who is our lovely and fantastic VP of live events, said he loved the idea. He didn't say yes or no. He just said he's so kind.

He said love the heart behind it. Yeah, he's a very nice guy. He's very nice. we're not going to have a tiger uh but we are going to be there thursday may 5th in orlando thursday may 19th in las vegas that's going to be fun building wealth tickets start at just 25 for the individual or you can get a four pack for only 60 bucks so my goodness steep discount that's a George Camel hack. The money you save, you can hit the slots after the event. Oh, boy. I'm not sure that's what we want.

Okay. But, you know. Better than your tiger idea. Well, I don't know, George. The tiger doesn't cost you. You're not throwing away money. That's true. Yeah.

So, anyway, this is a great deal. We're going to have fun. Don't wait. Go to ramsaysolutions.com slash events to learn more. Go to RamseySolutions.com slash events. Are you going to wear sequins in Vegas? I don't know if I can rock sequins. You don't think so?

Regardless of the environment or location. Dr. John Delaney said he might wear a boa. That's a visual I don't want to ever see again. You've got to come to Las Vegas to find out if any of that's going to happen. But until then, back to the phones we go. Bob is joining us in Ventura, California. Bob, how can we help? Hey, Ken.

Hey, George. Thanks for taking my call. You bet. What's up? Before I get started, Ken, do not give up on that Tiger game. Please, please keep it going. See, the people want the Tiger. Don't encourage him, Bob.

Bob, listen. Would you come to the Vegas event if you knew there was going to be a Tiger in a cage on the stage with Dave Ramsey? Absolutely. See, I'm trying to move tickets, Bob. I'm trying to move tickets, but we'll see. I'm not going to quit on it, Bob, thanks to you. Well, hey, thanks, guys. I've been listening for a couple years, and I was looking for a clarification on Ramsey's suggested guidance, which I had not heard before.

So you all suggest that match, with respect to retirement savings, that match beats Roth beats traditional. Yes. And the recommended amount in Baby Steps 4, 5, and 6 is 15%. If it's traditional, that's clear in terms of the amount of your income going into your retirement because it's all. So, for example, if I make $100K and I'm putting 15%, then $15K gets into my traditional. I am at the point where I want to start investing in my 401k Roth. So, is it, in that example, is it $15K that would go into my Roth? Or is it 15% of my income,

so a smaller amount goes into Roth? So, you know, is it 15% of gross versus 15K going into the Roth? Thank you. Either way, it's going to be 15% of your gross income. But you're right that if you put it in Roth, that's with after-tax dollars, which means it's going to grow tax-free. You can withdraw it tax-free in retirement. So in that regard, you investing 15% in your Roth is actually going to cost you a little more but gain you more in retirement in that sense because you've already paid taxes on that money. So yes, we say 15% of your gross household income into retirement. We love the Roth option if you've got that. That's what I do here at Ramsey Solutions. I do all 15% into our Roth 401k, and we get a match on top of that because we have great investing options. And then when I retire, if there's $2 million sitting in that account,

I actually can pull out $2 million tax-free. And so I love the Roth, big fan of that. And if you can swing it with the 15% to the Roth, that's what I would be doing, Bob. Well, hey, thanks, George. Thanks for your advice. I appreciate the clarification there, and keep up the good work, guys. Yeah, thank you, sir. Thank you for endorsing the idea of the tiger and the Las Vegas building wealth event. George, the people want it. Give it up, man.

No, wait a second. Bob is a representative of many, many more people, George. I'm convinced of it. We'll see. Megan's up in Dallas, Texas. Megan, George. I'm convinced of it. We'll see. Megan's up in Dallas, Texas. Megan, how can we help? Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. You bet. So I was actually in a car accident in February. Oh, no. Are you okay? I'm okay. Yeah. It's been a journey,

but I did just receive a check from the insurance company. It was a total. And so where I am financially is I have a 9,000 so far in my emergency fund. I'm debt free. And so seeing this check, I received $24,000 for my car. And just seeing that land in my account is making me rethink how much I should be spending on a car. What are you thinking? Well, I mean, initially I just thought I would just like apply the entire check to a new car. But just looking at the prices and as I've been shopping for the last month, um, it kind of makes me sick to think

that that value of my car could go down, you know, in the near future. Um, so I'm just wondering if it'd be a good play to get something like that would tide me over and see if this car market changes. Um, because the car that I, that was totaled, um, I purchased for 16 and they just paid me 24. And it. Isn't that insane? Oh, yeah. It just kind of makes me sick to drop that kind of money. Yeah. So what's your income?

I just wonder, like, what's a good measure? My gross is $40,000. I bring home about $2,700 a month. Nice. What was the other car, if you don't mind me asking? Give me the year and mileage. My car was a 2016 RAV4, and it had around 67,000 miles. Okay. So here's our parameters, Megan, to make it real easy for you. We don't want you to have

more than 50% of your income tied up with things in motors. So I'm guessing the car is the only thing you own that has a motor in it, no boats, no big toys? Correct. So in your scenario, you're making $40,000. I don't want you to own a car that's worth more than $20,000. So you're right. I don't think you need a $24,000 car just because they cut you a check. Instead, let it help you get ahead financially and get a reasonable car because you're right. This market is insane. So if you can avoid getting an expensive car in this market, you're doing all right.

And I don't want you to buy a new car until you're a millionaire. So we're going to get a new to Megan car that is used, and I would be looking at something reliable. You had a Toyota, big fan of Toyota, big fan of Honda. And so I would be looking at something like that. They're making fun of how I say Toyota. I don't know, Toyota. There it is, George. I just want to make sure the listener and the viewer knows what we're talking about. I mean, I have no problem with the way you say it. We've got bigger problems to face here in America.

So did you like your RAV4? Well, I did, but I kind of had my eyes set on a... I'm sorry, sometimes I blank. Yeah, so do I. Don't worry about it. Yeah, I... Oh, and I'm on the radio. Don't worry about it. Yeah. Oh, and I'm on the radio. Don't worry about it. Was it Toyota?

It's just another midsize SUV. No. Yeah, all right. Here's the point. Go look at them and stay in that price range that you feel comfortable with, right? And make sure whatever you buy, you do a pre-purchase inspection. It is worth the money. And don't get suckered in with all these fees and warranties they try to sell you.

I want you to look at that contract and make sure there's nothing more than a small dock fee, if anything, and your sales tax. So don't get suckered in in today's market. I can make money hand over fist. I know George agrees with me on this. I'm a big Toyota. So they also make Lexus, older Lexus. Honda, he's a big Honda. Like, you got a Pilot.

You know, look in that range and something a little bit older. But all in, don't spend more than $20,000. Yeah, yeah, don't. And spend less. You still get something reliable. Absolutely. George Campbell, great job this hour. I want to thank our team in the booth back there making it all happen. And you, America, this is your show.

This is the Ramsey Show. Hey, folks. Ken Coleman here. This is The Ramsey Show.