The Ramsey Show - App - A Message of Hope Series: Chris Hogan

Episode Date: April 1, 2020

It’s scary out there, but hope is greater than fear. In times of crisis, facts are your friends. So get the facts and other common sense guidance on life and money from thought leaders Dave Ramsey, Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruze, Chris Hogan, Christy Wright, Anthony ONeal and John Delony. Get a FREE trial of our life-changing Financial Peace University today: https://bit.ly/3dFT7ir daveramsey.com/hope

Hello everyone, I'm Chris Hogan, author and speaker here at Ramsey Solutions, and I've had the privilege of working with Dave and the team for almost 15 years. And as you can imagine, throughout that 15 years, I've seen some stuff, all kinds of crazy things. But I need to tell you something, we've never seen anything as crazy as right now. The thing going on, the quarantine, the battling an invisible enemy, these are tough times. But I wanted to reach out and just kind of talk with you about a few things, because I think it's important for us right now, more than ever, to be clear and to understand where we are, but where we're going.

You see, we're tough. We've been through tough stuff before. We can think back to history, where we've seen bear markets, where the market begins begins to plunge because the stock market is a living and breathing thing. That means it's going to respond to all the things that are going on. If people are overly optimistic, it'll climb. If people get pessimistic or worried, it will drop. But we've seen things like this before. Think back to 9-11 at terrible day when we were attacked. It was tough.

But guess what? The market dropped, but it came back. Then even with 02 and 03, the SARS epidemic, the market took a strong hit and it dropped. It dropped 12%. But here's the thing we need to remember. By the end of 03, it had come back at 19%, even better than where it was before. And 07 to 09, the Great Recession, where the financial markets took a hit, banking industries and the housing market, it was tough. Things dropped, but it came back. See, I want to talk to you about this, because in the media, they'll talk about the negatives. But I need us to remember the positives, that not only will the market drop, but it comes back. And this is important for us to remember, because we can look at our retirement

plans and you see the drop, and a lot of people are getting upset. Mine is dropping as well. But I want to remind you of something. It's going to come back. Hear me. It's going to come back. Now, I don't have a crystal ball. I can't tell you when, but if we think back through history, we've seen it go down, but we've also seen it come back up. And I think it's really important for us to remind ourselves of this. And so I want you to glance at your retirement accounts, but don't obsess. I tell people glance, don't be glued because it's not anything positive to look at right now, but it's going to come

back. And so I think it's important for us to do a few things. And that is control the controllables. Listen to me. There are a lot of things out there that we can't control. And we're finding that out now more than ever. But there are some things that we can control. I'm telling people we need to stay in control of four things.

We need to stay in control of our faith because it's really important to understand that God is in control. We need to stay in control of our attitude. That's our general just kind of feeling and countenance, how we think about things, our general state of being. We need to stay in control of our outlook because see, that impacts what we expect to happen in the future. What do we expect to happen moving forward? And most importantly, we need to stay in control of our actions. Listen to me. Our actions are crucial right now. We can do things to make things better, or we can also do some things that can make things worse. And I think it's important for us now more than ever to understand our financial situation, how we budget, how do we stay clear on the path

of chasing down our dreams and our goals. We can't forget that. We have to conserve our income right now and be very intelligent. Don't spend unnecessarily. Remain in control. We can do this. I know we can. We're going to be calm and clear about where every dollar goes from now moving forward. And I think it's important for us to stay in control of the controllables. And I think it's important for us to remember we've all been through some tough times before. I talked about those periods in history where the market took a hit, but it bounced back stronger than ever. But I also want you to recall where you've been in your own life. You see, I find it hard to believe how tough we can be when we decide to be. It's amazing. We've all walked through some

things in life. We all have some bumps and some scrapes. I think it's important for us to recall that, call back on that energy and that focus that you had during that tough time. You see, when we change our minds, we can change our futures. And what we have to do is focus on the things that we can control. We can do this. I'm telling you, I know we can. I meet strong men and women all across this country as I travel and I speak. People that have real dreams, things that they are adamant about chasing down, and not only for themselves, but for their family tree. That's the same attitude and spirit we need to keep right now, folks. We have to.

And so I want to just remind you that, yes, this is tough, but we're going to get through this. We are resilient. We are tough. And we can do more than we think we can. So I want to just remind you to control the controllables, your faith, your attitude, your outlook, and your actions. Those four things will put us on the path to be able to rebound and keep pushing forward. We can do this, and I want you all to know that we're here to help. Now, throughout this time, I've been reaching out to my tribe on Instagram and Facebook Live,

staying connected with people. I want to share with you some questions I've been getting in on social media. A lot of people have been reaching out and wanting to know about these topics. And I thought, you know, this is something everyone needs to hear. And so I wanted to dive in and talk with you about these questions. People are asking me, how long do I think the stock market will take to bounce back? Man, that's a great question. And I wish I could give you a clear answer. No one has a crystal ball. And anyone that tries to predict or tell us a time frame, well, they're just reaching. But here's what I do know. I know it will come back. Remember those points in history that we just talked about. The market is a living, breathing thing. It responds to what's going on

in the country as well as the world. When things are optimistic, the market will climb. When things are tough or people are unsure, the market will drop. I call it a roller coaster ride, right? If you think back to ever riding a roller coaster, you know there are ups and there are downs, right? But the key is to make sure that you're wearing your seatbelt. And the seatbelt in this is understanding the long-term view. You see, I think it's important for us to understand the difference between a snapshot versus a video. Now work with me here. You see, with the snapshot, that's just one little second in time, but a video has things going on before as well as after. And I think we're going to look

back at this time and understand that this is just a snapshot, that things were tough, but they also got better. So I want you to know, I don't know when the market is going to come back, but I absolutely am certain of this. Based on history, based on what I've seen in all my years of dealing with money, it's going to come back. And not only will it come back, it's going to come back stronger than ever, because that's who we are. Question number two, for those of us close to retirement or in retirement, what should we do with the hit we just took from the stock market? Listen, losing money is never fun. To see the stock market go down and impact our portfolios and our future, it's tough. But for those of you that are in retirement right now, I think really being aware and understanding history is also going to be vital. I'm going

to suggest that you reach out and get connected to your investment professional. Really talk about where you are and based on where you are, what needs to happen. I think going into conserve mode is going to be especially important, cutting out unnecessary spending and maybe making some adjustments in lifestyle. For those close to retirement, maybe you've seen it pushed off a little bit here. Now, I don't know exactly how long, but it's a good thing to reach out to talk to your investment professional as well so you can have a realistic view. Listen, the worst thing we can do is to stay within our own minds. What I'm saying is it's very important for us to talk with people that have information and knowledge that we don't

have. If you're working with the right kind of investment professional, they have the heart of a teacher. That means they're looking to guide you. They want to help you. They're on your side. So do me a favor. Pick up the phone. reach out to them, get on a conference call, do a Skype call with your investment professional, you and your spouse together, and sit down and talk about this. I find it amazing what happens when we get the right information from the right people. We begin to have a renewed perspective. We can see things more clear.

And we don't have to just listen to the talking heads on media that are being negative. We need reality, and we need real information. So we're going to be fine. This is going to come back. We need to make sure to remember history. These other times where the market has dropped, it has come back. And I firmly believe we're going to be in that same type of situation here right now. Question three. I'm on baby step six. Should I cash out my investments? Should I invest more? Should I pause investing to pile up cash? Okay, this is a great question. First and foremost, the reason that we invest is to be able to have money to live our dreams.

I don't think now is the time for us to panic and pull money out. That's the worst thing that we could do. I'm telling you, I've been here. Years ago, prior to working with the team, I had pulled money out, and I'm so frustrated at myself for doing that. Because if I would have left it alone, money would have had an opportunity to grow significantly. I made a six-figure mistake by jumping out of the market years ago. So I want you to hear me. No, now is not the time to cash out your investments. Now is the time to be very clear and understand what it is you're dealing with. Now, should I invest more? Well, listen, we tell people and teach people for years to invest 15% of your household income once you're

out of debt and you have an emergency fund. If your income is stable and your job is stable, I want you to continue the course. I want you to remain more focused than ever on investing and being clear. However, if you're in a situation where unfortunately your income has dropped or your job has been lost, you need to pause the baby steps. You need to take a pause right now and be able to recoup. That means you're looking for a job to bring in some income to be able to protect your now as well as your future. And so I think it's really important. So yes, if your job

is at risk or if you have had hours cut or reduced, now's the time to pause and to be able to save up money. We have to have money set aside to be able to take care of the four walls. Now, with four walls, what I'm referring to is we've got to be able to take care of our shelter, whether that's your rent or your mortgage. We absolutely need to take care of our utilities, our lights, our heating, things of that nature. It's very important. And we also need to make sure that we have food on the table, a nourishing meal to be able to take care of ourselves as well as our families. And finally, your transportation. You need to be able to get to and from wherever

it is you need to go. So being clear and making sure that you're taking care of necessities are absolutely important. Question number four, with rates so low, is now a good time to refinance my mortgage? Ah, this is another question that I'm getting in a lot. Listen to me. Mortgage rates are as low as they've been in a very long time right now. So if you've been in your mortgage for four years or more, this would be a good time to reach out to your existing lender to start to talk about what a refinance would look like. Now, again, we always tell people you want to only be in a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. This is very, very important. So pick up the phone with your

lender, talk with them about where rates are right now for them, but also ask them about their lock periods. Rate locks are options you have as a consumer to be able to lock in and freeze a rate for a specified period of time. So definitely pick up the phone, give them a call, find out about the process and the steps you would need to take to refinance. I want you to remember something. There are kind of three takeaways that I want you to remind yourself of in this period of quarantine. I want to remind you, number one, don't obsessively check your retirement accounts. Okay. It's okay to look at it and be aware, but don't obsess.

Number two, I want you to reach out and have a conversation with your investment professional. I want you to talk with them about the things that are going on in the market, what they're seeing, what they expect to happen. It's really important for us to have that conversation. And again, if you're married, you and your spouse both need to be on this phone call. Make a list of the questions that you have. Call them up, talk about what's on your mind.

And the third thing, and this one's most important, I want you to find a scripture that you can hold onto right now. It's really important for us to remain plugged into something bigger than ourselves. That's how we get our energy and that's how we get our focus. The scripture for me is Jeremiah 29 11. For I know the plans that I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you.

Plans to give you a hope and a future. I think it's really important for us to understand a scripture, to be connected to it, to keep us motivated, to keep us focused, to help keep us centered. Things are crazy right now, but I want us to remain clear, calm, and understanding exactly the direction that we're going. Now, I want to give you another special offer here. You know, during this time of being at home, we have an opportunity to grow, to be able

to push forward, to learn more than we've ever known before, and to become more clear than ever about what it is we want for ourselves as well as our future. You know, for me personally, I can remember my own personal financial crisis where I didn't understand things and how money was working. And so I want to encourage you to plug into Financial Peace University. This course changed my life. It helped me to understand money on a different level, to be able to note the steps to take, but more importantly, why to take them. So right now, during this time of quarantine, you've got an opportunity to learn and grow. For the first time ever,

we're offering a 14-day free trial of Financial Peace University. Yeah, the very same course that changed my life. You'll have access to all the lessons. You'll be able to watch the videos that are taught by Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruz, and myself. You're going to have an opportunity to grow your knowledge and to really be able to really understand this money stuff on a whole new level. You see, right now in these kinds of times, I think people are awakening. People are looking at things and they're understanding that they wish they would have been better prepared, that they wish they would have taken some steps.

And I've heard a lot of people tell me, Chris, this is never going to happen to me again. And I understand heard a lot of people tell me, Chris, this is never going to happen to me again. And I understand that feeling. That was the exact same moment that I had my life change and how I dealt with money. So this is an opportunity, an opportunity for you to take a stand, not only for yourself, but for your future. And so you've got a great opportunity to get this 14-day free trial of Financial Peace University and watch it from home. It's going to be a much better thing for you and your future to understand this money stuff,

but also to have a clear plan. All you have to do is go to DaveRamsey.com slash hope. That's DaveRamsey.com slash hope for your 14-day free trial of Financial Peace University. You know, as I look at this, I want to remind you that times are tough, but so are we. We're tough and we're resilient. We understand what we want and why we want it so much. It's being clear about your dreams, seeing it in high definition. And I want you to understand something.

Your dream does not have to change. What we have to do is to be clear about what we can control and why it matters so much. I want to thank you all for taking the time to join me. I think it was important for us to kind of glance back and look at history to understand how the stock market responds, but more importantly, how we can react. So I want you to be aware. I want you to plug in, start to grow your knowledge about money now more than ever. And I want to encourage you to stay very calm and very clear moving forward. Now more than ever, we need to stay focused and not finished. This is tough, but so are we. You see, we're in this

thing together. And I think together is exactly how we're going to get through this. We're tough. We're resilient. So I want you to remain clear, stay connected, stay safe, and above all, be kind. And remember, I want you to stay focused because you're not finished. Hey, everyone, we all need more good news in our lives right now. So we will be continually updating a message of hope with relevant topics that matter for me and other Ramsey Network hosts. Stay connected with the latest episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, following the show on Spotify, or listening in on your favorite podcast app.