The Ramsey Show - App - Are You Wasting Money on Food Delivery? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: October 5, 2023

МУЗЫКАЛЬНАЯ ЗАСТАВКА Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I am Ramsey Personality, Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with the wonderful and the fabulous Ramsey Personality, Jade Warshaw. We are here to answer your calls, America. And it is a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. So make sure, yeah, give us a call. Let us know what you're thinking, what your questions are, and we'd love to walk through your situations with you. That's what we're here for. So at first, we have Taylor in Nashville, here in our home city, Nashville. Taylor, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me. Absolutely. How can we help?

So, well, I just actually am calling for my boyfriend. Unfortunately, he had gotten caught up into some things that had landed him in jail for about two years unexpectedly. Oh, okay. He is home now. And during that time, his mother was able to keep his car payment and his mortgage paid. But, of course, wasn't able to also take care of his personal loan debt and credit card debt, of course. You know, he's very thankful that she was even able to do that. Sure. And now that he is home, he is on like a probation parole type thing where really selling his house is not an option,

even though he does have quite a bit of equity because then he would be homeless and being on supervision you have to have an address of course right um and his credit score is you know in like upper mid 400s right now just because all of that credit card debt and personal loan debt is now in collections and has been for you know about a year and a half now. And how much debt is it total? In collections total, it's about $30,000. And then he owes about $133,000 on his house, $133,000 on his house. And his car, he owes about what it's worth, which is about $13,000. And is he working? Has he been able to

find any work coming out of Joe? Yes we were he's making about $15 an hour right now. I have gotten him you know like an every dollar budget kind of laid out. Yeah. So as far as like that goes you know obviously he's slowly trying to work out that baby step one. Yeah. But just having all of it in collections, it's just hard to find really any information on, you know, like if that settlement might be an option or bankruptcy, or if we should, you know, contact them directly. That's just really hard to kind of find any advice really. Yeah. Is it mostly credit cards in the collections or personal loans or what um credit cards and then there is one personal loan okay how much is the credit cards credit cards is about 20,000 okay and are those separate cards how many

um about three or four and then I think there's like yeah about three or four and are those all from different banks and yeah everything okay if it were me i would start with those like once he's got the thousand dollars saved because he really does need that i'd start with the collections first obviously and i would like let's just say he's got one credit card in collections that's two thousand dollars i'd stack up six or seven hundred dollars and i'd say this is what i have can we make a deal yeah and they're going to make it if it's in collections they're going to make a deal with you the key there is making sure you get every deal in writing before you pay them the money right and you're you're

not giving them access to your account you're saying okay I'll write you a check or I'll do it online whatever that is um and you're keeping that record forever and I would literally go down the list of those credit cards and I'd settle them for as low as I possibly could make sure you have the cash ready because you know you can't just call and say what would happen if I did this they're gonna be like no we want your money but if you say look I and honestly in this case I'd shoot straight I'd be like look I just got out of prison this is what I have yeah five hundred dollars and if you don't take this you're not getting anything from me yeah so take it or leave it and Taylor usually with these collection situations,

they're passed and then they're sold to another collection agency and then another. I mean, this could be the third time handed down, you know, one of these credit card debts. So just know the system that you're working under and the, you know, people aren't in these jobs forever. They're sitting in a cube somewhere. I mean, like, it's just a nasty industry.

It really is. And so getting, yes, someone, and I think the key here is what you're saying is you need to pull up his credit reports. You need to find exactly, okay, good, where the debt is, what it is, and then try to find that, yes, whoever has that bill in collections,

calling the collections agency. And Jade is exactly right. Majority of the time, they will settle with you. And if you have that cash, say, calling the collections agency. And Jade is exactly right. Majority of the time, they will settle with you. And if you have that cash, say, I can send this to you now. And they may want to negotiate a little bit. So kind of play the game. But when they say, okay, fine, we'll take the $721, say, okay, great, I need you to mail me with a letter.

Like give me an official letter of agreement. And once I receive that, I will send the money. And so you guys just kind of work that through. And then for his car, I don't know, I feel like this is the sell the car show so far today, Jade. I know it. But honestly, I'm like, it's $13,000. And I know he needs a car for work. So if the payments are not overwhelming him, but where he's at, again, you want these debts knocked out, but simultaneously, if there was any other way.

Do you know what the payment is? $444. That is kind of high. Whenever he got it, he had just started building his credit. So his interest rate was high. Yeah. And, you know, know now we it's unfortunate because he does have about with the he bought his house right before the market kind of went crazy um so if he was to refinance you know he'd have about 100k in equity in his house um so it is kind of unfortunate it's just hard to you know he can't be homeless what is his well okay selling his house doesn't make him homeless because he can rent right so what is his mortgage payment having like this felony record um finding somewhere to rent um is a real big issue in the

area that he's in i hear um well what's his mortgage and are you helping him with his mortgage because fifteen dollars an hour his not. His mom lives with him currently because she had to move out of her house or her apartment. So she's living with him and helping him. But the mortgage is about $1,100 a month. Yeah, that's okay. Okay. This is his situation, not yours. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. I'm just trying to, I'm a, you know, working my own baby steps. Yeah. I'm just trying to advise him the best I can. I'll be honest, the mortgage thing and stuff on it,

the mortgage and house thing does scare me making $15 an hour and having to kind of depend on whoever is able to live with him at the moment. That might be a problem for down the line. hour and having to kind of depend on whoever is able to live with him at the moment um that might be a problem for down the line um yeah if i were talking yeah well part of me would get out of that because it's just debt that he and yeah taylor you're nervous that he's not gonna be able to find a place to rent because of his felony record is that correct but i feel like you could do the i feel like if you it's not like to say that hey sell the house and then look for a place but maybe you can start doing the research on the front end just saying yeah and just keep and if you're and if you're clean yeah now you know for for uh nine

twelve months if a manager of an apartment complex will work with him because jade's right there's a lot on here um and he is, you know, just in life. It's just a lot. So Taylor, the places that he can take off that weight, so whether it's

selling the car, the housing situation is big and as Jade, you know, pondering all that because it's true. It's a big piece

of this puzzle. But I would start with that collections and you guys work on that and Taylor, you're very supportive, very kind. So thanks for all that you're doing in his life.

That's huge. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with Jade Warshaw, fellow Ramsey personality, and taking your calls. So, Jade, I feel like in life, there's these moments in your life that you look back and you're like, oh, yeah, that changed everything, right? I think about, like, September 11th and the way you go through airports changed everything, right? Oh, yeah. So, like, these different moments.

And so, one of those moments in history for us will forever be COVID. Yes. That it changed everything is what it feels like. And it changed the way that we do life, the way that we shop, what we expect, the convenience elements. Suddenly you don't have to go to Target.

You can just pull right up and they bring the bags out to you. So some of that's good. All these new features. Yes. But, but Americans, they have not slowed down when it comes to their online purchases. So whether it's Amazon or DoorDash, these things are more popular than ever.

We got used to things being dropped right at our door. Comfy cozy. And there was an interesting article from USA Today. That's right. It says prices are up. It says, although the pandemic has eased americans seem to be spending more than ever for the convenience of having groceries meals and household wares delivered directly to their doors the average delivery service customer is spending this is crazy around 407 dollars a month in 2023

that's up 157 dollars from 2021 gosh it doubled in two years. That's what, help me understand Rachel, because I'm like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. On the one side, all you hear is inflation, interest rates, I can't do anything. I can't, student loans. And everybody's like, their life is imploding, but somehow they're still able to door dash,

you know, that sub sandwich and i'm like how mcdonald's yeah that's the funniest thing to me like mcdonald's somehow you still are eating mcdonald's in bed that they've delivered to you even though probably more than your mcdonald's meal oh come on let's talk about that it says in the lending tree survey 82 percent of customers or consumers said they used on-demand delivery over the past year by and large the survey found that consumers chose delivery out of what convenience always comfort which I get that's okay I want okay so I want to know from you what you and Sam and your household because I'll tell you I'll go first okay you go first you go first Rachel before COVID I went to

the grocery store all the time yeah and did it y'all during COVID and now after I still have my instacart subscription and it is the most convenient wonderful thing it is so for me it is convenient the grocery delivery and the best one is it has Costco so I don't true that and I still will randomly go into Costco because I'm like there's still some stuff that I may miss, but to have Costco delivered to my door, look, I do. I pay the extra fee and I pay the subscription.

Well, your delivery fee technically is taken care of. You have a subscription and then I tip on top of that. So it is more and they do kind of mess with the prices. I think so. Like overall, I know they 100% know I'm spending more. I know I am like instacart tells

you to be a mom and not have to take three kids to the grocery store and I come home and like it's there and Donna delivered it I'm like Donna thank you you made my day Donna so much better so that is that that's my it's my guilty it's my it's where I spend Jade I don't do food delivery I don't know I don't need to eat unless it's like pizza delivery or something but other than that i don't do yeah like pizza delivery i don't feel like that falls into this category because they've always delivered like that's always been the thing okay do you not do your you do i'm gonna be honest um covid didn't make me do the grocery delivery thing like i enjoy going to the grocery store. I prefer not going with my kids, but I like to go.

I like to browse the aisles. What made me start switching to grocery deliveries? I kind of live out far from the stores that I like. And now I work outside the home and I didn't do that before. And so those two things. So my point is whatever the convenience is, because for some people,

they got in the comfort level after COVID. Other people, you know, their, their life changed. And it's like, Hey, now this is, I'm not going to call it a necessity, but it does make your life easier. Yeah, for sure. But here, honestly, by and large, here's the real thing. If you can afford it, I'm not mad at you. Sure. But if you can't afford it, like if you're like, yeah, door dash on my credit card, bad

idea. Like that's the worst idea ever because you've got the look if you're putting door dash on your credit card can we just run this number down real quickly rachel man do an interest rate of like 22 on the card 22 added pain and regret then you add your nachos on top of that then you add the tip for chad on top of that and then the delivery fee the delivery fee yes yeah it better be worth it those nachos on top of that then you add the tip for chat on top of that and then the delivery fee the delivery fee yes yeah it better be worth it those nachos better go down smooth and easy because here's the thing they're gonna leave later they're leaving it's not even worth it

only for a moment you're literally flushing money down the toilet that's all i gotta say about that a moment i know i know okay and then the other one that hurts me on this too Jade is Amazon oh gosh Amazon I'm an offender I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm yes I'm a repeat offender and here's the danger with Amazon is everything starts to feel like a need where I'm like oh um I'm trying to think like um my kid power wheels battery it's died and I just got one yes yep and you're like we'll just we'll just Amazon it well Amazon well and it's this like convenience of life yeah where before I'm like something stupid like a light bulb would burn out I'm like oh next time I go to the store I'll fix it maybe like you know it might be months a

week yeah weeks months later because not with Amazon it's gonna be there in two days and it's yeah that money's being spent so that is so true it is it it does mess i think with our needs versus wants things can start to feel like that so again convenience is not bad and and in my season of life that is where i would tend to put some of my margin yeah it's towards the conveniences because it just makes life easier with three little kids all the things and people were scattered everywhere. But also, I will echo what you're saying. It definitely curtails your thinking. Yeah.

And if you're in baby steps, especially one through three, you guys, it adds up. It adds up. And we are sitting here admitting it adds up and we pay for it and we do it and we know it. We kind of swallow that pill and go. But if you are looking to cut back, these are great places, great places to cut back. Delete the Amazon app. You got to delete the app.

Thank you, Rachel. That's what I was getting to. If you're in Baby Step one or three, you cannot have it on your phone. You got to delete the app, DoorDash, Amazon. What's another one? Definitely. I think about all just all the subscriptions.

Uber Eats. Uber Eats. Instacart. Instacart. Thank you. I know. Sorry, Instacart. what's another one definitely i think about all just all the subscriptions yeah uber eats uber eats instacart instacart thank you i know sorry instacart you just can't let it tempt you it's like because it adds up right and i think i would be sick to my stomach if i went and grocery shopped with my exact list and went in the store and just bought versus probably what what i pay for with the added up i mean like it is it's a it's a difference. So if you're looking for margin, if you're looking for margin, these are great places to cut. But again, majority of Americans are not cutting them.

The average millennial is spending $575 a month on on-demand delivery. Well, you know, some of the deliveries, let's talk about this part of it, Rachel, because some of the, you can kind of about this part of it rachel because some of the you can kind of meet it in the middle right like you can do like kroger click list and have them you know the drive up yes which is actually great because you can see the total yes and stick within your budget that that is a good one you know or where you know you order

you order them online and then you go pick it up that way you're not wandering through you know you're still saving time on that um also now not not if you're in baby step two but if you are ordering food like how easy i mean again there's cooking dinner at home which is like oh man and then there's i'm gonna order it and go at least pick it up can you just put the key in the ignition can you throw some sweatpants on and just go choosing a delivery choosing delivery over a trip to the store triggers delivery fees service fees and tips together they make up to 36 percent of food delivery costs wow so it's a lot you're making bank you're adding you're adding a lot and then surcharges on top of that so wow inflate yeah y'all if you're looking for margin we are used to the life of convenience since COVID.

But I would say nix it for a season. Get that cash back. That's right. Get that margin back. And it will give you more peace of mind. Because we all need some peace, Jade. Because we are a world of anxiety. The levels of anxiety are up, you guys.

Sadly, depression is right there with it and thankfully we have dr john deloney on our team who gives us truth when it comes to this subject and he has a brand new book out called building a non-anxious life it's available now and you guys listen it is this is such an important important topic to talk about your your mental health and taking care of who you are as a person overall. Don't neglect that. Like step into that and learn. And if this is something that you're interested in

or have questions on or feel like, oh my gosh, I just need a guide in this whole area of my life. Order John's book. Order John's book. Go to ramsaysolutions.com. Order John's new book, Building a Non-Anxious Life.

You will not regret it. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz hosting with Jade Warshaw. We're here taking your calls. It's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. Here to talk about your life and your money. All right, up next, we have Jonathan in Minneapolis. Hey, Jonathan, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for taking my call. How are you this afternoon? Absolutely. We are doing great. Jonathan, how are you doing? I'm doing very well. So my parents are a few years away from retirement. My wife, my parents, and I are thinking about selling both of our houses and combining living situations into one larger house. It would involve temporarily, at least temporarily,

increasing the balance of my mortgage in order to make that transition. And I've got more details if you want to go through those, but that's a quick overview. What's the purpose of combining homes? So my parents will likely in the next few years have some medical situations that would make them not able to take care of a house long term. And so basically the house that we're looking at would be essentially a basement apartment the size of about their current house. And then we would be able to help take care of them. They would be able to grow up around their grandkids,

and everybody's on board with the situation in principle. I think there's some question on would this be able to work in the short term versus trying to wait a few more years. What would happen? Whose name would be on the deed? It be mine or my wife and i and so john can i just can i just jump in okay i just feel like jonathan this this always presents um before a step like this, this situation sounds always usually better than the outcome of what occurs. You and your wife, do you guys have kids? We do, too. Two kids. Okay. And how old are you guys? We're both 32. We have two kids under three. Okay, awesome. So very heroic, noble,

the honor and respect, right, that you're giving your parents of hey we want to help take care of you like all of that is good um but the tactical side of combining living situations you and your wife now your unit as a family is disrupted, right? Even though they're downstairs and all of that, like the amount of tension and autonomy that will not be there for your family units is very high. It's very high. And so while some situations work, where in-laws and families live together, and maybe that's what you guys still choose to do

and all of it, I just want to be the friend that doesn't know you to caution you, Jonathan, that everything you're saying is so noble and good. And I'm just wondering, is there another path that those things can still happen, that your parents are still taken care of, they still see the grandkids, all of those dreams and wants and desires are still fulfilled without having to live under the same roof as your parents? Sure. So pivoting away from a little bit of the noble side of it, what would be in it for my wife and I would be that my parents, and they're totally on board with this we've been very transparent with them but my parents would help us basically to afford more housing we would on our own

currently have see and that but that's the part that i would avoid at all costs because do you want to be like if something were to happen like what rachel said say you get into this and you're like you know this is not as harmonious as we once thought it was want to be like if something were to happen like what Rachel said, say you get into this and you're like, you know, this is not as harmonious as we once thought it was going to be. Now you're on the hook for a home that you can't afford on your own. So there's a part of this that it's a little bit of a risk. There's a big risk there. So I would say if you were going to go ahead and do this, I wouldn't get into a home that you could not afford on your own because and i because then you're kind of chained to this deal both of you are and then your parents are going to feel bad and then you're

going to feel bad and there's so much that could happen there i did want to ask have you guys ever lived with these parents before like early on in marriage like or would this be the first time you guys have all lived under one roof? I did briefly after college. We actually got married in their current house, but not for a sustained period as I know. How long? So after college, I lived back home for a couple of months. And then, I mean, we stay with them anytime we visit, but not more than a week at a time. But not with your wife, I mean, we stay with them anytime we visit, but not more than a week at a time.

But not with your wife, I'm saying. Well, with my wife, not after college, but with my wife for periods of about a week at a time. So, John, part of your, so your motivation to do this is to be the noble taking care of your parents and getting a bigger house, essentially, that you guys couldn't afford on your own, but get you and your white family get an awesome big house okay right there's an economy of the scale it brings down our living expenses for both sides um but yeah that's that's kind of like bills and like like electricity and water uh like is that what you're thinking when you're saying food maintenance of two separate houses okay okay okay the situation you guys are in right now jonathan the house that you're in food, maintenance of two separate houses. Okay. Okay. The situation you guys are in right now, Jonathan,

the house that you're in, is there problems with that? Is there size issues? Is there anything? Are you guys comfortable in your current living situation? Long-term, I don't see this house lasting us more than a few more years. Okay. Why? The layout of it, it's 2,500 square feet. That sounds like a lot more than it feels like the house is. It's not laid out very well.

Okay. And how much do you guys owe on that house? Mortgage is $175 remaining for a house that's worth about $410,000. $410,000, okay. And how much do you guys make a year? $120,000 single income. $120,000, okay, you're making it. And then your parents, their situation, what's their home worth? Their home is worth about $300,000.

They have about $65,000 remaining on the mortgage. Awesome. And how much are they? Are they working? They're still both working, and their combined household income is about $180,000. And do they have a nice retirement? Yes. Yeah, they're expecting their retirement,

especially if they can keep working a few more years, to be somewhere around $80,000 a year, not drawing from investments. Perfect. And they'll be having that house paid off soon. Okay, so Jonathan, how far away do you guys live from each other now? About eight hours. How much?

About eight hours. Okay, so it is long distance right now. So you guys want to be close. It would be us moving to another Midwestern metro area. Okay, is it cheaper than Minneapolis? Their town? They're both relatively low to medium. Comparable. Okay. And do your careers allow

you to move and find something in the same field, same amount of money? I work remote and all I need is an airport and that would work perfectly there. Okay. And they don't need your assistance right now medically, correct? Correct. And when do you see that happening?

That's a situation we'll know more in probably six months. Okay. Is it both of them or one of them? Potentially both. What is it? What's going on with them, can I ask? So my dad has some back issues that causes him pain. He's still able to fully functional.

He might have some surgical procedure to try and address it that might have some risks with it. Okay, what about your mom? She's got an early screening for potential dementia. I'm sorry. So no definitive diagnosis there, but that could become an issue. Okay, yeah, absolutely. Okay, I don't want to sound heartless as I move into tactical real quick.

We have 30 seconds real fast, Jonathan. So here's what I would do. If I was your friend and me and Winston were out with you, Jonathan, and your wife over drinks and we're talking about your situation, I would say if you guys want to move closer to family to be with family, do it. Go get your own house. They're about to have a paid for home. They're living their retirement dream. Go close to them so that you guys can commute and do what you need to do there. If there's no urgency to move now unless there's something coming, there's nothing definitive right now in their medical history that is necessary.

It's just a scary thing. Yeah, and that that can be. But I would not combine just to get a bigger house, Jonathan. I wouldn't. I wouldn't either. So that's what Jade and Sam and Winston and Rachel would say if we were all out to dinner with you, Jonathan. No, I'm not doing it. Yeah, I appreciate the nobility, though, Jonathan.

Thanks for the call. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am at Rachel Cruz hosting with Jade Warshaw and taking your calls. If you guys have not checked out Financial Peace University, this is something that is a staple here at Ramsey Solutions that I would really recommend. It is our nine lesson course on how to handle your money from the basics to everything you wish you had learned when it comes to insurances and mortgage and budgeting and paying off debt, everything. So to take a quick class, you can watch the lessons, you can join a class actually and be in community with other people while you're doing this.

But we find that people that are take FPU, they are debt-free in two years or less and their financial turnaround is just amazing. So if you wanna just know more, if you're new to this show, we have a lot of new people from podcasts and YouTube and you're like, man, I just need like a crash course on getting my money in order yeah what do i do go to ramsey solutions.com fpu and check that out because it really is um it's a great

investment we have that tool it and every dollar um premium which is another it's like the best budgeting tool on the planet you guys so i just we were talking to some people that come here and they sit in the lobby here at ramsey solutions and they watch the show live which is so fun and so we get to talk to people during the breaks and everything and uh i would say every dollar is probably the one that gets brought up that's like oh my gosh you know we we use every dollar we love it it's helped us so much and so uh make sure there's a free version just on the app store so check that out so we just have some great resources here at ramsey we want to be able to help you uh when it comes to this financial journey because there's a lot of questions could

be a lot of confusion yeah a lot of voices out there and we want to be clear and concise with you all great no every dollar is the that's that's the business right there and because it has the guidance in there for you too so it it's like, if you have questions, it's in there telling you, hey, you should probably do this. Or if you're thinking, I wonder if this is enough savings. It'll tell you like, yeah, you need a little bit more.

It'll tell you all that stuff. It's wonderful. Yeah, and we actually do some webinars around EveryDollar. So if you go to everydollar.com slash budgeting, Jade, you're doing some, I'm doing some. Mine's coming up 10.10. Oh, perfect. Oh, it's coming up soon.

Yeah. Okay. So go to everydollar.com slash budgeting. You can sign up for those webinars. I'm doing one in Oh, perfect. Oh, it's coming up soon. Yeah. Okay. So go to every dollar.com slash budgeting. You can sign up for those webinars. I'm doing one in November, December. I think George Campbell's doing some as well. So we are, yep, here to help you guys. So make sure to check out all those resources because we want to help you along this journey. All right. Up next, we have Gregory and Biloxi. Hey, Gregory, welcome to the show. Gregory, are you there? Hey, how are you doing?

Yes, ma'am. Good. How are you? I am doing great. How are you? We are doing awesome. How can we help today? I have some questions on how to get my Roth IRA started. I've heard a lot about it, and I just don't know exactly where to go and what to put my money into. Yeah, that's a great question.

A great starting off point. So if it were me, I would, I mean, there's several brokerages that you could open up a Roth IRA with, and you could do that portion on your own, just open up the account. But when it comes to the investing side of it, I would work with a professional. I'd work with a smart investor pro. And if you're on baby step four, the goal is that you're investing 15 percent of your income. Are you on baby step four? I am.

Yes, ma'am. Yes. How much do you make a year? I make about 60, 65. OK, perfect. Yeah. So, I mean, you'll be able to invest. Do you have a 401k at your at your workplace by chance? I do. And I have it maxed out to the match. I also have one with my second job, the reserves in the Marine Corps.

I have it maxed out to match. Way to go. Well done, Gregory. That's amazing. Yeah. So I'm trying to get to that 15 percent with the Roth IRA, but I wanted to know how to get to it. Yeah, that's awesome. Because I'm thinking you'll have, yeah, a little over, you know, probably seven grand to be able to invest that 15%. And that's amazing because we'll take, yeah, you'll do the match first.

And that's exactly right. You're doing everything exactly right. Do the match first and then go over to the Roth. And then for all of you listening out there, you know, you go ahead and max out your Roth. And if you still have 15% left, if you still have percentages left of your 15, go back to your 401k

and you're able to invest in that too. Go back to that. But yeah, the Roth IRA is the next step for you, Gregory. And you can max it out at 6,000. You probably won't max it out right now with your income, but all the extra remaining 15% you have, yes, will go into that Roth. And Jade said it, but I would sit down with a smart investor pro. If you go to ramseysolutions.com, we have people all over the country who are investment professionals. And

yeah, you can actually open up the account on your own, but we would encourage you to do good growth stock mutual funds inside of that Roth IRA to invest so that your money's spread out. And it's a great retirement vehicle, the Roth. Yeah, tell them you want growth, aggressive growth, growth in income, and international. That's what you want, 25% of the money you give them into each of those categories.

And they'll help you pick the funds that are performing best in those areas. Okay. Yep. Awesome, Gregory. Thank you for the call yeah well done thanks for your service and um man that's it I'm like he's killing it applaud you Gregory like that's exactly it you get through to baby step four take that 15 percent and divide it 401k Roth IRA and and you do that over time and how quickly compound interest is your friend and stuff with the Roth, you guys, like it grows tax-free and it's huge.

It does kind of hurt sometimes because you pay with after-tax dollars. Right, right, right. So it does feel a little bit like, oh man, I got to take it out of, like when it hits your account,

you're like, and then it comes out of that. You're like, that's a lot. You feel it. But you'd rather feel it now than when you're 60, you know,

so there you have it. all day, all day long. So great. All right, up next we have Rudy in Los Angeles. Hey, Rudy, welcome to the show. Hey, Grace, thank you for having me. Absolutely.

How can we help? So my question is, I'm probably upside down on my car loan. Hey, Rudy, are you able to speak directly into your phone? You're cutting out just a little bit. I want to make sure we can hear you. Yes. Can you guys hear me better now? Yes, wonderful. Thanks. I'm currently upside down on my car loan.

My car loan is for $37,000. I made some calls to see how much I can get for it. The guy from the auction said I can possibly get $31,000, maybe $32,000 for it. That is my means of transportation at the moment. Why are you auctioning it?

So I inputted the VIN, the mileage and the details of the vehicle, and based on the market value of the vehicle, that's approximately how much they're offering um for the current condition that it's in did you look at like kelly blue book i actually tried that the only thing is um a quick backstory uh i got the car last year um within six months that i purchased the vehicle or i got the one for the vehicle it got stolen so on yeah so on the title it comes out as it's branded now and so when i put it into kelly blue books since the car has a branded title um they don't they don't want to give me uh an offer you said it has a bad title but you got the car back yes and it

was your car to begin with yes correct who's telling you this um i input it on kelly blue books and other like carvana and uh these other places and they didn't want to offer me uh any anything for they offered me literally like a dollar for it um because it had a it said branded title vehicle and because of that they didn't want to give me an offer for it. Branded title. Yes. So what about personal sale? Personal sale? Yeah, that's what I've been trying to look into.

Do you hold the title on this car? Like who? My mom's a call center with me. So it's under both of our names. Okay. Interesting. Okay. Interesting. Okay, so are you wondering if you should sell the car? You're wanting to sell it, obviously.

Yeah, I guess. But I guess my question is, how do I go about it? Do I wait until I can get a vehicle cash so I don't feel like I'm without a vehicle? Or just sell it and then work on getting that money to get the vehicle cash so I don't feel like I without a vehicle yeah just sell it and then work on getting yeah you could get that money to get the vehicle yeah because you'll have to take out a loan of the difference which will be about five grand so what you could do is just take out a loan for ten grand and have five thousand dollars to buy a car um because I would rather have a ten thousand dollar loan than a thirty seven,000 loan. And so, yeah. So if I were you, you could take out.

But always my caution when you do that is it's like, oh, well, we could take out, you know, 12,000. We could take out 13. You could start going deeper and deeper in debt. And so being very disciplined in it. And again, you're going to be buying a car, a crappy car, right? That's going to get you through.

But yeah, I would do that, Rudy. I think that's a really smart decision. And I know this whole thing's probably new and you're like, oh my gosh, how do we go about it? But I think that's wise. Take out a small loan, get a car and gosh, get that $37,000 away. I'd rather have 10 than 37. So great job, Rudy. Jade, great hour. Thanks to all the guys

in the booth. And thank you, America, for listening. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Jade. Look, if you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey Baby Steps, go to ramseysolutions.com and click the Get Started button. We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. That's ramseysolutions.com and click Get Started.