The Ramsey Show - App - Awareness & Discipline Are the Keys to Winning With Money (Hour 2)

Episode Date: October 4, 2022

Ken Coleman & Rachel Cruze discuss: Expanding a business, Getting out of a business with an ex-girlfriend, Where to put kids' inheritance money until they're older, Selling a rental property to pay off debt, How much to spend on a wedding ring, Reverse mortgages. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Девочка-пай Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Pods Moving and Storage Studio, this is The Ramsey Show, where we talk about your life, specifically your money, your work, your relationships. I'm Ken Coleman joined by Rachel Cruz this hour. We are here for you. It is a free phone call, 888-825-5225. That is 888-825-5225. Going to have some fun today. These may be some tough topics, but we're going to just meet you where you are and hopefully give you some very clear steps to take so that you can see some transformation in the area of your life where

you need it. We're going to go to Midland, Texas now, where Douglas joins us. Douglas, how can we help? How are you guys doing today? We're having a blast, Douglas. What's up? Well, my wife and I started an oil field services company four years ago, February 2019. And it's gone in a direction that we weren't really anticipating. We were hoping, but now we're here, and we've got great revenue. But at the end of the month, every month, we look, and it's like, there's not enough money in the bank. What are we doing wrong? And this is kind of where we thought, you know what, it's time to look up to the professionals and, you know, see where we need to make some corrections and get this back on track

so we can try to keep some of our million dollars a year in the bank instead of letting it go. Yeah, I was curious, what are your gross revenues? We're doing, this year will be just right at a million dollars, if not just a hair over. We got the thermometer on the wall to kind of keep the kids excited to see if you plan ahead and set goals that you can reach them. Okay, and how many employees? Just my wife and I, and we hire subcontractors if we need extra equipment. So we hire people with trucks if we need help.

Who does your bookkeeping? My wife does. We use Sage in the office. Is she good at it? Yes. Yeah, it's overwhelming for her at times. Okay, well, that means she's not good at it. That's not a bad thing.

It means it may not be her skill set. It may be too intense. And here's where I'm going with that. I do think on just a basic level, you should probably think about getting a really good accountant who is experiencing these things and maybe take off some of that off of her plate if she's overwhelmed. The other thing is, is if you guys aren't in the numbers deep enough to know why there's no money left over, then, you know, getting maybe an outside

set of eyes to go, hey, your operating expenses are out of control here, here, here. I just think that's a starting place. Does that make sense? It does, yeah. We do have a CPA that does our tax returns for us. Yeah, that's different. Your taxes are different. Here's my question.

Do you feel like you know right now why you guys aren't keeping enough money? No. So you don't know. Does your wife know? If she were on the phone, could she say, yeah, Ken, it's this area, this area, and this area, and our operating expenses, and it's the cost of doing business, it's really high here, and so we've had to invest.

Would she be able to articulate why there's no money left over in this nearly million-dollar business? No. That's my point. Yeah, okay. I get it now. I mean, I'm not being unkind. I mean, I'm saying, like, it's not a skill set.

Like, I couldn't do it for you guys. You wouldn't want me doing that work. A true understanding of the numbers in the organization, we got to know where the money is and where it's going to then be able to go, all right, now we can do a budget. But you can't do a budget if you don't know what the numbers are and where it's going to then be able to go, all right, now we can do a budget. But you can't do a budget if you don't know what the numbers are and where they are. So, I mean, we first need to get a handle of that. Exactly. Like I have a harebrained budget and it's like, this is what it costs to operate,

$36,000 a month. So I look at that as what I need to do for revenue minimum. And then after that, we can start, you know, can we save here? Can we save there? Because my big thing is, is I'm 55. My wife is 57. And, you know, I'm looking and telling her we need to start putting away for retirement. This is what we've got more than we anticipated. What can we save?

She goes, well, there's not enough money to put away. And I'm like, hold on a second. All right, hold on a second. So you've got in your idea like, hold on a second. All right, hold on a second. So, um, you've got in your idea, $36,000 a month. That's in your head of what we would need to cover. Give me an idea.

We're in October right now. What's been your highest grossing month this year? Uh, 117,000. Okay. My man, that's your highest grossing month. What's your lowest grossing month?

46,000. So in your lowest grossing month. What's your lowest grossing month? $46,000. So in your lowest grossing month, you outdid your $36,000 hairbring. We don't even know if that's right, but that's in your head. But this is as simple as it gets. We've got to look at the numbers and go, what are our hard costs? And then once we see our hard costs do we have debt does the company have debt very minimal we have one piece of equipment that owes we owe 17,000 on it everything else is so what are you so what is your business give me the 30

second description of your business we have winch trucks in the oil field and hot shot service. We work primarily production on purpose. Okay. Drilling in the other area of the oil field. It fluctuates too much. Oil prices drop, drilling stops. Where are your expenses?

I know you don't know the details. We've established that. But what do you think your number one expense is? Insurance is huge. Like a medical for my wife and I and the family is $3,600. Liability insurance for the company is $7,500 a month. And then auto policy on the vehicles is $4,000 a year. So basically $100 or $200, $400 a month.

Do you owe money on the trucks, on the vehicles, the company vehicles? The company vehicles, one, the Toyota pickup, we borrowed money against it. It was paid off. We put a $30,000 loan against it. Oh my gosh. And we needed some operating capital in the beginning. And of course, that's high interest. And that's the first one I want to get paid off is that one. All right. So here's the deal. I've already given you the advice, but I want to steer you. You've got the money to do this, but I want you to take a 30-day free trial, okay, of Entrez Leadership Elite. Entrez Leadership is our business division. We help leaders all shape, sizes of companies, and we teach you how to run your business the way we run Ramsey Solutions. Okay, it comes from Dave's

principles. It's called Entrez Leadership Elite. Here's the website, ramsaysolutions.com slash elite, ramsaysolutions.com slash elite. I want you to sign up for the 30 day free trial. And I mean, dive in deep, get on the phone. You're going to get access to all of our coaches, videos on this stuff. You guys have got to learn how to do a business budget. You've got to get in love with this phrase called retained earnings, which is just savings. You guys have got company debt. You've got to pay that debt down. I don't think income is your problem. I just think you guys, bless your heart, husband and wife team, you've really stumbled, not stumbled, you've intentionally started a business. It's doing well. It's got a huge ceiling.

Is that fair to say? Oh, yeah. This was another question. It's like, okay, I'm always hearing on the Ramsey show, you know, sell your vehicles, pay off the vehicle debt. Vehicle debt's terrible, terrible. Well, we make our money with vehicles, and I'm looking at borrowing $100,000 to put towards another piece of equipment.

No, no. Potentially generate money for months. No, no, no, no. You just need to pay off your debt. Okay. Hang on the line. Douglas, if you keep doing what you've been doing, you're going to keep getting what you've been getting. And you guys are in some bad habits within your business. And so really diving into this elite, entre leadership elite, and you guys, you got to

change course. You got to change what you've been doing. You want to see that million dollars. You want to see it. And if you do this, it's going to be going right back out to payments. Yeah. And you guys, you got to change course. You got to change what you've been doing. You want to see that million dollars. You want to see it. And if you do this, it's going to be going right back out to payments. Yeah. And this is a simple fix.

It is awareness and then discipline. Okay. Those two words are your friends. That's what we're going to do. Entre Elite is going to coach you and get you started. And I'd sign up the minute that the free trial expire because it can really help you. You guys are a Texas tornado

and you got to get control of what's going on. Thank you so much for the call. Wishing the really help you. You guys are a Texas tornado and you've got to get control of what's going on. Thank you so much for the call. Wishing the best for you. This is the Ramsey Show America so thrilled that you have joined us as we talk about your life, your money, your work, your relationships. She is Rachel Cruz. I am Ken Coleman. So happy to be with you. It is a free phone call, 888-825-5225.

Find out for yourself why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples for shipping. And with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Make sure you use the promo code RAMSY to get the best deal. Rachel, today's question comes from Rebecca in Arkansas. My father recently passed away, and in his will, it's stated that each grandchild will receive $20,000,

but not until their 31st birthday. My kids are 12, 8, and 5. What kind of account should I put their money in until they can have it at 31? Oh, that's a great question. How nice. And that's a nice legacy. What a legacy there.

20 grand. Okay, so if I were you, Rebecca, anything that's longer than five years, I love the idea of investing it because while the market is down now, we have the confidence that it's going to go back up like we just believe in the american economy enough that by the way they're breaking news to support you last two days stock market big time back over 30 000 so the roller coaster we talk about it's real well in october they're expecting it to all go down so there you go see you See, you never know. Just the last two days.

We don't know what tomorrow holds. But overall, we believe in the growth. Like, you look at the stock market in general, and it has grown. Has there been ups and downs? Yeah, because that's why it looks like a roller coaster when you look at the chart. It's up and down, up and down. But eventually, it's going up. That's always the trajectory.

So, yeah. I mean, even if it's just like a mutual fund and put the money in and be able whether it's opening up three or just one and putting all in and then under you know i guess i guess i would do three to have them all separate and then yeah five-year-old will probably get the benefit more get more at the end of the day because it's going to be in there longer than the 12-year-old uh so that's what I would do. I mean, you could put it in a money market account and it just sit there and they're going to get like $22,000, maybe like a little bit of growth in a money market account

over that length of time. Oh, yeah. Definitely. But I like the idea of investing it because I think that they'll be able to get more than 20 000 uh which is even uh more building on his legacy really is how i see it yep i love that good advice all right a couple of if you had a guess what would you say are going to be some of the highest paying industries or career fields over the next decade what would you guess would you take a guess i'll take a guess all right um is technology too broad no okay because there's a lot it makes sense because

i know what you're saying developers yet all of it okay i'm gonna say that i'm gonna say medical field all right here we go let's see if rachel is right she knows her stuff folks smart asset analyze data across nearly 800 occupations as they look towards the future to where we're going to see the greatest job growth and income growth as well. Now, business and financial occupations, they outrank the physical and social science jobs, but there are five specifically that are expected to grow by more than 30% over the next 10 years. So these are the top five. Here we go. We don't have a drum roll, Rachel, but they were nurse practitioners in the medical field, 45.7% growth. Wow. So this is, you're not a doctor, but you are a nurse

practitioner, can do a lot of things that doctors have traditionally done. Very, very attractive path. And it's going to grow substantially. This is interesting. Athletes, professional sports, 35.7%. Information security analysts, there you go. That falls under your technology. I feel like that's technology. It absolutely is. 34.7% growth.

Statisticians, this is all about numbers, number crunching. You see this, by the way, growing in professional sports as well, where you've got a bunch of bean counters and people that are great with statistics and analytics and being used by professional sports organizations. Then web developers, you specifically mentioned developers. So those are five that are going to grow, certainly in healthcare and technical occupations, computer and mathematical occupations as well, computer and information research, operations analysts are some more. You're going to see, let's see, personal financial advisors, management analysts, market research analysts. You see a pattern pattern here so these are the jobs that

again are going to continue to grow as technology evolves and it further brings in a we've got to use technology on some platform or some level and then we use technology as it relates to analysts and all this kind of stuff it's coming down to numbers numbers numbers all the time so all that to say we just love to talk work from time to time and all this kind of stuff. It's coming down to numbers, numbers, numbers all the time. So all that to say, we just love to talk work from time to time and money. And interestingly enough, when you read an article like that and we give you that information, it would do us all well to go, okay, what does the path look like to get there? You know, do I want to go into medicine? What does it look like to become a doctor versus a nurse practitioner?

And the money that you're going to be spending, the ROI. know wait a second i'm still taking care of patients yeah i'm still providing medical care and so uh very interesting to see how the job economy has changed so much and such a conversation for you parents to be having even with your teenagers right like the whole college discussion is always a very fiery one but when you're able to say okay you know your degree what are you getting your degree in what's what's the ROI my investment that I'm putting out there and myself uh and so again not not to say to go do something that you hate and not encouraging you to like say that to your kids you know just to go into these positions because they're they're paying more but also to

look to see okay what's the thing that you love to do and how can you make it work out in the real world? Yeah, it's really good. So that is a little bit of the landscape as we see it now. Let's go to Rudy in Miami, Florida. Rudy, how can we help? Hey, how are you? It's an honor today. Thank you for the time.

You bet. Thanks for calling. What's up? No problem. Okay, so to get to the meat and potatoes of it. So long story short, I started a business with my ex 12 years ago. Very unique business where we manufacture bicycles. It was great for many, many years, but obviously like a typical story here, we broke up a few

years back. So, you know, for a few years, we've been trying to run the business kind of like, you know, co, you know, you know, however you want to call it. But, but in the last couple of years, it's kind of been like a head button, very, very, you know, dramatic type of, you know, situation, you know, to the point where, you know, it influences employees and just, just a very toxic environment. And I've been, you know, kind of lay down all the framework to potentially, you know, buy her out and see what we can do. Um, and I've been, you know, kind of lay down all the framework to potentially, you know, buy her out and see what we can do. But, you know, currently, you know,

I'm in a situation where I don't have the funding that I can buy her out on. And she's actually the stronger partner of us too. So she actually, uh, you know, she, she took a little of the bearing of the, of the credit, you know, took a little more debt than, than I did. So she's a little more reluctant to walk away and really leave anything on the table, you know, loose ends. Are you guys 50-50? Yes, we're 50-50. And that's not just a handshake.

That's written down and we've got some bylaws and we've got all that written out? Oh, yeah. All written out. Okay. You know, as intricate as it can get. She's actually very, very, you know, I guess you could say old-fashioned with that. So, like, everything is overly tapered and all. So what's the heart of your question?

The heart of my question is, so I want to continue the business. I actually started the – well, we started together technically 12 years ago. But she didn't really start coming in full time for like a year and a half later. So it really is my baby at heart. But I'm trying to figure out, like, how do I get, like, I'm at the point where I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into this. I'm at the point for my own health, sanity. You know, I studied finance in school. It was a random thing I got into that it's almost worth just signing over the paperwork and saying, have it all.

Like, it's not worth my health and everything. I think that's your answer. You know, my new relationship, it's amazing, but it's starting to affect it a little bit. You know, and it's just like, I don't know. I feel like the energy of like signing off. Yeah. And Rudy, she doesn't want to sell the business, right? Like you guys don't want to just get out both of you.

She always says she does but she's kind of like she comes from a lot of money will she buy you out will she buy you out that's what i've been trying to do and that's what i've been trying to get her to do but she just keeps throwing it at me like this is you know i'm not i have no interest in this so i'm not going to get any further yep so you can't control her rudy so for for you and your sanity, I mean, you could chalk it up to what we call stupid text around here. I'd walk. I think you answered the question yourself. You just kind of laid it out there.

It's going to hurt, but it may be worth it in the long run, Rudy. I'm sorry. Yeah, I would follow your heart on this. This is why y'all don't go into business when you're not married. Man. Oh, boy. Rudy, sorry. You've got to walk, man.

This is The Ramsey Show. talking about your life your money your work your relationships this is the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by Rachel Cruz. And Rachel, I spy out of my peripheral some fancy boxes, which leads me to believe, oh, we have some Rachel Cruz wallets. Now, we've got a blue box, a black box, and a taupe. Can I call it that? Champagne. Oh, champagne. Thank you very much. What does that mean? Oh, I love the wallet. So, we have the Rachel Cruz wallet that has the envelope sewn in and it is the big wallet that you can use that if you're especially if you're first time budgeting and you are i'm going to take doing the envelope system that's a great option but today do we have a special deal but no this is a new wallet this is a new one i'm holding in my hand product called the rachel cruz slim wallet so if you've been

slim well if you've been budgeting for a while and you don't need to cash out every category and do the envelope system to the T, and you're running into Target for a quick trip, or you're running into Starbucks and you just want to carry something light, this is why I created the Slim Wallet. This is the money clip for women. I like a very thin wallet. Yes. And this is fantastic. clip for women i like a very thin wallet yes and this is fantastic look at this so there are card holders to place your debit cards your license and this is my favorite part and there's one envelope that zips that's all you need look

at this side this one even has fake cash oh there you go yeah where's the camera guys zoom in on this i want to i can i talk about this turn it around so they can see the card holder. Oh, no, you did. You did. Okay, perfect. Hey, just let me brag about your product. Guys, where's the camera? Camera, guys. Zoom in on this.

This is a key feature for our video watch. Come on, guys. Zoom. Faster. There we go. Here we go. Look at this. See this?

She's talking about the cards, the debit card, and then your... See, I'd have a Costco card right here. So you got your ID, maybe your Costco card. Insurance card. Hey, look, but this is the best feature. Debit card. Look at that. You snap, right, oh, did you hear that?

And it holds the card. That's it. This is fantastic. Isn't that great? And then it zips open. This is great. And it holds cash. So if you want one envelope in there and then a little side pocket as well.

Oh, we got another pocket. That you can put some change in. So you could put some change in the zipper. change in the zipper that's right that's right and all right yeah so it's uh and we did it with our partnership with our friends at join and they are a uh fair trade company so they help employ people within india that have been out of like really really rough situations so they learn trade and learn craft and they they're able to help create these wallets which is amazing so fantastic it's real leather look at this and black we've got your traditional i call that camel yes and then you're calling that champagne a metallic gold

so you can get all these at ramsey solutions.com they are 39 dollars uh great quality and again it's good card holders you still get your envelope one of them if you need it for that christmas is around the corner might i suggest it is true so i'm so excited the richard cruz slim wallets you should check them out you guys it's the one i personally use i need a ken coleman wallet it's great but i switch purses and it's like between bags who do i gotta talk to around here to get a ken coleman clip. Oh my gosh. I got to talk to your people. After the show, I got to talk to your people. Preston, Jeff.

All right. That is fantastic. So there it is. $39. $39. Ransysolutions.com. Real leather. Real leather.

Why do you keep... Because it's nice quality. Oh, it smells fantastic. I gave it the smell test. When you go and buy something, you know fake, which is fine. But you know eventually it's only going to last. This stuff, it wears and it's so good. By the way, you know how much I care about nice leather goods.

If that gets scuffed up, don't forget shoe polish will take care of that. You can actually polish that wallet just like you would a pair of dress shoes. So no matter how much it gets beat up, the point is it's going to look fantastic. Thank you, Ken. I see nobody talks about that part. No, they don't. Because nobody cares. I was not in talking points.

Because I'm the only one. You, my friends, bring new information to us. Leather lasts forever. That's all I'm saying. That's right. You should take care of it. All right, Johnson City, Tennessee is where Jessica joins us. Jessica, how can we help?

Hey, so I have a question. During this housing boom, my husband and I sold our house. We had two. We sold one of them, and we took the $80,000 that we made and put it on a piece of land to eventually build. And now we're living in a rental but renting out our other home that does not have a mortgage on it for pretty much the same price as our rent. So it's a wash. The other house is just too small for our family. So we are in about $95,000 of just regular debt. I shouldn't use that word, but debt. And then about 170-ish on the land. I'm a nurse

practitioner. My husband is retired military and we make about, after taxes 170 000 a year so my husband who is older than me wants to go ahead and start building our house um but we really can't afford to do that until we pay off all of our debt and pay off the land so my husband's solution is to sell our rental home that would probably we take home about 200 and about,000. And then we wouldn't have a home, but we could start building maybe in the next year and a half. I like having a rental home. We always have since we've been married and I'm struggling with thinking of not owning a home at all. So I guess it's down to me and my husband, you know, differing on this and I need some insight. Yeah, it's a great question um

jessica if i were to wake up in your shoes tomorrow um i'd sell the house i'd sell it yeah and i would say take that 200 pay off your consumer debt get a you know a good chunk of the land debt out of here you'll take out a construction loan to build the house um and you guys rent somewhere yeah and put money um in your line item in your budget for rent because you'll take out a construction loan to build the house um and you guys rent somewhere yeah and put money um in your line item in your budget for rent because you'll be paying it versus you know the renters were paying your rent now i understand what you're saying there so you're going to be doing out of pocket but for a short period of time and you guys are able to clean up this mess now the one thing jessica i'm going to say though is by doing this this 95 000 of yeah

regular debt consumer consumer debt. So I'm assuming it's car loans and credit cards and personal loans and student loans, whatever. You know, it's probably a bunch of that stuff is when you do a fail, a fail swoop of paying off consumer debt with something like a, um, selling something like a home. My only fear, Jessica, is that the behavior has not changed. So if you guys do this, you have to promise each other we're not getting back in this because there's a benefit of people that say, hey, we're going to just knock out this $95,000 and pay off that $95,000 because we don't have a rental home to sell. We have to go and sacrifice. And people

that go through that process of sacrificing to get out of debt, they're not getting back in because they knew what it took. And so, yes, is it painful to sell a house that you got, a rental house that you guys have? Yeah, it is. But also you're eliminating this debt so quickly. So do you hear what I'm saying though? I don't want you, I don't want this behavior,

the bad habits that you guys had that accumulated this $95,000. I don't want those to stay the same. I want those to change when you sell this rental house that you guys agree together, we're not doing this again. Okay. That is great advice. Awesome. Okay. So that's what I would do, Jessica. Yeah, I would sell it and then you guys build your home. And then the thing is too, Jessica, you guys make great money. And so you're going to be able to save up and get her. If you want to be landlords again and have a rental property, you still can later down the road, maybe a few years.

I agree completely. But you guys can still do that. That's still an option in your future. And Jessica, I agree with Rachel 100%. And I would just give one little perspective. Instead of focusing on having to give up the rental, focus on how grateful you are for the rental and to what it's going to do for you.

It is propelling you significantly forward to live in the life that you've dreamed of. And Rachel's exactly right. We can always get another rental. But this is a gift. I'd be grateful for it. I wouldn't be sad. I'd be grateful for it. I wouldn't be sad. I'd be excited about it.

And, you know, giving up to go up is a phrase that John Maxwell, I used to work for John for many years, he used to say that all the time. Sometimes you got to give up to go up. And I think that's in multiple areas of our life. And when I hear this story, I mean, I get it. She's like, I love this, right?

You know, all the things. But many times in life, we do have to give up. Not all the time, but many times we do have to give up to go up, right? If you're going to lose weight, you know, and so the goal is to lose weight, you're going to have to give up all those wonderful little treats that you love. You know, relationally, hey, if we're going to power through and get our relationship where we feel like we're ready to get married or we're going to build on our marriage. And there's some things I'm going to have to give up in certain seasons for the relationship. So that's the idea here. And I think if in those moments when you have

to give something up, Rachel, if you can focus on the gratitude for whatever you're giving up and in that sacrifice, it is propelling you forward. I think it makes it a lot easier. It's good. Great advice. Thanks, Jessica, for the call. Yeah. By the way, we've had several relationship-ish questions. So here's the deal. If you're in a dating relationship and money is just weird or it's tension-filled or it's straight-up controversial and ugly, Rachel and I want to take those calls. We're going to walk you through the dating relationship and the money stuff. Could be fun. Give us a call.

Don't move. More Ramsey Show coming right up. ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by Rachel Cruz. Thrilled you are with us. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Levi joins us next in Reno, Nevada. Levi, how can we help?

How are you all doing today? Well, we're having a blast, Levi. What's up? Well, I wanted to say thank you first off. Started listening to you guys about six months ago, and it's really made an impact. Awesome. I can't actually.

Just started binging yours. Looking to change careers soon, but I But that has to do with my questions. Yeah, great. So I've never been married, and I've got a girl who I want to propose to. Where does that fall on the baby steps as far as buying a ring, and how much should someone spend? I just finished paying off all my debt last week. Wow, congratulations.

Congratulations. How much did you pay off? It was about, say about twenty thousand in six months nice levi that's impressive what would uh what's your emergency fund going to be three or six months four months five months and how much will that be right now it could be very little i'm in a unique situation where i don't have rent um which is how I paid everything off so quick. Awesome. But which rent in this area? $20,000 would be a good one.

Okay. All right. How much are you thinking on the ring? We have Rachel here, which I feel like is an expert on this. When it comes to jewelry, she's the expert in the room. No, I think our rule of thumb is one month's salary is what we would recommend. Oh.

And where does that fall as far as should I be focusing on getting that emergency fund before spending $3,000? It'd be nice to have some, but also I'm like, we don't tell people to like stop the baby steps

to get married and to do all this. So if you can do both at the same time, save some money for the emergency fund and then be saving on the side too for the ring. How long have you been dating her? It would be ideal. I've been with her for two and a half years. We actually lived together in her elderly parents

uh who did not know anything about ramsey live with us oh boy that was a loaded chuckle that was a loaded chuckle what does that mean uh they they had no money saved up uh one of them actually needs to be in a nursing home and all right now we can't afford it so well so in all seriousness now i'm assuming that that she's going to say yes right you feel pretty confident we're going to get a yes out of this okay is there expectations for the parents to give y'all to continue to live together and for you all to have to take care of them, that's a pretty heavy burden. Yes, it's a package deal.

She's from Guam. It's just kind of their culture. Got it. And you're all in on this? Yes. Okay. All right. That's great.

Yeah, so Levi, to answer your question, I would do both. Well, now that I know what I know, Rachel, I'm going to tell him to wait. Get the emergency fund fully funded. They're living together. I mean, what, are we going to wait a couple more months? I'd wait and get the emergency fund in place. Well, Mike, you're basically married.

You're playing married. So I want you married as soon as possible. Oh, I see what you're doing there. Yeah, I'd go quicker. I would say save it up. Go. I mean, you got, I mean. You Oh, I see what you're doing there. Yeah, I'd go quicker. I would say... All right. Save it up. Go...

I mean, you got... Just make a slush fund in the budget. Yep, yep. And just put some money aside. Yes. Well, you guys want a wedding or are you guys kind of low-key with it and no big deal?

I'm definitely low-key. Yeah? She will want some kind of ceremony. Okay. I've never been married. She has been. Okay. So the never been married. She has been. Okay. So the ceremony is important, but very, very inexpensive.

Yeah, that's great. So be cash flowing that as well. And then once you guys get married, combining your incomes and all of this, and if you have anything left to build up the emergency funds, do that. But I would, yeah, I'd get married as soon as I would get married. Yeah. Do you know where you're going to get registered? He has no idea what I just said. Do you even know what that means?

I don't. Oh, that's so great. I knew it. Well, she can explain it to you. That's where engaged couples, they go and they put their gifts together. I know, you old man. Levi? I just think that's funny. You i could tell i think it's funny because levi is so naive and i think that that's really great he doesn't understand about all the stuff he's about ready to get into they're older we got married young so the registering was really exciting the younger

you are i feel like the more exciting that stuff is. I just thought it was funny. I didn't, I did brought no redeeming value at all. I agree. Let's go to David in Fredericksburg, Virginia. David, how can we help? Yeah, I wanted your take on a reverse mortgage. I'll be turning 65 next year and getting tired of construction work. Wond wondering if I could go part-time and use a reverse mortgage so that I can stay at the house that we had built for a few years longer no David no we do not recommend reverse reverse mortgages because it does exactly what it says to put you back in reverse you guys are, paying off your house and building this equity and you're going to start

right back over. And so it is a product that is marketed to 60 plus, you know, whenever you look at any, even, I mean, seriously. No, that's true. Seriously, David. Yes, I'm calling.

Because it's doing exactly what you are thinking. It's like, oh, that's kind of nice. I can pull back from work, all of that. And it's not the way to go because you're going to be losing equity in it. And it's not smart, not smart at all. So what, David, you said you're 64? I'll be 65 in January.

Okay, okay. And how much do you guys have left on the mortgage? We've got left on it about $180,000 and it's valued at almost $500,000. Oh, nice. Do you guys have any other debt? Oh, yeah. Yeah, we've had the land forever. We got about $20,000 in debt. Okay. But we keep paying off and going on vacation and running back up and then paying it off.

Okay, David. Listening to you guys has been a good sin. Good. How much do you guys make a year? We make about $65,000 a year. $65,000, okay. Is it all credit card debt? Yes.

Well, yes, it is credit card debt. Because here's the thing too, David. And that might be high on the credit card debt. It's the thing too david is and i might be that might be high on the credit card debt it's probably more like about ten thousand okay well what's the other debt of the 20 what else do you owe uh maybe some medical and the wife we've we've been budgeting quite well and um so it's it's something that we've learned over the years to, uh, try and keep a control on that spending beast.

Okay. And David, do you guys have anything in retirement? About 30, $40,000. Okay. Um, okay. I've got some property that I'll be selling. Um, we've had it for years and all means, uh, I'll be selling. I've had it for years. And by all means, I'll start selling some of my heavy equipment that I've got that I haven't been using.

Okay, so if you sell the land, liquidate property, or liquidate the machines, everything, how much do you think you'll come out? Probably close to $300,000. Oh, nice. Because I'm just thinking of your retirement and you guys long-term, because I know you probably want to pull back from working for sure. But the habits that you guys have been in, David, like you said, like, well, we go on vacation, we pay some stuff off, we go back, all this.

This reverse mortgage, it's going to just magnify the bad habits that you guys have created. So it's not going to be good for you in any sense. It's not a great, it's a terrible situation in general. But also when you, when you guys are not, you're not being disciplined in it. And so I would,

if I were you and your wife, I would sit down and really map out a plan and say, okay, we are 65 years old. We owe 180 still in the mortgage. You got $30,000 in retirement mortgage you got 30 000 in retirement 20 000 in debt uh and it's time to really start cleaning this up david i mean honestly be paying off this debt as quickly as possible you guys need some savings in the bank for an emergency fund and

then we're going to start piling on retirement and whether that means selling the land early to to get some money in but i i want to be able to map out, I want you to be able to map out a plan to get you to retirement. And reversing the mortgage doesn't do that. It gets you back into a horrible situation. You're not pressing forward when you do that. Yeah, great advice there. And hey, you still got time and you got some assets

that you're going to be able to get a windfall of cash. So really dive into the baby steps and really walk it out. Hey, David, hold on the line. Austin's going to pick up and give you guys a free trial at the Financial Peace University. I want you and your wife to go through it. That'll do it for this hour of The Ramsey Show. Thank you so much for being with us. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz, co-host on The Ramsey Show.

If you want to do your debt-free scream live on the show, visit ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream. We'd love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story. That's ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream.