The Ramsey Show - App - Be Confident in Your Financial Future (Hour 1)

Episode Date: June 29, 2018

The show about you

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. You jump in, we'll talk about your life, your money. It is a free call. Some say the advice is worth what you pay for it. Jump in. The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Jeff is with us to start off this hour in Springfield, Massachusetts. Hi, Jeff. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I got laid off in February.

Spent about the last four and a half months out of work, but thankfully, due to the grind, I was able to secure a new position, which I start on Monday. Yay! So basically, unfortunately, I had to dip into my emergency fund, so I've still got about three months left on my regular savings account. Let's just stop there for a second. How awesome was it you had an emergency fund when you had an emergency?

Dude, you're a stud. That's so cool. Thank you very much, and I also have no debt other than my house. Bing, bing. I love it, man. Cool. Well, thank you. I've been listening to the pod for about a year, so I really appreciate all the advice you give. Bing, bing. I love it, man. Cool. Well, thank you. I've been listening to the pod for about a year,

so I really appreciate all the advice you give. Well, thank you. I'm glad it set you up to go through a rough patch. And so are you making more money than you used to make? Yeah, I actually walked out. I ended up with a $5,000 raise from where I was. That's the way it should be. Mic drop.

I love it, man. Cool. All right, so what's your question? The big question I have is they offer a 401k. It's to start no match for the first year. After a year, they give you 100% of the first one, 50% of the next five. Plus, they automatically give you 6.5%, which vests after six years. It's through T. Rowe Price, and I have a plethora of different options. Is there any guidance you would give as to what type of fund I should be putting it in? Well, we recommend four types, and T. Rowe has some good ones.

We work a lot with T. RRow as a matter of fact. The four types I spread my personal account across are growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international. Now they may have slightly different names that mean the same thing. Okay so if you don't see one that says for instance growth and income you might see one that's called a blue chip fund the blue chips most expensive chip on the poker table and the growth and income fund is the most expensive is the large company stocks or you could hear it be called a large cap do you see a large cap in there there's yeah there's a small cap and a large cap okay large cap cap stands for capitalization large capitalization means it's a big company a lot of money so these are large

companies like an alcoa or a general motors and they're not real exciting up the good news is they're not real exciting down that's the growth and income category so that's a fourth you find one of those that's got a good track record. The small cap obviously means small companies, and that's your aggressive growth fund. So I put a fourth in a small cap. Do you have a mid cap? Yes.

Okay. That's kind of right in the middle. That's the Goldilocks fund, right? I mean, just right. One's too hot, one's too cold, right? This is the just right fund. That's a of right in the middle. That's the Goldilocks fund, right? I mean, just right. One's too hot, one's too cold, right? This is the just right fund. That's a standard growth fund. And again, if they've got good track records, and I don't know those particular funds off the top of my head,

but you're looking at the 10-year track record, not the one year or the three year, you're looking for the lifetime track record to be even better if they're old funds. I want to see what they've done over a long period of time because you're doing this for a long period of time. And so that's three of them. Is there an international, a straight international? Let me see here. Yes, there is. There's an international stock fund.

That's at 11.6% over the last 10 years. There you go. That's a pretty good one. Because international is the weakest of the four categories. Okay. So that's pretty sweet, really. International means it's purely non-U.S.,

which is what I'm looking for. Not that I'm not patriotic. I'm very patriotic, and your U.S. funds will outperform that, usually. Okay? But I want some of my money floating around other economies other than just ours. So you get to take advantage of the LGs and the BMWs and the Mercedes and so on that are out there that are international companies. And a lot of the things you and I consume stateside and that are even made stateside are not U.S. companies. Like a lot of Toyotas are made in the United States and give Americans jobs, right?

And a lot of Americans drive Toyotas. But obviously Toyota is not an American company. It's a Japanese company. You follow me? So that could be in that international. So I want some. I want to take advantage of the Nissans and the Toyotas and those kinds of things. I want to win as they win, and even if their primary market is the U.S.

and would be affected by a downturn here. So that's your four, is large cap, mid cap, small cap, are the same as growth in income, growth, and aggressive growth. You've got an international. The international may have a kissing cousin in there called a global global if you think about it these names tell you what it is if you just learn a little bit about the names okay global means it's the whole globe what will be the difference in that international it's got some u.s mixed in it it's not pure overseas but sometimes you'll see an international called overseas too too. So that would mean it's not U.S.

You know, it's like an international. But international stock fund is about as clear an explanation in the name that you could ask for. That's perfect. Again, an 11.6 over 10 years. That's sweet. Because if those things have been down in the 8s and 7s and 6s, they're dragging my portfolio down. But I'll do that for the diversification so that's how i spread it is across those and it sounds like this new company's got a

sweet plan yeah yeah it's a it's a great company um you know i'm very very thankful for the opportunity and i'm very very thankful for all the advice because i when i started listening to you i really focused on trying to save because I've worked hard. I've never not paid cash for a car. I've killed all my debt. You know, I was working, and before I got laid off, I was paying an extra $200 a month on my mortgage, really trying to hammer that.

So it knocked me back a little bit, but I'm so glad to actually start on this new chapter and hit back on it right away. Nothing quite as cool as having an umbrella when it rains. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, man, thanks for the call. Congratulations. You're doing a good job. Well done.

And let me just tell you all, if you don't know, if you're bald, it really makes a big difference to have an umbrella when it rains because there's nothing to catch the water. It just runs right down into my eyes. So you need an umbrella when it rains because there's nothing to catch the water it just runs right down into my eyes so you need an umbrella right i say that as we're having thunderstorms in middle tennessee man we've been getting hammered this week but uh yeah that's why you always see me in a hat i keep the sun off and the rain off because there's no hair to do it that's how it works well you knew that but so you didn't know the advantages and the disadvantages of you know my haircut so i have to inform know the advantages and the disadvantages of, you know, my haircut.

So I have to inform you of these things. They're important information for you to have. It'll change your life, I'll just tell you. Open phones at 888-825-5225. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Folks, turnover is bad for business and it's expensive. That's why I recommend ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter is a place where growing businesses connect qualified candidates. They make it so easy. When you post your job with ZipRecruiter,

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in America. And right now, my listeners can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash Dave. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash Dave. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Thank you for joining us, America. Adam is with us in Springfield, Missouri. Hi, Adam. How are you? I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

So I'm an independent contractor. I work in sports broadcasting. And after taxes and after paying my own health, dental, and vision insurance, I make $40,000 a year. One of the companies that hires me from time to time is going to have a job opening in January, and I think I have a pretty good chance of getting it, but they're only going to offer $30,000. They all have benefits, 401k, all that. So my question to you is, do I take the $10,000 cut and get the benefits and the security, or do I keep with my independent contracting?

There is no security. Okay. Especially in radio. That's TV broadcasting. Especially in TV. All right. You know how fast they turn those people over? Like underwear, man. Yeah. I mean, it's unbelievable. So, you know, there's no security. Security is an illusion. It's a particular illusion in the broadcast and performance world that you and I are in. So you're doing a lot of independent gig things that you would be unable

to do if you were doing television for that company? I would still be able to do some stuff on the side, but I would mainly work for that company. Okay. So as an on-air sports anchor or on-air sports broadcaster or whatever? I work behind the scenes. I do a lot of replays and produce and directing. Okay. So how old are you? 26. So when you're 46, what do you want to be doing? I love what I'm doing right now. It's the best job in the world. I get paid to watch sports.

Yeah. Okay. That's cool. Yeah. And so what is your ideal condition that you're working towards, and does this step get you there? That's what I'm trying to get at. Yeah, the only thing with the, if I work for the company, you know, I get all the benefits. The benefits are a joke, okay, compared to what you're going to make over the next 20 years if you do what you love in a smart way.

Okay. So we're not taking the job for over the next 20 years if you do what you love in a smart way. Okay. So we're not taking the job for benefits. Right now the job offer sucks. Yeah. Unless it takes you where you want to go. And that's what I'm trying to figure out. You see what I'm saying? I'm willing to take a step forward if it gives me five steps, a step backward if it gives me five steps forward later towards my goal.

But, you know, so let me give you an example. If you could take this job, make that 30, get those benefits, and make another 20 on the side and keep half of your money coming in that you've got coming in now, you know, effectively it's a pay raise at that point, right? Yes. And you can continue to develop your skills in both of those settings, your connections and your network in both of those settings, which will take you towards much more stability

and a wider berth of business over the next 15 or 20 years. And so that kind of a plan sounds good to me if you want to do more of what you're already doing. Yeah. But just to take a step back and call a fourth of your income going away and think that's going to be made up with benefits and security in the broadcast world, no, that just makes me giggle. That's not a good idea at all.

But if you can add some stuff to it, and if it takes you towards your long-term goal, then maybe it is something you take. Does that make sense to you? Yes, it does. So that's the way I would analyze and if it takes you towards your long-term goal, then maybe it is something you take. Does that make sense to you? Yes, it does. So that's the way I would analyze it if I'm you. I'm always willing to take a step back if it takes me towards the goal long-term. I'm always willing to pay a price to win long-term, and that's what you want to aim at.

So it's very seldom a good idea to analyze a job opportunity folks uh career shift opportunity based on only the exact numbers right in front of you you probably also want uh you know numbers you want to look out you know 15 20 years where is this taking me isabel is with us in Indiana. Hi, Isabel, how are you? Hi, Dave, here's my question for you. Okay. So me and my husband have been married one year,

and we've saved an emergency fund, and we've saved a house down payment. However, at this point, I am thinking about going back to dental school, which is going to cost $200,000. I want to know, do I put all of the money that we have saved towards that to avoid that, or do I hold on to the emergency fund and only put the money that we'd save for the house down payment? I would never use an emergency fund, except for an emergency, and dental school is not an emergency. I would use everything else

and i'm going to challenge your presupposition that dental school is 200 grand it doesn't have to be okay and so maybe the one you're looking at is but and you said finish did you start at some point well no i'm a dental hygienist and now i want to go to school to become a dentist okay all right cool um do you work for a uh a local doc or for a national firm a local doctor okay i'm sure you're aware of the uh national firms that are popping up in the dental field right okay i'd be looking at one of those and see if one of them will be willing to pay for your school if you agreed to work for them for a while or something like that. I also would look at the people in the business that you know, like the drug companies and

the suppliers. The suppliers in the dental field make a bazillion dollars. And a lot of those like to have dentists that love them. And dentists who had their school partially paid for with scholarships by them love them. And so some of these companies sometimes have programs to assist someone in getting into the field that they want them in. And, of course, there's the military. But am I going to endorse you going $200,000 in debt? No, I'm not going to, not for anything ever.

So, yeah, I would use your home down payment, delay buying a home until you get through dental school, and I'd delay doing anything else. And I would look at different ways, like I'm discussing, where you go to school that's a cheaper school than $200,000 and ways you can leverage your knowledge of the industry because you're already knowledgeable about how the business works to move into that. And, you know, maybe even your, I don't know if the group you work for is large enough or wealthy enough that they might do something to help you

if you agreed to work for them when you came out for a period of years. Kind of like the military does, right? They send you to dental school, but then you have to do military dentistry for a few years or something, and you stay in the military, that kind of stuff. That kind of thing is available. And so let's do that rather than just chalking up $200,000 in debt as an automatic previous assumption. Kathy's in Kansas City. Hi, Kathy.

How are you? I'm good. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I have a question. I've been listening to your program for only about a few months. I believe from listening that we've got the first few baby steps completed.

My question is on baby steps 4 through 6. We don't have a college fund to have to contribute to. Okay. Then there's no FF. Right. So my question is we owe about $26,000 on our home mortgage. Wow. That's my goal to pay that off. Yay. However, we don't contribute the 15% to our

retirement fund. What's your household income? Approximately $60,000 a year. Okay, great. Well, you've done an awesome job. What's your home worth? Right around write around 140 to 150 000 how old are you two um i'm 53 my husband's 56 okay very well done well i'd love for you to get that house paid off as soon as possible too but i'm going to get you started putting 15 of your income into that so let's understand 15 is nine thousand000 out of 60. That doesn't keep you from paying extra on your mortgage. Okay. And so let's put 15% of your household income into retirement, 401ks that match, Roth IRAs, those kinds of things.

Certainly in your 50s, you need to get that started. You're late. I know. Big time. And so then, of course, anything you can find above that, we're going to throw it at that house. You're going to get that house paid off very quickly. You're frugal people. You're smart people.

You're already living the right way. You're not out of control, spending like you're in Congress or something. And so you're going to do this the right way. Hold on. I'm going to send you a copy of Chris Hogan's book, Retire Inspired, and it will help you with this process. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. a copy of Chris Hogan's book, Retire Inspired, and it'll help you with this process. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. I get asked all the time about what people need to do to improve their family's money situation. Two of the most overlooked things are term life insurance and disability insurance. Both plans make sure that you have income to pay bills and take care of yourself and your family if something were to happen. For term life, you need to carry

10 to 12 times your income, and I recommend 15 or 20-year plans for most families. Stay away from cash value or return of premium plans. They're just a ripoff. Disability insurance is just as critical. How are you going to pay your bills if you're unable to work? Disability is the leading cause of bankruptcies and foreclosures. And that's why I send you to Zander Insurance. They've been helping my listeners find the right plans at the lowest cost for almost 20 years. Call 800-356-1780 or visit zander.com and compare online that's 800-356-1780 or zander.com Dave and Lily are with us in Raleigh, Durham. Hey, guys, how are you?

Yeah, we are doing great. We've been waiting for this day for a long time. Hey, Dave. Hey, I see on my screen you're debt-free. Congratulations. Yes, sir. Thank you. How much have you paid off?

We paid off the final $78,000 in 28 months. Very good. And your range of income during that time? Roughly $120,000 average over that time. Okay. What do you guys do for a living i'm an engineer kind of stay-at-home mom cool what kind of debt was the 78,000 it was our status symbol dave and it's not a bmw our house is paid off i love it way to go. Wow. How old are you two? I am 45, and she's forever young.

I'm 46, Dave. I love it. What's the house worth? Right around $300,000. Wow. How cool is that? Your freaking house is paid for. You're weird people.

It feels good. I love it. It ought to feel great. So what happened 28 months ago? Tell me your story. Well, our story actually goes back about a decade. We've been doing this for a really long time. We managed to get out of all debt except mortgage before we actually had a plan and we thought life would be kind of good but things got a little difficult we had to go into savings every month to cover our spending and i happen to come across your book before going on a business trip and read it and have one of those light bulb moment in my life where i realized i

was driving around in my daughter's college fund so we put your plan in place and have been working on the mortgage ever since. Wow. Okay. So you sold the car? No, no, no. We had paid off all of that. We paid off the car. Oh. And so we were debt-free except the mortgage before we ever found your plan.

But we weren't doing a budget. We had no real plan with our money. And we were back to overspending and getting into some arguments about money and stuff. Okay, so the wake-up call was we still got work to do. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Gotcha. Okay, very cool. And so for the last two and a half years, you've been game on again,

and it feels good to make traction and have game on, doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the truth is, we probably would have, if we actually had found your book before we got out of debt, we probably would have paid off the house a lot faster than we did, because we never really had to be gazelle intense. We just kind of had to be intentional with our money. Yeah.

Yeah, because you didn't have any other debt by then. You were already at baby steps four, five, six by the time you got there. Yeah. Very cool. Well, congratulations. So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? For me, it's obviously learning to do a budget. That was huge for us.

And two was actually communicating with each other about what our goals were, what our plan was, because we did this for a long time. And doing anything for for a decade and sticking with it takes patience it takes communication and it takes intentionality yeah and i would definitely say just you know putting off the things that we wanted and just only sticking with the things that we needed but now you're only 45 years old, and you don't have a payment in the world, and you make $120. That's called room. Yeah, you've got room. You've got margin.

You can do whatever you want to do now, right? Yes, now we get to have some fun. Amen. Amen. So what's the first big thing you're going to do to celebrate with money? Well, we've been putting off a lot of home improvement stuff, stuff that needs to be done. So we've got a few vacations planned over the next year. We're getting our house painted. You talk about how the grass feels greener when your house is paid off, or it feels a little

better. And in our case, that's true, because we actually just bought some sod to put down in our backyard. Instead of weeds and rocks and dirt, we actually have grass now. So I walk around the grass and think about that every day now. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Very cool, you guys. And for the typical wife, it's new furniture, of course. Yeah, good, very good. Well, Ms. Sharon could be accused of that, I'll just tell you. So very well done, you guys.

Congratulations. Well, you live like no one else, and now you get to live and give like no one else. So we've got a copy of Chris Hoke. Go ahead. I just want to say this real quick. I've been dreaming of this moment for about a decade now. I used to listen to your Debt-Free Fridays way back in the day and sit there and dream about this day. Wow. And to be honest, the feeling after having accomplished it

is far greater than I ever dreamed of. That's cool. Very cool. Good for you. Very neat. Well, we're very proud of you guys. Congratulations. You're incredible.

Very well done. And you've got great things ahead of you, man. You've got a long time to do smart stuff ahead of you. And the amount of wealth you're going to be able to build and the amount of generosity you're going to be able to do is incredible so we've got a copy of chris hogan's book for you retire inspired that's the next chapter in the story millionaire time right and uh good stuff and outrageously generous along the way dave and lily raleigh durham 78 000 paid off in the last 28 months. That's their house and everything.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. All right, we've got Marissa and Carly, our kids, with us. They're going to do this with us. Cool. Ready, guys? Three, two, one. Debt-free!

Love it! Way to go, you guys. That's how you get her done. Man, amazing stuff. Very cool. On Twitter, David says, Do credit card companies increase minimum payment amounts over time on high debt accounts? Some do, some don't.

Let me tell you something about credit card companies. They don't do anything on accident. If they're making a move, it's because they have thoroughly studied the data and they think they can get away with it. They are the most professional, detailed, database-driven marketing and decision-making group in the nation. When you're dealing with Citibank or Bank of America Visa, you are dealing with one of the most sophisticated business units in America. They are very good at what they do, which is make money off of you for their bank. And so whatever they're doing, they have data to back it up. They don't just try stuff. There's no background.

I read an article a few years ago on the call center at one of the major credit card companies and the call center when you call in of course it pulls up your area code immediately in addition to that it pulls up the first three digits of your seven digit number right which is called the nsx number which places you in a certain zip code or within a zip code or two right and immediately an algorithm kicks in and they know a ton about you based on where you live and that directs your call and so if you are a southerner calling in and your current on your account and you are a good customer meaning you pay them payments all the time and lots of interest, you are directed to a southern voice within the call center. Very sophisticated.

And if you're behind, they direct you southerners to the thing that you dread the most, and that's talking to a Yankee because they're going to try to collect and they intentionally want to be abrasive. And you can switch it around however you want. They will completely mess with you. They are phenomenal. It's not a conspiracy theory. I am in awe of how good they are at getting your money.

And so anytime you've got a question about a credit card company, assume extreme sophistication. They really know their business, and they know what chances they're taking. They know whether they can collect over time by raising payments on high-debt accounts or not. And they've got data to back it up. They're very good at getting your money. How do you think those tall buildings were built in the skyline? You think it was checking account service fees? Not quite.

Not even. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. For years, I refused to endorse any company that claimed to get people out of timeshares. I told my listeners it's a horrible product and that, unfortunately, they didn't have a lot of options. Then a few years ago, I sat down with Brandon Reed, the owner of Timeshare Exit Team. Brandon walked me through the timeshare industry, and I learned that you can't sell them, and you can't even give them away. And then we talked about timeshare exit team's process. Every ownership situation is different, which is why they have more solutions than any other company.

And that's when they earned my respect. Don't call any of the imposters out there, and there's a lot. The only timeshare exit company I stand behind is Timeshare Exit Team. They have exited thousands from their timeshare burden this year alone. Yes, you will write them a check, but they stand behind their guarantee. They will get

you out or they'll give you a full refund. Call 844-999-EXIT online at timeshareexitteam.com. In our lobby of Ramsey Solutions, June and Myla drop by from Chicago. Hey, guys. How are you? Hi, Dave.

Good. Welcome. Thanks for taking my call. Sure how are you? Hi, Dave. Good. Welcome. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I understand you got a question. Yes. Yes, sir. Basically, the question is, how much information or details are we supposed to disclose to our trustee?

Your trustee of what? Of our, you know, our... Executive of the will at a given time yeah okay the executor of the will yes they should know everything everything everything in advance and everybody that's in the will ought to know everything in advance the net worth and everything the what the net worth and financial details oh absolutely yeah yeah yeah if you can't trust them while you're alive you can't trust them when you're dead right yeah so i mean you know they ought to be able to know what's going on and, you know, hold that in confidence. And that's part of their job. And if you can't trust them with that, this is the wrong person to be your trustee.

So if you're like, I don't know, I don't want to tell them that, then you probably got the wrong person. Yeah. So I want to make sure because I heard, I've been listening to your podcast, but I don't remember this question being asked. Say again? I've been listening to your podcast, but I don't remember this question being asked. Say again? I've been listening to your podcast, but I don't remember this question asked. Oh, I don't either. That's a great question because it hasn't come up. But the thing I do tell people about wills, and you may not have heard this either because it doesn't come up a lot,

but pick up a copy of The Legacy Journey. They're in the bookstore. That's the book about wealth. And one of the things we tell you in that book is in the estate planning area is make sure that when the will is done that all parties to the will you do a reading of the will while you're alive yeah and you say look junior you're on heroin you're not getting anything okay and look you're misbehaving over here i'm not giving god's money to you to misbehave with that kind of thing and you go this is what we're going to do with our wealth, and this is what we're doing. So we've done that as a method of training our heirs, our kids, to be good managers for God into the future.

So we didn't disclose it to them when they were 16. They might not have been able to understand. I mean, my net worth is quite a bit, so we wouldn't disclose that to a 16-year-old. But in their 20s, we started talking to them about it and saying this is what's going on and what you have is not ownership in this you certainly till we die but even when we die you're a manager for god and that's the way we look at it as christians right so you're a manager for god and so we started talking to them about that and we've gone so far as here in the company even once a year we have our key managers our operating board and our family members we do a meeting and do an update and go okay if dave dies in the coming 12 months

what's the plan what's going to happen what's going to happen to this real estate what's going to happen to this piece of thing what are we going to do with this project what are we going to do with the pieces of the company what survives and every year it gets a little better as to how much will survive because it's less and less dependent on me personally, which is a good thing, one of our goals. But all of that to say that our kids know exactly what's going on. The executor of the will knows exactly what's going on. Everyone knows where everything is.

It's real disclosed. And that keeps somebody's feelings from being hurt later okay because if you're going to get your feelings hurt might as well go and get out of the way okay and um but also need to have good solid management information delivered to the people who are going to manage it the executor is the person who executes right that's thus the name they execute the wishes in your last will what your will was but you wanted things to happen that's your will and testament what do you what do we want to have happen and they execute only what you said to have happen so it's a good idea to clarify all of that have discussions go you

get questions about this do we need to firm up any of this language for you so you know exactly what to do because their job is not to have an opinion right the executor's job is to do what you said to do to execute you're like do this that's what the will says and they go do this but it's good to have you know a meeting so they know what's going on and you're set up for that thanks for dropping by guys you're welcome good to meet you all right nicholas is with us in Columbus, Ohio. Hi, Nicholas. How are you? I'm doing well.

How about yourself, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? So my question is, right now I have student loans and they're in deferment right now. And I have career goals of being self-employed and starting a mobile food vending company. And right now the bulk of my money is going to saving that. And my question is, should I kind of forego that and knock out my student loan before I, like, build it back up? Yes.

Unless you can start it for under $1,000. No, it's not going to be under $1,000. And I was thinking, like, if I hit the student loans now, it will, like, push me moving out, starting my career, starting my life. Moving out? You have a job? Right now I'm living at home. You have a job?

I do. I'm self-employed as well. I have an e-commerce business right now, and I do a little bit of rideshare on the side. So what do you make? Right now I have my budget set for $1,000 this year. What do you make? Right now, I have my budget set for $1,000 this year. What do you make? Total for a whole year. What's your income?

Since I'm self-employed, it varies. It's more than my first year of doing this, so I don't have a set whole year. What did you make last month? Last month, my profit from eBay was around $800. And then from Rideshare, I made another like $400. And you graduated from college? I did. What's your degree in?

Hospitality Management, emphasis of food and beverage. Go get a job. Yes, that's what people are telling me to do but i had the whole mindset of like doing it myself and being self-employed well you suck at it though you haven't made any money yet so you could do all this ebay stuff you're doing on the side until you get it built up i mean with a hospitality degree you could be making 30 or 40 or 50 grand a year cleaning up the mess while you're building out your eBay thing and saving up the money very quick to move into the food truck business or whatever you're wanting to do there, mobile food deal, right? That is true. I actually just started applying for a cruise ship job, so I'll probably be gone on a cruise ship and just completely saving all that money.

Yeah, that would be cool because you've got room and board furnished and you bank everything. Yeah, that was always my – The only problem with that is it's hard to do your eBay thing from a cruise ship. That is true. I did tell myself I always wanted to work on a cruise for like four months doing that. It would, you know, touch me very well. Okay, yeah, go do that and then come home and land you a restaurant gig,

you know, managing a little restaurant somewhere. You've got the degree to do it. You know what you're doing. You can walk in there and land that. If you work your butt off at that, you can make $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 a year and bank the crap out of it, man, and then go live your dream of being an entrepreneur. But pay your way through it. Don't sit at home in your mom's basement making 800 bucks on ebay and call that winning yeah i i just you know for my for this ebay i had it

going higher and higher and it has been growing each month so i guess it's taking a little bit too long yeah yeah i agree like 20 minutes was too long you got it you got because you have the ability to make money you have an engine an economic engine at your fingertips because you have this knowledge from this degree that you went and got. And it's a valuable degree, Nicholas. You got a good degree. Yeah. The good news about the restaurant business and the hospitality business is most people don't work hard. And if you go in there and work hard and smile and do a great job, you will escalate yourself through that business really fast.

You'll learn a lot. And over the next two or three years while you're doing that you clean up all your student loans save up the money for the food truck and boom man you're self-employed and you learned a lot to use in your new business things to do and things to never do because you're going to have some bad experiences too in the process go make some money man you have the ability to do that and hold on i'm going to give you a copy of the book entree leadership i think you're a budding entrepreneur and i want you to live your dream of being an entrepreneur but um but 800 bucks a month ain't a dream that's a nightmare and so especially when you've got this kind of potential at your fingertips so there's no shame in using a workplace job a career like that

to move towards your entrepreneurial goals. And it actually is the shortest version, shortest way to get there for you, because you've got two big goals that you need money for. Clean up student loans and save money for the food truck or whatever that mobile food thing was you said. But I'm assuming it's food truck. So you can do this, man. But eBay is not your shortest route because you're not winning at that.

And so you need to use the tools to make money that are at your fingertips, and that is your fingertips. So you can do this, man. You can do it. You absolutely can do it. So, hey, thanks for calling. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in.

We'll talk about your life and your money. That about puts this particular hour in the books. Our thanks to James Childs, our producer, and the director of the world in there. Blake Thompson is the senior executive producer. Of course, Zach Bennett filling in for the vacationing Kelly Daniel today. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. We'll be back before you know it. Hey, guys, it's Blake Thompson, Chief Production Officer for The Dave Ramsey Show. This hour's up, but you'll find more on our YouTube channel,

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