The Ramsey Show - App - Can I Buy My Dream Car? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 5, 2024

This is the Ramsey Show, where we help you win in your life. Specifically, winning with your money, winning in your work, winning in your relationships. That's the goal. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is with me, and we are here to coach you up. Let's go. You can jump in by simply calling the number 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. Okay, James, this is rare, but I'm looking at the magic monitor that tells us who to go to,

what line to pick up, a little behind the scenes for the audience. Okay, yes. And I see on line four, Jade, if I'm not mistaken, I see two names. What does this mean? I mean, I guess it means two people. This is very exciting. Yes. Is this a husband and wife, or am I asking too many questions?

All right, we'll find out. Nobody knows in there. Let's go to Richmond, Virginia, my old stomping grounds. Sarah and Taylor. Hello. Hi. Hi. Oh, okay.

We've got a couple. Is that what I'm hearing? Yes. Yes. I have a feeling we're going to be choosing sides here, Ken. This is very exciting. All right, so whoever wants to lead, go take it away. Tell us what Jade and I are weighing in on here.

Okay, forgive me because I'm extremely nervous, but my ultimate question is, should my husband spend $150,000 on his dream car, or should we use that money to pay down our mortgage or further our financial goals? Holy smokes. Wow. That is a big one. Okay. What is your income? Your combined income, solo income? Tell us what that is. It ranges. We're in sales, but the past couple of years, it's been pretty consistent at about $700 to $750. Oh, yes. Love it.

That tells me, I think, that you've got the $150,000 saved up, ready to go, ready to drop on the car. Yes, we do. All right. Okay. Then I'm going to be the devil's advocate here. So assuming there's no other debt besides the mortgage, yes? Yes.

Correct. Okay. And we have paid off all of our debt. Okay. And what do other debt besides the mortgage yes yes correct okay and we have paid off all of our debt okay and what do you owe on the mortgage 372 372 okay and uh or have you already been kind of making like i i can feel you looking at me ken i'm getting i'm getting there i'm getting there ken is like j there. Ken is like, Jay, just tell them they can buy the car. Wow. Wow. Me think Val Duff protests too much. I was just looking at you. That's what I do when my co-host talks. I can feel it. I can feel it. Here's what I was trying to get at. If you guys have been, you know, we always say to be intentional about paying off the mortgage. My guess is you've probably been making some, throwing some extra money at it here and there.

You make a really great income. You've paid off all your debt. I'm guessing the money is going to be paid in cash, yes? Yes. He's got the money. He's got the money in the bank. Yeah. I mean, I'm not mad at it.

This is so, this is very negligible in your world, I feel like at this point. Sarah, there's a reason why you guys called we know what taylor wants to do there is a reason why both of you on the phone and you called us so let's be real let's walk through this a little bit i'm not ready to despite what jade said i'm not ready to make a judgment yet judge ken needs a few more things here the only thing that would make me change my mind because i just tell, is if already you guys have done something kind of outrageous that was on Taylor's side. Like if he was like,

honey, I want to put a pool in the backyard and you guys already did that. So Sarah, what's the deal? What are you dealing with, Sarah? Yes, he's going to be driving my pool, unfortunately. Oh! That's what this is about? So Sarah, you don't have a problem

with that. Huh? Are you saying you want to pull? I don't need a pool right now. Okay. Sarah, are you okay with this $150,000 vehicle purchase? Yes, I am. I am. I feel like a, you know, we, we worked very hard. We paid off $300,000 in debt just following the Dave's plan. So, but it just feels a little out of character to just go then buy a toy instead of save, like putting it either on our mortgage or using it to save and- Something that everyone can enjoy maybe? Well, but Jade, let's look at the formula. What is our financial formula on cars versus their income? They're fine.

They're at $700,000, $750,000. We say that it can't be more than half of your take-home pay. So we're okay there. We're okay there. But what I'm sniffing out here, Sarah, I think, I thinketh, me thinks that I'm hearing something where you're saying, hey, if we're going to splurge, can it be something that everybody can enjoy and that everybody can use, like the mortgage or the pool? Is she right, Sarah? Because there's a reason why you guys are on the call to ask us.

Yeah. Okay, then. I think we just, you know, permission and, you know. Not ours to give, first of all. True that. And yeah, not ours to give. First of all, true that this is now the reason I asked Jade that question, I was doing it for the larger audience because we have a formula for where by which we make a marriage issue and if you both are on the same page and you feel good about it and we're completely aligned that once we do this purchase the next major thing is we're knocking the house out that i don't have any issue with it i'm just curious i think america wants to know what car is this what vehicle are we talking about? It's a brand new 911.

That's a sweet car. I'm sorry, I don't know what that is. You don't know what a, okay, it's a Porsche. Oh, okay. Yeah. I'm in it now. Listen, this is another world. Brand new. That means this is a vehicle that is made to scream.

Am I right, Taylor? Yes. Yeah. What color? Red. Ooh. You might as well be telling the police, hey, look at me. I'm going to have to have another line item budget for speeding tickets. Yeah, and insurance. Any other concerns, Jade? I'm ready to throw the gavel down that says, this is a big purchase. And Taylor, I think that your Christmas list

and Father's Day list and everything for many years to come is really small, my friend. All I'm saying is- This is a good woman right here. Sarah's up next is all I'm saying. She's standing right there in the shadows waiting for her moment.

Yeah, a little bit of bling. A little bit of bling. Yeah, yeah. Buy the formula, it's okay. Yeah, the answer is yes yeah go buy it oh geez okay well done hey well done sarah very good sarah wait a second the odd geez comment i'm not letting that go what are you feeling right now be honest the pool kid i know i want her to say it what are you what's G's? What does that mean? It's the largest check we will have ever written in one sitting. So that's just scary. Are you excited to ride in this thing? I am. Yes. And he, yeah, I am. It'll be fine.

All right. You know what? I didn't cover, I didn't cover one other part of this. Please cover away. We have about a minute. I mean, it's an assumption. You guys are Baby Steps Millionaires, right? we just passed over about two months ago okay that's all i need to check okay i assumed it but i didn't come out and ask it so there we go that was the the second contingency that was necessary was that why is that why you were boring your eyes were boring into me before okay i i gotta tell you i gotta work on my my nonverbals. I wasn't thinking, feeling. I was like, this is your lane. Go. I'll jump in when I feel the need to jump in. I got to be careful. I was like, is there something in my teeth? Is there something going on? No, it's just my normal. I look at you and all my co-hosts the same. When you're talking,

I'm respecting, but I've got to be careful. I'll do this. Next time you're done, I'm just going to do this right here so she doesn't think I'm boring a hole. Oh, man. She said in her head. No, I agreed with you 100%. Yeah. But I would say this. Here's where I was going. I'd probably get an older model that wouldn't cost quite as much.

Oh, Ken, don't be a party pooper, Ken. Makes the wife happy, saves a little bit of money. They all run really good. That's just my two cents. Okay, okay, okay. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back, America. You're joining the conversation about you and your life on The Ramsey Show.

I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is with me. And the phone number for you to jump in for your question is 888-825-5225. You know, if you have joined us here, that we're talking about your money, your income, your work, if you will, and your relationships. So Jade and I are here to take those questions. Let's go to Estelle in San Antonio Texas Estelle how can we help hi I have a job offer that is less than I'm currently making and I'm just looking for some advice I'm really unhappy at the company I'm currently

working for I'm just with management changes and kind of the change in direction of with the company since I've started. So I'm wondering if I should take the price cut to go to this company, the new company that, I mean, I asked a lot of questions to make sure that I fit with them and the integrity of the company. And I really do, but just the money is what's holding me back. How much of a cut is it? So it's all commission. So they're willing to do $65,000 as a draw out of the commission, which would be like a $40,000 pay cut. So you're making over $100,000 now. Yes. And is this similar work or something completely different? It's similar in that it's sales, but a different product. What's your... Oh, go ahead. Yeah. So what does your ladder look like? What are they saying that your opportunity for financial growth is on that commission structure? In other words,

did they paint a picture for six months in or a year in? We project, or you should be able to, based on what we know about our current sales force, that you could make six figures. I'm just curious, is there any kind of forecasting to where this pay cut is temporary? Yes. So their goal is for me to make over a million in sales by six months in, but at least by 12 months at the very latest. What would that pay you? They're paying 5%, so 5% of a million, and then you get an additional $12,000 as the base. That's not drawn out.

No, I understand that, but that still got you at that 65 i'm saying if you take a job where you're going to make 65 that's a 40 000 pay cut okay i'm saying what did they forecast what it would take or how long it would take for you to make a hundred in this new opportunity oh yeah so they say by year by two, I'd be making their guess is over 150. Yeah, that's a pretty decent gap considering that I'm not hearing a person who's telling me that there's some type of toxic, abusive situation in their current company. I feel like you're taking the first exit when it may not be the best exit. That was my question. Is this the first job you've been offered?

And why does the first offer have to be one that, the one that we go with? Can we keep looking? Well, I've interviewed at a couple and I didn't, I got passed up like after the second interview, I wasn't offered the position. But I think it's just so much of the like negativity I feel at work is starting to come into my personal life where I just like I don't want to wake up I feel kind of miserable and like I feel like our service isn't our service to our customer is what's suffering in the way that the company is shifting.

Totally get that. Totally get it. And I am not in any way, don't hear me say you need to just grin and bear it. I'm saying change your mindset to this is not my long-term play. I'm out of here soon. But not take such a big hit. But let's just walk through this financially. I'd love for Jade to walk through this. I mean out of here soon, but not take such a big hit. But let's just walk through this financially. I'd love for Jade to walk through this. I mean, just walk through the

numbers. How's this going to, do you have any debt? How's this going to affect your budget? I mean, she's the budget queen. I think you've got to walk through this side of things too. So if you can make a case to Jade that financially, this doesn't put you in a tight, tight situation, maybe I'd reconsider. Yeah. I mean, you're losing a third of your income here, which is significant. Do you have debt? I just have over $3,500 on my car. That's it. And that's it.

Do you have savings? I don't have savings, but I have two investments. Okay. What are they? I have the $ 1,000 emergency. Okay, but not like a fully funded emergency fund yet? No, not yet. That's what I'm working towards.

And that was my other question is, should I take the new job and keep working my current job part-time where I keep getting that income while I'm building my book of business at the new company. Would they allow that? I'm not sure. Well, that's professional polygamy. And the answer to that is, is you're cheating on both of them. And I wouldn't do that. And now again, if one of the companies are both are like, yeah, I'm fine with you having a full-time job and then you're moonlighting, but that doesn't sound like what you're proposing.

So I want to steer you back to Jade. I want Jade to walk you through, because I think the answer to this question is going to become pretty obvious when we look at your actual income and your expenses. Yeah. Is it? Because I kind of am like, I don't. I don't know. I don't know how, I don't know how much margin she's going to have when she gets cut by 40 grand. That's what I'm saying. Right now, it seems like you're doing okay. After everything is paid for, after you've done your budget, how much extra money do you have every month?

Well, I just started with the app. Okay, every dollar? Yeah, because my spending was just out of control. Like, that's why I have nothing saved. Because as soon as I would get the money, I would just go buy everything I always wanted. Okay, and so now you're not going to have that margin. And if you take this opportunity, you're not going to have that margin, which means you're really going to have to be on top of it. What I would do is I would run out both scenarios.

And I think it's going to give you a clear picture, because I already kind of put my vote in for, I would just keep applying and seeing it, see if more opportunities come. That's my vote as well. I think she's taken the first person who batted their eyes at her. I think so too. First offer. You have a lot to offer. And I think, you know, Ken, you can speak to this. How many do you have to go through to find a winner?

What's the average? I don't even know any data on that because I think that is so wide, such a wide variance. In today's world with AI, it's really hard to get noticed. So I'd keep your chin up, Estelle. I agree completely with Jade. I don't think this makes sense for you. I don't think that your world's on fire as much as you think it is. I want to acknowledge that it sucks and it is hard to get out of bed in the morning. I want to acknowledge that it sucks and it is hard to get out of bed in the morning. I want to acknowledge that. However, I also want to acknowledge how tough you are if you switch your mindset from, oh, I've got to deal with this negative environment another day, as opposed to, okay, I'm so grateful that I make six figures and I'm learning how to

budget and I'm learning how to pay off debt and I still have debt to pay off and I've got a stable job. It's not great, but boy, am I grateful for the money and I'm going to go find another job where I can step from dock to dock, if you will. We're going to be very close in income. I just think that would be my coaching for you, Estelle, is to change your mindset to that. And let's just highlight, Ken, no job is perfect. Every job has a couple of things that you're like, I wish that were different. Like think about Jade. She has to spend three hours with me on the air. Not perfect. I've tried talking to them about this and it's not changing.

I think people understand that. They get like, Oh God, no, I love hosting with Ken, but you see our point here is that you could end up and I'm not trying to, you know, find problems with this. The big problem is the income, but you may go over there for less income. There is going to be something about the job that you're like, I wish that were different. And so having that plus a lower income, you know, I'm just saying the grass is not always greener on the other side. Yeah. So would you take the new job if they matched what I was currently making? Based on what you've told us, yeah. You said it was a good fit. You feel like the culture's good. Was there room for negotiation on that base

draw? I think so. I think they're, it sounds like they're willing to do whatever it takes to get me. They're actually a client of mine. That's new information. Okay, then why don't we start with, I make $105,000 and the economy and the job market is still strong. I can't go backwards. I'd love to work for you guys. You're asking me to take a massive step backwards.

Okay. And have the walkaway for you guys. You're asking me to take a massive step backwards. Okay. And have the walkaway power. Okay. Try it. You got this, Estelle. Yeah. She got it. That's a good name.

Thank you for being a friend. There it is. Remember? Is this Golden Girls? Yeah, Estelle Getty. Come on. Oh, wow. I can't believe I passed that test from the 80s.

So exciting. All right, folks. We're going to go because Jade's got to fill out another HR complaint about being on with me. And we'll see how that goes. In the meantime, we'll be right back. Don't move. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman.

Jade Warshaw is with me. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. I like to call her the budget queen because she figured out how to do it long before she even got to Ramsey. And now you get to do a lot of stuff with every dollar. People are new to the show because we've got a bunch of people jumping in all the time from multiple platforms. Why every dollar? What is it? Why are we so proud of it? And what does it do for people? Well, the fact is it is the best budgeting app in the world. I've been with EveryDollar since the beginning. That's what I know before you even were here. Yeah. Back in 2016, 15,

when it first came out, I remember being so excited because it offers really everything you need to make the most of your money. It helps you create your budget. It helps you stick to your monthly budget. And what I love about EveryDollar is they're constantly iterating. They're constantly adding new features that are going to help you more and more. You can operate the budget for free, which is great. You can sign up for free. And then there's also a premium version if you want a couple of more very, very useful and handy bells and whistles. But the point is, every dollar makes this thing simple. It's a simple plan for your spending. It helps you track your expenses in real time, right? Instead of waiting till the end of the month and realizing that, crap, I went over

budget. Every dollar makes it so that you don't have to do that. You can keep on top of things. It helps you save for the things that matter most to you. It really is an easy to use all in app. And what I love about it, Ken, is I'm not a tech savvy person. If there's something wrong, if I go to turn the TV on and there's a weird screen on it, I may as well hang it up. I'm calling my husband. I can't do anything tech wise. I call Sam too when I have a tech. But every dollar, it's extremely intuitive. I open it up and I just know how to use it. So if it works for me, it can work for you. It fits into your busy lifestyle. I really can just gush and go on about it all day. If you're married, I like to say that every dollar fills in the communication gaps. It just occurred to me because you did this and my ADHD

is flaring. You have the every dollar fingernails. Of course. Yeah, they match. You didn't do that on purpose. You know what? I kind of did. But I see that on the screen. That's the every dollar of fingernails of course i know you didn't do that on purpose you know what i kind of did i see that on the screen that's an every dollar color that's right we had the total money makeover event and i was doing an every dollar demo and so i did that's why you did those yes ken i like the fact that i picked up on that i was kind of joking around well with the way you've been staring at me i would hope that you would pick up on it there it is again with the staring complaint oh every dollar kid it's about every There it is. It helps you keep a pulse on your spending and so you make progress towards your goals. You can get it and download it for free at the App Store or Google Play. That's where you get it, guys. By the way, you got to have the

every dollar so you don't spend too much on the fingernails. That's right. It goes hand in hand. Do you budget for that? Of i do kim religiously so you don't do them yourself i wish i could i tried one time and i have no idea i don't know what goes into it you know all right very good 84 bucks you have a specialist what yeah 84 bucks for those yeah it's 84 with tip 84 how often do you do this four weeks every month and and can you change the color on your own at home no oh they come that color no they they put uh you pick the color and then they put kind of like a shellac over it so you can't even you got to take a drill to get these things i am learning a lot about the fingernails right now this is exciting yeah i know i probably should ask i'm not looking

at that line item but but it's important. I'm full supporter of it, by the way. All right. Caitlin is going to join us now in Des Moines, Iowa. Caitlin, how can we help? Hi there. Thanks so much for taking my call. Sure. So just to give you some background, my husband and I are in our first year of marriage. I just graduated from my graduate program. And we are currently staying at my parents' house because we had to move when I accepted my job. So we're staying at my parents' house for a couple months, looking to get into a rental towards the end of summer. And we kind of have a pet situation that is why we're calling. So I have a two-year-old dog. He's a beagle, so he barks a lot.

And when we first got him, we lived in our apartment, and we started getting complaints that he was barking from management, and we couldn't really fix the issue. We tried a lot of different things, and we just couldn't get him to stop barking because of just all the noise he was hearing from above, below, all that type of stuff. So we ended up moving to a rental house within like four months to six months of us signing that lease. So it cost us some money to get out of that lease. And then also our pet deposit that we had to forfeit. So now that we're looking to get a new rental.

How much? Can you tell us real dollars that you just spent to. For Fido. Yes, of course. Of course. So we had to forfeit $300 in a non-refundable pet deposit. And then it cost us about $500 to get out of the lease. Oh, so we're at $800 deep. Okay. Keep going with the story. So now you move into the rental and

what happens there? And so we had a good experience with the rental house because there were no neighbors to complain about whether or not he was barking. Uh-huh. And so fast forward to now, we've graduated, moved, um, we're looking at getting into another rental, but this time we are on baby step two and we're trying to get out of debt. Okay. So the rentals in the area are between $1,000 and $1,500. Um, if we go towards the $1,000 dollar mark we would be looking at an apartment like 13 to 1500 we'd be looking at a rental house so my question is is it worth it to try

and get the thousand dollar apartment if there's a possibility that we could end up in the same situation as two years ago how much do you guys have sorry how much debt are you trying to pay off um currently we have eighty five hundred dollars in credit cards um we have twenty five thousand dollars on my husband's truck okay and then we have a hundred thousand dollar in my student loans yipes okay that's all i needed to hear um yes we know one thing the dog is not going to stop barking. That's right. Beagles, they love, until you find it a duck or find something for it to put in its mouth, it's going to keep barking. With where you're at, $500 is a make or break. I'm just going to, don't shoot the messenger, okay? $500 where you're at is a make or break. So the difference

between you paying $1,000 a month versus $1,500 is huge in your world right now. Okay. You guys have got over almost $140,000 of debt. What's your income? Our combined income net is $86,000. Okay. And so for that reason, I'm going to try to do the apartment deal. I am going to do the apartment deal. What about the dog? If somebody says, you know, old barking beagle has to go, then that I'm finding a loving family that I can visit Mr. Beagle on the weekend. And you can send me text photos of him as he grows in a home where he can bark as much as he wants. You're getting rid of the dog. That's your solution to this?

That's my solution. I want to place that one on hold. I got to stand by it, Ken. Oh, okay. Caitlin, you still with us? Yes. What are the chances of you giving this dog away? Oh.

Be honest. I think if it's the only way that we can do this. It's not. It's not. I have another way. I would do it, but if there's another way. All right. Listen, she's got her head on straight.

Caitlin, you've got your priorities in line. Good. I think there's another way, and keep the beagle. Listen, I'm not suggesting that we call the dog catcher, right? No, you set a loving family and then give us Polaroids. Listen, I'm not suggesting that we call the dog catcher, right? Or like he's not going to the pound. You said a loving family and then give us Polaroids. That is not helping the dog lovers out there. All right, real quick.

I know. How much is the truck worth? Is he upside down in the truck? Yeah. How much? I think right now I looked at the worth. I think it's about $14,000. Upside down? Yikes. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. It's worth $14,000.

Okay. So yeah. There's $11,000 upside down. Okay. If I got this right, $25,000. And then what's the truck payment per month? $500. All right. So I would be working on getting rid of the truck and that's going to help us in two things. Number one, it's getting us out of debt faster and it's also going to lower that payment. So if you could go to a credit union, if you guys have decent credit at this point and you can actually get a loan, pay off the truck, scramble some money together and get him a beater, that's one option. That's a good option. The other option is, is we work really, really hard. Second, third jobs, both of us, because we're only dog parents. I don't think we've got kids. Is that right?

No. No kids. And no money saved? No money saved? Not much. We have the $1,000 emergency fund. So here's the deal. We're running out of time. I don't disagree with Jade. I think that's the nuclear option. I think you both need to be working second and third jobs and to be able to pay

the debt down, get rid of the truck quickly, and that way be able to afford a house. That beagle ain't going to start barking and people aren't going to stop complaining about it. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is alongside as well. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. Taking your questions about your money. I'll help out on questions about income. Want to make more income.

Multiple ways to do that. Climbing the ladder. You get better. Your paycheck gets bigger. That's what I know. So how can I help there as well? 888-825-5225. Let's go to Steve in Phoenix what I know. So how can I help there as well? 888-255-225. Let's go to Steve in Phoenix, Arizona. Steve, how can we help? Hey, just the person I wanted to talk

to, Ken. So I wrote stuff down because I tend to ramble and I want to avoid it. So I'm going to start out with my goal, my financial situation, employment situation, my two whys, and then my question. So I want to open my own bookkeeping business. Our household income is about 80 to 90 gross, depending on my wife's overtime and my overtime and any bonuses we get. I've got about $49,000 in debt between some stupid student loans and some credit cards. We need about $5,000 in our take-home pay to cover our expenses and our minimum payments on that debt. We could possibly squeeze it with $4,800, but my wife might grumble at me. No, she will. Let's take that off the table.

I work at a crumbling CPA firm, and I don't see a lot of growth potential in my income there, and it's part of why I want to start my own business. I have a bachelor's degree and I love the work. Some of my favorite calls are when I get to talk to our small business owners and help them understand their financials. I've got two reasons why that I want to. Number one, I want to drastically change my income potential, be able to pay off debt faster and build wealth. The second one, a little bit more emotional for me. My mother was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer just a couple weeks ago, and I've already been wanting to open a business. Right. And I may need to occasionally go help her out with any doctor visits or whatever, whatnot.

Yeah. Working for somebody else, if I have to say, oh, you know, 2 to 4 o'clock today, I got to go help my mom. Yeah. I got to ask permission. I got to take time off. I got to take a pay cut or whatever. Working for myself, I get to just go take care of my mother come home finish the work i need to do and i don't have to

worry about a gap in time freedom yeah totally get it brother so what's because i work what's the question so the question is since i work at a c firm, it would be a conflict of interest for me to start my own bookkeeping business on the side. Is it? Why? I would only think the conflict is if you... We offer bookkeeping services. The only conflict... Go ahead, Ken.

I'm sorry. No, you go. No, go ahead. I was going to say, we actually teach all the time here that if you're going to do a side hustle, it's great to offer a service that you already know how to do, that you're already doing, and that you can do on the side. It's not you taking clients from where you're working and say, hey, I'll do it for you on the side. That's different.

That's poaching. But if you set up a profile online or you're talking to people at church and somebody needs you to do their books, of course you can do that on the side. Okay. Do you get that? I was kind of, I mean, I signed something that is a paragraph long that says I agree to the non-compete, which doesn't detail anything of what that is a paragraph long that says, I agree to the non-compete, which doesn't detail anything of what that is. Other than the employee handbook has a conflict of interest detailed out, but there's no, there's nothing that says, oh, you can't, there's nothing that details what the non-compete is, But that's what I have.

So I would not be able to, or at least I feel like, I would not legally be able to work my own business simultaneously as working here. I don't know any of the details of that. Well, you need to. You need to because without looking at your agreement, they wouldn't put non-compete language in your employee agreement if they didn't have some type of stipulations on it. So it's probably worth a reread. Do you know any lawyers that just personally?

Not personally, no. You know people who know lawyers. Like I said. I'd get somebody to look at this. It's probably worth it. But the reality is this is not something that you have to solve. I know you're feeling the urgency because of your mother's situation, and that could get really dicey. I don't want to put all this pressure on you.

I feel like that pressure you're putting on yourself. So let me restate that. I don't want your mother's significant health situation to put you in a urgent situation that doesn't necessarily need to be urgent. It feels like you've got a good enough relationship with your current leader that if something were to happen with your mom, they would give you some flexibility. Is that true, or am I making that up? Yes and no. I mean, they're not heartless. Right.

But, you know, at the same time, you know, they've got a business they've got to run, and they can't just pay me for not being at work. Right. So the question is, if the non-comp is is related to you doing side bookkeeping services or or duplicating any sir offering services that your current firm offers while employed that's one thing but one of the things that i think you can do and i don't think this is gray area at all i i think it would hold up in a court of law is you could begin to prospect and line things up and not actually perform the services. But tell me if this feels weird to you. I don't think so. Line up people

and say, listen, here's my situation. Here's why I'm doing it. I can offer this. I can do all this stuff for you. And here's the deal. I'd like to come on. I'd like to, if I leave here on such and such a date, then I start up here. That's one way to kind of skin this cat. Does that make sense what I'm saying? Okay. So just lay up some groundwork before getting started. Maybe get some- Line all the clients up. Line all the clients up and say, listen, I'm going to do this above board. And so I don't want to, I'm not going to perform any services for you until I leave an X date. And I want to know that you're committed and you can sign some type of agreement or whatever and say, I'm going to now take care of you and all your services.

And so I leave here on June 30th and I pick you up July 1 or whatever. I think that that's what I would attempt to do. Because let's be honest, Steve, you're going to have to do this anyway. If you were, if he was okay, if they didn't have a problem with you doing bookkeeping for other people, not their own clients and thus undercutting them. And I would have that problem too. Then you still have to go line people up. Correct? Yeah. Yeah. So that makes sense. It's the same function. It's just what you're doing is you're going to keep getting paid by this group and you're going to be smart. You're going to save money and you're going to prepare for the

transition, but hopefully you can line up. How many clients do you think you'd have to line up knowing what you know about what you charge for your services? How many would you have to sign up to be able to step from this current job into working for yourself? To replace my take-home pay, I would only need between six to 10 clients, depending on how big they are. I'd start tonight. That's wonderful. Yeah. When I get off, here's what I do. On my way home and on my way in, I'm smiling and dialing. I'm emailing. I am lining up 10 clients as fast as I possibly can. Okay. I love that. I think that's doable, Steve. And that is in no way, am I right, Jay? Does that feel gross to you? No, I think that's very creative and just

what he needs to be doing. Yep. All right, Steve. And I think that's what this is. And then you just do it above board. And then there's no guilt. There's no guilt at all. So I think that's the play. But let me also point something out that I think you already acknowledged. Just because you're working for yourself doesn't mean that all of a sudden you just got all kind of time in the world. Because once you're working for yourself, guess who has to do the work? That's a fact. It's you. And I found that the hardest job I ever had was working for me. That's true.

But there is a layer that he's talking about of, you know, if from two to four, he needs to go help his mom, he can then come back and get that work done at 10 p.m. if he wants to. That's right. You know, so there is a little something to that. Just pointing it out. 70% of Americans right now want to be self-employed. Only 6% are.

There's a big gap there. It's harder than you think. So plan it and then step into it and give it everything you got. Good hour, Jade Warshaw. Thank you. Thanks to James Childs, our fearless leader. And thank you, America. This is The Ramsey Show. 🎵