The Ramsey Show - App - Dave Ramsey Agrees With a Crypto CEO (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 16, 2022

Dave Ramsey & George Kamel discuss: Teaching kids about cryptocurrency, Choosing a retirement plan, Paying off a car with savings, 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

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the 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. We help people build wealth, do work they love and create actual amazing relationships thank you for joining us george camel ramsey personality is my co-host today open phones at 888-825-5225 that's 888-825-5225 well george there's a couple of uh very interesting things have happened in the world of crypto. Oh, yeah. This one, so we've seen the big crash, Dave, and we've talked about billion dollars lost in crypto scams.

But the latest is that the crypto market has now lost $2 trillion in value. And this is from Yahoo Finance. Investors had nowhere to hide on Monday as both the stock market and cryptocurrencies tumbled. The crypto market saw its total market cap drop by roughly 12% on Monday to just $980 billion. The sector as a whole has now seen more than $2 trillion in losses since its peak back in November. Wow. So it's down what now, 60-something percent since September? That's a big hit.

And people have been coming at me, Dave, because percent since September? That's a big hit. And people have been coming at me, Dave, because, you know, I've been making fun little videos about crypto, and they're saying, well, what about the stock market? Well, what about the stock market? This stuff's down 65%. The stock market's down 20%. Can't you add? No. The answer is no.

What about the stock market? It has a 70-year track record. What's crypto got? A track record of you losing your butt. Well, the stock market is based on actual companies that are producing actual things. That's a huge difference that we're not talking about. Crypto is just based on what one guy is willing to pay for it, and it produces nothing, which is why Warren Buffett famously recently said that he wouldn't pay $25.

Right before it actually crashed, he said, I wouldn't pay 24 it actually crashed yeah he said i wouldn't pay 25 for all of it and now it and he actually he may have overpaid if this keeps up that's true he might be able to buy it all for 25 at this point oh wow and listen in case you were afraid that this was going to be a problem uh the twitter co-founder and block ceo jack dorsey and rapper jay-z both known for their financial prowess that's right um are going to save you they're going to take great care of you because they have now opened the bitcoin academy for children yikes is that a real sentence that's a brand new sentence no one has ever said that a spokesperson for the bitcoin academy confirmed to fox business that the curriculum will include topics such as what is money and go on what else is there dave

you're going to pick this up george i can't get my composure. So they cover topics such as what is money, what is cryptocurrency, what is blockchain, and how to keep yourself safe from scammers. Oh, boy. This is the financial literacy the kids have been needing, Dave, teaching five-year-olds about blockchain. Yeah. Wow. The in-person classes will be hosted two evenings a week and serve participants dinner. A Crypto Kids Camp program will also take place on two Saturdays for Marcy kids and teens ages 5 through 17. The Academy will provide participants with MiFi devices and a one-year limited data plan, plus smartphones if needed.

Oh, good, good. Give the kids Internet and smartphones and load them up with crypto. I think the dinner might be worth more than the crypto. This is scary. It might be worth it just for the dinner at this point. Crypto kids camp. Those are three words I never want to see together. The truth is these two guys really are trying to do something good,

and they have no idea how dumb this is. Yes. I love the heart behind it. They're not bad guys. They're just trying to help somebody. And they're actually bad guys they're just trying to help somebody but and they're actually you know teaching something they believe which the problem with that is it's just wrong uh not wrong morally but just just factually and of course the article ends with the academy's launch comes amid a volatile time for the cryptocurrency market well if anything

hope the kids learn a lesson. Wow. This is fascinating. Well, if we've learned anything from the... But we did discover this week that Dave Ramsey actually agrees with the CEO of a crypto company. This headline, after petition... Actually, that is a headline. Dave Ramsey agrees with a crypto CEO. Someone pick that up, if you're listening. That's a headline right there.

That's a Twitter headline. Well, it comes from this, Dave, after petition... Because the chances of me agreeing with crypto anything is probably really close to zero. Oh, yeah. But I do completely agree with this guy. On a leadership standpoint, let's be clear. Well, we have to clarify.

That matters. MarketWatch said, after petition for leadership changes, Coinbase CEO tells workers to quit if they don't believe in top execs. So there's been this big petition. You shouldn't work in a place where you don't agree with leadership. Or you don't trust leadership. Or you don't trust leadership.

That's what he said. Which is exactly what I have said from the stage here in Ramsey. I tell our people that all the time. Don't let the door hit you in the butt. Well, and you've also said that no cults tell you to do that, which is a true statement. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, so that's a wonderful thing.

Yeah, I love his reaction to that. And by the way, like three days later when crypto dove, they laid off 25% of their employees. So probably the dupe that put out the petition for the CEO's head got fired, which if they'd have discovered him, they'd have fired him too. And they should have because, listen, if you're so backward that you think, listen, if you're a better leader than your leader is, go start something. Leave. Go start something. You don't get to tell him how to run his deal.

That's his deal. I'm not going to tell him how to run his deal. I'm going to tell you not to buy his product because it's crypto, but I'm not going to tell him how to run his deal. That's his deal. I'm not going to tell him how to run his deal. I'm going to tell you not to buy his product because it's crypto, but I'm not going to tell him how to run his deal. I just love that. That's a good answer, dude. Glad we found some middle ground between you and

the crypto world. We found something that I agree on. We found something we agree on. Everybody's got something they agree on. You never know. Apparently our hair care products are similar. Me and you? No, him. Oh, okay. He's bald, guys. Just for the record.

Yeah, just for the record. I got excited. I was like, Dave, what are you using these days? This is great. This is big news to me. You got excited. We use the same pomade, apparently. George, you just get too excited too easily.

All right, Brandon. Brandon. It's with us in Grand Rapids. Hey, Brandon, what's up? Good afternoon, gentlemen. How are you? Great, man. How can we help?

I'm about to start a new job, and it is state employment, which means that it comes with some good retirement benefits. I wanted to hear your opinion because there's two separate options that I'm able to choose. Okay. Which one? What are they? Well, I want to preface it by saying that I think I remember you saying before that you would normally choose a standard savings plan 401k over a pension. Almost always. Yes. So the reason I'm calling is because when I got the

sheet that shows the two options, one of the options was called a pension plus two plan. So the first plan is just the defined contribution plan, which is savings only. It's a 401k. And then there's a pension plus plan that supposedly pairs the same benefits, but also a pension. And normally it would have a straight life option, which is what you would avoid, but it also contains a survivor option, and that says that it has a reduced pension. So how much, if you don't take the pension, you can just do a 401k? Yes. And how much do they give you in that case? I'm not 100% sure yet.

Well, that would matter because the pension they are funding 100%, and usually if you don't do the pension and you do the 401K, they give you a big sweet match. And I'd want to know what that is because they're going to have cost either way. They're trying to push people towards 401Ks these days. I would push it towards the 401Ks. Incentivizing them with the match. Yeah, exactly.

And I don't think you're going to run the numbers in a way, Brandon, that's going to make you not do the 401K. I don't think it're going to run the numbers in a way, Brandon, that's going to make you not do the 401k. I don't think it's going to happen. Hey, guys. George Camel here, and I'm so excited to tell you about the newest product from Ramsey. It's called Gazelle, and it's a digital banking experience that will help you spend and save the Ramsey way with banking services provided by PathWord NA. You'll get a single spending account with no monthly fees, and it's FDIC-insured through PathWord NA. We're offering early access to our beta customers, so you can help us make it the best experience it can be.

Just go to RamseySolutions.com slash gazelle to sign up for the waitlist today. A lot of our calls on the show lately have been about the crazy real estate market, the pandemic, rising inflation and gas prices, fear of recession, the bear market. More than ever, people need hope with their money. Maybe you're feeling that way well that's why you need financial peace university this isn't your dad's version of fpu though we just did a massive update to our biggest and most famous money course it's still our proven principles but refreshed for what you're facing today you're going going to hear from me, of course, and Rachel, of course. Now Dr. John Deloney and George Campbell are going to bring their fresh insights

and show you new ways to look at your money. If you're feeling scared or overwhelmed, you're not alone. There's a lot going on out there. But most of it you can't control. The only thing you can control is you, and you can take control of you and your money, and your stress will go down money and your stress will go down and your fear will go down that's why we call it financial peace university you can start fpu for free check out all the new content by visiting ramsay solutions.com slash fpu that's ramsey solutions.com slash fpu george the new lessons in this are really good

the team did an incredible job and uh me and john deloney we tag teamed the wise spending lesson the old buyer beware which was a fan favorite reworked it retooled it's the best it's ever been as a matter of fact the whole course is head and shoulders the best it's ever been we just launched all the new videos about a week ago. Yeah, and I did Baby Step 3 as well. And both lessons, coincidentally, you're talking about finding peace and getting control. That's what both those lessons are about. Baby Step 3 is where you really start to feel the financial peace kick in

and getting control in a world where you're constantly bombarded with marketing messages telling you you're not enough, here's how you should be spending your money, this is the key to freedom. Man, we just kind of sort through all the noise, and I give you a plan on how to become a smart spender. There is a lot out there to be afraid of right now. And a lot of different people's buttons are being pushed in different ways on all this economic news. And the truth is that fear is not a good decision-making tool panic is an even worse decision-making tool and it's when you do the dumbest things when you are functioning in fear

your lizard your lizard brain kicks in and your critical thinking skills disappear your critical thinking skills return when you pan back and you keep perspective and what gives you the ability to do that is knowledge the more you know about something the more the game slows down and you can play and it seems like you're in the matrix and you can just dodge the bullets right yeah and you don't fall for all the traps out there when you're a calm level header you're not doing the 401k loan and the hel lock and buy now pay later because you know better now it's just you know when you how many times have i talked to somebody over the years including myself in the mirror and the dumbest things i've ever done right after i got desperate and scared i mean that's just before

you get really stupid you're scared just before you get really stupid you're desperate and the one the king will keep you from doing that and reacting to all the news instead of making a decision because here's the thing i mean let's use the bear market as an example okay the bear the bear is here okay the definition of a bear market is 20 drop and the stock market is down more than 20 it's probably down 21 today total since the first year. Okay? Now, what does that mean? Have you lost everything?

No. It means if you had $100,000 and you were retired, you already didn't have enough. And instead of $100,000, you have $80,000. If you had $1 million and you retired, instead of a million, you have 800. Really doesn't affect your life much. It really doesn't. It affects your emotions a lot. And here's the other thing.

There's been 14 bear markets since World War II. Wow. Okay. The average length of a bear market is 13 months. The average recovery time is 24 months, two years. Okay? So when will it be back to where it was in January? On average, two years. And that's happened 14 times.

And you lived through them all. Since World War II. Yeah. I didn't live through all of them, but I lived through several of them. Yeah. Thank you, George. That wasn't an age joke. I did not mean to go there, but it happened.

Too late. You just stumbled right into it. Tell us about the 40s, Dave. Tell us about the 50s and the 40s. That was a twinkle in my daddy's eye. What you're trying to say is perspective helps. There you go. For a lot of us, this might be the first one we're experiencing.

It does give, because that's the thing if you're um you know if you're in your 20s um this is the first economic downturn for you as an adult because 2008 you were a baby child okay so this is your first one and so if you're 26 and you're freaking out it's because it's your first car wreck i've had several car wrecks and so now i just get out and we exchange licenses and call the cops as long as nobody's hurt we're okay right and so you know but the first time you have one it's like oh god you know right and it's it's traumatic so but when when tragedy or trauma or uh something comes at you and it activates fear, it shuts your brain's ability down to do critical thinking skills. So let's pretend the market's down 20%.

The big bad bear's out. Okay, now the bear is here. And what are we going to do with the bear? Okay, now think about it. If the average, there's 14 of them, that's a pretty good data set, and the average is 24 months back. So where are you going to be in 24 months? 24 months older.

Even if you're 68, you'll just be 70. If you're 24, you're going to be 26, and it's going to be back. So your 80 will be 100 again. Your 800 will be a million again. That's the average. And what will it be five years from now? It'll be way up five years from now. These are the averages.

So when you pan back and you go, okay, when it drops, it generally comes back, like it has every time, 100% of the time it has recovered, all the time. It's always gone up from there. So if you're looking at, if you're 26 and you're looking out there at 66, you're not really worried about what it does until you get out there. And there's no time in history that it's gone more than five years without making money. Zero, except the Great Depression. And this is not the Great Depression.

There's some great stupidity going on in Washington, but it's not the Great Depression. It's different. And so just way different. It's a completely different so just way different. It's a completely different set of facts and data and processes. And yet people get their emotions kicked in. And here's what's very interesting to me, George. Like we posted this thing on Instagram about what was happening with housing market. Oh, yeah.

You know, all the haters. That blew up. Yeah, all the haters come out. You went viral. But I am. Anyway, but the things I've done You went viral. But I am. Anyway, but the things I've done. So whatever. Use your filter.

Not since COVID. But anyway, when people that are intellectual become afraid, it's very interesting that the way their stupidity manifests is intellectually they come up with these bizarre layered arguments to prove that the world is coming to an end because their emotions have already decided that the world is coming to an end instead of panning back and actually being calm and looking at the data and looking at the historical precedents that are there and keeping perspective when they're doing this and if you pan back and do all that you just your little butt calms down that's what it amounts to because if in perspective you know what's going on and that makes all the difference in the world

you find whatever you're looking for and if you look at the data and go well the world is coming to an end it might be for you in your mind. And you will intellectually fight for your right to be right about the world coming to an end. And you'll bring everyone down with you around you. Real fun at parties. And, you know, here's the horrible thing is it makes you a commenter on Instagram, which is the lowest form of life. What about Twitter? You didn't even have something to say.

You had to comment on something someone else said. I mean, this is like you've really hit bottom, honey. When the only thing you have to do is to comment on Instagram. You truly have hit bottom. Well, they think that's the only thing in their control is the comment section. You know how many times I've commented on Instagram? Zero. No?

No. Once? No, I said pretty baby. Nice dog. Oh, wow. Was that on my Instagram? I've done stuff like that. No, you don't have a baby. You have a nice dog. Thank you. But, yeah. Is that on my Instagram? I've done stuff like that. No, you don't have a baby.

You have a nice dog. Thank you. But, yeah. But the, I mean, great little Frenchie. So you're saying you've only commented positive things. Well, I mean, it's more like, yeah, my friend's got his little kid out there water skiing. And I'm like, that's awesome. Because your mom and dad, you got nothing nice to say.

Don't say nothing at all. Don't comment. But I'm not going to get in there and argue with some dude I don't even know. With no username. And be wrong in the comments section. It's so embarrassing. I wouldn't want to do that. Bless y'all's heart.

Seriously. Leave that to me, Dave. I'll handle the comments section. Okay. That's what the block button was invented for, Dave. Just for you. No step for a stepper. Just for you.

This is the Ramsey Solutions, Tom and Kim are with us on the debt-free stage. T-shirts say, Living Financially Peaceful. I love it. Well done. Well done. All right. How much you paid off guys? We paid off $128,565 and we did it in three years and two days. Way to go. Way to go. And your range of income in that three years and two days? When we started, we were at about

$138,000. By the end, $179,000. Cool. What do you all do for a living? I'm an operations manager for a commercial distributor. And I'm an HR assistant manager for an auto part manufacturer. Excellent. And you guys live where? Plainfield, Illinois. It's about an hour southwest of Chicago. Okay, cool.

Cool. Welcome to Nashville. What kind of debt was the $129,000? You name it. Student loans, personal loans, some medical bills, two cars, credit cards, 401k loan. Wow. Y'all were kind of normal. We had it all. You were normal.

Yeah. And normal sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Way to go, guys. Okay. How long y'all been married? Eight years.

Okay. So five years into marriage or so, you look up and you went, oh crap, something's got to change. Tell me your story. How'd you get connected to Ramsey and what'd you do? Yeah. So it actually started about a year before we actually really got on board. We were going through just living normally.

If we could afford the payments, then we could afford something. We had an excellent, I love debt you know and we're real proud um and we were just fighting all the time about money and um yeah i love it yeah that's cool yeah we came a long way so um i had i think we had probably our 500th money fight, and I had added the total money makeover to my Christmas list, and then Tom ended up buying it for me. So, you know, there's our sign there. Almost in spite. Yeah. Here, write this.

Yeah. So what were you all fighting about? Obviously there was a lot of stress. A lot of it was on Tom paying the bills, and we weren't on the same page. We weren't communicating. We weren't doing it together. But he wasn't doing it right?

I mean, what was the problem? I wanted to spend it, and he didn't want to spend it. Oh, okay. There's the fight. That's what I thought. Okay. All right. Yeah.

Now we're coming clean. The tension builds. And so he did throw that total money makeover book at you and said read this he did he did which is really not a good way to get you to read it well i actually i did get on board and i read it oh um a couple months after after he got it for me for christmas i was on maternity leave i read it um we decided all right let's do this we got our envelopes we got our budget we paid off a couple of the small debts all right um and then we decided you know what let's do a really uh quick solution let's sell our house oh yeah so we uh we decided to sell our house uh we listed our house

that was you know we were not even ready to to do this um we got it ready. Tom got a second job. And in that same week, I went back to work from maternity leave. He got a second job. And we put an offer in on a house and it was accepted. And we had no offers accepted on our house. We hadn't even listed it yet. And so there was so much anxiety and stress around the entire situation. So we were the opposite of peaceful. And so we were like, let's just get through this. And after just having my daughter, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety, and that led to a lot of stress there.

So we finished with the house, up it worked out 10 out of 10 do not recommend following our story please that don't do what we did so you did get it sold and you did buy the other one we got it sold and we bought the other one i don't know how but it all came through um but we go into this new house we have you know no, no emergency fund. We're not, we're not ready at all. And about four days later, um, I went to the doctor for a lump four weeks later, I found out it was thyroid cancer. About four weeks after that I had surgery and, um, you know, about four weeks after that I had, uh, um, you know, my, uh, treatment for the cancer. And so it was about four to five months of just kind of crazy, you know,

doctor's appointments and, you know, whatever we did have on the side or expected to get from the house was now going to these medical expenses. Um, so we kind of slipped into a point where it was like, you know, why us and why me? And will we, let's get dinner because we deserve this, you know, or, you know, throwing out the cancer card or something. Um, so then about, um, a few months after that, things kind of settled with that storm. And, um, I started listening to the podcast after downloading it like three months before I finally listened to it. And I listened to it every day on my commute, um, to and from work. And I was like, Tom, we have to do this. We have to get back on it. And this time we have to do it together. And so we signed up for

financial peace. We went through that together. He read the total money makeover so that we were on the same page. And it was just a different vibe going through it together. And when we, um, you know, we were in the middle of financial peace and I found out I had to have another surgery and this time it wasn't panic this time. It was okay. That's all right. We, we can do this. So we, um, it, it really just kind of changed our mindset when we were doing this together and we were doing that peacefully. How are you doing now? Good. Yeah.

I'm real good. Cancer in the rearview mirror? Yep. Yep. Cancer free? Yep. Cancer free. For how long?

It's been about two years since they were able to say like cancer free. Praise God. That's awesome. That is so awesome. That's the important part of the story right there yeah yeah yeah we get to keep you around that's what we want that's for the choice worry about the debt stuff later first we got to keep you around right yeah good good job wow wow you're you're a warrior i mean with all that stuff you went through and and then and you're the

one the whole time saying keep at it yeah i. I mean, you guys busted it, and it sounds like this cancer was kind of the wake-up call that got you guys on the same page. And you went, this is scary, and if we can control anything, it's our money. Yep. We can't control all of life's circumstances, but we can get our butts in order when it comes to our finances. But this is real. I mean, you went from really tense in every part of your life to relaxed and peaceful. That shirt has a whole lot more meaning now. Yeah.

Living financially peaceful. It sure does. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Commitment. Yeah, I guess. You got to buy in. You got to stick to it. I guess in this case, for sure.

And being intentional and communicating, you know, even if you're kind of anxious about the conversation or something you want to buy, you know, just talk with your partner. Just be communicating. How's it feel to be free? So free. I mean, you're cancer free, debt free. So that's like a two for two right there. And probably fight free. Has there been a lot of money fights since becoming debt free?

No. No. Wow. No. But the first five years, of fights lots of them yes all the time wow so cool yeah that's a transformation yeah you were normal and now you're not be not conformed to this world you don't want to be normal but be transformed by the renewing of your minds well done y'all well done you. Well done. You're amazing. Absolutely powerful. All right. We've got a copy of Baby Steps Millionaires for you. That's the next chapter in your story.

You're definitely going to be that. And, of course, in addition to that, a total money makeover book and a one-year subscription to Financial Peace University with brand new classes. You want to go through it, you can. Or you can give it to somebody since you guys have been through it. Let's bring the kiddos up. What are their names and ages? Aiden, who's six, and Emma, who's four.

All right. And it says Financial Peace Baby on each T-shirt. I like it. Well done, guys. Oh, they're good looking. I love it. That's so fun. Well done.

Well done. All right. It's Aiden and Emma and Kim and Tom from the Chicago area. $129,000 paid off in three years and two days, making 138 to 179. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. You ready? Three, two, one.

We're debt-free! We're debt-free! The littles have been practicing. I like it. Wow. Oh, it. Wow. Oh, wow. A lot of drama. That one takes your breath away right there.

Woo! Man, I love freedom. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you for joining us, America. George Campbell, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. I just had one of the guys in our real estate department that works with all the real estate agents send me a graph a second ago. I thought this was very interesting. George and I are looking at it at the break. So, okay, for the last many, many, many years up until the pandemic, lumber ran an average of, I'm pulling this graph here,

I don't even know what this is, 572. So 572 somethings. What is that? I don't know what it's based on. Okay, lumber basically didn't go up. It was sitting at this 572 baseline i don't know i guess it's per board foot or whatever and then of course it was a shortage of lumber because the lumber factory shut down during quarantine and lumber went over double in uh where is it the high point was may of 21 wow okay so a year ago that triple yeah uh yeah

no it's triple triple triple it tripled now today it is back down to 568 so lumber is priced today about what it has been priced for the last 10 years after having shot up triple and come back down. Now, that enters into what it costs to build a house. By the way, the number one line item, if you're building a house, in your budget is the lumber cost, not counting labor. Labor is your biggest cost. But your number one line item materials-wise is the lumber package because that's the biggest part of the home structurally,

unless you're building an unusual home. But, I mean, a typical home built in America, the lumber cost is your biggest item in there in a normal build. Which has shot up the price of new construction. So it went up 3x during pandemic quarantine shortages and now is back to normal. That's a good sign okay that's an example of the uh pandemic shortages working themselves out over time shortages of cars drives price up shortages of baby formula drives the price up shortages of dot dot dot builds the price up but when it comes back is when the the supply comes back up to meet the demand and once the lumber factory's got the supply going again it's normalized it's calmed down it's back down so that element of inflation

isn't there anymore so inflation's killing us the part that was created by the pandemic, shortages, the quarantine created shortages, the economic suppression created by Fauci, where we shut down the economy and create all these problems with production, so there were shortages of everything, drove the price up, that created, was a big factor in this current inflationary cycle. It had nothing to do with interest rates. It had nothing to do with a white-hot economy. It had to do with shortages. Shortages always drive prices up.

Well, the shortages are redeeming themselves. The supply is now equaling the demand in a whole lot of these areas of the world, a whole lot of these commodities like lumber. This is a good sign. It's a very hopeful sign. So it's going to help normalize the housing market yeah so and the same thing starting that is going to happen and the recession is going to push it over the edge uh on the labor labor cost is going to come back down it's shot up artificially but suddenly when you can't get a job the thing's going to come back

down okay and and then the last piece will be energy and that's going to have to do with biden turning the spigot back on and doing domestic production again, because otherwise his whole party is going to lose every seat they've ever had if he doesn't do this, because nothing will get you thrown out of office politically faster than a bad economy. People get pissed off when you mess with their wallet. Yeah, it's a bad idea. So I think we're going to be okay, boys and girls. Jason's in Portland, Oregon.

Hey, Jason, what's up? Hey, Dave. Hey, thanks for taking my call. Sure. Yeah, I just had a question for you. I need some advice here. So I'm 49 years old. I'm single. I've been divorced now about 14 months, and I'm just kind of in a new season in my life, kind of starting over and um i'm i'm looking right now to possibly purchase a home um i have seven i have seventy thousand dollars in savings um i'm thinking of doing that and but the other option i think about i really want to get debt free um i have a i have a car right now it's a 21 toy camry you know 28 000 on it. What do you make? And what do I make per year? A little over $100,000. Okay.

George? Well, I absolutely think your second option is the right one for you. I want you to become completely debt-free with a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, and then I want you focusing on the down payment. So the question is how quickly can you do that and what it's going to what will it take yeah i mean and that's kind of my line of thinking too i mean i i want to pay off this car loan i mean i could i could do it do it today what's stopping you yeah when you hang up pay it off and then the other question is do you keep it i might rather have a house and a hoopty than be waiting to save up a down payment and renting and driving a nice car.

Right. It's up to you, but I might do that. Especially if I was single and my wife wasn't there to gripe about it. Right, right. I mean, give me advice about it it i don't need a fancy car i mean i would like just to pay this thing off what's it worth if you sold it today oh gosh uh it's i would guess in the low 30s um because a guy just called in and he had a 21. Yeah, see, but I drive a lot for my job, so my miles are pretty high up there.

I would say it's probably around, you know, 26, 27. What it's worth. Here's the thing. Let's just play. Okay, two options, all right? One, you pay the car off, and you set your emergency fund aside, and then it takes you six months to build up a down payment for a house, and so you buy a house you know christmas

or whatever right okay that's option one option two is you sell the car and you put a drive a five thousand dollar car and you buy a house now and at christmas you save up and buy a better car right i'll probably do that one yeah i said yeah that's that sounds like a good plan i like that because interest rates on your I'll probably do that one. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I like that. Because interest rates on your mortgage might be higher at Christmas than they are now. Uh-huh.

They're trending up. Right. So, I don't know. And the point is, I don't want you to drive. You make $100,000 a year. You don't need to drive a hoop to the rest of your life but if you drove one for six months or a year and it got you into a house six months or a year faster and you beat the curve on some of these real estate weirdness that's out there and don't go pay too much for a house they're not desperate here but you know go get you a nice condo man in portland oregon that's a cool place

to live. Right. I mean, you might not even want a house. You might want something where you don't have to do the maintenance so you can enjoy the freedom of being single again and all that kind of stuff. That's going to be fun. I like this plan. So any idea on that car? Yeah, I'm definitely seeing it. I think you could sell it for $30 or more in this market still. So I would definitely look at some options there.

See, that pays for the other car. That means you've got $70,000 clear because you've got enough out of this car to get another car above what you owe on it so you got 70 grand clear you set 20 aside for emergency fund 50 000 for your down payment on the house let's go get a house i you know nothing neither one of these plans jason is in the stupid column either one is fine it's just a matter of preference but the beauty of buying now is um you could get a better interest rate on the mortgage than you'll get in christmas and if mortgage rates go down you can always refinance but um you have to worry about that with cars because you're going to pay cash if i'm wrong you know if i'm wrong and rates don't go up

between on christmas you just refinance if they go down. I hope they go down. Yeah, but it's looking at the priorities and opportunity costs going, well, if I drive a $30,000 car, well, I might have to wait longer to get into this house. You do have to wait longer, mathematically, because you need to be debt-free, have an emergency fund, and a down payment, period, before you buy a house. If you're going to do that, then put it on a 15-year fixed rate

where the payment's no more than a fourth-year take-home pay. Jason, if I'm in your shoes, I am selling the car and buying me a hoopty and buying a house this summer. Right now. And no hurry, no rush. Don't panic and pay too much for the house. You don't need to get in a bidding war with some crazy goob. Just go slip around, find you a good deal on the house. I hope these bidding wars, I think they're over, Dave, right?

We can't. I think they are. I've seen that part calm down, which is good news. It would not make me mad if they were gone forever, the bidding wars. It was not good for the real estate market and not good for the psyche of the American public buying a house. Not good at all. And we have the largest group of homebuyers in American history sitting at 35 years old. They're called millennials. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show

in the books. Dave here. You can find all of our shows with the Ramsey Network app on your smartphone. It's the only place to listen to the entire back catalog of episodes. Download the Ramsey Network app in your favorite app store today.