The Ramsey Show - App - DAVE RANT: Americans Will Bet Over $7 Billion on the Super Bowl (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where dad is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author multiple times, is my daughter and my co-host today. We're taking your calls about your relationships, your mental health, your work, career, and your money. It's a free call, and some say the advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. The phone number is 888-825-5225.
Starting point is 00:01:03 Michael is with us. Michael's in Chicago. Hey, Michael, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hi, Rachel. Thanks for having me on. Sure. I have a quick question for you.
Starting point is 00:01:13 I'm a little older, not terribly old, but my kids are freshmen in high school and approaching high school age. Just about to finish baby step two. It's been a pretty long grind for about the past two years. And I'm curious on what you think about home equity line of credit, if I keep that in Baby Step 2 or if I move it to 4, 5, and 6. How much is it? It's about $85,000. What's your household income?
Starting point is 00:01:41 Around $250,000. I would keep it in $250,000. Okay. You can move it to six if you want to, but I'd just refinance your house if you're going to. Okay. I think that's what we're going to do. Yeah. Here's why.
Starting point is 00:01:57 Okay. The rule of thumb we use is if it's less than half your annual income, we leave it in two. Okay. And yours is. It's not a bunch less, but it's less. And, um, you know, so it's not unusual for somebody maybe to call and say in your situation, they got a $20,000 home equity line. Well, you treat that like a credit card debt. You knock it out. Right. But in your case, I see what you're doing. You're, you're coming to the end of your debt snowball and you're like, eh, I need to get to work on these kids' college. I make a good income.
Starting point is 00:02:27 What's your interest rate on your first mortgage? Four. Yeah, and you refinance the whole puppy, and you'll be better off anyway. Yeah, that's what I think. Just wanted to get your confirmation. What do you think, Rachel? Yeah, absolutely. Well, and especially the age of your kids and where you guys are, your stage of life.
Starting point is 00:02:45 I'm like, I think, yeah, rolling into the mortgage, I think it's great. Yeah, we're behind on, you know, baby step four and the college stuff. So I think I'd like you to start prioritizing that as well. Yeah. And a 15-year fix, though. No more. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:59 Okay. Hey, have at it, brother. Good job. Good question. Great question. Adam is with us. Adam is in Denver. Hey, Adam, what's up? Hey, Dave. How's it going? it, brother. Good job. Good question. Adam is with us. Adam is in Denver. Hey, Adam, what's up?
Starting point is 00:03:08 Hey, Dave, how's it going? Good, man. How can we help? Well, I just wanted to see what your opinion was on this. I have $50,000 in debt, credit cards and a car, but I am getting married in August, and we also have trying to move out of our parents as we're getting married or I guess before I don't know if I should
Starting point is 00:03:31 focus on the wedding or debt, paying off debt and then the wedding I want to see what your thoughts were It's a lot Adam that you got going on definitely the debt.
Starting point is 00:03:45 I mean, the debt and the wedding is what I would focus on. And when you have debt, though, your wedding is not going to be huge and glamorous. Are you guys paying for it? No. No? Yeah, we're going to try to do it in cash. We're going to save up for it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:59 Our budget is around $3,000 for it. Okay. And I think we can make it, but that will be not paying off debt. How much do you make a year? Well, I currently got a new job this year, and it's $35,000. So it's supposed to be a year. And then she also works making around $20,000 a year. What does she do?
Starting point is 00:04:24 She works at a store at a mall. Okay. How old are you guys? I'm 26 and she's 21. Okay. All right. Good. All right. So you have a $55,000 income. You need $3,000 for a wedding and $50,000 to get debt free and you need to move out of the house, right? Yeah, pretty much. Okay. You're talking about moving, you're need to move out of the house, right? Yeah, pretty much. Okay. You're talking about moving out of your parents' house after August, correct? Well, before. That way, you know, I have a roof for her to live in.
Starting point is 00:04:57 I mean, I think that would be ideal to be in our own place after we get married instead of after. Yeah, but, I mean, you can do that in August. Yes, I guess right after the wedding, yeah. Yeah, well, or the week before or whatever. I mean, so what I would tell you is this. Moving into the place shouldn't be that expensive. You are going to take on rent, and it's going to reduce your ability to pay off debt at that point.
Starting point is 00:05:24 So first goal is save three thousand dollars for the wedding and lay out a detailed budget of exactly what you're going to do with the three thousand dollars and exactly what the wedding is going to be and i did not like the language you used around the wedding you said we are going to try to pay cash no honey you're going to pay cash no changes no changes i don't want to hear about anything okay whatever? Whatever you save up for the wedding, you can use on the wedding. If you want to make it $5,000, that's fine with me. But you do that first, and you lay out a detailed plan. This is how much the photographer is going to be.
Starting point is 00:05:54 This is what we're spending on the reception. This is how much the dress is. This is how much the location is. This is what we're paying the preacher. Okay? Okay. Every dollar, it's a project you're managing a project okay now once you've got that project detailed out and you've got that funded
Starting point is 00:06:12 then your next goal is to save up a little bit of money to make the move out you're going to need some deposits some first month's rent some utility deposits and a few other things you're going to need another three or four thousand dollars if you do those two things by august you probably did a pretty good job yeah okay and adam and i would encourage her that right now in this job market you can make a lot of money not i mean i know she's working at the mall but i'm like there are i mean i'm hearing 25 her job sucks yeah like 25 to drive a shuttle at the Nashville airport. I saw a sign. I was like, oh my God, $25 an hour? I was like, that's so much money. So I mean, like there are other options. So I really would push her because I think she could even
Starting point is 00:06:54 get close to doubling her income by just not only just working more, but a totally different line of work. I'm like, go do an admin role or be a receptionist somewhere. You know what I mean? Find something that brings in more money because that's just going to give you guys way more margin in this discussion as well. So what I'm saying is if you have $10,000 saved between now and August, I think you did a pretty good job. And some of that's for the wedding and some of that's for getting into the new apartment. And then as soon as you get married and get in the new apartment, then the two of you do everything you can to ratchet your incomes up you do everything you work extra you take extra jobs side hustles whatever you want to call them and you attack this debt with a vengeance the two of you how much do you owe on your car yeah um i believe it's down
Starting point is 00:07:39 to 14 grand we got it for um 20 you've been paying for it for a while now we're almost there we aren't anywhere you are she her name's not on the car okay well it's hers i guess and she's helping me out paying it but you're right i should be the one it's her car and she's helping you out paying it are you driving it right no she is i i got it for her under my name because i had one but i i got in a car accident and so i just got me a beater and then later on her so this this is your car and your girlfriend's driving your car fiance yeah right okay well let's just treat this right i mean let's keep it let's keep the stuff. It's not ours until we're married, because there is no us until we're married financially or legally. So we've got to get that straight.
Starting point is 00:08:30 But, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, let's get in attack mode and knock those two things out and then knock the fadet out after you get married. Yes, you need to move out. This is The Ramsey Show. you've got a lot on your plate a job your home your marriage and your growing family while you're enjoying the present you can't help but think about your future and your finances. As you explore your options, consider Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, for your health care. Their generous maternity program and budget friendly monthly programs have been a blessing to members welcoming children into their families. Visit chministries.org slash budget to see if it's right for you.
Starting point is 00:09:23 Christian Healthcare Ministries is a Ramsey Trusted Provider. so let me ask you a question when you think of a millionaire what kind of job do you picture them having maybe they're an nfl star or a high-powered executive in the corner office. Well, here's the thing. Only 15% of millionaires only have jobs like VP or CEO executive jobs. The reality is the top five careers for millionaires in America are number one, engineer, number two, accountant, number three, teacher, number four, manager, which would include CEO or VP. And attorney. And that's just one of the many surprising things our team found
Starting point is 00:10:31 when we conducted the largest study of millionaires ever done in North America. Huge study, airtight research. They talked to 10,000 millionaires to find out who they really are and how they really achieved that goal. The study also made it clear that one way to become a millionaire, you've got to invest steadily, wisely, consistently. And a big part of that is getting good investing advice. 78% of the millionaires use an investing pro. You need to work with an investing pro who can help you walk with you and teach you about the options that are right for you.
Starting point is 00:11:07 You drive the bus, but they are the GPS. They show you where to turn. My team recommends trustworthy, vetted investing pros from all over the country. We call them SmartVestor pros. To get in touch with a SmartVestor pro in your area, go to RamseySolutions.com slash slash smart vestor and start building wealth today ramsey solutions.com slash smart vestor rachel is with us in new jersey hey rachel welcome to the ramsey show hey thanks so much for taking my call sure what's up so i'm struggling a little
Starting point is 00:11:42 bit right now with trying to figure out how to do a budget. Right now, my husband and I are both on board that we want to be debt free. But every time I bring up like Dave Ramsey or Financial Peace, it's kind of like your name is the curse word in our house a little bit. And so my husband is saying, you know, yes, we'll do a budget, but I don't want any part of it. Just tell me what the budget is and then I'll do it. And when I try and figure it out, I'm just so overwhelmed with trying to figure out what we have and what money is going where. So I just need a little bit of advice on how to tackle it head on and not be so overwhelmed and get us both on the same page?
Starting point is 00:12:25 Yeah, that's a great question, Rachel, because I think your circumstance is very normal. And I think naturally in any relational dynamic, there's going to be the one that's wanting it more than the other. I think that kind of just happens, right? There's one that thrives more in it than the other. But both working together and being on the same page can look a lot of different ways so there's a part of me that could see this going that yes you are overwhelmed but figuring out the numbers going back to last month's to your checking account pulling stuff getting all that yeah it's gonna take work and it's a lot like I totally I understand that but the part that I'm like, oh, about is that he's, it's not that he's saying, hey, once you do it, then I'll get on board because he's not even wanting to help in any
Starting point is 00:13:11 level of the process of wanting to help you. And that's where a little bit of the red flag goes up for me where I'm like, man, I wish he stepped in a little bit more on the logistical side because you're having trouble with it, right? So I think going to him and expressing, have you told him, like, have you said out loud, I am struggling with this, I need someone else to walk with me and help me with this? Yes, and what's frustrating is I'll say, hey, tonight can we set aside time to figure out a budget? And he'll say yes, and then we never end up being able to do it. Or I'll ask him like all right how much money do you think we're going to need for this this month and every month is I don't
Starting point is 00:13:50 know I can't predict an entire month of what I'm going to need and just tell me what the allowance is and then I'll spend it like I'm not going to fight you on it but I just feel like I can't figure it out on my own no absolutely and then that conversation, it's like you being his mom and telling him what he can do versus you guys being a team. So, yeah, for him, I want to know, what is it that makes him so reluctant? What is it that he, is he distracted? Is there other things going on? Is he stressed? Like, what's going on?
Starting point is 00:14:23 And I think a big part of it is he didn't have to do any of this growing up. Like he never knew how to pay bills and his mom did do everything for him. So trying to do a budget or anything financial just gets him so overwhelmed where he just shuts down and then doesn't want any part of it. And he's just like, oh, whatever. Tell me, tell me what to do, and I'll do it. But he's never had to have the responsibility of doing it on his own. How old are you guys?
Starting point is 00:14:51 28 and 29. How long have you been married? About three years. Okay. Well, I mean, what is his reaction? Why is his reaction negative to Ramsey things? Because you've used it as a weapon? I don't even know if it's been a weapon.
Starting point is 00:15:13 I think it's just... It just represents something he didn't want to fool with. Right. Okay. All right. Well, I think you separate the Ramsey stuff out from the discussion completely, because this is a marriage breakdown. You need your man to be a man. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:31 And by that, I mean he needs to be an equal partner where both of you are carrying the weight together. Not he needs to come in and save the day, or not he needs to do everything, and you just sit to the side and drink mint juleps. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about we have two grown adults that both have intellect, and we're both to the side and drink mint juleps. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about we have two grown adults that both have intellect and we're both carrying the weight and we're both making decisions together about our future. I don't want to be your mommy and tell you what to do. I want a man that will sit beside me
Starting point is 00:16:00 and we make decisions for the future together. So, Bubba, man up up that's really what this comes down to and if he if he can't get that message in some way or another gentle or blunt um i need you as my man to sit with me and help me do this and you just tossing it over and you tossing it aside makes me feel like you're tossing me aside that's a phrase you could use that's not threatening him or calling him out but i need you to be the man here i can't deal with you being a little boy and it's that too richard that you know the budget for me always represents other things right so for you wanting to do a budget it's because and i don't know what your why is, but is it because like, you know, there's a level
Starting point is 00:16:49 of fear that I just need to make sure like everything's going to be taken care of, that everything's okay. A level of, of that you feel out of control with money. And it's like, I have, I just, I want to control, like there's a why behind you wanting to budget and become debt free and all of these things um and expressing that why right because it's not really yes the budget is the example but what's hurtful in the situation is that you guys aren't a team and he's not hearing you and coming to the table so that's the issue right um to walk through and it's a hard one because that that opens up it's a marital issue at that point it's not a budget issue and and that's when let me get give you an example, okay? Do you all have children?
Starting point is 00:17:26 We do. We have two children. Does he do the same thing with the kids? No. For everything else, we've always been very in sync, but it's just something about... Both of you carrying the weight. Yeah, and everything has always been very... Then just use that as an example.
Starting point is 00:17:41 This is the one area of our marriage where I'm the only one doing the grown-up stuff. You're doing the grown-up stuff with me on everything else, and I need you to be the man and walk beside your woman, and we need to be making good decisions together on money like we do with the kids, like we do on other things. We're so in sync on other things. And there's a point, Rachel, too, that if money is not his strength, because that's more me in our marriage, which is so funny.
Starting point is 00:18:04 If it was up to me to literally make sure every single bill was paid every month, we may be late like one or two times. Like Winston is just good at it, right? Like he's just more naturally organized and all of that. So in our marriage, you know, now, I mean, it's been 12 years, but we, but we do the budget together. But beforehand, he would actually do it. So what your husband's saying, hey, you do the budget and then bring it to me and let's talk about it that's one thing because i think in marriage that's going to happen there's going to be one person that's just naturally good but you guys agreeing is what's key but what the problem here here right now is that you're stuck you can't even create the budget
Starting point is 00:18:36 because you need more help you need another brain in the situation so there's a lot of different angles here for sure yeah you just this is a communication marriage issue, and it happens to be around the subject of money and the budget. And if you'll treat it that way, I think you'll get a lot further. And bring a third party in if you need to. Yeah, if you have to sit down with a good marriage counselor or with a pastor, it won't hurt a thing. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Rachel Cruz Ramsey personality is my co-host today as we answer your questions about your relationships, your mental health, your money, your life, your careers.
Starting point is 00:19:51 It's what we do. Well, AP is reporting a record 31.5 million Americans plan to bet on this year's Super Bowl, according to estimates released Tuesday by the Gambling Industries National Trade Group. They're so proud. The American Gaming Association forecasted over $7.6 billion will be wagered on pro football's championship game set for Sunday. Both the amount of people planning to bet, up 35% last last year and the estimated amount of money being bet get this up
Starting point is 00:20:26 78 percent from last year are new records better to include people making casual wagers with friends or relatives entries into office pools wagers with licensed sports books and bets placed with illegal bookmakers americans have never been more interested in legal sports wagering, said Bill Miller, the president's group and CEO. Of course, he would say that. He said, well, true, that's true, by the way. I think he's right. When the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals begin the game Sunday evening
Starting point is 00:20:59 in the Rams' home stadium, 30 states plus Washington, D.C., will offer legal gambling. I'm going to be honest. Give me a game of craps in Vegas. And I'm like, there's a level of entertainment there for me. I just have zero. I don't understand the sports gambling world. There's nothing entertaining in like, I mean mean i guess there's like a socialized
Starting point is 00:21:26 way i just i genuinely i just don't i i don't know i just don't get it okay it says the girl who likes to play crap i know but for me i'm like there's like this there's this atmosphere there's i don't know something like about it but when it just comes to sports gambling i'm like i'm I'm going to Venmo money. I'm going to whatever. It's just there's nothing. I just don't understand it. So for me, you don't get gambling, period.
Starting point is 00:21:52 I don't bet because I don't like to lose. I'm too cheap. Yeah. But I think what happens is, I mean, even friends of mine, they'll make a friendly wager, not on money, but on something else. Like you have to wear the wrong jersey the next day or something like that it just makes you cheer for your team that much more and hate the other team more or whatever yeah you have the skin in the game in a sense yeah
Starting point is 00:22:15 you know it makes you pay attention more it's not just so quote it's not just uh casual viewing there right right uh and then of course the more you put on it the more intense uh you get there i suppose that would be the a reasonable theory by someone who doesn't do it we're probably the worst yeah we're the worst ones to comment on this but what but what what does occur to me is this is that you know we have a student loan crisis in america yeah but we have 7.6 billion dollars being bet on a football game. I mean that's insane. While somebody's kids aren't going to college. Right. Right. You know and there'll be people that lose their homes over this. There'll be people that that are you know way over the edge. I mean they're they've lost their minds. They're in a gambling addiction mode and I don't know
Starting point is 00:23:02 what the percentages are but it's a a problem and so i don't know what percentage of this is casual ten dollar well and fifty or hundred dollar betting versus somebody betting a hundred thousand or ten thousand that is you know they're betting their 401k or something on a football game well and it's bizarre how much it's gone up though i mean yeah 78 about the amount of money because you think through well all you gotta do is watch if you've been watching football you know it's the sports betting has gone up because every commercial yes is fan duel and caesar and i see caesar one more time i'm gonna punch the guy but uh it's a horrible commercial but um but the uh the ads it's that
Starting point is 00:23:42 you know and if they're dropping that kind of money in that kind of venue on advertising, that means they're making money. Oh, my gosh. So the gambling industry is really good at sucking you into gambling. Yeah. And, you know, the idea that you're betting money while you're broke in debt, your kids don't have the college funded, you've got a car payment. That makes you look pretty stupid uh it's that makes you look pretty stupid yeah it makes you look pretty stupid and so that means there's a whole bunch of people i'm listening to us right now i just called them stupid you know i really did and
Starting point is 00:24:13 they are you are if you're doing well you're yeah you're not stupid but your activity's stupid this is stupid idea um it's like a stupid idea to go buy a lotto ticket you know and now you you probably got a better actual probability of winning something here than you do with lotto, statistically speaking. Yeah, yeah. But not based on the fact that you're the world's best sports gambler. Because, I mean, I feel like our stance, or I'll just say my stance, is if you get to a point where you are gambling,
Starting point is 00:24:42 there's such risk involved that you have to be at a point. It's almost to me even like a Bitcoin conversation. Like if you are completely debt free, you have your emergency fund, you're funding your retirement, you're funding kids college, and you have a little small percentage of your world over here that you kind of. That you're willing to lose for the thrill. You could burn it and it doesn't affect you. You're willing to lose it for the thrill.
Starting point is 00:25:00 And it's there and that's where you're choosing to kind of entertain. Then, you know what? I mean, at that point, it's kind of like some people buy a boat some people buy whatever for for the recreation and this is recreational sure gaming at that point but yeah the amount of money and the amount of people 31 31.5 million americans are betting that's like everybody it's just a lot it's a lot you guys so where billion dollars is wagered that's i wonder why to the money so people people are willing to spend more right now in life anything i feel like whether it's houses or cars or travel or food like people are just well
Starting point is 00:25:40 inflation too but like people are just spending more. And there's still this effect of the pandemic, I swear, that 2020, you're all cooped up. 2021, you're still kind of walking on eggshells, but you're getting there. And it's almost like we hit 2022, and it's just like everyone's just screaming for normalcy again. And it's like all the pent-up tension still is being released in life and part of it. And I'm like, I just wonder if that's part of it too. Like the amount of the 78 percent more being bedded than last year that's so that's crazy yeah so i don't know
Starting point is 00:26:12 it's a it's a huge increase part of this though is the marketing and the advertising is driving it because they're talking people into betting yeah that never would have thought of it before second thing is there's a real get rich quick vibequick vibe going on in America right now. Yes, that's fair. This is a sense of a shortcut. I'm looking for a shortcut. I'm looking for a shortcut. I'm looking for an easy money. And, you know, the ultimate in arrogance is thinking you're going to win, you know, that you've got something figured out.
Starting point is 00:26:38 You've got an edge. You've figured out the pattern. You've figured out how this is going to work. Yeah. And that's just so laughable. Yeah. That, you know, I played the odds and I won the last five games, and so now I'm going to double down.
Starting point is 00:26:49 You know, yeah, that's just laughable. But the sad thing is in the wake of this, there's two types of people playing, ones that are going to lose everything. And I don't know what percentage that is, but we all know they're there. And with that kind of increase, you're going to see an increase in that ratio-wise, perception-wise. The next thing you're going to run into that's a lot more is that basically you have a lot of people who really don't have money to lose that are going to lose it. Meaning you lose $500 and you've got a car
Starting point is 00:27:25 payment you don't know that might lose yeah you lose 500 bucks and you're still sitting with a student loan or your kid student loan is or your kid student college loan college fund is not funded then you know you don't have money to lose and you know you're you're gambling away your family's good the prosperity of your family then and that's you don't have that much and and we know a large percentage of these people even casual batters yeah fall into that and so um you know it's just uh that there's some devastating numbers that that come out of this it's just the ripple effect of it i think the first time I saw this big time was when I was following the bankruptcy statistics so closely. This was 20 years ago.
Starting point is 00:28:08 The number one county for bankruptcy filing in the United States at that time was Shelby County, Memphis, Tennessee. And what happened was, and it had just erupted, it had just become that. It was the number four county or number five county before that, and it had become that. But it was tied to the fact that Tunica is just south of there, and the casinos had been put into Tunica. And a lot of lower-income people out of Memphis were traveling down to Tunica and losing what they didn't even have to lose. Well, same is true when Lotto gets placed into— Happened with Lotto as well, yeah. Yeah, the scholarship. We saw this direct correlation between the casino, the lower socioeconomic demographic,
Starting point is 00:28:49 and now a bankruptcy statistic that is number one in the nation. And this is the kind of study... It's a pain statistic. And that's what you're going to see around this. It's just sad. This is the Ramsey Show. Let's pray. Our scripture of the day, Proverbs 425, Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you. Albert Einstein said,
Starting point is 00:29:57 Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Boy, that's the truth. There's something to be said about moving forward. And that way there's a sense of something to be said about moving forward, and that way there's a sense of balance to things when you move forward. So do it. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Olivia is with us in Wisconsin. Hi, Olivia. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hi, Rachel. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I had a question about saving for my down payment on a house.
Starting point is 00:30:32 Currently, I've had a mutual fund for the past 10 years, and it's got about 50K in it. Should I keep putting money into my mutual fund and then use that for my down payment, or should I be putting it in something else? I plan on buying a house within a year. Within the year? I mean, how much do you need for the down payment? I'm not sure yet. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:31:03 I'm trying to get the biggest down payment possible good for you it's great i mean i just piled in that mutual fund when you get rid of my house just case a mutual fund out okay um is the mutual fund been pretty stable okay it's been getting about like 20 percent i think that's pretty stable yeah that's pretty stable um what fund is it what fund is it uh parnassus endeavor fund okay i don't know the fund okay doesn't mean anything because i don't know that many mutual funds. But, okay. Just what I would do is look at the track record of it and say, okay, out of the past 10 years, how many years has it lost money? How many years has it made money?
Starting point is 00:31:52 If it's lost money five of the 10, I might not put money in that. But if it's lost money one time out of 10 years, I'd go ahead and put money in it because your chances of losing very much is very low, and your chance of making some money is good. Okay. I also had another question on after I bought the house. So I had a discussion with my boyfriend, and my goal is to pay the house off in six years by the time i'm 30 but he thinks that we would just um do the 15 year fixed minimum payments and then just put money in mutual funds because um we'd earn more
Starting point is 00:32:36 money that way and i'm not sure whose idea is better okay let's start with there's not a we it's a you because you own the house he doesn't own the house right okay but then we can discuss the theory rachel yeah and the theory mathematically when you play it out olivia for sure can swing the way he's saying it mathematically but when you're just doing math you're not equating life and everything else that goes. So when something hits like a pandemic and you're sitting in a paid for home with money in the bank, you're going to be a lot less stressed than if you have a mortgage and all this other stuff attached to it, right? So the idea of paying off the home, there's an emotional sense with it that when you pay it off, it frees up your income mathematically. So you can actually put more money in investments at that point.
Starting point is 00:33:28 But also you have a paid for house. When you don't have a house payment and you don't owe anyone anything, it changes your perspective. It changes your risk. And there's something about it. So mathematically, if you played out his theory all the way, possibly, but then you're adding in the risk and adding in the fact that you won't have a house payment that you can actually throw that mortgage payment back into investing. Jesse's with us in Knoxville. Hi, Jesse. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, guys. Thanks so much for taking my call. Sure. What's up?
Starting point is 00:33:58 So I'm currently attending an online school as an accounting major. I just started my third year, and I'm really not retaining anything. And I think it's mainly like the format of the classes because I'm not, you know, there's not a professor in front of me teaching. It's mainly videos and textbook readings. So my wife and I have kind of batted around the idea of me transferring to a college in the area. One that you're a big fan of. And we think that would help, but the main drawback to that is my tuition would go up pretty substantially. My tuition right now is pretty cheap. We can pretty much cash flow it.
Starting point is 00:34:40 But were I to transfer, it would go up by um, by about $5,000 a year. And I just don't know if that's a good idea. And I wanted your take. How much do you guys make, Jesse? What's your household income? Uh, about 60,000. Okay. I mean, the college investing, investing in education, all of that.
Starting point is 00:34:59 I mean, it's a, it's a debate people have. So, I mean, when, if you are, what you're going to college for is to learn a skill to go and make more money on the marketplace, right? So, if you're not learning where you are right now, then, yeah, I think that that's an issue because you're not going necessarily to get a specific diploma from
Starting point is 00:35:18 a specific school. It's just the fact that you want to be in-person learning. Is that right? Yeah. I just want to be able to retain information and learn. It's, yeah, pretty much. So your goal, though, is to become a CPA? Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Well, you're not going to pass the CPA if you haven't retained the information. That's a good point. And you're not going to move into that field if you haven't retained the information. So you've got to retain the information.
Starting point is 00:35:46 If this methodology isn't working, you have to try a different methodology. Now, it may mean it slows down how, as an adult learner, how long it takes you to get your accounting degree. It might take longer because you don't have the time because you're working extra job to pay cash for the extra cost of the extra tuition. But that's okay i would do that before i would waste my money because basically that's what you're doing now if you're not able to retain it um okay and and you know i i you know obviously university of tennessee as you're talking about there in knoxville is a great school both rachel and i graduated from there with four-year degrees mine was was in finance, and hers was in communication. So, you know, we're balls, and we're University of Tennessee fans. And I think it is a value of, you know, I think it's worth the money you spend
Starting point is 00:36:37 to get an accounting degree at any state school, including University of Tennessee. And it's right there in your neighborhood. You don't have anything. Now, you may have to look at your career change. You may have to work some different jobs or extra jobs or something in order to be able to pay for it to go on through. The other thing you could do is there's other in-person learning in that community that's even cheaper.
Starting point is 00:36:59 I mean, Pellissippi's right there. And if I remember right, it's a community college and it's free. I didn't know about that. We've only lived here a couple months so i'm not super familiar check out pelissippi i believe is a community college and i believe community colleges are 100 funded in the state of tennessee now you can double check me on that okay but that's my understanding and i can't remember if pelissippi i don't think they've gone to a four- year yet so uh if there's another community college in the area you could consider that to get out to get some of your basic accounting under your belt even if you went over to ut to finish up your last two years or something like that um you could look at that angle but the online is the issue
Starting point is 00:37:38 and it depends on how these different colleges are reacting to covet as to whether they push you out of the classroom or not um and you And you're saying you're struggling to learn in the online setting. You're not retaining the information. So you're not to put yourself in a different setting somehow or another. But no, it's not justification to go into debt. There's another way to do it. And it's not super. $5,000.
Starting point is 00:38:00 You can come up $5,000 delivering pizzas, DoorDash, cutting grass. I mean, your wife nannying, tutoring. I don't know. Whatever it is000 delivering pizzas, door dash, cutting grass. I mean, your wife nannying, tutoring, I don't know, whatever it is you do. But there's all kinds of stuff you can do to add a little bit of income to your life and to your situation to make this dream happen. But it sounds like it's worth doing, Rachel. Yeah. Oh, I think so, for sure. And the fact you're not having to move or anything in Pell City, I didn't think about that, but the community college right down the road. I know there's others in the area, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But to look at your options options but i think it's valid because if you're going to want
Starting point is 00:38:27 to go into a skill career specifically that's so tactical like accounting you gotta know you gotta what you're doing accounting that's right you know it's not it's not a subjective thing it's an objective thing it's very measurable that's what i was thinking i was like communications i can kind of copy it you kind of of BS your way through that one? I wouldn't say that, but I can figure out how to make it work. I don't know anybody who would do anything like that. Accounting, not as much. Now, Dave math accounting, I can do.
Starting point is 00:38:54 Ah, oh, he comes back to that. Bring it back. Comes back to that. Good job to the folks in the booth. Good job, Rachel. This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace,
Starting point is 00:39:08 and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, guys, this is James, senior producer for The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600 plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, head to theramseyshow.com.

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