The Ramsey Show - App - DAVE RANT: Don't Pick a School Based on How Pretty the Town Is! (Hour 1)

Episode Date: December 25, 2020

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Hey guys, this is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Dave and the team are out spending time with their families for Christmas, but we'll be live again soon. In the meantime, we've put together some of the best clips from the show for you to enjoy. You are listening to the best of The Dave Ramsey Show. Merry Christmas. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's The Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king,

and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. My co-host on the air today, Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey personality. We'll be taking your calls about your life and your money. Phone number 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Renee's in Texas. Hi, Renee. How are you?

Hi. Good. Thank you for taking my call. How are you all? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm a little nervous, a little embarrassed, but I need your expert advice. I've been listening to you for years.

I am close to retirement age, 10 plus years, and I only have 50 grand in an IRA. I have a teenager. I'm unemployed right now. I was a substitute teacher until COVID-19. And I would like to invest in real estate to build, to have a sustainable income, a continual residual income, but also build that retirement portfolio as well or build that retirement account. The investment opportunity I'm looking at is going to cost $1,500. That's not a lot, but I just want to know if that's a good move, is real estate a good move for what I want to do. You're not buying real estate for $1,500.

You're buying a class on how to get into real estate investing for $1,500? Yeah. Yeah. No. Not a good move. I don't want to burst your bubble or spoil your dream. But get rich quick in real estate is mythology. I did it.

I got rich, and I lost everything because I used the exact formulas that those bozos teaching that class are going to teach you. So, and I don't even know which bozo it is, but there's a bunch of them out there. And 100% of the nothing down real estate guys after one

decade or less are broke. I've never seen one make it long term, and i've known all of them for decades i've known all of them i want you to own real estate if that's your goal but really real owning real estate's not your goal what your goal is is you're scared because you don't have any money and you're trying to make some money quick. And as soon as I get desperate is right when I get stupid. And that's where you're walking here, kiddo. So I would not do this.

No, I would back down, and I would say, I'm going to work on my career, and I'm going to focus. I've got 10 years. You're only, what, 50-something years old? Yeah. 55, 54, what? 57. Yeah, 54, what? 57. Yeah, 57.

So what do you do for a living? Oh, you were a substitute teacher, but now you're unemployed. Unemployed people don't need to be buying real estate. Real estate will make you broke when you're a broker. That's why they call them brokers. No, that's a bad place to be when you're broke. It's a game that you need some cash rolling around in order to not get bit in that world. And I know from personal experience and I know from having walked through thousands and thousands of cases over 30 years of people that do this stuff.

And so instead, what you what you're going to have to be, you cannot be. You remember the old story, the tortoise and the hare? You're feeling like I hadn't got enough time left, so I've got to be the hare. But every time I read that book, the hare loses. And you've got to go to a slow and steady mindset, and really what you've got more than anything is a career crisis. You're starving to death as a substitute teacher. And so we've got to get your career up and going.

I'm going to send you a copy of Ken Coleman's book, The Proximity Principle, and we're going to pay for you as a single mom to go through Ramsey Plus for an entire year. So you get in there and you learn how to handle money and you get your career up and going and you'll solve all this problem without having to dive into a pool hoping that that there's you know it's like grabbing at last straws and that's that's the that that's what's happening down inside of you is causing you to do this i got this a neat ringside seat to a my mom was a stay-at-home mom she had a tiny sewing business every once in a while i wouldn't call it a side hustle it was a half of a side hustle and then took one community

college class at the age of 42 took one and then she took one the next semester and she took one and my stay-at-home mom turned herself into a the the controller at a company that doesn't exist anymore we called it uh enron back in the day and now um at 57 she graduated phd and started teaching college classes and now she's a department chair at age 70 that's 15 years yes and so there's this idea that in 57 i'm done and i've watched this woman have it used to be 17 xanax get on an airplane and of course i'm i'm poking fun at my mom and now she flies all over the world teaches classes at oxford and ireland she had this whole second half of her life that started at 57 years old, and it's still going strong, still going strong. And so you can make those decisions, these no more decisions or these let's just go get it done right now decisions, and you carve your own path, and it's a beautiful, radical, cool thing to watch.

It's inspiring. But it is not a get rich quick. Take this pill this weekend for $1,500, and you're going to have a Jack and the Beanstalk experience. Because that doesn't happen. Doesn't exist. The problem with the Beanstalk is there's giants up there. That's right. And you work and you work and you work and you work.

Yeah. There's no shortcut to any place that's worth going. Beverly Sells. Hold on and Kelly will pick up and we'll get you a copy of Ken's book as well as a one-year subscription to Ramsey Plus. And we'll walk with you and help you do something else. And see, I didn't charge you a thing for that. It was all free for you.

Did you notice the difference? There's a difference. Rachel's with us in Wisconsin. Hi, Rachel. How are you? Hi, I'm good, thanks. Thanks for taking my call. Sure, what's up? My Hey, I'm good. Thanks. Thanks for taking my call. Sure.

What's up? My question is more for Dr. D. So I am looking for some advice on how to work on my social anxiety. So whenever I'm the center of a conversation, I break out into a rash, my heart rate goes up, and it gets hard to take deep breaths. So I don't shy away from opportunities where I have to present or anything like that, but I feel like it's just extra hurdles for me to kind of handle as I'm doing that. Where's that from? I don't know.

I feel like I've had that for as long as I can remember. So do you get red neck when everybody looks at you? Your neck breaks out red? I've got several people in my family that that happens to when the conversation turns to them. That's different than being a redneck. That's exactly right. It's the front of your neck, not the back. It just changes colors. Is that you, Rachel? Yep, that's right. So here's the thing. You nailed it not the back. It just changes colors. Is that you, Rachel?

Yep, that's right. So here's the thing. You nailed it, and you are ahead of the game. This is an extra hurdle, and it's going to be an extra hurdle, and the only way through this is one ugly, grindy tortoise in the hair is you've got to practice. You've got to put yourself in situations where you have to practice, and over time your body will stop responding in fight or flight

and you will nail these presentations. That's a great question. Kudos to you for grinding through it, for putting yourself in those positions. I'm proud of you. That takes bravery. And the weird thing is, is you'll build your competence and your confidence. And then you'll be unstoppable because you'll have empathy. This year has been unpredictable. Well, that's an understatement, but make this Christmas and New Year's your time to save money and give your loved ones gifts that will teach them how to make a plan for their money and their future.

Our famous $10 sale is ending soon. This is your last chance to choose from over 40 of our most popular books, audiobooks, and more, all for just $10. Get my number one best-selling book, The Total Money Makeover. It's helped millions get out of debt. Or invest in yourself and learn what it takes to build wealth with Chris Hogan's number one national bestseller, Everyday Millionaires. For a limited time, you can pick up Debt-Free Degree by Anthony O'Neill in the $10 sale so your teens can learn to go through college without student loans. Shop our famous Christmas $10 sale so your teens can learn to go through college without student loans. Shop our famous Christmas $10 sale before it ends at our online store at DaveRamsey.com or call Ramsey Concierge Team at 888-22-PEACE.

888-227-3223. you're listening to the best of the dave ramsey show we'll be back soon with more live content ken coleman ramsey personality my co-host today here on the dave ramsey show chris is in california hi chris how are you hey i'm good how are you guys doing better than i deserve what's up man nice uh well first i just want to say thanks for putting Financial Peace University together. My wife and I have been FPU coaches for about two years. Thank you. Yeah, I feel like if it wasn't for FPU, I probably would have had a much more difficult time with the virus and everything going on. So thanks for your wisdom and for the program. Well, thank you. How can we help today? Yeah.

So I have a career question for you guys. I am a software engineer, and a few years ago I took a class through my local government, and it inspired me to work as a computer scientist in the public sector, specifically in cybersecurity. In the industry, I see that a lot of the projects are top secret, so employees can't talk about the work. I've been able to meet some scientists over phone and email, but after a couple conversations, I usually get turned down for future chats or for mentorship. So I'm wondering if you'd have any thoughts on finding mentorship when the job itself makes that kind of tricky. Is that why they're turning you down? They feel like I can't go any further than a couple emails and phone calls due to the

nature of the work? I'm not sure. I believe I have most of the education and experience that they require for most of the jobs, but I feel like I just need to know more about the specifics of the industry to kind of push me over that line and actually become a more competitive candidate, if that makes sense. Yeah. Well, you've been able to walk away with some information. And so unless you know that they're saying, you know what, we can only do this much communication, and I don't think that's the case, then this is just a function of welcome to the journey, man. You know, some people are going to be willing to give more than others,

and some people, you know, just won't engage that much. And it's really about getting the attention of people that are making the hiring decision. Because I feel like you're a guy who's a little bit further along. You've got the education. You've got the requirements and the experience. Now it's just you're looking for a little bit of an edge. And I love your spunk. I love that you're getting after it. You're using the proximity principle, which says you've got to be around people that are doing what you want to do and be in places where that's happening.

And I think you just have to keep turning over rocks. There's no silver bullet answer here. But, again, we want to start moving towards the people that are the decision makers, number one. And then, number two, the way you do that is you're looking for your web of connections. Everybody that you know and you're starting to go, okay, do I have a one-to-one, a one-to-two, a one-to-three, a one-to-four connection to where we can get your name in the psyche in the form of a resume and a true recommendation from somebody that knows you or knows about you and is willing to say, let me tell you something, Chris is a sharp, sharp candidate. We need to be aware of him or we need to be looking at him for something specific.

So this is about really coming up with a map and then walking through it. Let me make sure I understand. Okay. You're currently a software engineer. Yeah. And you're wanting to move into cybersecurity. On the local government level, right? Yeah, so moving from the private sector into the into public why um

the pay is less feel it that's true i just it's it's funny i just feel almost kind of a calling to it like i just want to serve my country like in a different way i guess that's that's the only way i can describe it okay well i i think there's two different issues. There's cybersecurity and what you actually do tactically when you're doing cybersecurity that could very well be top secret, the actual function. You're not asking for mentoring in how to do cybersecurity. You're asking for mentoring in how to get involved in the business. I think so. That's different. You're not going there because they're not disclosing any top secret things

when they talk about how to get into cybersecurity on a public service basis. There's nothing in that that's top secret. How do I get your job? How do I get a job like yours? Who do I need to be around? Who's in this business? I've got these qualifications. What other qualifications do I need? None? How do I get a job like yours? Who do I need to be around? Who's in this business? I've got these qualifications. What other qualifications do I need?

None of that's top secret. Now, maybe what they do with some of their knowledge might be top secret on a daily basis, but you're not trading lines of code here. No. And again, that person is more willing to mentor you or at least inform you if there's a personal connection. And it seems like he's just really hustled. He's reached out a few people, and he got to a certain point, and then he hit a lid. Well, again, the lid is removed.

If I say to Dave, hey, Dave, I want to talk to somebody about this, this, or this, and Dave goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know a guy. Let me send a connector email, and that person is going to be more likely to spend an hour with me based on your recommendation. Taylor's in Pennsylvania. Hi, Taylor. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave and Ken.

How are you guys? Great. How can we help? So I just had a question. I won about $800,000 on a game show. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't drive by that. You did what?

Come on now. I'm a big game show guy. Which one was it? Can you tell us? I'll say it's on NBC. Oh, well, that doesn't help me. All I can say. All right.

Okay, we get it. Way to go. Wow. $800,000. Yes. In cash. Never expected it. So we'll be receiving a check in about three to four weeks.

Nice. So it's going to be about probably about $500,000 after taxes. And as you can imagine, I would just love some advice on how much to gift to family and then how much to spend on a house. We're about to start baby step four. So I don't know if that changes anything. The first thing you need to do is double check, triple check your tax advice. Because my last memory of this subject might be a few years old, but I think there's a special tax

rate that's extra high for game show winnings. There is. So my accountant said it would probably be about close to $475,000, but I guess until we get more information on how it's taxed, that's the figure I was given. $475,000 after taxes? Yes. So they're taking almost half of it. Correct.

God bless the USA. Yeah. Come on our show. California's tax half of it. Correct. God bless the USA. Yeah. Come on our show. California's tax rate is high. Okay. So we've got $475,000 net of your dadgum thieving government. Okay. Yeah.

Unbelievable. And like they did anything to do this. Okay. That's so helpful. All right. So and then your first question is how much do I give the family? Well, probably very little to none. Why does family need any of this?

So, I went on with my grandmother, and my cousin is the one who applied, and it just ended up that I'm the closest with her, and they had asked if I could go on. So, I feel like everyone thinks they're entitled, and we do want to be a blessing to be generous. Why are they entitled? I think because, well, I think my mom thinks that because any of the other grandkids could have got picked, and I was the one that got picked, I think she feels like they should have something. Your mother spends a lot of time on guilt trips, doesn't she? I'm surprised that she

even said that she's so it's so unlike her i think she just feels like i'm going to be set for life and they're 475 don't set you for life darling so it's like it's a lot of money but you're not set for life all right dave this is this this is messy so let me make sure i understand so that your cousin is it was your cousin's idea to sign you up or your grandmother up? My grandmother up. She's been wanting to go on, so he did the work to sign her up. And then for a situation, they had asked if I could go on. He doesn't live around here. So did you and your grandmother compete together, or was it just you?

Yes. Me and my grandmother. So you and grandmother both competed. Did you each get $800? Yes. Well, yeah, grandmother's got her 1.6 split so okay grandmother's got hers if she wants to give some to her grandkids she can yeah correct not your you got no obligation here this is a weird family let grandmother take care of cousin eddie and you take care of you what kind of what kind of house you want to buy well how

expensive is this you need to get you a house yeah and you know we are in a house now but we're outgrowing it and it's um probably worth about 150 the house we had been looking to buy um it was about 320 and we were just hesitant on whether that was too much no write a check and pay cash for it. Are you getting any other debt? No. They're starting Baby Step 4, I recall. Yeah, that's right.

You're right. You did say that. This is phenomenal. Yeah, you're 100% debt-free, house and everything. Now, if you want to be generous with a little bit of what's left over, give somebody five grand or something out of this. That's fine. But you are not morally obligated to. You are not morally obligated to your entitled cousins. In other news, Dave,

I'm going to sign up for a game show. I'll be right back. Yeah, I will. There's more than signing up, Ken. You got to win. This is the Dave Ramsey Show, and you have to take your grandmother, too. We'll be back soon with more live content our question of the day is from blinds.com find out for yourself why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal. So you're not going to read the question? Unbelievable. Read it.

Just read it. Okay. Questions from Daniel in Florida. My wife and I use the EveryDollar app consistently. You're the EveryDollar girl. What do we do with extra money left over at the end of the month in a specific line item category? For example, we budget $125 for electric bill and it ends up running $107. Do I chuck that extra money into savings or put it towards debt or use it for fun money i've noticed that i will have an extra 150 to 200 in extra money

uh in categories we over budgeted because we don't spend all the money so what would you do i don't know you just called me out in front of america i didn't really even hear the question okay hold on okay so they budget 125 for bills. Okay, so they have extra money coming in. They have extra money that they don't spend in all the categories. Electric bills instead of $107, $125, what do you do with the difference? Yeah, throw it towards your baby steps is what we do. Yeah. So if you have debt, throw the extra at the debt.

If you're building up your emergency fund, throw it to the emergency fund. Now, if you're in baby steps four through seven, this is where you can kind of be like, you know, we could put that somewhere. I mean, you could put it in fun category. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But if you're in baby steps one through through 7, this is where you can kind of be like, you know, we could put that somewhere. I mean, you could. You can put it in fun categories or the entertainment category. But if you're in Baby Steps 1 through 3, definitely apply it to the Baby Steps. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

So basically, though, as you're doing your every dollar budget, what happens is that when the real bill comes in versus the allocated amount, then you make the adjustment in your every dollar budget. And you say, okay, 107 is the real electric bill not 125 and so i've got that difference and i'm going to pull that difference and put it over in another category and every dollar budgeting app makes that easy to do yeah absolutely you're reconciling your budget to reality as you go along yes and every dollar helps with the math i mean it keeps showing you what you have now that's a great situation when the every dollar budget when it comes in less than what you allotted. The worst is when you decide to turn on your irrigation,

and you get your water bill the next month, and it's a little... Is this something that happened to somebody I know? I don't know. I'm not saying... You turned on the irrigation, and the water bill was high? Yes. Yeah?

Yeah, I know. We didn't really account for it in the every dollar budget. So when we got our water bill this month, it was like... So it was the other way around. It was the other way around, which hurts. Because then you've got to go lower all these other categories. And you're like, dang it. The grass is greener on the other side.

It costs money. Man, yeah. It's just having to cut things. I mean, that's what I'm saying, though. It's like, well, when you budget, though, that's a real thing. Stuff shows up. You feel it. You really do.

What happens is reality starts hitting you in the face instead of you being able to ignore it. Yes. And then you think. Happens when you do a business budget, too. Yeah, 100%. So, anyways, when you have more money left over, that's the fun part of budgeting because you have more money to spend. But when bills come up a little bit higher, you've got to reconcile it. But it's worth it because then you know, I mean, we have the money for it.

And so we're just going to have to switch other categories, lower other ones. Got a way to go. That's exactly right. So the self-study course for teenagers at home, sort of a homeschool study edition of our high school curriculum, if you will. No instructed needed. You can teach your kids how to handle money. So when they're grown, they can leave and pay their irrigation bill

so uh right now our self-study course is at a deal uh go to daveramsey.com slash self-study and learn all about the different courses available for middle school students and high school students so that your kids can have a sense of confidence. What happens when someone's a teenager and they go through this high school curriculum, whether it's at home or in the classroom, their confidence level about existing in the real world increases? Because there's a lot of fear looking at the real world and not knowing if I can make it. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Well, it's so many unknowns. And so when you unpack it, especially the money part, which I feel like that curriculum does a really great job giving those students what they need to know. And it's all common sense. Like these, they're going to learn things for sure. But overall, they're getting ingrained that this is the wisest way to handle your money. Things like live on less than you make. If you don't have the money, don't buy it. Those type of things.

It creates forced conversations with your teenagers. Yeah. That you might not have had otherwise. Like, work is where money comes from, not entitlement. DaveRamsey.com slash selfstudy. Check it out. Paige is with us in Abilene, Texas. Hi, Paige.

How can we help? Hi, Dave and Rachel. Thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So I'm 21 years old, and I'm about to graduate from college in May. And I've been fortunate enough to have a good job while I've been working my way through school. And I'll be graduating debt free. And I've also accumulated about fifty thousand dollars at the time when I graduate.

So my question to you is, how'd you do that? So I ended up working full time in school. I was working for one of the major cell phone company providers, so they ended up paying me both hourly and commission, so that was really helpful. And you were good at it. You're a good salesman. Okay. And where did you go to school? So I go to Abilene Christian University.

Okay. And you paid cash for it? Yes, sir. You're incredible. Proud of you. And you have $50,000 left over in your questions. What? So I'm just curious as to what is the best way that I should spend the money.

I was considering maybe putting it as a down payment on a house, but I'm not sure if that's the right decision just with me being pretty young. Yeah, Paige, this is, number one, a great conversation. It's usually the complete opposite of what we're getting when, when you, when there's a college student, usually, you know, obviously there's tens of thousands of dollars of student loans. So the fact you have 50 grand saved up, I would, I would not rush to throw it at a house right now. I would just kind of pause, let this life transition happen. After you graduate from college in May, see what, see what you want to do. Where do you want to go what see what you want to do where do

you want to go where do you want to live and that's that transition between college and the real world can be a very expensive one and so having that cash available not to rush that you feel like you have to spend it have it there and then once you settle down yeah when you get a couch that's a non-college couch they cost more that is true so yeah true didn't come from a didn't come from a craigslist a craigslist yeah or a garage sale couch right so uh they do cost more and not not that you're going to blow the whole 50 grand on consumer items but rachel's right getting settled into quote the uh the the big girl job and the adult job and all that kind of stuff and settle down down, get in your own place, get settled. Let's do that and take 24 months.

You'll be 23, and let's see what life's handing you then, and I think you'll make a much better decision on buying a house. Okay, Paige, can I interview you for like two seconds while I have you on the phone? Sure. Okay, so how much is your tuition a year? So before scholarships, I think usually it's supposed to be about $37,000, but I've been able to get some scholarships, and I think it's down to about $16,000 a year, and then my company, they actually give me $5,000 a year in tuition reimbursement, so I've been out of pocket

about $6,000 a year. And what were your scholarships in? They were just some academic scholarships, and then I also got some from the College of Business where I'm doing my degree. How many scholarships did you get, and how many did you apply for? So I applied for quite a few. I applied for all the university scholarships, and I wasn't able to apply for them until my second year. And then once I got those, I ended up getting quite a bit more in scholarships, and I even had one semester that was completely paid for just by the scholarships that I received. And then how many hours are you working a week, Paige? It kind of varies, but usually I'm working about 35 hours a week.

Okay. And carrying a full load and graduated in four years. Yes, sir. I'll be getting my master's. I thought people died if they did that. I thought that was child abuse. I'm being sarcastic. Definitely wasn't easy, but yeah.

It was not easy, but graduating with $80,000 in student loan debt and no money in your pocket ain't easy either. No. You're a rock star. Amazing page. Well, I just wanted to say it out loud for America to hear, because it is possible. I get pushback all the time when I talk about going to college debt-free. You want me to say pushback?

Go read my Instagram comments right now after I posted this. The federally insured student loan program is stupid, and it needs to stop now. We the people need to quit letting Congress insure loans in our name to put young people so deeply in debt they can't breathe. I'm not against education. I'm against stupidity. All the comments are, so you don't want people to go to college. You can't afford college. You old man, you don't know anything about the cost of college.

The comments are full of stupid people. And there is a rock star right there who just did it. That's what I'm saying. Pretty freaking amazing. You shouldn't comment on Instagram if you're stupid. Okay. Their comments are stupid. They are not stupid.

Yes, both. Both would be true. Both would be true. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. you're listening to the best of the dave ramsey show we'll be back soon with more live content we were rudely interrupted by the network's need to make a profit around here with those commercials and so i want to continue that discussion. The answer to the equation is simply this, okay? Young Page is an absolute rock star and is an example of thousands of people that we have met over the years that have gone to college debt-free, okay?

Now, what do we tell people anthony o'neill's book debt-free degree covers this and the first thing that you have to do is you have to stop saying to yourself and for sure to your young people america that the only way to go to college because college is so expensive that you only way to go to college is a student loan and to do away with a student loan debt program would mean to do away with education which is absolutely asinine and wrong so you have to stop saying that first and then how could you say that well you can say that with the proof that's in the pudding and the elements that you need to do to go to college debt-free

are scholarships it's what she's doing well it's choosing a school you can afford first and foremost um scholarships and grants working i mean there's there's there's many elements but i think that that very first step though well the one before that one was that you have to decide yourself i'm not going to do this like i'm not going into debt for it. So now what are my options? And when you do that, then reality starts to play in. Okay, maybe I go to a community college for the first year or two.

My school selection is key. Maybe you stay in state and go to a public university. Paige still freaking went to a private school, $37,000 a year, but had the scholarships to do it and worked and paid for it. She never paid $37,000.

No. She chose her school based on where she could get scholarships and that she could afford it. So you go to a school that's doing that, Abilene Christian in this case, which I've got a good friend that graduated from there, a couple of them, matter of fact, and you also can go to an in-state school. You also can go to a community college, and you don't have to go across state lines and pay three times the tuition for basically the same education because you went across the state line now some adjoining states sometimes will give you in-state tuition because

they're trying to attract students across the state line yeah um and particularly students with good grades now the other thing was she had good grades. Let me tell you also what else she had. Great parents. You know how I know she had great parents? She's articulate and poised and confident. She is working hard, 35 hours a week. She did her studies when she was in high school and wasn't turned out to run loose in anarchy.

We know that because she got academic scholarships. Okay? You don't get those without putting in the work. They don't look at people and go, oh, you're smart. They go, you did the work and you got the grades. And you're smart. That's how academic scholarships happen. So there was discipline in that household.

Yeah, absolutely. And to her credit, I'm like, she's 21. She's a rock star. And just absolutely killed it. So it is. That's why I wanted to keep her on the phone. Because I'm like, it's just proof. Like, this shows you.

It's stories we hear all the time. But not everyone hears them. So when you have someone like that on the phone, you're like, okay, tell me exactly what you did. What was your situation? Because, oh, my God. And I honestly thought she was going to go to a public school. Most people that work their way through. So she even went to a freaking private school.

Thirty seven thousand dollars a year and still did it with scholarships. And never paid more than 16. It's amazing. Never paid more than 16 for the 37. That's the deal. She worked them because they wanted her there. And you believe me, if you're a college, you want paid people like Paige there. Yeah, they work at getting you there so parents parent these are 18 year olds 17 year olds 15

year olds that are preparing for college they need to get their little butts in gear and get ready and not wander out half drunk out of their senior year trying to figure out what well i just want to go to college like the guy called me up he's like i don't know what i'm gonna do my daughter told me she's going to this expensive school and i'm like well see that's where you get confused in my household my teenagers didn't tell me stuff i told them stuff my daughter told me where she's going with my money how's that work that don't work and so you know we didn't do that at our place you know we didn't i mean we discussed it. We had a conversation, but we all kind of knew where you were going to school in state where we could pay for it and pay cash for it and not overpay for it.

And, you know, the young lady had called me up a few months ago from South Carolina. She wants to go to Ole Miss and pay five times, four times the tuition because she's out of state instead of going to South Carolina in state. Why? I asked her the houses around omis it's such a pretty town it is very pretty no it's a pretty town you're killing me here oxford isn't it oxford it's a gorgeous town and for a few hundred dollars you can visit once a year and stay a week. I know, I know. You don't have to pay five times or four times the tuition to go out of state. Dumber than a rock. Unbelievable.

Now, though. And I'm paying the bill because she got a federally insured student loan insured by a taxpayer. But if a South Carolina girl wanted to go to old miss and she had scholarships and had the money to go go you're not mad that go but please don't make your decision based on how pretty the town is geez it's not how you pick your education that's just not good critical thinking skills i went this is not an art class oh my god it's an education study oh because well okay it's it's an anathema to me that we don't think about education i know but listen this is where this is where your point about the parents being parents is huge because what your 18 year old sees their perspective is right here right

their perspective is who's going to what school are they going to do a for a sorority or fraternity are they doing an immigrant like Like that is their world. And you, parents, are decades ahead of them. And so to bring that reality to the 18-year-old is what is key. So yes, you're not picking a school based on how pretty the town is. You're not doing it based on friends. It is what is smart financially and where you can get a good education if you're paying for it. So doing all that because what's going to happen is that 18-year-old's perspective is going to go through four years,

five years of school, hopefully four if they do it in time. And then they're going to be five years out looking back and have zero, one year out.

No regrets. The people that we share the regrets from are the 18-year-olds who didn't have conversations with their parents. They really just signed up for whatever school

they wanted to sign up for. Then they're a year out with tens of thousands of dollars of student loans that they're having to pay back and they're not able to do things that they want to do they're stuck because of that so it is completely frozen it's all they see so her seeing the pretty town that's all she sees so like having people in her life who i'm sure you did on the call from i was nice i was nice i was i was i had to breathe but i was not but it's true but like that's the thing

it's like and I even learned in a book recently I'm going to totally butcher this so all you psychologists out there can correct me but even like the frontal lobe of your brain

like fully does not become mature until like 25 or something so they're making they're making these decisions that are going to affect them for so long and so that's what you have to look at

you are a loving parent by having these conversations and talking about them. Here's one. Okay. Out of all the successful people I know, and I am privy to run around with some uber successful people, I have never met a soul that said, I am successful because I graduated from a college that I followed my girlfriend to. Not once.

I selected the college I'm going to based on my girlfriend is going there. And that led to my success in life. I'll go a step further. You have probably never met someone that says I am successful because of where I went to school. Even that's true. That's true. But they often tell stories, you know, when you get a little older of regret for the stupid butt stuff that we have all done. Yeah.

And I've got a Ph.D. in D.U.M.B. I've got a whole list the stupid butt stuff that we have all done. Yeah. And I've got a PhD in DUMB. I've got a whole list of stupid butt stories of things I've done. But following your girlfriend to college would be on the list. You don't go to college because your girlfriend is going there. I'm sorry. Unless you can pay for it. Even if you can pay for it. This is not a recreational activity it's an

education it's an education this is not how you select your field of study and the place that you're going to do it and what you're going to pay for it and this is how we have a student loan crisis is we're financing this crap the number of people when we did borrowed future that we interviewed for that podcast that used their student loans to buy cars while they were in college was innumerable. Yep, for sure. It was unbelievable. Well, the amount of money that goes to lifestyle is, yes, I know. They live in an apartment with a skylight and a jacuzzi, and they play beer pong on

their time off on my nickel because I guaranteed these student loans because I'm an idiot as a taxpayer, and I allowed Congress to continue to do this. This is who we're guaranteeing loans for. I'm not arguing. Just nutty. Nuttier than a fruitcake. So go to a college you can afford. Work.

Work. It's not a dirty word. It's not a four-letter word. You're not going to die from it. Right before you die, you'll pass out. Work. It's okay. Work. Work. Go to a, you'll pass out. Work. It's okay. Work. Work.

Go to a college you can afford and get scholarships. Parents, parent. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. This is James Childs, producer of the Dave Ramsey Show. On your smart speaker, you can add our skill by saying alexa open the ramsey network skill from there you can listen to all our shows ask dave money questions like how do i invest my money or what is the debt snowball find out more at daveramsey.com smart speaker