The Ramsey Show - App - DAVE RANT: Normal Is NOT Excellent! (Hour 1)

Episode Date: December 24, 2020

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality, is my co-host this hour the phone number is 888-825-5225 that's 888-825-5225 chris i was looking at the statistics on the show and uh we not only have listeners that have been with us on radio and podcast and youtube for many many years in some
Starting point is 00:01:06 cases decades but we've got a new batch coming in almost daily the numbers on the podcast and youtube growth and our ratings on radio are all skyrocketing and um so it occurs to me that occasionally instead of just answering questions we have to stop and go, you know, we teach some pretty basic stuff here. And yet it always it was the first time I got hate mail from somebody saying that I was crazy and that you shouldn't cut up your credit cards and that you should you don't need to live on a budget and whatever. I was kind of tickled because I thought, you know, that's just weird. I never thought you would talk about helping somebody with their money and you'd get hate mail. Oh, yeah. But we can bail our freaking hate mail around here.
Starting point is 00:01:54 I use it for kindling in the winter. I mean, it comes in by the bushel. And certainly those of you that without any backbone at all don't sign the letters, of course. And we don't answer hate mail we answer other letters but and you know and of course digital world you can you can say anything you want to say behind an avatar because you're a complete wuss and so people say all kinds of crazy stuff but what what all that outlines is not that we're thin-skinned and we don't that we don't we don't love criticism but but any time you stand for something, it immediately means that you stand against something else.
Starting point is 00:02:31 That's right. It's philosophically, theologically impossible to not pick a fight when you stand for something. Right. Even though you weren't trying to pick a fight, it's not what you're trying to do. But when we say, listen, don't be normal normal normal is broke 78 percent of americans live paycheck to paycheck you always talk about driving down your street right that's right and you can see this dave and and you think about it you know when i first joined i have to haven't been in the in the former industry of banking i was in shocking yeah you. Yeah, you come over and I would hear you talk about stats,
Starting point is 00:03:05 but you talked about them in the way that it was representing individuals and families. And so when you hear 78% are living paycheck to paycheck, I tell people, think of 10 of your friends. Now, some people don't have 10, borrow two from somebody, but think of 10. That means eight out of the 10 of your friends are living paycheck to paycheck. And you bring it closer to home, you think of 10 family members. 10 people on your street. 10 houses on your street. Anywhere you go. In any neighborhood.
Starting point is 00:03:34 Yes. Not just the big houses. In any house. And so as I hear that and the teaching got more and more personal for me. Because now when I hear those stats, I think of family members. I think of people. And so, you know, it is. Here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:03:51 If you keep doing what you've been doing. Yeah. Duh. You're going to keep getting what you've been getting. If you plant corn, don't be shocked. The corn grows. Yeah. If you plant nothing, don't be shocked that you have a
Starting point is 00:04:07 dirt farm yeah i mean why would you be shocked but we're always like we you know like we keep using the same recipe wanting chocolate cake it always turns out vanilla change the recipe you know so quit doing the stupid but stuff that gave you mediocre or bad results in your life and that's what happened to me i went broke and i said this doesn't work this crap that i've been taught and that the culture believes that you borrow your way into prosperity is absolutely moronic yeah it's ridiculous whether it's good debt david mc doesn't understand no you don't understand you're an idiot we've got this figured out when you don't have any payments it is the shortest path to wealth why is this hard no well and you told me what's the percentage of
Starting point is 00:04:51 homes dave to get foreclosed on that are paid off zero yeah we did detailed research research and so i think american express calls my house it's a wrong number oh yeah there's no business there none you know i don't have i don't have american distress no but here's the thing dave when you start to go against the norm people are going to have opinions people are going to have opinions so listen what we're telling you folks is this if your broke friends are making fun of your new ramsey financial plan that means you're on track yeah i mean if fat people are making fun of your diet it means you're on track you know it's just seriously think about it normal is not excellent that's right normal sucks
Starting point is 00:05:35 normal is you live paycheck to paycheck your whole life and you hope the government which is well known for its ability to handle money will take care care of you. That's dumber than a rock. It is. And, Dave, according to this, listen, the extra 600 people who have been getting on unemployment is running out next month. Ding, ding. Your comfort zone is gone. So what are you going to do? The Calvary's not coming out of Washington, D.C.
Starting point is 00:05:58 Turns out you are responsible for you, and you can do this. Is it easy? No. Oh, Lord, no. It's not easy. It's hard. And it's not always fun excellence is never easy yeah yeah mediocrity is always easy yeah losing is easy quitting is easy laying down is easy getting run over is easy yeah pushing back and saying not me it's for me in my house we're not doing it this way. Yeah. We're going to save money.
Starting point is 00:06:27 We're going to be outrageously generous. We're going to live on a plan. And if you want to make fun of your auntie's own budget, he can't go out to eat. Well, kiss my butt. My kid's college fund is funded. That's right. I mean, really. How you like me now?
Starting point is 00:06:38 Yeah. You know? You've got to be more concerned about your future than you are somebody else's opinion. Because I got to tell you, when you're 74, they ain't going to be standing there feeding you they're not gonna protect you and you're absolutely right and so that was the power of the what now event that we did that visceral moment of never again i'm gonna tell you my social media lit up i had friends reach out and they said you know what you dave and rachel shook my cage they said, we said, our spouses together, they said, we said never again. And it was just this thing. And if you all haven't seen it, you need to tap into it.
Starting point is 00:07:12 You need to go watch it because it was America's wake-up call. I'm going to tell you. So when you start getting out of debt and you're living on a budget and you're walking the baby steps and you're building your emergency fund and you are doing this and you are doing that. They're smart things with money. You're agreeing on your spouse. You're slowing down.
Starting point is 00:07:31 You're not acting like a four-year-old on the cereal aisle. I deserve it. I'm entitled. You're not entitled. You're just a brat. You know, that's ridiculous. You're entitled to nothing unless you killed it and drug it home. That's what you're entitled to.
Starting point is 00:07:44 That's it. And even then you give half that to your governments for people that think they are entitled. So if you're doing these things, you 100% of the time are going to have people that don't understand your upcoming success. Yes. 100% of the time. These people are known as losers, and you need to spend less time with them. Because losers always tear down someone else's dream. Dave, it's the crab in the bucket.
Starting point is 00:08:11 Come on back down here with me. Stay in here. It's comfy. Yeah, don't let the other crab crawl out. Don't crawl out. You got to slap them. Yeah. Slap a crab.
Starting point is 00:08:20 Yeah. Climb. You forgot your upbringing. No, I didn't. You're dadgum right. I forgot parts of it. It sucked. Yeah, well, I left it behind.
Starting point is 00:08:27 That's right. I left it over there across the track. You can keep it. I'm grown. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Over the years, I've seen so many families suffer by not having life insurance. It's not that they didn't care, it's just that they didn't know, so they did nothing. That's a huge mistake.
Starting point is 00:09:10 Listen, husbands and wives, moms and dads, think about it. If you died, how would your family pay the bills, the mortgage, food, and plan for a better future? This is what life insurance is all about, and term life is the only way to go. It's not expensive and it's not complicated. Stop wasting money on cash value plans. You need 10 to 12 times your income in protection, and I recommend 15 or 20-year level plans. I also only recommend Zander Insurance, and I have for over 20 years.
Starting point is 00:09:41 These are the only people I personally use and they only offer the plans I recommend. Call them at 800-356-4282 or get instant quotes online at zander.com. Trust me, these simple steps will let your family know how much you care. you're listening to the best of the dave ramsey show we'll be back soon with more live content so you heard me giving away ramsey plus for a year during these crazy times this could be your never again moment. People change their lives when they say never again. Never again am I going to be at the mercy of fill in the blank. My own stupidity, global crisis.
Starting point is 00:10:39 Most people couldn't spell pandemic six months ago. And now we're all experts on it. Never again will you let the news cycle put you in a panic. And when you have the right plan, the right tools, the right teaching, you never have to question that again. That's what Ramsey Plus is. It's a brand new all-access membership to everything good at Ramsey. And here's what it amounts to. It's got all the teaching in it. You learn with Financial Peace University, the Legacy Journey, our other classes are in there. You learn to budget. You have the budget tool, the world's best budgeting tool, EveryDollar and EveryDollarSync,
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Starting point is 00:11:40 Taekwon is with us in Pennsylvania. Hey, Taekwon, what's up? Hey, how you doing, Dave? Better than I deserve, man. How can we help? Hey, so first off, I want to say I love what you do here. I love seeing how you give out such great knowledge to people and how you help them, because that's worth way more than money, you know what I mean,
Starting point is 00:12:00 talking to people and giving out what they need and the time they need. So I want to say I appreciate you for doing that for us. Thank you, sir. You guys are going on. Thank you, sir. So my predicament, I come from a generation of poverty, like a long line of poverty in the Philadelphia area. And that may be due to my family's lack of opportunities.
Starting point is 00:12:22 Like I'm the first one to go to college on my mom's side of the family even on my dad's side you know it's not a lot of money over there so yeah well you started what you're studying um biology i'm actually pre-med my aim is to go to medical school wow there you go you didn't just bust out you rocket shipped out right but fortunately i give that i give that thanks to my family because one thing about me is that I typically learn from other people. Like, I learned from someone else's mistakes before I bumped my head. Like, I have bumped my head a lot in my life, but the one thing I'll say is that my family has been a great example for me and, you know, helping me not make the same mistakes they have. So, fast forward a little bit, that led me to where I am today. So, I finished
Starting point is 00:13:05 my first year of college, and just so recently, I've been reading a lot of financial books. So, a lot of my financial goals and a lot of my bad learned financial behavior has been overcome, but where I'm at right now is, I want your advice of what you would do in my position. Now, another blessed circumstance is, I over a little over $10,000 in my bank account. And, you know, I don't want to buy a car. I don't want to blow this on like fancy clothes and shoes. That's just not me. Like I'm already like mature on that level. But where I'm stuck at is I would want to know what to do, you know, because I don't really have those examples or those direct advisors in my family or around me to say
Starting point is 00:13:46 you know how to reach that next level of wealth so okay yeah well i gotta tell you you're an impressive young man tell you what man high five dude i appreciate it i'm honored to get to talk to you you're uh you're a stud man so the uh uh what i I have learned is I become who I hang around with. The Bible says, be not deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. And Charlie Tremendous Jones was an old motivational speaker back in the 60s, and he used to say, five years from today, you will be where you are because of the books you read and the people you meet.
Starting point is 00:14:26 You become who you hang around with. You talk like them. You walk like them. You watch what they watch. You read what they read. And you eventually begin to think like them if you're not careful. And so it's not to say you are ever snobbish. I'm always kind to anyone at any level or any station or whatever. But I need the guys that are close to Dave need to be doing stuff at or above the level that I'm doing it in their marriages, with their kids and grandkids, in their careers.
Starting point is 00:15:03 And so, you know, my 10 closest friends, you're going to be the average of them over the next decade. So be very intentional about who you surround yourself with, number one. And number two, there is technically, if we understand that you have already broken the cycle, right? How did you do that? You did that by adding knowledge into your life. You have information that you didn't have before, and it's caused you to make different decisions than you would have made just based on where you grew up. Me too. John too.
Starting point is 00:15:47 You know? The things that we learned on my street, some of them when I was growing up, some of those were really good life lessons and those were good people, but they would not have enabled me to run a $200 million company. And so for me to get to here, I had to expand my brain, my character, my capacity, my spiritual walk, and I had to be very, very intentional about that. And John had to be very, very intentional to get two PhDs as the son of a police officer. These are things similar to what you're striving towards.
Starting point is 00:16:20 And so you'll always honor your heritage. You'll always honor your mom and dad. But you don't have to emulate the negative decisions that they make or that the people that you grew up with make. I don't have to be like them in that regard. I always tip my hat to and honor where I came from. It's always going to be a part of me, and I'm proud of that. But there's parts of things I grew up with that I don't need to have anything to do with. They're just wrong.
Starting point is 00:16:51 And so that's how you break. The Bible says, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so what you're pouring into your brain is what matters. What advice would you give him? I mean, that's it. I think finding a group of people that you can, like you said, run with and emulate. And finding, you touched on it, Dave, but finding that balance between honoring where you came from, who you are, who your friends are. Taekwon, I'm still friends with the same dudes I grew up with on the same street
Starting point is 00:17:25 I talked to those guys they didn't go to college they do different things with their life and I know right now, if I called them and said hey, there's this crazy guy on the radio named David Ramsey he's trying to hurt me they would say, just hang on man, we'll be there in 32 hours as soon as we can get a bus pass
Starting point is 00:17:43 we'll get there we'll kill him those are those guys, right? We'll be there in 32 hours as soon as we can get a bus pass. Like, we'll get there. We'll kill him. We'll kill him. Those are those guys, right? And they would – That is those guys. That is those guys. But I don't call them for financial advice.
Starting point is 00:17:53 And they're probably listening to the show, right? They're not listening to the show. They don't even have a radio. But I don't call them for financial advice, right? They're there, though. They're there. I love them. They are in my soul, and they're in my DNA.
Starting point is 00:18:05 And I don't call them for marriage advice. But I do call them when I need a laugh, and I do call them to check in and see how my brothers are doing. And so it's being able to, like Dave said, to honor your past, honor who you are, honor your DNA, but also know I'm responsible for changing my family tree. I'm responsible for changing my street legacy, the neighborhood that I grew up in. I'm responsible for changing my family tree. I'm responsible for changing my street legacy. The neighborhood that I grew up in, I'm responsible for paying that forward. And so I'm going to surround myself by good people. I'm going to say yes to mentor opportunities, and I'm going to raise good, hardworking, lovely kids. I got a buddy of mine who's worth about $10 million, Taekwon. And he grew up in a really, really tough inner city neighborhood.
Starting point is 00:18:48 And his saying, I i love it he goes getting out of the hood was easier than getting the hood out of me and um that's from a guy that's from a guy that did it okay and so i think that what that says is is that i i cannot revert to default positions of behavior. I've got to set new boundaries. I've got to set new default positions in my behaviors so that I don't act like that. I'm not that guy. I don't treat my wife that way. I don't treat my kids that way.
Starting point is 00:19:23 I don't default to that. But it's there. It's in there. It's in there. It's in there. It's always going to be in there. Good for you, Tech One, for asking the question. Man, I tell you, I'm so impressed with that guy.
Starting point is 00:19:34 What a great guy. Could be a doctor in Nashville, man. Amen. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be back soon with more live content dr john deloney ramsey personality is my co-host today here on the dave ramsey show open phones at 888-825-5225. Preston is in Dallas, Texas. Hi, Preston.
Starting point is 00:20:28 How are you? Hey, Dave. Hey, Dr. G. How's it going? Great. How can we help? So I just want to thank you first for your teachings. Me and my wife got on board a couple years ago.
Starting point is 00:20:43 We'd done some stupid, had some cars, a couple new cars, plowed through those, got them paid off, and we just moved on. We bought a house so we're on to four five and six got our 20 down everything's safe so i just wanted to say uh thank you for everything you're doing for everybody way to go dude proud of you thanks and so today is more of a career question i had so um i guess shortened to the point i i kind of had a feeling that i'm under compensated at work and was kind of curious, one, if it was really, really wise, you know, to ask for a raise during these, especially during these hard coronavirus times. Is your company struggling? it's a larger company, a large publicly traded company, but back in March or so we did have some furloughs and we were kind of in the service industry,
Starting point is 00:21:30 so we did let some drivers and things go due to profitability and revenues, but we have begun actually bringing some of those back and hiring them. What gives you the feeling you're undercompensated? I've been there for a couple years now, and I've taken on a sales role with them, taken on quite a bit more responsibility, brought on new accounts, and I've been hitting pretty much all my goals except for this last quarter. No excuses, but with the coronavirus, I was off a little bit there.
Starting point is 00:22:01 But for the most part, I feel like I've been doing a good job, just haven't seen any compensation increase in the last couple of years. That's a different question that Dave asked you. He asked you, how do you know you're undercompensated? Which to me, Dave, you can tell me if I'm wrong, is what are people in your area doing the same level of work you're doing at the same competency you are? What are they making? Versus I shook hands with the company and said, I'm going to come to work you for this. I'm going to put in my all. I'm going to be excellent at it. And you're doing all those things and they're doing what they said they were going to do. They're paying you what they said they were going to. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I would say just in some research and things, I believe that people in my
Starting point is 00:22:41 area in the same position that I am in are probably 10% to 15% higher. And a little bit more about the role. I kind of came in as more of an inside sales role, and that's kind of evolved over the last couple of years. So it's more outside of a different role. Here's the way you answer the question, how do I ask for a raise? If you switch places with your leader who's going to make the compensation decision, what would you want a young go-getter like Preston to do if he wanted a raise? Why would you give Preston a raise? I'll give you a hint.
Starting point is 00:23:18 You wouldn't give him a raise because he breathes air in and out. No doubt at all. Or he thinks he's been working hard for a few years and he should probably air in and out. No, not at all. Or he thinks he's been working hard for a few years and he should probably just get some more. No, not at all either. I'd say definitely around those goals, right? I think you want to make your boss look good. So hitting your goals, revenue goals,
Starting point is 00:23:37 making the company more money is probably one factor in it. And then two other things, what you guys were just saying, right? What can I replace you for? There's someone else out there that is the same or what are the costs that fill your role, basically, or your position and what you're getting paid for. Two examples that happened to me personally as a leader here. Example number one is a guy walks into my office and says, hey, I pulled up a bunch
Starting point is 00:24:06 of comp uh issues off of google and off a monster and i might be wrong but here's what i found i found this and this and this and this and um those are all ten thousand dollars more than i'm making and if unless i did something wrong on the Internet in looking, doing a compensation research here, it appears looking at these data points, not feelings, these data points that I'm off about 10K on my comp. Would you look at this with me and consider raising me if it's real? And he got the raise, by the way. Okay? Okay. Second conversation was a guy walks into my office and says, you know a guy like me that has, I've got 14 degrees,
Starting point is 00:24:51 I've got more degrees than a thermometer. A guy like me working in another company makes twice what I make here. And I said, well, honey. Bye, Felicia. I said, the problem is this is a small business and your raise is effective when you are. And so the number of degrees you have is not does not make you valuable. What you do, what you kill and drag in here that we share is what is what makes you valuable from an economics perspective. As a human being, I value you.
Starting point is 00:25:22 But but from an economics perspective. And so, by the way, that guy doesn't work here anymore because he didn't like my answer. So you go in and just do what you said. You said, I've been effective. I feel like I'm doing this. And I pulled some research, and here's what it's showing. What do you think? Did I do something wrong?
Starting point is 00:25:42 Or do you have other information that i don't have that says that this position because i feel you know based on this it looks like i might be due for some compensation upgrades what do you think about that and that's not belligerent it's not saying slapping your fist on the table and saying i look this up and you're underpaying me you toxic jerks um it's not any of that. It's going, I'm just looking at this and going, guys that do what I do seem to be making a lot more than I'm making. Am I doing something wrong?
Starting point is 00:26:12 What did I see here? And if you just switch shoes when you're thinking about these things and think about from the leader's perspective, what would you want a go-getter like Preston to do? You don't want to lose a Preston. You want to keep them. You want them on the team. What would like Preston to do. You don't want to lose a Preston. You want to keep them. You want them on the team. What would you want them to do? I would want them to come in with more than
Starting point is 00:26:29 I've been here breathing air for two years, and so I need money. Right. There's a humility to, hey, I've done my research. I've done my numbers. Here's my performance. I love that approach, Dave.
Starting point is 00:26:39 I love the humility of it. I also, man, I've spent years working with young professionals that was their first or their second job. And there is this expectation, this, this, and of course I'm generalizing here, but this idea that we shook hands, I've done my job for a year or two, and what are you going to do for me now? And there's this, this basic expectation that you're just going to keep, keep picking me up, picking me up, picking me up.
Starting point is 00:27:06 And I always want to remind folks, when you shake hands with your employer and say, I'm going to come give it my all, and they say, I'm going to give you this, the only time they screw you is if they give you less than that amount of money. Anything other than that, we agreed as what we agreed on, and be good with that until you can provide data points to the contrary. Yeah. I do run into that. That's kind of an entitlement mentality.
Starting point is 00:27:29 I don't think Preston's suffering from that. Not at all. Not even a little bit. He's got a different take on it. But I think you're right. There's this thing. It's kind of like a union seniority thing or something. Like, you know, I've been here breathing air for 20 years.
Starting point is 00:27:42 I have one year's experience 20 times. Right. And so I'm worth more. No, you're not. Right right you're still doing the same stinking thing you're doing what do you think about his question just take into the the global pandemic is there a is there a a moment i think about this back at my house right i can look at my wife and she's exhausted she's been packing boxes all day and helping and moving that may not be the time to say i don't like the way you're parking the car in the driveway. Could you scoot it over two feet? Right.
Starting point is 00:28:08 I know there's a season or there's a moment to ask that. That's not a good idea right now. Is that is that ever come into play in business or is business just business is business? Well, I mean, it's it's everything's personal. And so the question is, you know, if you're asking a leader who is barely making their numbers because of COVID for more money, you know, it's not only insensitive, it's impractical. Right. You know, we don't make hardly any money. We're struggling to stay open, and you're coming here wanting to raise.
Starting point is 00:28:36 Right. That's just tone deaf. Right. You know, but on the other hand, there are companies that have done okay. Ramsey's done okay. We've struggled during this time and we had some business units just live events all that revenue just disappeared right it's gone and virtually anyway um except for virtually yeah no pun intended well yeah and uh
Starting point is 00:28:57 but then the other areas have gone way up and so we've ended up at about what we thought we were going to be last year so about our budget projections are about on. And so, you know, internally, we've started giving raises again and started hiring again. And so in that environment, even with COVID, if somebody came up to one of us and said, I think, you know, would you look at this with me? I think I'm off on my comp. And you go, oh, well, no, you're a junior. You're not a senior. Oh, okay, okay.
Starting point is 00:29:30 Alright, well, what have I got to do to be a senior? Now we're talking. 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 ken coleman ramsey personality is my co-host today here on the air. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Josh is with us. Josh is in Chicago. Hi, Josh. How are you? Hi, Dave.
Starting point is 00:30:29 How's it going? Hi, Ken. Hey, how are you? What's up? I'm good. Nothing much. Just give me a phone call. My wife and I have been on the Baby Step plan since December now, and we're on Baby Step 2.
Starting point is 00:30:43 Good. step plan since december now and we're on baby step two good um and i'm giving you a phone call because we're in a weird situation now uh we live in chicago and we found an apartment last year that was pretty affordable uh for the city and for the location however the maintenance is terrible um we found another place uh which is about three four miles uh south another place which is about three, four miles south of us which is not like the most ideal place, but it's a nice area and the rent is about $200
Starting point is 00:31:13 cheaper. We just want to know should we take a quick pause and use the money that we saved to pay something else off to go towards moving. So you're moving why for 200 bucks yeah you said the maintenance was terrible the maintenance is terrible at the place they live now in chicago yeah okay so what are you paying in rent uh right now i'm paying 875 and your household income is what? $93,000.
Starting point is 00:31:46 Okay. And so what's it going to cost you to move four miles? About $700. Okay. So you don't break even for four months on that, right? Right. Okay. But after that, you're saving $200, and you're in a better situation, right?
Starting point is 00:32:06 How much debt have you got? We had $105,000. We paid off $48,000, so we're at $57,000 now. Good job. Very cool. Well, I mean, it makes sense to have a cheaper rent and a better place, and you're not talking about spending much money to move, so I don't – do you see see anything i don't see any problems at all and you can always save you know you might lose some friendships over it so maybe get some really strong acquaintances to come help move you never
Starting point is 00:32:34 ask good friends to move dave but if they're mediocre friends and you could do life without them you could always save a little money and have your friends come over uh pizza and some 12 packs or whatever and some good guy friends that'll help out uh i i jest a little bit but you can always save money on a move like that across town yeah but 700 bucks with his income we're not talking about a big pause there no and it's gonna and you're saving enough on the rent to recoup that yeah if you told me you're gonna spend three thousand dollars well now you got 15 months to recoup. And I'm thinking, eh, not so much. You know, probably deal with it and talk to the landlord about the maintenance issues.
Starting point is 00:33:09 But I think I would move, as long as you're not breaking a lease. That's the other thing. You can't afford to have a former landlord chasing you while you're trying to get out of debt either. That doesn't work. Ben is in Springfield, Illinois. Hi, Ben. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave.
Starting point is 00:33:25 How are you? Great. How can Ken and I help? Thanks for taking my call. So a little background. I'm a recent four-year college grad. I spent a month or two after graduation just mass job applying for a career job related to my field and no luck. So I started a part-time. Wetime retail job about three to four weeks ago.
Starting point is 00:33:49 I've only been on the floor for about a week or two after my training. I applied to this job under the guise that I could probably and potentially be there for quite a while full-time, just as long as I didn't find a good salary job, obviously. So then in the last week or two, I heard back from one of the places that just took forever to get back to me. And I've had two interviews so far, and it sounds like I'm on the top list of prospects I should be hearing back in the next couple of days. Um,
Starting point is 00:34:26 it has full benefits, which my current job does not have. It has, um, a very comfortable pay for me being a single guy, just right out of school. Um, so I'm intending to take the new job offer.
Starting point is 00:34:43 Um, if I'm offered it, um, especially if it's on the higher end of the pay that I'm expecting. But that being said, I have really enjoyed the retail job so far. It's a department I enjoy and a kind of field that I'm passionate about. The staff are really friendly and they were in need of employees from my department. So ideally, I would take this new salary job, and then I would work the retail store part-time on evenings and weekends for at least six months or so, just so I didn't feel like I was leaving them hanging. But I also just started there, and so if they were under the impression that they were hiring me just to be full-time and stuff i don't want to leave them hanging so my question just applies to this job um that i very likely could be starting soon or if i how old are you i'm not the top candidate
Starting point is 00:35:38 how old are you 22 okay and the uh the job you're up have applied for pays what kind of money? The one that I might be starting soon? Yes, yes. They said they haven't decided yet. Typically, the average field or the average position in that field, which would be a marketing kind of marketing director position. Online, it's telling me somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000, which I would definitely be happy with right out of school. So, Ken, if they've not even discussed money with him,
Starting point is 00:36:19 he's not getting close to an offer. Yeah, so what you're doing is you're giving us a hypothetical. So if they come back and they offer you this job in the field you went to school for, and the salary makes your heart flutter a little bit, you're asking, what should I do? Am I a jerk if I leave the part-time retail job? Let's address that first, because that's really the heart of your question. That's a good question. It's a very good question.
Starting point is 00:36:40 A person of integrity asked that question. It's high values, high character person. And the answer is you're not a jerk if you get a full-time offer at a company in the field you went to school for and presumably you want to stay in that field. Now, that's the only question that I would really have is that is there a ladder at this opportunity? Not just, well, it's got better benefits and better pay. Does it have a ladder meaning that either there's opportunity to grow there at that company or this position gets you that entry-level experience you need to actually get you prepared for the next
Starting point is 00:37:13 rung on the ladder, maybe even somewhere else. But we get this question a lot on the Ken Coleman Show and here's the deal. Does it make you a flake or a jerk? You applied for this gig before you got the part-time retail thing. Things change. I think the offer to work part-time, which you already are, for a season until they can replace you and not leave them hanging, what a wonderful gesture.
Starting point is 00:37:35 You're single, 22, you got the time. That's a nice touch. Not necessary. You don't owe somebody penance. What you owe them is honesty, transparency, integrity. And if you say, look, I applied for this. It's now here. It's in my field.
Starting point is 00:37:50 I want to do it. I feel badly. Don't want to leave you hanging. How can I leave well, replace myself, or work for a while until you find somebody? I think that's all that you really have to do in this situation. That's more than anybody else in retail does. Retail turns over people like underwear. They turn into ghosts.
Starting point is 00:38:04 Like underwear. They just don't show up the next day. It's just gone. You're retail does. Retail turns over people like underwear. They turn into ghosts. Like underwear. They just don't show up the next day. It's just gone. You're a good dude. Yeah, yeah. So you're way ahead of the scope on that. I will warn you about one thing. I heard three times in the way you described this that you're measuring this by the money and the benefits.
Starting point is 00:38:21 Yeah. Money and benefits will come to those who find their, what Ken Coleman calls, sweet spot. And you get in this area that you're good at, and you lean into it, and you're passionate, you're creative, you're growing, you're learning. Money and benefits will come to those. So you need to find something where you're lining up with that. And if that's what this is, that's wonderful. And I would definitely do it.
Starting point is 00:38:45 But this idea that there's a, quote, good job when you're 22 that is going to be what you do the rest of your life with that exact company, exactly the way it is, average person has 14 to 17 positions in their life in America today, right? That's exactly right. And the only time I heard him use the word passion in that phone call was actually talking about the retail position. That's what he actually referred to. time I heard him use the word passion in that phone call was actually talking about the retail position.
Starting point is 00:39:06 That's what he actually referred to. He said, I'm really passionate about this kind of work. So what happens is... The other one felt like he's training for a J-O-B for a check.
Starting point is 00:39:13 Yes, because here it is. We've trained young people, our culture has, that you take the safe job, the smart job. And in this situation at 22, if it's not something you want to do
Starting point is 00:39:21 the rest of your life, don't do it. Stay in the part-time gig until that becomes full-time that's the only time i heard passion in the conversation don't be so responsible that you're miserable you'll end up calling my show 15 years from now like we hear worse than that 15 months from now oh that puts us out of the dave ramsey Show in the books. 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
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