The Ramsey Show - App - Dave Reacts to the F.I.R.E. Movement (Hour 3)

Episode Date: July 24, 2023

Dave Ramsey & Jade Warshaw answer your questions and discuss:  "I'm scared my husband is retiring too early," Dave and Jade react to the F.I.R.E. movement, What to do with profits following a divorce, "Should we pay off debt or save for a car?" Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Here's an EveryDollar deal just for our listeners: get a 14-day free trial PLUS $15 off your first year of premium. Click the link and start budgeting today! www.everydollar.com/jade Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3cEP4n6 Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Interested in advertising on The Ramsey Show? https://ter.li/s64ye3 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods, moving, and storage studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Jay Walsh, all Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Eunice starts off this hour in Philadelphia. Hi, Eunice, how are you?

Hi, Dave and Jade, thanks for taking my call. Sure, what's up? Okay, so I have a dilemma. My husband, he's only 50 years old, and he was deciding to retire. He's only 50 years old. So he's only 50 years old. Are you worried about him just not having anything to do, or are you married about the money? Both.

Okay. What does he do? He's in IT. He's a computer programmer. Okay. Why does he want to retire at 50? He thinks he's ready. He thinks he's ready.

I think he wants to join the fire movement. The what movement? The fire movement. So that is financially independent retire early, which a lot of people are into now for anybody who doesn't know. And it's this idea of having a certain amount set aside. I mean, it's a retirement plan but it's all about retiring early okay so retiring early would presuppose that you hate your job okay i'm 62 i was just talking to somebody a while ago i do not plan to retire

ever and i've got millions of dollars. You know why? Because I love doing this. I'm going to come on here so long that I don't make sense anymore. Does he plan? He wants to get to another field. Okay, then he's not retiring. He's changing careers.

Yeah, but there's no guarantee on income. There's no guarantee on income on anything. Is he going into business for himself? Is that what it is? He wants to manage our finances. That's his career? Well, that's what he wants to be moving through. So how much money do you guys have?

What's your net worth? Our net worth is about, let me just check this, about $3.8 million. I'm sorry? $800,000? $3.8 million. Oh, $3.8 million. $3.8 million. Okay. Yeah.

It does not a full-time job to manage $3.8 million. That's what I'm saying. Not even close. It's not even a full-time job to manage 3.8 million dollars that's what i'm saying not even close it's not even a part-time job unless you're going to do something really really stupid that's what i'm about to say he's going to start doing some day trading and some yeah we're going to play crypto we're going to play a bunch of gambling stuff no thank you okay yeah you do have the right to want this to not happen gamble but but yeah he wants to i guess inspired in the corporate world and so he wants to try doing something else and you're saying about seven different things so i think what's the problem is is there's no clarity there's a lot of ambivalence and ambivalence always causes anxiety.

So he says, retire, you here quit and blow all our money. Then he says, retire. And he means he wants to start a different career, an encore career, which, by the way, is perfectly fine. He might make more doing that than he makes now. He says he's sick of corporate america well that's easy to get so i completely agree with that so he wants to start his own gig doing uh whatever i don't care sitting on my butt and calling 3.8 million my full-time job

and wrong answer sitting on my butt period and living off of the income from $3.8 million. Highly, highly unsatisfactory as a life. He will be depressed in 24 months. People who do not do things for other people and just sit on their butt and consume are not happy people. Hedonism has never had a good end to it. Yeah, well, yeah, I guess I wasn't so clear. Retiring from his corporate job. Quitting his corporate job to do something else. Awesome.

I'm in. Yes. You've got $3.8 million. You've got nothing to be afraid of. Quitting and move on to another job? Yes. But quitting his corporate job and doing nothing or calling managing 3.8 million a full-time job those aren't true those aren't good

plans they're not good life plans no much less financially Eunice are you still working I am working but I don't earn as much as him what does does he earn? Well, he earns $150 plus bonus. Okay. I only earn half of that. Okay. So I think you guys need to sit down and say, what I'm really concerned about is that you do something, not for the money. Well, that's what he's assuring me.

He's assuring me that he's doing something. But for me, opportunity cost is definitely $150,000 or more. You don't need money. You have plenty of money. You're not going to go hungry. $3.8 million at 10% is $380,000 a year without touching the principal. You don't need money. Have you guys paid off all your debt well uh we do have about 300 uh uh debt on two properties

um but that is um being rented so the rent is paying that off yeah so what you guys have not done is you've not the two of you need to sit down with the television off and spend a Saturday planning and talking about what it is he is going to do next. Nothing is not on the list. Well, he had mentioned that he wants to teach part-time. He feels that that's more rewarding than what he's doing right now. It sounds like he's not sure because we've heard corporate, we've heard managed financing, we've heard teach. Well, that's why he's saying that he's going to keep himself busy by teaching, at the same time managing our finances, but he wants to leave his corporate job.

Okay. I think I'm going to give him advice, but it's dangerous because I'm not sure I have a good clear picture. You have enough money to not have to work. Not working, not doing anything, or dumbing down your career and calling that satisfying is not going to work for you. Getting out of corporate america awesome teaching part-time and making fifteen thousand dollars a year and calling that fulfilling is absolute bs this guy's got he's wired with more with more electricity than that that's going to get really really boring he could already be teaching part-time if he really wanted to do that. And he's going to figure that out, but he's going to learn it the hard way.

He really needs to find something to lay his hand to. This idea that I'm going to go. I had a friend of mine sold his business for $15 million. He was 31 years old, and he said, I'm going fishing. After two years, he was very fat. It's all that fish. All he did was fish and drink beer and he hated himself and he went and opened another business and has had three different careers since then i made that much more money again but you can't sit on the boat and fish and drink beer it doesn doesn't work. This is the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Jade Warshaw.

Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. So, as a person of faith, I look at this money thing through the lens of a biblical method of living. Now, you don't have to, and you and I can be friends, but that's what I do. And so I love the quote when it comes to financial independence that Bob Gass said, the guy from the Northeast preacher, old pentecostal preacher guy he said the definition of prosperity is having the money to do god's will in your life yes so if you are living on the mission field in a third world country it doesn't take a lot of money to pull that off. You don't need $300,000 a year.

And if you're living on the mission field and if that's God's will for your life, let's assume it is, and you've got the mission work is funded where your family can eat, you have reasonable safety, reasonable shelter while you're doing the mission work, but you're in a situation where it doesn't require a lot of money to do in quotes god's will for your life then you are prosperous you are very prosperous by definition if you are called to uh run some massive thing it might be millions and millions of dollars to run some that that's that's

god's will he's asking you to do that and so the way one of the things i do around here is i judge the stuff we do at ramsey okay is this project this thing we're getting ready to launch, this new brand, this new effort, this new whatever, is that God's will? Is he wanting to do it? And one of the ways we can ascertain that is if we have the money to do it. That's right. If we don't have the money to do it, then it must not be. At least not yet. Because apparently he owns all the money. And so if he wants that done and wants me to do it but um it won't be bank of america that's funding it i sure hope not it'll be it'll be the money will be here and it won't show up mysteriously he'll give us the way to make the profit to do it yeah it might show up mysteriously but that's so rare very rare and that's why they call it miracle because it's seldom yeah and i don't i haven't really lived my life from miracle to miracle i've lived my life from production to production but god gave me two

hands of mind a work ethic energy yeah boundless energy to work pray like it all depends on god work like it all depends on you exactly and so um you know when you're talking about financial independence, you need to think about independent from what? Because I've never, I believe in becoming wealthy, but I don't know if you ever really become independent. As a matter of fact, you might become more dependent because I'm convinced the more stuff you own, the more repairman you have to know. I mean, you're more interdependent the bigger your footprint is. More money, more problems. Yeah, yeah, it is in that sense, or more responsibility. Yeah, for sure.

You know, and you see things you never saw before. You feel a responsibility towards folk that are struggling that you never felt before because you're able to do something about it. And so, you know, I don't know much about this fire movement. But if it has to do with I want to pile up a bunch of money so I don't have to do anything. Yes. Then that's the exact opposite of what we teach. It's all tied into that minimal Monday. I don't have to do anything. Yes. Then that's the exact opposite of what we teach. It's all tied into that minimal Monday.

I don't want to work. It's all tied together in that. If you hate your job. And that's where it is. You should change jobs. That's where the crux is. You should go to KenColeman.com and get a different job. Get something.

Do work that has meaning. Yeah, because if you hate your job, of course you want to get out of it. I'm going to work 15 years of my life and completely burn the candle at both ends. It's something I hate with people I hate in a toxic environment to pile up enough cash to escape. When I could have just quit. Yeah. And I mean, these people with the fire movement, their sacrifice. I mean, the amount that they're putting into investments.

I mean, they're living on a quarter of their income. They're putting so much. It's okay, but I'm saying, you know, at 34, you retire. You're not going to get free. No. You don't get free this side of heaven. I mean, you don't get free. All you do is you're going to move from one thing to the next thing is all.

And so this idea, I'm going to be independent. Now you can be independent of having to work for a jerk. Yes. But that requires keeping your lifestyle low and your assets up. And I think really the crux of that is, when we talk about this all the time, when you become debt-free, it does change the way you work

because you're no longer working simply because you have to pay bills, simply because you have to prop up a lifestyle. You start to decide what you really enjoy doing, what you'd really like to spend your time doing, what matters to you putting your effort towards. And that is something that I think is very noble as opposed to just saying, I don't want to work anymore. Right. So I can come alongside sacrificing to win. I can come alongside piling up a big old pile of assets, prospering.

I can come alongside becoming successful financially. To the extent you want to do that, you got me on your team. You got the Ramsey folks on your team. But I will tell you as an old guy, you're not going to become independent. You're going to discover it's quite the opposite, that you're more interdependent than ever before. You cannot escape if you're not the Unabomber, and even he didn't escape, okay?

So you really aren't, you know, this mythology, I'm going to pile up a bunch of cash and move to Costa Rica and nobody's ever going to see me again. Yeah, but you have no humans in your life that know you and love you. Where's your family? Where you and love you where's your family where's your friends where's your history you're just going to go live in a foreign country where no one knows who you are all by your lonesome self that's called mental illness okay i mean really human beings need long deep gratifying relationships and wealth is not to escape from that it's to embrace that

it's very good and to accentuate that and so this idea that you're somehow going to be independent that you're not going to have to have any problems or any people to deal with it's quite the opposite let me tell you what wealth does a hundred percent of the time it magnifies you it makes you more of what you already are so if you're kind you're going to become unbelievably kind if you're a generous person you're going to become what we call a philanthropist if you are have a problem with anger god help the people in your life if you get money god help them if you are a crook and you get money you're gonna do crook on steroids man you're gonna do it whatever you do you get money you're gonna do it big you want to know what but there's part of that too with this retirement thing because if you are that person if you're

a generous person if you have a servant heart if you are a person who loves helping up it's going to be hard for you to not work well because you're going to want to do more you're going to want to do more so in other words i'll i get a whole lot more personal spiritual emotional mental health satisfaction out of doing this show out of meeting someone two couples who just paid off their house at the break right i get more out of that than i do income yeah there's no income that offsets that meaning so if you cannot escape man's need for meaning that's right uh victor frankl's book man's search for meaning i read it 25 years ago and i just read it again the other day uh and it was like it was brand new it was long enough long enough ago that i read it that

i think i forgot the whole thing but uh man's search for meaning but it doesn't come in a pile of assets so you're not going to get enough assets to not have a need to produce something for the good of others that is that is innate in you it is part of your dna you do not get to escape society because of wealth. Quite the opposite. Quite the opposite. So don't look for financial independence. Look for some financial security, not pure security. There's no way you get enough to ever be 100% secure.

But, you know, but look for, I'm going to have an, where I don't have to worry about the money for a bag of Doritos, right? I mean, I don't have to worry about that. One less thing. And, you know, look for some security. Look for the ability to change your family tree. Look for the ability to be unreasonably generous. Look for the ability for your wealth to create enough income that you don't have to work.

That's right. You want to. Then work anyway. Yes. Doing something. Wow. I hadn't even thought about that stuff in a while yeah this isall ramsey personality is my co-host today if you like this show you can help us we would appreciate the help uh subscribe uh follow uh leave a five-star review share the show click the share button or share the link or tell someone when and where you're listening or watching and they can join the way you are

or another way we are on virtually every platform that is imaginable and we're there for you so check us out and help us out by spreading the word please subscribe and follow this makes a huge difference in the algorithm and the uh different services letting other people know that we exist on the debt-free stage in the lobby of ramsey solutions john and alex are with us hey guys how are you fantastic welcome where do y'all live oklahoma city cool welcome to nashville and how much debt have you two paid off we paid off 156 971 dollars excellent how long did this take 18 months good for you and your range of income during that year and a half we started at 107 000 and we ended at 235 000 wow there's a little jump in 18 months.

What in the world? How do you go up $135,000 in income? Both new jobs. I got a promotion within. Yeah. And quite a few side hustles. Wow. Amazing.

What do y'all do for a living? I'm a project manager for an electric company there in Oklahoma City. And I'm an insurance agent. Ah, very good. Okay. So just hustle and grind, baby. agent. Ah very good okay so just hustle and grind baby. Yeah. Get her down. Wow. Bonuses, side hustles and overtime. What was the most lucrative side hustle? I did grocery delivery for shipped. We both did door dash um i mowed lawns probably the most exciting one was um i got to sing for

a local ballet company wow yeah so that was cool that's very cool yeah it wasn't it wasn't too much but it was still that's cool still fun yeah and they paid yeah it's good yeah fun and paid paid fun good and what kind of debt was the 15157,000? Everything. It was car loans, student loans, personal loans, credit cards, medical bills. I mean, all the bad choices. Wow. How long have y'all been married? Almost seven years. Okay. All right. And 18 months ago, two years ago or so, something happened.

What happened? Well, I was really, just like what you were talking about. I just got really comfy in a job that I hated and decided to leave. He told me, you know, he realized how much I hated my job and, you know, gave me the question, where do you see yourself in five years? And that was just a really eye-opening moment for me and i got a new job um our starting income was before i got that new job and um you know you got a job you liked more that paid more yes of course that's the way it's supposed to work and then what happened was that um he was just a little too relaxed about me relieved relieved thank you relieved about me getting a new job and i was just like what's this about like are we okay

um and i was just like why are you so relieved about getting a couple hundred dollars extra a month and that's when he whenever we started talking about oh he showed you the budget then yeah so there was underlying you were already having underlying stress about the money well budget or lack thereof yeah he told me the other day every time every time he watched the the office um that part where he declares bankruptcy he got so stressed about it and i was just like and we weren't talking about it at the time and so um he was gonna man up and carry it yeah wasn't working though yeah and so we finally kind of we were just like well we're we're both in debt, like so much money. We might as well do something about it.

And then I feel like I finally convinced him that, you know, we can do this. We can pay this off. This is how we do it. How did you find us? I've been on and off listener up until that point for the last probably like 10 years. So we were hovering in the mist. So he knew that you guys had a problem and needed to solve it. And you were like, I think I have the solution.

Yes. Cool, cool, cool. And was that, so it was listening to the show. Did you get plugged into FPU? We, I found a certified coach or a.sey coach thank you shout out to chance jackson financial way to go chance we had monthly um coaching sessions through zoom we did them on our lunch break and um he really just showed us that we can do this. And, you know, we told him that this is the goal of being here and coming to see Uncle Dave. Hey, I have a question.

Of this debt, how much of it was student loans? Oh, almost 60. See, I want anybody listening to hear that because so many people think they can't pay it off. 60,000 of student loans. And we paid, we were, so we sold our house and we, at the very end, and we used the equity because we got quite a bit of equity from it and used it the last, what was it? 46? 46,000 to pay it off and that was the same day that they said that they kind of declared that no student loan repayment yeah just kidding just kidding on that

forgiveness thing psych yeah got your vote gotcha we were already planning on doing that but you're like the reason we're taking this in our matters into our own hands, paying off our debt. We had a plan, actually, because we knew, you know, Congress doesn't bet $1,000. So we knew that they weren't, it wasn't going to happen. Actually, they kind of do, but it's in the wrong way. Yeah. What we were going to do was I wasn't able to make my last $10,000 because they had forgiven it and it wasn't there.

But I couldn't get a paid in full letter. They wouldn't send it oh wow so what we did was we were prepared to put that back so as soon as the the balance was available it was there already ah okay very good perfect timing well done good job guys how's it feel to be free amazing yep more than anything else you feel like you've got control now. Yeah, we do. And now you're working together because you weren't before. Nope. You get out of bad habits.

Thomas Sowell said that today's problems are usually a result of yesterday's solutions. So when you come in and say, well, I'll just put that on a credit card. I'll just get a loan. I'll do whatever. No, because now it's today's problem wow amazing well done you two all right now that you're experts you did it you actually did it it's not a theory what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is work together just talk about it work together get out of the the victim mentality or the victim of situation,

like what you talk about in your Baby Steps Millionaire book, that chapter really hit hard with me. I think it's chapter five. Yeah. And don't be afraid to talk to your husband, your wife, your spouse, whoever, because they're not going to be as hard on you as you are on yourself about it. Yeah. So there's a lot of fear that they're going to be so disappointed,

they're going to be upset. They are, but not any more than you are with yourself. And also just believe that you can do it. Just knowing that you can do it and keep your goal in mind. My goal was to not have to, I would probably have to work this hard later on in life. If I didn't do this right now, I'm going to have to work just as hard later on in life. Or more.

Or more. And I'd be missing out on my kiddos' stuff. All because I'm working. Yeah. Congratulations, you guys. We're very proud of y'all. Hey, we've got another copy of Baby Steps Millionaires for you, another copy of Total Money Makeover for you,

Financial Peace University, the Live and Give box, and you can either keep all of it or give it away, whatever you want to do. It's our gift to you for coming over from Oklahoma City to do your debt-free scream. John and Alex, Oklahoma City, $157,000 paid off in 18 months. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free! Yeah! Yeah! There we go. That's how you do it. You gotta love it. Yes! And you're watching this or listening to this, and it. You got to love it. Yes.

And you're watching this or listening to this, and it's my turn to tell you it's your turn. Yeah, you. You're supposed to be doing this stuff right now. This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Ephesians 5, 15, and 16. So then be careful how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. Thomas Edison said, having a vision for what you want is not enough. Vision without execution is hallucination.

I've never seen that one. That is great. Oh, my goodness. Jim is with us. Jim is in Seattle. Hi, Jim. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Oh, man, thank you for taking my call.

First-time caller, can't thank you enough. I appreciate you. Well, thank you. How can we help? Okay. Um, through, um, quite a, quite a list of what I have. Um, one of my main things is, uh, funding baby steps. So my, uh, nervousness, my, uh, scared, my stress level is, uh, is all high. I'm not through a divorce yet. We're, we sold our house of 17 years last year. We, uh, again, divorce is not final, but, um, we initially each got 50,000 to find new housing. Uh, I'm renting right now. Um, my, my question is I have 40 K in the bank when the divorce is finalized, uh, 40 plus in the bank, uh, right now,

just sit sitting in my bank. Um, when the divorce is final, I'll, I'll have two 35 ish, maybe plus on top of that, it's funding the baby steps, uh, versus I feel like I need all of that based on my income to put the max down for my next home, wherever I'm going to live. Uh, I said I was renting right now, so I really want another house and be a homeowner. Just not sure which direction. Okay. And you were married, uh, 20 years, 22. I'm sorry. It's, you know, I mean, it's, it's horrible. Three kids, 20, almost 22, 19 and 15 and a half. And so the 15 and a half year old, my daughter back and forth week on week off, we had temporary temporary orders when we were living together and we're just waiting on mediation and trying to sort it all out, I'm hoping, soon.

Yeah. Okay. You should buy a home, but not until you've let the cobwebs clear from your mind because you are grieving a death. Yep. I understand. So it's okay for you to rent for a little bit because if you bought a home in the next six or eight, 10 months or whatever, you'll buy a different home a year and a half after

that. So I did. Thank you, Dave. I did sign a two yearyear lease, so my timing of everything, I'm nervous about that too. I am relaxing. You don't need to be nervous. I'm trying to heal. My lease

is September of 24. I feel like I can't make a mistake leading up to when I'm going to be out of my rental that I'm in now. You've got a year and a half to worry about that. And you've got a lot bigger fish to fry during that year and a half. Yes. So just chill.

As you notice, there's an apartment on every corner. And you can go get you another one-year lease somewhere, even if you have to jump. But you give yourself emotional margin to make a wise purchase instead of feeling like I have to rush and go buy a house. There's nothing to be nervous about. There's always going to be houses in Seattle. And I know you know where I live in the area.

I'm paying, you know, looking for, it was tough to find a place. You know, I'm by myself, single income now, and trying to even rent a place that wants three times the rent. I don't make that much money. It seemed impossible to even find a place, and I became very fortunate to be where I'm at now. But it's just crazy the prices, which so many people have to deal with, I understand. But I am fortunate to be where I'm at. I'm going to use it to heal.

I just want that finalization from the divorce so we can. Yeah, I agree. You do need to have that, and you don't need to be. I just want that finalization from the divorce so we can. Yeah, I agree. You do need to have that, and you don't need to be buying something until that's final for sure. But even a little while after that, just give yourself a little time to just cry and a little time to just heal, and then you'll make a wise purchase at that point. You'll have $200,000 to put down, plus or minus being debt-free,

plus or minus having your three- to six-month emergency fund in place. That's right. Yeah, that's sad. That's tough. 22 years is a long time. Yeah. And I love that advice to just slow down. Because what you said is true.

What you do in those first few months is radically different than what you would do two years from now, a year from now. Yeah. It's just, it's the same is true if you lose a spouse. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously it's a different scenario and a different kind of pain, but it's still making big personal financial decisions while in pain is not recommended. Yeah, you're not thinking straight.

None of us would be. None of us would be. I told Sharon if she leaves, I'm going with her. Well, I also think in those divorce situations, I also think in those situations of divorce when there's kids involved, you know, there's this rush to get a sense of home quickly, you know, to kind of like, okay, like, let me make sure I get a place where everybody feels like they can come. I have them, you know, every other weekend, I want to make sure they feel at home. And, you know, I get that, but

taking that time is important. Yep. Michael's in Cincinnati. Michael, what's up? How are you doing today, Dave? man how can we help um so me and my wife we are 22 years old we just got married last year she's graduated college in december um so now we're having twenty five thousand dollars of student loans um we are in the process of saving up for a vehicle with the intentions of paying cash next year and starting a family um do i work to pay those student loans off now instead of saving for the vehicle or do I pay the payment, which we're not doing until October, but obviously we are starting now to get paid off sooner and keep saving for the vehicle or what do you suggest?

I'd take it one thing at a time and I would start with the debt. I'm assuming you both have vehicles now, right? The other vehicle would just be an upgrade? Yes, ma'am. To a family vehicle, yes. Yeah, I would focus on paying off this debt. How much do you guys earn? I did $62,000 last year gross. We'll do about $130,000 this year combined.

Okay, so you can pay this off in a year less. That's gross. That's gross, yeah. Yeah. And, I mean, we have our three month emergency fund. We have about 12 grand in emergency fund. And I mean, we both have retirements going out of a Roth IRA and whatnot that I invest in. So. So if you really wanted to clear this quickly, if you really wanted to clear this quickly, you would walk through the

steps and you'd take that 12K down to to 1k throw that at the student loans and then cash flow the rest you can pay this off and you would stop adding to your retirement temporary yeah that's right temporarily it's only going to be a couple of months but you're going to get that what percentage are you investing he's well he's gone doesn't matter that's all right whatever your five percent seven percent all that's going back into your cash flow so you can that's more money that you're throwing at this debt you guys are going to be done with this in a couple of months. Yeah. If you focus on it.

If you don't, you're going to keep it around like a pet. Right. And that's the problem with student loans. People think they're harmless, but they grow up and take over the house. There are people, Dave, that with $25,000 of student loan debt that are waiting 20 years to have it paid off by the government and they're going to be so disappointed they're going to be so disappointed keeping it around as a pet when they could have it done in six months seven months nine months the people who just did their debt-free screen paid off what was it 80, 000 in 18 months yeah having the government run your financial plan

is like going to the dmv for efficiency i mean this is just this is the wrong place to place your hope it's the wrong place on inept incompetent and crooked people oh my gosh people that will say anything to get your vote and had no intention of doing it at all. No. They don't want you to pay anything off. They just want your payment. So, Michael, the fastest way for you guys to get financial stability and start hitting your goals and build wealth is to get out of debt and stay out of debt.

That's why we're telling you that. So we would tell you to knock out the debt, and we just did, as fast as you possibly can. And then build your emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, and then save up and pay cash for your upgrade car. And you've got plenty of time to do all of that. That's right. That puts us out of the Ramsey Show and the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, what's up, guys?

It's Jade. Look, if you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey baby steps, go to ramseysolutions.com and click the Get Started button. We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. That's ramseysolutions.com and click Get Started.