The Ramsey Show - App - Dealing With the High Cost of Childcare (Hour 2)

Episode Date: October 5, 2022

Rachel Cruze & Kristina Ellis discuss: How to use a large inheritance, What to do with a high interest mortgage, Childcare costs, Paying for medical bills for a fiancėe's family. Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 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 America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I am Ramsey Personality. Rachel Cruz co-hosting the show today with Ramsey Personality and best-selling author Christina Ellis. And so we are taking your calls at 888-825-5225. And we're talking about, yeah, your relationships, your life, your money. And Christina and I are here. I have three little ones at home. She has two. So we talked

about taking calls from you parents out there. If you have a childcare questions or concerns, uh, when it comes to money and the budgets, we can talk all through that, that balance of being a mom and working. What does that look like in seasons of life anything and everything related to the little the little children yes especially for those of you who are in the thick of it like yes we're just talking about child care and babysitters and and just all of it on the break just for our own personal life so we'd love to talk about it with you here on air kids getting their tonsils out the whole thing we're experiencing it all here in our houses. So, yeah, give us a call at 888-825-5225. All right, starting us off this hour, we have Mike in Las Vegas.

Hey, Mike, welcome to the show. Hey, guys, happy Wednesday. Happy Wednesday to you as well, Mike. Thanks for calling. Appreciate it. Thank you guys for taking my call. So, yeah, long-time listener, pleasure to be here. And basically, without getting too lost in the weeds, my question is, I'm on the verge of receiving a inheritance that I was listed as a beneficiary for, which will come out to about 40,000 in total. Um, I was in a bit of a financial wreck a couple of years ago that I worked myself out of. Um, and so I currently, I guess the crux of the question

is how to best allocate that money. Um, currently working full time. Um, I have about $10,000 left in student loans. I've brought it down from about 50 K to 10,000. Um, I have about $10,000 left in student loans. I've brought it down from about 50K to 10,000. I have about $8,000 left on a car payment or a car loan. No credit card debt. I rent, so there's no mortgage. And I am currently in school working towards a master's degree in computer science, and that's going to be about another eight grand left that I have to pay for the entirety of this first year into year two. And so those are kind of some of the bigger ticket items I'm looking at.

And just wanted to see what your thoughts were on how to best kind of attack these different remaining debts and other kind of things and where to kind of allocate those funds. Yeah, that's great. Well, Mike, great job working your way from $50,000 of student loans down to 10. Well done. Thanks. Yeah, that's amazing. And what a gift when it comes to this inheritance. Was it someone that you were close to that passed recently? When I was younger, yeah. Much closer to you was my aunt, and she passed earlier in the year. And so I, you know, along with other family members, was listed as a beneficiary.

And so it was just, you know, one of those things I've never really been through that process before. And so I'm trying to just understand, OK, you know, where can I use this wisely? And so far as like, you know, the allocation is concerned. Yeah. Well, I'm so sorry for for her passing and your loss. But what a what a what a beautiful legacy, though, that she left and that you're able to to use this money uh not just to go and yacht around the Mediterranean and spend it all uh but to really use it to to benefit your life and to get you in a better situation financially so I think it's a it's a great question and I and I always appreciate that well because we talk about legacy here so often and when you can use it for something so great for you and even your your future family, I think it's just a beautiful picture.

So I'm thankful you called. Yeah, and because of the work you've already done in paying off those other student loans, you're really going to be able to knock out potentially all your debt with this, which would be even more beneficial with the legacy. It's like you'll have something really beautiful and concrete to cross the finish line with this inheritance. That's right. Yeah. And that, that's one of the bigger things is really kind of knocking that debt out, which I could, I could do currently just with my salary. I could, I'm working towards that. But, you know, with the, one of the kind of questions I had, and I know I've heard Dave talk about this on, on the show, but the big kind of X factor I was hoping you guys could touch on, and I know what he said, which is whether this remaining $10,000, which I qualify for, you know, that student loan forgiveness thing that may or may not come through, and you can't, you know, ever bet on that, but if that

does come through, do I, you know, how do I factor that in? Yeah, totally. Well, so if I woke up in your shoes tomorrow, Mike, and I had this $40,000, I would go ahead and pay off the 10K student loan, pay off the car, take $8,000 from that, and keep it for the rest of your master's that you said you need. And that leaves you $14,000 left. And that's a great, depending on your expenses, you know, emergency fund. So you could be well on your way just to baby steps four, five and six. You know, well beyond that, which is

amazing with this with this money. So with the student loan forgiveness, I wouldn't wait on it. If it does actually go through, which is a big question, if it will, obviously, if it does, though, they will refund you the money money if you want that so if you pay it off now you can still apply for a refund uh and still and still get that so if that's something you wanted to do you could still get that money if you decide to go that route yeah that kind of gives you the best of both worlds you can kind of get that debt wiped out straight away and then also get it back if that ends up being a thing. And I mean, we should find out pretty soon. They've said literally at the beginning of October, the application should be out.

So we're all kind of waiting on pins and needles in this space kind of going, okay, is this gonna happen? When's it gonna happen? How's it gonna look? So I mean, potentially in the next month, we should have some pretty concrete info. So maybe like if you want to wait a month,

I mean, that wouldn't be the worst thing just to see if this actually goes through. But also just paying it off now and getting that refund could give you that peace of mind and you could be into the next step. Because there's something too, Mike, and people got mad at me when I said this on the show a few weeks ago, but it's just the truth for me. I'm like, there's something proactive that you've already been doing, Mike. You've already paid off $50,000.

There's something proactive about life. And when people really win, they have this mindset that they don't wait on someone else to take care of them. They just do it. Like they just do it. And you're handed $40,000, a beautiful gift. So I'm like, do something proactive with it. And so for me, I'm like, man, that same motivation and that same, you know, proactiveness that got you here, my kids still propel you forward. And again, proactiveness that got you here, Mike, could still propel you forward. And again, if it all goes through and in six months you apply for the refund, you get the 10K back or whatever it is, then good for you. That's awesome. Then you can

apply that to investing or maybe a down payment on a mortgage. But I would just hate to keep waiting and waiting and waiting and be in that mindset. And it's almost that more passive approach than proactive approach. So I think that, yeah, I would use this and go right down that list of car, student loan, 8K set aside for grad school. And then you still got 14 left to use as an emergency fund. So I think that you're in an incredible position to do some incredible moves right now financially. Yeah, that's awesome. So great. Thanks, Mike, for calling. debt is to sell the car. And I get it. That's easier said than done. Selling a car takes a lot of time and hassle unless you use CarWiser.

CarWiser is a free service that gets you the best offers instantly from dealers around the country. And it couldn't be simpler. Just enter your vehicle's information and boom, you've got offers to choose from. So go to CarWiser.com slash Ramsey. That's carwiser.com slash Ramsey. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. We are taking your calls at 888-825-5225. Up next, we have Molly in Boise, Idaho.

Hey, Molly, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. How can we help? So we are California Transplants for one of those. Oh, yes. We know you, Molly. We know you all too well.

That's great. That's great. Yeah. So we're building a house here in Idaho. We signed our contract about a year ago. We got locked into our interest rate at 3.875 when it goes from construction to mortgage. However, our lock is going to expire one month before the house is done. Oh no. Like pain. And we're now being quoted a rate at 7.5%,

which is again, more pain. Yeah, for sure. It definitely knocks out that 25% household income level for our mortgage. So we've been like looking into other options. This option makes me cringe a bit being a Ramsey girl, but we were suggested to look into a five-year interest-only arm just to see what happens within the next few years and decide if interest rates go down and re-file to a traditional mortgage or sell the house then. Molly, tell me this. How much do you guys bring home a month?

Roughly $ 10,000. Okay. And what, what is your mortgage payment currently on the construction loan? With the three points? Currently we're just, it would have been 2,900 a month. Oh, it would have. Yes. And then what will it be now? About 43. Yeah. And more bonus, we are expecting our first baby in three weeks.

So a wonderful pregnancy brain on top of it. Well, congratulations. Thank you. What do you and your husband do for a living? I work for a company that sells micro shares and racehorses. Okay. It's very exciting. and my husband works um in fly fishing okay that's awesome um because i'm just trying to see it all of this movement of

the 10 grand uh a month that you guys bring home if there's going to be any um like if you see any upwardness in that dollar amount when it comes to your careers and seeing, okay, here in the next like maybe two, three years, do you see a significant change in that income at all? There's potential for it. The company that I work for purchased my old company, so I got quite a good stock option in that. So there's money there.

And then there's also, I have upward mobility that I can move and make more money. But I don't see it being so significant to that percentage would become 25. No, I know. I know. Have you had conversations with the, or I guess, what have your conversations with the builder looked like? Just in terms of timeline and kind of what their reasoning is for the timeline being a bit longer? What's kind of their feedback on all this? COVID. To sum it all up, all their excuses are supply chains, COVID, it slowed us down.

They were supposed to have it done in six months. It's now going to be done in over a year. So it's just like one of those things. Have you talked to them about this timeline and when it expires, about like if there's any chance they could get it done a month earlier? What's kind of their thoughts on that?

Is it just like a hard no? It's a hard no, unfortunately. Like we, to get it to where it is, where it's only a month longer was them moving it up as much as they possibly could. I'm also wondering, like, is there any chance that they could like offer an incentive? Because obviously they don't want to lose you at this point. Like you're already under contract for this house. They want to sell this house. You know, other people are feeling the pain of interest rates changing. Is there any sort of incentive of like buying down the rate or something they could offer you to kind of help this out?

Like if they could buy it down from 7.5 to 5%, is that a possibility that you've explored at this point? I have not explored it. I'll definitely ask them about it. I have a feeling it's not going to fly. The way that their contract is written is very much covering their butt, no matter what happens. But unfortunately, they're not going to be covered if they lose you as a buyer. That's going to be a loss for them as well. So I just wonder,

from a negotiation perspective, if you can kind of just sit down with them, it's going to be a little bit nerve wracking because you're emotionally invested. I can hear it in your voice. It's scary to think about losing your house. But I don't know whether, you know, it's better for you to have the conversation or your husband, but go in with a little bit of hardball of like, hey, these delays, we are not responsible for these delays. Like we could potentially end up losing this house and have to walk away. That'll be a loss for both of us. So what can we do now? What can you offer us? How can you help us make this situation work out? I like that a lot. Yeah. I'm sorry you're in the situation though. That's hard, especially with a baby coming, being moms that last month is so vulnerable and you just want to nest and be comfortable. So I'm just, yeah, my heart goes out to you.

I mean, one very positive thing is we are, we have an insane amount of equity in this house. Like since we've been building it to now, like just to give you some numbers, we're in for 675 and a house down the street that's 600 square feet less than ours two bedrooms less just sold for 1.1 oh wow we are looking really good in that area yeah well i was gonna say if you did have to turn around and sell it uh that was my question so

you're gonna get i mean you're gonna almost doubled but it's just amazing uh and i know you probably don't want to go through the whole process of uh building again or something but that does give you the options to actually let this home or your future home be a blessing because yeah molly i just i i don't want to get i don't want you to get an arm uh for a mortgage the adjustable rate mortgage it's just that is a gamble i would not recommend that. And then yeah, and I don't. Yeah. And then you moving in with a new baby, you guys making 10 grand and almost half of it going right back out into this mortgage payment, this house, what was supposed to be a blessing and a wonderful thing and a gift and an exciting dream is going to

end up being a nightmare and it's going to be stressful. You're going to be frustrated that you don't have more margin in your budget to do stuff. I mean, it's going to pull so much where you don't have the margin that you could if the numbers look different. And so at that point, you know, there's where a house is not worth it. Like, you know what I mean? Like that specific house in a scenario like that. So yeah, I'm trying to think of other options for you, whether it's what Christina said or, and 7.5, that feels like a high interest rate too. I mean, I know, I know rates are going up, but even if it was closer to that five, and I don't know if you can go shop that or look at different options when it comes to that. I mean, I would do as much research,

turn over as many rocks as possible before you make that decision. But if it gets down to it, and that this is still the final situation, then like you said, the silver lining is you're going to have some incredible equity to be able to go and do something else. Are you guys currently renting or do you own the home that you're in right now? We are renting a one-bedroom Airbnb. Oh, okay. It's getting very cozy here with the baby. Yeah. So sweet. That's great. And two dogs. That's great. So, yeah, I would probably, which is a heartbreak, but look to see, you know, what else is on the market and what else you guys could do.

Are you, do you guys have any other consumer debt? No. We are baby steps three, four, five. Awesome. Awesome. I mean, four, five, six. Four, five, six. Yeah. No, you're great.

Yeah. That's awesome. Well, and with that option of having that amazing equity, if the option ends up being that it's going to be best to sell the home and you've kind of worked yourself to the emotions of this may be a thing, we may have to end up getting the home, then selling it and taking out this equity. I think that could give you even more confidence in the negotiations. Like if you do go to the builder and you're like, hey, this is where we're at. Like if you end up knowing you're going to keep the house and sell it anyways like just

giving you a little bit more confidence in that negotiation of saying like hey what can we work out and even potentially shopping different lenders talking to different lenders you locked in with these people a while back but maybe there's someone else who can offer a different rate maybe your lender can offer up yeah that's what i was thinking molly i would go talk i would go talk and get get three different options on the table just to give you peace of mind that you're making the right decision. When it's a one-track thing and this is my only option, this is all we have, that never gives you options.

And I just love options. So go search that out before anything. But I'm sorry, Molly, but congratulations on the new baby. It's going to be wonderful. Newborn phase is hard, but it's great. But it's great. So thanks for calling. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Well, we know a lot of you are planning on moving soon, and I've got great news. So our new studio sponsor, Pods Moving and Storage, wants to help one of you move for free.

That's right. So just to get a quote at Pods. So get a quote at Pods.com slash Ramsey between October 3rd and October 14th to enter to win. And it's really just that simple. And one of you listening right now will get a free move or a free storage rental. That's up to a $5,000 value. So look, Pods just makes moving easier. It has flexibility that you need, the control you want, and the customer service that you

deserve. If you're looking for a company that will help you move on your terms pods is the only ramsey trusted moving provider out there so go to pods.com slash ramsey and enter to win a free moving or storage rental today that's pods.com slash ramsey so christina as uh we are two moms with little ones uh my oldest is in second grade so she's in full-time school, public school. And it just. That's so great. It feels great.

It feels great. You're like, wow, that's so nice. Our second will go to kindergarten next year. And then Charles, he has two more years. So then, so I feel like we're kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of just kids being in full-time school. That's so great. Five days a week week which is great uh but we've been in that season for seven years

now of me working kind of on and off depending on the the season um and and how much travel i have and you being a working mom now you know when you have little ones at home there has to be someone there if you don't have a spouse that is staying home. And so for a lot of dual income families, which is a majority of Americans, a lot of Americans are a dual income family, you're having to look at options for childcare. And it is so expensive. We feel the pain of looking at the budget and knowing what it costs. And it's a real factor. And already people, the margins are so slim in life, you know, because of inflation and everything we're dealing with in the economy. But also just the reality of the stats that we know of the personal finance state of a lot of people in this country of just living paycheck to paycheck with consumer debt, with wages not going as high as they were expecting.

I mean, like, you know, you bundle it all together and it can feel very stressful. And you've pulled some stats, Christina, from this week of a survey, a study that came out from care.com. Yeah, there's the 2022 cost of care survey. It reveals that the cost of child care is higher for families in 2022. 51% of parents say they spend more than 20% of their household income on child care and 72% of parents report spending 10% or more. And they also say that the quality of child care continues to be tough for parents to find. In fact, 43% of parents say it's harder to find child care over the past year since the pandemic. And parents continue to struggle to

pay for child care. 59% are more concerned about child care costs now than a year prior, which is driving significant changes such as taking a year prior, which is driving significant changes such as taking a second job, reducing hours at work, changing jobs, and leaving the workforce entirely. So it's such an important thing to talk about because I think a lot of people feel like they're struggling in this alone. They feel kind of overwhelmed and just kind of trying to trudge through it. But I mean, obviously, we want to give hope and encouragement. We've been there. I mean, for our family personally, I have a a one and four year old. We've tried so many different forms of child care from parents day out programs to full time child care to having a nanny. It's like it's a lot to kind of process. And I think it's so important to just bring these conversations to light, because in my field, I've been talking about college for years and paying for college. And I see so many families stressing out about paying for college. And it's crazy to see the studies.

The average cost of child care per year for preschool is similar to the cost of in-state tuition at a public university. Yeah, which is wild. It's wild. What's the average public university right now? Tuition. Just under $10,000. Just under $10,000 a year. And that's what we're seeing with child care happening, which is, yeah.

So if you're feeling that pull, that's a real pull. Like if you're feeling that stress and that anxiety, that is a real thing to talk about and discuss and to be super strategic and intentional with. That's right. And just like anything else in the budget, looking to see, okay, what are the ways that we can cut if we can? What are the different options out there that we may have to plug into different than we had to three, four years ago? Because life has changed. And depending on your job, your financial situation, this may be an area in your budget where you say, okay, what if we look at some different options that actually may be able to save us what we're paying now, which possibly could help. So there's a lot

of different options out there for families. Yeah, there's a lot of different options. I was telling Rachel on the break that even as an entrepreneur for so many years before I came to Ramsey, my husband and I tried some non-traditional options. For example, I would wake up for a season at 4 a.m. and work till 9 until my son woke up. And then my husband got off at 3 and he would take him. And then I'd go back to work. And I know it wasn't ideal, but it saved us a lot of money. And it allowed us to have a lot of time with our son, which was great and what we wanted in that season of life.

And then we've tried full-time care at other times. So it is definitely situation dependent. And I think it's good to kind of explore different options. Some people have family nearby. Some people have, you know, friends that maybe do a nanny share. There's just so many different options versus immediately signing up for that expensive daycare. That's like around the block from you. For sure.

For sure. Yeah. The nanny share thing is huge. I know a few friends that do this. And it is helpful if you're able to split because you're able to go a third, right, of the cost of what you would normally pay if you can get two other families with you. If it is something like that. And sometimes it's more convenient. Like for some people, you know, they're looking at a 15, 20 minute commute to put their kid in a certain program versus a nanny share might be with your neighbors where all you have to do is like walk across the street to take your child to share the nanny with you know your neighbors across the street yeah and then there gets to be a point to christine we've talked to

women on the show too that after paying for child care or even the commute from where they're working if they're working outside the home to somewhere else to this this that they just say gosh it just it's easier for me just to go part-time and that i work two days a week and take that cut because of what we're saving in childcare and in compute and gas, all of it. So it's just, it is so dependent per family situations and everything. But, but it is, it's a huge part of people's budget and are part of our, both of our budgets that we see when it comes to being a mom and working. And so, yeah, it can be stressful. Yeah. And then also, it's just

important for people to explore different options that can like help with those costs. Some employers now are offering benefits for child care. And so that could be a good conversation if you're looking into a new job. If you have a job and your benefits are pretty generous, you know, see if that's available. And if it's not, are they willing to negotiate that into your package? Because I mean, every little bit helps. If you can get an extra $5,000 to $10,000 a year to help with that, then that's amazing. And also talk to your HR department. Some employers offer dependent care accounts, which then you can pay for your daycare and

pre-tax dollars, which is obviously going to be a great savings. So just being really intentional to see what options are out there. What could possibly, what could possibly, you know, what am I not thinking about? Are there any options outside of the box that could really make our lives easier and help our budgets? Yeah, for sure. And just to remember, too, that, you know, everything is a season. Everything is a season. And that, you know, these costs aren't unless you move to like private school and you're gonna be paying for education at that point or something. Kids are expensive. But if you if you're looking at it or at least i am like okay you know in my

head the amount of years that they're at their home and the days i'm working when i need help versus when they're going to be full-time in school right like that that's a season so it's not going to be that forever expense that daycare uh even though that expense can move to if you pay for a private school elementary elementary school or something. But, and also, again, I've had friends that they're like, yeah, the pulling back thing is a real thing just to say, you know, maybe it's childcare expense and other things where they say, okay, for a season for this two years, I'm going to do this a little differently just to kind of ease the burden of

that, of that bill that, and financially we're going to cut the budget or people that say, hey, we're going all in and we're just going to have a tighter budget during the season of having to put our kids in childcare, knowing that that's going to have a little bit of relief here in the next few years. Yeah. I mean, for this season, I have a full-time stay-at-home dad husband, which is the right season for us right now. And like I've said, we've been through it feels like all the different options at this point. And for this season, that's what's right for us. That's right. And yeah, we're owning it. Yeah. And I think too, you know, the key word here is options. It's options. Don't just feel like you're stuck in one thing.

Explore, ask people, look at different, you know, availabilities, whether it's a nanny share or even a different daycare, anything to kind of give margin to the budget if it's needed. There are options out there, but it can be tough for sure. This is The Ramsey Show. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with Ramsey personality and bestselling author Christina Ellis. And we are taking your calls at 888-825-5225. All right, up next we have James in San Francisco. Hey, James, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for taking my call. How are you guys doing? Absolutely. We're

doing well. Thanks for calling. How can we help? So my question in a nutshell is whether or not I should take out a loan for a family medical emergency that has just come up. Um, so I have, I have, um, I've saved up an emergency fund. I don't have any debt. Um, and I'm just working on saving up for a house right now. Um, there's about 50,000 with all of that and the medical emergency that came up essentially my, um, Beyonce is from another country and she'll be here in a few months um her mother was just diagnosed with cancer and um so in the medical system there is is not very good the the government medical system um her grandmother had passed away from having cancer and being on that system and it could take like months for treatment to come

through and so they've been trying to look for options, financing options, loans and things like that. And I essentially have just enough with all of that, my emergency funds and what I've saved so far for a house to pay for the treatment and transplant that's needed. What kind of cancer is it? Liver cancer. I'm not really sure what the exact type is okay where is she from you said she's from a different country um yeah south america okay and is your fiancee here in the states or is she living abroad as well

she's living abroad as well she'll be here in a few months. We just got approved for a visa a few weeks ago. Okay. What country specifically? Just curious. Columbia. Okay. What is their public health care system like? So it's like, I think it's like a free healthcare type of thing.

I think the citizens get just like very basic healthcare. And essentially what it is, I know what her grandmother had experienced, is they'll pay for the treatments up to a certain expense. And then once they run out of money for that, they basically tell you you can only have treatment like every four months or something like that. Have they started into treatments right now? Have they started into that period of provided health care? Well, they haven't done that provided health care.

Basically, what most people do there is they go to private clinics or private hospitals because those are more equivalent to like the treatment you get here. It's just very, very expensive. And they've gone through one, they've started the chemotherapy process, but only one of them. And I'm not sure if they're going to continue it unless we can pay like an initial like $20,000. When are y'all, you said your fiance, when are y'all planning to get married? Early next year, as soon as she gets here, basically we have like 90 days to do it.

How long have you guys been together? A year and a half. Okay. I'm sorry y'all are going through that. That's hard when you're planning a wedding, you're trying to move with your fiance over here. That's just a very heavy burden to try to process through, especially with you not being there. That's a lot to kind of work through. And we'll have expenses when she comes, like,

you know, moving and getting her furniture and getting married and all that stuff. I'm trying to save up for that. For sure. So, James, when you have asked the questions about costs and everything when it comes to health care down there, what answers are you getting? Is she looking to do a more private clinic type of health care or is she going to be staying in the public? I have $50,000 saved and this can help put her through treatment. Is that, have you run the math and you have all the facts and you know what the bills are going to be, everything? Like you're pretty certain on that? Yeah, pretty certain on it. It's $25,000 first and then another, basically the $50,000 will pay for the treatment and transplant.

And then there's another $30,000 cost after that, I guess, that pays for the whole thing. But it sounds like that extra cost is just once they get that $50,000, they kind of will take care of everything. And then there's, I'm assuming that extra is just paying the rest of it sort of as like a loan. But yeah, they're looking at private health care because it sounds like if they go through the system, it might not turn out well, seeing as what happened to her grandmother. Sure, sure. Well, the only question mark I have in my head is I just don't know what health care

looks like in Colombia, right? If this this was in America we could talk about insurance we could talk about company like we could have more of a directed path so I don't I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the health care system in Columbia and so it would just be me taking your word that this amount is gonna be fine and that there's another thirty thousand dollars but they're gonna waive that just like you said like at all. I don't understand it all. And so, I mean, what I would say to you, James, is like, this is your money. I want to say you're not obligated to do anything, right? Like if this was your wife, who I know she's about to be, your child, like you, when it comes to those kinds of relationships, like you would go above and beyond, right? And for some people, you know, their parents, extended family, you know,

whatever it may be when it comes to medical expenses, and if you have the means to be able to help in, I just don't want to put you in your situation in unsteady, with an unsteady foundation. So I'm thankful that you don't have debts, you feel like you have margin in your budget, because you've been able to save up this emergency fund and this is for your house. So if you made this move and helped her with this and really gifted her that $50,000, I think that that's extremely, extremely generous and kind if that's the decision you chose. But also you want to be able to know, okay, for my fiance and I, who's going to be my

household, what are we going to have to do? What moves are going to be on pause for us? A lot of things that you guys want to go forward, we'll have to go on pause. So I want you to map that out as well. It's not saying that's a reason not to do it. Well, and I think while this is a more emotional conversation, there's a lot more state to some, to many extents. It's still kind of a similar conversation that we have when an engaged couple like has somebody who wants to pay off their fiance's debt. Like until y'all are married, there's still a chance that this could not work out. And like if this relationship for some reason, I obviously hope it works out, but if it doesn't

work out, you know, you, you potentially have really impacted your own personal finances for the longterm. I think I'd feel a little bit better if it was your wife that was down there or, you know, soon to be wife and you're getting married in a month. And this is a conversation where, you know, you're going to for sure be a unit in the near future. I think it'd be a little bit of a different conversation, but there still is that risk of time. And she's not here.

She doesn't have her paperwork done yet. She's not living here in the States yet. So it's just a lot could happen between now and then. And that's such a big amount of money that you've worked really hard to save up that could potentially be gone. Yeah, there's some caution there, James. I mean, honestly, and if there's any way, and again, I don't know how far, how in decline she is health-wise, but I think that there's a safeguarding

for you that if you guys were married, like Christina's saying, so I don't know if there's a way to wait on some of this, or maybe you give a small portion for now and then wait till you guys are married and then you're able together as a couple to to send more yeah or even start in the public health care system use up those benefits you said that you know there's a certain extent to which is provided and then you they make you pay maybe do those for the time being until you all are married and she's here and things are a little bit more stable that's right so yeah it's just it's just being really wise about it james and again it's not us being unkind or not generous I just have those are some of the red flags that we have just, you know, where you are relationally with her, making sure that, you know, you guys are married because once you are, you know, then there is a little bit of that different conversation because you've have a vow with another person that you're going to do life together. And if that is like, okay, we're going to do this for your mother-in-law, again, very

generous and very kind. If that's what you all decide and making sure there's no weird red flags with the healthcare system there, that the money's actually going to her treatment. I mean, all of that, right? There's so many of those questions. But again, if this all works out and you're able to help, I think it's a very generous thing. And money is a tool.

That's why we use money in our lives to help enhance our lives and to give to others. And so if this is the route you guys choose, it's very, very generous. Christina, great hour. Thanks to everyone in the booth. Thank you, America. This is The Ramsey Show. Have you been inspired to make a change with your money? Want to know where to start? Take our three-minute money quiz to get a plan you can follow. Go to RamseySolutions.com and search for Get Started to get a plan for your money.