The Ramsey Show - App - Debt Doesn't Allow You to Live the Life You Want (Hour 2)

Episode Date: July 26, 2019

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios. It's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. This is your show. It's all about you, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Nicole is with us to start off this hour in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hi, Nicole. How are you? I'm nervous. Uh-oh. Well, we've never lost a patient. I'll try to help. What's up?

Okay, so I just have a quick question. We have been working on your baby steps since the beginning of the year, around February, actually. And we've been making good progress. But I just thought of today, it just randomly came across my mind, that I set up an investment with my dad a couple of years ago. He had me put some money into some stocks. And I happened to pull up this statement today, and it's like $11,000. And I didn't know if it would be smart to put that towards our debt or not. It's not retirement stuff.

But I just didn't know what to think about that, so I wanted to ask you. Well, in the Total Money Makeover, or in Financial Peace University, where we teach you the baby steps, we tell folks to stop adding to investments and clean out all savings and non-retirement investments and throw them at their debt in baby step two. Oh, okay. So that's what I would do. I haven't been adding to it at all. It's just we put it aside.

You kind of hadn't thought about it. It wasn't top of mind yeah there it is 11 000 bucks well we can throw that at the debt so yeah i would cash that in and throw it at the debt now okay let's you your dad and you started the investment because he wanted to teach you to be a saver and an investor right okay so if you do this and you quit halfway through and stay in debt and now have no investments, you blew it. Because the purpose of getting out of debt is so you can build investments, so you can be even more generous, right? Right. And so if you use this $11,000 to get out of debt, and being out of debt and concentrating on investing causes you to become a millionaire,

then the $11,000 was really a wise move. But if you use the $11,000 and you go halfway through and you don't change your habits and you go back to spending everything you make like you're in Congress and you don't have any money saved and money invested and you gave up your investments, if you stop halfway through, then what we just talked about was a really bad idea. You follow me? Mm-hmm. So you've got to play through, okay?

Okay, I will. I have one more small question. Do you have a minute? Sure. Okay, we just found out that we're having a baby. Yay! Yes, it's very exciting. But we've been doing, I mean, I've

been working a lot extra, obviously, trying to put money towards debt. And so I know we're supposed to stop then paying towards debt and start saving up for the baby. But I was wondering, how soon do we have to start doing that? Because I'm really early, so I'm like, you know, less than 10 weeks. So I didn't know how soon we had to start doing that.

There's no panic. I just don't want you walking around with $1,000 in the bank, you know, having a baby and going to the hospital, right? Okay. And I want you to have more margin in your life than that. And here's the thing. You really don't lose any ground. Because every dollar you would have paid on debt is not spent.

It goes to savings. And so as soon as you come home with baby and mommy are healthy and you you know insurance takes care of whatever it's going to take care of you write your checks and pay off that whatever's in savings that was gonna have gone to debt goes on debt so the only the only grounds you lose is interest on a portion of it for those months while you're pregnant but that's it it's a very small cost to give you that extra padded emergency fund. But if you want to wait until second trimester and then stop your debt snowball, that's fine. Okay.

You know, that kind of thing. I wouldn't go past second trimester, though. I'd stop everything by then. At least the second and third, I'd pile up cash. There's just a comfort. Having your first child in particular, there's so many things you intellectually grasp, but you've never emotionally experienced and spiritually experienced, and it's just really good to have a pile of cash around while you're experiencing that. And so I want you to have an extra cushion.

And then when you come home, clean out the account, just like we were talking about a minute ago, right back down to the $1,000 and get going again. Kayleen is with us in Colorado Springs. Hi, Kayleen. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve.

What's up? I knew that was the answer. Hey, my husband's in the military, and we just sold our house because we're moving to another assignment, and we have an opportunity to buy some land at a good discount price. Now, we have a choice. We have no debt. We have this chunk that we got from our home sale, and is it better to go ahead and invest it into property or put it towards our investments, our mutual funds.

Okay. The land, are you going to build a home on it where you're moving for your next assignment? Well, no. It's local. The land is local. So it's probably more for investment than anything else. You're going to buy a piece of raw ground in Colorado Springs and then leave Colorado Springs? That's an option. Okay.

What is the land worth? It's worth about $160. It's been in a pre-sale for about $130, $140 right now, and it will go out after it gets listed for a little higher cost. Thinking about holding it for a couple years, I'm not sure if that's the best place for the investment or if it's just put in our mutual funds. We have about a half a million in mutual funds right now. Good for you. Well done. Well, basically, here's the risk you run. Raw land is what we call an alligator in the real

estate business. It does not create any income. And so you pay taxes on it. if it's in a subdivision you're going to pay hoa fees while you wait on the market to shoot up and you flip it is what you're talking about doing um and you know you put in 130 and you might make 60 in two years which would be a really nice rate of return but that's kind of what you're thinking it sounds like uh the problem is if interest rates tick up and um things slow down it might be worth 110 and that's the downside and the bigger problem is you can't sell it at all and that's the bigger biggest issue is you get stuck in it so uh raw land i mean i i own some raw land as part of my real estate portfolio um but but i did not really buy it to make money on

one of them i did and i haven't been able to sell it but the other one is just a big farm i bought just to hold the earth together and i just like it so uh but i really did not buy that farm to make money on it only i don't yeah i will never sell it my kids or grandkids may sell it someday but i'll never sell it so uh or at least i don't think i will but that's different than what you're talking about i i if it were a house i might even consider a small rental house or something that you want to do a flip on i might even consider that but a piece of raw ground it might come out perfect it might work perfect for you.

But if everything doesn't work perfect, you're going to be sitting there on something that your money, you can't get your money out of it. I mean, quick. It's illiquid. So if I were leaving Colorado Springs, I love real estate. I know a lot about real estate. It's one of my favorite investments. I would not do that deal because of what I just described. So in a town that I'm leaving, I wouldn not do that deal because of what I just described. So in a town that I'm leaving, I wouldn't do that deal.

In a town that I was staying in, I still probably wouldn't do that deal. I'd probably just put in mutual funds and when you get ready to buy your next home, you've got extra money that way. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Let me tell you a story about two families that are very much alike in a lot of ways. Both families have two working parents and a couple of young kids. Each has debt and has struggled to make ends meet. But they're starting to make headway with their budgets and smarter decisions with money. They have dreams and plans, and the only real difference is that one family has the right amount of term life insurance,

and the other doesn't. Big difference. If one of the parents die, and that does happen, their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other does happen, their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other bills would be impossible, let alone saving for education or retirement. That's why every day I talk relentlessly about getting term life insurance. Just go to ZanderInsurance.com or call 800-356-4282 and see how inexpensive it really is. Be the family that takes those deliberate steps to be different and responsible.

It really does make you the hero of your story, and it puts you on course for better things ahead. Nicole is with us in Waldorf, Maryland. Hi, Nicole. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Great. I'm so glad you received my call. Well, I'm calling because I'm a single parent. I am divorced now for several years um i was just calling because i have a lot of debt and i really don't know where to start with this debt because

a lot of the debt is priority um i did list it um if you want those numbers um i can give them to you well my total debt is 191 000 including my house how much of that's your house 119 000 okay seven thousand dollars of it is credit card $11,000 is taxes. I owe taxes for the last tax year. Why? Because I needed my money during the year since I'm a single parent. I have a senior in college, and I have a parent plus mom. And then I have a junior. So you didn't pay your taxes?

I paid some of my taxes. I didn't pay enough. Enough didn't go in. Are you self-employed? No. Okay. All right. What other debts have you got?

$22,000 is for a TSP loan. Mm-hmm. $32,000 is a parent plus loan. Mm-hmm. So $32,000 is a parent plus loan and then the $119,000 for my mortgage. But I did refinance my mortgage to a 15-year and I make my payments. How much is your car payment? I don't have a car payment. But my car right now is on its last leg.

I bought it brand new in 2009. What do you make a year? I make $98,000. Wow, wonderful. What do you do for a living? I work for the federal government. I'm a printer. Okay, great.

And you have one child and he's in college i have one daughter that's in college she she's a senior then i have another daughter she's a junior in high school but she goes to a christian school and i have to pay tuition for her every month okay all right so that's another debt But that's very important to me, the Christian education. Okay. And she's a junior in high school? Yes.

And how much of your older daughter are you paying for the college? Well, I have a $32,000 parent plus mom. Yeah, I know. I got that. But, I mean, are you paying more? Is loan. Yeah, I know. I got that. But, I mean, are you paying more? Is this kid, the kid in college, what year in college?

She's a senior. Okay. So are you done with that? I'll be done this year. With more loans or is this it? No, this is it. Okay. Well, the first step to getting out of debt is quit borrowing.

More. You can't borrow more. You can't get out of a hole while digging out the bottom. I understand. I've been listening to you about two weeks now, and I was able to get together the money for my baby step one, the $1,000. Gotcha. And I'm just trying to figure out what to do with the rest. The second step is to get yourself on a budget.

Jump on EveryDollar.com and get your budget going. You make good money. Your house payment is not that high. You don't have a car payment. So you're in pretty good shape there. And then you start looking at that budget and saying okay i'm not going to see the inside of a restaurant unless i'm working there as an extra job we're not going on vacation i don't have any money you see the thing about hitting goals it's not what you're

willing to do to hit your goals that causes you to hit them it's what you're willing to give up to hit your goals and and right now what happens happens is that you see something you want to do, and you just go do it. And then you look up and go, well, darn, there's another $11,000 in debt on taxes. Oh, there's a $32,000 debt in college. And oh, now what are we going to do when this kid in high school gets ready to go off college? Are we going to go another $40,000 in debt? No. Yes.

I haven't been able to save for my youngest daughter's college. So what do I do now? Because she's a junior. Well, she's going to have to go to a college that's cheap, number one. Number two, she's going to be working while she's in college. Number three, you may have an extra job during this time while you're paying off a bunch of these other debts. You sure as crap can't not pay your taxes anymore. That was suicidal.

I agree, and I did change my dependence to zero, so they're taking the max out of my paycheck. Well, I want to have the proper amount taken out and then get the $11,000 paid as fast as you can. And then I want you to cut up your credit cards, and we've got to have a plan for this kid to go to college. I love that she's in a Christian education, and I love that that means something to you. And I think you can probably work that out. I don't know how expensive it is. But if you have to choose between her going to that school her senior year or her going to college, which would you choose?

You might have to choose. I would choose her going to college, which would you choose? You might have to choose. I would choose her going to college. Yeah, you might have to choose. It would be very painful for her to move her senior year of high school emotionally. Absolutely. That would be a horrible thing. I hope that doesn't have to happen. How expensive is this Christian school?

It's $10,400 a year, so that's like $868 a month. That's not killing you. That's about 10% of your income, so that's not going to... If you told me $30,000, we'd have to talk about this. But $10,000, I think you can probably make this. So number one, when you start doing a budget, you're going to feel like you've got to raise. Every month, you make every dollar behave. You are now happening to your money instead of your money happening to you.

You can do this, Nicole. Okay. I've been talking to you for five minutes. You're not a dumb person. You're a smart person. You can do this. But you've kind of just kind of wandered along, and this stuff has all happened to you. And now you're going to happen to it.

And it's going to be like a growl. It's going to be like a growl. You've got a sweet little voice, and I want to hear a growl in your voice, like, I'm getting out of that. Okay. I want to believe me. My divorce, it was like I was just hit with a lot of debt all at once. How long ago was that, though?

It was some years ago. See, that's not the problem today. The problem today, the stuff you're facing today, you did it. It wasn't the divorce. It wasn't the divorce. I take ownership. Yeah, you took out the $32,000 Parent PLUS loan. You didn't pay the taxes, and you ran those credit cards up.

Yes, I did. Yeah, and that's okay. I've done dumber, kiddo. I've done a lot of stupid stuff in my life. You're not dumb as some I talk to. You're pretty smart. I think you can do this, but you're going to have to really cut your lifestyle to nothing, and it has to be a thing you focus on to the exclusion of almost anything else.

Really, I got two goals. I got three goals in this call that I want to try to do, all three of them. And if that means I work two extra jobs, I'm going to do it if I'm in your shoes. Number one goal is I want to start working on getting out of debt. Number two goal is I want to keep this kid in that school if I can. And number three goal is we want her to go to college and pay cash for it. But she's going to a cheap school, not an expensive one, unless somebody else is paying for it,

because her mother is a broke single mom that's $190,000 in debt. Absolutely. And she doesn't need to run up a bunch of student loans herself either. No. Can I ask you one more question, Dave? Yes, ma'am. All of my money, I'm in a TSP, but all of it is going, I have it in the G fund. Am I doing the wrong thing by having all of it going to the G fund?

Yeah, I would have it all in the C. All in the C, okay. 80% in the C, 10% in the I, 10% in the S. But I wouldn't have anything going in there right now until you clean this mess up. I would stop all investing temporarily because you've got a TSP loan. You've got a $22,000 loan. I'm only investing 5%. I'm investing 5% only because the other 10% is more towards the loan.

Stop. Don't put anything in there. Just pay the loans. All you're going to do, stop. And I'm going to show you how to do all this. I'm going to put you through our class, our program called Financial Peace University. It's a one-year membership. I'm going to pay for it and sign you up for free.

The only thing I ask is you go to all nine lessons at a local church, and then you stay in the thing. You stay online. You stay in the every dollar budget. And when you get out of debt, you call me and tell me you're doing it. And if you need some help, you call me and I'll help you. You can do this, Nicole. You can do this.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We've been voted one of the best places to work in Nashville 11 times. You want to know how we do it? Well, our team has been using LinkedIn jobs for years to find the best people from all over the country to come and help us change lives. Think about it. LinkedIn has more than 600 million active members. I'm talking about people who come to LinkedIn to make connections, grow their careers, and discover new job opportunities. In fact, 90% of LinkedIn users are open to new opportunities,

but not actively scanning job boards. This means LinkedIn Jobs gives you access to an entirely different demographic. Don't wait. One hire can change the direction of your company. Post a job today at linkedin.com slash Ramsey and get $50 off your first job post. That's linkedin.com slash ramsey terms and conditions apply in the lobby of ramsey solutions, Sean and Courtney are with us.

Hey, guys, how are you? Hi, Dave. Better than we deserve. Welcome. Where do you guys live? We live in Niceville, Florida. We're from Vermont. We're stationed in Niceville, Florida.

Serving in the Air Force, I'm guessing. Yes, sir. Yeah, well, thank you for your service. Thank you. Very well done. The Pensacola base, yeah. Cool. Very cool.

Welcome. So you're here to do a debt-free scream that's right how much have you paid off we have paid off 151,081 dollars and 48 cents give or take way to go how long did this take 22 months whoa and a great job and your range of income during that time we range between 110 to 120 000 okay very cool what kind of debt was this well 125 000 was student loans good old sally may kicked her out yeah and we had 20 in car loans i had a car then we had $6,000 in a 401k loan that we used for house renovations. Gotcha. So, did you sell

anything? Yeah. John sold his truck. Ooh, John. How much did it bring? $16,000. We owed only $14,000, so there was actually a little bit of a positive to that. Got you a little money to buy another car then.

And then pretty much cleaned out the gun safe. Oh, whoa. And I could probably write a book about the encounters I've had over Craigslist. Bet. Wow. What kind of guns did you sell? A little bit of everything. Yeah.

Yeah. Ouch. That was tough. Wow. Okay, good. So what did all the miscellaneous things in addition to the truck bring, the guns and the other stuff? I think if you count what the truck took off the debt plus what we sold, it added about $20,000 to everything. Okay, so another $4,000 basically.

Okay, because it sold for $16,000, right? It sold for $16,000, yeah, another $4,000 or $5,000. Yeah, okay, cool. Good job. Good job. So what happened 22 months ago? Well, Dave, about two and a half years ago, we found out that we were going to be stationed in Florida. We were living in Vermont at the time.

Had no idea who Dave Ramsey was. But before we left, we said, hey, you know, this might be a good chance, um, to get ahead of our finances a little bit, you know, chip away at a little bit of the debt we had. We're making a great income and it just felt like, you know, we never had any money left over. Yeah. Fresh start. Um, so we had our plan when we got down to Florida, um, and you know, to let you know how that plan went about two weeks into moving there, I was thinking about trading my truck for a Corvette. So needless to say, my plans suck. But so just driving around, I'm a big talk radio guy. And I came across your show one day and I was like, oh, this is really entertaining. I started listening to it. And a couple of weeks into it,

I realized, you know, this isn't so funny because this is us except we're not doing anything about it so much for the entertainment yeah it was like oh wow that really took the wind out of my sails so i just got mad at that point it was like you know i finally realized you know sally may and all the other stuff just wasn't allowing us to live the life that we wanted to live. You were a slave. Exactly. We were a slave. So Courtney had no idea at this point because I'd just been listening to it on the bass,

driving back and forth to appointments and stuff. And so I wasn't really sure how to break it to her. I knew not to come home and tell her we were selling her car because I'd heard enough of the show to realize that was a bad idea. Okay, good. So I bought the Total Money Makeover audio book and came home and said, hey, would you listen to this with me? And she said, yeah, sure. And I'd kind of given her a little bit of an idea. I had been listening to this crazy guy on the radio. And so she was intrigued.

We put the CD in the truck and just went for a drive. And it was really nice to listen to it together at the same time time because a lot of the things that you'd talk about we'd kind of look over and have that yeah that's that's us uh there's a lot of opportunities to press pause and kind of talk through some things and um it was a it was a really good way and after that after that drive um we just came back and we're like you know what we're gonna tear into this we're we're on to tear into this. We're on board. She jumped right on board. I didn't really have to convince her. You're more eloquent than me, so the audio book was great. Courtney, I think he handled this like perfectly. He did.

I mean, that was textbook right there. I mean, he didn't come home and start announcing a bunch of crazy stuff. He just went, did you listen to this with me? And it worked. It worked. It all made sense. Good. Very cool. So you lined up and you pay off $150.

When you go for something, you go for it. Both of you. We said, if we're going to do this, we're going to all in. And I knew that she was on board. I still remember the gas pump that we were at at the base. And we were still driving the truck at the time, and it was a couple months into it, and she's like, you know what?

She's like, why don't, because we had talked about getting a downsizing in car or whatever, and she said, why don't we just sell your truck and just we'll go down to one vehicle for the time, and there was actually a lot bigger sacrifice for her because she works full-time, I work full-time, but the way the logistics worked out, I would be the one with the car and picking her up, and she was just kind of stranded at work that whole time.

And I just said, you know what, we're going to kill this. We're just going to hit the pedal to the metal and get right through it. So you go from upgrading to a Corvette all the way down to one car. One car, yeah. That's a huge swing in the decision-making process for you guys. Well done! Well done. Do you have people cheering you on or saying you're crazy?

A little bit of both, for sure. There was definitely people who thought we were kind of weird, bringing our lunch to work every day and sharing a car. But we got plugged into FEU, and we really had some good mentors there. Oh, good. You went through the class. Yeah, Gray and Carrie had some good mentors there. Oh, good. You went through the class. Yeah, Gray and Carrie.

Shout out to them. Yeah, we taught, too, to kind of keep the momentum going in our church. So that was really great, too. Oh, you led the class, too. Okay, wow. Good. Very good. It does help you. It really does.

I think taking the class is important. I think leading it might be more. Yeah. Because you don't have a choice. You've got to do it when you're leading. It's like you can't be screwing off. You've got to be game on. Exactly. And to be honest, some of the

things that the people in our class were inspiring us to because just the way that they were getting after everything. Wow. Well, that's very cool. Well, congratulations, you guys. I'm proud of you. Thank you. And Dave, I just wanted to add one thing. We are incredibly grateful to everything that you've done. Everyone at Ramsey Solutions.

It's just been a complete paradigm shift for us. Just embracing this, this something that is completely foreign to us because we didn't get it grown up. And it just, it's changed our life. Not to mention that we had a baby in the middle of it. Yeah. And of course I wanted to keep pushing through and just get the debt paid off. But the voice of reason was like, maybe we should stash up the money and press pause on the snowball.

And so I remember we, that last 40 grand or so when our daughter, our daughter was born in late December and it was a a couple weeks after she came back, I think there was no big dramatic moment or anything. We woke up one morning from what little sleep we had gotten and just logged on the computer, paid the debt off, went back to sleep, done. Just like that. It's just amazing. We're debt-free.

And this has allowed me to stay home with her, and that has been huge. We were able to kind of make that decision based on what's best for our family instead of our finances kind of controlling that decision. So you don't take your lunch to work anymore. You take your work to lunch. Yeah. Wow. Way to go, you guys.

Thank you. That's so fun. Very, very fun. Very, you guys. Thank you. That's so fun. Very, very fun. Very proud of you. Thank you. Well, we've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book, Retire Inspired, for you. That is the next chapter in your story to be millionaires. You're well on your way.

And, man, oh, man, congratulations. Thank you. So very well done. And your baby's name is? Reagan. Reagan Grace. Reagan. Okay.

Are we going to put Reagan in the shot here? Oh, we got the headphones so that she doesn't freak out. That's a good idea. Some of these parents scare their kids to death by screaming. Yeah. That's good. I love it. All right.

Sean and Courtney and Reagan from Pensacola. $151,000 paid off in 22 months, making $110,000 to $120,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. paid off in 22 months, making $110,000 to $120,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! We're debt-free! That's how you do it right there, man.

I love it. Awesomeness. Absol. Awesomeness. Absolute awesomeness. Hey, you listening on the radio, it's your turn. Yeah. You ready? Set. Go. Adults devise a plan and follow it.

Children do what feels good. Thank God it's Friday. Oh God, it's Monday. Says the guy who's struggling with money his whole life. Adults devise a plan and follow it. One definition of maturity is the ability to delay pleasure. The Bible says no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness. One of the things we struggle with in our culture today is we have a manhood crisis.

The wussification of America. But occasionally, more often than you might think, I get to see a bright spot. You see, when a man puts the good of his wife, the good of his country, and the good of his children ahead of his own selfish to get out of debt, in order to prosper, that's what you call a man. Little boys stomp their foot with a red face and say, I'm not selling my truck. I deserve this. You don't deserve anything unless you've saved up and paid for it. You bought something you didn't deserve, and that's why you have debt. Adults defies a plan and follow it.

Children do what feels good. That last debt-free scream, that guy's impressive. He took the initiative. He brought home the idea. He gently, carefully, with kindness and love, presented it to his wife. She bought in. The two of them together make a fearsome team. He sold his guns and his truck.

And let me just tell you, some of you ladies don't understand that necessarily, but I'm a truck guy and a gun guy, and I admire a real man that will sacrifice for his family. You can get you some more guns, and you can get you some more trucks, but you only get one shot at being a man. Well, that's probably not true. You probably could choose to do it tomorrow, I guess. You'd probably get a shot

every morning. But you get a shot at being a grown-up. You know, some of the millennials call it, I'm adulting now. Being an adult has become a verb. And that's true if you're a woman or a man, isn't it?

Adults devise a plan and follow it. Children do what feels good. I meet men that are 18 years old. I meet men that are 65 years old. I meet selfish little spoiled brats of all ages, and you too don't you as a matter of fact i've actually been both have you i've been the guy stop i don't want my stuff i deserve you you ever had a good wine party i didn't say wine i said wine you want. You want some cheese with that wine? Have you ever done that?

I've done that. I used to think whining was a little-known form of prayer. But something about the pain of going through losing everything with Sharon and I and something about us saying never again and I don't ever want to be here again. Did you hear him say that? I don't ever want to be here again. I don't ever want to live like this again. Something about doing that that grows you up, doesn't it?

And it makes you a full-grown woman. It makes you a full-grown man, an adult. Adults devise a plan and follow it. Children do what feels good. Does that mean adults never do anything impulsive? No, it just means we plan our impulses. You know, if you'll quit taking random, stupid, tiny little road trips, you could take a world-class cruise with what you spend on all that stuff.

If you quit buying cars you can't afford, you can have some nice cars. You know, you quit, you follow me? I mean, this is really not rocket science, people. But it just struck me, that guy, our last debt-free screamer there. I'll run into him occasionally. I remember the first time that happened many, many years ago. I was teaching Financial Peace University with an overhead projector and a bad suit. I used to teach it live.

And we'd gather in a circle after I taught the lesson. And this great big old guy, he was a country boy from Kentucky. And he must have been probably 6'6", 6'7", and just solid and i watched his wife who was a tiny little lady beautiful little lady completely tear up and tell the whole group in the small group setting how proud she was her husband had sold his knife collection which was apparently a world-class knife collection that brought like ten thousand dollars mean, it was legitimate. Let me tell you, if you're a good old boy from Kentucky, you sell your knife collection to take care of your family, for your family to get out of debt.

You know what that means? It means you're a man. He put his family first above his selfish little boyhood desires. And, oh, by the way, you can get some more knives. If you live like no one else later, you can live and give like no one else. And the giving is more fun anyway. But it is the answer to some of the things that are bothering our culture right now. Most people are so worried about their own needs and their own rights

rather than worried about others. It's part of what's breaking the civility down, where some of you people just have completely lost your minds in the midst of political conversations, in the midst of... You can't have a discussion with some of these people anymore. They're just nuts. And all of that has to do with selfishness and fear instead of serving and strength. Think about it.

It'll come to you. Adults devise a plan and follow it. I got a hold of a piece of research several years ago, probably about 15 years ago, when I was continuing to grow and work on this idea of teaching people how to handle money. And this show was getting very popular. And I remember the research that said that the typical person who is wealthy, when they make a purchase decision, when they make any decisions with money,

matter of fact, when they make almost any decisions, they think about how it's going to impact their lives 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now. Broke people think about friday living for the weekend oh that's kind of cute but it's pretty adolescent and isn't it kind of there's not i mean is there anything uglier than a 58 year old party animal i mean living for the weekend i guess that's okay if you're 18, but when you're 58, isn't it time to grow up? And really, at 18, isn't it time to grow up? I mean, you're not 13 anymore.

Think about it, folks. We worship youth in this culture instead of wisdom. Perfect hair instead of gray hair. But maybe there's something lost when we do that. Think long term. Serve your family. Live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness.

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