The Ramsey Show - App - Doing This Will Make You A Net Worth Millionaire (Hour 2)

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, win with your money, win in your work, and win with your relationships. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me. We're having a blast, and we want to help you, so let's go. Phone lines are open. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Let's start this hour out in Huntsville, Alabama, not far from here.

Chris is on the line. Chris, how can we help? Hey, yeah, I have a question about some stock purchasing options I have through my work. Okay. So we get offered the ability to put up to 10% of our paycheck into the program. I work for a tech company. So what happens is after six months, we get 15% off the lowest, either the entry or the exit of that six months. And, um, my wife and I are going through FPU. We're in, uh, we're currently on baby step three

and, um, just trying to figure out if that's something I'm able to do at this point. Cause we only have a certain window where we're able to opt into this and then we can always decrease it at any point but opting in is only a small window and just trying to get some more guidance to see what we can best do for us and especially we're going through FPU right now. So what's your next financial goal? So we have about 12,000 saved up. We have a son with a heart defect. So we're doing the six months emergency fund, which we think is about 19, 20,000. And we're going to buffer it possibly a little bit more with about 2000 specifically for medical expenses. So we're about $12,000.

Our goal is to get about $22,000 for the emergency fund. Cool. All right, and you're wondering, hey, should I opt in now? When is the next time you could opt in if it wasn't now? The next time would be six months from now. Oh, okay. And you should have your emergency fund done when, based on your estimations?

I'm looking at my wife right now. Emergency fund, we can get done in, she says, about three to four months. Okay. I would just opt in to the next six-month mark because you still have retirement options. Even if you guys then fully funded the emergency fund, you then begin investing 15% of your income into retirement plans. And truthfully, the employee stock purchase program, which is what you're talking about, wouldn't be a part of your normal retirement investing. So this would be, if you want to use some fund money outside of the 15% to get some stocks, that's totally fine. But again, we don't recommend single stocks because

of the volatility. And so I'm guessing you believe in this company. It's probably doing well, but it's still risky. And for those reasons, I wouldn't put too much stake in it. Okay. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it is. And it's the tech field. So I mean, yes, it's over history. It's always going up. But yeah, it definitely, you see the ups and the downs. And I've worked for the company for five years, so I've used it in the past. It allowed us to buy a car and, you know, help put down payment on a house, things like that. But we've redirected our mindsets going through y'all's programs and stuff. I love it.

Stay focused. I appreciate trying to get that. Yeah, I wouldn't be investing while trying to save up the emergency fund because what happens is the emergency hits, and all of a sudden you go, oh, my gosh, we have to go back into debt. We weren't ready. So build this foundation. Make savings a priority. Investing will come later.

And I would still focus on retirement plans before touching single stocks. Chris, you're doing the right thing. You're being a great husband and a great dad. Your brain's in the right place. You are not missing out. You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine. If you follow the baby steps, you're going to be plenty fine when it comes time to pull retirement money. So stay the course. Don't feel like you're missing out. And we're wishing your kid all the best. Yeah, absolutely. Man, that's tough stuff.

But that's where you get a lot of peace at night is to have that cash there in case we need to have some extra for a very important procedure. Yeah. And that trumps any single stock out there. I mean, I always slept with a little bit more peace, you know, when the kids were younger. And, you know, you start, you know, of course, now, good grief, it doesn't change. You know, they're teenagers and going to be young adults before you know it. And you just you want to have that peace that I can handle an emergency,

and that's why this works. You know, just to the parents that are thinking about getting on the baby steps, can I just appeal to you, if nothing else works, the peace of being a parent with our baby steps is so much greater. Let's go to Bobby in Austin, Texas right now. Bobby, how can we help? Hi, guys. Hope you all are doing good today.

We are having too much fun, I think. What's how can we help? Hi, guys. Hope you all are doing good today. We are having too much fun, I think. What's going on with you? Well, I'm a military retiree, and I got a great job now. My wife and I have been married almost, so it'll be 28 years this year. Congrats. Thanks. What arm of the service were you in? Air Force. Air Force. Come on. All right. Well, you're a great American. Thank you for your service. Thanks so much. I appreciate your support. Well, our kids are grown.

We've got grandkids now, and we did a really good job paying off debt. We've just built our forever home, but I've not saved very much at all for retirement. And so I'm almost 50. I'd like to know just kind of where I should go from here. Like, what's the best way to make sure that we're going to be okay? And it's, you know, it's late to get started. I wish I would have did it 20 years ago. Do you have a military retirement?

I do. What will that add up to and when will it hit? I'm already getting it. So I was active duty. So it's 33,000 a year. Okay. So it's a good starter, but it's not going to be enough to retire on. Right. That's the only passive income I have. That and my VA disability is about 40,000. Okay. So we got 40 grand as kind of our base. And so what are your monthly expenses right now? Well, I'm also full-time employed. I'm not fully retired yet. So I'm a consultant. I make $149,000. Wonderful. Good for you. Is that

household income? Is there anyone else working? No, that's just me. So the $149,000 and the $33,000 are taxed. And then of course the $40,000 is tax-free. And the 40 is every year for how long? That's forever. Oh, is the 40 on top of the 33? I don't think you caught that. He's got a disability of 40 a year for his life. So he's got a $73,000 base in benefits. That helps, and that's guaranteed for life.

Okay. Right. So the good news is you don't need a massively large nest egg. No. But I would do my best to do as much as I can with that amazing income. How old are you? 47. Okay.

Do you have any retirement plans through your current employer? I do have a 401k and I rolled over all the little ones I had when I was trying to find a good transition job out of the military. I think I've got $43,000 in it, maybe. Right. Not a lot. The 401k. You're going to catch up fast.

11% right now. Yeah. It's mostly ETFs. And you got a mortgage? I do. I have a massive mortgage. Oh, boy. What's that add up to?

What's the loan? Five. It was $615,000, and we're down to $513,000. What's that add up to? What's the loan? The fives, it was 615, and we're down to 513. Okay. Do you have any debt? Just the house. Just the house, okay. We worked really hard to pay it off. That's our only thing, and we're paying, the payment is 3,100, I think, and we're paying like 7,000.

Good. Good for you. Well, outside of that, I would begin investing investing 15 of my income into a 401k if you have a roth 401k that's great because that money's gonna grow tax-free with after-tax money so that's 1860 about you should be putting in that retirement account and that will help you create a nice little nest egg over the next 20 years so that would be my focus my friend that'll add up yeah you're gonna be fine and again you are a great american you're off and running in. And again, you are a great American. You're off and running in this new direction.

Love this story. Thank you for the call. All right, we'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. The phone number to jump in on the conversation about your life is 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman. George Cannell joins me.

And today's question, George, comes from Matt in Ohio. Here we go. After getting a degree in... Wait a second. I think you're supposed to read that. It doesn't matter. You're a great reader. Yeah. It's very comforting. Yeah. I feel like I've already thrown the ball to you. Okay. Here we go.

Matt in Ohio says, After getting a degree in corporate accounting, I went to work for an accounting firm but did not enjoy the work, so I quit. I then took a part-time job as a baker at a local restaurant, and after talking to the owner about my work experience, she asked me to switch into a business development role. Now I'm doing more work than anticipated and getting paid the same. However, I love the role and realize that this is my first shot at getting a job in this area. I don't want to ask for more pay because I feel that this is my proving ground and that I should embrace it.

On the other hand, I'm analyzing their books and creating a more organized system for them, as well as taking on business growth projects. We have a goal of increasing revenue by 20% this year. Should I continue as is or create my own company and charge them as a client? Well, very interesting. Well, Matt, here's what I think. I think that you really enjoy this role and you see an opportunity for growth. I would just talk to them about workload. I would not talk about pay first.

If we lead with pay, sometimes it creates an awkward environment and it kind of puts the leader in a defensive posture. And so I would go in this situation and go, I am thrilled about this role. I love it. I see a track for just exciting growth and what I can do for the company. However, my workload is starting to become an issue. And so we've led with, I love the job, I'm grateful, but I need your help because the workload issue is, there's a lot more that I'm doing now. And I would love to talk about my growth opportunities as it relates to compensation along with responsibility. Can we talk about a growth plan that includes responsibility and compensation?

And I think when you set it that way, two things happen. Number one, you posture it, George, in the best way possible so it doesn't look like a demand and I deserve. That always gives somebody a chance to kind of hit the ball back. We don't want that. We want to put the ball in their lap, right, and let them take some ownership. So that's the first thing it does. The second thing it does is their response to this is going to reveal a lot, and it will reveal the answer to the last question. Should I just go do this on my own and charge them as clients? So when you do it this way, let me tell you what a healthy leader does. A healthy leader goes, thanks for sharing this with me. We are loving what you're doing. You're

going to find out how they value you. And so that's why you do it this way. So it could open up the door to growth in a healthy situation with a healthy leader, or it will reveal that it's going to be an exit strategy if it's an unhealthy situation with an unhealthy leader. I like that. And I'm going to add to this. He said, I took a part-time job and now I'm in this role. So I'm wondering if he's even working full-time at this juncture. Yeah, it's hard to say. I wondered the same thing. We don't have the details there. So it's part-time. And so are you still getting part-time pay for full-time hours? If that's the case, this is an easier discussion. But you still got to go into it with that.

The other part of this is if he's wanting to start his own kind of consulting company. I think it's too soon for that. He could see, hey, can I get some clients outside of this one first? And then you can jump ship. I agree. I got three clients. I'm going to leave and do this full time, but hey, I'd love to keep you guys on as a client because if he does this now when they

say no and he gets fired, that leaves him in a real lurch. Really good insight there. Good stuff. Thank you for the question, Matt. All right, let's go to Michael in Toledo, Ohio. Michael, how can we help? Hello, sir. How are you? Good. What are you doing? Currently, I am drinking a cup of coffee right now and just got off of work. Oh, that's exciting. I thought I'd mix it up every once in a while. I like that. Like, what are you doing? I like he had a good answer. He really painted the picture for us.

He's enjoying a post-work cup of Joe. Oh, always. Now, I got to ask for George really quick. Is it you got any cream and sugar in it like Ken would drink it, or are you a little snooty like George and it's just all black? How is that snooty? You're snooty about it. Somehow I'm a diva because I put nothing in my coffee.

He's not snooty, but people that tend to drink their coffee black, they kind of judge the rest of us that like to doctor it up. 100%. See, there's a guy in the lobby shaking his hand. He agrees. That's fine. What say you, Michael? So today, I usually just do straight black coffee.

However, if I'm feeling a little frisky, I'll throw some cream and sugar in there. Welcome to the frisky club. All right. Very good. All right. Now we got that out of the way, Michael. How can we help? I just want to say thank you for taking my phone call in the first place.

Sure. So it involves around my home. So currently my wife and I, I'm 29 years old, been married for five. We completed the baby steps one, two, and three, and we're on to the fourth. So my general question is I have 110,000 investment accounts, non-Roth, non-IRA, just straight individual tax. Just a taxable brokerage account? Yeah.

Okay. And then our mortgage is only $110,000. So should I drain my investment and pay off my mortgage completely and be completely debt-free, or just continue investing 15% of the income and just dabble at the mortgage every month to pay it off. What was the purpose of this taxable brokerage account? So my taxable brokerage account, my aim was for a dividend growth.

So like right now, per year, it's about a 10% dividend growth rate with our capital gains. Okay. So what will the tax burden be if you liquidate this entire account? Tax burden will be... Is it long-term capital gains? Yeah, yes, sir. Okay. So I would factor that into the equation. So what will it be? Do we know? Around 20%.

Okay. 20% of the 110 is what you'd end up paying in taxes. And how much do you guys have in savings? We have a six-month emergency fund totaling about 20 grand. Wow. Fantastic. Well, you know what? The emergency fund, if you needed to, it can now get a little lower once you don't have a mortgage payment to cover. True. What's your mortgage payment? My mortgage is about $777 with a 2.2 interest rate. Okay. And that includes property taxes, homeowners insurance, all that?

Yep. That's everything lumped in. I got to ask another question, George, for you. I need to get you the judge gavel and robe because I'm actually— I need a tiny gavel. You need a tiny gavel. I'm interested to see what you're going to say on this one because I don't think this one is as clear-cut as maybe some people think it is. That's all I'm going to say. But I am curious.

When would you pay off the house? I'm doing it today. I know that. I'm saying if he does do that, when would you pay off the house michael if you didn't uh liquidate the uh joint brokerage if you just did 15 investing into retirement and anything extra you threw at the principal when would you pay it off uh so actually i did the math on that i knew it figured he did he's a smart man we made the mistake, though, of doing a 30-year. This is before I took the baby steps. Sure.

So we're doing about an extra $500 a month towards the payment, and then our payoff date would be 2041. Oh, okay. So we're talking a good 17 years from now. I didn't realize that. That's a long time to hang on to a payment when you could be done with it today. All right. I'm with you, George.

I was just trying to play it a little bit. I appreciate that. But it's too long. I didn't realize it was going to take that long to pay it off. It's a really small amount. I would liquidate it. I'd pay off the mortgage, and then I'd be ready come tax time and put that money aside in a separate account. What's your household income?

So currently I make about $75,000 after tax. My wife's take home after tax is about $44,000. Amazing. Wow. So you guys are making close to $200,000 gross? Oh, I'm sorry.

I make $77,000. She makes $44,000. You're saying after tax? Yes. Okay. That's a high, yeah, $177,000. She makes $44,000. You're saying after tax? Yes. Okay. That's a high, yeah, $170,000, $180,000 gross? Around there, yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.

Well, here's the deal, George. Even if you still had $250 in insurance and property taxes, $500 freed up from $29,000 to $67,000 invested is $2.5 million that you would create just by freeing up that mortgage payment and investing it. So just think about it that way. You're not really losing. No. It just hurts because you've worked hard to build this investment portfolio and you're taking a temporary cut for long-term gain, my friend. Pay it off today. If you regret it, you can always go get another mortgage. The banks are happy to give you that money. It's a very good point, George. Although we would really recommend you don't do it. Please don't. All right, George, you're right. Yes. Good job. Not every day you get to say that. This is The Ramsey Show. This is The Ramsey Show. We're excited that you are with us. We're here to help you win in your

money and win in your work, win in your relationships. All three of those areas are absolutely connected to have a wholesome and healthy life. If you're failing or suffering, losing in any of those areas, I promise you it affects the others. And so we want to help you, and that's what we do here on The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. Let's go to Las Vegas. And James is And it's, hey, we're blessed in so many ways, and it's the slow kind. So I'm going to be here for a while.

But taking a shorter-term view on our investment horizon or strategy, we have about $100,000 where we'd like to set up so my wife can support herself when my income goes away. I'm the primary on this. And so with that $100,000, our choice is the way we see it is I can recast our current to try to drive that payment down or punch out, buy a cheaper house or something like that. And just love your take on the strategies for moving about a hundred grand out, putting it to work for us in a shortened timeframe. All right.

Let's gather some facts here. So how much do you owe on your current home and what is it worth? It's worth about $470,000 and we owe just over $4,000 on it. Okay. And what other investments do you have or what kind of insurance? Give us a whole picture here of what we're dealing with. So I have a term life insurance that unfortunately I responsibly bought it about 18 years ago. I got about two years left before it goes away. And so I'm probably not, I'll probably be here for that to expire, thankfully. But then obviously challenged on getting another term. Have some investment

accounts, but we're convinced we should probably let them sit tight for right now. And there's not very much in there probably. And so the $100,000 is above and beyond your emergency fund? It's commingled with that. Our emergency fund would be probably $40,000 of that. Okay. So you've got $60,000 to play with here. Yeah. And what would be the goal of this $60,000 if you could snap your fingers? Boy, well, to invest it in such a way that when my income goes away that my wife would be able to either have the most flexibility, I guess, either to stay in the current house, but not need, where we're at right now, her income would not, she'd have to move, she'd have to punch out. What is she making right now? About $40,000.

And what are you making? About $150,000. Wow. Sizable difference there. So part of it is I would begin to make a budget just based off of her income and see what would be a sustainable life without your income being in the picture that she could afford. And that might mean we downgrade severely in house. Do you guys need to have this house right now? Or could you downgrade to an apartment? Could you rent? Yes, we could do all that. Okay. We don't need it. I would be leaning that direction myself. I don't know that a recast is going to change much. You could do it later on,

but with not having much equity, it's not going to change the game, and you still would need to make a lump sum payment. So you might need to take that 60, lump sum it, it'll still cost you a few hundred bucks to do a recast, and then it would bring your payment down. Yep. So it's something to consider. The other thing to consider is a guaranteed issue policy. Have you heard about these? I have not.

Okay. This is something that won't give you a ton of coverage. It is expensive, but it is an option for folks that are in your shoes that can't get traditional life insurance. And so it has a maximum. You might get $25,000 of coverage, and it might cost you $1,400 a year. But that's something you can do to at least cover final expenses and help cover a few other things while kind of adding one layer of protection. But the best thing you guys can do is take the majority of your income and throw it into savings and investments right now while you're still with us. And I hope you're with us for goodness, a long, long, long, long time. And I hope you beat

this thing. Me too. I should be for a while. Good. For sure. Good. So if you continue making this money, yeah. I mean, what's the mortgage payment right now? $2,500. Oh, I'm going to tell you right now, I would sell this house. You just don't have a ton of equity in it. And it's just something I would, if I, let me just say it this way. If I was in your shoes, I would be doing that because I would not want Stacey to have to deal with selling the house. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't want her to deal for one second with how am I going to live on 40? I'm going to have to do this. I'd want to take all of the decisions away from her and just allow her to grieve and move on with her life. And so I would sell the house.

You guys downsize. You just got a $30,000 raise the minute you guys, you know, and I understand. And if you can pay for something cash, that's where I'm assuming this, is that we get something smaller in cash. And that just is no longer an issue. Your quality of life as a result of this decision, I would just have to believe is really good. How does that feel when you run that through your head?

It feels good to me. All right. It feels great. And here's the other thing you could do. If you sell this place and you rent, maybe you sock enough money away that in five years, you guys go buy a condo that becomes the thing she's going to live in completely debt free. That's a good idea too. So I like the plan of going, hey, how can we limit her expenses long-term to where she has a paid for condo, very little, you know, she'll pay an HOA fee, but she won't have to mess with things. Things will be covered. It's an easier life. And I think

that's the thing you start aiming for is what does that next chapter for her look like, whether it's five years from now or 20 years from now. Agreed. And maxing out your retirement plans is going to be a great thing for you guys to do. How old are you, James? I'm 60. 60. Okay. So you have the opportunity to do catch-up contributions with retirement plans and making $190. You guys can put a whole lot of money away, especially if you got rid of the mortgage by renting for a season. Yeah. Yeah, if we got that, for sure. I can't imagine being in your shoes, James. So we're thinking of you and pulling for you and hope things go way better than even you plan.

Thank you, James, for the call. Let's go to Cameron now in Tampa, Florida. Cameron, how can we help? Hi. So I'm just wondering if I should be looking to buy a house soon. I'm pretty young. I got a pretty good job after graduating college here. I have a decent amount of money saved up. I do have some debt, but I'm just wondering

if I should be looking to buy a house soon or if I should just keep renting and waiting. What makes you think, hey, this is the time to buy a house? Mostly because I feel like I'm throwing my money away and renting when I could be putting it towards a house instead. And who threw that myth at you? Maybe just some friends, some family members, I guess. Mainly, I'm just kind of tired of seeing my money go in the trash can when I'm paying rent. But I feel like it could be going towards a mortgage.

I have a different viewpoint. I don't see renting as throwing away money because I know as I've been a homeowner a long time and I rented a long time. Renting buys you patience. There's so many benefits of renting. Options, options, options. Flexibility. Freedom. No maintenance and repairs to deal with.

It's someone else's problem. And that's what you're paying for with rent. That's right. You're transferring the risk to someone else while you buy yourself patients and build a financial foundation. So how much debt do you have? I have $31,000 in debt, and it's a car loan. What's your income? I make $115,000 base, but I get about $20,000 to $30,000 in bonuses, so about $140,000.

Amazing. You went and got yourself a matchbox car. Nice car. What are you driving? It's an Audi S5. Oh, yeah, I knew it. How much do you have in savings? So I have 60 grand in a high-yield savings account that gets about 5% annual interest.

And I have 10 grand in my checking, and I have about $17,000 in my 401k. Bro, you got money. Why are you carrying a car payment? Yeah. Here's what I would do, Cameron. Speaking of burning money and throwing money in the trash, that's what you're doing with the Audi. Yeah, you're probably close to underwater on this thing.

So here's what I would do. If you want to keep the car, pay it off today and use the other $29,000 remaining. That becomes your fully funded emergency fund. Then and only then do you begin saving up a down payment from scratch. And you'll be able to do that fast with no car payment, making $140,000. And once you have a good down payment, 5% to 20%, 25% of your take-home pay, a 15% you're fixed, that's when you know you're ready. Not when people tell you that it's time because you're throwing away money on rent.

I rebuke that. The Reverend George Camel has spoken. It's time to take an offering. We call it a commercial break. We'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. George Camel joins me. And we are so excited that you are with us. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. So from George next to me to George in Phoenix, Arizona. George, how can George and I help? Thanks for taking my call. My call is regarding credit cards.

I have just recently deleted all my credit cards from my life. Are you saying you cut them up or did you close the accounts? Closed them out. Deleted them. Deleted them. That's strong. I love it, George. I called a while back and George and Rachel was along with you that day, and you're both very helpful to me. Good. My question is, what do you do to pay for, for example, a plane reservation or a car rental or to buy something on Amazon? I've used my debit card a time or two, but it scares me to use a debit card because they have unlimited access to your account, where the credit card you can call and dispute it.

Sure. And I'm real concerned about ID theft. Absolutely. There's a bunch of things you can do, George, that will help you sleep better at night. One, you can get in touch with our friends at Zander. They have a great ID theft protection program. Every single team member at Ramsey has it, and that really helps you stay protected. Number two, I want to encourage you that debit cards, does your card have a Visa or MasterCard logo on it, that debit card? Yes. They have a zero liability policy. You can look it up.

That covers you as well. On top of that, there's something called the Electronic Fund Transfer Act that covers debit cards from fraud as well. And so just that on the legal side, there's a lot of peace about that. Now, I get it. It's your money on the hook versus the credit card companies. The bank commonly will issue a provisional credit while they investigate. So they'll put money back into your account. They'll look into it. A week or two later, the money's back and all is well. And it's more rare than it. Everyone has a fear that it's going to constantly happen to them. I can count on one hand with one finger how many times it's happened in my 11 years of just using debit cards. And I'll even give you an extra tool, George, that's so helpful. And this is not a

company that we have a partnership with, but it's a great tool called privacy.com. And what it does, it creates virtual debit card numbers that's tied to your bank account. But if someone steals that number, it doesn't matter. It's a virtual card that you can just go delete on the website. How is it that I know about this?

We don't hang out enough, Ken. So that's a great tool. Stacy's going to be very happy. So George, when I'm booking a plane reservation or I'm using Amazon, number one, I don't tie my debit card to it. You know when it says save my card info for later? Don't do that.

That's one way to avoid it. And number two, use a program like Privacy.com to create a virtual debit card for Amazon. You can create another one for Southwest, create another one for this or that. And you can set spending limits, time limits. You can make it a one-time use card so that once you make that transaction, it disappears forever. No one will ever have access to it anymore. This is great for teenagers. It's fantastic. What is your thought on a secured credit card? My credit union has offered that, and they've also offered, I think they call it a

prepaid credit card. I don't see the benefit of that if you're going to use your own money anyways, other than the bank trying to get more data from you and selling you on more debt products and telling you, well, you might as well get this card with the rewards, George. You're doing such a great job. Might as well. And I find that it's a very sneaky trap. And using a debit card has just changed the way I see money, I handle money. And I think if you use those steps I laid out for you, you're going to make purchases with a lot of confidence. Well, that puts my mind much more at ease using my debit card. I appreciate your help today, guys. If I can help one George out there, I've done the Lord's work, Ken. I love a George. You know, who doesn't love a George? It started

for me with the little curious George, the monkey. That's the one you thought of? It was the very first George in my life is what i'm saying oh okay i thought washington you know okay you don't learn about george washington until like first grade yeah i thought you'd go foreman costanza lopez i mean there's a lot of good georges these guys are all georges that hit me later in life you're not listening to me i feel like we don't talk anymore i said the first george do you not listen to me i apologize all right i don't feel heard i don't i thank you the audience is totally about george and his credit card issues don't make this about somehow i've made it about me i don't know how the audience is not surprised tell you that much but they're laughing it's an average fr But they're laughing. It's an average Friday. Let's go to Lauren.

Nicely done. You turned that completely on me. That's what I do. Beautiful. Lauren is joining us in St. Louis. Lauren, how can we help? Hi, Ken. Hi, George. First of all, I think I'm on Team Curious George as my first George. Hey! As are millions

and millions of other people. Thank you, Lauren, for listening to me. Now we're listening to you. George, are you listening to Lauren? Yes, Ken is the man in the yellow hat. Sure. Thank you. Well, here's my situation.

So I'm 23 years old. I have zero debt, zero student loans. I have $40,000 saved between cold, hard cash and stocks, and $47,000 saved between my Roth IRA and my 401k. Wow, way to go, Lauren. Amazing. Thank you. So my salary is base plus commission. I hit about 60, 2023. I'm expected to be around 70 to 75.

Go, girl! Excuse me. Lauren! Thank you. So 70 to 75k. Wonderful, 70 to 75 K. Wonderful. Wow. This year. Good for you.

And my question is, I'm expecting to be engaged at the end of this year. So a lady, little birdie, you know, put that in my ear. Okay. Oh,

is this birdie credible? This birdie is very credible. Oh, by the way, I hope he's not listening right now. So my question is, do I stay at home for another year, keep saving, or do I go ahead and purchase a home by myself now? So I don't want to move in with my boyfriend until we're engaged in a little old-fashioned. So I want to know if I should spend another year saving at home or if I can go ahead and purchase that home by myself.

Woof. I got feelings. Ken has met. You want to be dad, Ken, for a moment? Yeah. I'm old enough to be your dad, unfortunately. I would tell you that you're not as old-fashioned as you think you are, and I would not move in with him when you're engaged i just am not a fan of that there's so much that could go wrong it's an unnecessary move that's my little two cents on that george i would yes i would move in once you guys are married and then you combine finances and it makes this whole process yeah way smoother uh yeah relationally emotionally and financially and oh don't buy a house yet yes you all buy the house together i want i think it's real it's a special thing and do do that together and even then you may want to rent for a year i like that for you you got to figure out what it's

like to live with someone good heavens is the first year of marriage is dreadfully hard i'm just going to tell you while i'm giving life advice the lobby's loving this home ownership adds a level of stress to newlyweds that is unnecessary so you got two people lauren that have grown up in two different ways and you're trying to figure out how to mend that together and buying a house and all that just rent for a year maybe two figure out where we want to live where we want to do life yeah and the more the more money you have saved up, the better position you'll be in when you do purchase a house. Now, is he as financially astute as you? I hope.

Yes, very much so. He has no debt, money in the bank? Yeah, he's doing very well. He has no debt, student athlete, zero debt. He's got maybe 15 grand stocked away right now. Wonderful. Yeah. Well, if you know

this engagement's on the horizon followed by the wedding, I would just stay home. Me too. If you've got a great situation, just stay home until you move into an apartment together

that you guys rent once you're married. Give that a six-month lease to a year lease as you do the home shopping. And by then, you guys might have $200,000 saved.

I see that. I see that. And what if you could put 50% down or 70% down and pay off a mortgage early? Now you guys might have $200,000 saved. I see that. I see that. And what if you could put 50% down or 70% down and pay off a mortgage early? Now you guys are newlyweds with a six-figure income with no payments in the world. Double income, no kids. Think about that. I like that. We're talking about wealth building, George. And that's, Lauren, that's something me and my wife did.

We lived out exactly what I just told you, and it's one of the main factors that caused us to become net worth millionaires in our early 30s. Stacey and I did the exact same thing. We were married three years before we bought a home. And even then, by a reasonable, modest home. Yeah. Oh, it was modest. Of course, I thought we were going to die. Really? Oh, yeah. It was a $195,000 house that I thought I had just... And of course, we were following Dave's stuff. But I just remember going... People have that in student loan debt now as they call the show. That's normal people. You look at me, I'm abnormal.

I mean, we know this. But it was worth the wait. It really was. So thanks for the call. Hope that helps, Lauren. Appreciate it. Absolutely. All right, George.

Unbelievably, it feels another hour has passed. Time flies by when you're having fun with Ken Coleman. It's the truth. He is George Campbell. I'm Ken flies by when you're having fun with Ken Coleman. And it's the truth. He is George Campbell. I'm Ken Coleman. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. Thank you.