The Ramsey Show - App - Don’t Be an Enabler When It Comes to Money (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

Dave Ramsey & Dr. John Delony answer your questions and discuss:   "How can I help my in-laws who are being evicted?", "My mom keeps giving me money even though I know she has bad spending habit", "How do I get out of my 19% interest car loan?",  "We haven't combined finances in 20 years". Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET 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 we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Dr. John Deloney is my co-host today number one best-selling author and ramsey personality the phone number here is 888-825-5225 chris is in canada hi chris welcome to the ramsey show uh hey how are you guys doing better than we deserve how can we help um I just had a question. I'm a long-time listener.

I never really had a reason to call other than the other day. Okay, your phone's cutting out, man. Speak directly into your phone. Okay, how's that? Much better. Thank you. Yeah, my wife got a message from her parents saying that they're behind on rent for a couple of months and they're fixing to be kicked out. And they're asking us to help.

But I mean, they've asked us a whole bunch of times to help with bills and to pay things. And they're just they're not great with their money and they don't make a whole lot of it. They don't work a lot. But we just don't really know what to do to help them. How old are you? I'm 30. 30? 30, yeah.

Yeah, and how long have you been married? We've been married about two years, been together 10 years. So these people are in their 50s? They're around, yeah, mid-50s, almost late 50s. Yeah. Okay. Do you even have the ability to help? They're around, yeah, mid-50s, almost late 50s. Yeah. Okay. Do you even have the ability to help?

Is this a frustration question or is this a math problem question? We're going through the baby steps ourselves. We're paying off our own debt. So, I mean, we don't have the financial ability to help all that much, but we do have a house of our own that we can bring them into, but it'll be really tight. It's the two of them. It's her younger sister. She's got two kids.

They've got two dogs. It would be really tight, and we wouldn't really want to put her there for a long period of time. So younger sister has two kids, and she lives with them also? Yeah, she's about 24, 25. Does she work? No. So this isn't a matter of helping out. This is a matter

of transferring complete dysfunction. This is a mess. It is a mess, yeah. I mean, the father works mainly, and then he works with a construction

company and he's good at his job when he when he has work but i mean working very little yeah he doesn't work much the daughter doesn't work at all and mama doesn't work at all there's kids and dogs all over the place and they don't pay their bills uh yeah it's hard for them no it's hard for them because they don't work yeah i mean i don't i don't know where my wife got her work ethic from but she worked two jobs or two jobs i don't either because these people don't work sometimes people grow up in a situation and they say not never again and maybe that's your wife yeah yeah because she kind of grew up in it a little bit.

So, Tim, one of the most painful things that we do as an adult is we watch people that we love, friends or family, do stupid things and misbehave, and there's nothing we can do about it. And we hurt for them more than they hurt for themselves. It's very hard. Yeah, when we were speaking to her mother, she kind of seemed a little bit cool, calm, and collected.

And we're kind of over here like, how are you relaxed right now? Like you can't pay your bills. You're kind of struggling. You're kind of being kicked out. I think that's an important thing for you to notice about yourself. You can't care more about them than they do about themselves. Yeah. Yeah, I get that.

They're not children. I'm sorry. I hate this for you. It's not harsh, but here's the thing. If you gave them $10,000 and they got completely current, in one year they're going to be right back here again, aren't they? The conversation I had with my wife, we said we could win the lottery tomorrow and we can

give them a house and $500,000 spending money, but I mean, they'd come back eventually. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And so there's no amount of funding help that's going to actually help until they change. Would you agree with that? I agree. So throwing money at them is almost hurtful because it's kind of like you're giving a drunk a drink.

We call that enabling. we call that enabling we call that enabling so is there anything that i can kind of say or not do for them but kind of convince them in a way that kind of i don't know i'm going to get a job or you know i really wouldn't say anything to them about them i would just talk about what you guys are doing and say, you know, we figured out if we work a lot that we have more money. We figured out that if we live on a budget and control our spending very carefully, that we don't have as much stress because we're never behind. And I would make statements about yourself. And then if they ever go, wow, I'd be cool to do that. I said, I would be honored to show you how to do that. I'd be honored to work with you and coach you on how to do that.

I'll be your biggest cheerleader, but I'm not ever giving you another dime again. Because money doesn't help them, Tim. They need a new set of information plugged into their computer. Yeah, they have. Yeah, their program is corrupted. I remember when I was in college, I had an opportunity to leave school and go do something, and the guy was, we were back and forth,

and I was like, dude, I'm not dropping out of college. This is stupid. And it was a cool opportunity, but I'm not going to leave school and he told me something that stuck with me forever even though I ended up finishing school and all that he said the people who are successful don't have a backup plan and I said why he goes because they'll use it and that was silly Instagram advice before there was Instagram but there's something to, until your father-in-law realizes there's no superhero coming this time, I'm just going to have to stay at work and make more money, until your sister realizes that there isn't just some,

money doesn't fall out of the clouds to help her two little babies who are in desperate need of somebody giving them some structure and some support. Until there continues to be a backup plan they're going to continue i mean they're going to continue using that back so um if they come to me for help i would say here's what i'm willing to do i'm willing to lay out a detailed game plan and i'm willing to cheer you on as you go do it and if you go do everything on there i I may surprise you with some other help. But in the meantime, the help I'm going to give you is information to reprogram how you're doing

life because your life sucks. You're not having fun. That's only if they ask because people, I don't answer questions that people don't ask anymore. I sit here all day and answer questions on the radio, but you asked, so I'll answer it. But my friends and family that come into my life doing stupid stuff i just look at them and go get a cup of coffee there's nothing i can do but if you ask don't ask don't ask because i'll tell you because i love you so much i'll guide you out of this and I'll show you the hard answers

to the questions. Work hard. You're going to have a callous. You're going to be tired. OT, overt time is going to be a big part of your life and you're going to pile up so much cash that you keep the wolf away from your door and we're going to jack the 24

year old up and get her a life that's sustainable. Living with mom and daddy with her two kids is not a plan. This is The Ramsey Show. dr john deloney ramsey personality is my co-host today if you're a pastor listening today we know that you've had a hard few years you got long hours church attendance is down church is still trying to come back after covet in many cases and all while trying to keep your own house running you've had to take care of so much and we want to take care of you you deserve a safe space to talk about the hard things you're dealing with, especially money. So we created a free pastors only version of Financial Peace University.

Over six weeks, you'll learn with pastors from all over the country how to get out of debt and build wealth, how to get control of your money with a budget, how to work with your spouse if you have one, and even how to retire with confidence. It with a budget, how to work with your spouse if you have one, and even how to retire with confidence. It's all free, and this class is led by folks on our team who understand pastors. Many of them are former pastors, and they have a heart for you. So join our free pastors-only Financial Peace University by visiting ramsaysolutions.com slash pastor.

ramsaysolutions.com slash pastor. Today's question of the day comes from Shelly in the Baby Steps Millionaires community on Facebook. John? My mother is always giving me money that I don't ask for, but I know she has bad spending habits. What would you do about this situation? I've never had this happen to me personally. This is a new one. This is a new one.

I would probably do one of two things. The passive part of me would probably take this money and put it into an account and let it just sit because there's going to be a day that she comes and asks for it back. The more the last four or five years, six or seven years, John would tell my mom, hey, mom, I'm really working hard to build a life with my wife, our own life. And so I appreciate your gift. I'm really grateful for it. But we want to make a go at this on our own life. And so I appreciate your gift. I'm really grateful for it, but we want to make a go at this on our own. And so please feel free to give that money

to my brother, my sister, whoever else. Yeah. As gentle as I can. The problem is not her. The problem is me. Don't bring up the fact that she's too broke to give. Nope. Wouldn't even go there.

Wouldn't even go there. I would just say, you know, I appreciate this and you're so sweet um a i don't need it and b i'm trying to practice the discipline of living on my own and it would be helpful to me if you would give this to someone else my promise is if i ever get desperate enough i'll call you i won't go hungry i promise mom, Mom. And you're so sweet, and thank you, thank you. But I can't accept this anymore because I'm trying to work on me. And just turn the whole thing back on yourself.

That's right. Yeah. The other one that comes up is, and I've heard this one a bunch of times over the years, is Mom and Dad are broke, but mom keeps buying my kids toys and trips and whatever, grandparents' stuff, Disney grandparents' stuff, on credit cards and making mom and dad worse. How do I stop her from doing that? And it's a similar conversation, only this one's even harder.

But it's like, mom, we're trying to limit what the kids are getting and um you know uh so we you just can't do this anymore uh you've got to stop you're gonna have to check with me before you buy anything else yeah and um and then you again there's no it it very seldom is positive to shame them and go you're too broke to do this stop it that doesn't work although that's a true statement but and it's tempting to say that but it's really not profitable davante is with us in minneapolis if i can push the button there is hey davante how are you hey how you doing i'm doing well good how can i help um well the better is just getting the question out there uh i guess i'll just say a question you guys can rip into me after that uh the question i have is that i have a car i have

about fifty thousand dollars in debt the car is a little over half of that at about 27 um 19 interest rate i'm trying to get out and then a follow-up question is just if i'm good that'll intense enough uh based on how much i'm working and and the things I'm doing to make money. You owe $27,000 on a car at 19%. Yes. Okay. What's the car worth? $14,000.

Did you roll negative equity from another deal into this one? No, I didn't. Okay, you're looking at the wrong number then. Because a 19% loan is a subprime loan. Translation, they screwed you, okay? Or you screwed yourself by signing up for this. And they have a different calculation on those loans. When you ask for the balance, they use a total of all payments,

a TOP number, to give you the loan balance. That is not the payoff. So your payoff is unlikely to be $27,000, not with a $14,000 value. How long ago did you buy the car? This was about a year ago, just under. What did you pay for the car? Thus far, I've paid about $700,000. No, no, honey.

What was the price of the car when you signed the paperwork the total price of the car not the financing what was the price of the car oh i guess i don't know the answer to that it was 27 on the the only overall price that came out was 27 so, so I thought that was the value. Well, I mean, if the car is worth $14, honey, you surely didn't pay $27 for it a year ago. Unless you went to one of those. It was a third-party dealer. I was just desperate trying to get into something low-credit, and that's what they gave me. I know, but even those guys don't do that. Okay, so I really think that you probably actually paid $17 or $18 for the car,

and your total of payments is $27. So you have a finance company you're paying this money to, right? Yes. Okay, call them and ask them for what the payoff is if I bring a check today and pay it off. And they're going to tell you more like 20. Okay. Or 18 or something like that. That's the number you're going to get.

And you obviously don't have any money, right? No, I've since recovered my situation, so I do. How much do you have? Like on hand or over time? Yeah, money. Oh, I'm sorry, no. Currently speaking, no, I don't have any in savings. Oh, you don't have any money.

Okay, so I was right. What do you make? Anywhere between $113, $130, depending on... How long have you been doing that? Four months. Why don have you been doing that? Four months. Why don't you have any money? I've been putting everything to debt. Okay.

All right. I want you to stop putting it to debt, because I want this car to get sold. Okay, I want you to stop putting it to debt. I want you to save up enough to sell the car for $14,000 and put $7,000 with it and sell the car, because it's going to be 2021-18, something like that payoff want you to go get a two thousand dollar car and pay cash for it this car needs to go bye-bye it's bad juju bad car i agree it's going to be a sense dude that you're taking 7 000 or 10 000 or whatever that final payoff is and putting it in your backyard and just lighting it on fire, and you are. No, you already did that.

Now all we're doing is admitting it. Yeah, and it's going to hurt, and it's going to be a good scar or tattoo for you to never do this again, ever. Yeah. Desperation makes us do crazy things, man. Everything you did when you went on the car lot a hundred percent of your moves were wrong you went on the car lot wrong move you bought a car you never looked at what it's valued at you have no idea what it was you just said if i sign here i can drive it off yes and you signed whatever they put in front of you you never looked

at it this is the recipe for getting screwed and if you do it again you're gonna to get screwed again if you do it again you're going to get screwed again yeah this is how it works this is how these people exist in these rip-off car situations uh and so uh they feed on the desperation and the immaturity of people and so uh the next time this comes up you need to step back breathe a little bit and think and think, okay, where can I get a $1,000 car? And where can I get $1,000? And let's get a garage sale car, a car you bought at a garage sale, and drive it around a little bit. And if it goes bad after a month or two, it was still cheaper than your payments. And go get you another one.

I mean, these are disposable cars, like disposable phones when you're doing a $1,000 car compared to what you're driving. But yeah, this thing is a weight around your neck. It's shaming to you every time you get in it, every time you write the check. It's a ripoff. There's nothing good coming out of it. I would do everything I could to get rid of it as soon as possible. Thank you for joining us, America. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, number one bestselling author, is my co-host today. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Tim is in Chicago. Hey, Tim, how are you? Hey, I'm doing well. How are you guys doing? Better than I deserve. How can we help? So my wife and I are considering

buying our first home in the next year or two, and we've got a down payment set aside, the savings account. But we also have a substantial amount of money in investments that are not retirement investments. And we're trying to decide if we should sell some or all of those and put it towards the down payment. So we just don't know how to decide if that's a good decision or not. Well, the shortest distance between where you are and wealth, being a millionaire and beyond, the first two things that end up happening in all the data that we have on millionaires that we've collected over 30 years,

the first two things that happen are a paid-for home and a large, gradually built-up 401k Roth IRA retirement plan. That confirms what we've been teaching all these years, that your most powerful wealth-building tool is your income, and when you don't tie up your income with debt payments, you can use your income to build wealth. Translation, I'm going to pay off my house as fast as I can. I'm going to put as much down on my house as I can without cashing in any retirement. How much is in your non-retirement that's substantial?

It's about $300,000. Way to go, man. Good for you. Thank you. And how much down payment fund have you saved? We've got about $130,000 in cash. Okay. And do you have an emergency fund beyond that?

Yes, we have. We actually have $50,000 set aside. Some of that would be for maybe a car purchase in the next maybe four or five years, and the rest is actual emergency fund, like six months of expenses. So if I'm doing my math right, you have $430,000 you could put down. What is the price range of home you're thinking of? I mean, we're looking at no more than $500,000. Perfect. And your household income is what?

$200,000. Excellent. And so you've got one debt to pay off then, which is a $70,000 debt. You're 100% debt-free. You'll be sitting in a paid-for half-a-million-dollar, by then maybe $600,000 house. And you make $200,000 a year. And how old are you? We're 33. Wow.

Wow, man. And how much is in your retirement accounts? We've got about $270 total. So your net worth at that point would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $870, $770, somewhere in there, and putting you at being a millionaire by the time you're 35 fairly easy, right? I think so, yeah. That's pretty incredible, Tim. Well done.

Well done. Thank you. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. If you're not, that's what normal people will run up a big mortgage and then just run their investments, okay? But normal's broke. And think about, I just want you to kind of sit with your wife with no television on

and feel, just let the feeling run over your body what it would feel like to be in a paid for 500 000 house 300 000 in my 401k 50 000 in my savings account i'm 32 years old man man. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. It feels pretty peaceful, doesn't it? And the sidebar of that is that peace causes your relationships to be different, causes your health to be different,

causes you to be better at work, more, have a more of a tendency to walk away from toxic things at work and go do something else. If the people there are misbehaving and over the scope of 10 years there's some uh non-mathematical things that cause you to prosper as you were explaining that dave i was thinking the biggest fight they would have if the air conditioner went out is who's calling the ac company that would be that would be the fight yeah we're so chilled we're so pete chilled that's funny we're so chilled out we're so Pete chilled. That's funny. We're so chilled out.

We're so peaceful that both of us forgot to call. You call the roofer. I'm not calling. You call the roofer. That's the fight, not how are we going to eat. Where are we going on vacation? But a buddy of mine years ago, I was working for this guy who was a real motivational guy. He was a fun guy.

And he stuck with me. He said, you know, i just want to make enough money and i can go to a restaurant and i can read the menu left to right instead of starting with the price yeah it's amazing i'm just gonna pick out what i want and then i'm gonna notice what the price was and um it's not like wow you know yeah i went with this guy who's a a billionaire on a trip a while back and we were in this resort town and we go to this fancy fancy restaurant and uh it was a big big steakhouse deal and so they've got this uh wagyu on the menu uh that is like from an award-winning cow i mean this

is not just wagyu this is this is a blue ribbon or some kind of crap. I don't know what it is. It sleeps on a mattress. Yeah, but it's like, I don't know. We get this little bitty piece of steak sliced real thin that each of us can share a taste of, and it was $110 for this. And we're looking at it going, that's fun. It was very good.

And, of course, there was no way it's worth 110 dollars right or 140 dollars or whatever the crap he paid for it but he goes i've just never done anything like this before and we're gonna do it right now and so we ordered three of them for the table there's a bunch of guys sitting there and we're all sitting there eating bessie the award-winning wagyu whatever she was or he was right i don't know and um but it's just that that's it doesn't matter if you do that when you got a billion dollars like that guy right he bought them for the whole table so what there was remember that show uh uh american choppers they made those awesome yeah and it was the it was the father son and they're always bickering at each other

i remember being younger i was watching that, and they were in a huge fight, and one of them storms outside and gets in the car to drive off, and he hits the wrong gear, and he backs up and hits something and screws up the bumper, and his son comes out to help, and they're all mad. The son says, I can fix that, and he puts a chain around it to pop it back out, the bumper, and he floors it and just rips the whole bumper off

and they start dying laughing and i remember sitting there thinking i want that much money where i can do that to solve an argue with my old man i can wreck his car and we'll both think it's hilarious i remember that lodging my head like i want that much money yeah well that was a reality show that they they really didn't do that i know let me live in my head like i want that much money yeah well that was a reality show that they they really didn't do that i know let me live in my little happy world you eat the cow i'll just yeah you're living the reality show okay uh yeah but that there is a thing to that there's a um you get uh one of the values of money is that you can do some things generosity wise uh for other people you can buy the whole table especially the wagyu whatever you can do the uh you can rip the bumper off for some i mean i

don't whatever it is you you can do stuff and it um it's it's such a small percentage of the overall picture that it doesn't matter and so you do it all with a level of peace rather than a level of looking over your shoulder see who's seeing you do it you with a level of peace rather than a level of looking over your shoulder see who's seeing you do it you don't have to have an instagram moment right because you don't care and i remember being a new professional and uh there's a woman a couple of people had to be in a grocery line and it was that you just see that fear like i forgot my money i don't have it and i didn't i didn't have it and i remember thinking this doesn't happen again john next time i see this next time i'm gonna be okay i'm gonna be in a place where i can help her out

yeah and that's just that stuck with me all these years man yeah yeah and i i've done giving things i don't remember those the ones i remember is when i wasn't ready yeah and they stick in you they stick in your crawl you know you can't get rid of that one so that's the benefit of this stuff so man he's done such a great job he has done such a great job he crawl, you know? You can't get rid of that one. So that's the benefit of this stuff. So, man, he's done such a great job. He has done such a great job. He's going to, you know, and here's the thing. If you're a millionaire when you're 35, do you know what you are when you're 65? Ooh, baby.

Wow. So here's your rule of thumb, okay? A lump sum invested in good mutual funds, if it averaged only 10%, which is less than the market, if it averaged only 10%, that less than the market if it averaged only 10 that lump sum doubles about every seven years so a million in seven years if you got it when you're 35 when you're 42 it's two okay when you're 49 it's four when you're 56 it's eight you want me to keep going yeah it's a lot. And that's if he adds nothing to it.

No more money, yeah. Adds nothing to it. And we know that's not happening. Tens of millions of dollars are at some of your fingertips if you just get your act together. This is The Ramsey Show. so Our Scripture of the Day, Philippians 2.13, For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Jesse Owens, 1936 Olympic four-time gold medalist, said, The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself, the invisible invisible inevitable battles inside all of us

that's where it's at a way to go roxanne's with us roxanne's in anaheim california hi roxanne welcome to the ramsey show hi hi there thank you for taking my call i'm a bit nervous so it's part of my well listen roxanne i sang your name. Does that happen all the time? Yeah, I take a shot every time you say my name, huh? I didn't. I almost did, and I didn't. I figured that happened. People used to call me Deloney Baloney all the time growing up,

and so I didn't want to contribute to the madness of your life, so there you go. Don't be nervous. Thank you. Okay, I've got a few things going on. I've got about $50,000 in credit card debt. I'm about $17,000 with a business loan. I try to start a small business, and I have no customers right now,

so I have no money coming in. So now I'm looking for work. Um, I'm starting to get, I'm six months behind on my business loan. I'm late on my credit card and I don't know where to go. Um, do I take my 401k out to pay these, this, this debt because of the interest rates are just killing me? Do I take out a personal loan? Do I write my credit card companies? I'm sure whatever, it's going to take me a few months to catch up just to my own personal debt.

So, hi. What do I do? It's scary, isn't it? Yeah. Are you single? I am married. Okay. What does I do? It's scary, isn't it? Yeah. Are you single? I am married. Okay. What does he make?

Pretty good money. He makes about $200,000 a year. How long have you guys been married? Pretty good. For a little over 20 years. Okay. Well, you're about 19 years late on combining your finances. Yeah, yeah.

Yes, we are. Yeah, because, you know, my wife is not going to be late on things when I make $200,000 a year. I'm married to her, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. You're not his roommate. You're his wife. Right. So what is he saying about your debt being behind

and you not having a job? Kind of just ignoring it, pretending like it's not happening because I always have a way to figure it out. Roxanne, does he know how bad it is? Not really, no. It's time for you to come clean. And it's going to be a moment of sadness and shame, and there's probably going to be some other ripple effects,

because there's probably been some other stuff over the 20 years that you all haven't told each other, but you've got to come clean. And together, we have about $100,000 in IRS debt. So we have been keeping our financials separate, which is worth. But to get together, you have $150,000 in debt, and he makes $200,000, and you're getting ready to get a job and start making money. So you're going to have $300,000 or whatever coming into this house, and you're going to clean up that $150,000 in debt in about a year and a half

if you will finally combine your finances and quit acting like roommates. Okay. And just say, together we can do anything. Separately, we suck. Yeah. Together we can do anything. Separately we suck. Yeah. But that involves you not having so much pride, I'll clean up my own mess,

or him not being a jerk saying you clean up your own mess. But you guys are missing out on some of the best parts of marriage because you're stiff-arming each other. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely pride takes place in there because I've worked my whole life. Well, it's not that you're not of value. It's not that you're not of value. It's not that you need a keeper. That's not the point.

The point is it's for better or for worse in sickness and in health. If you've got cancer, he's supposed to take care of you. And you didn't do anything wrong there, okay? I mean, you may have made some mistakes with money, but welcome to being a human walking around in America. If you made mistakes with money, you're over 12. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to be in Anaheim doing a building wealth event on may the 5th and um i think it's the 5th or something

may something like that and um no it's right it's right before that uh for second or so yeah okay early may and uh we're gonna have austin pick up and he's gonna give may 2nd he's gonna pick up and give you two vip tickets for you and your husband that means that i'm going to get to meet you we'll take a picture with you but you're going to be there for the building wealth live event i'm also going to give you financial peace university but you have to do it together roxanne now's the time now's the time All this stuff of, I can stand on my own or, uh, or he doesn't need to help, or he thinks he's too cool to help or whatever the is in this chemistry of this conversation has got to be wiped clean. And your two newlyweds smiling and looking at the rest of

your life together and going, we're going to combine everything and we're going to take on the world and the IRS and we're going to win on both fronts. So you can do this. Hold on. Austin's going to pick you up, pick up and get you into all of that. Susan's in Youngstown, Ohio. Hi, Susan. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi.

Thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can I help? Well, my mother passed away in October of last year. My brother was the executor of her estate and his name was on her checking accounts. So the money was divided between the siblings that was into checking accounts. Now, since it, since he could write the checks and is it considered an inheritance or a gift? Should be an inheritance.

It's her money in the account. Just because his name was on the account doesn't change it. Okay. Because my account is telling me I don't have to pay an inheritance tax. Well, there's not an inheritance tax. But the only question is, is there a gift tax? And there's no inheritance tax unless she had a net worth of over $20 million. No, but she's telling me that I'm going to have to pay income on that money.

No, it's not income. You need a new accountant. Okay. No, that's absolutely not taxable. Inheritance is not a taxable event, period. Okay? Period. Period. I mean, you can get an inherited IRA, and that can be taxable. But this is just a checking account.

It was your mom's cash. The executor of the estate distributed part of the estate by writing checks out. That is not a taxable event, period. I'm not a tax expert, but I'm right. Okay. You usually are, Dave. No. Sometimes i'm not a tax expert but i'm right okay you usually are dave no sometimes i'm not on taxes but this one i do know okay this one i do know she it's just a matter of how they nuance and how they couch it if she decides she wants it to be a gift then you know then you've got a gift tax if it's an inheritance there's not an inheritance tax and so the executor of the estate is liquidating the estate happened to have his name on the checking account already which

made it easy to do mechanically tactically but it doesn't change the legality the money was not his the money was mom's and he as the executor distributed it to according to the will, according to her wishes to the heirs, and that is not a taxable event, period. So, you know, you may need a different accountant or you may need to put some different documentation in the file, may need a letter from your brother as the executor of the estate. This money was distributed. I was acting as the executor of the estate. I'm not your brother giving you a gift. I'm acting as the executor of the estate, and I am distributing this money as a distribution

from the estate by liquidating the checking account. That's simple. And then it is simply not taxable. Inherited money is not taxable yet, but it's not right now. Wow. We'll save that conversation for another day dave i'm just that puts this one in the books i love it dr john deloney ramsey personality my co-host this hour i am dave ramsey your host thanks to james to ben to austin in the booth zach the guys the booth boys that do

this work we'll be back with you before you know it in the meantime remember there's ultimately only one way to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, it's Dr. John Deloney. If you love the show and want a deeper dive on your money journey, we have a weekly newsletter that gives you trending and helpful articles and tips on following the Ramsey way. Just go to RamseySolutions.com today to sign up for our newsletter. Again, that's RamseySolutions.com to sign up for our weekly newsletter.