The Ramsey Show - App - Don't Hide Bills From Your Spouse! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: July 29, 2019

Budgeting, Debt, Savings Tools to get you started: Debt Calculator: http://bit.ly/2QIoSPV Insurance Coverage Checkup: http://bit.ly/2BrqEuo Complete Guide to Budgeting: http://bit.ly/2QEyonc Interview Guide: http://bit.ly/2BuGnZE   Check out other podcasts in the Ramsey Network: http://bit.ly/2JgzaQR 

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'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us, America. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Tyler is in Birmingham. Hey, Tyler, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up? So my parents and I are getting married here in the next couple weeks.

We're 19. I'm going to be applying for medical school here in about a year, so we're about two years out. And I want to see kind of where we fit in with the baby steps. Okay. We have no doubt. We have a house that we put 20% down on. We bring in about $2,000 a month plus whatever I can make while I'm in school.

My parents have me a $30,000 in a student account that's been rolling for a while. But the plan for the first two years of medical school, my parents are divorced. Both of them said they would match us $10,000 each for the first two years of medical school my parents are divorced both of them said they would match this ten thousand dollars each for the first two years so we'll be able to pay for that in cash and then we also have saved about twenty five thousand on top of that that we've been saving for the medical school i just want to see where we need to go from here. So you've got it mapped out to pay cash? For the first few years, for sure. That $30,000, you know, we want it to grow as best as it can, and then hopefully we'll be able to pay for the majority of the last few years, and then we'll just have to fund or pay for whatever extra.

But we're not sure how much extra it'll be, depending on how much it grows. But, yeah, we're planning on paying cash for it okay all right good good well i think right now you you have one goal and that's medical school your your other financial goals are on hold um you know you pay you pay you pay your bills obviously you eat you keep the lights on pay the house payment but it's all hands on deck every every penny we can squeeze out of anything goes in this account because you're investing in you and if you come out of medical school debt free you're a unicorn man i mean you're in a great shape i mean think about you're walking in here to you know a hundred two hundred thousand dollar a year income depending

on what you know what field of or what area of practice you're going into. But, I mean, you ought to be making some bank and have no payments. You're going to be zoom-zoom, right? Yeah, I sure hope so. Yeah, but, I mean, so the goal is just, you know, like you are investing your time, your energy, your emotions in the academic side of this, we're also going to do the exact same thing with that exact same level of intensity on the financial side and the math side. So every dollar we can squeeze out of anything, anywhere, is going in this account, in the I'm going to medical school, that free account.

So we have enough to match my parents for the first two years, which is originally all we thought we would need as far as cash goes. And then we have another $5,000 to have in an emergency. If you had an extra $50,000, it wouldn't make me mad. So I guess my question is, is there anything else we should do? Just go into that account. We shouldn't put any into a retirement account or anything like that. No, no.

That's what I'm saying. No other investing. You have one thing you're investing in. His name is Tyler. Completely focused on that. An extra $50,000 in the account when you graduate wouldn't make me mad. Have an insurance policy in the account that ensures that you go to medical school debt-free. Just pour everything into that.

You've got plenty of time to do investing with a debt-free MD. Does that make sense? I mean, you're not losing ground. Yeah, I understand. You're in great shape. You're in great shape. You're in great shape. And I really want to see you pull this off.

So, yeah, just the best thing you can do is, you know, if you're investing in a type of, in a field of study, which you are, medical degree, obviously, an MD, that is going to be very applicable and fruitful in the marketplace. You're going to make a lot of money because you got this education, then you pour into that everything and lean completely in singular focus into that. And it's been a singular focus of yours for a long time. I'm just adding the financial singular focus to the discussion. Lean into this extreme focus, extreme intense focus on we are going to complete this and have 10, 20, 30, 50,000 bucks in the bank when we come out. I don't care what it is. But you're going all the way through 100% debt free and it's going to be, there's going

to be so much money in these accounts that that's a no brainer. And that's your investment plan until you get out of school and then when you get out of school whatever money you've got above that then you use that and your new tremendous income to take off and go zoom zoom on wealth building and you will be able to do that congratulations sir what a great what a great situation jonathan is in indianapolis hey jonathan how are you dave Hey, Jonathan, how are you? Dave, I'm doing awesome. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, Dave, I'm currently in baby step three.

Before I started listening to you, this is about six months ago, I actually started listening to you. I took out a PA home loan, a 30-year home loan, and currently saving up for my fully funded emergency fund. The thing in my debate is, okay, should I pay the minimum payment on this 30-year, or should I do the 15-year payment while continuing to save towards the fully funded emergency fund? For right now, until you get Baby Step 3 done, 1, 2, and 3 done, you pay minimum payments on everything. You don't pay extra on anything.

So just whatever the minimum you can get away with is until you get your emergency fund bill. Now, when you get to Baby Steps 4, 5, 6, which are 4 is 15% of your income going into retirement, 5 is kids' college, and 6 is pay off the house early, see, now what we're going to do is we're going to start putting 15% of your income going into retirement five is kids college and six is pay off the house early see now what we're going to do is we're going to start putting 15 of your income into retirement and we're going to kick that up to a 15 year payment level x paying extra on it paying a 30 like a 15 so that it's gone in 15 or more on that do you have kids i don't have any kids i'm single

i'm 30 years old i'm single okay so Okay. So you've got no baby step five. So baby step four is 15% of your income going into retirement, and everything else goes on the house. Right. It's just a little discouraging because I see where I'm paying in the mortgage, and over half of it goes to the interest. That's like, oh, I hate doing that. I hate making that 30-year payment, but I do see what you're saying. It's not for long.

I just want the baseline. I want your baseline, your foundational piece of that emergency fund in place. And once that emergency fund's in place, then you can go hog wild on it above 15% of your income needs to go into retirement. Once you get there, that's maybe step four. But then you really lean in and just start chunking on that house. And the more disgusted you are with that house, the more you chunk. Oh, I am. I'm going to get this thing paid off.

I have 90 to go. I'm ready to get this thing paid off. $90,000 left? Yeah. What's your income? My income is $50,000 per year. Okay. Yeah, you're going to get her knocked out.

You'll probably be done in five years. Maybe less. Hey, great job, man. You're kicking it this is how you do it man you're just intentional you're focused you lay out a plan you execute the plan most people just wander through life like they're stupid because they are 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. Thank you for joining us. Patrick is in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Patrick. Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my call. Sure, man. What's up? Well, I'm about $236,000 in debt. And my question is, I have 24 EE bonds that haven't fully matured yet,

and today they're worth about $12,500. I'm wondering if I should cash those in to pay off some of my lower debts or if I should wait until they're fully matured and if they're taxed if I cash those in in any way. They might be taxed, but not much because you haven't earned anything. They make less than 1%. They're crap. Yeah, cash them in immediately.

Never buy EE bonds. Horrible rate of return. Bad place to park money. Yeah, these were good. When you say $236,000 worth of debt, are you talking about mortgage included? Yes. How much of that's your mortgage? $200,000.

Okay, so you've got $36,000 we're beating up, and you've got $12,000 of these things to throw at it. Yes. Very good. And your baby step two, we call it. You know what I'm talking about when I say that? Yes, sir. Okay, good Very good. And your baby step two, we call it. You know what I'm talking about when I say that? Yes, sir. Okay, good, good. So what kind of debt's the $36,000?

$6,800 is education, and $30,000 of it is a truck that I'm looking right now to trade in or sell. But I owe a little bit more than it's worth right now. $12,000 will cover that, plus pay off the education, right? Yes. And get you another car. What's your household income? $55,000. Yeah, a $30,000 truck doesn't fit.

You're making good decisions, brother. Sell the truck, use the EE bonds to pay off the education loan, buy you a little car to get around, a little truck to get around, and cover the difference when you're in the hole on the truck, okay? Okay, sounds great. Thanks. You got a plan, man. Get after it.

You can do this. And, you know, you're going to drive like no one else, so later you can drive like no one else. I want you to get you a nice truck, but I want your nice truck to get you. This one's got you around the neck. You feel it? Yeah, you do. Natalie is with us in New York.

Hi, Natalie. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? All right. So I have some money to throw at some debt, roughly $25,000. So my question is, I have a loan against my husband's annuity, roughly about $25,000. We're paying it back, I guess, quarterly. And so we're paying it back, and, you know, 5%.

We're paying ourselves back, essentially. Then we also have a car loan of about the same amount. We have about three years left on that. It's below 2% interest, so I just don't know which is the better option to pay off. I mean, other than my mortgage, yes. I'd pay off the car. Pay off the car? Okay. And then I'm going to go over and pay off the 401k as fast as I can, because you don't have a car payment anymore now. And let's get that 401k loan and never borrow on that 401k loan again.

So here's the thing. Your mutual funds on that 401k loan and never borrow on that 401k loan again. Yeah. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Your mutual funds in that 401k would have made like 20% in the last 12 months. Instead, you paid yourself five. Right, right. Never do that. Yeah, never do that. So let's get that paid off as fast as we can, but I pay off the car first.

And as soon as you possibly can. Micah's with us in Waco texas hey micah how are you hey dave i'm uh i'm honored i'm also very nervous it's okay we've never lost a patient how can i help well um one baby step we were on two now we're back down to one. We just got an IRS bill, and we've almost paid off the first one, and now we got this one. My husband's job is very labor-intense, and he is just now coming on board. I've been gazelle for over a year, and he's just now coming on board, and I'm a little worried about telling him about this.

Why are you ending up behind with the IRS? How's this happening? Stupidity? No, I mean really, mechanically. Is somebody working self-employed and you're not doing quarterly estimates? No, no. You're underpaying on your withholding? No, what had happened was I was stupid enough to listen to somebody, and they said, oh, they could do creative math,

and they said, well, you can claim this, this, this as deductibles, and then, of course, we've never done this before, and through ignorance we got into we've never done this before, and through ignorance, we got into a little bit of a pickle, and we accept that, and we're getting it paid off, but he doesn't know about this one. Okay, so you misfiled. You did not have enough withheld because you believed you had deductions that you didn't have, and that got you behind once.

Now, what is the second one? Well, we didn't realize what was going on until later, then the IRS started sending us, hey, you're being audited. Okay, that doesn't work. Stop. Okay, what's going on? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop, stop, stop. This doesn't make sense.

Okay. Last year you filed your taxes a year ago and you discovered and you just listen and you discovered that you were short because you screwed up okay yes i got where that one comes from but once you discovered you were short you didn't go correct it no no we did correct it this is two years back we're taking care of our mistake from two years back then how did you get a new one you just got a fresh irs bill that you didn't see coming that you don't want to tell your husband about that's what you told me no i know uh i knew this was coming i i just was hoping that i could um um get out from under some debt before it hit okay all right listen there's a high correlation between people who work together

with their spouse and whether or not they're able to build wealth. So your husband and you working together and always knowing, both of you knowing everything that's going on, is the only possible way to have a high-quality marriage and build wealth. It really is. I mean, the statistical evidence that if you lie to your husband, it doesn't work out, and the statistical evidence if he doesn't get on board and the two of you don't work together to solve all financial problems. But so far, you've been gazelle intense, he's not really on board,

and you're hiding stuff from him or tempted to hide stuff from him. And see, these are two different things, but they both indicate you've got to get on the same page. So I think you sit down with him and you turn off the television and put the kids to bed. If you got kids and you look deeply into his eyes and go enough. Enough. I'm tired of doing this by myself. I need you to be a man. I'm tired of being mommy and you're the little boy and I need you to get on board with me enough.

And, um, you know, he's not a bad guy. He's just ignoring this and thinks it's going to be okay, to the point that now you feel ashamed because something's out of control and you're doing it by yourself. And so the two of you need to be working together, and any surprises you have, the two of you fight them together. No, you do not hide this from him, and, yes, you use this as an opportunity to pull him further on board.

And, I mean, he has really no right to criticize you because he's not doing anything. If he's not helping, how does he have a seat to criticize? So, I mean, he don't like the way it's probably being handled. Maybe he ought to get involved. Hello. So, yeah, that's what's going on. But, no, you can never deceive. You can never lie.

You can never hide stuff from your spouse and work out. I mean, who wants to be lied to? Who wants to have stuff hidden from them? Only somebody's weird or got problems, that's all. He doesn't want you hiding stuff from him. You don't want to be lied to. I don't want Sharon not telling me something because it's unpleasant you know no thank you that's not how relationships work especially the one you're supposed to be

closest to on the planet your spouse so yeah you tell him. All of you tell each other everything. Do you know 37% of Americans lie to their spouse about money, according to a survey? That's hard for me to believe. But when you think about it, number one cause of divorce in America is money fights and money problems. And 52% of Americans' marriages end in divorce. So that kind of does make sense if you think about it. But it also indicates that lying to your spouse probably is not a good idea. Yeah, I love it. 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 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. Nick and Connie are with us in St. Paul, Minnesota. Hi, Nick and Connie. How are you?

I'm great. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. I see on my screen you're debt-free. Congrats! Thank you. How much have you paid off? $133,734.41 in 22 months. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? I started about $100,000, got up to $140,000, and back down to about the $120,000 range. Okay. What do you guys do for a living? and back down to about the $120,000 range. Okay.

What do you guys do for a living? I work for one of the major Class 1 railroads. And I'm a substitute special ed para, and I have a side hustle. Oh, what's your side hustle? I judge gymnastics meets on the weekends. Oh, that's good. Does that pay well? Yeah, I make about $700, $800 a weekend.

Wow, nice. That's sweet. Good. So what kind of debt was the $134,000? We had $14,000 in a 401k loan, $24,000 in cars, a little over $41,000 in credit card. We had $29,000 on the line of credit and $25,000 on the timeshare. Lord have mercy, you had everything. Yes, we did.

Y'all were like normal. Very normal. You never met a debt you didn't like. Good for you. How old are you guys? 36. I was going to say 35 to 40. Okay.

Yeah, it takes a little while to get that far in that big a mess. Oh, my gosh. Good for you. So how long have you guys been married? 15 years this month. Wow. So what in the world happened 22 months ago that lit you on fire? Because you guys have been after it.

Well, it all started with the car that put us into debt after 13 years finally went out on us. And I didn't have money to buy a new car. Didn't have money to buy a used car. So the only thing we could figure out to do was take out another loan and get a used car with it. And then we couldn't pay that loan. So me being the reader I am, I decided to go to the library and check out a bunch of books on personal finance, which my plan sure as heck wasn't working. I read about three or four books and took care for many of them,

talking about putting pennies away and squirrel a few things here and there, but nothing seemed like it would make sense. Finally found a total money makeover. Read that after a couple nights. Came to Connie and said, I think I figured out how we're going to do this. This is going to be our way to pay off our debt. She looked at me and said, well, finally, you got it figured out. Way to go, Connie.

I like it. That's good. good very cool so what did you do this is radical i mean 134,000 in 22 months what'd you do a little bit everything we uh we cut the budget as tight as we could uh never went out to eat and then we both got a couple part-time jobs. Bigger shovel and smaller hole would be the way to go. Yeah. Did you sell anything? Pretty much anything I could find. Part of what got us in here is I'm a hoarder and a pack rat, so I had plenty of stuff to get rid of. Nothing major, but

things here and there. A lot of garage sales, trips to eBay, Craigslist. And we also had to move from Nick's job relocated us from Colorado to Minnesota. Well, that helps you clean out the garage too, doesn't it? Yeah. Okay. But you didn't sell anything big? Well, the house we sold in Colorado when we moved. Okay. Did you use that money to get out of debt? He had about $60,000 of that. Ah, okay. All right. That's a big, big part of

the story. Okay. So then what'd you do in Minnesota? Are you renting? No, we got a house and we had enough to put the 20% down and to get it paid off here in five and a half years is what our plan is. Okay. So you put 20% down and still had 60,000 left from the sale to put towards this debt? Yes. is. Okay. So you put 20% down and still had $60,000 left from the sale to put towards this debt?

Yes. Wow. Okay. Okay. So that means that $74,000 is done cash flowed in 22 months, making $1,000 to $140,000, right? Yes. Okay. Wow.

Very impressive. I mean, once you guys got a game, you just executed. What was the hardest part of this for you guys? Probably right at the beginning. As Connie mentioned, she's big in gymnastics, and one of the very first things I got rid of was the cable TV, which has to be right before the Olympics, and she couldn't get her gymnastics on TV.

That caused quite a fight. But I think really doing the budget and getting everything going was a heck of a lot easier than the way we were living before. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that'll cause a fight. That's like cutting off the NFL right as the season starts, man. Yeah, that was a really tough one. Yeah, I'll bet.

I'll bet. That's a big deal. So were you working together most of the time, or did you constantly go at each other? No, we were together every step of the way. Once we figured out our plan of attack, we were on board all the way. Yeah, and then I had picked up a third job coaching gymnastics and they paid me to coach and then also gave me a discount on our daughter's classes. Oh, there you go. Alright, that worked out good.

Well, very good. Very fun. Well, congratulations you guys. Very well done. So what is the key to getting out of debt then? I think the big thing that everybody talks about is the budget, but also being very intentional. You know, we didn't make a single-money decision, whether it was a cup of coffee or, you know, a big decision like our move, without talking to each other and making sure rather than just impulsing.

What used to be need became a lot of want that we didn't really need until we got down the road here. That makes sense. It makes a lot of sense. Very good. Good job, you guys. Very well done. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired.

We want that to be the next chapter in your story. You've done it, man. You did blood, sweat, and tears here to cause this to happen and i'm proud of you well done did you have people bragging on you or uh people uh telling you're crazy a little of both like you know my parents told us we'd never be out of debt and you're always going to have debt and to just go buy the things you wanted but then we also had people that supported us yeah how weird is that for your own parents to tell you that? That's weird, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. So who was your biggest cheerleader? Probably each other. You know, we're pretty private about it, but I think just each other cheering us on, and the kids, once they figured out what we were doing, they're on board and helped out. So our whole family kind of circled the wagon together to tackle this obstacle. How many kids you all got? Three of them.

What ages? Eleven, nine, and six. Oh, so they all remember all this then. Yep. Yeah, this left a mark. Yes, it did. Hopefully a good one. Yeah, hopefully they remember and then your family tree is changed.

Very good stuff. All right, as I said, we've got a copy of Chris's book for you because we want you to be millionaires now and outrageously generous as you go along. Nick and Connie, St. Paul, Minnesota, $134,000 paid off in 22 months, including the sale of a home, and that put $60,000 towards it. And then they had $100,000 to $140,000 income to work with.

Extra jobs, not going out to eat, not even a cup of coffee without it being in the plan. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. Woo! This is how it's done right here. Man, oh, man, oh, man. Well done. Well done, well done right here. Man, oh, man, oh, man. Well done.

Well done, well done. Wow. Well, most people don't work with an investing professional because they think the only thing that an investment professional does is pick mutual funds and charge a fee. What they don't realize is that picking the actual funds is only about 10% of what a really good advisor does. What they really do is keep you from making the same mistakes that other people make when they try to do it themselves.

You don't even work on your own car anymore. Used to, we worked on our own cars. I mean, I opened up a hood of my car, it looks like we're working on a computer. I can't even do that. Don't DIY your investments. What are you doing? What do you think? I mean, you're going to open up your computer and work on it? You're going to open up your car and work on it? Well, don't open up your dadgum investments and work on it. You get somebody in your corner, and in this case, it is a little different than the

car and the computer. I don't really need to learn about how to work on those. But you need to learn about investing as you do it. Your investing professional should have the heart of a teacher. And you learn from them as you're doing that. Click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com. Put in your info. It'll drop down a list of the SmartVestor pros in your area we recommend. We're not in the business, but we recommend them because they have the heart of a teacher.

And they're going to give you good, solid financial advice and help you get those mutual fund investments going, those 401K rollovers going, your Roth IRAs and your kid's college going. You need a SmartVestor Pro in your corner. Thank you. Our Church of the Day, Deuteronomy 31.6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. For the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Muhammad Ali said, He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

Danny is in Colorado Springs. Hi, Danny. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave. It's a pleasure to talk with you. You too. I appreciate your advice and want to ask for some. Okay. I am looking to retire in about eight months.

I'll be 68 years old at the time. I have two debts. One is a truck that I can finish paying off by then. I'll be 68 years old at the time. I have two debts. One is a truck that I can finish paying off by then, but I would like to retire debt-free. The other debt is my mortgage, which is $275,000 on that. I have an IRA that's worth $300,000. Should I use that to pay off the mortgage? I know there will be some tax coming out of the IRA. It may not be exactly enough, but...

Do you have other nest egg? I've got a savings account of about $60,000. That's my emergency fund. You don't have another 401K or anything else for retirement? Yes, I do. Oh, how much is in your 401K? It's $1.1 million. Oh, that changes it.

Okay. Okay. Okay. I thought for a second we were using all your money to pay off your house, but not anymore. That just changed with the last sentence you said. Okay. So, yeah, definitely going to pay off the house. Okay, so yeah, definitely going to pay off the house. Okay, good.

I know that the interest rate on the house is only 3.5%. That's okay. You wouldn't go borrow $2 million at 3.5%. No. That's scary death. And what you want, you want the peace of mind and the sense of freedom that you've worked your whole freaking life to get here and be a millionaire. And you want to be debt-free, and that's what you should do. What's the house worth? and the sense of freedom that you've worked your whole freaking life to get here and be a millionaire. Yeah. And you want to be debt-free, and that's what you should do. What's the house worth?

It's worth about $475,000. All right. And so you've got a net worth of $1.6 million, $1.7 million, give or take. Yeah, something like that. Good for you. Well done. I sold the house. Yeah, well, no, you don't sell it.

That's how your net worth is calculated. It's what you own minus what you owe. Okay. You don't owe anything in this scenario. It's worth $475,000, and you've got $1.2 million left in the other stuff, and that's where you go. So this is really, really good. Very well done. So since you're a millionaire, let me ask you a question.

Do you mind? Sure. Okay. How much of this money did you get because you inherited it? None. So you started with nothing. Absolutely. Okay.

What was your bill? Left home at 18 and worked my way ever since. What's the most money you ever made in your life, household income, in one year? One year I hit $200,000. Okay. Most years you averaged $100,500? Most years less than $100,000. What did you do for a living? What was your career field? It's in sales. Okay. Good for you. Good for you. Okay. And you're married? Yes. Okay. Did she work outside the home? No. Okay.

Never in your working life, huh? No. We've had children, and now we have grandkids that live with us because of other situations, but we're their guardians. Absolutely. Okay. Cool. Good.

Good. And so do you have a four-year degree? Yes, sir. In what? Biology, natural science and biology. Okay, and then you went into sales. Well, actually, I went from there into health care, and from there I went into sales. Okay, all right, cool.

Do you remember what your GPA was in college? It was about a little under three points. Yeah. That's typically where the millionaires land, right around three. So how, for the 27-year-old millennial listening, what would you tell them if they wanted to be you when they grow up? They want to retire with a couple million dollar net worth, including a paid-for house. What would you tell them? How did you do this?

What were the mechanics? Well, one of the biggest things that I found myself in trouble in early on was using credit and um i i couldn't figure out for a while how to get out of uh the credit debt because i was paying everything i earned uh to live on and um going back to your baby steps i didn't actually use them, but they all fall into place. Yeah. You quit. How old were you when you became debt-free other than the house? I was about 58. Oh, wow.

That's 10 years ago. Yeah, yeah, it took a while. So a lot of this stuff's happened in the last 10 years. Yeah. Okay, you had the 401K going all alone, but you cleaned it today. Oh, yeah, I've had that for about 30 years. Okay. I've been contributing everything I can to that to build that up.

Okay, cool. So do you think it could be done today? There's a biology major sitting here listening to you right now. Yeah. There's a biology major sitting here listening to you right now. Yeah. They really need to look at how they use that degree and how they use it. Well, I mean, they go into the marketplace and their career evolves, which is what's happened with you, right? Right. But, I mean, bottom line was you didn't stay in biology.

There's nothing wrong with staying in biology. But, you know, they graduate. They got a 3.0. They're not doomed for life. Oh, God, we're never going to make it, right? I mean, they can go do this, can't they? Absolutely, and one of the things I did to avoid having a big education loan was I worked my way through college. It took a little bit more than four years,

but I was able to pay for it as I went along, and that helped a lot. What university did you graduate from? University of Arkansas. Oh, State University. Okay. All right. Hogs. All right.

Razorbacks. Blue pig. Razorback. All right. Good deal. Fun. Well, very fun. It ended up in Colorado Springs. Danny, you did very well. Whoopig. Razorback. All right. Good deal. Fun. Well, very fun. It ended up in Colorado Springs.

Danny, you did very well. Congratulations, sir. Thank you. Thank you for letting me interview you since you're an everyday millionaire. And, by the way, Danny's story is like a cookie-cutter template of what we found when we studied 10,000 millionaires. 401K. Avoid debt. got their house paid off, did not have a 4.2, did not inherit it, were not doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs. Working people.

Working hard. Working while they were at work, getting better all the time at their job, evolving in their career, steadily investing, discovering debt didn't work and cleaning it out at some point in the process. The typical one we meet, they hit the millionaire status the first time around, 52 years old. Danny probably wasn't quite there with the math he gave us he might have been but i don't think he was had a millionaire a million

dollar net worth then but he's he's approaching a million he's approaching two million right now at 68 said he started cleaning off debt at 58 if you remember hearing that so is it too late for you i think you just heard it wasn't. He kind of got a late start there on some of it. He had the 401K going. That was an advantage, right? But it's not too late. Is all the opportunity gone in America?

Wages are stagnant. Wages are stagnant. CEO income has gone up dramatically while the minimum wage has not moved. The people that work at McDonald's are all starving to death. Oh, my God! See, this is the crap that's out there flying around right now that some of you people are saying and believing.

It's absolutely ridiculous. That guy right there tells you, right? He's just very calmly says, oh, this is what you do. Just put money in your 401k. Get out of debt. Live on less than you make. You don't have to be a rocket scientist. You can do this.

Isn't that amazing? But you can't wail like a beagle that's been run over by a car and expect to go ahead and get ahead. You've got to do this stuff. You're not a victim, you're a victor. Make a decision. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show and the books. We'll be back with you before you know it.

In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about a product or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything that is mentioned during this episode in the podcast show notes section.

Thanks for listening.