The Ramsey Show - App - Don't Just Talk About Building Wealth....DO Something! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: November 2, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage might be an indicator that you're an everyday millionaire. That's right, it's an Everyday Millionaire theme hour. Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality and author of the book Everyday Millionaires, is my co-host this hour as we talk about millionaires and talk to real millionaires. Not your broke brother-in-law with a political opinion. Real millionaires. How did they do it?

Who are they? Did they inherit it? Did they work for it? Did they do it by hitting the lottery? What is the best and most sure way that you can build wealth? And the time-tested process of saying the first stage of wealth building is to become a millionaire. Chris, sometimes people in Congress and other places where there are stupid people believe that a millionaire is someone that makes a million dollars a year in income. That is not the definition. Not at all, Dave. And I want to

break it down. You want to take what you own minus what you owe. So that what you own, the money in your bank account, the money in your 401k, 403b, cars, all those things, add it up and subtract out what you owe on any any debt, and that net number, if that final number is a million dollars or more, then congratulations, you are an everyday millionaire. In a political season like we have been in, and in a season in this country where we try to find things we don't like about each other, division, we try to find things to divide up. One of the things that has

happened is a war on success. When I was growing up, you were taught to work hard, save your money, be excellent, and become successful. Now when you do that, you're evil. Yes. Yeah, you've got a target on your back. And I talk about that in the book, and I think it's a result of this victim mentality, where it's really easy to try to blame something or someone if you haven't achieved something. And in reality, what it is, it's more about being intentional. It's about personal responsibility, looking inward and owning it. What you did or what you haven't done, just owning it, but then making a decision that, hey, this is my start point. This is where I'm going to go from now. And so I think if you all listen to the news and you watch, you'll hear this victim mentality.

You'll hear that jealousy, that spite that's coming out. And, you know, it's a shame because we are taught to win. Yeah. Instead of I will leave the cave, go kill something and drag it home. Right. It turns into I must take something from someone else who has earned it. And, of course, they have to set up the complete lie that has been told over and over again that the vast majority of people with wealth in America inherited it.

Yeah. And actual research, not your broke brother-in-law's opinion, actual research says otherwise. It really does. It showed us that almost 79% of the millionaires that we studied, we talked to over 10,000 of them, right? 79% did not inherit a dime. These were all people that were first-generation millionaires. By the way, that's 8 out of 10. That's all of them.

That's all of them. And so you hear this and you go, whoa, hold on a minute. They didn't just have something handed to them. These were people that worked and built it over time. And you guys. Another 5% got an inheritance after they were already millionaires. And another 5% got an inheritance that was not large enough to matter. To cause them to become.

They got $5,000 from their grandma. That's right. Or something like that. So they did inherit money. But so we're now up to 89% of the people that are millionaires in America with the largest study ever done, airtight research techniques. Shut the crap up. We did this right.

I'm really not listening to your belly aching. No. Did not inherit their money. Now, if you are a millionaire and you did inherit your money, we're not mad at you because I fully intend for my children to be millionaires when I die because I worked hard and left it to them. So that is not evil and it doesn't make my kids evil. No, not at all. They were not born on third and thought they hit a triple. But the key is, is to understand it. And we've got to chop down these myths because otherwise people think that they're excluded

from becoming it because they didn't go to a prestigious school. Hear me with this. The student loan debt, $1.7 trillion. Sixty-two percent of these millionaires went to a public state university. They didn't go to some fancy school. Eight percent went to a community college. Nine percent didn't go to college at all. So college has no prerequisite on what you do with your money.

It's about knowledge. Yeah, and it just turns out they did simple stuff. So we're going to hear that from them as we talk to them. The first one up, if you're a millionaire, by the way, call. We want to talk to you regardless of where you got your money. No shame in no matter where you got it. No. We want to hear the real story from real people, not a bunch of political crap.

And so the phone number is 888-825-5225. Up first is Randy in Dallas, Texas. Randy, what's your net worth, brother? Oh, my net worth is about $2.2 million. Cool. Very cool. How old are you? I am 65.

$65,000. Or 65 years old. Okay. And how much of the $2.2 million did you inherit? I inherited about $70,000 after I had accumulated well over a million. Okay. So you fell in one of those 5% brackets that I was talking about a while ago. So your mix on the $2.2 million, kind of give me the breakdown. How much mutual funds are in retirement?

How much real estate? That kind of stuff. Okay. The majority of it is in my 401K, $1.8 million in a 401k retirement account. Okay, and the other $400,000? $200,000 is in three other mutual fund investments outside the 401k, and then $200,000 in savings. You own a house? I do own a house. So that's not even included in this? That's not included in this. This is pure cash. Okay, and what's your home worth?

My home, the appraised value is $180,000. The house and the property is $60,000, so total property, house, $240,000. Okay, and so that's going to put you, is that paid for? It's paid for, oh yes. Long, long time ago. All right, good, good. So what was your career? My career is in health care, allied health.

Okay, cool. I started for this company I'm working for. I've been an employee here for well over 40 years. Gotcha. Wow. And what was your range of income, your best year household income, your worst year household income? My worst year, when I started my career, I made about $14,000 a year.

And my best year was $150,000. You take my income over about 35 years, I average about $90,000 a year. That's amazing. Randy, did you go to college? Two-year college. Two years. Two years, associate degree. Yep. Do you remember to college? Two-year college. Two years. Two years. So you got your associate degree.

Yep. Do you remember your GPA? Oh, probably 2.83. Okay. I made the dean's list last semester. All right. I like that. And does your household do any giving?

Yes, we do significant giving. So what advice would you give to the 25-year-old version of you out there listening? The 25-year-old version is obviously, number one, start contributing to a 401k at your earliest opportunity. Always contribute to it. You know, there's people who have hardship in their life and they stop giving or stop contributing to the 401k. I never stop. I think 401ks became available in about 1980,

and that's when I started contributing. I think I started out giving about 4%. And fortunately for me, the longer years of service you have with the company the more the company match was. Thank you, sir. You are an absolute rock star. I'm honored to speak with you. Thank you for calling in. Slow and steady wins the race. The tortoise beats the hare

every freaking time. Life sure has a lot of twists and turns. Unlike a roller coaster, we never know what's around the bend. The same can be true with unanticipated medical bills. That's why Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, is a great option for those who are faith-focused and budget-conscious. CHM is not insurance. Rather, it's Christians helping other Christians carry one another's burdens with healthcare expenses. You know how important it is to be ready for whatever life throws your way. And unfortunately, medical expenses can be some of the biggest,

most unexpected curveballs. With CHM, you'll have peace of mind knowing you and your family have a caring, faith-based community behind you. As a Better Business Bureau accredited charity, CHM has helped its members successfully share over $5 billion in each other's medical bills for nearly 40 years to see if chm is right for you visit online at ch ministries.org budget that's ch ministries.org budget It's an Everyday Millionaires theme hour. Chris Hogan, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host as we talk to real millionaires. Regardless of where your money came from, we want to talk to you because we want to dispel the mythology that is out there regarding millionaires. Open phones at 888-825-5225. We're going to put you on if you have a net worth of a million dollars or greater. One of the myths that we discovered that people believe when we interviewed the general public doing the study was they thought that you had to have an inordinately high GPA, like a 4.2 or something.

Had to be super smart, or you had to have a degree in finance, or you had to be a doctor, or you had to be a lawyer, or you had to be a professional athlete, or a rock and roll star, or you had to be a famous actress or actor. And it turns out that all of those people that I just mentioned put together amount to less than 2% of the millionaires. All the NFL, all the NBA, all the doctors and lawyers that are millionaires, and a lot of them aren't. That's right.

And all the actors and actresses that are millionaires, and most of them aren't. And all the music moguls that are millionaires, and most of them aren't. Yeah. And all the music moguls that are millionaires, and most of them aren't. Yeah. I'm friends with a lot of them. Right. And believe you me, they all say, I wish I had learned it. Yeah. But when I was 23 and I had that first hit, you know.

And so it doesn't end up that way. All those people put together don't amount to 2% of all the millionaires. Most of them are the last guy they called yeah oh yeah very understated regular average everyday people not flashy they're not sitting in front of the fancy car they're not on a big house these are people that have invested consistently over time richards in washington dc rich, your net worth? It is just a little over $1 million. All right, you did it. Rung the bell.

And how old are you? I am 34 years old. Oh, good for you. You did it quick. Yes. Way to go. So give me the breakdown on the $1 million. How is it invested, or what's the categories so it's uh about 50 percent is in uh 401k roth

iras and then the rest is in uh brokerage accounts all in low cost index funds okay and no house no house no okay all right so brokerage account so investing good for you right and how much of this million did you inherit rich Richard? Zero of it. Okay. Very cool. And what has been the range of your income during your working lifetime? I would say the average has been about $75,000 to $80,000 a year. Okay.

Hmm. So where'd this money come from? I just consistently started saving right after college. All of it. I mean, like you save everything. I did. I lived very frugally. I had roommates and just kind of had a goal of wanting to not have to worry about money beyond a certain age. And so just kind of focused on that and also benefited from a good bull market the last 10, 11 years. Where did this drive come from? Were your parents not good with money?

No. So my dad was one of those doctors that was kind of good with his money, and I'm the oldest of six kids, and he gave each one of us a copy of The Richest Man in Babylon when we were about, well, when I was about 11 years old and something just clicked. That's funny. Chris and I were just signing that for a guy at the break. That's funny.

We sure did. That's impressive, Richard. Seriously, what is your career in? I've done military, Richard. Seriously, what is your career in? I've done military, really, so focused on logistics and things like that, but military since I got out of college. Gotcha. And what was your degree in? Business administration. Business admin. And do you remember, happen to remember your GPA? It was right about 3.96, I think.

Right about 3.96. Buddy, go on and round that up. Okay, go on and give yourself that.4. You tell me you were a 4.0 student. That's fine, buddy. Do you do any giving? Because you obviously are an incredible saver. I did.

I worked with my uh siblings and and helped family uh out when they needed help getting through college and uh also with the church very good very good so what do you attribute this to because really i mean you've made if we say 10 years at 80 000 you made 800 000 you got a million in savings. So what do you attribute this to? Half of it is growth on the bull market, isn't it? A lot of it's growth on the bull market. A lot of it's just being consistent every month. And really, I would boil a lot of it down to just not really caring what other people think so much.

My car is worth maybe $3,000, Kelly Blue Book. It runs well. It's kept up and repaired well. But I just didn't have a strong desire for a lot of stuff. Yeah, but get this, okay? So we're talking, you started investing in 2010 as the market is at the bottom coming all the way back from a $6,500 to a $3,000. Your timing was amazing, and you're a tightwad. I mean, you hit the dadgum jackpot, man. I'm so proud of you. I bet your dad is proud of you.

Yeah, they are. Yeah, that's so neat. Well done, sir. Very well done. Thanks for sharing your story that's a great story it really talks about you know 2008 stock market count this guy starts his career at the bottom at the exact time this thing hits bottom and comes up and starts investing and he rode that thing all the way up from 6,500 to 30,000 now. 34 years old. Yeah. Ding, ding.

Well done. But notice, his dad talking to him and sharing information with him at a young age. Did you hear what he said? At age 11 and 12, something clicked. I read The Richest Man in Babylon when I was 12. Really? Yeah. Same thing.

Not because our parents were rich. They were just into motivational speaking stuff, and those guys were always selling that book. Well, the key is, as parents, have the conversation with your young people. Begin to share it with them. Help indoctrinate them the right way. What a stud. Yeah, he's on the ball. Dan is in Spokane, Washington.

Hey, Dan, what's up? Tell me your net worth. Oh, I'm doing pretty good. My net worth's about 1.9. Okay, cool. Break that down for me by category. Well, about a million of it's in real estate, our home and our farm, and we've got a rental, and about $850 in mutual funds and about $100 in cash.

Okay, very good. How old are you? 58. All right, all right, cool. How much of this did you inherit? Nothing. Zero. Nothing. All right, and what was your best year of working income and household income and worst year household income? Probably this last year was our best year.

We're going to do right about 150. And worst year is probably right out of college at about 17. Okay. Cool. Or less. What is your career? I'm a teacher. Okay.

And then we farm on the side. By the way, folks, teacher was the number three of the top five career fields of people who became millionaires, just as an aside. Hey, Dan, what was your GPA? 3.0. 3.0. Just right at 3.0. Same in high school, same in college. Very good.

And does your family do any giving? It's so much fun to do.0. Just right at 3.0. Same in high school, same in college. Very good. And does your family do any giving? It's so much fun to do. Yeah. Especially now. We just had a great weekend, and just like everywhere we went, it was just so fun to surprise waitresses. And, you know, it was just a lot of fun. That's my favorite. I just love it.

Way to go. So what advice have you got to a 25-year-old teacher that graduated from school this year just starting his or her career? Especially in teachers is get started early. I think one of the reasons that teachers do so well in this game is that it's systemically put into our systems, and we're exposed to a lot of financial education as part of our job. And it's encouraged, and it gets started early. I encourage a lot of young teachers to, you know, 50 bucks a month doesn't seem like a lot. So you sound like you think it can still be done in today's America. Oh, absolutely.

You just got to get started. Absolutely, Dan. Don't get paralysis of the analysis. Ready, aim, aim, aim, aim. Shoot something. Do it. Oh, my gosh. People just sit around and talk about theory.

Flapping their gums. Just do it. Way to go, Dan. I'm so proud of you. You're a dadgum hero, man. Well done. School teacher people, everyday millionaire. Don't tell me you can't, but you can tell me you won't.

34-year-old military man. It's available. Jiminy. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. It's an everyday millionaire's theme hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show. Chris Hogan, author of the number one best-selling book, Everyday Millionaires. Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. As we talk with real millionaires, how they got there. Top three jobs of millionaires.

Number one, engineer. Number two, accountant. Number two, accountant. Number three, teacher. Guess who did not make the top five? Medical doctors. Seven. They made the top ten, but not the top five. Very interesting.

It is. A lot of stuff going on there. Ninety-six percent say they enjoyed what they did for a career. 64% say they loved their jobs. A tip of the hat to Ken Coleman. The average millionaire pays off their home in 11.2 years. And the two components that typically add up to their $1 million or greater net worth, if their net worth is under $10 million, is their 401k and their home. A paid-for home of $500,000 and $1 million in the 401k would be the normal lineup for somebody with a $1.5 million net worth.

Now, you start talking to somebody with a $20 million net worth and greater, that kind of a thing, you get a whole different picture on that. But that's where it was. The average age that they became a millionaire was 49. That's the average, which means half above, half, well, not half, but roughly half above, roughly half below. So there is a lot of millionaires in their 30s. The 34-year-old we talked to a while ago is unusual but not unheard of um and so not unusual at all for somebody about 50 years old to hit that mark uh 97 percent of millionaires when surveyed said they control their own destiny

when we surveyed the general public, only 62% thought they did. Isn't it interesting? Big difference. People who have controlled their own destiny think that you can, and those that haven't think that you can't. It's kind of the old Henry Ford quote, if you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. And the interesting thing, too, we did not see a it did not split out equal to the population split exactly on racial lines. But we did see a substantial percentages that prove that women, minorities are that the American dream is alive and well.

Racism, sexism is alive and well also. Right. But it did not prohibit or mean that it was impossible to, for someone of a minority status or a woman, another minority, I guess, to become that. As a matter of fact, on the stage at Business Boutique the other day, Christy had two different women billionaires. Correct.

Billionaires with a B. And we had Sarah Blakely on a while back, too, billionaire with a B, Spanx lady. One of the youngest women billionaires in American history, as a matter of fact. Just all about not looking fat. Well, Spanx, I mean, what do about not looking fat. Yeah. Well, Spanx, I mean, what do you call it? No, I know. You are not.

Listen, keep moving. I'm not. I'm not a diplomat. No, I don't. Okay. Well, it was, I'll tell you what made her a lot of money. I noticed that. Yeah, it sure did. But here's the thing.

Must be a lot of people needed the help. Yeah. That's all I'm thinking. Okay. Here's the deal. Bottom line is, is we get an opportunity regardless of where we come from. We get a say in where we're going and when we arrive. And I think that's so important for us to remember today.

I remember when Condi Rice was with us. Yes. That quote of hers is a rock star quote. No, it really is. She essentially was saying, doesn't matter where you come from, what matters is where you're going. That's what her parents taught her growing up in a segregated Birmingham. Yes, Alabama, where you can imagine she was called everything but Condoleezza. But that didn't set up to be an excuse for her. It became fuel. And so I just think it's one of those things for us

to remind ourselves. There's so much out there that we can't control the weather, the pandemic, people's opinions. We can control what we do with our money and our dreams. That's under our control. Paul's in Omaha, Nebraska. Paul, your net worth? About $2.5 million. Good for you. Way to go.

Give me the categories and the breakdown on that, brother. We're talking about me and my wife. So you're just talking to me right now, but this was a team effort. Okay. In 401Ks and IRAs, about a mil and a half. Mm-hmm. About a half a mil in non-qualified accounts, mutual funds. Mm-hmm.

And house and cash, the rest. Okay. Well, that's about what I was just saying. Okay, cool. How old are you? 55. All right. All right. And what was the range of. Okay, cool. How old are you? 55. All right. And what was the range of your household income, best year and worst year, while you've been working?

I'm going to say between 60 and 190. That's probably the range. Cool. And how much of the $2.5 million did you and your wife inherit? Zero. Zero. Zero. Paul, what's your career at uh i'm currently retired i decided it was time to hang it up very good what'd you do before you retired um mostly trades i spent a lot of time

as a machinist doing an air conditioning type work uh i spent my life with a you know my name patch on my shirt it's a boring story it's not uh it's not it's got two and a half million at the end of the story i'm excited about the story i'm just telling you so and what does your wife do for her career she's a technical person a computer type person okay all right very good very cool and do you all do any giving as a household oh yeah yeah oh yeah so you know one of the things with all the student loan crap up in the air and the uh college is trying to charge is still sitting there by home and all these people are uh mike rowe was over here with us you know the dirty jobs guy the other day we're doing some

stuff and he started a whole movement to reinvigorate the trades because he says there's more money to be made there and without spending the money on higher ed for some people college may not be the thing and here you're sitting uh worked your life in the trades as you said and um heat and air and so on the patch on your shirt with your name on it and two $2.5 million. That kind of validates Mike's idea. Yeah, I like Mike Rowe, and I've heard him talk about that, and there's a lot of truth to that. My generation and your generation, Dave, I think grew up with a different work ethic. A lot of these people, younger people, just do not want to, they don't want to come home

dirty at the end of the day, and there's money to be made if you're willing to do that. That's my opinion. Well, I mean, it's not an opinion. You actually have $2.5 million to back up the idea that a little dirt under the fingernails might work out. Yeah. Like I said, it's hard work. Like I said, it's kind of a boring story. Save your money, man.

Invest your money. Okay, so there's a heat and air. You know what? Compounding interest, I've never heard the word compounding interest in all my years in school. Why is that? That's how you get rich. Wow. Well, that's true.

If you take one of our financial classes that we teach, you actually learn it in high school. But that's one of the few times. I agree. I completely agree with you. Oh, he's right. So there's a heat and air tech out there within the 20 million people listening to us right now, driving in his truck, and he's 28 years old. Can he still do it?

Absolutely he can do it. Absolutely. You've got to start investing. Don't listen to what everybody tells you. Most people don't have a clue. And another piece of advice I would like to say is one thing I've learned is nothing falls into place when you're desperate. When you're broke, I need a paycheck. It's not going to fall into place. It's only going to, when you get yourself positioned where I don't need a paycheck, a big one will fall into your lap. It works the opposite of what you think it should. It's crazy.

Some of the dumbest butt things I've ever done in my life is when I was desperate. Yes. I agree with you. Hey, man, thank you. I'm proud of you. You did an incredible job, and what a great motivating inspiring call america is not on the rocks paul and pauls are out there everywhere working we're gonna be okay oh and you know what there's i disagree with him about one thing there's some young ones that do know how to work but there's some that don't yeah there's been lazy people in

every generation thank you for saying that that's true they're everywhere but but there's also people that kill it and drag it home that's exactly right hear that the american dream is not just alive it's alive and well and available to you you just got to grab it ding ding baby it's an everyday millionaire theme hour the book number one bestse. If you want to learn how people did it from the study that we did, it's called Everyday Millionaires. The author is the guy sitting beside me. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. our scripture of the day first john 318 little children let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth nanette avery said talk is voting is free, take it to the polls. I like that.

Not bad. Yeah, seriously. A lot of mouthing going on in America right now. Listen, if you don't go and you don't give your vote, then you've got to hush. Like, I mean, seriously, you've got to go out and do that. Otherwise, all you're doing is bellyaching, and that's not helping anybody. And we all need to be classy enough to realize our person may not win. It's okay, right?

You've got to count on you. The government's not going to save the day. We've seen this time and time again. Every four years, Dave, we go through this. I'm going to get a bottle of Pepto and just bring it out every four years. We've got to be smart enough to realize I'm not riding this roller coaster anymore. It's going to get silly. People are silly, and half a percent of people are crazy.

We can't fix them. We need to institutionalize them, but we can't, and it's going to be okay. Chris Hogan, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. It's an everyday millionaire's theme hour. We're talking with real millionaires, asking how they did it. Did they hit the lotto? Are they a professional sports figure? Did they inherit their money, or did they save it and work for it? And either way is okay with us.

We just want you to get there. Sue's in Fort Lauderdale. Hi, Sue. How are you? Hi, Dave. Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me on today. Sure.

What's your net worth? A little over $1.5 million. Good. Break that down for me by category, please. All right. We've got about $900,000 in various retirement accounts, annuities. We have some mutual funds, about $185,000. And then we have some single stocks, very little, about $30,000. We have about $80,000 in cash and then are paid for home.

What's your house worth? $425,000, $450,000 perhaps. Okay, so you're over a million and a half then. Okay, good. Well done. You're approaching two. Good job. Well done.

So how old are you? 63. Okay, cool. And what was your best year working household income and your worst year working household income? So, well, I'm a saver by nature, but this is a second marriage. So, my husband and I married in 2002. I was on the journey before that. But I would say our income since we've been together ranged from $100,000 to $240,000. Okay, cool.

What do you do for a living? I'm in sales and marketing for a large retirement community. And what about him, your second husband? My husband, he spent 30 years in the united states coast guard and he retired with a full pension in 2012 and he is now currently working for the coast guard as a civilian making more than he did when he worked for them yeah good i like that. Yeah. Hey, Sue, did you inherit any of this, either one of you? No. Okay.

Nothing. Very good. And did you get your degree? Did you attend college? I did not. Okay. No college. I have a high school education, as does my husband. Gotcha. So what is your advice to someone that's listening to us right now who wants to be a millionaire? Can they still do it, and what should they do they should just be consistent um save put money away don't use credit cards

um stay out of debt then you don't have to worry about getting out of it so you said you're a saver have you guys enjoyed your life or have you just sat at home and counted coupons oh no we're. We enjoy life. We take nice vacations. What's the best vacation you ever took? Two years ago, we went to Europe. We did a seven-day Mediterranean cruise, and then we spent six days in Rome.

That's no slouch. No, that's pretty good. Not bad for a saver. Not bad at all. I was going to ask if you took your husband with you, but you said we. So you said we. You said we, Sue. Sue, I got to know this.

Anybody that's fought and battled like you all have, what was your biggest financial mistake? Oh, let's see. We had a couple. What's one? um let's see we had a couple um well we bought when we bought our first harley um we we took out the extended warranty um which we haven't done that since but it didn't pay off because he sold the bike a couple years later your first harley how many harleys have you bought three okay good i love this you guys are living large yeah and he's got a like you like to say dave he's got himself a big butt truck oh well done sue you guys are You are absolute heroes. So very proud of you.

Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us and for sharing that story. So, Chris, we talked to five millionaires, 2.2, 1, 1.9, 2.5, and 1.5. So nobody over 3 million. Nope. Fairly tight range. Age was 65, 34, 58, 55, 63. Kind of hits our average of 49. sure does right in there it's going to be pretty close to that uh health care military teacher um trade heat and air guy

yeah and uh sales yeah two military in there yep with coast guard included So two of them with military careers in there this time. Nobody that split any atoms with a 4.96 GPA. Well, we had one. I didn't have a Harvard graduate. No, no. I didn't have a Wharton or an MIT graduate. I didn't have anybody who had a fellowship that nobody could spell. I didn't have anybody with six PhDs.

Nope. And majority givers. Now, maybe they don't listen to the show. Well, yeah. That's true. But the ones that called. That's right. This is our reality for today. It's a small sample, but it does reflect what we found in the study.

It does. And listen to the advice from the people. Contribute to your 401k. Don't care what other people think. Save and invest. Stay away from debt. It sounds like people have been listening to the show, Dave. I mean.

Again, that's the ones that call in. That's right. So that makes sense or that we have got contact with. Our tribe is listening. And, you know, I guess if you're some kind of character and you, I don't know, you buy and sell widgets and you made all your money doing some high-risk thing, or maybe you're a professional roulette player or something, I don't know, you probably aren't a fan of this because I make fun of you, so you probably wouldn't listen to the show. So that would taint the sample of who actually calls in.

You've chased them off, Ramsey. Yeah. You did. They elected to spend their radio time elsewhere. But that's understandable yeah I mean that's probably not they they elected to uh spend their radio time elsewhere and uh but that that's understandable I get that but then the thing that you guys need to understand is 75 to 80 percent of the people we studied in the study had never heard of me that's right and so uh and they reflected also what we found with these five today that's right so in spite of the bias of what the show listener or our tribe would naturally have, and that is a fact.

I mean, obviously, we would have a slanted listenership, and you could make fun of that or say it's not true. But we did, you know, Tom Stanley's book, Millionaire Next Door, they did a sample size of 750. That's right. And actually, at 750, Tom's research was solid. It was. His daughter, Sarah, still does research, and they do a great job with it. But the PR people, the liberals, couldn't take the 750 sample size because they don't know how to do statistics. And that's actually statistically significant.

If you've had a stat class, you know this. That's right. Most of your polls on the politicians are 1,000, 1,100 people. And they're projecting that across a population of 300 million Americans. So it is significant, assuming your poll sourcing or your sourcing is random and across racial barriers and across regional bias and across careers and so forth. So we said we're going to do 10 times just to make sure that nobody could really criticize it. We ended up, when we got to 8,000, 10 times would be 7,500.

We just kept going, and we ended up with 10,165, I believe it was. That's the exact number. And so you can look at this, and really the reality is it's showing the truth. And I know many of you growing up you've had thoughts or maybe you believe lies from family we need to know the truth so we can make decisions for rich people you ever heard that oh yes yeah and so we got to make decisions people work their butts off and save their money that's how you ought to finish that sentence that's exactly right that's really what it comes down to but i always heard this other thing you know

because we you know the neighborhood you grow up in, people talk about that. The book is Everyday Millionaires. It dispels the mythology. When you are believing a myth and you follow it, you're not going to get to where you're going. Chris's book, check it out. Puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in 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 an event, product, or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything you've heard about during this episode in the podcast show notes or head to DaveRamsey.com. Thanks for listening.