The Ramsey Show - App - Don't Underestimate the Power of Self-Discipline (Hour 3)

Episode Date: July 27, 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 has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Chris Hogan, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today on the show. The phone number where we talk with you about your life and your money is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Nathan starts off this hour in Miami, Florida. Hi, Nathan. Welcome to the show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve, sir. How can we help? Well, about four months ago, my wife let me know that she wanted to retire early, so we started putting a plan together. We, so far, have paid off all our debt except our house, which we just refinanced to a 15-year

to get the interest rate down. Good. finance to a 15-year to get the interest rate down. Where we're struggling is, if we retire early, how do we make money or have income in that gap between when we can withdraw from our Roth and our 401ks? Yeah, that's called bridge investing, Chris. Yeah, Nathan. Actually, I talk about that in my book everyday millionaires it's called a bridge account and this is where you are are staying focused and you're attacking and paying extra on the home to to get that out of your life but then you're also starting to then invest and put money over here in this bridge account that will essentially become your paycheck that'll

become your source of income in between those gap years before you're 59 and a half. And so how old are you and your wife right now? I'm 37. My wife's 42. That's fantastic. And so she wants to retire in three years? She wants to retire before she's 50. So we're going to do that as early as possible. Okay, fantastic. And so how much do you have left on the house? We have 223,000. Okay. And you guys, your household income is how much? 240,000. Okay. So looking at this, you guys can begin to see and say, you know what, we just refinanced to a 15. Let's attack, get this house paid off. And then let's turn our attention to this bridge account. You guys have more than enough time and more than enough means to be able to do that. Absolutely.

And I think you're on the right path. I just wanted to make sure that, you know, we're not putting too much towards the mortgage, or is there such thing as too much towards the mortgage? No, because if the house is paid off, then you've lowered your overhead, and so it doesn't take you as much to retire. The bridge account doesn't have to be as big then to be able to cover you for that 10-year gap, basically, or roughly what it's going to end up being. Now, let me get this straight.

She's retiring, you're not, or both of you are retiring? That's up in the air still. Okay. How much is in your nest egg in your retirement accounts? That's up in the air still. Okay how much is in your nest egg in your retirement accounts? Let's see we've got a total across all our retirement accounts about six hundred and thirty thousand. Okay all right and out of the two hundred forty thousand dollar income who earns what uh she earns probably 70 percent of that 140 right around there yeah all right hey what does she do that she hates so bad? She is director of strategic initiatives.

Okay. All right. Well, there's a couple of things. I mean, number one, that's how you do it. The answer to your question is the not having a house payment would be key to pulling this off, and then the second piece of it is to have some money in investments that are not retirement investments, just some good mutual funds, and you had a pile of money there. You got a couple hundred thousand bucks bucks in that and you got this couple

hundred thousand dollar house paid for. You probably can pull off what you're talking about at that point. It is highly unusual in our study of millionaires and multimillionaires that we have, that I've worked with for 30 years, and we just completed the largest study of millionaires a couple years ago, ever done in North America, over 10,000 of them studied. It's highly unusual for someone to earn zero money from age 45 on. People just generally need something to do with themselves. There's only so much fishing and golf you can do.

You know, and they generally... It's funny you say fishing. Yeah, whatever it is. I don't care. But, I mean, whatever your fishing is, it's, you know, but mentally we are designed to serve, and the people that maybe she's burned up and maybe she's been working 80-hour weeks

for an ungrateful publicly traded corporation that's eating her alive. I don't doubt that. I wouldn't blame her. But I seldom, I always encourage someone to not have as their goal doing nothing. People die young when they do nothing. We need purpose. We need something to set our hands to. And I don't care.

Maybe it's a ministry and she doesn't get paid for it. That's okay. But again, it is highly unusual for someone in the data points that we know of. It's hard to think of someone that earned zero from 45 on. No, I agree. And even in my first book, Dave, Retire Inspired, I talked about don't retire from something, retire to. Yeah. Right?

Like, get to go do. And if she's director of strategic initiatives, my gosh, there's enough stuff out there that needs some real strategy. She could consult or do some things. On things that matter and that she cares about. That she has heart for. Yeah. And again, I'm not saying that, but it's just high. In other words, one of the set of assumptions you have to use

is there's zero income coming in. Right. And that's a highly unusual assumption in this situation. Now, if you told me you had $6 million in your retirement, you know, you don't have to worry about that. But you don't have a lot of money. I mean, you've got a great income. But $600,000 and still owing 250 on your house

yeah you're far from done dude you're far from done let me ask you this million dollar short how long could you sit still now i have no intention no i know but just push come to show i will be here spreading hate and listen i'm not trying to get rid of you i'm asking you how long could you sit still i couldn't because because I could have done it 20 years ago. No, I know. I know. I had financial peace 20 years ago. But I enjoy helping people.

I enjoy putting my hand to the plow and causing some good to happen. I get joy from that. And it's good psychological and spiritual income, as well as creating an income. It's a bit of a scorecard, and I can give more if I have more. Well, and that's the beauty of vacation, too, because you give yourself a chance to be able to relax, right, to then come back and bring more to what you have a heart for. Exactly. So all that to say, I'm not a proponent of doing nothing.

Right. And I would say this. For his wife to have that goal and that drive, that's a good thing. But I want you, Nathan, to have that high-definition dream with your wife. I talk about that at my website, ChrisHogan360.com. Sit down and find out what's driving her. Is she sick of this job, or does she have some things that she wants to do? And it's real good to get that clarification so you guys can get on the same page.

Yeah. Yeah. What I'm hearing and the reason I got this going, I'm always listening, 42 and I want to retire by 45, and he just found this out. That sounds like she had a really hard year at work. Yeah. And I'm sick of this place. Yeah, big time.

That's what it sounds like. Yeah. So I want you to be in a financial position to at work. Yeah. And I'm sick of this place. Big time. That's what it sounds like. Right. So, I want you to be in a financial position to do anything you want, and then I want you to do something with your life. You'll just, you'll have a better life. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. folks i love telling you about well-made well-thought-out products today i'm talking about grip six belts i don't know about you but I'm not a fan of traditional belts. They never fit right, and they're uncomfortable.

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Grip 6 is determined to help build and modernize American manufacturing. To learn more and get this month's Dave Ramsey special, visit GRIP6.com. That's GRIP6.com. I'm good. Good. How can we help? I'm calling to get some guidance or if you could point me in the right direction. My husband has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Oh, my.

And we're trying to, yeah, we're trying to, while we're praying for a miracle, we're just trying to make sure we have everything prepared. We've lived frugally. We don't have any debt other than a mortgage, but he's the sole income. And he has 401K and life insurance, and we're not sure what kind of things we need to take care of ahead of time. I don't know what kind of taxes come into play on those items, and 401K is obviously in his name. I think I'm listed as a beneficiary, but, yeah, that's kind of the basics of where I'm at. I'm sorry. How old are you?

I'm 41. How old is he? 42. 42. How long have you guys been married? We just celebrated our 20th year. And when did they give you this diagnosis? End of May, beginning of June. So you're going for a round of second opinions and third opinions, right?

Yeah, we've kind of gone through that. He's started chemo now. He just finished his first round of chemo. The goal is to just try to prolong his life as long as we can, as long as he can handle the chemo. Yeah. What kind of cancer? Biodext. Lost a friend of mine to that. Okay. Well, what you're discovering is that one of the ways we negotiate our way through trauma is to, uh, have as many of our bases covered as possible. Um, in between, um, cries, right? And so, um, you know, your basics are that the, uh, life insurance proceeds are not taxable. They're tax-free. The 401K, if you are the named beneficiary, can be rolled to what's called an inherited IRA at that point.

If you're the spouse, you may be able to just leave it into a 401K and not touch it. How much is in the 401k? I think it's around $100,000. And how much is the life insurance? $350,000. Okay. Do you have children? Two, yes.

What ages? 18 and 14. How are they doing? They're having a hard time, but they're doing okay. Liberty, how are you? Depends on the day you ask me. I'm emotional, but just trying to do what I can. He's having a hard time with treatment, so right now we're just kind of

trying to keep him moving. Now, the crisis of the moment, huh? Okay, and you said he has the income, you do not, right? Correct, yeah. Okay, all right, so several things and, you know, boxes to check. Number one make sure that uh both of you have a will okay completed um and um i'll take care of that for you we'll furnish you a free one from mama bear.com we'll take care of you so madison just start making a list because i'm getting ready to give her a bunch of free stuff okay Okay. Um, get that done. Uh, we're going to have you sit with one of our coaches,

our financial coaches in the area that's been trained by us to help you get some of the other stuff organized. Okay. And that's at no cost as well. I'm going to take care of you. Okay. Thank you very much. And, uh,

do that now. And then also, um, if a miracle doesn't come through, do it after as well, okay? Okay. Meet back with them again, and let them walk you through all of this. Okay, so how much do you owe on your home? I believe it's like $118 last I looked.

Okay, all right. And so you probably have already figured this out, but you have a new career in your future. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm actually in school. So what are you studying? Court reporting. Okay. Is that what you plan to do now still? Yes. Okay. All right. Then you follow that through and that gets an income coming in and your best case scenario is if you can create enough income to live on right that's simple and not touch this 450 the 350 the 350 for sure in the 401k but even the other hundred it it sounds like it's a lot of money but it'll be gone in an eye blink.

Right. If you don't have a plan. And it goes to two or three things. One is it goes to a slight bit of your income not quite covering your expenses, and then you look up and it just got whittled away, and you look up and where did that $100,000 go? Okay. The other place it can go to is uh grief spending spending to medicate um like i met with one lady who ended up with a two closets full of shoes and wasn't even sure

she bought shoes uh and she's like how did i do that and i'm like hey we all go a little crazy in situations like this she goes that's a little crazy yeah it's a little crazy but a lot of shoes but you know we all do stuff like that to when our hearts are broken and money can end up getting woven into that so you need a very detailed plan to give you guardrails so when the waves of of emotion come of anger or whatever the waves are that you've got some guardrails to keep you in the road. OK, and Liberty, you are going to feel like you are pouring out from all sides. You're pouring into your children.

You're definitely pouring into your husband to support him and the situation. And you are quickly going to find that you are running low, young lady, emotionally and mentally. And so I want to encourage you to not isolate. I'm so proud of you for reaching out and calling. But I want you to plug into your church. Get some people around you that you can talk to and be real about what it is you're feeling. Because you matter in this situation, too. And your husband needs you presence of mind

he needs to feel that love from the last 20 years and he needs to hear that your heart is broken but he also needs to hear you all revisit some memories to pull out the photo albums and to look at some things you all have done and to talk openly and honestly as a family and talk about the love and talk about the things, but he's still here. And so I want you all to make sure that you're still here right now, uh, in that moment. So yeah, plug into a good church and get a pastor in your corner. We're going to get a coach in your corner and we're going to get, get you hooked up with a wheel company and they're going to furnish your wheels for free. And you guys get those done. There's something about laying all

that foundation that get does give you a level of comfort when you at least you go okay i know i know what the plan is he knows what the plan is the kids know what the plan is this is the plan um with an x number of months i'm going to be working making this amount of money and we're going to live on this amount of money and um then we're going to use the hundred thousand for final expenses we're going to use it for a little pad between to get our get back on our feet and those kinds of things uh to finish school uh the you know and you're just going to lay out your plan and go, this is exactly what we're going to do. And then it's a battle plan because you're in a war. And then you just execute the battle plan and knowing that always in a war people get wounded. And so there's always going to be hurt.

It goes with the territory. I'm so sorry, baby girl. And you listen. Hey, we're here. You call us anytime. We're not going anywhere. And whoever's on the other end of this microphone, whether it's me or Chris or Dr. John or whoever's here, we'll help you. And Madison's going to pick up.

We're going to get you with a coach and get the wheels done. And if you don't have a good church you're plugged into, we'll hook you up with one in that area that we work with, with Financial Peace. And we're going to gather around you, kiddo. We'll walk with you. Love you, kiddo. You're going to be all right. This is the Dave Ramsey Solutions, right on the debt-free stage, Crystal is with us. Hi, Crystal.

How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm doing great. How are you? Welcome, welcome. Where do you live? I live in Boston, but I am a Southern girl, and I have my parents here with me from Charlotte, North Carolina.

All right. Very cool. Well, welcome to Nashville. I'm here to do your debt-free scream. I am, and very excited to do so. How much have you paid off? $200,000. Whoa! How long did that take? Three years and two excited to do so. How much have you paid off? $200,000. Whoa!

How long did that take? Three years and two months. All right. And your range of income during that three years and two months? Started at about $115,000 and then wrapped up at $193,000. Whoa! What do you do? I am in HR.

I started in-house HR at a biotech company and then I switched jobs this past December into HR consulting. And it worked. It works. Ding, ding. You're killing it. You are knocking it down, girl. Well done. Thank you. So 200K in debt was for what? Student loans.

Oh! Yes. Where did you go to school? So undergrad was at Georgetown University in D.C. And then I got my MBA at Duke. Oh, you don't choose cheap schools. No although sometimes I rethink it but it ended up working itself out. Wow that's very impressive pedigree there very well done. Good for you. Thank you. So your MBA and your undergrad was in HR? So my undergrad was actually finance and international business. Okay. So did

investment banking for a little bit then then also did nonprofit before making the switch into HR after getting my MBA. Why do I have the feeling she could do anything? Yeah, she is a very focused young lady. Crystal, what did you learn throughout this debt attack? You know? I learned a lot. I would say the biggest thing was resilience and knowing my why and keeping my focus there.

There were so many times where it got really difficult having to say no to myself and to my friends and the budgeting process. That was not fun. So what started you on this journey? So if we flash back to May 2016, when I graduated, I had my job lined up to start off in August. And as you know, they give you that six-month grace period, which I feel like is a sham, but I got the six-month grace period and decided to take it as such, which was not smart. I took the summer off to hang out, vacation, just chill out a bit. And as I got closer to that six months, I realized that I needed to figure out what I was dealing with because I knew I still had undergrad loans in addition to my grad school loans. So I go through my email and I total up all of the numbers and the balances across private and federal loans and see that it's $200,000.

You had never totaled it before? Nope. Freak out. Exactly. So complete freak out. And I'm thinking everything from, okay, how am I going to pay this off? When am I ever going to be able to buy a house? Who's going to date somebody who has $200,000 in debt?

Of major concern. Yes. And at some point during that freakout, I actually called my dad. And he said something to the effect of, you know, you are where you are. All you can do now is make a plan and make it happen. So very practical. Didn't make me feel good, but it was practical. And thankfully, around that same time, my church had announced Financial Peace University. So I enrolled there, and that's how it all got started.

Oh, wow. Okay, good timing then, huh, guys? Yes, very much. Well done. Yeah, so I met your dad and mom at the break a minute ago, and they seemed like really reasonable people, like smart people and all. So I imagine when your dad heard $200,000, he's staying calm for you, but he probably went, Oh my God.

So, uh, yes. Um, what's funny is I, I was, if I'm being very honest, Dave, I was, not only was I freaking out, but I was ashamed, um, because I see myself as someone who typically has a handle on those types of things. And so I didn't tell him the number. Oh, oh. I didn't tell either of my parents the number until I was maybe, you know, maybe $40,000 out of completing it. Oh, you were almost done before you admitted it. Yeah, I didn't want to tell them. So I told them that it was a lot, but they didn't know how much it was. Yeah, a lot is a variable term.

Yes. I love it. Oh, look at you. Wow. You know what that does and you know to your credit sometimes when you look at that and you go how did i do that that sense of shame does come that sense of regret comes sometimes that paralyzes people yes but in to your credit it caused you to bolt into action action no no not this girl. That's what you said. Yeah.

And, you know, you got a freaking finance degree. So the MBA. Yeah. Well, the irony. Yeah. Me too. And I went broke following that stuff. Yeah. So, yeah, that's.

Oh, man, that's amazing. I love the motivation you had to total it up, to just stare it in the face. And I think I would love to hear your advice to people that are out there that are young or maybe not so young that are staring at that student loan debt. We've got $53 trillion in student loan debt impacting 47 million Americans right now. I'm sorry, 1.7 trillion. 1.7 trillion affecting 53. I thought, what happened?

It grew. It grew a lot while you were talking. Crystal, what advice would you give to people out there that find themselves in that first step? It is definitely one step in front of the other. You can't, elephants happen to be my favorite animal. You can't take a whole bite, but it's taking it one step at a time. And just realizing, okay, it happened. And how can you get organized? And not just having a budget, but actually sticking to it. That was one of the most humbling aspects of it.

There was one time where I recall I had figured out a way to get my grocery bill to only $100 a month. And a lot of rice and beans. And so I am in the line. And I purposefully, when I went to the grocery store, would not bring my debit card just to prevent myself from spending more. I love to eat and I love to cook. So I'm in line and I remember the cashier ringing up everything and I might have been, I don't know, seven or ten bucks off. And so there's a line behind me and I have to say, I'm sorry, but can you take those items off? And so that was hard because I know in my bank account there's a line behind me and I have to say, I'm sorry, but can you take those items off? And so that was hard because I know in my bank account there's money, but I was committed. And

so to answer your question, Chris, I think it's, you know, one step in front of the other, having a plan and actually sticking to it because it's so easy to make excuses or just quit midway through. Oh, that's true. A hundred dollars a month in groceries. Girl, I am impressed. Okay, tell me a meal. What were you eating? Ooh. Like, yeah. Yes, so there was actually a farmer's market that was not too far from where I stayed, walking distance, so didn't have to pay, you know, a cab or a train ride to get there.

And they would have a lot of produce. So I was a vegetarian a lot, a lot of potatoes. And so I could get like a bushel of stuff for like $10. Yeah. And so I would just meal prep and that would be it for the week. That's fantastic. Really good for you too. Yeah.

Look at you. Very, very well done. Thank you. I'm proud of you. I know your mom and dad are proud of you. That was incredible. What an incredible thing. Thank you.

Thank you. I mean, the degrees you got from the places you got them are incredible. What's more incredible. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, the degrees you got from the places you got them are incredible. What's more incredible is this story. Thank you. That power of resilience, that power of self-discipline, you apply those things. You can, as smart as you are, you'll be able to do anything you want to do. You are on fire and you are doing anything you want to do. I mean, you make a serious bank. Well you. Very, very well done. So who were your biggest cheerleaders? Oh, gosh. Definitely not just my parents, but my family in general.

We have a family group chat, and so I would give them milestone updates. Sometimes it would be strategy solutions and all of that good stuff. And I would also say a couple of my really close girlfriends, too um who i traveled a lot with and ate out a lot with so having to say no to them too sometimes was hard when we wanted to hang out so i would say those two groups were very helpful and were with me every step of the way okay so you said who's going to go out with somebody with two hundred thousand dollars in debt so now you're going out on a date and he sits down and he tells you he's got $200,000 in debt. David got quiet.

He's gone. He's gone. He's out of there. He got so quiet. Wow. Do you have a plan? That's the first question. Do you have a big income?

That's right. That's right. I don't blame you. I love it. That's great. Well done, Crystal. Well done. Thank you. Thank you. We've got a copy of Crystal's book blame you. I love it. That's great. Well done, Crystal. Well done. Thank you.

We've got a copy of Crystal's book for you, Everyday Millionaires. No question that you will be one before we know it. Thank you. You have completely done everything perfectly. Well done. $200,000 paid off in three years and two months, making $115,000 to $193,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. I am debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I am debt-free! Yeah! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Congratulations. Yeah! This is how it's done. Wow.

I'm telling you, this is not a generation of victims. No. They've been painted up that way by people that have agendas. This generation's on fire. That's exactly right. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. our scripture of the day proverbs 4 25 and 26 let your eyes look straight ahead fix your gaze directly before you give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Alexander Graham Bell said,

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. Well, a lot of stuff going on out there in the real estate world. Records being set in real estate sales, which is so weird during COVID stuff, but it's still happening. People are buying houses like crazy. And if you're getting ready to buy a home right now or sell a home, you really need a high-octane, high-protein realtor in your corner,

real estate agent in your corner. And don't be dealing with opinions and feelings. These are too stinking expensive. Get the facts. Our team has created a one-stop shop for everything homebuyers need to know. It's completely free. Check this out. Go to DaveRamsey.com slash homebuying

and get the answers you need to make smart decisions. Joshua is in West Virginia. Hi, Joshua. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Happy to be here. Thank you, Mr. Ramsey. Thank you. I have a question.

Okay. The question I have is I live in a double-wide. It's a mobile home, and the problem is it's on my parents' property, and I've tried to talk to them numerous times about purchasing the property from them and putting it more permanently in my name. Currently right now I have a piece of paper that I had to sign with the mortgage company that's financing the double wide, and it's basically if I ever had a falling out or anything like that,

then I would still be able to, I guess, keep the house here on the property. But I've had some issues with my parents. You know, they don't want to sell me the property or anything else. And it's going to cost me about $20,000 to move it up or to move it from where it's at to a different place, and probably I'm looking at about $10,000 to $20,000 additionally just to find property. What do you owe on it? I owe $44,000. Okay. Well, what you're telling me is that this doesn't work long term.

Right. That there's nothing on fire per se, but it's not a good long-term plan. A, it's a double-wide going down in value. B, you don't own the property under it, nor are you likely to. So that leads us to the conclusion we've got to get rid of it. How are we going to get rid of it? Well, my wife and I, we thought about talking to a realtor about it, and the real estate agent said that oftentimes they can sell them, but they said

it's very hard to sell it without it being on a permanent piece of land. That's very true. And that's my dilemma. Yeah, that's very true. What's your household income? Right now, I went from $35,000 a year, got a pay raise this year, and we should be making about $55,000 to $60,000 this year if everything stays the way it's going. Joshua, is this on a permanent foundation? It's under Stucco, yes. That's what they consider as permanent foundation.

Yeah, but it's not his land, so it doesn't matter. Mom and Dad, do they have any money? No. Actually, for the past few months, probably shouldn't say this, but I'll just be truthful with you. My parents are both on disability, and we've been trying to help them stay afloat on their bills, and it's been dragging us down financially as well. Okay. Well, what I think is you're probably going to sell this mobile home for $20,000 or $30,000 to a mobile home lot who comes and picks it up, and you're going to have to borrow the difference.

This is like a car that you're upside down in is basically what it is, and then you're going to go rent for a little while somewhere until you get that note paid off, and then you'll save up your down payment. Are you a member of a good credit union, for instance? Currently right now I use a credit union as a bank, and the lender that I'm through with right now is also a credit union as well. Okay. Then they may work with you to let you sign a note for whatever it doesn't bring but you need to start talking to them about this house this has to be sold we have to move and there's nothing on fire but you don't need to be sitting here two years from now

still twirling around in all this dysfunctional mess we've had this going on since about 2015. 2015, I was working in the coal industry. I was bringing $95,000 a year. Coal industry drops out more or less. I get the rug jerked out from underneath my feet, and that's when a lot of things started going downhill from there. Yeah, well, it went downhill when you bought this, just when it went downhill,

because it's been going downhill ever since you bought it. So we've got to stop the bleeding and get rid of the thing. So let's have a goal of being out of the mobile home business into a rental by next spring and sign a note for the difference with one of the credit unions. So let's say you can get it sold for $30 or whatever, then you sign a note for $14, or if you sell it for $20, you're going to sign a note for for 24. It's just going to take you a while to dig out of this, but it's not going to get any better waiting because it's not going up in value. And Joshua, you are going to have to be proactive as you talk to this credit union and to this lender that, you know, this isn't something

that's optional. This is not something you're thinking. This is a five-year struggle. And this is the direction you're going and explain to them your situation. And you're going to have to follow up on it. Don't wait on them to make a decision. You follow up with them and call and call and call until you get an answer. Yeah, I've got to finance the difference, or I'm handing you guys the keys, and you can come get it. Right. Well, you know, if they won't work with you we're gonna have to have some other

conversations here deed in lieu of foreclosure yeah this is not gonna go well yeah but it's gonna mess up your life if you go that route i would much rather you just sign a note for the difference and get rid of it and um then lesson learned mobile homes go down in value they are not something you buy and uh lesson learned i don't put mobile homes or houses on other people's land. That's exactly right. Even if it's my parents. And that little piece of paper means nothing. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, it doesn't. It's just, it allows him to sit there and allowed him to get the mortgage on the mobile home is all it was. So, but yeah, it's, it's problematic and it sounds like your parents are in a mess too. So I'm sorry. Sorry you guys are facing all that. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Cheryl is with us in Chicago. Cheryl, short on time, go straight to your question. Hi, Dave. Hi, Chris. I was wondering if age is a consideration when deciding whose retirement account to fund more. So I'm 45. my husband's 53. Should we be putting more of the 15% into my 403B or more into his 401K? I'd probably put a little bit more into his unless all things being equal.

Now, if you've got great mutual fund options and he doesn't, we're going to work it out. But the question is, when he retires, will he have enough in his nest egg at your current calculations to retire at 65? So we both have a traditional pension, and he also has $432,000 roughly as of the last few days. Then it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You've got plenty of time. It's going to grow to plenty. You're. It doesn't matter. You've got plenty of time. It's going to grow to plenty. You're going to be all right.

You've done a great job. And so, no, because, I mean, if he had nothing in there, then we might say, hey, weight it more heavily to his so that he has something when he gets to 65 before you get there. But he's got a pension and he's got half a million dollars, well, by then a lot more. You're going to be just fine. So put the money where the best mutual funds are or whichever one will give you a Roth option or both.

But, yeah, pick the best investment option. I think that's the right plan, Dave. And, again, make sure your plan is coordinated. So sit down with a smart investor pro and kind of look at how you guys are invested overall and then do your r.i.q talk about that high definition dream of what it is you want to accomplish later in life there you go that's how it's done yeah that's chris's stuff um if you check chris hogan 360.com he's got the retire inspired quotient there they uh get your retirement iq so you know where you stand on that stuff chris thanks thanks for hanging out today. Thank you for having me, Dave. That about puts this particular hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books.

Our thanks to James Childs, our producer, and Madison filling in for Miss Kelly today. I am Dave Ramsey, your host, and 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. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. On your smart speaker, you can add our skill by saying, Alexa, open the Ramsey Network skill. From there, you can listen to all our shows. Ask Dave money questions like, how do I invest my money? Or what is the debt snowball? by saying, Alexa, open the Ramsey Network skill. From there, you can listen to all our shows. Ask Dave money questions like, how do I invest my money? Or what is the debt snowball?

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