The Ramsey Show - App - Everyday Millionaires Come From Both Sides of the Tracks (Hour 3)

Episode Date: November 20, 2018

The show about you

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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. This hour, one of your favorite hours, America, the Everyday Millionaires Theme Hour. We're taking calls from those of you that are millionaires this hour. If you have a million-dollar net worth or greater, you can call right now. The phone number is 888-825-5225. We want to talk to you. We want to interview you.

We want to learn how you did that. And Chris Hogan, a millionaire, Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality, joins me for this Everyday Millionaire's Hour because he's Mr. Millionaire himself. And a millionaire is not someone that makes a million dollars. No, no, sir, it is not. A millionaire, listen, we're going to help you determine your net worth right here. Take what you own minus what you owe. That right there will put you in the asset column of million dollars. So think about your 401k, your 403b, your IRAs, and even your home if you have that paid off or your home's equity if you don't.

If that totals more than a million, then you, my friend, are an everyday millionaire. Anything you own. If you own a million dollars in gold bars, if you own a million dollars in Bitcoin, for this moment, you're a millionaire. By the time we finish the show, you could be broke. You will be broke, yes. But, you know, you're a millionaire when you have items that are assets. That's right. That could be sold and turned into money, whatever they are.

Or just piles of money, whatever it is. But that makes you a millionaire and so if you're a millionaire call us this hour we want to talk to you the phone number is 888-825-5225 if you inherited all your money and you're got it in a trust fund and because your great grandfather was an oil guy or something that's great we want to hear from you i don't care how you got the money i want to know how you got it and i want to know about you and we're going to interview you to learn a little bit about it to tell people in america what it feels like to be a millionaire and what you did to get there so they'll know what to do to get there rachel's our first one up in vancouver

british columbia so r, what is your net worth? Our net worth is right around 2.7, 2.8. Okay, cool. And break that down for me. How's that invested? We've got a million dollars in investments. About half of that is in retirement. Half of that is just regular brokerage accounts.

And then we've got about somewhere between 1.7 and 1.8 in equity in real estate. Okay, very good. Excellent. How old are you? 35. Oh, wow. Young millionaires. Well done. Good job. So how much of this did you inherit? We inherited about $386,000 a year and a half ago from my grandfather when he passed away. So you were already multimillionaires before? Yes. So you did not become a millionaire because of inherited money? No. Okay, cool.

All right, very cool. And Rachel, do you remember your worst income year and your best income year? My worst was when I started working. I was making $27,000 a year at a school. Our best income year between my husband and I was about two years ago, and that was $220,000. Right now, we're down to $160,000, and that's because we've both become self-employed. We've started our own companies, or I've joined my family's company and I'm buying in. And then my husband has started his own engineering firm. So I'm taking a bit of a pay cut there, but with the long-term view to grow our incomes even higher.

Okay. And so your husband is an engineer. What is your profession? I'm a mechanical contractor. So we do plumbing and heating for commercial buildings. Got you. And did you all attend college? We did. My husband has his four-year civil engineering degree, and I did a two-year civil and structural engineering diploma, and then went on to get my construction management degree and an MBA. But those I did part-time, like at night, and worked throughout. Very good.

Do you recall your GPA? I was probably 3.8. Okay. My husband's probably 3.3, 3.4, I would guess. Very good. And how much of this wealth do you have because you borrowed money to create wealth? We only borrowed for mortgages. So when we bought our first place, we had a mortgage on that, and then that was a condo,

and then we moved up to a house about four years ago, and we had to borrow again because we didn't have enough equity when we sold the condo to pay for the full house. But that's been it. Gotcha. Okay, cool. So is it possible for someone to start? I mean, you're only 35. Is it possible for somebody that's listening that's 22, 27 years old,

that they could be worth a couple million dollars by the time they're 40? Absolutely, yeah. I think the biggest thing is what you guys talk about a lot is just being intentional. Like, we've made a good income, but especially ever since learning about your EveryDollar app and downloading that a couple of years ago, that just made us even more focused, and I feel it's accelerated things because we see exactly where our money's going. It's so easy to go out for dinner a few nights a week or to go for coffee or lunch every day. And you just have to set your priorities and where you want to go with your money. And you just have to be intentional or ignore what everybody else is saying or doing.

How much TV do you guys watch? We don't have cable. You don't have cable. Hmm. No. So how many books a year do y'all read? I've actually started tracking that. And this year so far I've read 25 nonfiction.

Wow. What's the best non-Ramsay nonfiction book you've read this year? A really good one I recently finished was called The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley. It was very good. It was about sort of the ability of human beings to overcome challenges as a whole. And so it was a good one to read read especially given the current sort of negative atmosphere that's out there yeah no doubt no doubt yeah it's amazing that it there's that i'm gonna have to read that i like the thesis of it already that sounds great the rational optimist it fits almost

with the whole discussion we're having this hour so very very cool so what advice would you give to the 25 year old you steady pay? Steady, pay attention, be intentional. What else? And just be independent. Like, get off Facebook, get off Instagram. Like, that's not real life. And just sort of Rachel's message about love your life, not theirs. And do what you want to do and forget about all the noise. You don't need hair extensions. You don't need the fancy vacation if you don't want it.

Like, just set your goals and follow what's true to you. Yeah, very cool. Very well done, Rachel. Congratulations. We're excited for you guys. You've got a beautiful future ahead of you, and you've done a wonderful job to get where you are. Very well done.

So if you want to know your net worth, Chris and I were talking about that at the top of the hour. You can call in if you're a millionaire. We want to hear from you. The phone number is 888-825-5225. Chris has put on his website at chrishogan360.com he and his team, our team, have put on there a net worth calculator. In less time than you spend to go driving through and get a hamburger, you can know what your net worth is.

I don't know how those things are relative to each other, but anyway. Go to ChrisHogan360.com. Check out the net worth calculator. It's completely free. In just a few moments, you can figure out your net worth. It's a lot of fun. And you can text the word Hogan to 33789, and they'll hook you up with that info as well. Hogan to 33789.

You can text that. This is a Millionaire Theme Hour. 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 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.

You're listening to a special Everyday Million's edition of the Dave Ramsey Show. Ramsey personality Chris Hogan joins me this hour as we talk to real millionaires. Not your broke brother-in-law with an opinion, who you will run into at Thanksgiving. It's amazing how many broke people have opinions about money. Oh, strong opinions too dave yeah yeah they they believe going in the wrong direction fast yeah yes with enthusiasm yes they do enthusiastic enthusiastic ignoramuses that's that's what's what's out there people and you're gonna have thanksgiving dinner with them some of them so there you go uh but i mean hey everybody's got an opinion.

The only question is, is it valid? See, we don't, you know, I have a right to. Yeah, you have a right to, but that doesn't mean we have to listen to you because you're stupid. You know, your opinion doesn't, just because you have an opinion doesn't mean it's a valid opinion. And so Chris nor I are going to give you advice on growing hair. That wouldn't be a valid opinion. We have proven on top of our head that that's not possible. And so we don't give you that advice.

We have proven, however, that we, with a proven track record, can both personally grow wealth. But in addition to that, we've coached and worked with more wealthy people than, well, probably than anybody else out there for that matter we've thousands and tens of thousands millions through the airwaves and i have learned a lot about them and um that started doing this show and this millionaire theme hour the now known as the everyday millionaires hour inspired a research project yes It really did, Dave. I mean, we set out to find out the truth. We know we hear in media all the time that the little man can't get ahead. It's not possible.

The American dream is gone. And so we wanted to know the truth. And so we got together with our research team and set out and did the largest research study that's ever been done. We talked to over 10,000 millionaires all across the country. And not just people that know Dave, not just people that know me. We used a research firm to get out in what's called white space. To get out to people that don't even know of us, never heard of us.

And talk with them to get the truth. And the findings are absolutely astounding. Well, they are. And they confirm what we suspected, but some of them were more dramatic confirmations than others. And so because, you know, if you watch the media, and particularly left-wing slanted stuff, you see that everybody inherited their wealth. It's the only way to have money. And the game is rigged.

And the little man can't get ahead. And people like me can't win. And you can't win. All the wealthy people are crooked. They stole their money. That's how they got their money. Or they inherited it. Or they're famous entertainers. They're Hollywood types. Or they're music people.

Or they're sports stars. NFL, NBA, whatever. Or they have a 4.42 GPA, which I never did figure out how you could get more than a 4.0 because it never happened for me anyway, so I didn't know how that calculation happened. But, I mean, and the truth is we have found that actually none of those things are true.

None of them. I mean, as you're sitting here talking about it, the hair on my head was standing up. I only got one. Careful. But it was just, it's one of those things where it's deep-rooted, that lie. And people believe it. And it can start young.

I remember I had a couple of those myths that it had to be inherited. That if your parents didn't hand you wealth, there was no way to build it. Well, honey, people from our neighborhood. That's right. People like us. When people start a sentence with stuff like that yes that's when you need to run away from their victim butt because they got victim butt big time it's bad yeah all right let's talk to scott in akron ohio hey scott what's your net worth? We're at about 9.5. All right.

Well done. Well done. And break that down for me. How's that invested? Yeah. Well, personal residence, we own a condo, rentals. Well, that's about 1.1. And then retirement, all qualified pre-tax stuff, about 5.7.

And then taxable account, you know, savings brokerage at about $2.7. So that's where we're at. Well done. Well done. How old are you? 62. Cool. And how much of the $9.5 is there because you inherited it?

In 2012, my mother passed, and we didn't inherit about about two hundred thousand dollars but we were all on our way um at that time you were already over a millionaire by then right right yeah i think we crossed that at age 37 and a half okay so you became millionaires and later on you inherited a little bit of money two hundred200,000. So it wasn't the causal thing. Okay, cool. Scott, do you remember your worst income year and your best income year? Well, probably when I started back in 82, about $18,000. It probably peaked a little bit over $400,000. Now I'm working part-time just because I can.

I'm at about $ at about 150 or so. Okay. All right. And what career are you in, my friend? I'm in health care. I'm a physician. Okay. Very good. And so obviously you got your degree. Do you remember your GPA? I don't know the exact number.

It was probably pretty close to four. I think I got a B in Chem 101, but the rest are all A's. Okay, all right. Very good. And how much wealth did you build by borrowing and going into debt? Pretty much zero. Okay, so debt didn't do it for you. So what do you tell people the reason that you got, I mean,

how do you end up with $10 million net worth at 62 years old? Now, you made some really good money as a doc there some of those years. That's part of it. But, I mean, what advice would you give to a 25-year-old out there listening? Do they have to be a doc to be a millionaire? Absolutely not. But you have to have a goal and have plans. I think, you know, the pathway is pretty clear.

I think, you know, always live by this principle. If you don't have the money, you can't afford it. I mean, it's pretty simple. And it's like you say, live on less than you make. And you want to save early and often. You want to try to seize the power of compounding. And then, yeah, I think the most important thing is just to take charge. No one's going to care more about your money than you do.

If you hand it to your guy, well, good luck with that. How many times did you have a car payment? I probably did when I first started out, when I had to move, when I had my first job. My dad talked me into that, but I paid it off right away. After that, we've never had car payments. So it's been, like, 30 or 40 years since you've had a car payment? Right. Okay.

Yeah, there's no reason to have one. Yeah. Well, okay. All right. What's the dumbest thing? It's pretty simple. What's the biggest financial mistake, the dumbest thing you've ever done along the way? Well, probably the biggest one is, the dumbest thing you've ever done along the way?

Well, probably the biggest one is what kind of set me on this. When I was a resident in training, these teaching hospitals will have these financial guys really target the residents and interns and things because they're pretty naive

and such. And these are basically life insurance sales in disguise. Well, I had this one guy who was trying to sign me up for something. I was just trying to get him away. He said, sign this. Nothing's final. And what ended up happening, I found out that I'd signed a $50,000 prompter and had no idea.

And I said, well, this is a bunch of garbage. And I found out this guy chased me down when I relocated to my next job and wanted the money, and I had to end up going with an attorney and paid my stupid taxes, about $1,500 to get me out of that, but that was kind of the impetus to get me on the road. And I said, look, I've got to take charge of this stuff, and that's kind of what set it off. Wow, wow, that's a great story. I love it. Very, very cool.

So how much TV do you watch? So I'm just kind of like new to keep up in some financial programs, and then college sports, but that's pretty much about it. Okay, cool. Who's your college team? Well, the school I went to, Illinois, doesn't have any good teams these days, but one of my sons went to Notre Dame, so I

like them. Of course, being in Ohio, it took us about 30 years until we finally got to the point where we could become Ohio State fans. All four of our kids ended up there at various stages of their education. Okay. Well, Ohio State and Notre Dame both their education. Okay. All right.

Well, Ohio State and Notre Dame both having a good year. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good talking to you, sir. Thank you for joining us, Scott. $10 million net worth, 9.5. He'll be there by the time we finish the conversation. Unbelievable.

Very well done. It's an Everyday Millionaire's Theme Hour with Ramsey personality Chris Hogan. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs.

Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry, a Better Business Bureau-accredited organization CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Health Care Ministries has done for over 35 years. And our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org.

Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. It's an everyday millionaire's theme hour. Don't you want to be one? Well, we're going to show you how. And it's not opinion. It's actual factual things because we're actually talking to real millionaires, not your broke brother-in-law with an opinion who doesn't know how to vote.

And, yeah, we all got one of those. I'm not talking about my real brother-in-law. I'm talking about metaphorically, so I don't even want to get my real brother-in-law. I'm talking about metaphorically. So I don't even want to get my real brother-in-law mad at me. But there you go. So that's out there, though. I mean, everybody's got an opinion that all wealthy people are crooks. They all inherited their money.

They're all famous entertainers. So they all have they're all rocket scientists or something. And the truth is that the vast majority have GPAs in the threes. They didn't steal any of their money. Nope. They didn't inherit any of their money. Or if they did, it had nothing to do with their built wealth. The first two we talked to today had inherited a couple hundred grand each, but after, they were already millionaires.

That's exactly right, Dave. And you don't have to go to an Ivy League school. And you don't have to make a massive, huge six-figure income. This is all information we found in the study. I'm telling you, it strips away the lies and the myths. And what you have to do is make a decision for yourself that it is possible. You just have to follow the plan. Mary is in Billings, Montana.

Hi, Mary. What's your net worth? We're right about at a million dollars. Right about a million. Okay. And break that down for me. How's it invested? Well, we have about $375,000 in cash, stocks, and kind of liquid assets.

About a million in real estate and $370,000 in our business assets. Okay. Very good. Excellent. How old are you? assets. Okay, very good. Excellent. How old are you? 43. 43. Okay, very good.

And how much of you being a millionaire is the result of you having inherited money? Not a penny. Zero. Okay, cool. And Mary, do you remember your worst income year and your best income year so far? Yeah, our worst income year would have been, we've been married 12 years, and so it was right in those first couple years we were married. It was like right around $30,000 for a couple years there. And our best was right about $230,000, but we had sold some real estate that year, too, some of our investments.

Got you. And what's your else careers? Well, my husband owns and operates, or I guess we both own and operate it, but it's a directional drilling company. And so it's kind of a one-man show. We just have one employee, so it's not a, well, so it's my husband and one guy working and that's it. So it's a very small company.

Okay. Did you guys get your degrees? Yes. He has a degree in engineering, and I have an undergrad in finance and then an MBA. Gotcha. Okay. Very good. Do you remember your GPAs?

Mine was probably right around three. It would have been closer to four. Okay. All right. And how much of this money, how much of your wealth is there because you borrowed money to create wealth um well right now we have about 700 000 in debt so we have borrowed money you know to purchase real estate properties and then also to get invested into our business okay so for business and real estate. Okay, business and real estate. All right, cool.

All right, good, good. And so what is the advice you would have to the 25-year-old version of you that's listening? You're only 43. Well, it'd be pretty much don't rush into any investments. It's not going to happen quickly. You're not going to get rich in a minute. Um, and just like your previous caller had said, um, you know, if you can't afford it, don't buy it.

Yeah. Dream big and plan on having that, you know, that whatever it is that you want, but you're not going to spend your money like that until you have that money, you know, um, be conscientious of and stupid debt. Like, you know, your consumer debt, credit cards, cars, that kind of thing. It doesn't pay you anything, so avoid that at all costs. How long has it been since you've had a car payment?

It's been probably six years. Okay. Not that long, then. Okay. No, no. Okay. So you had to clean up some stupid debt, too, then. Well, we didn't really have a whole lot of that, but, you know, just, you know, just I've seen many people do that.

And so that's what I'm really cautious on telling my daughters to make sure they don't do. How much TV do you all watch? None. Okay. I mean, we rarely ever watch TV. How many books a year do the two of you read, nonfiction? Justin reads a lot of articles, so he's always reading, you know, just different kind of articles. They can be political about his business or anything like that, but all nonfiction. And I read probably one or two books a month that are nonfiction.

Okay, cool. What's the best non-Ramsay book you read this year? Oh, let's see here. Gosh, I wasn't expecting that question. It's okay. But the book I'm excited about reading is Jessica Long's story. She's a Paralympic athlete. We just went to one of her swim clinics, so I'm excited to hear her story.

Oh, cool. Yeah, that'd be a great story. I love reading those. And so, what part has giving played in your old finances in the last 12 years of being married? We try to give as much as we can, you know, like at least 10, if not, you know, sometimes up to 20% of our income. It's not always tax-deductible giving. Sometimes it's helping out family or, you know, just in other various ways. But we try to, because we don't really need a whole lot. It's not like, I mean, I drive a 97 Cadillac around town. I don't need a hot rod car, and he's kind of the same way.

So we don't really spend frivolously a lot of ways, so we have extra money to help out where we can. Gotcha. Okay. Very cool. Hey, thank you for joining us. Great story. I appreciate getting to talk to you.

And congratulations. You've done a great job. A young everyday millionaire. Had a couple of young ones this hour. Yes, we did. So the net worth calculator, tell them about that at Chris Hogan. Absolutely. So in order to be able to really get started and know where you are in your everyday millionaire journey, you need to know where you are right now.

So we developed a free tool. It's at my website, ChrisHogan360.com. Free tool. But you can go in there, plug in, answer about six questions. And it's going to ask you about your house. It's going to ask you about your 401K and retirement plans. And in a few minutes, you're going to be able to see exactly where you stand right now, knowing your net worth.

And so it's a day to really be aware of because as you start this journey, you're going to start to see things grow. So you've got a great opportunity to get that. Go to ChrisHogan360.com or you can text in. Text the word Hogan to 33789. So what's interesting is everybody's concerned about the wrong number. Hmm. That's the right number. Yes.

Your net worth. A right number would be to go to the other tool at Chris Hogan 360 and get your RIQ, your retire inspired quotient, where you see what it takes for you to get to where you can retire with dignity. Those are numbers that are actual real numbers that are measuring whether you're winning with your money or not.

The false number. What's that wrong number you're referring to, Mr. Dave? It's called the FICO score, which has no indication of anything except that you borrowed a bunch of money and paid it back. I mean, you could be so freaking broke you can't breathe and have a high FICO score. It is not an indication that you're winning with money. It's a false measure measure it's what's known as a lie and you know you didn't i've never talked to never talked to a millionaire on all these millionaire theme hours these everyday millionaires theme hours that we've done who

said dave you know the reason that we became millionaires was we maintain a very high fico score no i've never heard it's never. Nope. None of them have ever said, Dave, you know the airline miles that I got on my cards? That's how we did it. None of them have ever said, Dave, I get 1% back on my Discover card, so every $100,000 I spend,

I get $1,000 back. That made me wealthy. I've never heard one of them say that. I haven't either, Dave. Yeah, we take full advantage of the rewards program with our credit card, Dave. That's how we became millionaires.

None of them say that. They all say, stupid debt. That's right. That's what she just called it? Yeah. That's what they say. They say, live on less than you make and invest. These answers are so not cool.

It really is. They're just boring. Be independent. Be steady. Set your goals. These are today. Just really is. Listen. They're just boring. Be independent. Be steady. Set your goals. These are today. Just today. Dream big.

Stay away from debt. Oh, and none of them, I mean, don't even have cable. Yep. Shocking. I mean, they can't tell you who got thrown off the island. Or who won the dance contest. Bobby Bones. Because he's a friend of mine.

He won last night. He really did. You really know. Bobby Bones. No, I know. I'm just the dance contest? Bobby Bones. Because he's a friend of mine. He won last night. He really did. You really know? Bobby Bones. No, I know. I'm just shocked. You know Bobby? Yes.

He's a friend of ours. He won last night. Did he really? He really won Dancing with the Stars last night. So there you go. I didn't know this. For real, he did. See?

Touchdown, Bobby. Well, I didn't watch it. I didn't know. I read in the paper this morning. It's all over everything that Bobby Bones won. And I'm so proud of him. Good for Bobby. Yes.

Dave Ramsey is in the know. There you go. proud of him. Good for Bobby. Yes. Dave Ramsey is in the know. There you go. But nobody else knew that. There you go. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Proverbs 27, 17. Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another. Michael Jordan said, Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

Teamwork and intelligence, teamwork and wisdom are what cause you to build wealth. It is not academic prowess. We know a lot of people who have a lot of academic prowess who aren't able to build wealth for some reason. They don't have, they're smart, but they're not wise. That's right. That's exactly right, Dave. We run into them all the time.

It's an Everyday Millionaires theme hour. Chris Hogan, Ramsey Personality, author of the book Everyday Millionaires, joins me for one of our favorite hours to do around here and one of your favorite hours to listen to, according to all of our surveys. Jeff is with us in Spokane. Hey, Jeff, what's your net worth? Personally, 1.6. Very cool.

And how's that broken down, sir? Mostly real estate and some personal, you know, investments in the stock market and various other ways of trying to make money. Okay. So what amount would be in real estate? I would say that probably our real estate net worth is about 1.2 of it. Okay. And so you've got about 400 in mutual funds in your 401K, or are you doing single stocks, or what do you mean by stock market? Well, yeah, 401K, Roth IRAs, just some various stocks, and mostly the Roth IRAs and rolling over a couple 401Ks from previous jobs.

Gotcha. How old are you? I am 62. Cool. And how much of this $1.6 million in net worth is there because you inherited your money? Well, I haven't sold it yet. My mother passed away. I'm going to say it's probably counting 150 of it. Okay, but you were already a millionaire before that happened? Yes, sir. All right.

And, Jeff, what was your worst income year and what was your best? Well, between my wife and I, I would say probably our worst income year was maybe somewhere in the $70,000 to $80,000 mark. And our best year might have been 130. Okay. All right. Very good. And what career field are you in? I am in the construction and a real estate broker. I own a construction company and I can say honestly that most of my real estate has been made by building, remodeling, and buying and selling houses and real estate. Not really flipping as much as I did it for myself and my own houses, keeping them at least two years to keep parlaying the capital gains. My last one I built for $150, sold it for $5 $550,000, but it took 20 years to do that.

Oh, wow. Did you get your degree? I do not. I have a school of hard knocks. All right. Very good. Do you remember your high school GPA? Yeah, I was just probably about a 3, 2.9.

Okay. Very good. Good. So what's the biggest financial mistake you ever made? Borrowing money to make money. You know, you think you're going to make it by borrowing and trying to leverage yourself into stuff. I honestly believe the whole FICO score, like what you talked about, but a lot of times I bought where I could carry a contract

with a private individual, and I would sit there and do a private contract for two or three years, and in the meantime, I would either parlay it and build something on it or fix it up and then turn around and sell it and then pay them off. You know, I just feel that you had a question of a previous caller for like 25-year-olds. I would say, dude, the best thing you can do is try to get into real estate and stop spending your money on rent and get in with the new programs that are out there of 3% down or first-time home buyer money. Even though interest rates are creeping around 5%, it's still cheap money. I got my real estate license when I was 21 years old. Interest rates were 8.75% back in 1979.

I got mine in 78. Interest rates today are cheap. Interest rates are cheap compared to what they were. I mean, in 1980, we had to learn how to sell under private contracts because interest rates were 17%. Yep. I remember. I was there. I was 20 years old with my real estate license. Got it.

Went out. I was 18 in 1978, so been there, too. Very cool. So what's the best book you've read in the last year, nonfiction, non-Ramsey? I am actually currently on one by the Rich Dad, Poor Dad guy. Yeah, Kiyosaki, yeah. Yep, yep, and he's talking about, you know, the different categories of being in business for yourself, being an employee, being how to invest.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad? It's not that book. It's another one that just came out. Oh, it's a fresh one. Okay. Very cool. Good. Good stuff.

Thank you, Jeff. We appreciate you joining us. And, uh, Millionaire Everyday Millionaires Theme Hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show. So, um, no one this hour inherited their money to become wealthy, Chris. No. And as a matter of fact, the study that we referenced earlier the research that we've done the largest research project ever done on millionaires over 10 000 of them studied we found that 93 of america's millionaires are not millionaires because of

inherited money that That's right. There you go. I mean, and it just blows that myth out of the water. And so some of you out there listening, that's something you've thought as well, as you've looked at somebody. So you can't whine. You can't. That destroys the whining. Yes.

Because the people we studied, the over 10,000, a lot of them were first generation. Well, they had privilege. No. No, they didn't. Not at all a lot of them were first generation they had privilege no no they didn't not at all some of them they come from every race every region every side of the track yep from the country to the city north south east and west i'm telling you we could not find a correlation that you can't correlate it to race you can't correlate it to um uh the we we found some correlations that were choices yes but not where you were born or where you were raised or whether you're on the right side of the tracks left side of the tracks whether you're conservative

or liberal we could not find a correlation in any of those things we did find correlations to education yes um but there we and we found this tremendous just initiative they have a motor inside of them running absolutely and so whatever your mom or dad did or didn't do to or for you has nothing to do with you hitting millionaire status nothing so we you can't blame choices you make that's right it's on you and so dave you're absolutely right. It knocks excuses out of the water. It takes the victim mentality out of the water.

And you really have to own it. You have to say, regardless of where I've come from, regardless of the now, some people have had some advantages than others. They're starting line. Sure. But ultimately, the thing that got him across the finish line was their own decision that regardless of where i come from i know where i'm going and i just i absolutely i'm excited for america to get this book because the sooner you start stop believing the lies and the myths now you have to address the truth and then you got to make a decision what condi rice said

when she was speaking to the entree leadership team it was was, it doesn't matter where you're coming from. What matters is where you're going. That's right. And she said her mom and daddy told her that when she was growing up in segregated Birmingham. And her friends and neighbors told her that. Yeah. That that's your path to win. Don't worry about where you come from.

Worry about where you're going. I like that. That's good stuff. Yeah. The book is Everyday millionaires how ordinary people built extraordinary wealth and how you can too it's the findings of this research along with chris's personality woven and his inspiration woven into it as well you will want a copy of this it is um uh by far the largest pre-sale book we have ever done here it's wildly popular and

it's not even out yet. It comes out in January. It's only $20 on presale. Why would you buy a book now that doesn't come out until January? Because we're going to bribe you. We're going to give you $50 worth of goodies to go with it, and that includes the audio book read by the author himself, and you can listen to Chris Hogan read the phone book, and e-book included.

Those will both come to you in January along with the book. Right now, though, we will send you out a video of Chris speaking about Retire Inspired and me speaking about It's Okay to Be Wealthy, the moral aspects of wealth to be discussed. You can get the book at ChrisHogan360.com where you can get the net worth calculator and the RIQ, or you can just jump over to DaveRamsey.com, but pre-order it and get all those goodies.

Be sure you do that. Chris, thanks for hanging out. Thank you for having me, Dave. The American dream is alive and well, people. That 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, David's phone screener. We finished 2017 with a bang as the fourth most downloaded podcast of the year. Thanks to all of you for listening and helping us spread the word.