The Ramsey Show - App - Getting a Career Back on Track After Trauma

Episode Date: June 15, 2022

Dave Ramsey & Ken Coleman discuss: Getting a career back on track after trauma, Selling a house to pay off debt, Where to park an emergency fund,  How to be a good steward of an inheritance.  Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the 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. We help people build wealth, do work that they actually love, and create real, amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, host of The Ken Coleman Show, number one best-selling author, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. CJ is with us in Denver. Hey, CJ, what's up?

Hi, Dave. Hi, Ken. I am in a pickle and a bit of a mess, and I was hoping you could offer some insight and guidance to help me get out. Here are a little bit of the facts. I lost my job two years ago during COVID and promptly went into hustling 70 hours a week delivering groceries just to keep my head above water. I was in baby step four at the time, so I just paused everything. Nine months after that, I just burnt out.

I couldn't do it anymore. I was in an abusive relationship, and after a few months, I ended up in the hospital. You were in an abusive relationship? It's a long story. How were you in an abusive relationship when you were working 90 hours a week? You didn't have time. It has to do with family. It has to do with family that is related to me by blood, not by other.

I got you. Okay. Anyway, I wound up in the hospital weighing 52 pounds. I couldn't do anything. I spent the last six months rebuilding myself, and now I'm in therapy for PTSD, but I find that I'm just quite frozen when it comes to deciding what I want to do as far as my career goes next. Okay. Wow, what a ride.

So I'm just trying to figure out what to do. Okay. So before we get into that, real quick, so you're no longer doing the 70 hours a week. Are you doing anything for income at all right now? I wasn't for a while, and then I started delivering groceries again in a different city just to get a little bit of cash flow. But I noticed that when I do that, it pushes a lot of my stress buttons, and I end up doing some addictive things that I don't want to do.

Okay, so again, before we start thinking about the future, I want to get you stable in the now. So what do you need to be making per hour? If we look back on their history of, you know what you made delivering groceries, what you need to make now, what do you need to make? Gosh. Per hour. I'm trying to think. I would say ideally 18.

18 an hour. Okay, so 18 to 20 bucks an hour is going to keep you stable. Is that correct? Before you go forward, I'm a little bit lost. I've got to catch up with you, Jessica. Okay, so you went in the hospital and you weighed what? 52. 52 pounds. 5'2".

5'2". I don't have anything left, Dave. Yeah. How old are you? I'll be 26 next month. Okay. So what do you weigh now? I don't know.

Well over 100. Good. Good. Okay. So we're going in the right direction. That's good. That's good. And how are you doing with your mental wellness today?

Much better than I was six months ago. I'm still doing therapy three times a week. Good. I think it really depends on... And the PTSD that you mentioned was from the former toxic family member. Yes. Okay, all right. And you've obviously separated from that situation. was from the former toxic family member. Yes. Okay. All right.

And you've obviously separated from that situation. So where are you living and how are you living? So right now I moved states. You're what? Right now you're what? I moved states and I have no contact with the family. Oh, you moved states. Okay. I am living with a roommate off of my emergency fund.

So you had a little savings. I did. Okay. How much is in your savings? Right now, I have $15,000 left. Okay. So you're living with roommates. You're still recovering from the whole melt meltdown process for lack of a better

term good for you you're you're you're you're getting victory i'm proud of you and um and you're not you're not creating any income today so you're just literally living on uh whatever you pull out of savings am i understanding you right pretty much i make about a hundred dollars a week um by delivering groceries here and there okay but but too much of that was activating stress okay because i needed to know that before i could understand what kitwork in was going to take you from where you are now how do we move from this place back up into a life of abundance for you and joy right okay yeah yeah so first thing we have to do is we don't need to be delivering groceries anymore because it's bringing up too many bad memories. So now we look for what can pay me $18 to $20 an hour, and I can get enough hours as I continue with my therapist.

He's going to give me some guidance here on this. And so we want to start there because we don't want to keep burning through this emergency fund. As soon as possible, if you can work 30 to 40 hours a week, if you're healthy enough, then I'm looking at things like Target, Walmart, non-delivery type situations where you've got some stability, community around you, safe environment, and you can make that kind of money. They're paying 20 an hour. Absolutely.

So we start there. I want you to get a short-term, what we call a day job. And this is just getting you back to self-sustaining with your income. Now, we look long-term. So we go, okay, where do we ultimately want to go? And there's a process where you've got to start to see things that maybe you've not seen before. And you do that by asking questions like, if everything was risk-free, if there were no risk and I didn't have to train for anything and I didn't have to know if I was going to

be good at it, just starting with what would I want to do? What kind of work would bring me fulfillment? And we look at who are the people I want to help, problem maybe that I want to solve or a desire that I want to fulfill for someone. And then what are the solutions to that? So that's the starting process for you. So I'm just curious with all the stuff you've been through, I know you've been through a tremendous amount. I'm just curious. What have you wondered about in some of your deep, dark hours? You wish life were better. What have you wondered about doing? If I could do this, if I knew I could be successful at this, I wonder what this would be. I'm just curious,

what pops at the top of your mind as I was asking you that? Two things. One, I would love to work overseas. Okay. And two, I want to help people kind of find their own way out of abuse. Okay, great. Now, let's look at the overseas thing very quickly. Is there a type of work overseas, or you just love the idea of being in a different country? Is there some type of people group or type of work overseas that pops in your mind? Definitely more third world work. Okay. For the least of people that maybe don't have

much of a shot, you can help them with a better life. So we've got something to work with here. Okay. So let me repeat your homework.

Okay. And I'm going to give you a couple of resources. Here's what I want you to do. Overseas people who maybe unfortunate circumstances in their life or maybe poverty.

That's one group. Then here in the United States, people that have gone through abuse. Who's helping those people? What's the best way to help them? What appeals to me? And who's doing it? How do you get there? What does it cost? How long will it take? This is looking out into the future. Now, all of a sudden you go, oh, there is a way. There are a couple of mountaintops. And as you continue to learn more with your head, your heart will eventually select in those areas. Hang on the line. We're going to give you the Get Clear Career Assessment,

which is a 20-minute tool to really answer a lot of those questions. And we'll give you my bestselling book, From Paycheck to Purpose, which is the path to get you up that mountain once you I just saw a study that really made me sad. It showed that families owning life insurance in the U.S. was at its lowest point since the 1970s. After what we've been through the past few years, I'm just lost on how people don't make this more of a priority. How are you going to make sure your family needs are met if something happens to you? This is why getting term life is an absolute necessity. Rates have never been cheaper and the whole process to apply is pretty simple with many companies not even requiring an exam anymore.

This is why I send you to Zander Insurance and I have for almost 25 years. They'll make sure you get the right protection at the lowest cost possible and they're there for you and your family every day. I challenge all of you to make sure your families are protected. It needs to be a top priority. Call Zander at 800-356-4282 or visit zander.com. That's 800-356-4282 or zander.com. Thanks for joining us, America. Let me ask you a question. When you think of a millionaire, what kind of job do you picture them having?

Some kind of high-powered executive position like a VP, a CEO? Well, here's the thing. Only 15% of millionaires actually have jobs like that. The reality is the top five careers for millionaires in America are engineer, accountant, teacher, manager, and attorney. Docs didn't even make the top five. Medical doctors are number six. That's just one of the surprising things we found when we conducted the largest study of millionaires ever done.

We talked to 10,000 millionaires to find out who they really are and how they got there. Did they inherit it? Or were they famous? Or did they make $ million dollars a year our study also made it clear that to become a millionaire you've got to invest wisely what we discovered was was that 89 of millionaires did not become millionaires because of inheritance nine out of ten nine out of ten millionaires became a millionaire starting from basically nothing

and so hey they invested steadily. They got their house paid off. That was the typical scenario. And we call them baby steps millionaires. You want to join the bunch? You need to get with a good investment advisor. I was just talking to one at the break, as a matter of fact. Go to ramseysolutions.com slash smartvestor.

Start really building wealth today. You can find a smartvestor pro in your area that will walk with you, teach you, help you do the stuff the way we teach here on the air, and it will work for you. This is how it's done. RamseySolutions.com. Mitch is in Cincinnati. Hi, Mitch. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hello, Dave. Thanks for having me. I appreciate you very much. And so my general question, and then I can give you any sort of specific details, is because interest rates are going up with the announcement today that the Fed's increasing 75 basis points or something like that, I have an assumable, I have a VA loan, and since it's assumable and values of homes just continue to seemingly skyrocket, I wanted to get your opinion if it would be something I should look into in potentially selling my home

to pay off some of, like, the non-mortgage debt that I have, and then maybe, I don't know, after a year or so, maybe move into a different house whenever the mortgage would be the only thing of debt I I have and then maybe I don't know after a year or so maybe move into a different house whenever the mortgage would be the only thing of debt I'd have yeah it's not my preference do you like the house um the house in general yeah I would I enjoy it um what started this conversation was actually my wife doesn't like the backyard. She doesn't like the backyard? Okay. It has like a cliff, and we have a one and a half year old, so you can't really play too much outside. Yeah, and how much debt do you have? So non-mortgage debt, I would say approximately 60 from her vehicle, my student loans, and then two credit cards I got.

And what's your household income? I would say after taxes, I think it's about $52,000. And what do you owe on her vehicle? I approximate at about $30,000. So it's $30,000 for a's 30 for a vehicle 20 for my loans and then um maybe south of 10 for the two credit cards okay well let me tell you one of the things we found with millionaires as we studied them they did not have an inordinate amount of their life dollars invested in things that go down in value. When you make $60,000 a year and you have a $30,000 car, it's hard to win because the car is going down in value. You have a car you can't afford.

So we're going from getting Mama a new backyard to now selling her car. This is not a good conversation for her. Fair enough. I feel like we should sit down and sit down and talk. Yeah, I think we need to probably get you a hotel room. Go move into the in-laws, right? Yeah. I don't even know why she got the new car. Or go move into the in-laws, right? Yeah. No, listen, I think you guys have got to address your overall management of money

and spending and get yourself out of debt before you start talking about moving houses instead of using the house to bail you out and then not be a homeowner. You're selling a thing that goes up in value. Meanwhile, you're sitting on a thing you can't afford that's going down in value. So I really wouldn't sell the house right now. I'd really concentrate on getting out of debt. And if I woke up in your shoes, I would get into Financial Peace University. I would sell the car with her on board, of course.

Don't go in and announce to your wife you're selling her car because Dave Ramsey said. That's not going to make you or me popular, okay? Nor is it going to work. So you need to go in and start talking about the future and how we get into a better house and how we learn to live on less than we make and that our income is not big enough to support the debts that we've taken on, and we've got to do something about this debt, and let's talk about the debt, debt, debt, debt, debt,

and let's get in this class. I'll give you Financial Peace University for a year. Hold on. Austin will pick up and get you signed up for that. The two of you start watching that together, and she may come up with the idea to sell her car because it needs to go away. It was a bad purchase. And you need to quit buying things because you want them when you can't afford them. And that's what you're getting ready to do with the next house, too.

Yeah, and let's just be very clear for a second here, because Dave and I have been married a long time, Dave longer than me, obviously. But, I mean, when Mama is worried about the backyard and the kid and the cliff, that is also a significant thing he has to overcome. I mean, the car's hard enough, Dave. But now this is a marriage conversation to go, let's not get too worked up over this. Is the kid really going to wander out? I mean, how dangerous is it? Because that's a fear thing.

That's a fear factor. I mean, it's okay to move, but moving in order to clear the debt and not owning a house in a market where the prices are still going up is not, no, I'm not going to recommend that. Yeah. Not right now. Not while you still haven't addressed the underlying issues. Right. Bad idea.

Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Even if you mismeasure, you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds for free. Free samples, free shipping, new promos all the time. Always use the promo code RAMSY to get the best possible deal. Today's question comes from Hank in Iowa. I'm 21, and I currently work the night shift in a warehouse earning $16.50 an hour. I do get benefits with that.

I'm also scheduled to take my real estate license test next week and have a second job in property management making 16 an hour without benefits. Both are full-time, but the job with the property management would be a long-term company that would allow me to pursue my real estate career. Should I keep doing both jobs or would it be too much to handle? No, I don't know how you keep that up. I know you're 21, but 21-year-olds need to sleep as well and look like you got a nighttime graveyard shift. No, I would be going long-term, making decisions for the long-term. What puts me on the right ladder to climb where I want to go? And it's the property management

company that allows you to start moving towards the real estate career, which is the ultimate goal anyway. So that would be the move I would make. Yeah, and let me add this to you, Hank, okay? Very seldom, like I'll just tell you less than 5% of the time, should you make a career decision based on benefits. Yes. Or based on 50 cents an hour. Either one. You should make career decisions based on being in what Ken calls your sweet spot.

You should make career decisions based on where it's going to take you in the long term, where you're going to be 10 years from today. You're 21, where are you going to be when you're 31? Where are you going to be when you're 41? And the warehouse job doesn't fit in any of those. And don't make career decisions based on air quotes around security. This is a secure job. I laugh at your security. Let me tell you where security comes from.

A big old freaking pile of money. It comes from that and faith in God. It does not come from corporate america it does not come from i make 60 of what my peers make but i work for the government and they'll always pay me well sure they'll always pay you your job sucks you know no security is not based on whether they're going to actually give you a check every week. Security is based on you being in the zone, baby, and going and living your best possible big life. And that will buy benefits, and that will buy security.

This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the Debt Free Stage. Tim is with us. Hey, Tim, how are you? Hey, Dave. Hey, Ken. Great to be here. Absolutely. Welcome. Where do you live? Well, I'm originally from Canton, Ohio, but now that I'm on Baby Step 7, I'm on a cross-country roads trip of all 50 states. All right. Debt free. I love it. Very good for you. And how much have you paid off? $95,000. Very cool. And how long did this take? Just over three and a half years. Okay, cool.

And your range of income during that time? Started out at 45,000. Now I'm over six figures. Okay, good for you. Good. What do you do for a living? I'm a project manager for an event technology company. And you can just do that from the road? Yeah, I work from home. My manager and director are fine with it. And so far, I've actually just been promoted. So now I'm making over six figures on the road. Way to go. Very cool. I'm pumped.

Very cool. So the $95,000 was what kind of debt? It was a mixture of my house, student loans, car, and credit card. Okay. So my aunt gave me a very good deal on her house when she went to go live with her grandbabies, my Aunt Bev. So I started on my journey with, in 2018, I had part of my student loans paid off. Then I had a credit card and I had just bought a new car. And my journey, actually, I did listen to my broke brother-in-law, Dave.

So he introduced me to you. I watched your YouTube channel and I submitted to the plan, wrote a check, paid off the car, and then just did the baby step two, and I just kept going and paid off my house since my aunt gave me a good deal. Okay. So the house is still sitting there while you travel? No, I flipped it, actually. Oh, you sold it. So I took advantage of the hot market, and I flipped the house.

I did some cosmetic updates and was able to double my money. Good for you. So now I'm just cash-flowing the road trip month by month, traveling the country, having a blast. I love it. Good for you, man. That sounds fun. It really does. I'm just curious.

Was this an idea that you had at any point in the debt-free journey? Or is this something that came to you once you paid off that last debt and your perspective changed? So I paid my house off this past December. And in October, I was doing the math and figured out that it was going to happen. And I said, what am I going to do next? I knew I didn't want to stay in the area. It wasn't a house I wanted to be in forever. I bought it with intention of it being my fresh start, you know,

flipping it, getting as much money out of it as possible. I worked hard to pay it off so that I could use the full money to do whatever I wanted next. I think I want to get into real estate long term as investments. I think I also want to own a business someday of my own. So, no, the road trip wasn't exactly in the plans. But in October, I said, you know what? I knew I wanted to sell the house, take advantage of the market. And then I just went with it.

So, I sold the house January, was out by March, and have been on the road ever since. I love it. I love it. Very cool. So the goal is see all 50, you said? Eventually, yes. I know I can't drive to Hawaii or probably Alaska, but those will be my last hurrahs. Okay. Fine, man. That's awesomeness. Yeah, it's been great. Thank you so much for all that you guys do, because I was able to see that and submit to the plan years ago, and I just love being here and seeing everybody. It's been great. Thank you so much for all that you guys do because I was able to see that and submit to the plan years ago, and I just love being here and seeing everybody. Yeah, that's cool.

So three and a half years you're putting through this. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Submit to the plan. I mean, you guys have put the work in to tell us exactly what to do, so just submit and follow through it. Yeah. What does that mean? I know what it means, but submit. What does that mean to you?

What was submission like? Because that's a little different for everybody. Well, I was in the COVID. A lot of my time was during COVID. So I got furloughed, and that almost threw me off the plan. But I knew that I had my ducks in order. I knew I had an emergency fund already. I was on baby step six by the time I was furloughed.

So I was just cash flowing and I just said, all right, I have to slow down the cash flow a little bit on the house. I'll be fine. I had my emergency fund. So throughout COVID, I changed jobs a couple of times because COVID really rocked my world as far as career wise. My friend Dawn finally called me up after I had changed jobs twice and offered me my dream job of being a project manager. And I ended up doubling my income along the way. So I started out at 45, then I made 90. Now I'm up to over 100 within the last couple of years. So I did most of the baby steps on 45,000.

So now that I've got double that, I'm like, ooh, stars in the eyes. I'm just so excited to move forward. And no payments, no house payment. No eyes. I'm just so excited to move forward. And no payments. No house payment. And no payments. And I turned 30 in August. So all of this is done before I'm 30, and now I am just living and giving like no one else.

I just have this intense joy. Whenever I see someone on the road needing money, I stop and give them whatever I've got in my wallet, which isn't always a lot. I use my debit card for most everything. But, yeah, I'm living and giving like no one else, and I've just felt this intense joy. And my family and friends can see it, and they keep asking me what happened. And I said, I'm following Dave Ramsey's plan.

Way to go, man. I'm so proud of you. Very, very cool. So who were your biggest cheerleaders? Well, my sister, Carrie. Married to the broke brother-in-law? Married to the broke brother-in-law. Not any longer married to the broke brother-in-law married to the broke well not any longer married to the brother-in-law i'm kidding you said that i did well it's funny because i heard that from you and i said you know what i did follow my broke brother-in-law's plan

you know he got me into it so yeah um so i wrote a check that so your sister was uh uh your biggest cheerleader and who else uh yeah my My friends and family, you know, I really did a lot of this on my own. I submitted to it. And even during baby step two, I was, you know, I was still able to do things with my friends because I had my budget in order.

I had some play money that I, that I gave myself, you know, to be able to do things, but not like go over, be able to go out and have like one drink with friends at times or, or anything like that, not just go above. So my go out and have like one drink with friends at times or or anything like that not just go above so um my friends didn't look at me crazy but now they're looking

at me crazy like how are you able to afford to do this i said well i've submitted to the plan so as a project manager that's what that means to you you're you're a systems guy i am yeah you find a system that works you execute the system why change it absolutely this is a proven process don't mess with it submit to it do it the way you know this is how you build a house follow these three steps build a house you know this is how you get a job follow these six steps seven steps how you get a job there's a system there's a process that's proven and find that uh from someone that again that's proven and if you're managing a project that's how you manage projects.

And so for you, submitting to that just simply means agreeing that that's the truth and then doing it. Yeah. I mean, you hooked me when you were talking about the 19-year-old, and you're all like, it would all be great if we were all 19. And I was looking at myself at 24, and I said, well, I'm not that far away. Let's get this, let's get back together, you know? And so I started, and yeah. Three and that far away. Let's get this. Let's get back together. You know, and so I started.

And yeah, three and a half years later, we're traveling the nation. Excellent. Very cool, man. I'm proud of you. Thanks so much. Very, very good work. We got a copy of Baby Steps Millionaires for you. Awesome.

Ordinary people built extraordinary wealth. You are going to, too. Yes, sir. Copy a total money makeover. You can give that away on your travels as well. You'll run into somebody that wants to hear this story. And a copy of, we're also going to sign you up for a year of Financial Peace University. Awesome.

Thank you. If you don't want to do it or you've already done it, then you can give that away as well. So we're giving you plenty of things to take you on the next part of your journey and also make sure that your financial journey, you've got another journey you're doing, but your financial journey and make sure that you've got the way to do it. And make sure you've got some stuff to help other people with. So, well done, Tim. Thank you so much.

Great work. Tim in Canton, Ohio, used to be anyway, 95,000. Now he's just about. He's on a walkabout. 95,000 paid off in three and a half years, making $45,000 to $100,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

I'm debt-free! Yeah! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! You know, Ken, that's just a great story and you you caught on to him saying submit a lot um but in the process of getting a job you've laid out the seven clear steps you submit to that or you push against it and you get to submit to it anyway that's right you know we lay out the seven baby steps to uh you know to become not only debt free but then become a baby steps millionaire and outrageously generous and almost 10 million people over 10 million people

have gone through those between financial peace university and the total money makeover at this stage so he's right it's a proven process but anything you're working on if you're doing weight loss and you know you do a a proven process and here's a proven process here's some things that here's things that are proven that don't work in relationships here's things that are proven that don't work in your mental health and and you know here's things that do work called boundaries and that kind of stuff so submitting yourself to the law of gravity to proven principles is ideal for creating a successful life. Yeah. I mean, it's the idea here that, hey, this will work if I give over control of my emotions

and I give discipline to the path. And if I do this, I win. That's the idea. And it works over and over and over again. This is The Ramsey Show. our scripture of the day matthew 10 31 do not be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows. Sarah Blakely, billionaire woman, founder of Spanx. I think failure is nothing more than life's way of nudging you that you are off course. It's course correction. That's what it is.

I agree. People in the technology field fail for a living. They call it iteration. Yeah. Our good friend John Maxwell wrote a book entitled Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn, which is a great perspective on failure. You know, there's no progress without failure. He writes a book a week.

Another one was called Failing Forward. That's right. That's right. Jessica's in Syracuse, New York. Hi, Jessica. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. How are you?

Thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. How can I help? So, long-time listener, first-time caller. That was from my husband. Okay. So, yeah, I got that. To that end, I know that you generally say that, you know, emergency funds are not there

to build you up, obviously. They're there for your security. Good. With that being said, how much effort would you put into chasing a better rate? Almost none. Our emergency fund and our long-term savings has been in a high-yield account. Before the pandemic, it was at like 2.25. It dropped way down to like 0.5, and it's sitting at about 0.85 right now.

And out of curiosity, I jumped on the Internet today to see what's out there, and I saw another one sitting up at 1.5. That's fine. Move it over there if you want. That's fine. I mean, how much is in your emergency fund? The emergency fund is $10,000, and we've got our automotive sitting in there as well, so maybe another $2,000. Okay, so 1% of $10,000 is what? Oh goodness, I'm an accountant, you're going to ask

me to do math on the show. Well, 10% of $10,000 is $1,000, 1% is $100. Okay, so moving from a half to one and a half over a period of a year, you made $100. Yes, I have a sharp stick in the eye, right? Yeah, so it's okay. I mean, $100 is nice. You can go out to dinner, nice place on that. Well, reasonably nice place. But it's not going to change your life.

Right. Even over a period of decades, it's not going to change your life so yeah but what does change your life is having the emergency fund as an insurance policy when life happens that keeps you from cashing out things that are growing at a rate that does change your life so if you don't cash out your 401k to fix your transmission because you have an emergency fund that is a lot more than $100. So your original point is what I would refer back to. But again, so would I spend 500 hours to get $100? No, I don't think I would.

Would I surf the Internet every so often and see if I can get a high-yield thing that makes me an extra $100? Yeah, I might, a little bit. I've got a bunch of cash laying in the company here in our retained earnings, business version of emergency fund. And we spend some time on that trying to, you know, figure out how we can park that in some kind of float account so it's not all just sitting and checking. You know, it's just because it's a lot of money. But even then, its purpose is not to grow wealth for the company its purpose

is to protect the things that do grow wealth for the company and so just have to kind of balance that out so yeah i'll spend some effort on it but i'm certainly not going to major in minors that's what it amounts to john's with us in new york city hey john welcome to the ramsey show hi thanks for having me on how are are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Yeah. So, um, my grandparents left me with about $200,000. Um, I'm not sure what to do with it. Um, I don't have any debt and lording. Um, and I don't want to buy a house for myself. Um, but I do want to do remote landlording, I was researching, and some people said that it's a nightmare and property managers aren't that good. Yeah.

Okay. How old are you? 26. What do you do for a living? I'm a software developer. Good for you. Okay. And you're a single guy?

Yep. Okay. And you don't want to buy a house. Why? I don't like the maintenance, the lawn mowing, all that stuff, the cleaning. Okay, that's fair. You like the freedom of not being anchored down to that house, yeah. They are a problem.

I got a dadgum project at one of mine right now. It just drives me crazy. I told Sharon, the more stuff you own, the more repairmen you have to know. I kind of go along with you, John. I like it. Especially at your stage of life, and there's no rush for you to buy something.

Sorry about your grandparents. When did they pass? A few weeks ago. Whoa. Just the other day. Both of them at one time? Uh, it happened in between. It happened within a few days.

Within a few days, yeah. My grandma had a heart attack after my grandpa passed, so. Oh, my goodness. Oh, man. I'm so sorry. Were you close to them? Yeah, I was pretty close. That's my reason for staying in New York City, even though it's pretty expensive,

because I would say I love my family and want to be close to them. Yeah. Okay. All right. No, I would not do remote landlording. I think that's a bad idea. If you're not willing to cut your own grass, then you don't need to be doing landlording. Not that you have to cut the grass there, but it just tells me you don't like hassle.

And, dude, you're getting ready to sign up for a bunch of hassle. So that sounds like some kind of get-rich-quick crappy site you were on or something there. Don't fool with that. If I were in your shoes, I'll tell you what I would do, and it's very boring. I would park the money in a mutual fund for right now or a couple of three mutual funds and just forget it. Forget that it's there and just let it grow. And then a little further down the road, if you decide you want to buy a property or maybe you're getting married and she wants you to buy a property or, you know, that kind of stuff is happening,

then, you know, that's the kind of stuff I, you know, but for right now, it might be three years before you do anything with it. And the stock market's way down right now, so it's on sale. So if I woke up in your shoes and I had an extra $200 that I didn't really have anything to do with, first thing I'd do is try to put it someplace where I keep my hands off of it and not spend it, right? And then the second thing I would do is put it someplace where I couldn't spend it. Yeah, yeah.

You know, having said that, though, you might want to earmark a little bit of it for fun and pull it out and go do something fun. Have you got any ideas on that? Yeah, yeah, probably travel to Europe or something. So what's that cost um haven't looked yet okay yeah i mean budget five grand or something or 10 grand or something and go do that and the rest of it sit down go to ramsey solutions.com click on smart investor you can sit down with

smart investor pro and begin your education on investing. Begin learning from an advisor. You don't take an advisor's advice. You don't take Dave's advice. You sit down and you, other than the piece of advice, this is you're supposed to learn about something before you invest in it. And it puts him in a pretty good position. It really does. You know, beyond doing something fun with it,

I'd also just let your heart wander a little bit and do something good with it. It doesn't have to be huge. Don't really feel any pressure to do that. But something good. Something good with that money. Some kind of generosity. Yeah, generosity. That's not a bad way to kind of start moving into this phase because it'll really set something in place, something special in your heart.

This is something your grandparents did for you. It's a way of honoring them but again i don't want you to feel any pressure to do that or on a large scale but just do something good do something fun i like that combination then do something smart yeah yeah maybe you know if you put five percent of fun and five percent of generosity that'd leave you on 90 percent yeah to something like that no pressure but zero it's always good to try to do those three things have some fun with the money be generous with the money and invest the money in this case the vast

majority of it i think i'd be investing yeah um and i would limit the fun but i think i would do something there um and you know when you get to 30 years old or 35 years old and you look back and whatever you've ended up doing with this money, it needs to be something that would have caused your grandma and grandpa to smile. Yes. And then you've honored their memory because they had common sense. They were obviously good with money. They had some money.

They left their grandson 200 grand. That's pretty incredible. So, Ken Coleman, good show today. Thanks for having me. Good work in the booth, Kelly and Andrew and Zach and Ben and Austin. Good job, you guys. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. 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 folks, Ken Coleman here. Did you know The Ramsey Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world? Get your daily dose of advice on life and money. Check out all of our shows from the Ramsey Network wherever you listen to podcasts.