The Ramsey Show - App - Getting Your Gamer-Kid to Grow Up (Hour 2)
Episode Date: March 15, 2019The show about you...
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Leslie, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.
How can I help?
Thanks for taking my call, Dave.
I really appreciate it.
Sure.
What's up?
So I'm really trying to get my head around how to help my mom.
She is 75 years old, not in very good health, and does not have much money left.
And so for seeing some of the stuff that's going to be coming down the pipeline for her. We helped her sell her last asset, which was the property, and we've done that now.
And after clearing taxes, it's probably going to be about $250,000 that she has.
And so how do we help her invest that, knowing that within a potential five-year window,
she may need to use that money to go into a nursing home
or for medical expenses.
And on the flip side, she only makes $1,600 a month in her retirement income,
and if my dad passes away, $1,000 of that goes away too.
So I'm kind of caught between two goals here.
One is she may need to replace part of her income off of that
nest egg and the other is she may need to use it if her health gets a lot worse what is he is he in
the picture they're divorced by their by the divorce settlement she gets part of his retirement income as long as he's alive. Got it. Okay. All right. And you're taking care of her?
Yes. So we provide her with a place to stay here in our home. And we're happy to continue to do
that for as long as she is able to kind of get around on her own. But she has really severe
scoliosis. She had to have her colon removed a couple years ago.
So we're starting to see more decline with her ability to just manage on her own.
So we're not sure how long she can remain independent here in our home.
Well, so the good news is, truthfully, in that situation, on $1,600 a month,
she doesn't need an income.
Yeah, she pretty much budgets every month now, thanks to you.
We got on track, and then we helped her get on track with the budget.
And after her medical expenses and, you know, things that she pays for her own stuff,
she pretty much breaks even on her budget.
She saves about $250.
She shouldn't have a lot of expenses other than medical because she's living with you.
You're feeding her.
Food, lights, water is taken care of.
You got it.
Shelter.
Yeah.
So that's good news.
Mathematically good news.
Of course, the obvious good news is you're taking care of your mom.
Way to go.
Good job.
So I would sit down with a SmartVest investor pro, and let's invest some of it,
and let's leave some of it in cash.
And you can just kind of talk through and decide that.
By cash, I mean sitting in a money market.
You know, I'm probably going to invest at least half of it fairly conservatively.
Growth and income may be balanced, maybe a little bit of growth.
I wouldn't do any aggressive growth in this, and I probably wouldn't do any international
in this.
Okay, so you feel that'd be okay, given that we're under that potential five-year horizon?
You would still feel comfortable?
Well, that's why I'm going to the conservative side of the spectrum of mutual funds,
and it's also why I'm even being more conservative and saying let's leave some in cash.
We're not really trying to maximize wealth here.
We want it to do okay.
We don't need the income off of it, but we don't want it to go backwards severely.
Correct.
And I hate to just leave it all sitting in cash.
You could do that because she doesn't need it.
You know, if you just if it freaks you out, you could just leave it all sitting in cash.
It's going to earn nothing.
Right.
But it's also it's also not going to lose anything.
You can just sit it all in the money market.
That's a possibility.
I probably I don't think she's going to ever use all this money personally.
I just don't think she's going to go through it.
Nursing home is $50,000 a year.
The lady you described to me, I'll be real cold for a second,
her health is not going to cause her to survive once she enters a nursing home five years.
Right.
Statistically, most people don't anyway.
But the health situation you just described to me makes it statistically less likely.
So I'm just saying I don't think she's ever going to use all this money.
And I'm not trying to be cold about it.
It's just I'm not worried about the risk on a portion of it being invested.
So I might invest half of it and leave half of it in cash or something like that.
But you guys talk it through and pray it through,
and whatever you get a piece about after you learn about it a little bit more with a SmartVestor Pro,
that's the kind of things I would do there.
That's the way I would do it.
Hey, thanks for the call.
We appreciate you joining us.
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We'll talk about your life and your money.
About 35 million people move every year, which means there are tons of bad real estate agents out there trying to make a quick buck.
When the market is white hot, a monkey can sell a house.
And you don't want a monkey selling your largest asset.
And some monkeys do get real estate licenses i got a real estate license in 1978 when i was 18 years old a high school buddy of mine let me sell him a house for 42 250 i gotta tell you we were
both stupid he was stupid for using an 18 year old realtor because i was stupid and didn't know
what the flip I was doing.
My parents owned the company, and they walked us right through the whole transaction,
and I got paid on it.
I sold a house four weeks after I got my real estate license,
but that is not who you want selling your largest asset.
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Okay, this is 1978, right?
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I'm kidding, but that's not kidding.
That's what it looked like, but I'm just saying probably not going to get that today.
But you don't want that.
It's not what you want. It's not it looked like, but I'm just saying probably not going to get that today. But you don't want that. It's not what you want.
It's not what you need selling your house.
So just go to DaveRamsey.com.
Click on ELP for Endorsed Local Provider for a Real Estate Agent.
And by the way, a real estate agent ought to come into your house and somewhat hurt your feelings.
Like tell you to clean that mess up off that counter.
And maybe they'd be tactful about it.
Darling, the counter would look bigger if you removed all these items.
In other words, clean up the freaking mess on your counter.
Clean your counters off.
Right?
You need somebody to tell you this stuff.
If everybody says everything looks perfect, then you don't have anybody that knows how to stage a house.
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This is an expensive transaction.
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Today's question comes from Heather in Texas.
If we know we have a recurring monthly medical cost for the doctor or meds,
about $250 a month for our family of five,
should we put that into our HSA pre-tax,
or is there no actual benefit if we're just going to drain it?
Oh, no, there's a huge benefit.
$250 a month is $3,000 a year.
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For sure do that.
I would not overfund your HSA,
but I would definitely keep enough in there to keep that covered without a doubt. Good question. Open phones
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jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money.
Trent is in Boise. Hi, Trent. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.
Hey, how are you? Better than I deserve.
How can I help?
Well, I'm looking at a pretty good job opportunity.
My wife's third trimester right now with our fourth baby,
and I'm wondering if I should take it or sit around and keep my resume out until, uh, you know, everything settles.
Okay. Uh, would you be moving?
Um, yeah. I mean, we'd have to move from Boise to Phoenix.
Oh, okay. All right. And when would you take the job?
Uh, it would be in the next, uh, couple of weeks and, uh, they, they pay for relocation and, um and um yeah and it's a great opportunity i'm not
sure when they ask when can you start what would be too imposing and so i don't i don't want to
overdo that and well you got a wife with a baby on the way you're not overdoing anything when's
the baby due uh may 6th okay coming up pretty fast Yep. So if you moved in the next two weeks, I mean, if you loaded up the truck and headed to Beverly, baby, I mean, right now, can she do that?
Was she okay with that?
Well, no, just because we've been working with, you know, a group of midwives, you know, for months and months now.
And, you know, this is going to be our first baby born in a home that we're owning.
And so, yeah, I think there's a lot of sentiment around having the baby in this house before we move.
So it sounds like you're not taking this job until after May.
Yeah, sounds like it.
I mean, if I told them that.
Does that make the job go away if you can't start until after May?
I mean, at least this opening.
The hiring manager is a former Marine as well, so he's got a soft spot for me.
So I think I'd still get a job eventually.
But this particular position would probably be closed by then, yeah.
Okay.
And so what do you make now?
I make $21 an hour now, plus partial disability.
I mean, at your current job, you make $21 an hour.
And so what are you going to be making in the next place?
Like $28,000 to $32,000.
Okay.
And so, wow.
Let me put that in the calculator for a second because I can't do that in my head.
I did it before I called.
It's a $22,000 a year raise.
Yeah, it's between $1,100 and $1,700 extra a month.
And you guys want to live in Phoenix?
Not particularly, but we're planning on, after we get out of Baby Step 3,
planning on cash flowing college, and I'm planning on joining the Navy as a chaplain.
And so we're not really trying to find a dream town yet.
Okay, how far are you from being on baby steps?
How far are you from finishing your get out of debt?
I mean, if we stayed here, it would be quite a bit longer.
Let me see.
I've got my numbers here.
How much debt do you have?
We have about $45,000.
On what?
Well, we've got about $13,000 in student loans, got $14,500 on a car, and $17,000 on the credit card.
Okay.
All right.
So if you took this job in Phoenix, you're going to move to Phoenix, and you're going to work a year there, two years there.
Yeah, well, I mean, plus the – yeah, yeah, exactly, about two years,
and then cash flow in college.
So I'll probably keep working there until I get so far in my education
that I need to become a full-time student,
and I save up the money to be a full-time student without, you know.
All right.
Well, it's up to you.
I don't know how i don't know
how sure this second position opening up is um but you're basically giving up a huge raise and
putting your future on hold to have a baby born in a house you're not going to stay in anyway
yeah i don't get it but you can do whatever you want to do it's your life i don't care
um it's you know you're putting your life. I don't care.
You're putting your life on hold to have a baby in a city, in a house that you're not planning to stay in.
It's not logical to me, but you guys can do whatever you want.
I don't care.
It's not sentimental, dude. You're leaving the freaking house.
As soon as the baby's born, the job's going to come open.
You're going to move in August.
So I don't get the sentiment.
You're going to take pictures?
I mean, that's about all you can do.
So they have midwives in Phoenix.
Do whatever you want to do.
I don't care.
But if you're going to put the birth in the house ahead of taking the job,
then you've just decided unless that job will hold you the position post-baby, you're not taking that job.
You've already answered your own question.
Adam is with us in Kansas City.
Hi, Adam.
Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.
Hey, Dave.
What a blessing to talk to you.
Thanks for taking my call.
Sure, man.
What's up?
Well, my wife and I kind of have a difference of opinions here,
and we're trying to figure out what's best for our family.
She recently lost her father, my father-in-law, who actually lives in Argentina.
My wife's originally from Argentina, and she was in the state.
He was a prominent businessman and quite successful,
and the house is valued at about probably 250 260 000 and the
house is where this is in argentina you have a house in argentina that you've inherited worth
250 000 yes sir and we're a family of six my wife is we have four beautiful children all this is in
college right now the others are going towards college um and so the question, she's going to stay at home all year.
So she's been able to stay home with the children, which has been a great blessing.
I have a good job.
I make about $130,000 a year.
What's your question for a run out of time?
Okay, my question is, my wife wants to know, should she liquidate the home?
Should it go towards our debt?
Or should she rent it?
She'd only get $300 or $400 a month if she were to rent it.
Okay.
Listen, we pile $250,000 cash in the middle of your kitchen table.
Are you going to buy a house in Argentina,
or are you going to move your get-out-of-debt plan up?
Well, we want to get out of debt.
No, that's the question you need to ask her.
Okay. There's only one reason that you have need to ask her. Okay, got it.
There's only one reason that you have this house.
It was because you inherited it.
It was not because it was part of your plan.
That's correct.
You did not save up $250,000 and buy a house in Argentina to be a rental.
Right.
And this is highly emotional because it was her dad's house.
And that's the only thing that's clouding it.
But you're not going to keep it.
It doesn't make sense to keep it.
I mean, you can hold it a few months. You can hold it a year
until she kind of gets over this emotion if you want to.
But as far as your
financial plan and your life, your life is here.
Your financial plan is here.
Your kids are here. Everything is here.
It's not a house in Argentina.
If it's me, it's sold.
My grandmother's house was sold when she passed away.
Our family sold it.
It was third generation.
But nobody was there.
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Open phones at 888-825-5225.
Fran is on the line in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Hi, Fran.
Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.
Hi.
Thank you.
I have a question.
I'm a little nervous. Okay. My son is in his early 20s of seems like it's after.
You know what I mean?
He's already grown.
He's already an adult.
Do I owe him the money I should have saved?
No.
Okay.
Or is he totally responsible for his own college,
or do I have any responsibility in that?
What was your deal with him?
When he went to college and got the student loan, did you say, I'll pay it?
No.
Then he pays it.
He signed up for it.
He's a big boy.
Okay.
He's like a grown man.
Okay.
I wanted him to go to college.
I still kind of do.
Well, he didn't go to college.
He quit or he got thrown out or whatever happened. Right. not i mean that wasn't your decision you didn't cause it
so i don't know it wasn't because you didn't pay for it that he quit right no not at all okay okay
so how much student loan debt does junior have um about three thousand four thousand something
like that yeah what's he doing for a living?
Right now he's working at Fast Food.
So he's living with you?
What?
Yes. So he's living with you.
He's 21.
Yes.
So what's he going to do with his life?
Well, that's an area of contention there.
Yeah.
Okay.
I think he can do better i've told him that you know he's not really
totally sure the direction he wants to take yeah i can tell um i think he needs a direction
and it might be just out of your house
okay so that because nothing what i hear is a listless kid that's adrift, that's kind of hanging out.
Mommy's still making him dinner, and he's partying at night and making just enough to pay for the party.
Well, not really.
I made him totally responsible for his own food.
Oh.
I don't pay for his food.
Okay.
Any of it.
Okay.
Yeah.
Now, last year I gave him a choice.
Either you need to get a job or, like, your choice is either go to school full-time, work full-time, or do half and half.
There you go.
Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, that's a good choice.
And I gave him a deadline, and he got the job, like, right at the deadline.
So he's got a full-time job in fast food.
Yeah.
I didn't know there was such a thing.
It's quasi full-time.
Yeah.
Sometimes they don't need people.
25 hours is not full-time.
Okay.
40 hours is full-time.
Right.
I've told him that, too.
I've told him that, too.
I've told him to ask for more hours, and, you know, he realizes he needs more money.
He does want to work in computers somehow, but he's not sure in what way.
Good.
Well, that's good. We found something that he's excited about and aimed at.
Let's start that, because, really, what's happening now is not, you know,
the 30-year-old version of this kid is still living with you.
If he doesn't change his direction.
I know.
See, part of it is that I don't think he wants any more loans
because he now knows about the plan.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, and so he's trying to save money for his emergency fund yeah are you are you
married no okay um are you in a good church yes okay i want you to grab a couple of uh 40 year
old 30 year old successful business guys men in your church and have them take this kid to lunch.
Okay.
And box his ears.
Okay.
Okay.
Because what's happening, you're doing a really good job of mothering him,
and he needs a guy to bust him.
Yeah, it's like he's too comfortable.
Yeah.
Like I'm not mean enough or whatever. Well not well here's the thing here's the thing okay
he's just kind of he's just kind of wishy-washy it's just like i'll get a job because my mommy
made me it sounds like he's 16 you know and what am i gonna do i'm gonna flop whoppers for 25 hours
a week and i'm gonna call that okay there's nothing okay about that so what he needs to be
doing is mowing grass or blowing leaves or walking dogs and making twenty
dollars an hour and working 80 hours a week and pay off the three thousand dollars and save up
the money to go to uh tech school and get you know get a degree in programming and go to code school
and learn how to be a programmer he's get his little he's get his little button gear that's
what he needs to do and then the thirty thousand dollars isn't going to come up
so i want him this kid definitely needs to pay this thirty thousand dollars
it's going to be good for his manhood okay and but i'm a lot more worried about the
getting him on track as a young man and game quit acting like a little boy. You following me? I'm not being insulting.
I'm just being very clear.
I hope I'm not.
I'm not trying to be insulting.
I understand that.
I'm like, I don't want to kick him out.
I'm his mom.
No, I don't want you to kick him out,
but I want him to have more vision for his life than he has.
He doesn't have a vision.
You follow me?
His vision is limited.
He's thinking about Friday.
That's why I was accusing him of partying.
He really isn't a partier.
Yeah, okay.
But it's just the lack of his vision is what made me say that.
That's what made me guess that.
Okay.
Right.
No, he'd rather sit on the couch and play video games.
Oh, okay.
All right.
You got any of those little wire cutters?
Just cut those wires on that thing.
And, you know, disconnect that whole thing and just, okay.
Now we're back to the real world because Mario Kart is not a possible job.
So we got to find something else to do.
And so that's what's happening.
He's getting sucked into that and it's shutting his brain down.
So we want a vision for his life.
I want him to, you know, be willing to clean out septic tanks because he can make 50 bucks
an hour with a toothbrush.
Okay.
Because that gets him to where he can go to school and be a programmer.
So he never has to clean septic tanks with a toothbrush again.
You pay a price to win when you have a vision for your life.
Okay.
And that's what I want.
That's what I want for him.
It's what you want for him it's what you want for him too
and that's why i'm thinking if you can get some guys around him that are successful
he might it might rub off on him a little bit and they might actually mentor him a little bit and
you know love him enough to go dude unplug the game boy seriously
you know it's killing you you live in your mother's house come on be a man let's go
and some of the guys coming around him would love him and just say,
love him enough to tell him the truth, you guys.
And let's help him get and be,
because God has something a lot more for him than flopping Whoppers and playing Nintendo.
And that's what I want for him.
And that's what you want for him.
And then the $3,000 thing is going to be solved as a natural byproduct of him having a vision for his life again or for the first time ever maybe.
And sometimes that involves a little bit of bluntness or a lot of bluntness.
And that's why I'm saying get some guys around you and around him to help him walk this out.
Because sometimes young men don't hear.
They hear better from other men sometimes.
It's like if you had a daughter, it's like if I was talking to a dad who had a daughter
and she was, I might get some ladies around her.
It's not, you know, just to say, this is, let's get you going here, kiddo.
You got, let's have a vision for your life.
Wear more clothes, do this right.
You know, you can do this and you can win.
You can be a lady and And you can be powerful.
And you can be confident in the marketplace.
And you can get stuff done.
And you need powerful and confident ladies around you to tell you you can do that sometimes.
And so, you know, you become who you hang around with, right?
Kind of a thing.
So, yeah, let's put a couple mentors in his life and ask them to speak into his life.
They'll do it.
They'll be happy to do it.
Some of those guys around that church, they'd love to come alongside this guy and get him moving.
We all like seeing guys go win.
Hey, thanks for the call.
This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Thanks for being with us, America.
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888-22-PIECE 888-227-3223 boston is with us in provo utah hey boston welcome to the dave ramsey
show hi dave thank you so much for having me sure how can i help um so my wife and I are wondering if we should sell our current home and use the equity that we've built up in it as a down payment for a new home,
or if it would be smart to use a home equity line of credit to get a down payment for a second home and rent our current home.
I would never do B.
I would always sell and buy your personal residence.
I don't suggest people buy rental properties,
and I don't buy rental properties unless you pay cash for them.
Okay.
And so effectively you would be borrowing in order to have a rental property,
is what we're saying, borrowing more than you would in the first option that you gave me.
So now let's go ahead and sell the house to this house
and move into the one you want to move into.
Then goal number one is get that one paid off.
And when it is paid off as quickly as possible,
then you start saving and pay cash for your first rental.
So, okay.
So with the second option, i mean we would move into
that home and rent our current home i know that that's the same thing though is what you're saying
yeah that's exactly what i'm talking about and that's what you're saying effectively what you've
done is you've borrowed more money on the home you're moving to because you did not sell your
old house okay and it's the same thing as borrowing money to buy a rental, effectively, mathematically.
And our mortgage and HOA combined is $720.
We could rent our current place for $1,100.
So we've...
Let's pretend for a second that you had the other house already purchased and you were living in it,
and you did not own the one that you're living in.
Okay.
And you called me up and said, Dave, I want to buy a rental property where the HOA and the mortgage is 720,
and I can rent it for $1,100.
I would tell you not to do that.
Okay.
Because I tell you not to borrow money to buy rental properties.
Got it. I don't borrow money to buy rental properties. Got it.
I don't borrow money to buy my rental properties. I want you to do it slowly and more gradually because people who borrow money on residential real estate end up getting their lunch eaten.
Because that apparent spread between the $1,100 and the $720, you know how many months of vacancy it takes to eat that up?
Three. Oh, months of vacancy it takes to eat that up three oh worse than vacancy they don't pay for three months and they stay in there worse than that
they don't pay for three months and they stay in there and they tear the crap out of your house
all of a sudden now you understand what owning a rental property really looks like.
Okay?
And so you don't want to learn these lessons, and it costs you all kinds of money and puts
you in the hole.
You want to learn these lessons with a cash piece of real estate that you learn to manage
and own rental property with.
It just changes the equation significantly.
Please do not keep this house.
You do what you want to do, but you ask me.
All right, Stu is on the line in Redding, Pennsylvania.
Hi, Stu.
How are you?
Good.
Very well, Dave.
How are you?
Just the same.
How can I help?
Hey, so I wanted to ask you a question.
I am 24 years old.
I'm looking to get married pretty soon.
My parents are actually looking to cash flow our wedding.
But I have about $20,000 saved up, and I'm looking to say,
how much should I have before I pursue buying a house?
When are you getting married, you said?
Yeah.
We haven't made no plans yet.
Oh.
I wanted to have plenty of money to put aside so I can just pay the wedding and not have any debt.
I'm debt-free now, and I'd like to keep it that way.
You're debt-free.
You've got $20,000.
Yep.
What are you going to spend on this wedding?
I'm thinking like $10,000.
Okay.
I have already about $4,000 saved up for the wedding aside.
That's all aside for my savings.
So you have $24,000?
Pretty much.
What does pretty much mean?
You do or you don't?
I do.
I do.
Okay.
You have $24,000.
All right.
And you've allocated $20,000 over to the side for one thing and $4,000 for the wedding, right?
Does she have any money she's putting in this deal or her parents?
She is and her parents are, yes. Okay. What are they putting for the wedding, right? Does she have any money she's putting in this deal or her parents?
She is and her parents are, yes.
Okay.
What are they putting into the wedding?
They haven't actually gave me any numbers yet.
Okay.
I'm probably going to need a date before they start doing that.
Right, right.
Ring on this girl's finger?
Yes, sir. Good for you.
All right.
How old are you guys?
We'll both be 24 in May and june phenomenal very cool okay
so you set a date you get mom and dad i would it be unfair to guess that mom and dad are going to
put in six i would say that's fair okay so that got you your ten thousand dollar wedding and we
done pretty much okay then we got the other then we move on to our baby steps,
which is we would want you to have an emergency fund
and three to six months of expenses as a couple before we calculate your down payment.
And so what do you make a year?
I currently make about $45,000, give or take.
Now, if I work overtime, I can make $60,000 to $80,000 a year.
Good for you.
And what does she make?
She makes currently $25,000 to $30,000.
Okay, so if you were married, your household income is going to be like $60,000, $70,000, $80,000,
depending on overtime right in there, right?
And so if we had $15,000 set aside for an emergency fund, that would be three to six months of expenses of running your household after you're married.
Okay?
Because your household expenses, the two of you, is going to run $3,000, $5,000, something like that.
So three times that's nine.
Six times that's 18.
So $10,000 or $15,000 is your emergency fund for what we call baby step three does she have any
debt no good so you're debt free we we're got the 4 000 going to the wedding we got i mean let's
just make up a number i'm going to pull uh 12 000 and set it aside for your emergency fund that
leaves you 8 000 in your house fund okay what i would do if I were you, then, is I would get married and rent the cheapest thing I can for a year
and just be married for a year.
Work on being married.
That's like a big deal first year.
Just concentrate on getting married.
Don't concentrate on 62 other things.
Concentrate on being married well the first year.
It's a really good thing to concentrate on.
And save as much money as you can during that year to add to that $8,000
and then put your big, hairy down payment on there
and close on the house somewhere around your first anniversary or thereafter.
Okay.
That make sense?
Yep.
And also, Dave, I'm also going 6% as of now in my 401K.
Good for you.
That's awesome.
You're doing great, man. Sounds like you got a good plan you're 24 you're on fire baby keep it up love it that puts this hour the
dave ramsey show in the books our thanks to james childs our producer kelly daniel our associate
producer and phone screener i am dave ramsey your host and we'll be back. like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.
