The Ramsey Show - App - Giving Isn't Just About Money (Hour 1)

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. My co-host today on the air, number one best-selling author multiple times and Ramsey personality, the voice of the everyday millionaire, Mr. Chris Hogan joins me. We will be talking to you about your life and your money and how they are intertwined inextricably. The phone number 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Rebecca is with us in Albany, New York. Hi, Rebecca.

How are you? Hi, I'm doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I have a question about term life insurance. My husband is 31 years old, but he has a medical condition that when I called Xander, they estimated it to be 75 to 100 a month for a pretty

low policy. And so I'm not sure whether we should go ahead with something like that or do a higher priced, no medical questions asked kind of term insurance. We have no debt and we don't have children yet. And we are putting 15% towards retirement. Okay. So why would you pay a higher price? Because I've heard that if he gets denied because of his medical condition, then you can't get life insurance. Not true. Is that true?

Not true. They lie. What is the nature of the medical condition? Bipolar. Okay. They lie. What is the nature of the medical condition? Bipolar. Okay. All right. That's very serious in the life insurance world. Yeah.

The statistics on it, they don't like. No. But the guaranteed issue, the higher price that you're talking about, they will issue it to anyone whether they've been denied six times or never been denied. Okay. So you don't lose that option by going the other route. And what you've got to do, and Chris and I have worked with this many, many times over the years, you've got to build the narrative.

You've got to tell the story of his particular situation. Where is he in the bipolar journey? In other words, is he if he's on meds, have they gotten them balanced? Is he staying on them? Is he meeting with a counselor and he's making progress? Because there are people with bipolar that do very, very well when they work the plan. We work with a lot of bipolar. Yeah, absolutely, Rebecca.

As Dave mentioned, that narrative is going to be really, really important. And so does he have a physician and a counselor that he's seeing right now? Yes. Okay. And so you want to document that. You want to talk through and go ahead and formally apply so you can begin to walk through and see it. And that way you're not speculating.

You can start to deal in known facts, okay? Because there's a spectrum here. It's like saying, I have cancer. What flip does that mean, okay? I mean, have you got stage four lung cancer, or did you have a mole removed, you know? I mean, what do we mean? And so there's a spectrum here, and the insurance company does look if you've got a good one, and Zander can help you walk through the underwriting process and help you get there.

But, yeah, I'm going to put some kind of life insurance in place. Absolutely. $75 a month doesn't sound like it's hurting anybody, and that gets you started. And then, obviously, any kind of health condition that affects insurability, the more distance you get between it time-wise, in other words, if he's been without any episodes of any kind that were dramatic on the bipolar side, and you're seeing, in other words, healing and progress and stability, the longer that's been going on, the more insurable you become.

Yep. Just like if you had a cancer diagnosis and it's been five years, it's a different answer at the insurance company than if it's been 15 years. Yep. Same thing. Yeah. Now, I just want to clarify for everybody out there, remember, the goal of life insurance is to replace your income.

So it's really important to have that in place. We talk about term life insurance 10 to 12 times. Now, let's break this down. So if you're making $50,000 a year, you're going to be looking at $500,000 to $600,000 in term life insurance coverage. And if you've got a spouse that's not working, you want a minimum of $350,000 to $450,000 on them. Because if something happens to them, you're going to have to pay someone to either help you or you're going to have to move. And you'll find out the economic value of a stay-at-home mom in that moment. Yes, you will. So again, if you're out there and you don't have term, please get that in place.

Reach out to Xander. And don't, Dave, people will tell me this all the time and I get frustrated. They'll say, well, I'm getting it through my job. It's not enough. It's not enough. And the problem is portability. If you lose or leave that job or get laid off, hello COVID, now you don't have that coverage anymore. So you want that coverage outside of your job. And if while you're working there you had enough insurance and then you got a diabetes diagnosis and then you left that job for whatever reason, you can't get insurance then. So you lost your insurability while you were covered by a company plan that didn't go with you. That's the portability.

It's not portable. It doesn't go with you. So it's okay to have some through the company, but having it all there puts you at a much greater risk. Yes, it does. I would take the company stuff if it's a good price. Free is always a good price. But if they're selling it to you, you may want to look at it. Sometimes the plans they sell through a benefit package is really not. They're a bunch of crap

in a lot of cases. So check that out as well. Do that. You know, along these same lines, I get this from Holly on Facebook. Dave, I have a $100,000 universal life policy. Now I'm really embarrassed. Well, I'm sorry, Holly. We've all done stupid stuff. It's okay. Can I do anything with the money or fund value? Is there a rollover to universal to term, or do I just cancel and start the term policy? Good question. No, there's not a rollover. Whatever your cash value is is what you'll get, and you need to cancel it and get the cash value after you have your term insurance in place. Because when there's a hole in your pocket, meaning you're signed up for a bad deal,

you don't keep in the bad deal because there's a little money over here in the piggy bank. You don't keep putting money in the pocket with a hole in it and wonder where the money went. So you need to get your term insurance in place and cancel this crap. And, again, check Zander Insurance, and they'll walk you through the process. And it takes a little time and a little bit of effort to go through this, but it's going to save you a lot of money and make you a lot more money with investing in real investments instead of in insurance. Investing money into a life insurance policy is really the payday lender of the middle class. You're just getting screwed.

There's no other way to say it. The math on it is astronomically horrible so not trying to shame you i bought the same crap you bought holly i was 20 something years old and some goober from college combined northwestern mutual dube and sold me a policy and i was a bigger dube because i bought it so do you ever buy that stuff i did not i actually but that's some one version of stupid i didn't do yeah i did all i did a lot of other i never did a timeshare that one i managed to miss yeah i did that i think i've done just about all of them yeah i did the timeshare you did do the timeshare okay well that that yeah we're even i'm still in the club yeah

you're okay all right but listen one of the things they've mentioned is if you do have one of these policies and you're hearing us, they've said this twice, and I want to reiterate it. Get term in place before you cancel what you have. Okay? You want it full and in effect. Then you can cancel what you have. You don't want to die with no insurance in the middle of this process.

That's right. That's right. It's a bad plan. The whole thing here is take care of your family. Take care of your family. Address this stuff. Oh, by the way, you're going to die. You didn't know that?

Well, we're here to help you with the obvious. We make good money on the obvious around here. You're going to die. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. folks i love telling you about well-made well-thought-out products today i'm talking about grip six belts i don't know about you but I'm not a fan of traditional belts. They never fit right and they're uncomfortable. Grip6 belts are unique. Owner BJ designed a truly modern minimalist belt made of high quality materials with no holes, no flap, and no bulk. And the buckles come in really cool designs and are interchangeable. I personally own these belts in different styles, and talk about affordability, Grip 6 belts come with a lifetime guarantee.

And that means if you no longer like or fit the style of your belt, you can replace them for free. Plus, I like the way these guys do business. Grip 6 is determined to help build and modernize american manufacturing to learn more and get this month's dave ramsey special visit grip6.com that's grip6.com Chris Hogan, multiple number one best-selling author and Ramsey personality, is my co-host today here on the air. Chris, we've got a question from a YouTuber. Randall says, this is the first year I'm in a position to give generously. Woo-hoo!

What do I need to consider when it comes to giving to an organization? I've heard about a maximum for a gift tax. Does that apply to all giving? Yeah. Well, first of all, first and foremost, Randall, congratulations on putting yourself in a position to be able to be a blessing. Because giving is a two-way blessing. It blesses the place that you're giving to, the cause you're supporting, but it also gives you a blessing. And so it is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most fun you can have with money.

Yeah, it is. And we always teach there's three things to do with money. You need to enjoy it, meaning lifestyle. Most people don't struggle with that one. You need to give it, and you need to save and invest it so that you can do more of the giving and the enjoying. That's right. But you will find the further you get in your financial journey, the further down into your everyday millionaire journey that you get,

that the more joy, that you do get more joy from properly done giving. Now improperly done giving would be giving to something that's distant and you have no emotional connection to. You don't get the giver's high. But if you've got a single mom sitting next to you in church and you reach over and pay her rent for half a year because she lost her job for COVID. That's a giving that connects, blesses her, blesses you, that kind of a thing. Now, the gift tax only applies if you're not giving to a nonprofit. Now, a nonprofit would be your church, a ministry, something in the area that's a 501c3.

Okay? And so if it's a 501c3, there's no limit on how much you can give. And there's a limit on how much you can take as a tax deduction depending on your income, and your accountant can help you with that formula. But the 501c3 is 100% deductible. If you're giving to an individual individual like you're just going to give your brother some money or something like that then you do have a fifteen thousand dollar gift tax limitation this year and you want to be really careful with going over that there's

some techniques you can use to go over that if you want to give to individuals but if you go over that and don't use some kind of a technique, everything over that is going to be taxed upward of 50%. So the gift tax is horrendous. Do not give away $100,000. Just act like to your mother-in-law and just act like that's okay. You're going to wish you had never met your mother-in-law when the tax bill comes. So, you know, you've got to do that. So here's one technique. If you're married and you're going to give some money to your kids who are married, your son and daughter-in-law, okay,

then you can give him 15 and her 15. Your wife can give him 15 and her 15. Now we got four $15,000 checks, your $60,000 transferred. But I write four separate checks and make sure you've got a real clean paper trail that would all qualify but if you're going to go over that over 60 in that scenario you're going to have to figure out some other techniques and you would check out what's called the unified estate tax credit where you can get some advice from your tax accountant and get this going but the bottom line is if you're giving to a ministry you just don't have to worry about it and you're through

a ministry or something like that you're going There's a lot of ways to do this. And congratulations on joining the big boy club, the big girl club, because when you start giving, that's when you're officially an adult. Dave, I've never heard you use the term the giving high, but there is something about that. I tell you, when you step into a situation anonymously or regardless, it does do something to your spirit. It really does. It increases everything. You're just excited. Well, I'm getting old, and I've got a lot of famous friends now, and one of them is

named Santa Claus. And there's a reason Santa Claus is jolly. Yeah. He gets to give to kids all the time. Yeah. And he's always laughing. He's always grinning. And you never see people that are generous people with a scowl.

That's not a generous person. They don't give money. Think about it. If you think of the face of a miser. Scrooge. Scrooge. You think of a scowl. But when you think of somebody giving you see

you immediately see this great big smile with all those teeth sticking out and because that's that's a giving a generous person you can see it on their countenance you can see it on their face you can see it in the way they walk when you start to give i'm so excited for you randall because you're going to discover a whole new segment of life when you become outrageously and crazy generous uh because when you start to do this it affects your personality and here's the thing generous people are highly attractive these are attractive individuals you're going to find out you get promotions at work you're going to find out that people want to hire you for projects. You're going to be asked to join the club that you never thought, you know, because all of a sudden you're just a likable dude, you know, because it's not because they want your money.

No, no. It's something about you internally. You because generosity is not an act. It's a character quality. Integrity is not an act. It's a character quality. Integrity is not an act. It's a character quality. And what you're doing is you're developing this character quality with the act of physical, literal, monetary generosity. It really is. And I want to remind everybody, giving is not just about money.

You've got an opportunity to be able to give with your time as well as your talent. And so that giving aspect is money, time, talent. Look for opportunities or causes that you believe in and engage with them. It is amazing what happens. And I think that's one of the ways we can heal this nation is to get our mindset shifted on being able to give back and engage with people. There is something that happens in the human spirit when you do this. So if you're going to do over $15,000, you need to investigate the tax issues. And if you're going to be giving to a ministry or a nonprofit, if you're giving the Red Cross, that's a nonprofit for hurricane relief. If you're giving to the homeless shelter, it's usually going to be a nonprofit in your city.

Okay? Or if you're giving to a ministry that's an extension of your church and you're giving to a missionary family through the church that kind of a thing or giving to a missionary project where a house is being built in a in a in a developing country or something for a family or they're building a schoolhouse you're you know you're directing it through there that's all 100 deductible you don't have to worry about it i remember you saying talking years ago when i first started you said you, you know, you get all kinds of people coming at you. All kinds of charities and things of that nature. But you

said, you and Sharon will sit down and talk about what causes you're going to support. And you make a list of those. And you lavishly support that list. And I really like that because you're being as intentional with your giving as you are

with your budgeting yeah and then when someone's mad because i say no that's okay right i'm okay with that yeah because it's not your money you don't get to decide you don't have a vote today we don't do it with sharon and i today we do it through the ramsey family foundation that my daughter runs right and so actually, I just got an email a few minutes ago. She's setting up the annual meeting where we will go through and establish the list this year. And it's not a thing where

from the outside you can do a grant entry to the Ramsey Family Foundation. It's just our methodology of pooling the cash and then 100% of the ministries and things that we choose are something that we somehow one of us ramsey kids ramsey in-law kids me sharing are connected to uh and sometimes it's something we've met this year right but sometimes it's one we've supported for 25 years

you know and we just have continued to do that so again it's a small list but then that way we're able to keep the gifts where they're meaningful. Yeah. In other words, we're not doing 500 gifts of $500. That would drive you bananas at tax time. You know, plus you get everybody coming at you then. Yeah. And, you know, you're like, because once you do that once, it's like that guy's over there, that guy's over there, that guy's over there, that guy's over there.

And all of a sudden you're on six, you know, six charity boards and you're on the board just because they want your money and all that kind of stuff. So you get off into the dark side of this thing really quickly if you're not careful. So keep it to where it's manageable, where you enjoy it. And go ahead and vet the organization. If you're going to give them what you call a lot lot of money then spend a lot of time on it go hey this this place you know like i'll tell you get an example if they borrow money well we can't give to them in our case because that would be a guideline if you're ramsey duh we don't borrow money so why am i going to give money to them so they can give money to the bank that would be dumb

right be inconsistent with who i am as a person, right? Or our family as a people. So that would be an example at our house. Maybe you've got something at your house that you say, you know, if they do X or do Y, we're not going to do that. So you need to investigate. Make sure they're running the thing well. Make sure it's managed well.

Make sure their operating principles are right. So, hey, Roland. Randall, proud of you, man. You're entering a whole other phase. So, hey, Roland. Randall, proud of you, man. You're entering a whole other phase, a whole other gear, baby. Ha-ha! Go, man! Congratulations, brother.

Go! Ha-ha! You're going to have fun. Generosity is the best part of the whole money picture. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, guys. At The Dave Ramsey Show, we really value your input. It helps us to know what's important to you so we can deliver relevant content to help you crush your money goals. We just launched a brand new survey, and we'd love your feedback.

It only takes a few minutes, and you'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. No purchase necessary. Take the survey at DaveRamsey.com slash survey or text survey to 33789. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Kyle and Emily are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Good. How are you, Dave? Right here on the debt-free stage, which can mean only one thing. You're here to do a debt-free screen.

That's right. I love it. Where do you guys live? Ada, Oklahoma. Ada, Oklahoma. Yep. Oh, my goodness. Our CFO, Mark Floyd, here is. Yep. Oh, my goodness. Our CFO, Mark Floyd, here is from there.

Oh, my goodness. And so, yeah, we've got some great Ada stories around here. I'm just saying. I bet. All right, guys. Well, welcome. How much have you paid off? We paid $107,000 off.

All right. How long did this take? About 10 months. Good for you. Ooh. Very cool. And what was your range of income during that 10 months? About $140 to $150. Good for you. Okay. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a nurse practitioner in an emergency department. And I do administrative

work. Okay. So you either had some money in savings to throw at this or you sold something? Well, I wish we had money in savings to start, but we started with nothing. But we sold a few things to kind of get jump started, some small things. But the biggest help was I signed a loan reimbursement contract with the National Health Service Corps, two-year service commitment for $50,000. Oh. That was a big chunk of it. And then the other $57,000 we did in the 10 months.

Okay, that makes the math work. Emily, tell me, what did you all pay off? We paid off a minivan, credit card. And student loans. Student loans. There you go. Lots and lots and lots of student loans. If you had a minivan, you've got to have some little ones.

I hope. Well, we only have two, and it took me a. If you have a minivan, you've got to have some little ones. I hope. Well, we only have two, and it took me a while to figure out needing a minivan for just two. It's sliding doors. But it's been a blessing. Very cool. Well, you got it paid off. That's right. That's great.

So what happened 10 months ago that lit you guys on fire? I'll let her do this. Maybe a trip to Hobby Lobby. Okay. Shortly after my purchases, Carl calls and he says, hey, we don't need to spend any more money. We basically have enough to cover the bills until we get paid again. And I just got off the phone and I felt confused. I felt discouraged because I had just went back to work from being a stay-at-home mom. He had finished school,

started his new position in the ER as a provider. So we had just doubled our income, yet here we were, not enough money by the end of the pay period. So what did you do? Well, I at first started thinking we need to increase our income. And then so my brain said, well, I'll go back to school. And I thought, well, no, then I'll have to take out more student loans. So would it really help? And then I thought, no, we need to change our behavior with money. And I called Kyle and I said, let's pay off this debt. Let's change our behavior with money. Let's do the Dave Ramsey plan.

Let's actually follow it this time. Oh, so you had already knew who we were. Oh, yeah. But it was kind of a ramsey ish or not not even that i found your book at goodwill a few years before oh okay so it's basically a coaster though on the coaster yeah we we read it and we said oh we should definitely do this and at some point we'll do it and now it's time now it's time the hobby lobby trip broke the ice yeah but once she said she's she's ready it, I said, this is our chance.

And the nerd was unleashed. Whoa. If she's on board, I'll do anything. Wait a minute. So who's the nerd? That's me. That's me. I'm the nerd.

Okay. So anything with charts and figuring out the math. I said, I think we can get this paid off in 18 months if we really buckle down. And then, you know, we kept crunching numbers and saying, oh, well, maybe like 13 months or. Would you have considered that service contract if you weren't in this big game that you're in?

I mean, I got to win the game here. Right. I got to knock this out. That's what's going through your nerd head. I know that's the way my brain works. Fortunately, you know, I was able to do it at a place where I was, I'd been working as a registered nurse for a couple years, and that opportunity came up,

and they're one of the hospitals that you're able to do this with. Almost like you were going to be doing it anyway. Yeah, it was perfect. And, you know, now if we would have done it outside of this you know i still don't know if we would have just buckled down and finally done it but um it came at a perfect time i think about five or six months into it wow um and so that was a big big day to get that fantastic i'm convinced god when you start doing smart stuff god looks down and goes oh yeah there's one there's one i can trust okay that's That's exactly right. And he said, I'll give you a little.

But you were kind of dumb before, so I wasn't going to give you any. But I think he does that. I really do. How much was the student loan debt? About 64 was mine, and she had about 3,000 or 4,000. So I did the majority. Wow. She had the minivan.

She had the minivan, yeah. Got to contribute something here. That's right. Way to go, you guys. Did you all have any major cheerleaders throughout this journey? I would definitely say our two boys, Dathan and Miles. Dathan was a huge motivator. Yeah, he's our 8-year-old, and he was on board right from the start from it

and always watched the show and podcast with us and um was in school one day and i had a teacher telling a story about this girl that um wanted to help people in california get solar panels for everybody and um she said you know i'll even help fill out loan applications for him to do all this and he raised his hand in class and said, why would she do that? Like, why would she let them go into debt for this? And we said, and so that was it. I said, we've done it. We've gotten him. Eight years old?

Yep. Eight years old. I like this style. I like this style. She's in California. Yeah. Oh, my God. Way to go.

I love it. He's a big fan. Well, congratulations, you guys. We're very proud of you. Way to go. And you brought the kiddos with you. Bring them in. Let's introduce them fan. Well, congratulations, you guys. We're very proud of you. Way to go. And you brought the kiddos with you. Bring them in. Let's introduce them.

What are their names and ages? So we have Dathan, who's going to be nine in a few days. All right. And then Miles, who's five. All right. Very good. Good-looking boy. Thank you.

Good-looking family. Well, so what do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt is? Definitely for me, it was knowing the why, and my why was for financial peace because every day I wasn't too thrilled about eating a peanut butter and jelly for lunch and not going shopping. So I definitely had to know the why and remind myself of that daily. And mine was the root of it was just being intentional, just intentionality, like waking up every day and we had things to show us our goals and keeping track of all the dead and making sure I, you know, balance the budget every day.

It's not something that was a habit for either one of us and just being very intentional. And again, it goes back to all of it, budgeting, knowing the why, and focusing on it. And you did all of it off of a total money makeover book from Goodwill. Yeah. Oh, and the podcast. The podcast. Yeah, and then we just consumed everything after that. Oh, okay.

All right. Very cool. Yes. So now that you're done, 10 months of real peanut butter and jelly Beans and rice. Was it worth it? How does it feel? Absolutely. Oh, my gosh. We still feel so surreal not having a payment.

I mean, we have our house payment, but not having any other payment in the world is a pretty good feeling. Yeah. Pretty cool. Yep. Pretty cool. And Dathan's not going to let you get solar panels unless you pay for them. Nope. Only case.

Go, Dathan. He holds Only case. Go, Dathan. He holds us accountable. Go, man. Go. I love it. We got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Everyday Millionaires, the number one bestseller. And, of course, that's the next chapter in your story. You're going to be millionaires.

That's pretty cool. How old are you two? I'm 31. 29. Turn 30 next month. So probably by 40 or so, you'll be there. That's the plan. Maybe 37, something like that.

You make good money, you're going to be right there. You don't have to continue to sacrifice at this level, but just continue to be intentional and live it out. And that's what we saw when we studied the millionaire. That's right. Be hyperintentional, get connected with the SmartVestor Pro, and let's walk this thing out, you all. Very cool. So proud of y'all. Very proud.

Well done. Well done. All right, Dathan and Miles, you guys ready? They're all. Very cool. So proud of y'all. Very proud. Well done. Well done. All right, Dathan and Miles, you guys ready? They're ready. All right, here we go. Kyle, Emily, Dathan, Miles, all from Ada, Oklahoma. $107,000 paid off in 10 months, making $150,000 or $140,000 to $150,000. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. One, two, three. We're debt-free scream. One, two, three. We're debt-free! Yeah! Woo! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Oh, that had been rehearsed a few times. I like it.

They're ready. I like it. Well, they had a long drive. Well done, you guys. So when is it going to be your turn? Yeah, I'm talking to you. Yeah, you. It's your turn. When are you going to decide to say never again

and put yourself in a position to win with this stuff? This is the Dave Ramsey personality and number one best-selling author, is my co-host today here on the air. Nick is in Anchorage, Alaska. Hi, Nick. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, how are you? Better than than i deserve how can we help uh my wife and i have about 41 000 left to pay on our house um and we're wondering if it would be a good idea to cash out our deferred comp to help pay that off faster man i would really to, but I'd hate to pay all those taxes. Yeah, let's keep going back and forth. We're just getting impatient, probably. Yeah.

See, the way I look at it is you're probably going to pay out 25%, 30% in tax on that, and it's kind of like borrowing money at 25% or 30% interest to pay off your mortgage. Yeah. And I just wouldn't do that. So we tell people not to cash out retirement unless it's to avoid a bankruptcy or foreclosure, and that's certainly not your case. You're almost done with your mortgage. Way to go, Nick.

Yeah. Nick, how much was this home when you all bought it? We paid $215, but it's probably worth at least $250. You all have been intentional. My goodness. How much are you paying each month toward this thing? Our payment's about $1,250. You all have been intentional. My goodness. How much are you paying each month toward this thing? Our payment is about $1,650.

But you're adding extra, too. Yeah, yeah. We've been chunking away at it. We try to do at least $2,000 a month extra. That's really good. You're going to be done. How old are you all, Nick? I'm 38 and my wife is 35.

Yeah, way to go. Yeah, you're going to be done in a year. They're like unicorns in Anchorage, Dave. Unicorns, because that's awesome. And, Nick, I understand the mindset around it and the irritation, but you want to be smart. Remember, you're playing offense as well as defense. And so let your money keep growing, but you guys keep throwing money at this thing.

I think you'll have this thing out of your life faster than you believe. When you start putting $2,000 to $1,600, that's $3,600 on $41,000. Do the math. You're done in a year. You're probably done in 11 months, actually. But somewhere right there. And when you get close to the finish line,

another thing that happens is they're just going to start just going, ah! Oh, yeah. Sprinting. Knock it out. So you're probably done in 10 months but okay well done sir proud of you janae is in dallas hi janae how are you hello i'm doing well thank you guys for having me sure how can we help um me and my husband are on a disagreement on when to buy a house uh we are completely debt free thanks to your principles in 2013 we paid off $49,000. Way to go. Well, Chris and I are here to tell

you who's wrong. Yes. And Janae... I feel like it's going to be me. Hold on, Janae. You have to agree to go with what Dave and I decide. Do you agree? No. That's so rude.

I think you've been set up, Janae. That's rude. I think you've been set up. Tell us. I was terrified to hear that Chris was the co-host. Uh-oh. He didn't come at me. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. All right. Tell us the scenario. I'm ready now. Okay. So we are currently renting in North Dallas, so housing is expensive. Uh-huh. We are currently renting in North Dallas, so housing is expensive. But my husband would like to save up and buy a smaller house in probably one to two years,

or buy that house and then five to ten years down the road upgrade our house. I would like to wait, put more down on the house by the same price house in seven to ten years okay and in both cases you're debt free and have the emergency fund in place before you buy the house right correct okay all right so darn this is yeah this is not as good as no it's not because this is just like because you're both right yeah you could do either one either one. Either one's fine. It becomes a matter of preference then. So this is the one item on this show that I give advice or, quote, allow people to do that is inconsistent with the way I live. Because I do not borrow money for anything ever in any circumstance no matter what the building we're sitting in was 70 million dollars we paid cash for it we're not going to build it newspaper

headline was ramsey builds at the speed of cash you know because we don't build unless we have the money so you know so my answer would be at dave ramsey's house would be different than we would allow you to do now where you're buying a home on a 15-year fixed with a good, strong down payment, and the payment's no more than a fourth of your take-home pay, you're out of debt and you have your emergency fund, you're in the zone of buy a house. Now, do you want to wait a little longer, buy a different house? Do you want to put more down? Do you want to do a 100% down plan in five years rather than a 20% down in 18 months?

Those are all things you two can decide but neither one of you are in the stupid zone yeah i gotta keep my flag back yeah i gotta keep whatever you tell me we're gonna do it oh whatever janae too late my goodness too late janae i do want to know why are you willing to wait longer before getting the house um because the rental house that we're in provides us a lot more space than a house that we'd be able to purchase oh okay she'd be moving down in space okay and uh so that gives you the ability emotionally to have the patience correct yeah how many kids got? We have two and are starting an adoption process, but would like four. How old are you two?

Right now, three and one. No, how old are you guys, your mom and dad? I am 31 and 33 is my husband. And what's your household income? My husband is the sole worker, and he makes about 85. Okay. So you could, you know, what, what you probably will do is somewhere between your idea and his idea. Just kind of hit the middle because it's still in the smart zone. Neither one of those are going to be done.

You're going to put it on a short term. You're still going to pull off the exact same goals because what you've not used in this calculation unless you're highly unusual is increases in income that you would that will occur during the five to seven year period you didn't consider those did you no yeah so you linearly took your existing income out and used it as your only projection method so you're a little low and so i think you could probably do your plan in five years and uh you probably do his plan and your plan in four years or five years, something like that. And so I'm going to land in the three to five range as a as really just, you know, coming together between the two of you. And because you're both within the range of smart, you're both. This is not a thing where you're you're being silly.

You're being immature because I thought when you called, you know were just going to be i want a house right now i want a house we have 64 000 in credit card debt and two lease cars and i want a house because rent's expensive in north dallas that's what i thought you were gonna do i was ready to pounce you were ready you were over you were growling look at her yeah you were growling you're mean i didn't get you're intimidating i'll stop it because well i well, I mean, she wasn't that caller. No, she wasn't. And, Janae, do me a favor. Talk to your husband.

Hear his heart. Make sure he hears yours. And you guys decide for you. This is not something you need to be at odds. This is about something. Gain agreement. Like, how are we going to do this? And you may find ways to bring in extra money.

He may find ways. And you extra money he may find ways and you guys can surprise yourselves but be aligned and be rowing in the same direction you know what here's a thing to enter into this conversation too i was thinking because that's really smart listen to the heart part of this um because sometimes when sharon and i are talking about this and we're having this argument about what to do when to do it and all that kind of a thing it's not it's oftentimes not what to do it's just when it, and all that kind of a thing. It's oftentimes not what to do. It's just when. And what comes first, what comes second, and that kind of thing. And so I'll just go, okay, on a scale of 1 to 10,

is this a 10 for you, like really a big deal, or a 1? And for her, the space is a big deal, especially with two added kids. Okay, and not being in a cracker box and jammed in there with four little kids. They'll drive you nuts. And uh that's a that's a 10 for her right and he hears that then he goes okay i get that that's the big deal so now we've got to modify the plan that allows us to move into something that has some space right and that might be her time frame to get her space right instead of uh because he's not the one at home with four littles. That's right.

But in his mind, he's wanting to attack something and get out, stop renting. Yeah, he's tactical. He's ready to start owning. It's all tactical. You guys got the perfect blend, Jene. Yeah, this is great. I like this. And you guys will do what's in the best interest of the family.

Yeah. Anywhere from three to five year plan is probably going to be where you guys land. Right. And it's going to be smart and you're going to do well. And, Janae, don't lie to your husband and say we voted for you. Go back and play this for him so he can hear it. Listen to the show. I bet he does because I think he sent her in here.

Oh, my gosh. You shouldn't be having this much fun and be getting paid, too, Hogan. You're going to cut your pay. Don't you dare. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Dave here. We just launched a brand new survey, and we'd love your feedback. You'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. No purchase necessary.

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