The Ramsey Show - App - God's Not Looking for a Chance to Thump Your Head (Hour 1)

Episode Date: December 14, 2018

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Thanks for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Starting off this hour is Kaylin in Denver. Merry Christmas, Kaylin. How are you?

Merry Christmas, Dave. I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I have a question about tithes versus offering. My husband and I are kind of on opposite ends of this discussion. Our church has recently partnered with a ministry called God Behind Bars, and we have about $200 left in tithes for this month, and I would like to earmark it for that ministry. So my husband believes that that's considered an offering if it's earmarked,

even though it's all going to church. So what would your opinion on that be? I think I'd probably work on something else to argue about. I know. The technical answer from a biblical perspective is a tenth of your income from an evangelical's perspective

is a tithe. The word tithe in the Hebrew literally means tenth. So a tenth of your net profits of your business, your taxable income is what I use. I mean, you can argue about it if you want to argue about it, but that's what I use, and it's supposed to go to your local church.

This ministry is a parachurch organization, another wonderful thing that's happening out there, obviously, that you want to support, and that would be separate from a tithe, technically speaking. Tithe goes to your local church. So husband wins the technical argument, but I think I'd find something else to argue about, really. Well, it's not a huge argument. We're just trying to figure out whether or not it would be considered tithe or offering. Well, I mean, again, there's a lot of people have a lot of opinions about the tithe and about giving and so forth.

But the baseline evangelical belief with a mainline church is that a tenth of your income going to your local church is the tithe. And then anything else would be considered offering and and honestly biblically speaking it's hard to find that like it's not in there where there is an offering above the tithe that is not from surplus and uh it doesn't sound like you've got a lot of surplus not right now yeah okay so i i don't think god's gonna be mad at you matter of fact i'm pretty sure he's not either way because you're you know you're being generous you're giving you're helping out i don't get real legalistic about this stuff uh even though i believe in tithing and i believe in uh giving and i believe it's part of your spiritual walk uh but you know i i know people for instance that sit

and recalculate their mutual funds every year and say, well, my mutual fund went up by $1,000, so I'm going to tithe $100. I don't do that. I tithe on investments when I cash them out. Every time a piece of real estate goes up in value, I don't tithe on that increase in value. But there are people that get real detailed and nitsy and real worried about it. I've just got more of a love affair with God than that. And he's my heavenly father, and he's not looking for a chance to thump me. He loves me.

And one of the things is he says, son, if you're going to be a wise boy, you give. And it's really not much more complicated than that. And so I'm going to kind of put a lot of grace for myself and other people over this subject. But if you wanted to get real nitsy and real technical, the tithe is a tenth of your income to your local church. But again, this is your heavenly father who's crazy about you, and he's not looking for a chance to not bless you, just like you're not looking for a chance to not bless your kids if we being evil know how to give our kids good gifts how much more so our father in heaven and so straight out of the scriptures there you go hey thanks for calling in i appreciate the discussion i'm glad y'all are talking about it that's a good

thing uh so then you can decide how you want to do it i'd recommend you give the money to the ministry and you find it in your budget and you know you move on but you do how you want to do it. I'd recommend you give the money to the ministry, and you find it in your budget, and, you know, you move on. But you do whatever you want to do. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Kenny's in Philadelphia. Hi, Kenny. How are you? Hey, Dave.

I'm doing good. I'm kind of nervous. I'm stoked to talk to you today. No troubles. Never lost a patient. How can we help? Hey, so my wife and I, we're living outside of the

Philadelphia area. We're working on a farm right now. Cool. And to be honest, we're not super in love with the work, given that we have a one-year-old and I work pretty much every hour that he's awake. 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. And so we're contemplating a move back to

home, which is Minnesota. And we really want to make the move, but financially it's going to be a little bit difficult. And so we kind of just want to get some insight. Right now we're not paying any rent. We're not paying any expenses for living. And obviously if we moved back, we would have expenses. Do you have a job? I do have a job lined up.

It's making, it would be a pay decrease, but my wife would be able to work if we made the switch. Right now, she isn't able to work more than a few hours a week. And if she works, when she does, it's overnight. So what do you make now? Right now, I've been working this job for like eight months, I don't know an annual, but it's around $11 an hour. But I work about 60 to 70 hours a week. Okay, all right.

And so you would be making what if you move? Anywhere from between like 40, around 42. Uh-huh. Okay. And then my wife would also go to work, which would help, but we're just kind of wanting the best, wisest decision way to do that. Okay. Unless I run my calculations wrong, you're not taking a pay cut.

Well, if you consider rent, we'd have have to pay rent which we don't pay anything right now yeah but your actual pay goes up true that that is that is true okay which and i think there is more upside it's kind of a dead end where i'm at i'm just kind of a farm hand with okay well you don't like the work you don't like the hours you don't like the pay you want to move and make more money and be near your family it's kind of a no-brainer do it sure sure i mean load up the truck and head to beverly okay then um okay yeah well i mean that makes us feel more i mean more at peace about it even though yeah the rent was kind of like the uh that's that sucks having to pay rent. Yeah, it does. But what you've got sucks more is what you're telling me. That's super true.

That's super true. You've got upside. You've got more money. You're near family. It's work you want to do. Your wife can work. I mean, your household income is going to go up substantially overall, even net of rent with her working as well.

So, yeah, you're moving. It's just a matter of how you scratch it together and pull it off as cheap as you can. You may have some family drive over to Philly and help you load up and haul over there, I guess. I don't know. Whatever you can do to make it happen cheap, on the cheap, stash some money away, whatever. Even if you had to live in somebody's basement for a month after you get over there until you scrape together a little money to go get, you know, if it's a little difficult, by this time next year, you're in a better position.

Either way. Hey, thanks for the call, man. Merry Christmas to you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Can you believe this real estate market? Home shopping has become so competitive. There's a ton of new buyers in the market, and bidding wars are the new normal. Folks are under a lot of pressure to offer more money to get into that house. Don't do that. Get certified instead. The Churchill Mortgage Certified Home Buyer Program is a game changer.

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NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender. 761 Old Hickory Boulevard, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you are here. Jim is with us in New York City. Hi, Jim. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show.

Thank you, Dave, for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Dave, I have a question about whether to buy a single family house versus multifamily house. Basically, I am 51 years old. I don't have about $250,000 in my retirement and we're single income making about $120,000 a year. And eight years ago, we bought our first home, which it's about 40, the payment and all the housing costs. It's about 40% of our net income.

And we have about $100,000 in equity in this house. cost. It's about 40% of our net income. And we have about $100,000 in equity in this house. And we want to sell our house and cash out the $100,000 in equity. And what's your take? You know, what we should do is should we buy a single

family home and buy a lesser home and then try to be done with the mortgage payment sooner? Or should we buy a multifamily home that may cost a little bit more, but over time it will build up more equity for our retirement? Well, it needs to be something that you can get to where it's more affordable than where you are now, for sure.

It sounds like you're looking at a more expensive multifamily than single family for some reason or another. I mean, apples to apples, if you're looking at a, I don't know, $200,000 properties, $300,000 properties, $400,000 properties, whatever, in most areas of the country, a single family will go, if everything is exactly the same, which it never is in real estate, but if everything were exactly the same, the neighborhood, quality of construction, prestige, all of that, a single family typically has more of a market than a multifamily on resale, which means it's going to appreciate a little bit more. Now, if you got a multifamily in a better area, more prestigious, whatever, it's going to go up more than a

single family in a not so good area or not as good area, whatever. So, again, that's the problem. It's almost impossible to find an actual situation where a multifamily is in exactly the same situation as a single family. But all things being equal, if they ever were, the single family in general is going to have more market for resale in most markets. New York City is a different market, though. And so there's a lot more multifamily in that area.

And so, you know, you're not going to see as big a differentiation as you might an area that's very, very heavy single-family and light multifamily. In that case, you know, multifamily could be a mistake. You've just got to look at it, and you've got to analyze the exact market that you're looking in, the particular neighborhoods that you're looking in, and those kinds of things. So it's just whatever's going to serve your family the best. As long as you've got a good, strong area on either one in your market, you're going to be fine. And as long as you've got something that you can afford, you're going to be fine. Stephen is with us in Augusta, Georgia. Hi,

Stephen. How are you? I'm good. How about you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I appreciate taking my call. I have a quick question. I know a lot of time you talk about not cashing out a 401k. That's not my question. But the question is, is the company that I work for, they have options where you can borrow from your 401K? Yeah, most do. With a very low interest rate? Yeah, and you pay yourself back. Right.

Do you think that's a bad idea to do that? Yes, really bad idea. Even to pay some credit card debt off that has high interest rates? Yeah, really bad idea. And here's why. Really? A couple reasons. Number one, you're unplugging a good mutual fund that will make about three times what you're paying yourself.

Number two, when you leave your company, and you will leave your company, whether you get a raise and a better job, whether they fire you or whether you die, at some point you're going to leave this company. And if that loan is still outstanding, it's considered an early withdrawal. And you will be taxed and you will be penalized as if it's an early withdrawal. I don't tinker with it. I don't mess with it. No, I do not borrow on 401ks ever for anything.

As a matter of fact, our 401k plan here at our company, we do not even offer loans as an option. We just check the box, no loans. And since I own the company, I can do crap like that. So you can't borrow on your 401k if you work here, period, because it's such a dumb idea. So I hope that helps you, man. Thanks for calling. Brendan is in South Bend, Indiana.

Hey, Brendan, how are you? Good, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can I help? Yeah, so I'm graduating in May, and my grandparents have put aside money for college each year. Your phone is breaking up. You're going to speak directly into it.

Hello? Speak directly into your microphone on your phone, please. Okay. Thank you. My grandparents put aside $50,000 a year for my tuition, and I haven't used all of it. And when I graduate in May, I will be receiving $100,000. And I was wondering what you thought I should invest in. I'll probably end up getting a place of my own, but there'll still be money left over. Sure. Are you 100% debt-free?

Yes, I am. I don't have any bills. I live with my parents. What's your degree in? Marketing. Very good. Cool. Good for you. Congratulations. Well, I think when you graduate, I would just take the money and you can either think about what you want to invest in long term or use it out however you want. A portion of it needs to be your emergency fund. You should have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses.

Then get settled into your new place. And, you know, I probably just rent for a little while straight out of school. Not a long time, but just get you a little apartment and get settled. The thing is there's no rush for you to buy a home if you want to park that money in a mutual fund and say sometime in the next four or five years i'm gonna buy a home that's probably what i would do with it and not worry about and then just start your retirement at your new company or start your retirement with a automatic withdrawal out of your income from your checking account for your Roth IRA or whatever.

But just make sure a portion is set aside, a separate little account for your emergency fund. The rest of it I would invest in a mutual fund. Probably something like just a no-load index fund because it's a short-term park. You're not going to leave it there 20 years. You're going to leave it there three or four, five, six years until you move to the next phase of your life, at which point you probably will buy a home or buy a piece of real estate to live in. But for today, that wouldn't be my plan.

Hey, thanks for the call. What a beautiful place you're in. What a great position that your family has left you in. That's just amazing. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Guys, we've been talking a lot about the millionaire's mind around here. How does the millionaire's mind work? Well, it's got a lot to do with focusing on the little things.

These everyday millionaires, one of the things they do is they do some nerdy stuff, grown-up stuff. They think about their coverages. They think about the defense as well as the offense. The offense is where you're building wealth, investing. The defense is stuff like wills, insurance policies, the right kind of stuff, not getting caught up in gimmick ripoff insurance, but getting the right kind of stuff. And, you know, the everyday millionaires just think long term and that requires you go there. So here's what I want you to do.

We've got a thing that we got a five minute coverage checkup that will help you. It's not tedious. It takes five minutes and you'll know where you stand on some of these millionaire things that they do. Are you doing the stuff that it takes to be a millionaire? And this is one of those things. So get out your phone. It's completely free. It's a five-minute checkup.

Text the word CHECKUP to 33789. CHECKUP to 33789. And up to 33-789. And then you'll be in a position, you know, it takes about five minutes to do this thing, and you'll be rocking with it. You'll know exactly where you stand. You're going to be in great shape. Open phones this hour at 888-825-5225. Merry Christmas to you.

Some of you are reaching the end of your Christmas budget. You've almost spent the money that you had allocated for Christmas. You know what you do when you run out of money? You go home and stop spending. You're not in Congress. Stop it. Stop it. The reason for the season can't be found at the mall.

It's okay to get some stuff at the mall, but when you're done with your spending and money, go home. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Did you know, statistically, when it comes to life insurance and protecting your family, that women are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured than men? This doesn't make any sense. Women make up half the workforce, contribute mightily to family incomes, and in many cases are the breadwinners and take care of their families 24 hours a day. This is one of the most overlooked areas when it comes to financial planning. Maybe it's a relic of the past, but a

loss of income or the need to replace family care is equally important for women as it is for men. Single moms, working moms, and stay-at-home moms all need term life insurance. Rates are actually lower for women, which is why I send you to Zander Insurance. They shop the top term life companies to find the lowest rates available. You can compare rates online at Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. This is something every family has to deal with. That's Zander.com or 800-356-4282. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Angela is here. Merry Christmas, Angela.

Merry Christmas to you, Dave. Welcome. Where do you live? I'm from Raleigh, North Carolina. Cool. Good to have you. And all the way over to Nashville to do your debt-free screen. Yes. Very good. And how much have you paid off? I paid off $35,000, and that was in 30 months.

Good for you. Thank you. And your range of income during that time? And how much have you paid off? I paid off $35,000, and that was in 30 months. Good for you. Thank you. And your range of income during that time? I started around $42,000, and now I'm about $57,000. Cool. What do you do for a living? I actually work in the collateral department at an investment bank.

Oh, good. Okay. And what kind of debt was the $35,000? Oh, gosh. So it was like a couple hundred dollars in a credit card that I paid off every month, but it just kind of kept leaving me a little bit behind every month. And then there was $5,000 and a car, and the rest was student loans. Oh, okay. So about $30,000 in student loans.

Sally may have been hanging out a while. Oh, yeah. How long ago did you graduate? So I graduated in 2014, so it's only been like four years. Okay. But two and a half years ago, something happened. What happened? Yeah, so actually, I've been listening to the Minimalist podcast.

Yeah. And they talked about you in like one of the very first episodes that they did. And so I was like, oh oh maybe i'll check them out because with my credit card i kept ended up being like a couple hundred dollars behind every paycheck so i was like i'm spending money like that i haven't gotten yet i'm like two weeks behind so i checked out your show and i I was immediately hooked on the podcast. Wow. Yeah, and that's what I've been doing pretty much the entire time. I haven't taken FPU. I haven't purchased any of the books or anything like that. It was just through the podcast.

That'll do it. That's fine. That's great. I'm proud for you. Yeah, thank you. Very cool. Very cool. Well, congratulations.

You have no doubt. How does that feel? I know. It's so crazy. It was awesome to get a haircut. It was really nice. And get my nails done. That was one of the first things I did.

I was like, I'm getting my haircut because I've been cutting my own hair for two years. Oh, okay. Yeah. Me too. Yeah. Very good. Very cool. That's neat.

So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? I mean, you pay off $35,000 making $42,000. Yeah. Well, the budget is what everyone says. And it's definitely true. I was a total nerd about it. That's definitely, you know, I work in finance. Like, numbers, it made total sense to me.

But I would say if you are not that kind of person, you need an accountability partner to get you through all of that. I mean, you need someone who is telling you, like, you know, just think things through. Like, if you want to get some, you know, something at a restaurant, like, think about how much you would spend if you just cooked that yourself. And just think about it like that. I mean, you can't, you know, kind of do it alone. Right, right. Well, very good. Yeah.

Congratulations. Who was your biggest cheerleader? So I would say my boyfriend, Grant. He's been with me the total way. He's on his own debt-free journey. All right, go Grant. Yeah. Yeah, so he's been helping a lot.

And also, my parents have been super supportive. They are really frugal as well. So getting me on that board, they were pretty happy for me. Yeah. Neat. Very fun. Yeah. So, I mean, minimalist podcast, Ramsey podcast.

There it is. One-two punch. Yeah. Yeah. That's definitely the lifestyle. I like being in a success story with those guys., two, punch. Yeah, yeah. That's definitely the lifestyle. I like being in a success story with those guys. They're great guys. Yeah, yeah.

That's very fun. Well, congratulations. Thank you. We are very proud of you. Well done. Thank you. Very well done. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired.

Awesome. Number one bestseller. And when you get back home in January, we'll send you a copy the first week of January of Everyday Millionaires. Oh, wow. Awesome. Because you are going to be one. Yeah.

You're on your way to being an everyday millionaire for sure. And we'll show you. That's the next chapter for you. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You got out of debt. Now you don't have any payments. You know how to budget and make the money behave.

And now we go build wealth and be generous, right? For sure. So well done. Thank you. Good job. All right. It's Angela from Raleigh, North Carolina. Listen to these numbers.

$35,000 paid off in 30 months. Single lady making $42,000 to $57,000. This is real. That was beans and rice. She was on it, baby. She was on it. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. I'm debt-free. That's it right there. That is how it's done. Oh, man. Fabulous. Congratulations. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in. We'll talk about your life, your money. Lee is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Lee. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

Hey, so my wife introduced me to you about a month and a half ago. You know, we had expensive cars, and, you know, we're trying to get to the right path of financial success. Good. And we sold the cars. I wasn't convinced 100%, but after listening to your podcast, reading your book, I'm now 100% convinced. Cool. Like I said, we sold both of our cars, got cheaper cars. And one's paid off.

The next one will be paid off by february good and the question is after so we'll be at baby step number three right and we have a house and we have pmi right and for us to remove pmi we need to do fifty five thousand dollars and principal reduction payments to remove it well do you recommend doing that first before the emergency fund? No. No. Baby steps four, you get your emergency fund done because we don't want you to have an emergency with no money laying around. That ends up being new debt. Once that's done, then we're, of course, moving to baby steps four, five, six simultaneously,

and that's 15% of your income going into retirement. If you've got kids, kids college. And then number six is you start beating on the house with any other money you can find. As you do that, you're going to knock that 55 down. And as you knock that 55 down, then, of course, the PMI will go away if you get it down to goes up in value while you're doing this and you can um convince the mortgage company to allow you to reappraise the property and drop the pmi based on that they can do it either way some will some won't but it's a little tough to get them to do sometimes but i'm gonna fight with them and push it on through now you need to get your investing

started get your emergency fund in place get your investing, and then just start chunking on the house. You're going to get there. You're going to get there. You're on it now, man. You're game on. And you're going to be amazed at how fast this all unfolds. Hey, good question. Thank you for joining us.

Merry Christmas. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Catherine is on Instagram with about 1,100,000 of you. Dave, when you say save for 15% retirement, is this 15% of your monthly income starting now until we retire? How do we know when to stop? Why would you stop? It's 15% of your income going into retirement until you've got your kid's college done,

which is the next step, and you've gotten your house paid off, which is the next step. When your home is paid off, we would increase how much you're putting into retirement, not decrease it. How much money do I save? How wealthy do you want to be? I mean, you can stop saving and consume all of your income at some point if you want to. I don't recommend it. I still save and invest every month. I still give every month.

I still spend every month. Give, save, spend. Give, save, spend. You always need to have something budgeted for all of those no matter how wealthy you become you're always investing you're always giving and you're always enjoying money which is called spending so there's not really an end to it uh john wesley the great evangelist said make all you can save all you can give all And, you know, that's a good rule right there. It's work, give, save, spend. Work, give, save, spend.

And that's what we even teach little kids to do with Financial Peace Junior. We'll teach them to work. Put them on allowance. No. Put them on commission. Allowance is welfare. We'll make allowance for you. You're perfectly capable.

We think you're awesome. You're capable. When you work, you get paid. When you don't work you. You're perfectly capable. We think you're awesome. You're capable. When you work, you get paid. When you don't work, you don't get paid. That's why we put our kids on commission growing up. Work, give, save, spend. Work, give, save, spend. That's the deal. And you can change your ratios, whatever you want to do at any time. You're in charge. But I would be saving 15% or more of my income the rest of my life if I were you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Laura is in Tampa, Florida. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Laura. Thank you, David.

What's up, kiddo? How can I help? Well, I left the job I was at for three years, and they had a 401K. It was a raw 401K. I have about $4,400 with them, and I have right now the option to either buy out or transfer it into a new account, which I would have to go create. And so I'm kind of in a little, I don't have any savings right now, and kind of paycheck to paycheck.

Yeah. Okay. now and um kind of paycheck to paycheck yeah okay well i would get on i would get on a written budget and um you know what you need to do is just jump on dave ramsey.com and that the click on every dollar and that'll help you get your budget going and that'll keep the paycheck to paycheck down and help you start to get control of that part of it. As far as an old 401k, anytime you leave a company, we suggest that you roll your old 401k to a personal IRA with a direct transfer rollover. Now, the way you do that is you get with a broker. Click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com if you don't have a broker. And once you've done that, then you sit down with them and you figure out what you're going to do in terms of which mutual funds you want to put it in.

And you roll it over with a direct transfer rollover. and that means that money is going to be sent not to you, but it's going to be sent from your existing 401k directly to an IRA and directly to the mutual fund company that you picked out for your IRA. That's how you're going to do it. So good question. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in.

We'll talk about your life and your money. Alex is with us in Fort Lauderdale. Hey, Alex, how are you? Hi, Dave. Thank you for taking my call, and Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas to you. How can I help? Okay, my question is, I owe $11,000 on my car.

So starting January, I could send about $700 towards the balance. But should I send it all towards the balance or like half to the balance, half to the principal? The balance is the principal. So what is your interest rate on this loan? It's $3.74. Okay. Just call the company and ask them how you can best apply it to the principal. What is the best method for you to get it to go to principal?

Do they have an online pay app? Yes. Usually those will have extra principal payment slots or blanks that you can fill in on the website typically. But I would get in touch with them, and I'd just ask them exactly how to do it so that it all goes to principle, 100% goes to principle. That is the balance. It is the principle balance, so the same thing. Balance principle means the same thing.

You do not want to prepay payments because you're paying interest then that you didn't need to pay. And because the interest is not due yet. So we're going to pay, just reduce the principal, reduce the principal, reduce the principal, reduce the principal as fast and aggressively as you can. It sounds like you're going to have that car paid off in well under a year. So very, very well done. Jonathan is with us in Lexington. Hey, Jonathan, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave, and Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you. How can I help? So a few months after I was born, my mom took out a whole life policy on me, and every year has been paying it since. I'm 27 now. Me and my wife, we've got about $92,000 in consumer debt on a combined income of about 90. We've made some mistakes. My question for you is, can I approach my mom, ask her to cash out that whole life policy,

which it says the total cash value is about $7,300. Yeah. And I guess after taxes, apply that to our debt. Well, there won't be any taxes. Because your basis in a whole life policy is what you've paid into it, and she's paid a lot more than $7,300 into this. So it'll be a loss. It won't be a gain.

She's going to argue with you because she thinks she has saved money wisely and while she is not right okay me and my wife we um i have a term life insurance policy we've got it kind of maxed out through her employer um but i it's still not enough um for the 10 to 12 times our income. You need to get the proper amount of term insurance in place, and then you need to cash this out. Now, are you not in control of the policy? Is she not already turned it over?

You're 27 years old. I'm the direct beneficiary, but she's still the payer. Okay. Who's the owner? I am. Okay. If you're the owner, you can cash it out anytime you want. You've just got to deal with the relationship aspects of this, though, meaning you're going to have to sit down with her and go, Mom, I'm not wasting this money.

We're working a plan to get out of debt. Thank you for thinking of me all these years, and we're going to move forward without this policy and i just i want to honor your intent and your intent was to make us prosperous and we are on our way to doing that because we're paying off this ninety thousand dollars in debt how much are those cars uh one it's uh nine uh nineteen but cars worth about ten okay so it's not cars. What is it, student loans? Got 21 in credit cards, that 19 in a car, and then 36 in student loans. That's. Oh, and 10,000 in a new HVAC unit. Oh, okay. Yeah.

So are you through borrowing? Yes. We went to Financial Peace University a few months ago, graduated from that. Good. Yeah, we'll just walk her through that, as I hope you can, without hurting her feelings, because she's probably, from an emotional standpoint, very invested in this policy. She is also invested, without a doubt, money in this policy. But she's put more than $7,300 into it, which shows you how bad these things suck.

The fact that she's going to get zero, you're going to have no gain. The thing didn't even make as much as you put into it, which is just ridiculous. That shows they're just horrible. That's just never buy cash value insurance, people. Never. Never. Never. Never.

Never. Not for your little kids. Not for your grandma. Never buy insurance that has an investment component to it. You're always. These never and always are big and complete words. Never buy it. You're always better off investing anywhere else.

Buy term life insurance. That's all you're doing. Inexpensive, 10 to 12 times your income, 15 to 20-year level term life insurance. Click Zander Insurance. Get a quick, easy quote. It's the cost of a dadgum pizza. And it costs about one-twentieth, about 5% of what cash value insurance costs. If that poor lady, that sweet lady, his mommy, had put the same amount of money in a mutual fund, he would have $73,000 right now instead of $7,300 or more, probably more.

I don't know the premium amount, but I'm just saying that's how the case studies will work out when you run the actual compound interest. And so she put more than $7,300 into the policy. You know what that means? She would have been better off putting the money in a cookie jar. She would have ended up with more. He's going to get out less than she has put in. You understand that? I mean, if that doesn't suck, I don't know what does.

This is a bad idea, boys and girls. And yet people still buy Gerber life insurance policies. I mean, buy baby food from the same people you buy life insurance investment products from. That should have been a hint. You know, really. That should have told you right there that you had a problem. No, no, no, no. Sweet lady, well-intentioned, got screwed by the insurance industry again.

There it is. Hope I wasn't unclear. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Thanks to James Childs, our producer, Kelly Daniel, our associate producer and phone screener. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, and we'll be back. Hey, it's Kelly Daniel, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. Did you know that in 2017, Dave Ramsey Show listeners paid off $50 million of debt? That's pretty impressive.

And it could be you this year. Keep listening for more inspiration.