The Ramsey Show - App - “Greedy Rich People”: Elon Musk Helps Ukraine Get Back Online (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 28, 2022

Dave Ramsey & Ken Coleman discuss: Elon Musk's helping restore internet access to Ukraine, What to do when you fall off the debt-free wagon. Can you ever invest too much money? Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author of the book Paycheck to Purpose, number one best-selling author of the book Paycheck to Purpose is my co-host today. He also hosts the Ken Coleman Show where we talk about careers and work and loving your job and getting a new job and all that kind of stuff. And of course, we talk about your relationships here, your money here, your marriages here, your parenting here it all shows up here on the ramsey show ken the

other thing we talk about on this show is the horrible awful yes greedy rich people yes i'm so sick of the greedy rich people that are taking over the world and the poor little guy who won't work and go get him a job and make him some money he just doesn't have a chance living in his mother's basement playing mario kart that's right so we need to tax those horrible that's what he's playing it's probably mario yeah they need to give their fair share over to the the greedy rich people should stop being rich yes they should stop being successful yes because we all know that everyone that has money is by definition evil yes it is the answer of we we know this is the answer and the if we if we fix this socialism will do it for us we need to get some socialism and everyone should get a trophy it's true and

no snowflakes should melt that's correct this is true and so everybody ought to have a chance it's just awful these gritty rich people because i know what we try to do ever so often on the show is we try to feature a greedy rich person and the horrible things that they are doing in our culture today. Today we're going to pick on the greedy rich person Elon Musk. Elon Musk says SpaceX Starlink satellites active over Ukraine after a request from embattled countries leaders. He's made his satellite time available to the Ukrainians for free. Yeah. Putin knocked out their Internet, and so he got a direct appeal from the president of Ukraine. He said, sure, hold on one minute.

I'll move a satellite over there. Something you can't do unless you're Elon. Yeah. I can't move a satellite over there. Something you can't do unless you're Elon. Yeah. I can't move a satellite over there. I can't either. You can't move a satellite over there, but we're not greedy rich people. What's that joystick look like, by the way? Like somewhere at SpaceX, somebody's got essentially a joystick or something, or is it all computer keyboard?

I don't know. These are questions I have. Yahoo News reporting, Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion has left parts of the country without internet while SpaceX has launched thousands of communication satellites to bring broadband to hard-to-reach areas of the world. We should bring the internet to hard-to-reach areas of the world because that's what greedy rich people do. Because, of course, we know that those hard-to-reach areas of the world,

those people pay a lot, and they're going to make all their money back. No, they don't have any money, you doobs. Mm-hmm. Okay, so just in case you're wondering. But anyway, users on the ground access the broadband signals beamed back to Earth using a kit sold by SpaceX. While you try to colonize Mars, Russia will try to occupy the Ukraine. While your rockets successfully land from space, Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people.

We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations to address sane Russians to stand. An official from Ukraine tweeted this at Elon, and Elon did. He moved the satellites into place and are making them available to the Ukrainians for free. And this just happens to be, obviously, one of the richest people on the planet, a very well-known brand, and obviously an extraordinary current event. But what I know about a lot of rich people is if the general public, especially all the snowflakes who want the rich to pay their fair share, if they had a scintilla of evidence of how – Look that one up. Look up scintilla.

That's a small number. It is. It's a very small number. It's a micro number. Very small. But if they had any clue how those rich people give every day to do extraordinary things for people, they would shut their mouths and sit down. They just don't have any clue.

You know why? Because good rich people... Don't debate this with facts. Oh, I know. I'm not debating. I'm just laying it out there. You know why? Because good, rich people. Don't debate this with facts. Oh, I know. I'm not debating. Don't use facts. I'm just laying it out there. Don't use actual numbers and research.

That would be, that's not the way you argue things. You're just supposed to be emotional and go on Twitter. Isn't it funny? The irony is, is those are the people criticizing. If you add up what people in North America, in the United States of America, private citizens give to charitable causes and people in need every year. It dwarfs the entire economy of most small nations. Yeah.

But we don't talk about that. No. Because rich people are evil, and they should be punished, and they're not paying their fair share. That's right. Senator Warren is after elon musk because he didn't pay the taxes she thought he should pay that was a mistake because he apparently hits back a little clap back there and wore her butt out but um yeah it's true it's

as we say down in tennessee she bit off more than she could chew there so um there's a problem but uh yeah just one more evil person doing horrible things in the world, making free broadband available to the Ukrainians by moving his own personal satellite over their nation to cause it to... I know. Not something I got up this morning and thought I could possibly do. Yeah, he didn't send... Hey, babe, I think this morning I'm going to move a satellite. Right.

These are not conversations I'm in. No, he didn't ship he didn't say babe i think this morning i'm gonna move a satellite right that doesn't come these are not conversations i'm in no he didn't ship a bunch of food and clothes he moved a satellite or two or three it's extraordinary giving the country internet apparently something the united states of america government couldn't figure out a way to do oh of course not no that was no it's impossible because i'm sure that it begs the question, Dave, are you going to go to space? Are you? Am I going to go? Yeah. Yeah. Dude, I live in space.

You're low. Seriously. This guy, SpaceX. This is going to be going to let me go. Well, it's not about let you. He'll take your ticket. You're going to be able to pay for this in three to five years. It'll be, you know, I'm just asking, would you go if it's affordable in your mind?

I'm looking. I'm waiting on my credit card to frequent flyer miles to build up well then you're not going that's a good one i like that that that would be rich dave ramsey finally gets a credit card so he could go to space not gonna happen oh i don't know ken i think you would you strike me somebody they would try that i just did a i just did my first um about 18 months ago did my first parachute i know i had done this first time i've done what was that like skydiving we've actually not talked about blast it was an absolute adrenaline what was your fear factor on a scale of one to ten i thought i was gonna pee my pants that's what i figured i was gonna be that guy that would be the least of my worries i thought i was gonna be crying like whatever right and you know what i just i i never

got nervous they did such a good job prepping us right and the company was so professional right uh and um and they've got these cool things that they they hook to your parachute that if the guy you're strapped to dies and his doesn't come out, once you reach a certain altitude, it automatically deploys your chute. Right. So I'm like, this is really completely idiot-proof. I mean, there's like four chutes involved. One of them is going to go off. I think I'm going to be okay.

I probably had more risk driving over there than I did jumping out of the airplane. So by the time I got up there, I was excited, but I was not nervous. Now, did you have the instructor? Yeah, that's the only way to do it. Front or behind? With rookies. With rookies. They have to be in, let's see, but I was not nervous. Now, were you, did you have the instructor? Yeah, oh, that's the only way to do it. Front or behind? With rookies. With rookies. They have to be in, let's see, you're in front of them. So you're looking down at no obstruction.

Yeah, we're flying. You're just looking at the earth hurtling at you. It was so fun. Very impressive. It was a blast. I'm going again, yeah. Adrenaline rush, man. I got to the bottom.

We went to eat breakfast. My hands are shaking. Not because I was tired, but the adrenaline dump i could only imagine it was so fun yeah i thought maybe i'll go fly with i think he's gonna go to space i don't know right now i'm just concerned about elon's generosity i can't believe he's an evil rich person of this magnitude you can bless him out when you're on the shuttle with him that's it you know you evil rich people stop your generosity you're giving evil rich people everywhere a bad name. This is the Ramsey Show. Folks, having an ID theft protection plan has just become a necessity in today's digital world.

For you and your children, the risk of being a victim is higher than ever. With all of these devices and time spent online, not to mention the scams and hacks occurring every day, it really is just a matter of time before you become a victim. There are a lot of options out there and even more gimmicks, but the only plan I've ever used and ever recommended for almost 20 years is from Zander Insurance. Zander blends the smartest cyber and prevention services together with monitoring, alerts, stolen funds protection, and white glove recovery services to make sure you get the most thorough protection at the lowest cost. And your kids are included for free on their family plan.

Give Zander a call at 800-356-4282 or visit zander.com to sign up for the smartest, most affordable way to protect yourself. Well, it's tax season, and I don't know anyone who loves that unless you're an accountant. The truth is, most of us dread filing taxes. It makes us mad. It's a pain. It's confusing. And if filing taxes wasn't bad enough, the software most people use hits you with extra fees or worse.

They try to sell you all kinds of products, especially getting you into debt. But filing your taxes does not have to be horrible. We created Ramsey SmartTax to give you software you can actually trust. SmartTax has steps that are simple and clear so you know you've done your taxes right. No more headaches. No more second guessing. We'll never tack on a surprise fee or sell your info to some scummy company. When you sign up for Ramsey Plus, it's even easier.

You actually file your federal taxes on Ramsey Smart Tax for free. And what that means is you go to Ramsey Plus and you need to start a free trial and get into Financial Peace University and get into EveryDollar. And part of that package is when you're in Ramsey Plus, you get to use Ramsey SmartTax free. So that's how you ought to do it. Go to RamseySolutions.com slash Ramsey Plus and start your free trial. RamseySolutions.com slash Ramsey Plus.

Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That means even if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds for free. Free samples, free shipping, and new promos all the time. This is an incredible American company. If you need window coverings, window blinds, use the promo code Ramsey at Blinds.com. Today's question comes from Paul in Virginia. When I went to college 25 years ago for a BS in engineering, it served me well both in knowledge and getting a well-paying job.

My wife and I planned on paying for our 16-year-old son's college education, but we assumed it would end in him achieving a degree. Instead, he's considering a technical certification in audio engineering for live performances. The certification is $12,000, but we are on the fence about whether this is a wise path to pursue. Unlike in my day, good-paying jobs now don't seem to always require a traditional four-year degree. What are your thoughts on a technical certification versus a traditional college-based degree? And would you pay for your kid's technical certification, assuming it was something widely recognized in that industry? Well, the first part of the

question to address is, does the destination scare you, or is it the path to the destination? So what I'm saying here is, as parents, I don't know what's really driving you being concerned about his future. If it is being an audio engineer and being successful, then you can help your son do the research and you as parents can see what does a path look like, where all the different ways that audio engineers can go. Then the certification itself, it's not about is it widely recognized. The issue is, is it absolutely necessary to get your son that entry-level qualification necessary? And so if it is a reputable program that gives a mandatory certification, absolutely, I'm fine with that. But I think the fear here is the destination. And, you know, where do you want your kid to go with a college education?

Because my twofold question for parents is this. Is college the only way for your kid to get where they want to go? And if it's not the only way, is it the best way? If you've got a no to either one of those two questions, then there is going to be another path. And a certification is the way to do it, or it might be a trade school. But ask those two questions and answer those, and it takes away a lot of the fear of the unknown. So the trades and technical certifications are worth more than a lot of college degrees

in terms of getting a career. A diesel mechanic right now is making $100,000. Okay? A master's in social work is making $38,000. Okay. A master's in social work is making $38,000. Okay. So let's just talk this through. I mean, that's what you're, you know, if you're looking at that. And so, but are all college degrees bad?

No. Are all technical certifications superior? No. I mean, you could get a technical certification in making pottery ashtrays and be broke the rest of your life. Okay? Because there's not a big call for ashtrays today. Pottery ones for sure. Sadly.

Okay? Just saying. Unless you live in Sedona, right? But, you know, there technical world or in this particularly in security my internet security uh you make a couple hundred grand and never set foot in a college uh so yeah you can go that route so the question is is not specific not if it's broadly are technical certifications an okay way to go in today's world you dadgum right they actually always have been

yes but no one just admitted it because we were a bunch of college snobs right and college was the only way college was the only way and college the only way and then college became so stinking expensive and people got stupid about the stuff they were studying to the point they've just about invalidated a four-year degree but in four-year degrees are still valid if you study something that's actually applicable in the marketplace. But getting a degree in left-handed puppetry is still stupid, regardless of whether it's a certification or a four-year degree. I don't care what it is. Not a big call for left-handed puppetry.

You're going to have trouble with this one. So this is the problem. So then you go back to this individual question and say, okay, what's an audio engineer's life look like? I live in nashville they live on a bus because they're they're out on tour that's what an audio engineer does in this city unless they're the top of the top and then they're in the studio producing albums that's correct with the producers on the slide moving the slide right and so the audio engineer in that setting they're gonna they're gonna know the mics are gonna be able to put this make the sound happen for the artist and in a town where music it

revolves they got a hard road and they don't make a lot and they're on a bus they're glorified roadie okay except for the best of the best of the best unless you're touring with freaking brad paisley or something okay um or you're in a studio situation and in this town that's what audio engineer means. Now, we've got some in the building that do really good working for us. We're spoken word. We're not as hard to tune up as music is, except for my voice. But anyway, so you've got to look at it and go, okay, what's he want to do

and why does he want to do this? Oh, three of his beer-drinking buddies are hanging out with some band guys. Well, this is a dumb-butt idea then. That's right. Then the concern is valid. But here's the other thing. If you do some research and you find out that, you know, audio engineers are somewhat limited financially,

you've got to be careful, parents. You still don't step on your kid's spirit while still guiding them. So, for instance, dig into why audio engineer. What do you like about the work? Dive in a little bit deeper, and what you might find is some clues. Well, not might. You will find some clues that you can then say to your kid, hey, so you like doing this, this, and this. Here's a couple of other paths that allow you to do similar work that have a greater opportunity.

And all of a sudden, your kid goes, oh, you're not trying to redirect me, Mom and Dad. You're actually diving in to why I love or why I'm interested. Yeah, because if why you're interested is three, your beer drinking buddies think it's glamorous to travel in the back of a bus. Yes. These are people that have not traveled in the back of a bus. That's correct. I've been on buses on tour. I've toured.

Travel is glamorous for people who don't do it. That's what it is. And so it's a pain in the butt. You learn to hate airports and tsa buses and diesel smell you learn to hate all of it it's what you do to get to do the five hours of fun that you get to do when you do actually get to the city and so if they think you know so you need to dig into what is he really looking at here i don't know what he's really looking at i'm just calling out what could be going on with a 19 year old so um you know but but your discussion is a good discussion that's why

we're having it and that is is the technical degree or the technical certification route if it is a valid and booming area of the economy yes i would do that you know i would not tell my kid to go get a four-year degree in information systems right now no i would tell i would tell him to do technical certs and and learn the you know learn programming learn whatever is on technical certs and open up that way it's a lot shorter path and the stuff you're studying on a call on a four-year college campus on in computer science today is outdated. By the time you get out of school, it's completely useless because stuff is changing too fast. And if you're not got your fingers in it all day long right now in the technical world,

you're just out. You're already behind. I know. I can tell you when a computer around here is obsolete. When we get it out of the box, it changes that fast. And so you've got to look at what is going on with the cert. I mean, are you willing to – do do they – you know, welders. Oh, my gosh, what welders are getting paid?

Oh, you can get a kid can start at 50 grand. Got a real hand-eye coordination thing going, spatially intelligent. Man. So there's lots of times we are micro us. We're good big fans of the trades. We're big fans of certs. But all certs aren't good. You need to know where it's taking him.

What Ken was saying was really good advice. Where is it taking him? Where is he going to end up with this path? And then you go about the path if that's what's necessary. This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today as we talk about your life and your money. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the Dead Free Stage, Chris and Brianna are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Good. How are you, Dad?

Better than I deserve. Welcome. Where do you all live? Pensacola, Florida. Cool. Welcome to Nashville. And all the way here to do a debt-free screen. Absolutely. How much did you pay off? $158,704.

Good for you. How long did that take? 21 and a half months. Good for you. Excellent. And your range of income during that almost two years? 120 up to about 160. Good. What do you. Excellent. And your range of income during that almost two years? $120,000 up to about $160,000. Good. What do you all do for a living?

Paralegal. Up until a month before we finished, I was a private investigator, but thanks to Mr. Coleman, I did some networking and used the proximity principles and landed a job with an insurance company. Oh, wow. Very nice. Very cool. It's great that he was here today.

I love it. That's cool. What do you do at the insurance company? I'm a field claims rep now. Oh, good. Good for you. Nice move. Yeah.

Okay, so what kind of debt was this $159,000? Well, we had two credit cards, a car loan, a 401k repayment loan, my student loan, and our home mortgage. You paid off your house! Woo-hoo! Sure did. Look at it, weird people! I love it. What's this house worth?

About $2.65. It's all yours. Yes, sir. All yours. And when we made the last payment, when we we got home we took our shoes off and walked through the grass we sure did and it felt different yes sir it did it's your grass i like it yeah baby so i gotta ask really quick chris there's a lot of emotion on you when you told us that what's that from well before i met her in 2005 i had a both of my kidneys failed. And I was just a broken human being at 38 years old and started all over.

And when I met her, about 2018, we started talking about a life insurance, and it was hard for me to get. It was expensive. And then she'd been listening to Dave for a while. But in 2019, we're on our way to Virginia. And she goes, do you want to listen to a podcast? And I'm like, well, there's no way. You're sneaky.

That's why I argue. So after about 10 debt-free screams, I looked at her and I said, we can do this. And she goes, you think? So in 2019, we were right out here. We went to a concert. I took her to see Hootie and the Blowfish at Bridgestone in September 2019. But on our way home, we pulled out in that parking lot and i said this is where we're going to be as soon as we finish this but um just that feeling when when you have a kidney transplant you think it's all over

and we don't you don't know what you're going to do about life insurance something happens to me she would have to struggle but there's no more struggling there we're free there we are free that's beautiful just like you say dave you live like no one else later you can give and live like no one else i love it's just i wish everyone could feel what i've what we're feeling i wish they could that's powerful man that's great that's powerful so brianna how'd you run into us a friend through church was doing the program and just kind of checking it out so i heard about it that way and started listening to the podcasts.

Okay. And so then you used the old get in the car for vacation sneak attack. Yes, you did. That's a good sneak attack. You're trapped in the car. You can't go anywhere. But it's just amazing. Everyone has their own journey.

And just to know that we made it, We were willing to do whatever it took. But she's taught it three times at our church, Financial Peace. Oh, thank you. Wow. We're true believers. Wow. Very cool. Wow.

That's fun. Good for you guys. All right, Brianna. You're teaching the class. You guys did it. House and everything are paid off. New people come into the class, brand new, and they say, okay, how do you do this? How do you get out of debt?

What do you tell them the key is? Budget, and you've got to work together. You just have to work together. Yeah. Budget, and you've got to work. How long have you all been married? 11 years. This past December was 11 years.

Okay. And how many of those years have you been working together on money? Since 19, since the podcast? Yeah. Two, yeah. So about three years. Three years. Yeah, out of the 11. And now your house has paid off. Yes, sir the podcast? Yeah. Two, yeah. Really? So about three years. Three years. Yeah, out of the 11.

And now your house has paid off. Yes, sir. It sure is. That's pretty key advice right there. Oh, man. It's still surreal when you wake up in the morning. It's hard to believe that you don't have a payment. I don't know anybody.

We don't know anybody, anything. Wow. It's amazing. And he's got a job he likes. Yeah, absolutely. And kudos to you. But you know what I heard there is that you don't fear physical harm anymore because you know she's taken care of. Absolutely. I mean, that's peace.

I know peace is different for everybody. It's very personal. But that's a big deal, man. I imagine you get up with a little extra spring in your step. I can't even describe it. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. This is real. Yeah.

This is real. And Dave, I know people have said thank you and I didn't do anything, but you've provided a roadmap and the passion in which you do it. It's infectious. And we listen every morning. We've listened at dinner.

And those debt-free screams are what kept us motivated. And I think that's what everyone, just keep motivated. It'll happen. And now think that's what everyone, just keep motivated. It'll happen. And now you are one. Yes, we are. Woo-hoo!

Oh, my gosh. Brianna, what was the thing about this that you thought was really going to be hard and it turned out to be easier? You know, I thought that the work that would go into it, that just being together on this, because we had been, you know, we were older a little bit when we got married, and we were very used to being sort of on our own, working hard, but kind of in our own directions. I think it was a little easier to maybe get on the same page than we thought it may be. Rice and beans has nothing on dialysis, I can tell you that. Oh, great statement. let me let me ask you when did in this process did you change jobs uh it was a month before we finished i one of the i was a manager for a private investigative company uh during our journey and about four

months in before i changed jobs i just i was burnt out you know there's nowhere else to go and i'd been talking to one of our clients, told her that I was interested in being a claims rep. And we talked, and she gave me a few ideas, told me I had to tweak my resume just a little bit. And within two months, I had a phone call and interview. How big of a bump did you get? It was about $9,000 and a company car. Hey, all right. Good for you.

Wow, good for you. But it's something i really enjoy and it was something new and it it just challenges me now i mean i've been in that uh bi business for 28 years and just wasn't a whole lot left for me to do yeah way to go you guys so fun well we've got a copy of uh baby steps millionaires that's definitely the next chapter in your story you are on the way. Well done. Well done.

You've got your investments going now, right, sir? Good. So you're heading that way. Good. Good stuff. And a copy of Total Money Makeover for you to give away. Thank you again for leading all those classes. It makes a lot of difference when people have a place to go to a class.

And being a coordinator is a good way to stay on track yourself, but it's also a good way to – a good type of generosity to lead one of those classes. It's a fun thing to do. So well done, you guys. Very, very well done. We're so proud of y'all. Thank you. You're amazing. Woo-hoo!

Paid for house and everything. All right, Chris and Brianna, Pensacola, Florida, 1599,000 paid off in 21 months, making $120,000 to $160,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! We're debt-free! Yeah!

Oh, this is how it's done. Well, it never fails to show up that the Ken Coleman show with getting yourself in the right career from paycheck to purpose shows up in the middle of a debt-free scream. They all work together because this whole thing that we teach at Ramsey works together. It's not separate subjects that happen to bump into each other no i mean it turns out when you enjoy your work you're better at it you make more money which means you can get out of debt faster keep in mind he did it in the middle of their baby steps it didn't throw anything off oh he actually made more money he made more money and that's the whole point we want you to have a bigger show and i gotta say it's just really amazing. You know, when you hear that kind of guttural scream,

when somebody goes through tremendous pain or a tremendous challenge and you get out on the other side, that's the kind of release you see. And it's just beautiful, just really impressive. What a great couple. And, you know, he's talking about motivation. Your why, your why, your why. For him, he didn't want a physical thing to leave his wife in any kind of a tough situation what's your why connect your why to this journey it's going to go fast yeah

and you know the weirdest of all is uh now that there's no dad his health always improves it's amazing yeah although after that scream i do want to have his kidneys looked at this is the Ramsey show Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today as we answer your questions about your life, your money, your career, your relationships. It's all right here on The Ramsey Show. Arnold is with us in Miami.

Hi, Arnold. Welcome to The Ramsey Show. Thank you guys for taking my call, Dave. How are you and Ken doing today? Better than we deserve. What's up? Good to hear. So I found you guys about six or seven months ago, and I'm on baby step six now.

So being at baby step six, obviously my intention is to pay down the home as fast as possible, but I wanted to revisit step number four. So with my current employer, between their contribution and my contribution, I'm at 15%, but it's a pension. So outside of that, I also contribute to 15% in mutual funds. I want to know between the 15% that I'm doing in that pension and the 15 in mutual funds, is that too much? Is there like a calculation where I can determine whether I should be saving more of that money?

So you're saving 30% of your income? Right, essentially. Yeah, that's too much. More than we would recommend while you're in Baby Steps 4, 5, and 6. We would recommend you save 15% of your income, not what your employer puts in, but what you put in. Right. What you put in and whatever you put in is 15% of your household income should be going into retirement at baby step four, and the rest of it starts going on to five kids college if you don't have that or if that's taken care of.

Then beyond that, everything else goes on the house until the house is paid for. Now, this is just temporary for the five to ten years that it takes to pay off your house. When your house is paid off, then boom, you head right on out and you load up everything you max out everything at that point dallas is in utah hi dallas welcome to the ramsey show hey dave can you hear me okay sure what's up hey so i just have a question for you my wife and i are finishing up baby step two currently um we we live in a townhome right now that we bought a couple years ago, but our goal is to buy a house or build a house in the next two years or so. My question is, with all of our credit cards canceled and all of our other credit gone, is that going to drop our credit

score down by just paying our mortgage to where we wouldn't be able to get a construction loan? Love to get your advice on it. Thanks. If you have closed every single thing except your mortgage, you should get a normal – your credit score should almost disappear. But if you just – if you only have a mortgage payment, you should be able to get a loan. You may have to go to Churchill and do manual underwriting because you're kind of a little bit in no man's land because you actually do have an account that's open. It's your mortgage.

So you could be generating some kind of a credit score, and it could be a low one. But what you've got to do is just get someone that's making a loan based on common sense, meaning that here we have a guy debt-free that has all of his income except his mortgage available to pay this loan. And so, yes, you would qualify. But if they only make the decision on a credit score, you may not even have a credit score. So you wouldn't be able to get it then anyway. So you've got to do someone that does manual underwriting. Okay. And would that work for a construction loan as well?

I'm not too sure on that. Well, it depends on who's making the construction loan. Same situation. You may be working with your local credit union who's looking at the actual facts rather than a simple number. The problem with credit-scored lending, and it's showing up everywhere now, it's the problem with a lot of dumbed-down things, is that if people can only make decisions based on the number, they miss out on good customers because they miss out on the nuances of the situation.

For instance, I have a zero credit score and I've got net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars, but I can't borrow money from someone that only makes a loan based on a credit score. So the joke is I can't rent an apartment, but I can buy the complex for cash. You know, so that's the thing you've got to remember about this, and you've just got to decide how you're going to work into it. And you're heading in the right way, but there is no magic pill here. And keeping all your stupid accounts open just to qualify for a mortgage

is a really dumb idea. And really that's what we get into all the time, Ken. Yeah, and here's the deal. He's going to be able to, with the financial direction they're in, they're going to be able to build, they're going to be able to buy. You know, I understand the source of the question, but the reality is people that live debt-free, you can do it. You don't have to have a high credit score. So it's a little bit of unnecessary fear, but that's what the financial institutions have been driving at everybody. It's almost like have a high credit score. So it's a little bit of unnecessary fear, but that's what the financial institutions have been driving at everybody. It's almost like everybody thinks the credit score is the ticket to a beautiful future.

Because they've made it one. They've made it that, but you can do it without it. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. All right, Gabriel's with us in Detroit. Hi, Gabriel. Welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, how are you guys?

Great, man. What's up? Good news and bad news. Hi, Gabriel. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, how are you guys? Great, man. What's up? Good news and bad news. Bad news, a lot of death. Good news. How are you guys? The other bad news is I was here before.

I was a listener. I started the baby steps. And then probably the last two years, I want to say, it just started falling off the wagon, getting back on credit cards, thinking I could pay it by the end of the month. And that turned into, within two years, roughly $35,000 of credit card debt. And I'm at a point where the last six months, it's been extremely difficult to just maintain. So I went the route of consolidating my debt and paying this company who would brokerage a deal. At that point,

you know, seven months into this program, I'm extremely skeptical. I'm extremely skeptical. I'm not as aware as I thought I was of what's happening with the money. And it's like I never really had the reins in the first place, but now for sure I don't have an idea where the reins are. And I'm pretty much at the point where there's no more savings.

How much credit card debt did you run up, Gabriel? $30,000, $35,000. What do you make a year? I make about $70,000, and my wife makes about $25,000. So you have $95,000 household income and $30,000 in credit card debt. Okay. How much is your car debt? Car debt, I have $13,000. And what's that car worth?

There's two. One's a minivan, one's a truck. The minivan is, I own $5,700 on it. It's roughly a $6,000 minivan. The truck, currently it's under repair, so I'm trying to get it back on the road, but that one is probably worth $9,000 or $10,000, and it's at about $7,000 in debt on that one. Okay. And how long have you been married?

Married since 2009, so going on for two years. So you and your wife, you sound kind of depressed a little bit, like down in the dumps. Yeah, that'd be nice. So are you tired enough of the chaos and the disorganization to now fix it? Finally, yeah. Yeah. And hopefully this time for good never go back absolutely yeah okay well i've been where you've been where you are um i've done stupid and

got the opportunity to live through it and um you're gonna okay. But here's the thing. There's a tremendous power and joy in taking control again, cleaning up the mess, lining it up, and starting to knock it off one at a time, one at a time, one at a time. And that's going to involve canceling your contract with the stupid debt consolidation people, getting the credit cards out and cutting them up. We're going to get you on a budget. You're going to sell so much stuff the kids think they're next.

You're not going on vacation, and you're not going into a restaurant. But you knew I was going to say all that, didn't you? Yeah. Now the question is, are you going to do it? Yes. Okay. Then I'll show you how. We'll get you into Financial Peace University.

Hold on. Kelly will sign you up, and I'll pay for it. And the two of you get in there. But by God, Gabriel, this time do it, son. Hold on. Kelly will sign you up, and I'll pay for it. And the two of you get in there. But by God, Gabriel, this time do it, son. Do it. Life's too short to live like this. You're getting a crap beat out of you by this stuff. Time for you to stand back up and shake it off.

Move on to the next thing. I understand. I'm not picking on you for falling off the wagon, but let's go fix it. Last time. Forever. Hold on. Kelly, I'll pick up. Hey folks, Ken Coleman here. Did you know The Ramsey Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world? Get your daily dose of advice on life and money. Check out all of our shows

from The Ramsey Network wherever you listen to podcasts.