The Ramsey Show - App - His Dad Took Out $70K in Parent PLUS Loans and Didn’t Tell Him

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

🤔 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Think you’re good with money? Take our Money in America quiz! Ken Coleman and Jade Warshaw answer your questions and discuss: “Should I be paying off the Parent PLUS loan my dad took out?” “My husband and I feel behind. We don’t have a house or retirement savings and we’re $50,000 in debt” “Should I switch to a job that will pay more but I will enjoy less?” “We have money to pay off a car loan but also have a newborn, is it wise to pay off the car loan now or should we wait?” “I was recently laid off from my job and have an opportunity to help a scrappy startup. Should I take it?” “How do we teach our 6 year old daughter about contentment?” “My mom recently passed away and I am taking care of my siblings that are still minors. What should I do with her house?” “Should I use $8k from savings to publish my book?” “I’m living in a one bedroom apartment and about to have our second child. What should our next housing move be?” “I have $50,000 in savings at 21 years-old and I’m unsure what to do with it” Next Steps:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 weekdays from 2–5 p.m. ET or⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠send us an email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📱 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get episodes early in the free Ramsey Network app! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💵 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🛡️⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Protect yourself with trusted insurance coverage that fits your budget⁠ 🎁 ⁠You could win $5,000 in the Ramsey Christmas Cash Giveaway! Enter today.⁠ 📘 ⁠Preorder What No One Tells You About Money today now and get $100+ in bonus items.⁠ Connect With Our Sponsors: Stop paying more and start shopping smarter at ⁠⁠ALDI⁠⁠ Get 10% off your first month of⁠⁠ BetterHelp⁠⁠ Go to ⁠⁠Boost Mobile⁠⁠ to switch today Go to⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Casper Sleep⁠⁠ and use promo code RAMSEY to learn more Learn more about⁠⁠ Christian Healthcare Ministries⁠⁠. Get started today with⁠⁠ Churchill Mortgage⁠⁠ Get 20% off when you join ⁠⁠DeleteMe⁠⁠ Go to⁠⁠ FAIRWINDS Credit Union⁠⁠ for an exclusive account bundle Debt collectors hassling you? Take back control of your life at ⁠⁠Guardian Litigation Group⁠⁠ Find top health insurance plans at ⁠⁠Health Trust Financial⁠⁠ Use code RAMSEY to save 20% at ⁠⁠Mama Bear Legal Forms⁠⁠ Visit⁠⁠ NetSuite⁠⁠ today to learn more For more information, go to ⁠⁠SimpliSafe⁠⁠ Get started with ⁠⁠YRefy⁠⁠ or call 844-2-RAMSEY Visit⁠⁠ Zander Insurance⁠⁠ for your free instant quote today Explore more from Ramsey Network: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Ramsey Show Highlights⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🧠 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Dr. John Delony Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🍸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Smart Money Happy Hour⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💡 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rachel Cruze Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💰 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠George Kamel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🪑 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📈 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EntreLeadership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Normal is broken common sense is weird, so we're here to help you transform your life from the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio. This is the Ramsey show. The phone number to jump in is AAA 825-5-225. Alongside the fabulous Jade Worshaw, I'm Ken Coleman. We're here together. She's going to help you save and spend the money. I'm going to help you make more money. That's my role here on the Ramsey show.

I got to remind people from time to time. I like that. We're going to help you win at work. Two ways to win with money. We've got to make sure we're controlling the outflow and we want to get more inflow, if you will. So there it is. That's how we tag team. We start off with Bill, who is joining us in New Jersey.

Bill, how can we help today? Hi, guys. How are you doing today? We're doing well. What's going on? So, yeah, I'm calling because I'm in a bit of a situation here with some college loans that I have, some student loans that are, they're parent plus loans, though, so they're under my father's name, but I'm the one paying them. There are about three different loans, they total to about 70K in total between the three. And they have about 7% interest rate.

At the moment, I've been paying about $4.50 a month on them. But I just did the calculations. And with the interest rate, it doesn't look like I'm going to be paying them off anytime soon with that. So I was just looking for some guidance there on what to do. All right. I do have some other debts as well. Obvious question.

These are these loans your dad took out were for your education. True or false? True. Okay. And what are you doing for a lot? living? At the moment, I'm a manager out of Jersey, Mike. I actually ended up dropping out during COVID. They wanted me to pay full tuition for online classes, and I was not about that. What were you in school to do?

Originally, I was a biochem major, and I was planning on a clean med track, but that first year, I really did not enjoy it, and I decided, all right, I'm not going to want to do this the rest of my life. happy I got out then instead of going into more debt for a medical school. And then, you know, I was kind of in like an in-between area, and then we all got sent home, and, you know, I didn't end up picking anything. So what are you making now at Jersey Mikes? I make about 90K a year. Okay, and that's a management position?

Yes. Okay. Do you have any other ideas for your future? I would like to go into franchising and continue with the quick service. Okay, so you found your spot. That's cool. That's great. Yeah, no, I love it.

I came back after over COVID fell in love. We realized this is what I want to do. Okay, great. That checks that box. So now we can, we bring Jade in here and we start going again. Let's knock this out. Let's get her the full picture. Beyond the 70,000 in over three student loans, what other debt do you have?

Give us the full picture. So I have about 4,500 on a credit card. I've been pretty aggressively or trying to aggressively paying that off at the moment. I do also have about 3,000 left on a car loan. Okay. And I also have 9,000 of my own student loans as well. So tell me, what was the deal on the student loans? Did you know from the beginning that you were going to be on the hook for those parent plus loans,

even though it was just your dad's name on the note? I did not know they existed. Oh, how did you find out? Yeah, so because my uncle is a co-signer on them. And so I was paying the ones that were in my name, and I was doing that all. Actually, I started paying them early before I even had to because I did not want them gaining more interest and, you know. So it was your uncle and your dad, your uncle. and your dad took these out?

Yeah, so my dad took them out and my uncle had to co-sign on those loans for them. How did you think education was being paid for? When you were shown up for class, in your mind, how was it being paid for? So I knew I had to have some loans, but when I was selling out the, like, FAFSA and doing that stuff with my dad,

I was under the impression that I had, like, grants and that it was, you know, that I had gotten assistance from the school. So you thought the 9,000, a lot more. You thought the $9,000 was it and everything else was grants and help. So the $9,000 is what's left. It was originally 20.

Got you. But I've paid it down to nine so far. So how did it come to be that you're paying for loans that you didn't even know were being taken out? How did that happen? Did your uncle call you up? Dad called? Yeah, I got an email from my uncle saying, you know, like, hey, why haven't you been paying your student loans? And I was very taken aback to those.

like I have been like I started doing it early I don't know what you're talking about I showed them my loans as well and then you know he pulled up what he had and he showed me no they're past too like I don't know what you're listen this is and then we figured it out and then my father finally was like oh yeah like I had to do that listen I I'm not in the business of uh splitting up families or you know trying to cause drama between families this is so um this is so messed up it's really messed up It's a polite way of saying Yeah, it is

And I want to know But it might not be as messed up If I hear your side of it In your mind, are you like This is my responsibility I'm happy to pay it It was my education It makes sense to me

Jade, I'm cool Or is this something that causes you A bit of resentment and anger And Is it problematic for you emotionally? Half and half I'm actually not going to let it In between my relationship

With me and my father and then he means been a great dad, you know, nothing like that. I was definitely a little frustrated with him because about two years ago, I was looking to move out, and I did end up moving out. But before I did, a similar situation happened with my brother as well, where he had student loans that he was not aware of that my father did also take out. I don't know if they were under his name or under my brother's name in that situation. but, you know, I just remember him being pretty upset, not knowing about those.

Yeah. So before I moved out, I went to my father and asked him, I was like, hey, do I have any other student loans that I'm not aware of that I should be paying right now before I move out? Because if I did know that I had this 70K, I probably would not have moved out when I did. I would have stayed home and tried to put more of my resources towards these to get them paid down. And how long after the fact, how long after the fact that they were due, did you find out about him? Because, you know, after six months, they become due upon graduation. So how long? Yeah, I think there was, there was some, like, I forget what it was called, but they were, like, pushed back because of COVID and there was a lot of stuff there.

And you didn't know all that time, all that time that you could have been paying them off interest-free, you didn't know about them. I did not know about them. Let me tell you, I'm going to be flat out honest with you. I love relationships. I love that you are honoring your parents. This is bothering me. Now, if you tell me, this is your life so you can decide. If you tell me, Jade, I'm just going to go ahead and pay it.

Can you please move on with the advice? Fine. The advice would be for me, you need to take all the debts, credit cards, car, student loans, list them smallest to largest. Based on what you told me, we need to be tackling the car first. All your extra money after you've paid minimum payments, all the extra needs to go on that car, knock it out fast. And then next would be the credit cards.

Next would be the student loan. And then you'd start tackling the $70,000 student loan in chunks. But if it were me, I'd be having a serious conversation. And at the very least, I'd say, I'm paying half of this because I didn't know about it. And I had an opportunity to take care of it when there is no interest. And you didn't do me the service of even telling me about it. So you're on the hook for half. And it's not in your name.

I agree. Well said. Amen. Pass the plates. Jenny is up next in Atlanta, Georgia. Jenny, how can we help today? Hi, thank you so much for taking my call. Sure.

I'm a little nervous. You're doing great. We're going to take good care of you. Thank you. My husband and I are getting a late start. We don't have any retirement. We don't have a house. I'm 45.

He's 51. We have debt. We want to know, like, what we. we can do to catch up. He's not as gung-ho as I am, but he's getting there. He kind of kept the debt from me, and we're trying to live correct right now in every area possible. We have counseling we're paying for because of trauma we've been through. I'm working three jobs. He's working two. So it's just kind of a lot right now. Okay. So it sounds like we're getting very busy. Sounds like you guys are trying to make more money and come after this, correct?

Yes. We've been trying for the last few months. He kind of was doing it on his own and when I kind of found out more about it he um like we got kind of more aggressive about it what was the debt what was the debt that he kept from you um we have about like 30,000 debt plus the cars so 50 um and I knew we had like a little bit but I never knew how much he just always told me he was taking care of it and yes but what I'm asking what was the debt obviously the cars you probably knew about but what was the other debt? that you didn't know anything about? We have a debt consolidation loan, and there was some credit cards.

My insurance isn't good, so we've had some medical debts. We have IRS that we have to pay. So it wasn't, I'm just trying to get a read on this. It wasn't what we call financial infidelity where he was hiding all kinds of expenditures. You just weren't paying attention, and you guys kind of got behind the eight ball, and then he tried to consolidate. I'm just trying to get an understanding of when you say, I didn't know about it, where are you guys emotionally on this deal? Where does it stand?

Yeah, it wasn't like he was outspending stuff per se, but like a lot of restaurants and stores and nothing like major, but things like that. And I just felt like I was supposed to be the submissive wife and not really involved in the money. And I had like the wrong mindset. and now that I do, we're trying to do it right, but it's really hard to break the habit. Got it. You know, they're not got a restaurant and things like that. Okay. And so one other question here, because Jade's going to jump in, but I'm just kind of gathering some facts. So you guys have tried. He's tried on his own. Now he makes you aware of it.

Now you're going, okay, gosh, we don't like the way this feels. We're going after this. But you started the call by saying, I'm ready to go all in. I'm calling the Ramsey show today. he's sort of kind of not there. What is he not on board? That'll help us. Where is he not on board with where you are? I mean, he is mostly, but I'm trying to live for the Lord. I mean, we're both trying to live for the Lord in every way possible.

And just money's kind of not his focus right now. He's trying to get, like, healed in other ways. Got it. Is this a priority right now? You're kind of talking a little bit in riddles. and I think it's because you're trying to protect like delicate information it seems like but I want to ask you

is money the most important thing you need to be like is walking the baby steps the most important thing you need to be worried about right now or are there other fires that are more important that need to be put out? I mean I guess I kind of want to do both like we're trying to get our money right but we're trying to get everything else right

in our life at the same time and like I know counseling is a huge priority for us that I don't want to give up. Right. All right. So how much are we spending on that a month? Like $1,000 for me and my husband and my daughter. Okay, good. Great, but that gives us something to work with.

So we've got $1,000 a month, Jade, that we want to protect at all costs. And I love that. Keep it on there. Okay. I ask that question because money is important. Like, Ken, you already know, it touches everything, Jenny, and you can see this. It touches your relationships. your job, your spirituality, all of it, right?

It's all encompassing. That being said, sometimes in an attempt to not focus on other things, we focus on the baby steps, being intense about that. This is the thing I'm going to focus on when really your marriage is falling apart, right? And so what I don't want you to do is focus on the wrong thing. If what you're telling me is, Jade, we want to do it. I just simply want to know, is it okay for me to keep $1,000 aside for counseling? Yeah, the answer is yes.

you have to be a well person. That's like me telling you that walking the baby steps is not an excuse to eat ramen noodles. Like you need to be healthy. You need to do this the right way. I don't know why you had to single out ramen noodles, but we'll talk about that later. Sodium alone, Kent. So, yeah, let's walk through the numbers. A thousand dollars on counseling.

I'm fine with that. Tell me what you guys bring in a month. And then we can talk about what's going to feel realistic for you in this season when you're so heavily getting the mental help that you guys all need. Thank you. We bring in about $7,500 a month. Okay, $7,500 a month. How much of that is rent?

$1,900. Okay, great. Okay, so biggest expenses, $1,900 on rent, $1,000 on counseling, any daycare or anything like that I need to know about? Like, high-dollar stuff? Yeah, my daughter's tuition is $300. I'm on a medicine that's $550, but I donate plasma so I mainly pay for that out of that money okay so that's kind of a wash

on the on the on the 550 okay so I'm looking at this and I'm going okay I'm seeing uh I'm seeing $3,200 that's going away and must haves what's happening to the other 37 um paying off debt groceries you know just different bills like that I feel like and when you put all that in your budget, how much, how much are you putting extra on the debt? Not minimum payments, but above and beyond a minimum payment. How much are you putting extra? I mean, we're trying to, but we don't have like a set number. It's just kind of like whatever we have left over. We do. Okay. So that's what we'll fix today. Because if you guys are on fixed, you know, you get basically paid the same amount every two weeks or every month, whatever, what have you, then this should be like clockwork. So what I need is

for you guys to get on an every dollar budget. And if you don't have one, do you have one? Yeah, I do have the every dollar. Okay, so when you open up every dollar, it should be really cut and dry for you, Jenny, to be able to see, okay, we make $7,500, 900 goes to run, $1,000 to counseling, 300 to school, because of my plasma, we only pay $100 for the medication, right? All of that's in the budget. And then it's going to show you after all the things that must be done, gas, groceries, insurance. There's going to be a number up there. in your case, it should be in the green of extra money that is now, okay, what do we want to do

with this money? And here's the thing, Jenny. The choices are we can put this extra money towards DoorDash. We can put this extra money towards a vacation that we want to go on. We can put this extra money towards a slush fund that just gets eaten away with by going to the gas station and gets eaten away with by running to Sonic, right? Or we can say, at the end of every month, we have $1,300, and that is going on the smallest debt every month, no matter what, like clockwork. Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah. And that's, I think that's what you were talking to Ken about earlier, about the kind of,

we just need to start doing it part, right? And that's what I'm trying to do. It's just, you know, getting there, I guess is hard. And you tell me, tell me, tell me the emotions, the emotion that you feel when you know the money is there, but you do something else. Is it, I work really hard? I just deserve this. Is it I'm just so tired?

Is it I'm frustrated? Tell me what you're feeling. That's causing you not to do the thing. I guess frustrated. I know restaurants is really like our weakness and like we say we're not going to go and then we go. And just, you know, changing and living that new lifestyle is pretty hard. I think it's, getting to that point. I want to know.

I think it is just listening to you. I think you're scared. I think you're afraid. I think you've seen life one way and the idea of it looking different scares you. Well, I agree with that. And I also would say that now hearing what we know, I think it's hard enough going through therapy, trying to change our life, deal with the trauma, whatever hurt is attached to all this. Can we reset our family? And that on its own is exhausting.

Yeah, it's, and I think it's hard to go, come on, babe, you need to join me on this debt-free journey, too. You're right, Ken. So I do think it is fear of the confrontation and how exhausting it is, but I do think that I would take this to the therapist and go, hey, did a phone call, we're trying to do this money thing. Can you coach us in this therapy about how important is that we get on the same page there? I would take it to the professional help. Love that you're spending $1,000 a month, but you guys have got to lean in on every issue. take that and use that $1,000 and it's going to benefit. All right, folks, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Can you believe that? Talking about it now. It feels like it's getting earlier. It is. I put up my tree, did you? Oh, yeah. Trees. Oh, yeah.

Trees. And by the way, the weekend after Halloween. Yeah. Mrs. Coleman said, head on up to the attic area. That's right. That's the job. By the way, if you see me and I look a little stiff today on camera, it's because pulled a muscle on the right upper side of the old back,

trying to yank it out of the attic. Eva, Christmas tree box. And I'm thinking to myself, I have a strong young man who's 17 years of age. Why didn't I wait for him? This is your plight in life, Ken. He'll have his time. I know. He'll have his time.

I just wanted to get it over with, and you'll learn a lesson. But the Ramsey Christmas deals are here We don't create the fury We just go along with it And boy oh boy are these good deals These prices won't last You've got $13 best-selling hard covers $12 questions for human decks

799 audiobooks and e-books $20 assessments Hello, the old get-clear assessments in there And I would love for you all to get the Get Clear career assessment. It'll help you And my kids need new shoes Especially in the new year to know where you're where you want to go with your life. Yeah, that's a far more redeeming reason.

I was just blatantly saying, hey, I got kids in college. Kid needs back care. I got back. Yeah, I'm going to need to go see the chiropractor. But hey, you can get all the great deals at ramsysolutions.com slash store. Ramsey Solutions.com slash store. Or if you're on YouTube or podcast, you can click on the link in the show notes. John is up in Colorado, John.

How can we help? Hey, I'm very glad I got you today, Ken, and you, Ms. Warshall. Thank you. But it's a career question than I had. Okay. So I currently work for the state of Colorado. It's a relatively safe job, as you can imagine, with the government. But we've seen lately that that may not be the case.

But anyway, it's a relatively safe job. I absolutely love what I do. It gives me the ability to do some other side gigs and authorship of some books that I write. So I have pretty good life, a good career. I love what I do. But there's always a looming question of should I go into the private sector again and possibly make quite a significant amount more. So I guess it's a question of,

So I continue to sacrifice enjoyment and safety over, you know, trying to put myself better ahead from, you know, more financially. That's kind of what the gist of my question is. Okay. Appreciate that. Let's break this down a little bit more because I don't think, I don't think you've got the proper context for your choice. But let's see. I could be wrong. Okay, good.

So what do you make in the government job there in Colorado? Is it, by the way, is it a federal government job or Colorado state? State. Okay, state job. All right, what do you make? Yep. 120. And what would you say you do? I don't care so much about your title. What do you do? Oh, it's okay. Yeah, no, I'm a, I'm a land surveyor, so I work for the Department of Transportation, and I, you know, do land surveying for the new construction of roads or improvement. What do you love most about that work? Or what do you enjoy most about it?

I, the people I work with, it's considered, you know, a very good land surveying job. I'm doing land survey work. I get it, but you're going off the, I want you to answer me very literally. I'm going somewhere to answer your question. So I asked you, what do you enjoy most about the work? And you said, the people, that's a perfectly fine answer. Anything else that meets the enjoy description about the work itself? Don't give me it safe.

Going outside. Okay, outside. Great. What else? The projects are pretty cool. You know, I get to help the public. It feels like I'm truly a public servant. Great. Good answers. All right. So you mentioned that you believe, which leads me to believe you've done some research, that if you were to go do something else in the private sector, you could make a good bit more money. How much more money and would you be in the same land surveillance? in the same industry if we use that word? Yes.

How much more money then? I've done research and I've done research and I have job offers to prove that I could probably make $30,000 to $40,000 more a year. And yes, the job will be comparable, but there's a lot more stress involved, a lot more hours and, you know, all the typical private sector stuff. Well, see, I'm a guy who's worked in both. So, full disclosure, when I was a young guy in my, early 20s, I worked for the governor of Virginia. So I lasted 12 months, Jade. I could not handle

the pace of government work. Not slow. Too slow? Yeah, absolutely. The way the decisions are made, it is a lot more low-key is what I'm hearing from you, John. But the trade-off is you're not getting paid what you should be and could be making. So the next question is, is when you come to us and you say, should I change my job for more money? The question is, what would we do with more money? So let's say you make $150. What would you do with that additional money? Where would that go in your life? Is that paying off debt? Is that investing more? Is that enjoying life more? What's the rest of the story? It'd be investing more and enjoying life. I'm completely debt-free. I own my own home. I have no debt. Say, like, 25% of my check as it is. But I do have dreams of, you know, building a home

the mountains and I'm trying to cash flow that and well I'm going to tell you right now ding ding ding there's the answer I would absolutely go private sector and deal with maybe a little bit more stress I'm not sure that we can guarantee that uh and deal with a little bit more hours in order to fast forward or guarantee based on the narrative you've given me the private sector allows you to do that faster and with more certainty true or false it does it does done deal jade we always answer what would we do we've heard my answer i would absolutely go private sector and i would invest more and i would see if i could climb the ladder even higher than what you've researched what would you do in his situation i mean i'm going to go part emotional

part tactical for me after knowing what the answer is which is yeah we're going private sector i would then run out the numbers so that i can get emotionally attached to it so that i can see hey, if I'm earning $40,000 a year, that means I'm going to get to my dream of my cabin or house in the mountains five years faster, right? 40,000 more, right? Yeah, 40,000 more. I want to see that math. I want to know those numbers.

I want to know that timeline so I can create a tie with that. If I don't do this, I'm not going to have the house until 2040. If I do have the house, I'm going to have it in 2035, right? Like knowing that allows you to get excited about it, allows you to create miles. stones allows you to do all the things that are going to keep your excitement when the hours feel long, when you're wondering if you never should have made this decision, right? So that's what I would do. I would really make this so crystal clear understanding what I'm trading and what I'm getting in return for my trade. Yeah, I think that's so beautiful. John, I think that's a whole work assignment.

Yeah, I think that's a great exercise. I'll give you the last piece on this. There's been several books, lots of research done on patients who are in hospice care and how they share their regrets with their loved ones, with their caretakers. There's multiple pieces of work on this that you all can go kick the tires on. But one of the constants, one of the consistent regrets that we hear from those that know that their time is nigh and they're going to die soon is, I regret that I didn't live the life that I truly wanted to live. And John, you gave us a clear vision for how you'd like things to go in the future. And I think that beyond Jay's exercise, I think I love her. I love that prompt she gave you. But I would add to that

if I don't do this, will I be on my deathbed regretting that I never went for it? Because the safe government job is always going to be there. But I kept hearing safety, safety, safety. And I would challenge that to say the way we teach you to manage your money, which is we save up for it. We make solid, strong investments that are diversified that have a track record. We don't buy something we don't have money for. All of those things are safe, but they ultimately lead to a life of adventure. And I think that's what you're craving. So, my friend, we have spoken on the matter.

What will you do, John? I know what he's doing. All right, let's go to Richmond, Virginia. Sydney joins us there. Sydney, how can we help? Hi, how are y'all doing? Great. How are you?

I'm doing good. Thank you. So my husband and I are trying to figure out how to best handle our debt. So we own my car outright, but he still has an auto loan, and he also has some student loans, but we also have a seven-month-old. And so we are trying to be cautious about how aggressively we tackle our debt. We do have a mortgage, of course, and we have $30,000 in savings, and we're just trying to figure out how best to tackle our debt and efficiently tackle it as well.

So tell me what the car loan is. So we have $18,955. cents remaining on that. All right. And what is that car worth? Do you know if you sold it private sale? Um, I would maybe say around 30,000 maybe. Okay. All right. Just wanting to know. And then student loan debt. What is the total? The remaining on that is $8,952. Look at you. I love that you're giving us to the cent, by the way. You are on this, Sydney. So that's the totality of debt. We're not counting the house. So that's it. yes that's it and you got 30 grand in the bank

yes savings and how long have you been listening to the ramsie show or paying attention to what we teach here at ramsie solutions um not as long as my husband my husband is a big fan of y'all's um he has been listening for a lot longer than me but um is he there with you now he is not he is at work he's a sheriff's deputy and so he's tied up at work did he did he know i would call okay so he put you up to calling us She said it would be cool if I did. Okay, here's what's funny about this.

Because if he's been following us and he's big fans, he knows what we're going to say about that $30,000 in savings, doesn't he? I think he does, but I told him that I am a little bit scared. Yeah, you opened with that. You said you were feeling cautious, and I was interested in knowing what that meant. And then as the information unraveled, now I know exactly what it means. She's freaking out over us telling her to take $29,000. Yeah.

Or actually, no, we leave a little. Actually, we get to leave some in there. Yeah. Okay. So what? Let me paint you a picture. Let me just paint you a picture. You're completely debt-free.

You have not one debt in the world. No one can come after you. No one can take anything from you. You got $3,000 sitting in the bank. All of your income when you get paid in November. will go to you. No more payments to a car. No more payments to a student loan. Then you can take all that money that you were paying for a car payment, all that money that you're paying for student loans, and you could just drop it over in savings before you know it, you'll have $5,000, before you know it,

you'll have $10,000, and you don't owe anybody anything. And you've got a one-year-old at home, and you've got four months of savings, and you've got no debt. How awesome does that feel? it sounds amazing and because i mean it is so true we are a slave to our to a slave to our debt and i just my only concern and fear is you know heaven forbid something happened to one of our vehicles something happened to you know the hback or whatever that was a big ticket item you want to know what i love that you're doing here's what i love about what you're doing you are putting detail to your fears okay because you said you were cautious which really was amounting to a fear that you were facing about this and there's really two ways to have fear about this one is an irrational fear and the other is rational

usually the irrational ones are very vague it's like oh if we do this it's going to ruin everything well what do you mean by that but you got details and you said well here's the thing jade what if our car goes out okay that is totally rational so let's fix it now we can look at it and go okay well let's let's put some truth to this the truth is you make a monthly income don't you yes how much do you make every month combined it's about six thousand four hundred dollars a month okay and how much of that are you putting towards your debt payments every single month plus extra because you're trying to pay off the savings account you guys are in building well i'm getting to that how much are you putting how much are you putting aside so um his income pays for all of the bills all of my income just goes

into savings. So I make about $1,400 a month because I went part-time since we had our son. So you've got the $1,400, and then you've got the $3,000. You've got the $3,000 that's already there. So have you ever had a car, something happened with your car that costs more than $4,400 to fix? Not yet. I hope I don't. Will you go and Google something that you think will cost $4,400 to fix? Because I don't think it's there. yeah i don't think so either so do you see what i did there all i did was i took a fear that's okay for you to have totally normal and i just ran it through a process of saying first off is it true is it rational we decided it is that's fine and then we said is there something that's more true

that we can replace it with so that we can actually go ahead and do the thing that's going to set us free do you see what i did there yes there is not something that you cannot cash flow in the next month. Do you see what I'm saying? And then as you go, you're going to keep saving, like Ken said. What's the car payment? It's $497 a month. Okay, let's round that up to $500. What's the student loan payment? Like $180. Okay. Let's round that up. I'm going to round that up to $700. On top of your $1,400. Now all of a sudden, we've got $2,100 a month. We're putting straight to savings to rebuild the emergency fund that you did out of order. Plus the $3,000 that's there.

Plus the $3,000. So we're at $5,100 within 30 days of being debt free. $5,100 in savings. So what else could happen in 30 days that the sky would fall? I can't think of anything. That insurance wouldn't pay for. Do you see what I'm saying? So now we see it was okay.

It was okay for you to feel scared. it was okay but now we go hey that now that we add it to the truth of what's really going now it becomes irrational right it would be silly for you not to pay off this debt and i think you guys have more margin than you're even reporting to us because we're not digging and so how quickly could you guys get to ten thousand dollars in savings after paying all of this off and one fell swoop that's that's another fun exercise how quickly can i get to ten thousand so that your fear gland you know stops being so you know and we just like oh it relaxes so I you know that's what we're going to tell you to do it's what we tell everybody to do pay it off pay it off and what you want to know what I'm

giving you permission to do pay it off and in two months if it was the worst thing you ever did call me back and tell me about myself call me back and say hey jade said I could come on the radio and cuss her out for the terrible advice she gave me you won't do it because you're going to be like this is the best thing ever I'm debt-free, and I've got three to six months of expenses. And I'm so glad that Jaden Ken talked to me into doing the next best step with my money instead of me letting fear hold me back. That's what's going to happen.

Sounds good. Yeah, sounds good, but it doesn't feel good. And that's your challenge. And I'm going to tell you right now, I think you're on the fence. I think you're on the fence as to whether or not you're going to do this. She's going to go home and she's going to mull it over, and I expect you to. All right. I think you would be kind of crazy to just, two people on the radio told me to do something. I'm doing it. No, go, go be. I want you to be very thoughtful about what we told you. I want you to think about it. And if you give it fair thought, I promise you, you will see that we're right. You'll see that we're right. I have been used as the, um, the app, the every dollar app. And he has showed me numerous times what our, what our leftover money would be if we didn't have these debts. And, is the fears are louder than the positives of it but at the same time um like you said i need to be

realistic about if well fear and caution are two different things fear and caution are two different things fear is what's going to stop you it's a it's i don't know what's it's a it's a perception of the future that's negative that's what fear is it's not based on today it's based on what you think's going to happen in the future, right? Right. Quick question. What's the amount that you would let go of today to get rid of debt? Of the 30,000, how much would you go? Oh, I'll let go of this and I'll feel fine. I'm just curious. I would pay off the auto loan. Let's do that today and then sleep on the rest of the idea. How about that? How about that? I like that. I like that. That's fair. Yeah. Do 18. Do 18 and then take Jade up on our offer.

Okay. You didn't know I was going to do that to you. I like that, Ken. I'm with it. I like it. Let's try it. Baby steps. Welcome back to the Ramsey show in the Fair Winds Credit Union Studio, alongside Jade Warshaw, Ken Coleman.

So excited that you're with us today. Triple-8-8-25-2-25 is the phone number. New Jersey is where we're going to go, and James is hanging out there. How can we help? Hey, Ken and Jade, good to hear from you both. Sure. Thanks for taking my call. So I was just laid off from my corporate job about three weeks ago,

and the good news is I have a decent severance package where I'll be okay for at least the next six months, give or take, not too much of that. And I have a fully funded emergency fund. After hearing about that, my pastor actually asked me to help him with a new startup, basically, that he's launching. It's a for-profit business, but the streaming service, it's a streaming service. It's all pre-revenue, still waiting to finalize details on investors. So right now, they have no money to pay employees, basically.

And it has a pretty promising future that I can't really talk too much more about. But the team that is currently, quote, unquote, employed with the service all have other jobs and other forms of income. I would basically be the only one that would be working full-time without any alternative income other than the severance package. So I guess my question is, if I were to pursue this, I'm not as concerned about my finances because it's, it seems to be okay, at least for the next six months. But if I'm devoting 40 hours a week to the startup with literally no contracts, no employment agreement, no guarantee about eventually being compensated, it's all based on like a very loose verbal agreement.

And even that was kind of unclear. No, I'm not going to listen any further because it's like food's threatening to come up. You know, I hear this. And I'm getting more and more sick to my stomach here in this idea. There is nothing good about this. No, you're a volunteer, which, by the way, you can volunteer. here, five hours a week, whatever extra time you have to say, hey, in good faith, sure, I'll do what I can, when I can, and let's hope this thing gets funded and it turns into

something. But you're protecting yourself. The other thing is, and again, we always answer questions, what would we do if we're in your shoes? Jade will weigh in here on her take. but if I'm you I'm thrilled I have a six-month severance but I don't want to touch that right I don't want to live off that now that's just me so I'm going all right I was laid off from a corporation so I've got a lot of skill and a lot of experience true or false yeah okay and nothing to be ashamed of this is not a stain on you the economy is really weird right now it's the best way I can describe it it's not hot it's not awful but jobs and corporations I mean, we're seeing a lot of layoffs.

We're seeing a very slow hiring market. So I'm not looking at today's wins and going, man, I feel great about six months. I'm going, I want to treat my plight as though I don't have any severance at all. And I got just enough money in the bank to make it a month, Jade. So maybe mindset is I got 30 days so that I'm not. I don't want to be running around like Chicken Little. The sky is falling. The sky is falling.

But I would be very urgent, and I would not give these people any time that would take away from your ability. Everybody else has got a 40-hour-week job. Ding, ding, ding, so do you need one. And I would be, my number one focus is getting back into the job market and getting employed, and we'll see how this thing with my good pastor. And I'm going to say something else just because, and I'm going to give it a disclaimer, and I want Jade to come in and give her take. my disclaimer is I don't know anything about your pastor and I don't know anything about this business

but there was enough in that to make me go hey nothing about what you told me that makes me think this is anywhere remotely close to a sure thing and so for that reason I'm definitely out and I would just help out and see if it turns into something sorry for being a little cynical jade but that's where I said I mean you turned this into shark tank when you said for that reason I'm out and I'm going to take a page from that notebook and Mr. Wonderful would say there's some ideas you just need to take him out back and shoot him. Yep, this is one of them and for that reason I'm out. And what are your thoughts on his urgency? Oh, you know what? I feel like he's a little too relaxed. You're a little relaxed, but I think that I'm sensing that you're relaxed because you know

you can go out and get another job today or tomorrow. Like you're a smart guy, you were good at what you did. I don't think you're concerned with that. My bigger question is, is that the type of work you want to do anymore? And is that why you are looking towards something like this as kind of a lifeline of, you know, I don't know if I want to do the same kind of work anymore. This kind of seems cool. My question is, is it time for a career shift?

Is that what this is really about? That would be my question on a deeper level. Yeah. James? I mean, it sounds to me like you got, I don't know, you've gotten swayed by your pastor who you look up to and he's pretty excited about this. That's what I think has happened. And it's kind of a shiny object that's distracted you, correct? Yeah, I mean, to be fair, like, he didn't say we're never going to pay you. He just literally has been juggling this whole project. Yeah, but there's no business plan. There's no timeline.

There's no, there's nothing solid here. You don't have to defend him. We're not attacking him. just saying for you right now, this is a shiny object that could distract you. To your credit, you call us, it asks us what we think. And we're saying, don't pay attention to the shiny object. Keep walking. Let's walk forward. Let's see if this thing materializes. Yeah. Got it? I mean, sure. Go ahead. The one of my thing was just like, I was even considering like going to Bible College, I'm a single guy, no kids, no more, nothing like that. I've considered doing a lot more mission-focused, like Christian-focused type stuff. And this was kind of what I thought could be like an intersection of both of those. And I was also just wondering more broadly what like Dave and

your take would be on pursuing something that doesn't have as much of a guaranteed paycheck or even if you can do ministry and still have an income. Yes. And you could also decide to go be a full-time missionary and make a lot less money. I don't have a problem with that. That's not what you gave us. You gave us this, well, there's this opportunity. And now you're saying it's a cross-section. And I'm saying it might very well be. It is not now. So if you as a single guy, you want to kick the tires and consider mission work or ministry work, go for it.

But that's a full-time job that if you have to change your lifestyle to meet that new salary, I'm fine with that. But this other deal is not any of those things. I agree. Yeah, fair enough. It's a super exciting volunteer job. So treat it that way. How much time can you give it in line with everything else that you need to do? And what you need to do is figure out what God has for you next.

Here's what I am going to do for you. I would love to gift you my book and it comes with the assessment to get clear career assessment. The book is called How, excuse me, find the work you're wired to do. I recommend you take the assessment and read this book, take about 45 minute reading. It will really help you make some good decisions about how you're wired and what the next steps are for you. So hang on the line and we'll get you that book in the assessment. So this wasn't about a good business idea. This was about shifting a career shift into a different field. That's really what the question was. I think you nailed it. I think he's been kicked out of the nest and he's like,

okay, he's clearly not on fire financially. He's got six months where he can breathe. And here comes this thing that is a shiny object. It's attached to ministry, his church, his pastor. It's all aligned with his heart. And I love that, but we need to use our head too. That's right. And I'm a fan of getting the heart and the head aligned. So important. Then your hands do what they need to be doing. That's right. So, you know, again, you're in great shape here, but make wise decisions. A lot of prayer, a lot of feedback from other people in your life, not just two people on the air that have taken just a smidge of all of this involved and tried to give you good advice. Angela joins us next in Mississippi.

Angela, how can we help? Hey, Ken and Jade. Thanks for speaking with me today. I was calling specifically about some advice on instilling contentment at a young age, a little context. We have a six-and-a-half-year-old daughter. in first grade, and my husband and I, we have financially decided to invest in her future and send her to a private Christian education, and so that's where a large part of our income goes every month. And we are already seeing a keeping up with the Jones' issue

arising. So she's in first grade. She's coming back. and she wants what her friends have. I can name a few examples, but they're really creepy, little fuzzy keychain critters. And it's little things like that where, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, I do. It's little things like that where we had no intention of getting her one or anything like that. But, and quite honestly, she didn't even know what it was until she went to school and everybody else had them.

So we see this problem arising of even as she gets older of going to school and, you know, wanting what all the quote-unquote cool kids have or, you know, what maybe more fluid. That's going to happen no matter what, regardless of what school they go to. Yeah. And so we were, my husband and I were just wondering, how do we start teaching her contentment now before it gets bigger? We've done FPU for kids with her, and so she's super excited about her envelopes and has, like, the biggest heart, loves to save, loves to give, also really loves to spend. And so how do we transition this into just being content with what you already have?

Because saying, oh, well, just be grateful for what you already have, you know, not all kids have, X, Y, like. That only goes so far with a six-year-old. Yeah, listen, I am, Angela, I am in that boat with you right now. I have a kid in second grade. I have a kindergartner, and I am having those same conversations all the time. And you want to know what I think part of it is, is when you're a kid, I mean, you're born selfish, right? It's, give me my food when I'm ready, you know, everybody does everything for me.

The world kind of revolves around them, and when they see something they want, they want it. And especially if their friends have it, they want it too. So part of that's just the nature of being a kid. And I'll tell you where I'm at now. I don't know that I'm right because I'm not ahead of you. Ken can probably give us some better judgment here. But what I'm at right now is I feel like I'm planting seeds. So if I'm planting the seeds, I usually don't see the crop for quite a while.

And it can be tempting to think that if I plant the seed, then tomorrow I'll see the fruit. And it's just not like that. So I've kind of told myself, I'm telling them. them, hey, the things aren't what make you happy. This is going to, you know, you've got to be, you've got to learn to be happy with what you have. You don't have to look at other people, right? I can plant all of those seeds.

And then I've got to just wait for them to grow. And then the other part for me is, what am I, how, what am I like? Am I a person that every time I go to the store, I have to buy something? Am I a person that every time I see something, I'm commenting on it and saying, oh, I wonder, let's see, I wonder if I can get that, right? I also have to check myself and make sure. what am I putting into the house? Because if I'm a person who seems like every time I walk in the house, I have shopping bags, well, then I'm not really helping my case here. So that's where

I'm at. Ken, you're the wise old owl here. Well, you got part of it right. I'm the old owl. I don't know how wise I am, but our kids are our kids are 2017 and 16. And my wife Stacy did a phenomenal job on this. And I can tell you some of the things that we did. And I would tell you, at this age, six years of age, you're going to have to show more than tell. I like what Jade said. I do think you have the object lesson, and I think you share a sound bite, because that's all a six-year-old is going to pay attention to. Right. But I will tell you that as consistently as you can, a short little bumper sticker response when she says that, just go, you know what? You're going to learn one day, we can't have everything we want. Some little, whatever you want to say,

trust your instinct and say it, but it's not in a sit-down lecture because the six-year-old just can't process it. What I mean by show not tell is some of the things that Stacey did, we did this early on when the kids were about that age six or seven, we started dialing back on Christmas. We got some great advice from an older couple, and we started giving the kids just three gifts for Christmas, as an example. And we would do three equally great gifts. In other words, we got their list.

and instead of 10 things we gave them three so it was less than they wanted and that was an object lesson they were like oh but all three gifts were awesome yeah and then we told them that they had to take one of their three gifts and they had to choose a child at the children's hospital to give it to and we took them to children's hospital in Atlanta and they had picked out one of their three amazing gifts and they gave it to a kid who was very very sick and that was love this That was something that, again, no credit there. That was an older couple told us that. And we did that for about three or four years.

And I will tell you that that taught our kids as much as anything that we ever told them. Tell us the first, be 100% real. The first year you did that, how did they take it? What did they do? Well, they're young enough to where it's not a complete attitude thing. Like, I wouldn't recommend you throw this on 11 and 12-year-olds. Sure, sure, sure. Because at that point, it's like, I'm not saying the horses out of the barn,

but it's a lot of attitude you got to deal with. but what you know a kindergartner they were kind of like what are we doing like they needed some clarification you're telling me that I got to pick one of these three and we're going to give it and we was like yeah did they think they were getting in trouble did they read it as a consequence no I think they got it conceptually until they went down to children's hospital and they walked a gift in and they personally hand it to a different kid and I think they got it and I think we could have done that in a lower income area. It doesn't have to be a children's hospital, but the idea is show, not tell, and you're trying, because your question, Angela, was how do we teach

contentment? And the way I think you teach contentment is you show them how good they have it, not tell them how good they have it, show them. And so that's what, you can take that in ID8 and do your own version of that. I'm going to do exactly that. But here's what it did. When, They weren't thrilled. I'm sure they weren't. I'm thinking about what my kids would do. I know Angela is thinking about what her daughter is going to do. But they weren't thrilled, but here's the thing.

They understood it. It made it not just about them. Yeah, it wasn't mom and dad are trying to ruin Christmas. It was mom and dad are trying to show us that there are people in this world that are my age that look a lot like me. And they are in a worse situation than me. and I'm giving them out of my goodness, I'm giving them some of the goodness in my life. I do think that plants a very important seed. Wow.

Yes, I agree. That's so good. I'm thinking about it. It's tough, by the way, as a parent. Let me also say, it's not easy to say that. Oh, my God. Well, I'm putting myself in you guys' shoes right now. It's tough.

Because you want to know, I'll tell you, Angela, what I was thinking, as Ken was saying that, Next thing I'm thinking is, well, when you got back home, I'd want to have another gift sitting there waiting for them. No, but that's not. Then it takes away from it, I know. And keep in mind. Well, my question about it was at our church, my daughter's really excited about the angel tree or the giving tree of adopting a family and buying things for them. And we've explained, like, these are families that, you know, if it weren't for us, they wouldn't have anything for Christmas. and maybe they just need some clothes, and she gets stupid, like she wants to go buy the whole store for them and give them the world.

And so that, that desire is there. But I'm wondering if that's just a little less effective than what you just brought up. I don't think it's not something that was hers that she's giving up. Well, here's what I would tell you. Does she get an allowance of any type? Nope, we don't do allowances. We do commissions for her earning her money. Okay, great.

Sorry, yeah, I used, yeah, Dave Hates Allowance. Okay, here's my point. You're fine. I would take her commissions and say, you're going to adopt a family out of your money. Like, get her money in the game. I think it's just as powerful as a lesson as what I shared. That was just one idea. I like the part of seeing it, though, Ken.

Well, that's my point. If she takes her commission and she goes and buys the gifts and then hands it to the little girl and their family, the point is they need to see others that are not. Listen, kids can pick up on, ooh, they don't have it as good. as us. Yeah, they need to see it and feel it. Hey, if you all are getting something out of the show, it's helping you, we would love for you to help us. The best way to grow our show is for you to share because you have so much credibility. So like, share, subscribe, however you're listening, wherever you're listening,

and give us all the ratings, the follows, all the things. I can't keep up with it anymore, but you know what they are. We would appreciate that so much. Chloe is joining us now in Houston, Texas. Chloe, how can we help? Hi, thank you for taking my call. Sure, what's going on today? My mom recently passed, and before this, I was...

Thank you. Tell us what happened. I was on the journey of just working on my baby steps before this vlog. So now I'm just trying to... navigate um i have six younger siblings they're they're minors and um you know i'll be taking them on uh full time so i'm just trying to figure out as far as like bless you her home goes um we you know we did have some conversations before she passed and she was wanting to get a bigger house to fit the kids um and she does still have a mortgage so i don't know if it would be

smarter for me to keep the home and just keep paying on it or you know sell it and You know, of course, pay the mortgage company off and... What is your living situation? Do you own a home or are you renting? No, I'm renting, but, I mean, my lease is up next month, so... Okay. Can you even put all of the siblings in there with you? Is there enough room?

No, not in my apartment, no. I would be letting this apartment go and trying to figure out, you know, this with my mom's house. what's what's what's what's the mortgage on your mom's house um she owes 65 okay and it's like 1,200 a month something did she did did you get the house is that been or is that still up in the air as to who who gets the house now that she's no longer with us um no I would be getting home okay what's your current rent yeah um my current rent I I don't really have rent. My partner, he works for a company.

Okay, so would... So it's a company apartment that he's getting? Right, right. Okay, so tell me about your income, just you? Just me? I'm making $50K in salary, but I'm also working two part-time jobs, which I probably won't be doing them for long now

that this just happened. Okay. There I only make like $500 every week. Now, let me make sure I understand. You're working two part-time jobs in addition to the $58,000 job? Yes. Look at you. What are you doing that for?

What's all that hustle for? She had been sick for a while, and I was kind of just helping with bills, but I also wanted to pay some of my debt off. So I started this about two months ago. Good for you. I'm so impressed with your hustle. What kind of debt do you? you have? Honestly, I don't have a lot of debt. My car is like $21,000. And then I do have a student loan

for $10,000 and then collections, it's like $4,000, multiple things in that amount. Okay. So the good news is let's say, okay, just at your base job, you're bringing home $4,000 a month, yes? Yeah, just about, yeah. Okay. And let, if you do, if you do, did pick up a smaller, maybe you let two of the three side hustles go, right? The good news is the mortgage is right at 25% right where you want it to be. So that's not a terrible thing. It's just getting accustomed to a life where you're paying rent or paying a mortgage, right? Right. Then from there, there should still be a little bit, you're going to have to adjust to what it's going to be like to support six siblings. Can you tell us the ages of the siblings?

things? Five, seven, 13, two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old. Okay. And is the five-year-old in kindergarten yet? Yes. Okay. So everybody's in school, eight hours a day. Do you have after-care? I mean, how will this affect your ability to do your job for the youngsters? So I would probably have to let the, like, my part-time jobs are usually like evening time. student night. So I would have to let those go because they get out of school around like 4.30, you know. So you can, so this won't, the point is, is this, taking care of, of the little

ones that are, you know, obviously need supervision. You can keep your $58,000. That's not going to affect that job at all, just the two part-time. Oh, no. Right. Okay, good. So I love you getting rid of the two part-time jobs, at least in the short term, just to see what this new rhythm is going to be like. Bless your heart, you got. Chloe, you're amazing. You really are. You're amazing. Wow. I mean, I got to believe that, I mean, I got to believe you knew this was coming, right? You said she was sick for a while. Had you thought about this day and kind of started thinking about what that would mean for you, or is this all hitting you suddenly? We definitely weren't expecting her to pass like any time soon. We were hoping for her to recover. I see. But I did think about if this did happen, what that would look like.

Okay. Yeah. How long ago did she pass? On the first. So it's very recent. Oh, Chloe, bless your heart. You are just going through it right now. We're so, so sorry.

Yeah, that's so tough. But you are rising to the occasion in some very amazing ways right now. thank i mean i'm on behalf of all the siblings i'm just saying thank you because somebody needed to step in and the fact that you are is so incredible um let's talk about this house though that's the big question she called in with she can afford it she can where's the where's your partner come in on this you know um he's he's fully on board he's been in the family and we went to high school together so he he knows my family really will and they love them.

How old are you? I am 30. Okay. Okay. Let's double check in. Okay. Chloe, which way were you leaning before you called us as it relates to this house? What were you leaning towards doing?

I know this is all super fresh. I honestly wanted to get a bigger house due to the fact that a lot of work needs to be put into the house. And I thought about that every which way. You know, AC needs to be replaced. foundation is messed up. There's a lot of different things that need to be done in the home. And I just, whether than putting that money into it, I'd rather just spell it as is

and just move forward. You don't need a project in your life right now. Knowing that, what are you thinking? Well, now my question goes to money. Do you have any money saved? unfortunately no not anymore i mean i have like the thousand dollars saved yeah all the rest of that what i did have saved i had to spend it on her funeral arrangement yeah that has thanked my savings here's i'm gonna tell you just some mathematics this is not emotional at all i look at a 65 000

mortgage that likely has a really great interest rate on it um and i think the like i think to myself i'd be on the hook for $65,000 and have to replace a roof and maybe do $10,000 of work on a foundation or even $20,000 of work on a foundation than getting into today's housing market where you're at now, with the median home price being $4,000, where you're going to have to put 60% down, right? Is it livable? Yeah, I agree with you. Is it livable, though, Chloe?

I mean, in other words, all those things are true, but could you live in it for a season until you guys got out of this, learn what this new rhythm of life looks like? like, figure out what we can do to fix it? Is it livable? It's livable, but I would have to like, for sure, like the plumbing part of it and some other like diners. I'll tell you what. My point is you can't get into another house today. That's my point. No, but I wonder if she just rents. And we tell a lot of people, renting is a good move in certain situations. And I wonder if she gets this headache out of her life and doesn't have to worry about it on top of everything else, having to come in and mother these siblings. She's in grief.

If you can rent something that's no more than 25 to 30% of what you're taking home, I'm okay with that and selling this and taking the money if there is and holding that over for a later time. That's, yeah. I just think this is a tough reset, a whole new life for her. And I don't think having a money pit of a house is a good play. That's true. I'd rent for right now and you and your partner come up with a good plan going forward. All right. Let's go to Sadie in Colorado. Sadie, how can we help you today? Hi, Ken and Jade. Thank you so much for taking my call. I must admit I'm a little bit starstruck. I enjoy listening to the Dave Ramsey show. Well, we are

appreciative of you listening and I know that you're starstruck because jade is here and trust me she's very down to earth she's going to treat you very well so yeah you bet what's going on um well i um so i'm in the in the midst of trying to i guess move to a transition to an employment that i really feel is a good connection for me with my abilities and gifts and everything i did read I did take your assessment, Ken. I'm still working on reading your book, but I did take your assessment, so I do have a better idea of my giftings and everything. Do you have your results close by in case I want to ask about it? I do.

Okay. Well, just hold. I don't know that we need to get to it yet, but we might. Okay. All right. So with that in mind, I am subbing right now. I'm a day-to-day sub. Sometimes I get long-term sub assignments.

I make about, we'll say, $40,000 a year, an average. of 3, 3,300 a month. I enjoy subbing, but I really love creating, and I am, I love writing like poems, songs. I'm right now partner, hope, maybe partnering with a publishing company to do a, like, take some of my, one of my poems and make it a story. and it's about a national park that I visited. And so, but the cost of that is $8,500. And so, and I have had a couple of songs produced, which, you know, like, it costs money for that, too.

But this one is kind of a big chunk of money to get this, my poems made into a book. So I'm a little hesitant because I have $12,000 in savings. It's $8,500 to work with this publishing company. And I make about right now without a long, from sub-assignment, just day-to-day setting. I make, we'll say about $2,000 a month. Are you single, a month? Are you single income?

I am single income, yeah. I am single income. I do live with my mom. I lived on my own for about seven years when my dad passed away. Shortly after I ended up, you know, I moved with my mom. She, she can use the support and the help and, um, how old are you? I'm 44. Okay.

Do you have any debt? I don't. Thanks to Dave Ramsey and the 12K and the 12K in savings. Does that represent your emergency fund? That is accessible. So it's kind of whatever I need it for. I can grab it. But I also have about, oh, go ahead.

I just want to make sure. Do you have an emergency fund? Is the emergency fund the $1,000? So baby step one is the $1,000 before you pay the debt off. You said you don't have any debt, which means baby step three. You have three to six months saved. So does this represent three months of expenses? Six months?

Yeah, I could, yeah. Okay. Well, I would have that because you're $2,000 a month is what you're making. Yeah, exactly. And what I can live off of. Okay. All right. I have enough information.

Okay. I don't think you should spend $8,500 on anything at this stage. Okay. Given your income, I'd like to see you have way more in savings because you have such a small income. in other words I would want you saving for other things like sinking funds and I won't get too far into that

I'll let Jade and maybe she doesn't think it's too much let me tell you why I think it's too much $8,500 is such a huge chunk of your savings you just don't have it so that's my number one so we don't want to ever put the emergency fund into any kind of trouble and we should never pull from the emergency fund

unless it is in fact and emergency. And you've got at least six grand in there. We're saying it's three months. So the other thing is, is both of us are published authors. Okay. And I know a lot of people in the publishing game. I know the independent publishing game. I know just enough to get me in trouble, which means just enough to give you good advice on this. Okay, good. I don't think you're at a stage of life where you need to be spending $8,500 to publish a book of your poems when you can go do it on Amazon for pennies on the dollar. And let's show our work.

There's a great book that I'm going to recommend you buy. And it's by a guy by the name of Austin Cleon, K-L-E-O-N, and it's called Show Your Work. And it's about half an inch thick, can read it in 30 minutes. It's very illustrative. As a creative, you will love it. But it is my homework assignment for you as to what you need to do before you ever think of spending this kind of money with a pseudo or hybrid publishing model. let's get your workout through self-publishing means that are max hundreds of dollars at max

and let's put our workout and see how they do and let's let's show our work and see where we stand instead of spending at this stage of your burgeoning writing career and where you are financially i don't like this move because i think here's what's going to happen i think you're to spend $8,500, and you're going to sell just as many copies as you would if you spent $85. Okay. Now, that sounds like I'm stepping on the dream. No, it doesn't. Oh, okay.

Thank you, because I feel that way, but I'm actually, I'm telling you from experience, you would be better off doing research and going, all right, what is the process for creating an e-book of my poems on Amazon and selling on Amazon? You've got a link. You don't have to worry about it. You sell it through social media. let's just test it. And then you don't have to sell a zillion copies before you break even on the 8,500 you spent. That's right. Okay. So I agree with Ken. You have 12,000 saved. Do you have any other money in retirement, anything?

I do have about 20,000 in retirement. Okay. I want to take a stronger approach. Do I have permission? Sure. I think that you need to take a long look in the mirror. Because when you started telling us, you were kind of making it seem like, hey, I'm living with my mom. She needed my help. She went through this thing. And that may be true. But without her, you couldn't be living right now. If you weren't living there. It would be tight. No, no, no, no. $2,000 a month, ma'am, you can't live on that. And you can't do that subbing here and there. You got to make this a full-time deal. Now I'm all about chasing dreams. You're talking to the creative herself. Like, I love what you said about the poems. And I love that for you.

you. I would never try to take that from you. But in the meantime, you must work. You must because you're 44. And you will look up and the time will come when you can no longer do the work you want to do because your body won't let you do it. And you've got to have something there. And you've got to create that foundation now. You've got time. I'm not saying you don't have time. But if you don't start moving, that window to make this right get smaller and smaller and smaller. And I don't want you to miss that window. Okay. Well, I didn't think I was going to be crying.

I'm sorry. I love you. I love you. That's why I'm telling you. Listen, we're not trying to discourage you. We're trying to encourage you. Yes. Don't let the creative stuff die.

Yeah. But you got to test it. If you had called me and said, I want to spend $8,500 to open up a food truck where I'm going to sell some type of food, I would have said the exact same thing. That's right. Let's see if we can sell it in our neighborhood first. You know, we've got to test, test, test. What most people don't think about in this wonderful country called America

where we can start anything at any time, we don't think about the testing part. We just think about the launching part. That's right, Ken. And we've got a test. We've got a test. So please be encouraged. But listen, Jade's right. And I think she was the one person that could say it.

You know, what are your relationship dreams? You don't have to answer these questions. But what are your relationship dreams? And what are you doing to live your life the way that you want to live? And you don't have to necessarily do this on your own. And there is a time and a place to fully launch into something like poems or whatever. Keep writing. Keep writing about what moves you.

And then show your work. And I promise you, please get that book and do exactly what Austin tells you. Super easy, functional way for you to test your stuff and see what other people say. And see if the stuff that moves my heart, oh, some of the stuff that moves my heart moves other people's hearts ding ding ding now we've got something and in the meantime let's go get a really good job yes and let's stay with mom just long enough to really get on our feet and let's get out in the real world you know yeah my mom has a condition where I probably it'll be indefinite um but that's

okay that's yeah you can stay and take care of her but don't let that stop you from launching into making a full salary, you are smart and capable and have so much to offer. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio alongside Jade Warshaw. I'm Ken Coleman. Dustin is going to start us off here in New York. Dustin, how can we help today? Hi there. Thanks so much for taking my call.

You bet. What's going on? Well, I have a question about housing and budgeting. So let me give you a little bit of context. My wife and I are in our early 30s. We've been working in baby steps. We've been married about two years and in about the year and a half mark. We paid off, we finished paying off around 70,000 worth of debt. Way to go. Oh, thank you. And so we currently live in a one-bedroom co-op in the Hudson Valley, which costs us around $1,600 a month. So with that in our budget, we're able to save between $3,000 and $4,000 a month,

and we've been doing that since we got married. And so we're about to have, we have a seven-month-old now, and in the coming May, we're going to have our second child. And so that's a lot of people to put in a one-bedroom apartment. Yeah. So to, yeah, to get to a bigger place, it would be about $2,400 a month at least in this area just because it's the Hudson Valley. And so in our child care costs are likely to go up in the coming August once paternity and maternity leave is done. And so my question is like,

do we, do we stick it out here? Because our long-term plan is to move out of state in about two years once my mother-in-law retires. And so we're saving up for a down payment. But in the main time, that's my question. Indiana, we want to go to Indiana. Indianapolis. In about two years? In about two years. How much money have you got saved up? So we currently have around 17,000 saved up. We just finished paying off all of our debt. So we're like we're just getting started on that saving process. But you're saving a lot per month, which is great.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And our living situation really helps with that. And we've got family nearby and all that. So the location is good. It's just the square footage. not great. Yeah. And so, you know, do I, do I sell our co-op in the meantime so that during that two-year waiting period, we can have a, you know, more expensive but larger place, or do we just kind of stick it out in the one bedroom with four people? I mean, if I would, what I would do is I'd stick it out for as long as I possibly can, because the more that you can save on your living is the more money that you can save for a potential down payment, and I don't have to tell you you need a lot of money saved for a down payment these days, right? So the more that you can get saved in

the next two to two and a half years, that would be my number one goal. Matter of fact, I'd run it back and say, okay, based on Indianapolis home prices and based on what we want, which I got you over here, whenever you're ready, whenever you're ready. Yeah, we're going to plug that in and then we're going to run it back and say, okay, what must be true for us to move in? And then that's the, that, that is the silver bullet of what we're saving for in the next two, two and a half year. So, Ken, I'm going to, hit me. I'm your assistant. Yeah.

I'm giving you some numbers here. Well, I don't, my computer died, so I don't have it. It's okay. I got you. All right, you got it? It's what I'm here for. All right. So, an average price for a three bedroom home.

I did three bedroom because it's going to feel like a castle to him. Love it. Oh, I love hearing the little one in the background. That's real. We like that, folks. 230 to 299. Okay. 30 up this approximately okay

230,000 to 299,000 okay some specifics if you look at Marion County because I typed in greater Indianapolis area okay so I'm given so this is just what this is the homework you need to do my friend but you got Marion County median price is 229

Hendricks County medium price is 303 Johnson County median price is 298 so let's add some other surrounding so you you're in that 230 to 300 thousand and then let's add little inflation to that. Let's say 240, right? That's what I would say, because this is two and a half years from now. So you say 240 and then knowing that what you're attempting to do is put 25% down,

then you can go and plug in estimated taxes and insurance and all of that. And that number is what you need to be working towards. I got him at, if you guys continue to save, if I was listening correctly, you were saving $3,000 to $4,000 a month, you guys can have a a shot at getting close to $100,000. Just your savings, not including any equity in the co-op, right? Correct. Yeah. So I... What's your equity in the co-op? We think based upon comps that I've run in the area, that I can get around 50 after the sale. And so that brings us pretty close to that 20% down payment with what we have saved. And we're targeting a house in Indianapolis around the 300,000 mark.

I love that. That's very doable. And I'm with Jade then. Listen, the babies don't know. This is going to be tough on you and mom. But you know what? Two little babies. These are going to be memories that you two talk about when the kids are long gone.

For sure. And you're going to be like, we did it. And I think since we're not asking the kids to suffer, you guys aren't really suffering, but it is a form of suffering. And I'm with my partner on this one. Listen, she and Sam, I brag about this, she had Sam had one car for how long? Ten years. And how many years after you actually had the money to buy a car?

Long, let's see. We were done in 2018. I didn't buy a second car until we got here, which was 22. Which I don't recommend. I think she's bananas, but she's the real deal. So I'm with Jade. I 100% would suck it up. They're little ones.

It's going to be crazy anyway. Two years is going to fly when you got two babies. I know that's right. The days are long, but the years are short. That's right. And I'm with Jade 100%. I tough it out and then make the triumphant entry into Indianapolis with a really, really nice down payment. And by the way, cost of living there?

Fantastic. So, man, you're going to feel like from Hudson Valley to the greater Indianapolis area. Oh, man. What a change. Unless. Wait a second. Hold on, Dustin. She's got an idea.

No, it's not an idea. I was just about to throw some bait into the water. Go for it. I was going to throw it. You said it's a really great cost of living there. And I was going to say unless everybody in New York gets spooked and starts going to places like Indiana and Florida and Tennessee. Oh, we have some people raising their hands out there in the lobby.

Indiana is the new Tennessee for New Yorkers. Are you all leaving upstate New York? I met you all earlier. Is that what you did? Yeah. See? That's what I'm saying. Now, I'm not trying to spook you, but I'm just saying, the migration is real. They're more mature. Can we say that? They're a little bit more mature in age. I'm just saying that there are predictions being made. I'm just saying about another great migration.

Oh, well, we'll see. We'll see. The times will tell. Now's the time, folks. I thought I was setting you. That's why I said I was putting a line in the water. No, I'm not going to take it. Well, I'll say this. I'll say this. When people say they're going to leave this country based on some political change, number one, it's their right. to say it. We saw a lot of celebs say it. A few actually did it. Instead, they just went to Indiana. They went to England. Oh, I'm just kidding. The celebrities I'm thinking of. Yeah. But, you know, listen, are people going to leave over stuff like that? You better believe it. We saw

massive migration from California. We saw it here in Middle Tennessee. Certainly a lot of people moving to Florida. It's certainly going to happen. But I don't think, and I'm, and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law live in Indianapolis, so I apologize at a time. Of all the places people are going to flee from New York, I don't think it's Indianapolis. I'm not throwing shade in any of my friends. It's a nice area, sir. It's a lovely area, but it's not on the top of anybody's list. Is that fair? Even he's acknowledging me. He's like, well, you make a good point. Lovely place to live. Is it a top destination? I don't think so. All right, the Ramsey Show question of the day is brought to you by

Why Refi? When your private student loans are in default, it's easy to feel ashamed or stuck. Why Refi will not judge you. In fact, they'll help you rebuild, refinance, and regain control. Visit yrefi.com slash Ramsey. That's y-R-E-F-Y.com slash Ramsey, not available in all states. Okay, today's question comes from Bailey in Maryland. They say, we currently have $7,500 in credit card debt and an $800,000 home loan.

Now, the home is worth $1 million. We have around $50,000 invested in single stocks to give to our kids when they are adults and out on their own. The kids are now 10 years old, and we are investing regularly for them. On one hand, I feel like we should cash in these to put towards our debt. However, I also know that time is such a huge factor in long-term. term investing, and I won't make that much of an impact on such a large debt. We currently make $175,000 per year combined. What should be our priority? Okay, so the $7,500 in credit card debt, and it sounds like that's the only consumer debt that you have. Okay? The rest of it, $800,000 on the

home loan, that is not part of Baby Step 2. Baby step 2 is we pay off everything except the house. So on your salary of $175,000 per year, unless there's a typo on this, why don't you reach over yesterday and pay off the $7,500 in credit card debt? Unless that's a typo, I don't understand where the problem is. Now, we can talk about how I think your money is best invested. That's kind of beside the point right now. But no, you don't need to liquidate that stock to pay off this debt. You can cash flow that in two seconds, is my point.

Now, if we keep going and we're talking about on down through the baby steps, do you need three to six months of expenses saved? Yes, you do. Now we can talk about, is there any money at our disposal that we can start to do this? If I were you, I would still take my salary and I would cash flow three to six months. Now, this money that you invested for your kids, if it were me, I would pull it out of single stocks and I would drop it in a 529 plan. That's what I would do. because single stocks is not the best way to invest money anyway. Now, if you said, well, Jade, if I just invested in the market, I have more investments open that I can use, blah, blah, blah. If you wanted to park it in some sort of a brokerage, I suppose you could do that, but it's not the best tax advantage for you. That's why I would do a $529. That's what I would do with this $50,000 invested. I would then turn around cash flow three to six months, and then you're off to the races. And then baby step seven, baby step six is when you're going to pay off this home. Okay? So that's kind of how this works. With the money that you have,

you're going to be putting extra payments toward this mortgage for a long time until it's done, or, you know, paying a little here and a little there until it's done. But it's not something that you have to do in Baby Step 2. I just want to be clear about that. Yeah, good advice. I can't add anything to that. Also, I want to mention our new every dollar is here. It's way more than the world-class budgeting app that we've been talking about. I was meeting with the team. day. I was like, hey, I want to get in on the inside of this thing. I'm looking at it, playing around with all the new features. And the best I could come away with, I said, guys, this is, this is literally like someone could get on the app. And with all the questions

they're going to answer in the first 10 minutes, it's like talking to us on the air, but way more detailed. And you get all kinds of content. They're like, that's exactly what it is. Plus, you can get access to a real live person who is a coach, one of our financial coaches right here. So fantastic stuff. And the average person finds thousands of dollars or margin in just the first 15 minutes. So start every dollar today for free by getting it in the app store or Google Play. You know what? Let me run back what I said to Bailey and Maryland. You know what? I'm thinking about it. I would, you know, the $50,000, you have an $800,000 home. You need a three to six month emergency fund today. I probably would liquidate it and use that as my emergency fund and then

restart with the 529s. All right. Final answer. Final answer, folks. She has spoken. Kevin is up in California. Kevin, how can we help today? Hi. Thank you for taking my call.

My question is I'm 21 in my final year of college, we have $50,000 in no debt. And I'm not really sure what to do, but I have a few options with my main one being real estate. As my family said, they'll go 50-50 in investment property if I figure out the whole process in purchasing and going about the investor property. Did you say 50,000 or 60,000? Uh, 50.

50. Okay. And when do you finish school? I finish in May. Okay. And your degree is in? Business. And what do we want to do? What are we looking for? What's that job we're looking for? I'm going to be starting full-time in the fall as a business analyst. Congrats. How much will we be making? I want to say I'm very privileged, I'm very thankful, but around 120 to 130.

thousand okay great and you have zero debt zero debt um in my family made a deal where if i go to community college for two years and then transfer to a four year they'll pay for money great two years in no wow okay i just wanted to get a quick snapshot uh for jade and i on your total financial picture so that we can now address the question and if we can go back into the question you've got the 50 000 in savings and and you're going what what should i do with that is that what i'm understanding Yeah, right now the $50,000 is invested in the market, but I don't really trust myself in the market because, yeah, I just don't really like the market. I'd rather... How is it invested in the market? Be specific. Is this in a mutual fund, or is this in single stocks? Sadly, I know it's terrible, but single stocks.

Wow. Okay. All right. What's not the end of the world here? It's just not the strategy. All right. Jade, jump in here. So what do you want to do? Is this a home for yourself, or is this some kind of rental? Like, what are you thinking? I want to be a rental Yeah, I want to be a rental Can I ask why a rental And why not a place where you're just living Learning about what it means to own a home?

Yeah, so Because I'm going to be graduating After I graduate, I'm planning on NAM Like I'm very thankful for this But living with my family with my parents Because my job, I'm traveling like half the year And then the other half the year my parents were traveling themselves. And so I didn't see the point of having my own home,

even though all my friends are going to be living and moving out. So let me tell you what I would do, knowing what you've said, I would combine the best of both worlds. I, this is, and I'm going to ask more questions to make sure that you're in this position. But if you're in the position to buy, I would buy a home and I would make the home for me, but I would also have roommates. And I would have roommates that live there so that while I'm traveling, I'm still bringing an income. but I also have this place that's my own that I'm building, I'm learning what it is to live in a home. I'm, I've launched out of my parents' house. Do you see what I'm saying? So you're getting the best of both worlds where you're feeling independent, but you're also still feeling

like you're bringing in rental income. Does that make sense? The only caveats to that are number one, you would need to be able to pay the rent on your own or pay the mortgage on your own, no problem, even if you didn't have roommates. That'd be number one. And then, number two, you'd have to meet the normal criteria for what we would say is a proper home buying experience, which is the payments no more than 25% of your take home pay. You're out of debt, which you said you are, and you've got three to six months of expenses sitting aside. Now, my screen says that you don't think you need an emergency fund. Tell me more about that. yeah um i my my my parents are pretty um involved in my life and if something were to take a turn

for the worst i think they'd be there for me why can't you be there for you though why wouldn't we set ourselves up for you to be there for you since you're very true i mean you're 21 very true um honestly i just that yeah you got you got a great point can i can i ask a question because you've been very humble. You are. And I think you're being very, very delicate here in how you choose your words. So I'll ask, are your parents very wealthy? I would say they're comfortable to the sentence.

Okay, but they're not very, but it's not a trap question. Because I wonder if your parents are very, very wealthy and they're saying to you pretty actively, hey, listen, do this, do this, we got you here. Then it makes sense to all of your responses. and I love that Jade's going, that is a blessing, and you've called it that, by the way. But regardless of that blessing, you still need to establish your own life, knowing that Mom and Dad are very generous and can be. So I don't want to put you on the spot with that, but that's what I'm sensing,

and I think Jade's advice is actually really, really great. Thanks, Mom and Dad, you're amazing, but I want to find my own way, build my own way, and I want to do it in a way that's very responsible. And if they're going to match your 50% on the down payment, I think that's wonderful for them. That's it. Yes. All right. Question for the audience here.

Do you ever feel like you're doing everything right with your money, but you don't feel like you're getting anywhere? Well, you're not alone. Maybe, just maybe, you've made changes and had a few wins, but something feels off. But it's not because you've messed up. It's because money isn't just math. there's so much emotion tied to the money winning game.

And if you're not emotionally where you need to be, it can sabotage all the progress. And that's what Jade Warshaw is taking on in her brand new book, what no one tells you about money. And it's the first Ramsey book, by the way, that takes an honest, in-depth look at the emotional side of money. So this is a book that's not been written, and it needs to be written. And it's going to help so many of you who are in the thick and thin. You know the baby steps. But do you know how your emotions are playing out? And you can pre-order this now for $24.99 and get over $100 in free bonus items, including

the enhanced audio book, early access to the e-book, instant access to an exclusive video from Jade, your financial checkup, and then an exclusive three-week online book club where you get live Q&A with Jade. You can pre-order now to get the best price and all the goodies at Ramsey Solutions.com. slash store that's ramsysolutions.com slash store jade i've been able to interview a lot of big time authors and i always love to ask them if there's only one thing that readers can take away from this book what no one tells you about money what is it that you want them to take away oh one thing i know it's like asking you to choose between your kids um but what's that if you go okay they read this book

and ken here's what i want them to be able to take away to be able to do Um, I want them to be able to identify what it is that they're feeling, um, at the core of things because a lot of times it's just running in the background and it's influencing us and we don't know. Um, behavior, I, I, I explain it like this. If behavior is the car, right, we want, we want to, we want to get out of debt. That's the behavior. Okay, I'm in the car. Our beliefs are in the driver's seat. I believe I can do it. So I'm ready to operate the vehicle. But our emotions can steer us off track. Emotions steer the wheel. They can make us hit a, it. It's good. They can make us hit a, tree. They make us go on a ditch. They can make us turn around and go the opposite direction. And if you don't feel that, if you don't know, it's happening and you don't even realize it, right? Ken, it's showing itself with you having arguments with your spouse just because they stopped off at the gas station to get a Mountain Dew on the way home. Why? Why are you getting so mad about that? Why is it every time you go to the grocery store? You're worried that it's going to overdraw the account. So all of these things are operating in the back. It's operating when

everybody, somebody brings up student loans and you just get mad as a snake, right? It's all back there and you need to be able to see what is it that causes me to be so passive aggressive whenever somebody tells me something that they're winning at with money, right? It's back there and you need to see what it is. I help you identify it and then I help you fix it so you can actually get on track. So I hope that you know that it comes from a very, very real place that it's not just another expert telling you something to do. It's someone who has stood in the mirror and cried and wondered what was wrong with their life and if they've ruined everything. I've done that. And so I want you to know it's coming from a person who's been exactly where you are

and that's why I can write about it and explain how to get out. So again, Ramsey Solutions.com slash store. Pre-order it now comes out in first week of January. This is a fabulous gift, by the way, for that person who hasn't maybe decided to go all in on this process. But boy, if you can speak to their heart and get where they feel, ultimately you get an opportunity to help them change the way they act. So this would be a great gift, by the way, for that person in your life that struggling with money and can't figure out what they need to do next. Tyler's up in Oklahoma. Tyler, how can we help today? Hey, thanks for taking my call. Yes. What is going on? Sorry, this is kind of surreal being on here. I've listened to you guys so much. It's crazy.

So this is kind of a lot. I'll try to keep it brief. I am in a tough situation right now. I was working away from home. I was doing a truck driver job and I was making pretty good money. I was trying to pay out some debt because I do have debt wrecked up. And I'd been gone for a while and my wife was kind of like, you know, you got to get home and I wanted to be home. And so I found something back home that wasn't as good pay, but I took it and then it kind of fell through. So long story short, I'm back home now with no job. I was making pretty good money. Now I have no income. My wife doesn't work. And so we're in a really tough spot there. And so that's the first part. And then the second part is kind of like

I hated the truck driving job anyway. And I don't really know where to go from here. I've been struggling for a while. I'm like kind of finding my path. I listen to you a lot. I actually took your assessment. But I just, I still can't quite figure out like where I want to go. Do you have your assessment results near you? I actually do. Yeah. I haven't pulled up. here. I can read them to you. Yeah, let's, let's, this is, we're going to get to that, but I'm going to go ahead and write it down. Okay, top three talents. What you do best? So I have logic, organization, and justice. Okay, hold on, logic, organization, and justice. Okay, all right, top three passions. Making, finishing, and analyzing. Making, finishing, and analyzing.

All right, and what's your missional result? creation. Oh, so you like to create things. Okay, we're going to get back to that. Okay. Yeah, it's a lot. Like I said, there's a lot. No, no, I know. Well, we got to, we got to deal with the urgent, right? And then we've got to win the now and then we worry about the next. Yeah. You got to go to work. I've been, I've been applying for jobs and things like that. You know, I know I've got to find something right now. How long have you been out of work? Just a week and a half. Okay, great. I would go back to the job. the truck because that's that's there's a huge need in that area and I know your wife doesn't like it

but we got bigger problems than how much time you're at home right now it's just bread and butter and we just got to go where we know there's a need and I appreciate that you're applying for jobs this becomes your full-time job but while you're applying you're driving around construction sites you're driving around anywhere where you've got a skill if you've got a trade skill in other words if you're good with a hammer or you're good with a shovel you have got to start working and I mean today and if not today tomorrow if I was in your shoes I'd be going where I could get a check we need to get checks coming in and when we get checks coming in we take care of all of the basics and we can breathe which means we're allowed to think a little bit and when thinking

we actually can think clearly with the thing like the assessment so I just want to cover that I don't care what it is what were you making driving the truck by the way I didn't ask that? I was making a little over three grand a week after taxes. My man, that's a good chunk of change. It sure is. It was good money. It was good money, but, you know, I've got three kids here at home, and I was gone for five months, and it was just... Okay, but you can't sit at home and not work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who? I know, I know. Are they better off with you on the road making 12 grand a month, or are they better off you at home when no money coming in? No, I totally understand. I just, it was really hard being away from them

and things were kind of starting my wife was struggling here okay uh you know I get that let me meet you there let me meet you there but if you drove a did you drive an AT wheeler yeah okay you're qualified to drive a lot of large

equipment beyond just a truck is my guess true or false uh yes yeah dude where's the need in your area this is not resume just you driving up on sites I know for a fact because I pay attention to the stuff every day, that the trucking industry, and I understand there's the long

haul, but there's also regional, and then there's local stuff, and they need somebody they can depend on, and buddy, you got a great resume, and you got a good story, by the way. You could say, hey, I was driving 18 wheelers over the long road, but I left because I got three little ones at home, and now I need to drive something big and that puts out diesel fuel and stinks because I'm good at it, and I can get paid for it, and I'm going to take care of my family. You're not applying for jobs just you are showing up on sites and a guy hops out of the truck if you got to go to a daggum truck stop and go hey I notice you're driving a Coca-Cola truck or a Pepsi truck or a beer truck are they hiring right now that's how we apply and you go get behind the wheel of something

that gets you home every night but I think that's your best bet now on the assessment here are the three questions you got to answer who are the people I want to help What problem or desire do they have? What solution to that problem or desire fires me up? Now, answer those three questions while looking at those assessment results and watch the ideas flow. And then please read the book. Hang on the line. We're going to get you find the work you're wired to do.

I'll coach you all the way. All right. I may have my sheet, James. I don't have my... I think I have it, Ken. The scripture and quote of the day? I got you right here, comrade. James, I was so nervous, man.

I was looking in my stash here, folks. I was trying to make you sweat. Hey, it worked. I was like, James, I'm going to need you to read the scripture of the day for us. But, hey, fear not, folks. Proverbs 1215 is our scripture today. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

and our quote of the day from Milton Friedman, one of the great economists of all time. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. What a word. I'm just going to read that again because Milton Freeman, a lot of people don't know who he is. You need to look him up. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Chew on that for several hours, folks, and it'll eventually hit you. I get it immediately, and I think that's brilliant.

It is brilliant. Jason is up in Pennsylvania. Jason, how can we help? Hey, thanks for taking my call. You bet. So my question is revolving around 529 plans. So when I had kids, I wanted to make sure they didn't start their adult life off with debt like I did and like so many other people do. So I opened 529 plans for each of the kids the year they were born.

Fast forward 18 years, and I was very proud to invested enough money in the 529 plan. to fully fund both of my kids' college educations. As luck would have it, my eldest child, my son then earned a college scholarship covering his full tuition. He's going to graduate in a couple years with no debt and somewhere north of $150,000 in an account for him. So that is kind of where my issue comes in. I got to thinking and my wife and I got to talking about how do we hand this money off to him and when? You know, those first handful of years out of college for me, you know, were a struggle, but I think that

that really taught me a lot of good lessons with debt and with money and being financially responsible. So I don't want to rob him of that. So just looking for a little bit of advice on, you know, how and when and to pass this money to him. Are you thinking, in terms of how you pass the money, are you thinking of liquidating it and giving him the cash? Are you thinking of just giving it to him as a 529 and suggesting that he changed the beneficiary to his future kid like what are your thoughts on on that part of it yeah what i've started in pennsylvania if you get a college scholarship you're able to take that amount out per year which i've started to do and i'm moving that into a brokerage account investing in index funds so i'm going to give him the brokerage account

at some point we just don't know when so that that will be just a brokerage account open in his name that he's great i love that you made that transition um can i want you to in to add to this because your kids are older than mine. I think so much of this depends on what type of kid this is. It depends on how they manage their money. It depends on what their track record has been. Because I'll tell you straight up, you know, in my mind, if I have a son who has been so responsible and so smart and done so well with his time and his money

and all these things and responsible, yeah, when the time comes for him to buy a house, I'd love to help with that process, whether it's help 50-50 on the down payment and this is the money that's going to do that. I don't have any problem with that sort of thing as long as it's not enabling in any way. Does that make sense? Yeah, I love your advice. I think, listen, all of us who have multiple kids, you know, they're all different and they tend to handle money. Very different. I'm thinking of my three kids as you were talking and I'm laughing, you know, just the differences between.

my three. Yeah. You know them. I do. I do. And they're all, you have one, like, you know, they don't listen to the show so I could say it. Yeah. My boy, Chase, let me tell you something. Don't say the name. Well, that'll mind. They will never see this or listen to this in a million years. You give it to him at 21, and it ain't going anywhere. He's going to keep it. He's going to invest in it. It's going to turn a lot of money. Yeah. You know, I'm not going to despair to it. But I'm just saying he's the one where I go automatically, it's a younger rage for him. The other two, I want to see some things. I want to, and I, you know, they're all great. I love that advice. I thought you. I thought it was good. I was, I was stepping into your

advice in my situation. But I have a little bit of a curveball that goes outside of the three and their personalities. Because I've toyed with this. So I haven't done this. So don't come at me. I'm not. I'm listening. I wonder if, and I love what Jason said, and Jason, I agree with you. I remember coming out of college having nothing. I mean nothing. Paid my student loans off. That's all I had. I didn't have a car payment, and I just drove a piece of crap forever. I mean, the car I picked Stacy up on in our first date, it's embarrassing. Yeah. So I do like that they need to figure it out. I love that part. And there's part of me that goes, I wouldn't mind just putting it away in a true retirement account.

and it's for their retirement and just let it sit there and then over time go, hey, by the way, this is something mom and I wanted to bless you with because I don't want them to have the brokerage. I'd want them to have, I'd want them to have the retirement account is where I would go. I see where you're going with that. Here's my only, I should say it's where I'm leaning on this one. I'm not saying I'm solid on that. Here's why I like the real estate thing.

And I'm not saying right away. like I'm not saying when they're, you know, at 23 when they come out. What I like about the real estate is they're giving a leg up of building wealth earlier, but it's not so, it's not, I can just access this money and spend it and, you know, it fall away. It's going into a home for savings account. It's building equity, something that's taking people now decades to save for, to be able to have that help is such a big deal.

I almost think it could make a bigger. impact than having the retirement later because it's going to influence their day-to-day life and what they're able to do. That's my own. I get it. I get it. Either one is good. The reason I thought the real long term is it's like I want them to make their own decisions on that. Yeah. And I don't know what they're going to do from a home stand point. But then at 50 to be like, hey, this is here. It's like, oh, like, hey, guys. That's different. I've told you and I've been telling you to do your own thing. But we went ahead and so you've got a nice, because I think I could, I mean, I want to buy them all a house. All right. I do. These are things I want to do. But I think, man, if I could put

that money and let it sit and grow and it's something that goes, hey, you're going to be okay. Yeah. Everybody would love to get that gift. They can't touch it. What would be the age? Not when you die. No, no. For them, would it have to be $60. 59 and a half for them? I'm setting it up as a retirement account. Oh, that's long term. I get it. I'm not saying, by the way, that that's what I'm going to do. I'm saying, I went into Jason's call and I went with him and I went, what would I do? What could I do? What's the longest term thing that it's a blessing, but there's no temptation? I think I'd say, whichever happens first, you're either 25 and you're ready to buy your first house or you're 27, ready, or when you, upon marriage, like when you get married.

Okay. I think I would do that. And I love those too. I like that. And I'm not sure. And it wouldn't be cash. It would be down payment on a home. I just think so few people think long term.

And I like the long term gift. I mean, there is a nice growth on that. That's different. I'm just kicking it around. I don't, like I said, that is not a in stone statement for me. Yeah, I get it. Me neither. There you go, Jason.

And here's the deal. You're such a good dad. Can we just come back to you and go, we gave you some ideas and thoughts. But man, how awesome is it feel for you to be in that position? I'd like to kick that out to the comments, see what they would. say. There you go. Oh, they'll comment. Jason, what do you think? We'll give you the last word. Yeah, you know, I thought about some of that too as far as, you know, with that 529 plan in Pennsylvania, we can roll. I think it's up to 35,000 into a Roth. So I may do that and then put some

of it in the Roth and then put the rest in the brokerage. That's what I'm thinking. I love the mix. That's very good too, you know. So I don't know. I just look at all these young people. They're not thinking long term, you know. So Jason, you're a good man. Thanks. Thanks for the call. You know, it's... Best of both worlds. It really is. And again, love that where people can see why that 529 is such a good play because look at that.

He's able to do something with that. You're not stuck. People are like, oh, what if they don't do? No, you're not stuck. You're not stuck. It's such a good, good investment. I absolutely love that. All right.

Remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Thank you.