The Ramsey Show - App - Hope for Families That Are Drowning in Debt (Hour 3)

Episode Date: October 9, 2018

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for joining us. Open phones this hour at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Jordan is in Indianapolis. Hi, Jordan. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave.
Starting point is 00:00:58 How's it going? Better than I deserve. What's up? So, as of last week, I've completed my debt-free journey by over four years paying off over $84,175. And what I'm trying to figure out now is in terms of buying a house, what is the best way to kind of save and go about it? Because I've been thinking about just pocketing the money, but also investing some to maybe get a better rate of return by doing that way. What are your thoughts on that? Great job. Great job. So
Starting point is 00:01:25 how much are you going to save? Well, as of right now, my monthly expenses are only about $1,100. So out of my salary, try to save about $2,200 to $2,300. And if I really buckle down, about $2,600. Okay. A month? Correct. For how long? Well, depending on the type of house I'm looking at, if I get 20% on a down payment on $150,000, probably about at least 10 months bare minimum, that's probably around 15%. But if I did a year, I should be able to get that, if you include bonuses and tax return and such.
Starting point is 00:01:58 Okay. Well, 12 months would be $30,000. And if you invested $30,000, which you don't have today but if you were to invest 30 000 and it made 10 in one year you would make three thousand dollars correct okay um now we don't have 30 000 so it's like over the course of that year you'd have more like an average of 15 000 invested and so if you made, you'd have more like an average of $15,000 invested. And so if you made 10%, you'd make about $1,500. Okay?
Starting point is 00:02:35 And so if you have $30,000 at the end of one year to put down on a house, or you have $31,500 to put down on a house, doesn't matter much. You follow me? The point is you saving money on the short term as aggressively as you have the ability to save money is the secret sauce, not the investment. Okay. During this year, Jordan is worth $30,000. Mutual fund, $1,500. Jordan is the answer30,000. Mutual fund, $1,500.
Starting point is 00:03:07 Jordan is the answer to our equation. Okay. Does that make sense? Yes, sir, it does. In other words, if you adjusted your budget and saved an extra $100 a month, you would have made more doing that than you would have on the investment. Yeah. So you are the secret sauce, dude.
Starting point is 00:03:26 You figured that out. Now, when you start investing over the long term, we're talking about a 20 year investment, a 30 year investment with your Roth IRA or your mutual funds for your kid's college or something like that, where you got 20 years. That's when the rate of return starts to be very, very important. But where you have a short window like this this it's not worth the risk because you could put thirty thousand dollars in there it could end up being worth 15 it could go in half i mean i don't think it will but it could and i i just wouldn't do that i wouldn't do it emily is in birmingham hey emily welcome to the dave ramsey show hi. Thanks, Dave. What's up? My husband and I are having a little disagreement. I'm hoping you can help us out.
Starting point is 00:04:09 Okay. I recently came into a little bit of inheritance after losing both my grandparents this last year. I'm sorry. And thank you. We have two debts, one being our mortgage and then the second being our car. And my husband wants and feels that the money should go towards the car. And I am just viewing it as a little bit more sentimental and wanting it to go towards something a little bit more sentimental. And I'm wondering, is that incorrect to kind of view the money as kind of like a final gift and should I just kind of take away the emotions and just go
Starting point is 00:04:49 towards that? So you want to buy something with it? Well, yes. Like I'm needing a new suite of appliances. All mine have kind of been around for way too long and I'm hardly working in the first place. So, and my grandmother is the one that taught me how to cook. So for me, that would be kind of a more final gift, I guess I would say.
Starting point is 00:05:13 But my husband is like, hey, if we have the extra money, let's put it towards the car and get that paid down. Okay. How much money is involved? Just under nine grand. Okay. All right. is involved uh just under nine grams okay all right um well i analyze these things through the sentimental lens as well and the way i would ask myself this is okay grandma was obviously good with her money thus she left her grandkid and kids nine thousand bucks okay um so grandma's sitting in heaven looking at her grandbaby
Starting point is 00:05:47 what makes her smile because her granddaughter did this with the money i'm not thinking a dishwasher does that now i get the tie-in to she taught you to cook. I might take $1,000 and buy some cooking utensils so that every time I use that set of pots and pans or knives or whatever that I thought of Grandma. And I might put the rest of it on the car. But I think Grandma probably was somebody that hated debt, and she might be smiling if you paid off the debt. I've got to agree with your husband. Okay. But I'm not doing that through the lens of I'm calling your sentiment silly.
Starting point is 00:06:33 I'm just saying your sentiment, you can actually use that to try to say, okay, you know the character of this woman. She was a frugal person, a saving person. She was careful with her money. My guess is she hated debt. Does that sound familiar? I mean... Oh, yes, yes. They paid off all debt and they owned real
Starting point is 00:06:56 estate and made it pretty much as their retirement fund. So, I mean, I think she'd be smiling if you paid off your car, but I also think she'd be smiling if you'd spent a you know, a grand on some stuff to use in the kitchen. I get that. Let's balance this out a little bit. How much do you owe on the car?
Starting point is 00:07:13 See, we still have about, I think, $24,000 to $25,000 left on the car. What's your household income? So it wouldn't pay it off. It would just put a dent in it. What's your household income? Right under six figures a year. Okay. All right.
Starting point is 00:07:28 Well, it's all going to get taken care of pretty soon anyway. So more than anything, it's just an emotional discussion. I mean, as long as you don't, well, you know, what would Dave and Sharon Ramsey do? We would look at it through the lens of what is wise, and that would also be pleasing to Grandma. And so I probably would buy, you know, I'd probably say, Sharon, let's go get a really high-end, amazing set of cooking pots and pans and knives or whatever.
Starting point is 00:07:58 Drop a grand on it. I don't know, something like that. And then let's throw the rest of it at this in honor of Grandmother because I think she'd be smiling about both things um i think you're you know you're honoring her life her tradition the way she thought and believed and that is sentiment and that's a reasonable sentiment so you do whatever you want to do that's just the way i think through it and now you've got an added argument a third idea thrown on the table. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Spencer here from Smile Love.
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Starting point is 00:09:49 to take an additional $100 off. smilelove.com, promo code Dave. Thank you for joining us. Solomon is with us in Atlanta. Hi, Solomon. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, Dave, long story short, I'm a doctor, graduated from medical school, just finished residency,
Starting point is 00:10:37 and I have about $380,000 in student loans, mainly all from medical school. Good Lord. I was planning to do the public service loan forgiveness program to pay it off. However, that didn't kind of fall through with my current employment. So I'm trying to figure out the good way to pay this off and do so comfortably and to become debt-free of this financial burden. Okay. Just for future reference, 30,000 people have now applied for the federal loan service forgiveness,
Starting point is 00:11:19 public service forgiveness. Ninety-six have been granted it out of 30,000. It's a complete scam. It's not happening. The government has screwed you. So good. I'm glad you're not signed up for that. So what is your income?
Starting point is 00:11:37 Please, God, tell me it's large. It's my combined. I'm married. So with my wife, it's about 330. Good. Okay. I'm married, so with my wife, it's about $330. Good. Okay. So you don't get to live like a doctor because you're a broke doctor.
Starting point is 00:11:54 Yeah. You're going to live like a college student. Okay. I hope you haven't started buying crap. Can't answer that. Have you started buying crap? B one thing just one what the car what'd you buy uh the the car i got yeah yeah uh now do you yeah what'd you pay for it about 50 000 okay you're80,000 in debt. You can never do that again.
Starting point is 00:12:29 Well, I don't plan to. You can never do anything like that again. You're not going on vacation. You're not buying a house. You are a broke doctor. Here's the thing. You have this absolutely fabulous income, and you are going to destroy your wealth building ability with that income if you don't clear this debt up and treat it like it's cancer and we're going to hit it with
Starting point is 00:12:52 chemo and everything we've got and so i am not a band-aid off slowly guy that crap does not work and so what i would do if i woke up in your shoes is I would live on $50,000 a year or less, which would make me debt-free in under three years. Okay. And then I would start my life. The great news is you have the ability to delay pleasure for a greater outcome. We know that because you've gone to school your whole freaking life. And you're very smart academically. Or you wouldn't be where you are.
Starting point is 00:13:29 Okay? You have the ability to delay pleasure, which is a sign of emotional maturity, and you have a great intellect. Let's use those two things and apply them to this mess that you are in called deeply in debt. Now, you can do it the other way, but I'll tell you this. Your colleagues are walking around out there with $300,000, $400,000, $200,000 worth of medical school debt for a decade because they play with it and they never kill the disease. The only way you kill it is extreme treatment, radical, and it's the only way it goes away it's
Starting point is 00:14:07 going to stay with you forever otherwise so that's what i would do if i woke up in your shoes i would treat it like i am a broke doctor because i'm a broke doctor and broke doctors don't buy fifty thousand dollar cars or go on fifty thousand dollar vacations so you're not doing that crap anymore you're gonna get on a tight budget beans and rice rice and beans and clean up this mess because if you take the three year old older than you are now you and go forward with a three or four hundred thousand dollar income and no debt you're going to be so wealthy it's going to be blinding if you watch what you're doing but if you just screw around with this thing and keep it like it's a pet, it's going to be a problem for you.
Starting point is 00:14:49 Lori is with us in Boise, Idaho. Hi, Lori. How are you? Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I'm at this point where I like to be giving, give like no other.
Starting point is 00:15:03 And my mom has been in a nursing home for 10 years and i moved her up to post falls and she is in a very very small room and she's a large woman and i was wondering would that be considered giving to help get her into her semi-private room and help pay for her cost of living. Sure. Of course it would be giving. Would it be tithing? No. But it would be giving?
Starting point is 00:15:30 Yes. Okay. I mean, I don't know what you mean by giving, but do you have the money to do this? Are you broke or what? No, I have the money to give. Okay. And you're out of debt? Yes. Okay. Okay. And you're out of debt? Yes.
Starting point is 00:15:46 Okay. And you have how much money in your nest egg? $300,000. Okay. And how old are you? 57. Good. Very good. Okay.
Starting point is 00:15:57 And what's your income? About $90,000. Cool. You're single? I'm single. And what are you talking about spending here? It will cost me about $1,000 a month. Okay.
Starting point is 00:16:11 So $12,000 out of $90,000. And you can keep saving doing that because you don't have any debt. You can keep investing so you retire with dignity. And you can take care of yourself when you're in the exact same situation later, right? That's what I want to keep you in. I want to keep you where you don't put yourself exposed to the elements, so to speak, by helping someone else. But I think it's wonderful. You have the money.
Starting point is 00:16:33 You've done a great job. You're out of debt, and you're in a position, and you want to give $12,000 a year towards your mom? Sure. There's no problem with that. Okay. Absolutely, I would do that. I just want to do the right thing, and like you said about giving so i just wanted to make sure i was doing the right thing so i think you are it's a wonderful gift and uh you're kind to her and you know what a wonderful
Starting point is 00:16:54 you know act of love towards your mom and and and again you put yourself in the position you have the money to do that without bringing harm to yourself. And that's what we're talking about. Live like no one else. So later, you can live and give like no one else. Very, very cool. Tony is with us. Tony is in Washington. Hi, Tony.
Starting point is 00:17:17 How are you? I am well. Good. How can I help? I was curious why you advocate money market accounts or low-yield accounts for, like, your emergency fund. Because your emergency fund is not an investment. It's insurance. Okay.
Starting point is 00:17:32 It's there. The principle has to be there and accessible and liquid because if your transmission goes out or you lose your job, you've got to be able to get your hands on it. The rate of return is irrelevant. It's insurance. It protects the things that does make you money. You see, what happens is people don't have an emergency fund accessible, and they've got it set up in something where they get penalized if it comes out. It's not liquid.
Starting point is 00:17:56 And then they have an emergency. You know what they do? They borrow on their 401K loan. They take a 401K loan. They borrow against their 401K. They They take a 401K loan. They borrow against their 401K. They cash it out. Where's your debt? And they create a mess because they've got to do that to save their house
Starting point is 00:18:11 because they didn't have money that was liquid. They got stuck because they were all worried about trying to make an extra point or two on the money instead of creating it like it's insurance. Insurance is an expense. Money tied up at 1%, you would agree, is an expense because it sucks. It's a horrible rate of return. It could be invested and be making more. But that portion, that $5,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 or whatever it is,
Starting point is 00:18:35 is just sitting there just as a barrier between you and life. And that's all it's for. It's not an investment. It's insurance. Investments make money. Insurance costs you money to protect the things that make you money. And this is insurance. So good question, though.
Starting point is 00:18:54 That's the whole reasoning behind that. Thanks for calling in. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Yeah, we need a rainy day fun. You know why? Because it's gonna rain! So you better have an umbrella.
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Starting point is 00:21:09 Thank you for joining us, America. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Steve and Cindy are with us. Hey, guys. Hi, Dave. Hi, Dave. Welcome, welcome. Where are you from? Bellevue, Colorado. Which is near?
Starting point is 00:21:19 Just north of Denver. Denver. Okay, cool. And you're headed to that free scream in Tennessee. Yes. How much have you paid off? We have paid off $363,691. How long did it take?
Starting point is 00:21:33 Dave, that took us six years, one month, and 11 days. I love it. And your range of income during that time? It was fluctuating during that time, 69 to 89. Whoa. Okay. And what do you all do for a living? I'm an administrative assistant for the Kroger Company.
Starting point is 00:21:50 And I'm a culinary manager. Very cool. Good stuff. Fun. So $464,000 over six years. I'm guessing that might include your mortgage. It does. I'm looking at weird people.
Starting point is 00:22:04 You paid off your house. We did. What's this house worth? Steve? $550,000, give or take. I love it. How old are you two? I am 51 today.
Starting point is 00:22:19 Perfect. I'm 52, Dave. Well, happy birthday. Thank you. Touchdown. And you have paid for a house. Yes. How does that feel?
Starting point is 00:22:29 Phenomenal. Unbelievable. Did you ever think you'd have no mortgage payments? Never in a million years. Well, six years ago you did. You started working on it then. What happened six years ago? Well, I'll tell you, it started a little bit before that, Dave. I heard about you probably, I want to say back in 2005, possibly, when our youngest granddaughter was born.
Starting point is 00:22:51 You were on PBS at that time is when I first heard of you. And I called to get your kit, and I was told that they didn't take credit cards. So I was a little taken back by that because I didn't understand the concept of the whole thing at that time. And then 2012, we had heard about it in church again, and I just told Steve we had to make some changes, and I was all in. It took Steve a little while longer, though. Okay, so you signed him up for the class, and he said,
Starting point is 00:23:22 You did what? Yeah, yeah, that's exactly how it went. Eventually I went kicking and screaming. Okay, so what stopped the kicking and screaming when you got to class? Why did it change you? Well, I took the first week that I did not go. I knew that she was signed up to the class. She asked if it was okay to sign up.
Starting point is 00:23:41 I said, yeah, that's fine. So then it came the evening of the class and she said she's getting ready to go. I said, yeah, that's fine. So then it came the evening of the class, and she said she's getting ready to go. I said, okay, have a good night. She goes, yeah, but we're going together. I said, well, no, you signed up for the class. I didn't sign up for the class. I was reloading ammunition.
Starting point is 00:23:56 I went ahead and did my thing. I was stubborn. Next week, I went with her, and eventually we became coordinators. Oh, wow, you ended up coordinating the class. Yeah. Probably half a dozen times, I went with her, and eventually we became coordinators. Oh, wow. You ended up coordinating the class. Yeah. Probably a half a dozen times, I think. That's the great revenge right there.
Starting point is 00:24:11 Yes. Yeah, you reloaded ammunition. She took off and loaded hers. Amen to that. Love it. Very fun. Very fun. Well, congratulations, you guys.
Starting point is 00:24:22 Thank you. Very proud for you. Very proud of you. And then you've been coordinating. So you've got cheerleaders all around you. People going, yay, you guys. Thank you. Very proud for you. Very proud of you. And then you've been coordinating. So you've got cheerleaders all around you, people going, yay, way to go, watching the video. They're going to love this right here. You've got people all around you screaming for you, right?
Starting point is 00:24:35 Absolutely. I love it. Very cool. Does anybody think you're crazy along the way? Oh, we have probably more of those. Ah, okay. They're out there. Yes.
Starting point is 00:24:44 Everybody's got an eye roll ready, don't they? Like, oh, you people. Right, right. You joined that Ramsey cult. We definitely made your name a cuss word. It's happened before. That's so great. All right, you've gotten out of debt.
Starting point is 00:24:59 You're 50 years old. You paid off your house and everything. You're coordinating classes, that guy who stayed home during the first class shows up at the second class. He's you, but now he's coming to your class. You know who I'm talking about, right? What do you tell him the secret to getting out of debt is? Why did this work? We had to be on the same page, and obviously, the first week, we weren't on the same page.
Starting point is 00:25:30 Went to the class, started to hear what it was about. And eventually, she got me on the same page. Okay. But I mean, what do you, you tell them the key to getting out of debt is being on the same page. What else? And follow the baby steps. Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 00:25:44 Very cool. Yeah, work together. Yeah yeah you got to tell your classes your story if you don't i mean you should this is great i mean the whole the whole story the loading the ammunition staying home that's that's real that's people being real and there's so many people out there trying to act like they got all their crap together and they don't we all stay home and load ammunition at least once that's awesome awesome, man. I mean, we do. That's just so cool. That's neat. What a great deal.
Starting point is 00:26:07 Very, very, very fun. So you don't have any payments in the world. Does that feel weird? Feels great. I was going to say it feels great. You know, in the last few months since we've paid off the house, we've done a lot. We've been home to visit family. I think some of the pictures that we showed, Dave, if I can share just a little something.
Starting point is 00:26:24 We thought we were going to come here in June was our intention. And then when we didn't get the phone call, we thought, what the heck, let's just go home to Chicago. We'll go visit family. So we did that. And I'll tell you, Steve and I got married 34 years ago. We were a very young couple, 16 and 17 years old. So there was a lot surrounding that circumstance at that time, and my family was not at our wedding.
Starting point is 00:26:57 It has always been a missing chapter in my life. And my sister, knowing that we were coming out because we didn't get to come to nashville in june had planned a whole surprise bowel renewal for us oh my gosh my dad gave me away oh my gosh which i never thought would happen how fun that's awesome how old is he uh my dad is 76. What a redemption story. That's a lot better than coming to Nashville. It was, and it just shows how God's plan works.
Starting point is 00:27:33 I was just so adamant that I was coming here. We were coming to Nashville. My sister just kept saying, well, why don't you come home? And I said, if I don't go to Nashville, we'll come home. And up to a week, up to the time before we thought we were coming here she's just like well are you coming home now so in a week's time my my sister chris had put and family and friends had put that together for us unbelievable and just finished out that chapter for me that i thought i might be missing all my life touchdown that's awesome. Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. Great redemption story.
Starting point is 00:28:05 Absolutely. Way to go, Dad. Way to go, sister. Yes. Yeah. We'll blame her for the whole thing. That's good. Very, very cool.
Starting point is 00:28:16 Resolution. Yes. It's good. That's fun. Well, I'm glad you delayed. Yes. I'm glad you got here, but I'm glad you delayed. I'm glad I got to hear your story.
Starting point is 00:28:24 Yeah. Good stuff. We're very proud of you here got here, but I'm glad you delayed. I'm glad I got to hear your story. Yeah. Good stuff. We're very proud of you here. Thanks, Dave. All us Ramses, we like people like you around here. All these people that work in this building, this is why we're here, is people just like you. You're our heroes.
Starting point is 00:28:36 Well, thank you, Dave. You're doing great work. Well, you are, too. Well done. Very well done. All right. We have a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired. That is the next chapter in your story. Now you're to be millionaires.
Starting point is 00:28:48 You're already halfway there on the house alone. So well done. That is the chapter that's coming, the live like no one else now and give like no one else now. So you'll be in a position to do all of that. Very well done. Steve and Cindy, Denver, Colorado for $364,000 paid off in six years and one month making $69,000
Starting point is 00:29:12 to $89,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. Praise God. We're debt-free. We're debt-free. And the crowd goes wild! I love it.
Starting point is 00:29:33 That is pretty serious right there. Isn't it amazing the way things work out? Resolution comes to things. When you start healing and controlling the variables in one area of your life, it is amazing that the natural flow of things in God's universe is that the other areas of your life start being under your control and healing as well. Wow.
Starting point is 00:30:03 What a great, great story. I think I got the best job in the world don't you guys i get to watch these heroes you guys are heroes i'm proud of you you can do this you got this i believe in you this is the dave ramsey show Thank you. Our scripture today, Hebrews 10.36, you need to preserve or persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate,
Starting point is 00:31:17 you're sure to wake up somebody. There you go. I was actually speaking to a group of 8th graders this morning at my old high school. And that's exactly what I told them. Kid asked what the secret to success was. And I said persistence and perseverance. It's the number one character trait of people who win at anything. They simply will not be denied.
Starting point is 00:31:39 They don't quit. If you've ever wanted to help people win with money and coach them, like I do, using the stuff we teach on this show, well, then we have the best program for you to become a financial coach. With our world-class online program, Financial Coach Master Training, you get everything you need to become a confident and credible financial coach. If you're interested in becoming a financial coach, then you can't miss out our free live webinar on Thursday, October the 11th. To register for the free webinar, text the word COACHING to 33-789. If you don't know what we're talking about, that's okay. It's free. You can come watch and figure out what we're doing on this coaching thing.
Starting point is 00:32:29 Again, text the word COACHING to 33-789. Robert's with us in Atlanta. Hi, Robert. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for having me on. Sure. What's up?
Starting point is 00:32:44 I wanted to ask you, I'm retired and still working full-time, so I have that double-dipping income. Actually, another small retirement besides my main retirement. But I become full Social Security eligible next February, and was thinking at 66 I would take that and try to reinvest it and grow some more cushion for my wife who's younger than me. I think I've got enough money to live on, but I want to help her out a little bit because she had kind of a bad early retirement contribution scenario. We're currently both putting in the maximum law that we can into our retirements through our employment.
Starting point is 00:33:30 So we're maxing out at 24.5 apiece starting this year. So I wonder what you thought about taking Social Security at 66 like that. No problem at all, especially if you're going to turn around and reinvest it. Well, we'll have to pay some taxes on it since we don't qualify for a Roth, but I think we could still put some in a regular IRA. Well, you would qualify for a Roth if you continue to earn at least $5,000 a year. Well, am I misunderstanding that there's an upper income limit on that? Oh, there is, yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:06 You cannot make over $200,000 household income, do you? We do. Okay, all right. Then you can do what's called a backdoor Roth. I do that every year. I make considerably more than $200,000. And the backdoor Roth is at over $50,000. I'm over $50,000.
Starting point is 00:34:24 You're over $50,000. We can put in $6,500 each, $6,500 each if we want to. I put it into good growth stock mutual funds for me and for my wife. So $13,000 each January. I move into a – what you do is you move it into an after, a before, I'm sorry, a before-tax IRA, traditional IRA, because that way you haven't had taxes taken out on it. You didn't take a tax deduction. And then you roll it to a Roth instantaneously and all in the same transaction.
Starting point is 00:34:57 It's called a backdoor Roth IRA. Talk to your broker about it. If you don't have one, see one of our SmartVestor pros. They can show you how to do that. But that's the Roth IRA issue. But you can invest your Social Security money whether you do a Roth or not. You just put it into a mutual fund. But if you're going to just take it and spend it, I mean, you can do that too.
Starting point is 00:35:16 But you don't need the money. You've got plenty of money. So, I mean, yeah, I would go ahead and begin to draw it because, you know, the faster you take it out, when you turn around and reinvest it, the more you're going to end up with. More than you would have in the difference in what it pays you by weighting. So, the only difference is if somebody's just consuming it and you're nowhere near that, then you might run the calculation differently. But if you're going to pull it and invest it, the answer is always pull it as soon as possible and start investing it because you're going to end up with more alive and more dead by doing that. Marlena is with us in Austin, Texas.
Starting point is 00:35:56 How can we help today? Hi, Dave. Hey, what's up? Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I need to ask you if we should refinance our homes to get out of debt. No. Not unless it's to avoid bankruptcy or foreclosure.
Starting point is 00:36:11 Are you in bankruptcy or foreclosure? No, I'm just moving paycheck by paycheck, and I have three kids. I'm just wondering if that's a good idea because our home is valued more than what we have the moment for. See, here's the thing. You're not out of debt when you do that. You just move the debt. True. You can get rid of it.
Starting point is 00:36:29 So what kind of debt have you got? About $30,000 in credit card student loans and another $20,000 in car loans. Okay. About $50,000, $53,000. Okay. All right. $20,000 on a car loan. Okay. About $50,000, $53,000. Okay. All right. $20,000 on a car loan. What's your household income?
Starting point is 00:36:50 Take home, I do about $40,000, and my husband's about $32,000. Car is awfully expensive. It is. Yeah. Might consider selling that. But for sure, you guys need to get on a budget and on a plan, and the two of you need to start paying attention to money and making it all behave. You've just kind of been existing, and you're starting to feel like a rat in a wheel,
Starting point is 00:37:14 and you're looking for a way to get off the wheel, and you just selected the wrong way to get off. Okay. Borrowing your way out of debt doesn't work. So we need to change habits, change processes, get the money that we have under control, push, pull, jerk some things around, get things moving. Hold on. I'll send you a copy of the book, The Total Money Makeover. I'll show you how to do this. But you've got to do something.
Starting point is 00:37:37 You're going to have to get really, really serious, and you're going to have to, like, you know, cut some stuff out and get this debt cleaned up. And the way you get it cleaned up is pay it off. And that may or may not mean you sell a car, but it for sure means you're not going on vacation for a while and you don't need to see the inside of a restaurant unless you're working there. You all need to really roll up your sleeves and get on beans and rice, rice and beans on a written plan and change some things around amazingly fast. Karina is with us in New York City. Hi, Karina.
Starting point is 00:38:06 How are you? Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can I help? So my fiancé and I are getting married on Saturday. Yay! Yeah, very exciting.
Starting point is 00:38:17 Unfortunately, he actually lost his job this past Friday. Whoa! Yeah, so I kind of have a what would Dave do question for you. I was wondering if it would be okay for us to go on our honeymoon still or if we should wait until things get a little bit more stable. Yeah. What are you spending on the honeymoon? We were going to spend about $3,000, which we already have saved. Okay, cool. What other money do you have saved? So right now I'm on Baby Step 3, so I have about $7,000 in the emergency fund. He's on Baby Step 2. He has about $12,000 left to pay on his car.
Starting point is 00:38:53 And then we have probably about $2,000 in other money saved that we were going to use to fix the house up a little bit. And the $3,000 on top of that? Yes. In addition to that, you have a honeymoon fund on top of what you just told me yes okay um and what do you make um i make about 56 and he was making 64 what did he do he worked in hvac oh doing what he was working in a hospital uh okay does he have his uh technical ability to do heat and air work oh yes we can get a job in a week yeah it's not a hard job to get no it's actually there are people hiring people everywhere because the economy's booming
Starting point is 00:39:40 so um you get married Saturday? Saturday. Okay. Well, other than the rehearsal dinner, he could probably go get his job this week. Mm-hmm. Just start after the honeymoon. Listen, that's an easy job to get. This income's going to be replaced.
Starting point is 00:39:59 You guys got a little bit of pad. I'm going on the honeymoon. Go. Okay. Thank you. Have fun. Have fun. Thank you. God bless you.
Starting point is 00:40:04 Thanks for calling in. That puts us out of the day. Ramsey Show in the honeymoon. Go. Okay. Have fun. Thank you. God bless you. Thanks for calling in. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. We will be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey guys, this is Blake Thompson, Chief Production Officer for The Dave Ramsey Show. This hour's up, but you'll find more on our YouTube channel,
Starting point is 00:40:39 where we have over 6 million YouTube views each month. You can find debt-free screens, millionaire hour clips, Dave rants, and so much more. Go check it out.

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