The Ramsey Show - App - How a Sunk Cost Analysis Works (Hour 3)

Episode Date: May 6, 2020

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Starting point is 00:00:00 🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Chris Hogan is my co-host this hour, Ramsey Personality No. 1 best-selling author. Thanks for jumping in with us here.
Starting point is 00:01:02 Let's talk to Ashley in North Carolina. Hi, Ashley. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. How can Chris and I help? Hi, Dave. How are you doing today? Great. What's up?
Starting point is 00:01:15 So my husband and I, we started renting the property we live at from my father-in-law about five, six years ago. And we found out that only the interest payments had been made on it and it started to be foreclosed on. So two years ago, we ended up having a fight for them to renew it. And thankfully they did. So we were going to purchase the property from my father-in-law, but come to find out the property, it's owed more on it than it's worth, so we cannot get it switched into our names. So now we're...
Starting point is 00:01:48 Nor would you want to. ...in this position. Nor would you want to. Well, we have... We've put a lot of money into the property, and if we had known about you before, then we wouldn't have. Why would you put money in a property you didn't own? Well, we didn't really understand all the issues that could happen due to that, and now we're realizing it since we started listening to you.
Starting point is 00:02:15 And we're kind of stuck here at this point because we put so much money into it. We just wanted to get your opinion on what we could do. Ashley, how much money did you all put into this thing? We have put about $15,000 into the renovations, and we've paid off about $10,000 so far. Okay. You paid off $10,000 of the $15,000? So what's owed on it is $50,000. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:02:44 Stop, stop, stop. What have you paid $10,000 down on, on the house or on the renovations? On the line of credit. We paid $10,000 towards that, and we paid $15,000 on renovations because the place needed to be completely renovated. Who had the line of credit? The line of credit is on the house? Yes, and my father-in-law's name.
Starting point is 00:03:06 So you paid $10,000 of his debt. Yes, sir. And you put $15,000 in addition in. And so the line of credit, the balance on it is what now, $40,000? Just about $40,000, yes. And what's the house worth today? The value of it that they have determined since it has a mobile home on it is about
Starting point is 00:03:29 36 and 50 was owed on it in total. So there's 40 plus another 10 owed on it? What's owed on it is only the 40 but it was 50 but the value is only about 36. But after our renovations I'm not sure I would have known it was only the $40, but it was $50, but the value is only about $36. But after our renovations, I'm not sure if that value has gone up any. And you have no idea what he may owe on the land, correct? Well, that's all together.
Starting point is 00:03:57 The land and the home are together. My goodness. You all had the intention all along of buying this from the father-in-law that's why you did the renovations right yes that's correct we didn't know you're gonna run into the are you is the home you renovated a mobile home um yes we renovated the mobile home okay how old are you guys? 30 and 26. And what is your household income? 77. 77. Okay.
Starting point is 00:04:33 This is a real painful thing you've been through. But there's multiple problems with the situation, okay? Yes. One is the big problem is obviously you've been paying down on a property you didn't own and you've been renovating a property you didn't own two is mobile homes go down in value they do not go up in value regardless of what you do to them and so um when you renovate a mobile home, by definition, that's throwing good money after bad. And so were you to buy this for $30,000, it's going to go down in value, not up in value.
Starting point is 00:05:17 And so even if you could get a good deal on it, I wouldn't buy it. And so I think you've combined several things here that don't work for you. And so the way you ask yourself the question is, in 10 years, is this going to have been a good decision? And it will have gone down in value, and the answer is no. It would not be a good decision 10 years from now and that tells us that we don't want to stay in this deal another minute you actually would be better off renting somewhere than what you're doing right now uh so no you do not buy this and yes you've lost the money that you put into it because you put money into something you didn't own and you put money into something that's going down in value rather than putting money into something you didn't own and you put money into something that's
Starting point is 00:06:05 going down in value rather than putting money into something that's going up in value and i'm sorry i wish i could give you better news but there's not a trick there's not a twist there's not a thing we can do that that changes things here and um you know it's just it's just a bad situation that you guys threw a lot of money at, and it didn't make it better. I'm so sorry. But if I were you, I would move on with my life, let him sell this property, get what he can get for it, let him pay his own bills. They're his bills.
Starting point is 00:06:37 They're not yours. He now has $40,000 owed on a property that is worth somewhere around $40,000. So maybe he can get you out of it even. If you want to sit there and just rent it from him and not pay another dime on anything other than pay rent until you get ready to buy for a year, that's okay. If he wants to sell it now, that's okay. But no, I would not pay it down further,
Starting point is 00:07:03 and no, I would not spend another dime on maintenance. I would not spend another dime on renovations. You are a renter. Act like it if you're going to stay. But I'd prefer you just moved on to something else and then you can get this sold. So you guys can all put this in your rearview mirror because the whole process has been mathematically painful. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:26 And, you know, Dave, that's that going into something with that assumption you know what happens when you assume yeah uh but we gotta you gotta see things clearly ashley and you know i heard some little ones in the background for the sake of your family and just moving forward it might be the best thing and your your husband may struggle uh with that but you all having a conversation and looking at this and seeing if what it is and dave i like that 10-year decision thing that timeline because it does require us to look out and am i doing things to keep me on that path or am i doing things to derail me and that's the reality yeah yeah it's uh it's a problem it is so um and so there's a couple things here that you guys listening can know is if you're going to do a deal with anyone where you are counting on ownership, do not put money in it until you have the property in your name.
Starting point is 00:08:19 So you don't renovate someone else's property. You don't pay down on someone else's property ever. There is not a condition under which that's a good idea. Ever. Ever. The second thing is mobile homes go down in value. Mathematically, they're a car you sleep in. And they go down in value.
Starting point is 00:08:38 Just like a car does. And you're not going to win buying them. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Business leaders make your life easier with FreshBooks. Whether you're starting a business or you've been at it a long time, FreshBooks is one of the smartest decisions you'll make this year. FreshBooks is an accounting software designed for people like you that lets you do the things like automate your invoicing and your online payments so you get more time to work on your business.
Starting point is 00:09:18 Try FreshBooks for 30 days free at freshbooks.com slash Dave Ramsey. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSY to get the best deal. Sandy is in New York. Chris, she says, due to COVID-19, my company just announced they're temporarily stopping the 401k match. I was receiving a 10% match.
Starting point is 00:10:11 Additionally, I've lost 16.46% year-to-date on my 401k. Would it be best to continue contributing to my 401k without the match, or should I stop the 401k and open IRAs instead? Okay, so this is one of those real-world situations. to my 401k without the match, or should I stop the 401k and open IRAs instead? Okay. So this is one of those real-world situations. Companies stopping the matches is a typical thing that they do to try to protect cash because your paycheck is more important than the match right now. But looking at this, if they have stopped that, I would encourage you to definitely shift over and go to the Roth.
Starting point is 00:10:45 You have an opportunity. And again, if that gets you to 15%, that's great. If not, then you go back and you still do the 401k, right? Your contribution to it, but shift over and go Roth. Yeah. You would not leave the 401k because it is down 16% because the stock market's down more than 16%. So the mutual funds you're investing in have held their value pretty well. You would not leave the 401k because of a temporary drop in match.
Starting point is 00:11:16 You might want to do the Roth IRA, like Chris is saying, though, and this might be an opportunity to make that change. Now, if the 401k is a roth 401k i'd probably just sit tight absolutely and just just ride it out because you're riding out the stock market and you're riding out waiting on the match to come back because i think both are going to come back i'm almost positive stock market's going to come back and i really think that once we get past this time of pinch, that your company will bring the match back.
Starting point is 00:11:48 Oh, I agree, Dave. It's one of the things we would have done here at Ramsey had we been necessitated. Before we went to layoffs or before we went to pay cuts or something else or furloughs or reduced pay or anything else, the first thing we would have done would have been stopping the match here. We didn't have to. Thank goodness. We've been blessed beyond our wildest imaginations, and our revenues have not dropped substantially, so we haven't had to make some of those tough decisions. But that's one of the things that was on the table for us.
Starting point is 00:12:17 And what would we have done? We would have brought it back as soon as the profits came back. That's right. That's what it amounts to. So I think your company will be fine. If you think your company is going to close completely, that's a different discussion. Yes. But if they're going to stay, remain open, and they're going to come back, you know, in the fall, you're probably going to see that thing return. Or maybe next year, you'll see it return. Something like that. Once they get stabilized and get their profitability back where they need to be,
Starting point is 00:12:39 and then they'll start doing employee benefits again. Yep. They sure will. It will rebound. Hang tight. So we have promised you guys a bunch of tools and resources this month that will help you with hope. And so we've kicked the famous $10 sale a little early
Starting point is 00:12:58 this year. Right now all 40 of our best-selling books, audio books, e-books, and envelope systems are on sale for $10 each. So Chris' two number one bestsellers, my bestsellers, Rachel Cruz's two number one bestsellers, Anthony O'Neill's bestseller, Ken Coleman's bestseller, all of these. Proximity Principle, Debt-Free Degree, Everyday Millionaires, Love Your Life, Not Theirs, Total Money Makeover, all theirs, total money makeover.
Starting point is 00:13:26 All of these are $10 each, including the new quick reads, which one of them is the white paper on the National Study of Millionaires from Chris Hogan's book is $10, including the new quick read, Destroy Your Student Loan Debt from Anthony O'Neill is $10. All of this at DaveR ramsey.com slash hope and chris what we're seeing oddly it's not odd at all um i should have expected it more than i did but we're seeing people buy a case to give out the generosity factor dave the generosity no it's buying these books to give to their friends who they know are hurting. That's exactly.
Starting point is 00:14:05 That is not a surprise. You know, for the people that have been listening to your show for over 20 plus years, they know it's in the fabric of them to not only have cleaned up their situation, but to put themselves in a position to be able to bless others and to be able to hand people information that will guide them. I can think of no better gift for people right now that are dealing with some 30 million people are dealing with unemployment. And so, you know, we've got an opportunity to really look at this and to rise up and to be able to move forward totally different than where we were before. And so I'm proud of you all that have done that, that have bought these books, shared them with your neighbors, share them with your family. Dave, I'm finding, I know you've said this, and I remember the first time you said I shook my head when you said you had family members that didn't follow your advice. And I went, well, that's just ridiculous.
Starting point is 00:14:56 And then, of course, guess what? I had family members that don't follow it. Of course. Of course. But now, you know, this ground is fertile for people to be willing to listen. So don't stop planting the seeds. Don't stop talking to them. And don't stop trying to help.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Yeah. Yeah. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Drew is next in Georgia. Hi, Drew. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Chris. Hey, Dave.
Starting point is 00:15:22 Thank you all for having me on the show today. Sure, man. How can we help? Hey, Chris. Hey, Dave. Thank you all for having me on the show today. Sure, man. How can we help? Yeah, absolutely. So I'm looking at my question is really related to refinancing a 15-year home loan that I'm in about three years into now or taking a streamlined rate reduction program that I'm also being offered by the same company. So you have an FHA loan? Yes, I do.
Starting point is 00:15:47 Yeah. Okay. And they're offering you what loan? It's a conventional loan. Okay. No closing costs in the Streamline, though? No closing costs in the Streamline. That's correct.
Starting point is 00:15:57 And what's the rate? The rate is 3.875 from 4.375. Okay. So they're 4.375. Okay. So they're charging an extra point over market, and that's covering your closing costs. What's your loan balance? Correct. My loan balance right now is just under 80K. Okay.
Starting point is 00:16:21 How quick do you think you're going to pay this off so uh i've been listening to you all for about six months now and i'm just now out of baby step two i'm going to be entering baby step three i'm hoping by the end of july um and so my next goal currently um is to is to dive as far into this this mortgage as i can but anyway i mean okay so the math on this is let's just to make the math easy let's call a regular refinance 2875 it might be slightly more than that it might be two you know it might but it's going to be right about that and a 15 year fixed right now is right in that range okay yeah i've got an offer at 2.75 percent on that so let's use two eight let's then let's use two eight seven five make it easy okay it's a one percent difference that's one percent of 80 000 is 800 bucks okay okay per year that you would pay more on the streamline
Starting point is 00:17:19 than you would on the other but you've got closing costs on the regular did they give you a closing cost estimate? They did, and I was going to refinance those right back into the loan, which would take the new balance up to about $80,000. Now, what was the closing cost amount? I think it was like $4,400 or something. Okay, so they got a point in there to get that rate down a little bit. That's what's going on. So I think you could get $2 seven five without car without cost that high so let's say uh again for round numbers we'll
Starting point is 00:17:49 just pick out a number let's say it's uh twenty four hundred dollars is the real closing costs that four thousand might include your prepaids too okay but that's that's not a real cost because you get your old prepaids back so there's a wash on that all right so let's not a real cost because you get your old prepaids back. So there's a wash on that. All right. So let's say your real closing costs are $2,400 and you get a 1% cheaper rate saving you $800. $2,400 divided by $800 is three years to break even. Gotcha. Everything after three years, you're going to be saving $800 a month, $800 a year.
Starting point is 00:18:24 Okay. That's significant. Yeah. So we, $800 a year. Okay. That's significant. Yeah. So we're not doing the streamline. Okay. Going for the $4,500. If you're going to have this mortgage longer than three years, you're going to be better off to do the regular mortgage, and you need to dig into that. Probably need to get in touch with Churchill Mortgage and get some actual debts, but dig
Starting point is 00:18:43 into that $4,000 because that's way high. I don't know what all that includes. Yeah. Get the right guidance so you know what you're doing and you have confidence as you move forward. folks i love telling you about well-made well-thought-out products today i'm talking about grip six belts i don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of traditional belts. They never fit right and they're uncomfortable. Grip6 belts are unique. Owner BJ designed a truly modern minimalist belt made of high quality materials
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Starting point is 00:20:14 That's GRIP6.com. Kelly is with us in Virginia. Hi, Kelly. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave and Chris. Thank you so much for taking my call. I appreciate it. Absolutely. How can we help?
Starting point is 00:20:43 So my husband and I are in Baby Step 2. We just finished FPU, and we had paid off a good amount of debt already, but we paused to stockpile cash right now. My husband is self-employed, and business has already started to slow down a little bit with the shutdown going on. Hello? We know. You're cutting out. Hi shutdown going on hello we know you're cutting out hi can you hear me you're cutting out okay you said his business has started to slow down a little bit with the shutdown and that's the last we heard that's right okay i'm sorry um so my question for you is um we made what we know now to be a bad investment about 10 years ago on silver coins um we thought it was a good idea at the time.
Starting point is 00:21:26 But the investment we made in those is worth about half of the money that we put into it at this time. But we're not sure it's going to go back up. So my question is, should we go ahead and sell it now and use that towards paying our debt or wait and see if the value might go back up i know sometimes historically when the economy is down usually the uh the precious the precious metals go up yeah you're right the silver and gold goes up when when people are afraid silver and gold goes up that's true now um the uh what's this investment worth today? Between $12,000 and $14,000.
Starting point is 00:22:09 Okay. All right. If you had $14,000 in cash sitting in the middle of your kitchen table, would you buy silver coins with it today? No. Then you wouldn't keep it in silver coins for the exact same reason okay is that logical okay yeah see what that does is that forces you when i when i give you that mental picture of the cash in the middle of your kitchen table it forces you to push away all of the, yeah, but silver coins could be going back up.
Starting point is 00:22:48 Yeah, because all of that is called a sunk cost analysis, and you never make decisions on an investment or any item, for that matter, based on what you paid for it. You make your decisions based on what the future is. And so you could even ask yourself if you have a boat sitting in the driveway that's worth 14 000 you could ask yourself if i had 14 000 piled in the middle of my kitchen table would i buy a boat today and if the answer is no then it's time to sell the boat okay same thing because because you have a boat that you can turn
Starting point is 00:23:23 into money instead of money into a boat or silver coins or whatever it is. That's a sunk cost analysis is what it's called. Whatever your costs that you've sunk into it are, they're gone. You don't use that to determine the future. You look at the future to determine the future future the forecast boy i'll tell you where were you about 15 years ago before i started here because that mindset of having lost money with a single stock kept me chasing yeah and i've done it too i've done i've done it too it's the same thing a gambler sitting at the table and gets a bad hand yes they're playing poker and they get a bad hand and they go well yeah i can't i
Starting point is 00:24:02 can't get up until i at least make my money back that's right and you're on a cold streak you're going down that's right you know and so you're not you're not i don't i don't gamble i don't play cards but and i mean in that regard i don't play poker because i'm not good at it not because it's a big moral thing with me i'm just not good at it i don't like losing money uh and i've noticed that those casinos um are really fancy and they you know it's really nice in there. And apparently the people that go in there are the ones that pay for all that. So I just quit. I don't do that stuff.
Starting point is 00:24:31 I knew where that was going. So, yeah, I mean, Bellagio is not paid for by the rooms. I can just promise you. So those famous glass sculptures. Oh, yeah. All in the lobby. Beautiful. Beautiful.
Starting point is 00:24:49 Absolutely not paid for by the rooms. No, you're right. Yeah. So anyway, that's the same thing, though. It's the exact same thing. It's the emotion of chasing to at least recoup. Yeah. Oh, it's real.
Starting point is 00:25:01 And that's a very normal thing. And so it's a really, really good question in your situation, Kelly. Really good question. But I'd cash them out tomorrow, today, either one. Yeah, get it done. And let's just move on with our life and go chalk that one up. That's what you said, the infamous phrase, stupid tax. That's the category you just have to put it in.
Starting point is 00:25:23 And you go, I'm moving on. I'm moving on. Whatever lost that's right you know the exception uh might be if you have a very very logical short window and it's not it's not emotionally chasing returns then and you say okay i've got oil stocks which are artificially down right right now because there's a glut because nobody drove for a month. That's right. So oil's piled up everywhere. And so these oil stocks, any company associated with oil, Exxon or whatever like that, are
Starting point is 00:25:54 artificially down. And, you know, I might hold those for four months and let's see if this doesn't come on back. That's right. You know, but I'm not going to play the market to try to recoup. No, that's good. That's a good lesson. Lucy is with us.
Starting point is 00:26:07 Lucy's in Kentucky. Hi, Lucy. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? It's an honor and a pleasure to talk with you. You too. How can we help?
Starting point is 00:26:17 So my husband and I just finished baby step number two. We're starting on three. Yay. I'm looking a little bit ahead. Yeah. I'm looking a little bit ahead for retirement planning. And we have kind of a unique situation. My husband is a union electrician. He's actually an instructor for an apprenticeship program.
Starting point is 00:26:41 And the union organization contributes 22% above his wage. So that's not a match. They just give him 22% for every dollar that he makes. Wow. For a 401K, yes. It is 401K? It is a 401K. Awesome.
Starting point is 00:27:02 Wow. So I'm curious about what we should be doing in addition to that um i know you talk about 15 so should we be doing that into raw i have a 401k um that i had and that i stopped while we did baby step number two so i'm looking to start again after we save up our emergency fund. And they will contribute 2%, I think, to mine. So it's not a whole lot, but it's something. So kind of want your thoughts on where we should go from here. Wow.
Starting point is 00:27:39 You know, Lucy, looking at this, you guys, have you been actively contributing to this 401k? Well, with my husband, he hasn't contributed, but, of course, the union organization has. Okay. So he has some money in his, and then, you know, I did everything backwards. So I started a 401k as soon as I started my career when I was way in debt. So we both have a little bit in our respective accounts. Okay. Well, as I look at this, I mean, the match that they're doing is unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:28:15 And I mean, again, I'm going to stick with the 15% being very active and being very intentional. I've never had anybody get to retirement in my almost 15 years here and tell me, Chris, I've got too much money. I'm frustrated at you. And so that's the route I would go. How much is owed on your home? $274,000. And your household income is what?
Starting point is 00:28:39 $180,000. And what are your ages? 37 and 41. Okay. You guys are in a phenomenal place. Yes, we are. Well, here's the thing. And what are your ages? 37 and 41. Okay. Wow. You guys are in a phenomenal place. Yes, we are. Well, here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:28:49 Because the 22% is going into a 401K and he's vested 100% in it, he's not going to lose it. So the union did an unusually good job here. Instead of putting it into a pension, for instance, okay? Right. Because you guys have control over the money, and if he were to ever leave, he could roll it and take it with him. And so because of that, it's highly unusual. The point of Baby Step 4, 15% going in,
Starting point is 00:29:17 is to not put too much into retirement so that you can go put enough, but not too much so that you can go on and get your house knocked out. In your case, because that is so rich, I might, Chris, consider tuning it down a little bit. Okay. But it's highly unusual. It is. 99% of the time, we would just say do the 15%. And 15% is fine.
Starting point is 00:29:40 Right. But if you want to get that house knocked out, making $180,000 and it's only $0270,000, do that real quick, and then you're going to go on and max it out anyway. That's true. You're going to max out everything after that anyway. Because they're so young. Oh, man, you're in great shape. That is. Business leaders, now more than ever, we need people with the right skills to support our communities,
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Starting point is 00:31:08 Terms and conditions apply. Our scripture of the day, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 1 Peter 4.10 Gandhi said, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Open phones this hour as Chris Hogan, my co-host, takes your calls along with me at 888-825-5225. Lynn is in Minnesota. Hi, Lynn.
Starting point is 00:31:55 Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. Thank you for taking my call. It's a pleasure to talk with you today. You too. What's up? Well, I had a question in regards to my 401k. Unfortunately, my husband passed away last year, but fortunately, we have life insurance on him. So I was able to get out of debt, which we had been actually trying to do for the past few years. We had taken
Starting point is 00:32:26 FPU at our church and so had gotten life insurance. And so I took that, paid off all our debts except for the house. And then I funded my emergency account and started my 401k again and I'm at six percent right now and I took $165,000 and put that in an IRA type account but I was just wondering as far as I'm in baby step four I guess and so I was just curious as to how I should continue, how fast I need to get up to the 15% out of my paycheck. Because I'm still a little bit nervous. I'm going to be 54 this year. This is the first time in my adult life that I've been debt free. So I'm still working, learning how to use every dollar and being on a budget and figuring all that out still.
Starting point is 00:33:28 So I was just curious about how fast I keep upping my 401k contributions. Right. Lynn, what is your household income right now? $60,000. $60,000. Okay. And you said you do have a fully funded emergency fund? Yes. Okay. Okay. Well, looking at that, if you have that, and what other debts do you owe on? Just my house. Just the house. How much do you have left on the house? About $115,000. The thing with that is i'm planning on moving from minnesota back to california which is where my family is i moved here to be with my husband and my son is graduating
Starting point is 00:34:16 from high school in june well supposedly with all this closed down he's still doing online school but anyway i'm i'm planning on, on moving back. Um, and so I was going to be selling the house, um, and, uh, you know, trying to decide them what, what, and that's one of the things I've been kind of wondering too, as far as, um, you know, how I'm going to, I've been putting away some money for the move, um, to kind of plan for that, um that so that I have enough to get myself back there.
Starting point is 00:34:48 And then I was planning on probably renting for a little while until I decide where I'm going to settle. My dad lives 140 miles north of where my sister lives, and so I'm kind of trying to decide who I'm going to live by. Well, I'll tell you what. You have really made some good, solid, wise decisions in the middle of a grieving process and in the middle of a horrible process. I'm so sorry for you.
Starting point is 00:35:13 What happened to him? He was young. He was in a motorcycle accident. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, yeah. Well, okay. A little over a year ago.
Starting point is 00:35:23 Yeah, so you've made really good, my goodness. Yeah. Well, okay. A little over a year ago. Yeah. So you're, you know, you've made really good, solid decisions. You know, you cleared your debts. You put your emergency fund in place. Very proud of you. Very well done. Thank you. It's got to feel a little bit gratifying that you could get your feet on the ground this fast. It does.
Starting point is 00:35:41 It does. And that's, you know, one of the things that I kind of look at it that this was almost like his blessing to me. You know, we were smart enough to take your class and then, of course, to get the life insurance. So you knew what to do. It gave you power in the middle of an unbelievably sad situation. And shocking because there was no buildup. There was no warning. It just comes at you.
Starting point is 00:36:10 So I think everything you're saying is right on. I wouldn't pay off the house. You're getting ready to sell it in a month or two. It's just swapping dollars back and forth. You've got that extra $160 to use as your down payment after you live in California for a while and decide where to be and um and you can get you know at that point when you settle into your new career there uh your son will be off to college I assume and um uh you know you'll be in a different place uh with all of that uh and so you know settle in and then you can get back to your baby
Starting point is 00:36:44 step four again you'll be just fine okay yeah and lynn i want you to hear me i am proud of you amen i'm very proud of how focused you've stayed uh throughout this heartache uh and tough time and you've been very very clear in your steps i'm proud of the the work that you've put into this very good good job jason's in texas hi jason welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you for having me. And Chris, it's a pleasure to be on with you, but my man Dave. It is a pleasure to talk to you again. Awesome. 2008, I had a small business that fell victim to the economy. And about 2011, I knew I was in pretty serious trouble.
Starting point is 00:37:38 I went to get some money and my bank account was negative $166,000. That's a problem. The SBA had garnished my account. So, after going through several emotions of anger and sadness and all the things you can imagine, I said, I've got to call Dave. Because at that point, I really thought my only option was going to be bankruptcy, because I certainly
Starting point is 00:37:58 did not have that kind of money. So, your advice at the time in 2011 was if you're truly rich and you don't have anything they can take, try to wait them out because they'll probably settle this debt for pennies on the dollar. It may take you a few minutes to do it, but keep asking for them. Keep showing them that you're broke. So, you know, that $166,000, with the help of my parents, I settled it for is going all over the place. We can't hear you.
Starting point is 00:38:37 Hey, Jason, we can't hear you. Your phone is going all over the place. You're going to have to stand still or speak directly into it or something. Yes, sir. that's an incredible story you there oh where are you yes sir i'm here okay how can we help today i'm not moving not moving thank you today um because of actually the pandemic i've had sort of a windfall and we're sitting where me my wife went we are looking to buy a house we have no other debt other than her car has a few thousand dollars which i will be stroking a check for jason i'm gonna run out of time ask your question um i have a hundred thousand dollars in cash to
Starting point is 00:39:16 the bank to buy a house in the next six months to a year where should i park that money for six months to a year just Just a money market. Okay. Just a simple, simple money market. That's all you do. It keeps it liquid. You can get to it when the time is right, Jason, and be able to move forward and get you a home. Yeah. Sorry to cut you off, dude.
Starting point is 00:39:36 I just didn't want to run out of time here, and I was coming up on the clock. I knew right where we were. Yeah. What an incredible story. That is. Even if a phone was all over the place, you turned a $166,000 problem into a $12,000 problem. From advice you gave him back in 2011. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:49 You know, which is fantastic. And now he's gone the other way. Yep. And is making money. And so this is great. Congratulations. You're doing stuff the right way. Very, very well done.
Starting point is 00:39:56 Very well done. Good stuff. All right, folks. Be sure to check DaveRamsey.com slash hope. The 14-day free trial is still there for Financial Peace University. The $10 book sale is still there, and that includes the brand-new Quick Read, which is the white paper, The National Study of Millionaires. It's a little short book with a white paper of the study of millionaires that we did
Starting point is 00:40:19 for Chris's book, Everyday Millionaires. Chris, good to hang out with you again. Thank you, Dave. It's been a pleasure to be here, my friend. Been a good show today. A lot of good answers, a lot of good people, a lot of good questions out there. Our thanks to Zach Bennett filling in for James Childs as producer today. Associate producer is Kelly Daniel.
Starting point is 00:40:36 I'm Dave Ramsey. That was Chris Hogan, number one bestselling author and Ramsey personality. We will be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there is ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. In the middle of these uncertain times, Ramsey Solutions wants to give you some hope. For the very first time ever, we're giving you Financial Peace University free for 14 days. Go to DaveRamsey.com slash hope so you can watch from home.

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