The Ramsey Show - App - How Can We Set Ourselves Up for the Future? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

...

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Jade Walsh, all Ramsey personality. Author of the quick read on the remsey press called money's not a math problem she's my co-host today open phones at 888-825-5225 alan is in new york city hey alan how are you hi great thank you for having me on the show thank you how can we help my wife and i are starting to set up our estate plan beyond just the basic will.
Starting point is 00:01:09 We're still a ways away from normal retirement age and in the middle of an entrepreneurial career. We are on a good trajectory and expect that things could be doing reasonably well by the time our estate plan is in effect and want to set things up properly from the beginning. You've mentioned the number of things you did at Master Series and on the show in terms of setting expectations and communicating with your children and other beneficiaries, as well as setting up protections to ensure you're not causing harm to them in terms of funding bad or dangerous behaviors. For a couple of us just starting this process, can you walk us through how you did this? What instruments you used, how you implemented them, how to find the right attorney, what questions should we be asking, all while following biblical principles and stewarding what we have well in doing so?
Starting point is 00:02:01 Yeah, if I had six hours um okay let's give it a shot here um there's a lot going on this none of this will turn out well if the kids don't that's the start that's the start and so there's not a legal instrument that will do anything except keep money from them in the event that they that makes them okay there's not a legal instrument that makes somebody that's not okay become okay all you can do is keep money from them that's all you can do which is a good thing because you don't want to fund a heroin addict because if you fund a heroin addict you in a sense are going to kill them because they're going to od so and that's not what you do for people you love and so uh we don't want to fund misbehavior we want to uh we want don't want to do that so that that it starts with that and
Starting point is 00:02:56 it starts with communicating that early and often to the kids as they're growing up and even as their adult children later on you can have this conversation periodically. It's just, okay, this is what it looks like. This is what it looks like. This is what it looks like. And then the actual thing, we had to search for attorneys that you mentioned biblical principles. So I'm looking for an attorney as a person of faith that is also a person of faith because they don't look at me like I've lost my dadgum mind when I put out some of these ideas. Okay. I don't need somebody judging all my stuff lost my dadgum mind when I put out some of these ideas. Okay? I don't need somebody judging all my stuff. I just need somebody to help me figure out the legal way to implement my ideas.
Starting point is 00:03:32 And so that's what I'm looking for in an attorney. And I did go through a couple of them to get to that. One of them was a strong person of faith and wasn't a very good attorney. And one of them was a great attorney and wasn't a good person of faith. So, you know, that, that's how, you know, you gotta, you gotta work that through. And sometimes they don't look like what they are and you get to sit down with them. So anyway, once we sat down, um, we had a different scenario for our children when they were minors than when they've become adults. And so today, the way our estate is in place and has been for about a decade was when the last kid
Starting point is 00:04:13 came out of college, Daniel, we sat down with all of them and their spouses and said, okay, as for me and my house, we serve the Lord. And so this money that is Ramsey, these assets that are Ramsey are owned by God, and I'm the manager. So what I'm getting ready to unpack for you is going to blow your mind a little bit, but you did not hit the lottery. Instead, you're opting into taking on a tremendous responsibility because managing assets for anybody, including God, is a responsibility. And so there's a lot of it here, and there's a lot to manage. So your kids, they didn't know. They did not know our net worth until after college. Were they totally blown away? Like, did they have any inkling?
Starting point is 00:04:56 No, they had no idea. Wow. Well, they knew we had money, but to them, they didn't know what that meant, the definition of that. So, I mean, they knew we could travel. they knew we could buy a car you know but they and they knew that people knew who their dad was from authors and speaking and that kind of stuff but they didn't they never had added up what remsey the company was making and so anyway we sat there and they're like to their to their credit they were a little bit shocked but they were like okay i get it i'm here to manage and i said you know and the way the trust is set up is if you're
Starting point is 00:05:30 you can't manage god's stuff if you're not walking with god and so if you're not going to be in a an active relationship with god you're going to be removed from the trust automatically and that's that's the terms of the trust and then we go into great detail if someone falls away and comes back how can they do that we go into great detail if someone falls away and two of them have to make a decision after i'm gone the other two there's three kids so um and you know we the thing has teeth in it it's got the ability to manage that because again i don't and I've explained to them again, this money is not for you to sit on the back of a yacht and have a servant peel
Starting point is 00:06:11 you a grape. Well, there is a, there is some question around the rest of your life and not work. Part of being godly is working. How do you find Dave, um, that level of which to be generous to your kids without, like you said, kind of that entitlement setting in. Is it different with each child? Is it, you know, as you go, do you sit down and say, okay, you're each getting, like, how do you navigate that? If there's entitlement, then they got confused about who owns it.
Starting point is 00:06:38 They think they do. True. And so then they're out. They're not going to be there. So this is what we've talked about. I mean, but they're growing up. I mean, Daniel's eight years old. We bought the first nice car after we'd been broke, and we're coming back.
Starting point is 00:06:48 We finally got rid of the hoopty, got a decent car, and he lays back in the back seat and goes, you know, we're doing pretty good. And I said, we aren't doing anything. You got nothing. I'm doing pretty good. You got nothing, buddy. And, you know, so break that entitlement early and often, right? Oh, i love that
Starting point is 00:07:05 we ain't no we here buddy i got a mouse in your pocket so um you know we're just walking that through and we had this actual discussion lots of times it was almost humorous around the ramsey house so but the whole thing is okay generosity is easy because it's easy to give away other people's money it's easy when you don't own it true that that's a good that's good it's easy to give away other people's money. It's easy when you don't own it. True that. That's good. It's easy when you're a steward. So they watched generosity and they understood it's easy because we don't own this. This is just God's.
Starting point is 00:07:32 And God said, take care of that single mom over there, that couple over there who lost their job and they're getting ready to lose their house. God said, take care of them. So we're taking care of them, by the way. And by the way, you're not supposed to talk about it. It's just us doing this. Right. You keep it down the down low.
Starting point is 00:07:43 And we just taught it, taught it, taught it taught it taught it taught it all the way growing up so then when they get this revelation thing at the you know that one meeting it's like okay this is just a further this is responsibility it's not who i'm gonna be on a reality show because i'm an idiot and i have money and you know and i'm on the back of a boat and I don't work. How bizarro a life can I live as a trust fund moron? It's not an option if you're a Ramsey because you're out. You got no money. You won't have the money to do it, so you're going to be on the street.
Starting point is 00:08:23 That's the thing because that's not a fulfilling life. Hedonism like that is what we call it. Yeah, that's right. Okay. Hedonism has absolutely zero fulfillment. People that do that crap are not happy people. That's right. The happiest people on the planet are generous people and people that serve. And if you're not going to do that, you're not going to be happy.
Starting point is 00:08:40 And I'm not going to put you in a position where you're not happy after I'm gone. And that's how the whole thing's written up that's great this is the Ramsey show next Tuesday January the 16th will be launch day for George Campbell's brand new book breaking free from broke the ultimate guide to More Money with Less Stress. This is an incredible book, extremely well-researched, and George becomes the ultimate snark consumer advocate, full of snark. Did I mention he's full of snark?
Starting point is 00:09:19 And it's incredible. He goes into great detail on a lot of the consumer products that are out there all over the place that you guys just bump into every day, and he explains to you the behind-the-scenes look about how bad they're sticking it to you. It's pretty incredible. So this book includes a special offer to receive three months of the premium version of every dollar for free. If you buy the book before Tuesday, between now and Tuesday before January 15th, it's a $20 book, and we're going to throw in $100 of free bonus items because the pre-orders
Starting point is 00:09:52 really help the marketing plan. It'll help George. It'll help us. Thank you for doing that. And he takes all this stuff straight on, like credit card schemes, investing traps, mortgage mythology, the stuff you should have been taught, and the stuff they've dressed it up with a new digital set of clothes on and stuck it in front of you. Again, it's age-old scams, but they're back. And he goes through every bit of it and shows you exactly how to get your money together, breaking free from broke. Order it right now at ramseysolutions.comcom slash store and you can get a hundred dollars worth of free bonus items including the audio book the e-book an online private event
Starting point is 00:10:32 a q a with george and instant access to george's newest talk show me the money wow he will be on with jade and i tonight along with rachel cruz. John Deloney, on Thursday night, the 11th. And we'll be on at 7 o'clock. And you can go to ramseysolutions.com slash breaking free and get that free sign-up for that. It's a live stream we're doing tonight. It's going to take us a little over an hour, so settle in and pop some popcorn.
Starting point is 00:11:01 And we're going to walk you through how to break the cycle. You need to break the cycle. And that's actually what it is it's ramsey solutions.com slash break the cycle but the uh uh you know it's all completely free there's about 400 000 folks registered already it's the largest live stream we've ever done so thank you guys for your participation and we look forward to seeing you there those of of you listening live at this second will be there in a few hours on the old YouTube, putting it out there for your stream, and you can also pick it up, of course, on our website if you register. And we'll show you how to do all that. Just make it easy for you.
Starting point is 00:11:36 It's completely free. So I'm really excited about this material, Jade. The talk you put together is pretty incredible. Well, thank you. You know, I didn't know I was going to gonna do that talk and one of our speech writers said well dave dave said this is the moment where you're supposed to preach and so i said well i guess i need to write i guess i need to write a little of a sermon there for that yeah so you set it up yeah well you're you you have the ability to do that on stage and you're fabulous so i'm looking forward to watching that tonight
Starting point is 00:12:03 as well as rachel and you talking about every dollar and dr daloney talking about anxiety and george talking about some of the traps and uh it's it's really good it's some good material tonight of course i'll be in there mixing up and my job is just generally to spread hate and dissension and it's a spiritual gift so i'll be in there stirring up everybody and keeping you moving and have some fun with it as well. So looking forward to it tonight, guys. Hannah is with us in Las Vegas. Hey, Hannah, welcome to the Ramsey Show.
Starting point is 00:12:32 What's up? Hi. Wow, it's weird to actually be talking to you. So my question is, I am a veterinarian, and, and I also have a 15 month old daughter at home. I'm sure you hear this all the time, but after I had my daughter, my priorities kind of shifted a little bit. Um, yeah, yeah. So I, I'm currently working part time, which I'm, I'm currently working part-time, which I'm really enjoying. And I just really feel I'm a Christian, and I just really feel called to be exactly like you said, a good mom. And especially as she starts getting older, I just want to make sure that I'm more a part of her life than culture is. I guess my question is, I don't want to be shooting ourselves in the foot down the line as far as retirement and college savings and things like that go.
Starting point is 00:13:29 And I just want to know your perspective as a parent, a Christian, and obviously a financial expert. How much does your husband make? What does he do? So he's in the Air Force. So he makes, to be honest, his pay always confuses me because it's split up on all these weird little chunks. But I think his like take-home pay is like $50,000 or something like that. Okay. What was your take-home pay? Like when you work full-time as a vet, what do you bring home? Yeah. So it's kind of complicated because I'm doing relief work right now. So I'm getting paid basically per shift as a 1099 employee.
Starting point is 00:14:05 So I would say working three days a week, I'm going to average around 70 or 75. Okay. But before, how long have you been doing that? Are you guys used to that 70? So I just started doing this. We just moved here in August and I just started doing this. Okay. So let me go back to your original philosophical question. You can work full-time, be a wonderful mom, and raise a daughter and be a Christian. You can stay at home full-time and be a wonderful mom and raise a daughter and be a Christian. None of those are mutually exclusive to having a good spiritual walk and being a great mom. Working full-time creates different challenges
Starting point is 00:14:55 and different ways you go at it, or working part-time does. You're not irresponsible about the future with college funds and retirement and all that. You know, none of that so none of that guilt type crap i would use to make this decision i wouldn't let that be your motivator okay uh in other words i wouldn't go full time at home because i thought that's the only people who are spiritual that's just because that's just wrong or if that's the only way you think you can like raise a good kid yeah that's that's also wrong lots of great kids are raised by professional ladies who work full-time who thank goodness so um it happens it happens all the time
Starting point is 00:15:34 it happens all the time now you're in a season with a baby that's a whole lot more uh high maintenance than when they're eight when they're eight they won't even know you're gone that's during the day you know that kind of thing right so you you might say okay we're gonna for this season do this leaving my all my licenses intact and active and keeping all my continuing ed or whatever else has to be done up because you've worked too hard to get here yeah becoming a vet is more difficult than becoming an md because you have to learn more than one body type yeah i mean the md only has to learn the homo sapien you got to learn a bunch of them that's true and what you said dave is so true um
Starting point is 00:16:23 with our with our kids, I mean, we've got a three and a five-year-old, and I wanted to be home when they were super little. And then when they got older, it felt right for me to go off and be able to do more things. And once they go to kindergarten, there's so much more time that frees up. So what Dave is saying about keeping your certifications up to date and really staying active, there's something to that. Right now, you've got one one child and you might find that there's still some form of part-time work that you can do um or you might find that you just love staying home and that that gives you joy and you might end up doing that until they're 18 who
Starting point is 00:16:56 knows but i would do something just for you just for you i really do i mean i do enjoy working yeah i mean i don't i don't care if it's one day i don't care if it's a half day a week but i would do i would do something because i think it'll help your sanity that's just that's just the word right there that's just papa dave talking i think you can go in there and do processes that and work systems that you're that are automatic versus the hecticness of a newborn. So I think that's just a good thing for fun, and it keeps you plugged in. Here's the thing. The only thing I would urge you to do, and again, I would avoid any personal condemnation or accepting anyone outside's opinion that's condemning, and I'm not going to be one of
Starting point is 00:17:40 those voices. The only thing I would just tell you to do is I think you will regret if you don't steward all of the hard work to become a vet that you've used so far by keeping all of that intact and keeping those doors open. Absolutely. Because you work too hard to just drop this. I agree. And I think that I think you'll regret that later. And I do want them to run some numbers because going like losing $70,000 of income is a big deal. So do run those numbers. Sit down with your husband. Make sure you know exactly how much he makes.
Starting point is 00:18:11 Yeah. Sharon was a full-time mom and now is a full-time Mimi. So basically all but seven years of our 42 years of marriage before kids came. So there you go. I mean, there we go. Hey, you guys, health insurance costs are only moving one way and that way isn't down. And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer and it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you,
Starting point is 00:18:46 try a biblically-based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families like yours take care of over $11 billion in medical bills since 1981. And CHM has also helped them stay true to their values and avoid miles of red tape. And CHM support goes far beyond meeting financial needs.
Starting point is 00:19:13 They'll also help meet spiritual needs. Members become part of a family who will pray with them and for them when they experience a medical event. So listen, y'all, there's no better way to take care of healthcare costs. CHM programs start as low as $98 a month. So learn more today and join at chministries.org slash budget at chministries.org slash budget.
Starting point is 00:19:40 Jade Walsh, all Ramsey personality. She's my co-host today in the lobby of ramsey solutions on the debt free stage ben and stephanie are with us hey guys how are you great day how are you better than we deserve where do you guys live colorado springs colorado oh that's cool that's a great town well good to have you in nashville welcome welcome how much debt have you in Nashville. Welcome, welcome. How much debt have you paid off? $242,000, Dave. How long did this take? 24 months. Whoa, kicking it. Wow. Your range of income during that time? We started the journey around $115,000 and ended around $280,000. Let's go. Yeah. What do y'all do for a living? I'm a nurse. And I'm a cybersecurity engineer. Okay. So how in the world do you go
Starting point is 00:20:23 from $115,000 to $ from 115 to 280 in 24 months? There's a litany of things, Dave. One, when we started the journey, Stephanie wasn't working. We just had our son, Nate, and then also finished my master's degree and got a couple of cybersecurity certs along the way, jumped jobs, and all those things kind of together. Yeah. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Yours went straight up the ladder, and then she took on and go.
Starting point is 00:20:44 Yes, sir. Yeah. Incredible. That's big. That's a big jump. jump yeah so what kind of debt was the 242 it was our house super weird dave how old are you young weirdos 33 years old with a paid for stinking house in Colorado Springs. Wow. What's this house worth? About $480,000. Oh my gosh. So how much have you got in your nest eggs? We have
Starting point is 00:21:12 around $400,000 or so. We did our net worth thing around $920,000-ish. Oh, you're right there. Our baby steps millionaires at 33 years old. Wow. That is just a years old. Wow. That's amazing. Oh, my gosh.
Starting point is 00:21:26 That is just a middle finger to society. That's all that is. That's just. Yeah. Hey, for all of you that think millennials are failures, I'm talking to two of them that aren't. Yeah. Way to go, you guys.
Starting point is 00:21:38 Wow. Wow. Especially her. Beautiful. She's great. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.
Starting point is 00:21:42 Well done. Well done. All right. So tell us the story. What happened 24 months ago? Because everything went nuts. beautiful she's great beautiful beautiful beautiful well done well done all right so tell us the story what happened 24 months ago because everything went nuts yes so dave our journey actually started about four years ago my dad gifted us the total money makeover as a christmas gift and the first thing he said was like hey you don't have to read this book but i wish i would have known about dave and his plan when i was your age. And my dad, he's an accountant.
Starting point is 00:22:05 He's always been really good with money. And I figured if he says I should read a book about finance, I probably should. Wow. Good for you. A lot of people, that's an excuse to toss it in the trash. Pretty much, pretty much, yeah. But, you know, we just decided to read it. It was a quick, easy read, and we were immediately on board. Initially, the plan, you know, we just decided to read it. It was a quick, easy read. And we were immediately on board.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Initially, the plan, you know, we had always been consumer debt free with exception of a small credit card. But then we just quickly got on board. We knew at the time Ben was active duty in the Marine Corps. Ah, okay. And we were renting and we knew the ultimate goal was to buy a house. And so we just kind of stockpiled cash for the next kind of two years or so. You know, 2019 happened, then 2021, we were all in the same boat with the COVID pandemic. We were stationed in California, we really couldn't go anywhere or do anything,
Starting point is 00:22:55 except go to work. Thankfully, we had COVID proof jobs with me being a nurse and him being in active duty. So we just quickly kind of got to work and we couldn't really spend any money or travel. So we just stockpiled cash for that down payment. And then 2021 rolls around, which is what we call our year of chaos, because we just did multiple life altering events within, I'd say like 90 days. Ben got out of the military after eight years of service, starting a new job in the civilian world i'm eight and a half months pregnant with our son we're moving from california to colorado oh yeah and that crazy real estate market in 2021 we're first time home buyers oh wow 90 days yep 90 days oh my gosh
Starting point is 00:23:38 so thankfully because of our large down payment it set us apart from a lot of the buyers and we weren't the highest offer on our house but it's because we had the largest cash or you know cash down payment that set us apart from the other wow you didn't get caught up on like driving the price way way way up exactly that's great yeah good for you guys yeah so you move take new jobs and have a baby all in one month oh yeah yeah why not no big deal you know no big deal we were in a rental we were in a hotel room for a week we're in that new house and it was just me and a strong back and the super pregnant woman is looking at you like what have you done pretty much wow what have you done you get in trouble just for breathing wrong at that point
Starting point is 00:24:23 all right you're not lying i know What have you done? You get in trouble just for breathing wrong at that point. You're not lying. I know. Well done, you guys. Well done. You've got to be super proud. Yeah. I mean, you've got an incredible income.
Starting point is 00:24:38 Thank you for your service, by the way, Ben. Oh, thank you. And, man, you are set. You're going to have so much money, be able to be so generous, completely change your family tree. Your dad's got to be going, touchdown! I love it. Is this him with you? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:53 All right, good. He came to celebrate with you. Very good. Well, he should. He should. That's excellent stuff. Excellent stuff. Well done.
Starting point is 00:25:01 Man, I'm proud of you guys, and I know they are. Very, very good. All right. Now, I mean, you kind of had this, um, almost forced on you because you're coming out of the military. Uh, you don't get to choose that. You don't get you and you happen to choose. Well, maybe sort of to have a baby around that exact same time.
Starting point is 00:25:20 You don't choose pandemics. You do choose to move cities. So, I mean, you guys stacked all this up uh and and then you in the middle of that you go okay this is game this is game on this is where we prove this stuff out yeah so tell people what the what kept you together through all that not together with each other but i'm saying how you your brains just didn't explode you go crazy and have seven thousand dollars and seventy thousand dollars in credit card debt and a mortgage where you can't breathe instead
Starting point is 00:25:45 of being debt-free. You went the other way extreme. Yeah. I mean, I'll go ahead and jump in. I mean, we've done a lot of hard things together. You know, I think like the hardest thing we did was we did deployment, right? And workups were deployment a lot of times, you know, it's like a year, year and a half and you're gone eight months of that time. So it's kind of like you're switching back and forth between, yeah, I'm here, but I'm not physically here mentally or whatever. And I think that was probably the hardest thing that we ever had to do as a couple. And that eight month, nine month deployment was hard, but it really like brought us together. And this money thing is another way if it's just to share language, you know, like, cause we can set our goals together. That's where our money goes wow and so like all those things kind of combined like I really feel
Starting point is 00:26:28 like we can do anything together you're superheroes nothing gets between you like nothing can get between you nothing can overcome you guys at this point because you've just proven you can overcome anything really thank you wow thank you good stuff all right what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is and it's not move come out of the military and have a baby in one month that is not the key if you don't have to yeah um so i just say like nothing is deserved everything is 100 earned um just throughout the whole journey like nothing i thought he was the Marine. She's a hard woman. Yeah, it's just nothing is deserved. It's 100%. You have to live with that mentality, not in just aspects of your financial life,
Starting point is 00:27:13 but your personal life, your professional life. It's just the way to go forward and grind through it. It's a short amount of sacrifice to set you up for the rest of your life. That's right. You did it. You did it. I mean, you up for the rest of your life. That's right. You did it. You did it. I mean, you really, really, this is amazing. You poured it on.
Starting point is 00:27:29 And really what happened was your incomes went through the stratosphere and you just kept your lifestyle and your emotions down and used all that extra money and paid off the house. Yes. Yes, sir. That's the way you all did it. I mean, because 24 months, $242,000, that's $10,000 a month. That's crazy.
Starting point is 00:27:42 Yeah. I mean, it's $120, 000 a year right yeah that's strong yeah we had this little kind of this little debt count or i guess a little debt tracker kind of almost made it into a game um with these little balloons attached to like from the movie up and then at the end of at the end of every month we would have whatever was left over that we had in our budget we would get to color in balloons so we were kind of like okay how many balloons did we get to color in this month and so it was kind of really fun to kind of stack. So we were kind of like, okay, how many balloons did we get to color in this month? And so it was kind of really fun to kind of stack up, you know,
Starting point is 00:28:08 and kind of see the progress along the way. All right, bring the kiddo in. Introduce him. What's his name and age? This is Nate. This is Nate. He's two years old. He's a wild man.
Starting point is 00:28:17 All right, wild man. Here we go. Hey, we've got the Baby Steps Millionaires book. You're almost there. You really are there. The Total Money Makeover book and Financial Peace peace university to say thanks to coming to nashville your mom and dad are over there sitting proud they should be we're proud of you you guys are an incredible couple you're you got your heroes way to go so so well done 242 000 paid off in 24 months
Starting point is 00:28:40 making 115 to 280 ben stephanie and nate from colorado springs house and everything almost baby steps millionaires by age 33 count it down let's hear a debt-free scream three two one we're debt-free Yeah, baby. This is how it's done, boys and girls. Man, they have got it going. Wow. This is the Ramsey Show. Allen. Our Scripture of the Day, Ephesians 2.10.
Starting point is 00:29:23 For we are God's handiwork created in christ jesus to do good works which god prepared in advance for us to do john maxwell said god uses people who fail because there aren't any other kind of listen i have not heard john's quote on that i like that john yeah he and i've been friends a long time i've never heard that quote that's a great one there aren't any others around it's really his only option matthew is in chicago hey matthew how are you hi jade how's it going i appreciate taking this call today. Sure. What's up? So, I recently graduated college. I'm 22, and I got married last summer. Congratulations.
Starting point is 00:30:16 Thank you. Thank you. And I find myself overwhelmed with student loan debt. I racked up, in about three years at a private college, I racked up $198,000 of student loan debt with an average interest rate of 9% to 14%. Good Lord. Sheesh. Yes. What else? And I have about $5,000 in credit card debt. My wife, we went to college together, and she graduated debt-free, so it's only me with the debt.
Starting point is 00:30:43 What are you guys earning? What was that again, sir? What do you earn? What's your incomes? Oh, monthly income is approximately $3,500 a month. $3,500 a month. Okay. That's correct.
Starting point is 00:30:59 And each? You and your wife, or? No, that's combined. So are you both working full-time? Yes. What did you get your degree in for $200,000? It doesn't pay you minimum wage. You're not going to like this, but it was aviation.
Starting point is 00:31:15 I'm a pilot. Okay. Are you working? Yes, I'm working full-time. And I make $45 to $50 an hour, but it's dependent on three factors. Students who want to fly, weather, and aircraft maintenance. So you're teaching? Yes.
Starting point is 00:31:35 You're not flying commercially? No, I have a conditional job contract offer signed and hopefully we'll be starting at the end of this year, starting at $84,000 a year. But I have to work up to my hours to get that job. Okay. And is there anything else that you can do to supplement your income in the meantime while you're working up to that? Not much. I could possibly get a part-time job. That's one thing I've considered multiple times. I'm currently at my job. What does your wife do? She does Army contracting. She works for the U.S. government.
Starting point is 00:32:13 And she makes what? She started at $49,000, and then she'll go up $59,000 this summer, and then next summer she'll go up to $69,000. Okay, that's not $3,500 a month. You've misadded somewhere. So it sounds like you're making about $40,000 a year going towards $85,000 in the fall, and she's making about $40,000 heading towards $60,000 in the summer. Okay, so you guys probably have a household income of more like $80,000, not $3,500 a month, which is $40,000. And maybe your take-home, you may have too much being
Starting point is 00:32:46 withheld. I don't know. But basically, what it amounts to is your careers, you came out of the gate with your degrees with a slow start, income-wise. But one year from today, it sounds like both of you will be further mature in your careers, income-wise. And it sounds like your incomes are going to be, you know, you should be bumping up $150,000 by the end of this year. Right. $60,000 and $80,000 is $140,000. That's the end of the year.
Starting point is 00:33:15 Yeah, that's ideal. Yeah, well, that would be what she'd be making $59,000 in the summer, and you're going to be making $84,000 in the fall. So that's the way that adds up. So, yeah, so right now it's tight um and james what's the name of our uh refi company why refi why with a like the letter y uh like you why like your letter y the letter. And refi. You need to look those guys up. They are the best in the business at private student loan refinance, and they probably can get your rates down. Yeah, because 14% is not ideal.
Starting point is 00:33:53 Yeah, you got hammered with that, and that's aviation school that got you, not standard student loans. Mm-hmm. So. And then from there, you know, the formula is like everybody else. Live on less than you make and tear into it. But I think my point is, Matthew, that you're going to be not making a ton of progress between now and June. From June to January, you're going to make a lot more progress in the following and every time thereafter.
Starting point is 00:34:25 Okay? So what I want you both to do is to work all you can work. you're going to make a lot more progress and the following and every time thereafter. Okay. So what I want you both to do is to work all you can work. And if you're on the ground because of broken aircraft or weather, I want you doing something else. That's right. Go make some money. Go deliver pizzas or DoorDash or drive Uber. I don't care what you do.
Starting point is 00:34:39 Go make some money. You're going to be working all the time. You have made an unadulterated $200,000 mess, and you have got to focus on it and attack it like a zealot, like you've joined, like I'm crazy. That's right. You've got to get crazy about it. But the good news is once you guys really get into it, I mean, they're going to be average. They're going to be that person who pays off their debt in around two years, two and a half years, and on to the next thing. Yeah, I mean, it takes you $200,000 if you put $100,000 a year towards it.
Starting point is 00:35:12 It's done in two years. That's right. You may not quite make that depending on how these incomes stack out and when they start flowing, but that would be starting one year from now. That's true. Whatever you do from now until then, you'll make progress on. So, you know, you probably have from today over two years worth of work to do, maybe approaching three. But you'll be out in that if you lean into it and don't go buy a bunch of stuff and keep everything down, you know, and just, you know, keep your rent down, rent the cheapest possible thing.
Starting point is 00:35:44 Don't go on vacation don't eat out you have a mess to clean up and there's no you know when you're 22 years old you got the energy go do it that's right go and don't wait till you're 32 don't keep this around like it's a freaking pet yeah get after it Allie is with us in Minneapolis hi Allie how are you oh hi Dave I'm really good How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm really good. How are you? Better than I deserve.
Starting point is 00:36:07 What's up? Well, so me and my husband, we just got married about three months ago. Congrats. And when we got married, thank you. When we got married, we decided we were going to be debt-free like you teach. But we've kind of hit a little bit of a bump in our road. We have a car and a truck that we just made a really stupid decision to purchase. When did you buy them?
Starting point is 00:36:34 The truck we bought about two or three years ago. The car we bought last year. Okay, and after that you decided to get out of debt. So what do you owe on the truck? Yeah. The truck has a $30,000 loan debt so what do you owe on the truck yes the truck has a thirty thousand dollar loan and what do you owe on the car 35 okay and what's your household income about 120 okay all right well you probably need to sell the truck or the car one of the two yeah because you shouldn't have vehicles that total up to be more than half your annual income and you do i agree i agree with you i actually when i'm trying to convince my husband to sell both and not a bad idea really could be vehicles so we can get out of
Starting point is 00:37:17 debt faster and i like that um buy a house and then have kids i that. We are upside down on them. Yeah, well, I'd rather own $9,000 than $35,000. And I agree. So we have $7,000 upside down on the car, $7,000 on the truck. So we're thinking, would it be a smart idea to take out a personal loan to pay those and then buy two cheap cars? Yes. I would rather you have fourteen thousand dollars in debt than seventy thousand dollars in debt okay and that's what i told my husband he's not
Starting point is 00:37:51 a hundred percent on board with it you know why he really likes his truck yeah he likes his truck he's got a great truck but here's the thing you like the future vision that you have which is living in a home with a couple of babies, more than you like these stupid cars. And so for you, the stupid cars are gone. And I think I agree with you. Okay, then. Let's just set a vision that's past Friday.
Starting point is 00:38:22 Because here's the thing. You can get another truck. You can't get another life. You got to go live this life wide open yeah it makes no sense yeah i just i'm not a car person so it doesn't hit me the same but i'm like listen you get in your car you drive to work you drive home like i'm a truck person i completely get why he likes it but you guys got to decide what you like more yeah exactly that's all it is and um i i like kids and houses better than i like right right in always will that puts us out of the ramsey show in the books we'll be back with you before you know it in the meantime remember there's ultimately only one way
Starting point is 00:38:57 to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the prince of peace christ jesus Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.