The Ramsey Show - App - How Do I Choose a Career? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where dad 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. This is your show, America. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. You jump in and we'll talk.

888-825-5225. Lauren is with us in Greensboro, North Carolina. Hi, Lauren. Welcome to the show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Hey, so. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

Hey, so I'm getting married this summer, and once I move into my future husband's house, I plan to use my rent money to either go towards helping pay down the mortgage or putting towards savings to our next house, which we plan to buy two to three years after we're married. You know, I just wanted to see what the best option is, and neither of us have any debt except the house. Great. Very cool. Well, we would change how we're approaching it, and then that'll help you figure out what's

going on. It's no longer your rent money. We now have a budget. That is our income. If we have any extra income, and you will have in your budget what are we going to do with our extra income and that's a different way of approaching it because it should be more than just your old rent okay gotcha okay so you see the difference in the terminology because it matters because when you're working a plan together if you say i'm just going to take that rent money and do something with it that limits you and it causes you to continue to

think separately rather than unified with the person you're marrying okay all right so uh what are we going to do with our extra money we're always going to put it ramsey's always going to tell you to put it on your next baby step where you are. Now, baby step three is your new household should have three to six months of expenses saved as an emergency fund. Will that already be done? Yes. Okay, good. household income upon being married and say, we're going to save 15% of our income going into retirement as a budget item. And then that's going to lower or affect how much you have to move on with other things.

Do either one of you have children that you're bringing into this marriage? No. Okay. So maybe step five is save for college. You don't need to do that. So the answer to your overall question, after I give you all my clarifications and caveats, is pay it on the house. That's baby step six. We're going to get rid of the home mortgage.

But this is the two of you working together to achieve that goal. And, of course, you're going to have some other things you need to do in this budget with a combined household you're going to want to you know purchase a new couch you're you're moving into his house and it probably needs a touch from you i highly suggest the touch whether he thinks he needs it or not i'll guarantee you he doesn't think he does and i'll guarantee you he does yeah i was curious lauren uh how much is his house worth any idea how much debt's on it um debt probably in the 100,000 range i think uh upwards of 200,000 for value right so what what do you make and what's he make? Well combined we'll probably make a little over $105-ish.

Excellent. That's great. You guys are going to be in great shape. And so I gave you a lot of detail there to try to get things lined up the right way. And all kidding aside, he is going to experience something that all husbands since time began have experienced. And that is that there's a

line item in the budget called redecorating yes and it really is because his house the reality is his house probably needs it right my son got married two years ago he'd had the home he's living he's living in for a couple years and it needed it needed allison's touch i'm just saying and allison put her touch on it they lived there a couple more years and sold it and made a lot of money and moved on up to another property. But it sure did help it when Allison moved in. I'm just saying. Yeah, and I want to say this to you, Lauren.

I'm approaching 23 years of marriage. Dave's been married longer than me. Listen, it is a temptation for all young couples to want to progress and to start this new life and upgrade in-house. There's nothing wrong with it. You guys are so sharp, and you're in great shape. But I'm just going to tell you, just going to play a little older brother on you, you need to pay that house off. You only owe about $100,000, $105,000 on it.

You guys with that joint income, pay it off completely. Get that thing knocked out. And then now you sell that house and think about the house you can actually buy with a massive, massive down payment. So just be patient. Love it. Love it, love it, love it. All right, Jake is with us in Wichita, Kansas.

Hi, Jake. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, thank you. How are you guys? Better than we deserve. What's up? So my fiance has $35,000 in debt, and I was wondering whether I should try to pay off that now or pay after the wedding.

After the wedding. After the wedding? Never pay someone else's debt until you're married. Always pay their debt as soon as you come home from the honeymoon. Yeah. That makes me nervous. What's that Julia Roberts wedding where she keeps runaway bride? That makes me very nervous.

Paying off $35,000. Yeah, so you got cash? You got the cash to pay it off? Not all of it. And actually $30,000 of it is a school loan that we don't have to start paying on until about another year and a half. Oh, it doesn't matter.

Pay it off anyway. Pay it off as soon as you get married. So how much, when are you getting married? We're getting married the 31st of July. Awesome. Awesome. Congratulations. That's awesome. Thank you.

That's so fun. It's so cool that you're able to step in and you guys are able to join your finances and accomplish some goals really quick like that. Because you knock out that debt really fast, and you're going to be able to move on to other stuff as young as you are. You're going to really be doing well. Yeah, well, we're really lucky that we found you. I just started listening

to the podcast last week uh and just finished baby step one and so i was taking a crack at baby step two and just thought i should try to figure out where i should start yeah so have you got any debt no no debt okay so baby step two for you doesn't exist you're moving on to finishing up your emergency fund right right and Right. And then you move on. I wouldn't start your investing. I'd just pile that money up and get ready for July. I wouldn't do your baby step four right now. I would just pile up and get ready to write the check when you marry her because you want to knock out her.

Because all of a sudden, you're going to start right back over again in July, right? Right. So, yeah, let's just pile up cash and get ready for that from a practical or a tactical standpoint. And you're luckier than that. You're luckier than finding us on YouTube because you're not only that, you got through on these phones, which is a dadgum lottery. And on top of that, we're going to give you a wedding gift. We want you to be in Ramsey Plus, which is Financial Peace University, premium version of every dollar, everything you need to really, this is the Bentley of handling money.

We're going to show you how to do it. I'm going to give you a one-year subscription as a wedding gift, Jake. So hang on, and Kelly will pick up, and we'll take care of you guys on that. What a great way to start. Yeah, these young couples that are getting ahead of the game. Marriage is, the first year of marriage is really tough as you learn to live with somebody else, and you learn to actually get out of the in love stage and actually

love and have to learn how to love when you don't like and to have no money pressure. It takes a year of being, you don't buy a house in the first year. It takes a year of being married to know how close your mother-in-law to buy. You threw me off there Dave when you did the wedding gift. I didn't see Ramsey Plus coming. I thought, what do we have some knives? A blender? I didn't know where you were going with that.

So I was like, oh okay. Send them Ken's blender. Yes. Yes, we'll send that just free of charge. I'm ready for a new one. Just throw that in. The one that's back there in the room that he makes his juice with. Yes.

Yeah, there we go. There we go. That's always good. People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, is a non-profit organization We'll be right back. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Well, after 2020, some of you are saying, I need a better plan. The one I had doesn't prepare me for pandemics. Doesn't set me up to win.

You need a reset. So in 2021, we're helping you do a reset. And you can take control of your money. You need a plan. You need the right plan. Ramsey Plus is our step-by-step plan that will help you get some quick wins, daily wins, weekly wins, a 90-day challenge all to get you started because you really never mess up by getting a great fast start you can decide on their total money reset this year

start with ramsey plus it includes financial peace university it includes every dollar it includes the baby step tracking app it It includes Ask a Coach app. It includes all the stuff to help you, everything you need to do to get moving with the money and execute the plan you hear us talking about every day here. There's a free trial. Jump into Ramsey Plus for a free trial by going to DaveRamsey.com slash reset. DaveRamsey.com slash reset. DaveRamsey.com slash reset. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.

Ken Coleman is with me as my co-host today. Kevin is in Austin, Texas. Hi, Kevin. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you guys? Better than I deserve. What's up? All right. My question may be more for Ken. I just got your book, The Proximity Principle, and I'm starting to read through it.

I'm about two chapters in, and it feels like this book is geared toward providing help for people who know where they want to be, what they want to do, but don't know how to get there. So I'm in a little bit of a predicament because I'm not entirely sure what I want to be, where I want to go. And I'm struggling to find, I guess, that direction.

So my question is, do you have any advice on how to soul search and figure out what I should be doing? Yeah, well, there's a simple process that I teach in Stage 1 of my Seven Stages to Meaningful Work. It's called Get Clear, and you need to get clear. And what you do is you look for the clues with the three gifts that your creator has given you, talent, passion, and mission. And I define those as talent. You know what that means. It's simply what you do best. And I'm not talking about your fives and sixes. I mean your seven, eights, and nines as you look at your

soft skills and hard skills. And passion is defined as work you love. These are tasks, functions, a role that you enjoy engaging in. And then mission is the results of that work that has a deep connection to your heart. Now, we don't have time to walk through all of that. I've got a great career clarity guide that is a free resource for you that I want you to walk through. And I ask all the questions in this guide. It's free at KenColeman.com. But let's try to fast forward.

Because when somebody like you talks to me and says, I'm not completely sure, that means you've got some ideas. I want you to tell me what you've wondered about, like almost like a child, a childlike wonder. What would it be like if I did this for work? What is something you've dreamed about or wondered about? Well, I feel like I have an acumen for leadership and for people. And I'll tell you, my dad's a pastor, and so I've had the thought often of what would it look like for me to go into ministry. Why haven't you pursued that? There's something that has held you back. What is it? Name it as clear and as plain as you can. Hesitancy to maybe what other people think. I don't know. He did it because his dad did it.

I don't know. All right, so let me ask you a question. So my dad's a pastor, too. Just retired, actually, last year from 47 years in the ministry. So that's my whole life. And I married a preacher's daughter as well. I believe that if you can keep from being a pastor, you should. That's what my dad told me.

Because I was the pastor's kid. I loved to speak. I loved to communicate. I was always on the stage. And now I've gone into public communication as my work. But my dad said, son, he said, if you can keep from it. And what he was saying was the call to ministry is clearly a spiritual call. I believe all work is honorable and of the Lord.

But he said, if you can keep from it, keep from it. But what I've heard from you is you're worried about what other people are going to say because your dad's a pastor. So the question is, if we removed all of that, do you believe at this point in your life, Kevin, as honestly as you can be right now, do you believe that you were called to ministry? Forget about being a senior pastor or what the role is, just ministry as it relates to a profession. Do you believe you're called to that? No, I don't think so. Okay, then I want to release you from that.

And so the reality is, as we look at what was it about it that was appealing to you? And maybe that, like Ken, this stage and public communication, but not pastoring. So that could have been, he could have confused those two. Well, I think the part that was appealing to me was how you help people. And obviously, we're called to personal evangelism. I mean, what greater day than to. Oh, sure. All of us are that. Well, you know, how you help people, you know, and obviously we're called to personal evangelism. I mean, what greater day than today? All of us are that. Well, you gave us a clue.

You want to lead people, but you don't have to lead them in a ministry context. Why do you want to lead people? If let's just say that I snap my fingers and I put you in a leadership position today, okay, and you couldn't fail, why do you want to lead people? What's the why? In one sentence, say it from your heart. Oh, man. To help people, to get us where we need to go,

to establish a vision and to take us there, to accomplish great things. Okay, so let me ask you this. Where would you, let's just have some fun, and I don't want you to get hung up on the specifics, but I want you to just think, if you could lead a team of people to produce results anywhere,

any sector, anywhere in the world, what kind of results do you want to lead a team to produce? Because this is at the heart of this. What results do you want to produce in the world? And you're leading a team to make those results a reality. You know, Ken, I'm struggling. I don't know. It's okay. Here's don't know it's okay

here's the deal it's okay you're on the doorstep but here's what I want you to I want you to wrestle with three questions okay and then I want you

if you want to I want you to call back my show the Ken Coleman show alright and you can call between 12 and 2 Eastern Standard Time

Monday through Friday we'll get you through I want you to answer these three questions that are in the career clarity guide that's free that I want you to download at KenColeman.com.

I want you to really focus on mission, and you answer these questions. Who are the people I most want to help? What's the problem I most want to solve? And what are the solutions to those problems that I want to be a part of? See, leadership is service. Leadership is leading a team in a bigger organization to solve a problem that's way bigger than us as the leader. And I will tell you that some other advice, I want you to answer those questions and you'll begin to see, oh, I want to create these results in the marketplace.

And once we determine the results we want to create in the marketplace, we find organizations that are doing that and we say, do they align with our values? And then I want to get in because here's the key. And young people hear me that you want to lead. You cannot lead until you learn how to follow. I want you to get in an organization and work and be a follower and be a team player and study leadership. Read Entree Leadership, Dave's number one bestselling book. Listen to the Entree Leadership podcast, a world-class podcast from Ramsey Solutions. Read leadership books. Read John Maxwell. I used to work for John. He was a mentor of mine. Read the 360-degree leader. Consume leadership books. Watch great leaders. Emulate them. And then you keep following. And then if you keep doing a great job, you'll get promoted

eventually into the opportunity to lead. But as far as where to lead, just go find an organization that is producing results that matter to you in the marketplace. Don't overthink it. So, Kelly, when he picks up, get the phone number for Madison, Ken's producer, so they can do a follow-up call on Ken's show. Yeah, I'd like to call after he's done his homework. She'll pick up and get that appointment set for him. That career clarity guide, Dave, for folks that are listening, it walks them through that talent, passion, mission exercise, and they're not under pressure on the air. Yeah, it's hard to do it on the air.

Yeah, yeah. I'm curious if you think, with Kevin, if something that people tell him he's good at or that he knows he's good at, you call that a talent. Yes. Does that give him a hint or a clue what the thing he's going to lead into might be? Yeah, absolutely. Well, what we want to see is if he wants to lead, we then check it and we say, do I have the skills of communication, connecting with others? Do I have empathy? Do I have the raw talent to actually be a leader. If you're a young person and you have a desire to be a leader, make sure that your desire to be a leader is just that you don't want to be

a leader simply to avoid being a follower. That's right. It's not about authority. It's about influence. That would be what you wrestle with. It's a privilege. It's a weight. Heavy stuff. You've got to look at your motive on that. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. number one best-selling author radio host and ramsey personality ken coleman is my co-host today open phones at 888-825-5225. Alan is in Ogden, Utah. Hey, Alan, how are you? I'm pretty good.

I'm having trouble hearing you. Try again. So my fiance is having trouble getting on board with the idea of following the baby steps and living the day's life i've been listening to you guys for probably about two years now and i'm for the idea but it's really hard to get going on it if you don't have a partner who's on board with you help me help her understand what what you're trying to sell. Okay. What is her problem with this idea? Well, she heard a one podcast you guys did where this guy had a, that you sold him to sell it and buy something else because it was, it was sinking him.

And I personally, I saw the logic in what you said but what she didn't understand is why you told him to ramp it up to nine thousand dollars rather than keep it down at the like three or five thousand dollars that he was going to spend that's not her problem and that's what i tried to tell her no that's not what she heard on a podcast is not the problem she was looking for an excuse to not do this stuff when she's listening to the podcast. So she found some little nuanced nothing detail that doesn't even matter to have a reason to throw out the idea of dealing with this. Evidence that Dave is cuckoo, so we can't do this. There's plenty of evidence that Dave is cuckoo.

It's fairly abundant. Not hard to find that if you're looking for we provide it daily yes we do it's here it's 15 000 hours of it in the last few years but um it's all on youtube by the way yeah but yeah so you know there's a lot of reasons to but you know and it's not a matter of me as you know it's not it's not a personal thing in the sense of oh she doesn't like me that's not the issue the the question is that you guys have got, the two of you have got to sit down and say, okay, what are our goals with money as a couple, and what is the best method to get us to those goals? I love her to death, but I keep living in debt, and I can't keep living paycheck to paycheck wondering if we're going to have a house.

That wasn't what I said. You're not living in debt anyway because you're not married. It's her problem if you leave her with it. If you get married, the two of you need to set a date after you've gotten some good pre-marriage counseling, which it sounds like you desperately need. And after you've sat down and said, where, okay, how old are you guys? We are 30 and 31. Okay. When you say, when we're 55 years old, where do we want to be with our money,

and what is the best method to get there? And you both then answer that question, and you say, hey, I'd like to be out of debt and be very wealthy and be able to be very generous and be able to travel and be able to buy something and not have to worry about it. And this is what you would say, right? And then she can say whatever she wants to say. And you say, okay, what is the best way to get to this dream? And let's make sure our dreams are combined before we combine our lives.

Yep. Alan, I'm going to weigh in here. I want to go a little deeper. Do you both have debt individually? Yes. to go a little deeper. Do you both have debt individually? Yes, she has about $12,000 worth of medical debt, and I have about $1,000 worth of consumer debt on a budget of about $20,000 a year. Okay, but listen, here's the thing. If when you sit down with a marriage counselor in pre-marriage counseling and you say, what do you want to be when we're 55?

And she says, oh, I don't know. I just don't want anybody telling me what to do. Dude, you're not marrying a woman. You're marrying a princess, and you need to run. That's what I'm getting at, Alan. I want to know why she's resisting. You need to know what her resistance is to Dave's thing, and you can have it in the same conversation and then i'd want to know the why before you put before you go down the aisle because there is a there's something that she's resisting um in what

you're telling her and you're telling her how we teach yeah and and it gets you where i would assume she would agree with the vision uh that that would want. And so this is so serious, Alan, that, I mean, to me, I'd press pause on the engagement. I'd press pause on everything until you guys got on the same page about this. I wouldn't do that. I would just get with a marriage counselor, a pre-marriage counselor immediately, and you guys begin to talk this through. But what happens if that doesn't work? That may lead you to pressing pause. That's what I'm saying.

But I don't want to just break them up. No, I don't mean that. I think you need to go and sit down there and try to work that through. Let's figure out what we're doing. If at the end of the day, I have been in situations when I'm coaching couples, and one or the other of them is like pounding their fist, demanding that no limitations be put on them in any way, and that they're allowed to do whatever they want to do, and they're not accountable for the future, they're not accountable to themselves much less their future spouse about

how we're going to end up then what you've got there is some unthrowing a temper fit you got a four-year-old throwing a temper fit on the cereal aisle because they can't get cheerios and that this is not marriage material no and so that you know uh uh the old joke is if a guy marries a girl who loves spending money, you better enjoy making money. But that's not true. It doesn't work that way. It doesn't. You can't make enough.

You can't out-earn somebody who's a super spender. Yeah, you're playing the marriage. Before there were super spreaders, there were super spenders. Yeah, right. But, yeah. And I don't think this is what's going on with her. I think there's something else. I really don't think she's a bad egg.

I don't either. That's why I want to know what's the on with her. I think there's something else. I really don't think she's a bad egg. I don't either. That's why I want to know what's the resistance and why. I want to know the why. And it could be, too, Alan. It could be, too, that you have used me as a weapon on her. Uh-oh. And turned me into a cuss word. Oh, boy.

And you've jammed up. You've stopped up this conversation and constipated it. And so you may have to just back away from the Dave thing, because Dave's not relevant in this discussion. The two of you being on the same page about a method of some kind to get to where you want to be and being on the same page on where you want to be, now that's vital. Huge.

I'm just going to say it, Dave. I mean, you can correct me if you think it's too strong. I'm just coming from the position of watching couples, and if you aren't on the same page about money, you're playing the marriage lottery. Oh, you're playing Russian roulette. And the odds are so against you making it. Number one cause of divorce. Of course. Money fights and money problems.

So if you can't get on the same page about money ahead of marriage, don't get married. Yeah, and it's going to hurt. I don't think that's too strong. Okay. But, I mean, the number one people die of a bear attack is walking down the street don't walk down that street you know i mean it's it's really common sense you know good point so um you know bears are on that street they will kill your butt you know i mean it's just like so this is not hard yeah and so um yeah stay you know stay off of that.

And I saw a statistic the other day that like 37% of the current divorces also mention a spouse looking up an old boyfriend or girlfriend on Facebook. Oh, boy. So the second leading cause of divorce is Facebook. Right. Yeah. So I'm good with getting rid of that, too. Yeah, you should. been what are you doing what are you doing what are you doing going back i mean come on now yeah you just want to be satisfied that's all then you just go look at that that's another problem he lost all his hair look at that right so yeah exactly but uh anyway yeah so the

all kidding aside alan it's it's imperative if you were my son or daughter i would tell you it's imperative to be on the same page on religion money in-laws and kids yes with the help of a pre-marriage counselor before you get married. There's all kinds of data and research that shows those four things are your leading indicators to a fabulous, fabulous marriage. One other little nugget, Dave, because I can't help it. Alan, if you do premarital counseling and she won't give in, don't you give in. Don't you do money the way you don't want to do it just to try to make her happy. That ain't going to work either.

Don't capitulate. Yeah, we've got to come to agreement, not a concession. That's what I wanted to point out. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day is Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me. Simon Sinek says, A leader must be inspired by the people before a leader can inspire the people. You know, that's coming out of Simon right now. We're seeing that out of Pat Lencioni and Pat's new book, The Motive. We're seeing it in the materials that we're putting in Entree Leadership right now, there seems to be something in the air to remind people that leadership is not a position with a corner office and a big paycheck that you aspire to. It is a duty. It is a responsibility. And sometimes it comes with a paycheck

and a corner office. But if you're aspiring to the corner office without the duty and without the responsibility, you're not going to end up being a leader. You're just going to be another one of these twerps. You'll be an achiever. You'll be somebody worried about optics instead of principles. That's right. Leadership is a conviction because as a leader, a leader you begin to understand wait a second i've got a position of authority and in some cases the highest level of authority in where you're leading and yet it has nothing to do with authority has everything to do with you serving with you humbling yourself and leading the team diving into into the problems, taking the bullets, protecting, guiding, coaching, correcting.

It's a conviction. You must understand that. There's too much heat that goes with leadership. There's too much conflict and criticism that goes with leadership. Unless you are doing it as an act of service service you'll quit or you'll acquiesce and you just fall in and you go well i just got it i'm worried about the way this looks rather than doing the right thing that's exactly what's the what's the right thing yeah you got to do the right thing and you know you're the only one with all the details you got to do the right

thing yeah uh not what some little piss ant says off to the side somewhere yeah you're called to the responsibility of the being the the people in that room have the information and you got you got to make the decision then and knowing that when you make it that you're going to piss people off yeah and and making the right the the principled call instead of the call that makes people happy and looks the way it should look one of my favorite images of leadership uh is from the movie we were soldiers with mel gibson he says i'm the first one off the helicopter and i'm the last one on and that's a beautiful picture of what leadership is yeah that's exactly right when the bullets are Yeah, you don't leave the battlefield of the foxhole because you've been shot at.

No, no, no. There's no retreat. I've got men that are relying on my leadership in this moment. You know, that's leadership. You better have a conviction for it. You better care about the mission. You better care about the people. Or you will not make it.

You will not. If I remember, that was a true battle. It was represented in that movie. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it really happened. Yeah, Vietnam, absolutely. Well, I know Vietnam happened, but I'm just saying that particular storyline was based on a true story, if I remember right. Yeah, yeah.

But the military brings that out, too. Some of the most honorable servant leaders I've ever met in my life are our senior military officers there's a nobility on a military officer that that's a good one some of them are jerks and some of them are self-centered just like any group of leaders sometimes you run into a twerp but that i mean when i when we're on these major installations these major bases and we're speaking to the military teams uh and helping their people and you walk in and you're meeting a two-star or a colonel or whatever the senior officer is in that setting, you almost always meet someone that there's a sense of calm, deliberate, noble leadership.

And it's a sense of responsibility, not a sense of oh i got the big time that's it you just nailed it and i i'm not trying to be cheesy here it just came to me it's about the mission not recognition oh leadership but that's good well i know you i know you don't like it when i rhyme but i can't help it sometimes i never made it as a rapper that's what it is but But really, that's it. Like you said, Dave, it's about the mission. And all those military leaders, they're always about the mission. It's not about their personal gain.

It's not about their authority, their ego. And so, you know, again, it's a great quote from Simon there because it's like, look, you've got to be inspired by the people that you're leading by what they're doing the results they're trying to drive only then can you actually inspire them yeah his second book simon's second book was leaders eat last yeah great military context throughout the entire title yeah great title on that too so yeah real leaders eat last or any leaders i think i'm gonna watch we were soldiers tonight i might it's been a long time since i've seen it just popped into my head such a great movie there you go yeah all right we're gonna go with elise in detroit michigan is up next hi elise how are you hi dave and ken how are you guys better than we deserve what's up um so i have a question it's probably multifaceted but long story short my spouse and I are debt-free

we've got six months of emergency fund savings and we have a pretty good amount saved for a house and we're saving towards retirement great I yep so we, I'm in the military, so I appreciated everything that you were just saying. You agree with me? I'm in the military. Yes, I agree, and I appreciated everything that you were just talking about. You're senior officers, or if you're a senior officer, you run into some really high-class people there? Yes. Good.

Yes. Cool. Thank you for your service, by the way. Yes. So what's your question? Thank you for your service, by the way. Yes. So what's your question? Thank you. The question is, so I'm actually going to be getting out either next summer or the summer after. And once my income is gone, we probably won't be able to be saving any money just on my spouse's income because I'd like to be a stay-at-home. So the question is, we're unsure if we should purchase a house now

with what we do have towards an income for a house, or if we should wait until later or have me try to stay in longer for four years in order to save up more for a house since we won't have any wiggle room. You're not planning on working for the military? We have a son who is about eight months old, and we would really like for me to be able to stay at home with him. Okay, but can you buy a home? Okay, if you're staying home with him,

can you guys afford a home on your husband's income? Well, we would be able to have a lot to put down toward the house and we'd be able to pay off the mortgage, but we wouldn't be able to have any wiggle room of money. So we're unsure if that's a wise thing to do or not. A wiggle room. If you pay off the house, why do you not have wiggle room? What's your husband make? So his current income after tax is $36,000.

What's he do? He works in supply chain. Okay. All right. How old are you guys? We are 23. Okay. No rush to buy a house. I would say during the time that you're planning on offloading your military career, let's work on his career. And let's say, what has to be true five years from today for him to be making $75,000 instead of $36,000? Right.

What's he going to be doing with his life that makes a whole lot more money than he makes now? There's no shame in making $36, making 36 especially if you're 23 years old but uh but i don't want him to be 32 and making 36 and still wondering why you can't afford a house so the point of that is is that as his income trajectory changes due to we're really focusing on his career path using some of ken coleman's materials, then that changes the answer on the house. So you don't have to be in a big hurry on the house, but we just are going to do it the right way.

And you can be able to stay home with the baby, let's get his career going, and then let's get a house in the right order. But if you project $36,000 out for 10 years, then your question, the way you framed your question makes sense, but that's not the right way to do it. Yeah. So, good question. Thank you for joining us.

Ken, thanks for hanging out today. Thanks, Dave. Always fun. Ken Coleman, The Ken Coleman Show, everywhere great radio shows are heard. Yes. James Childs is our producer. Kelly Daniel is our associate producer and phone screener. I am Dave Ramsey, your host.

We'll 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. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.