The Ramsey Show - App - How Do I Use a Mileage Reimbursement? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 6, 2020

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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 debt is gone, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for being here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Andy starts off this hour in Louisville, Kentucky. Hi, Andy.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Hey, two quick questions regarding our home-based small business. My wife owns it, operates it. We bring home about $30,000 of take-home profit, but we don't pull a salary from that. We just leave it in there, take something occasionally when we want

it. Do we need to actually take a salary or a wage for my wife out of that for tax purposes or any other reason? There's no tax benefit whatsoever your taxes are on the income regardless of if you pull it out as a salary or if you don't and you're going to pay and you're paying 15.3 on fico the self-employment tax either way pay both sides of fica and so and then your income tax calculation is exactly the same there's no benefit to having a salary except that you can just stabilize your income to the extent that the cash flow is stable enough to do it. Okay, but if the cash flow and or the income is not needed,

might as well leave it in there to help grow the business? Well, now, if you don't pull it by year-end, you get taxed on it whether you pull it or not. Oh, okay. That part's true if you it's a so it's a if it's an llc a sub s or a sole proprietorship if you do not pay you pay taxes on your profits whether you pull it out of the business or not and so you you know you can't you but sometime during the year you need to take your profits out or if you want to leave them in there, just plan on paying taxes on them. Gotcha.

So if you leave $10,000 in there and you're in a 25% tax bracket, you're going to get hit for $2,500 on that, even though you didn't take it home. So if we were to pull it, though, we'd still be paying the tax on that, correct? Yeah, whether you pull it or whether you don't pull it,'s taxable income in a calendar year yeah exactly so it's whether we need it for something or leave it in there yeah it doesn't matter so what i what i have done for instance in our business we have a an llc okay and what i've done for many years we keep a percentage of our profits here in the business but we reduce them by the taxes on that amount. So if I leave $10,000 in here, I pay $2,500 of my personal income tax out of that,

so I don't end up but with $7,500 in business savings net of taxes. Gotcha. But I do leave some money here as retained earnings, actually a lot of money, because we're running a big business so we we leave a ton of money down here but we pay you know we know we've got to pay the taxes on it either way uh the good news is that is after tax savings sitting in my retained earnings so anytime i use any of it to buy something for business it lowers my taxes for that year yes so the coming year that you're doing it.

So if you used it to invest in the business, buying, you know, equipment or inventory or something like that, then, you know, you're going to get some benefit from it later. But you can't just leave it sitting there without having to pay taxes on it. So you can either take it as a salary, you can take it as a draw, you can take it once a year, twice a year, 15 times a year, whatever you want to do. But whatever's left in the business at the end of the year and whatever you've drawn out is all taxable income. Melinda is in Syracuse, New York. Hi, Melinda. How are you? Hi, Dave. I am good. I just had a quick question. I found out that I am a document hoarder, and I'm trying to clear what I keep. I did find the paperwork online that you have on your website,

but some of them I was confused about. I didn't know what to do with documents for student loans or past rental contract or an old mortgage because i sold i sold a place that i had how long ago was the mortgage um three years ago okay i mean i keep stuff that's big items like that about five years um i would want to keep it at least that long something that's a big deal anything that was ever a settled debt or a disputed debt i keep that one forever because that can come back to haunt you later and you're going to have to have the written proof so i keep the hard paper on all that stuff anything like that um and so but you know a lot of people back in the day, we used to get in the mailbox, we would get all our checks and a checking account statement before everything was done online.

And I've met people that have their every one of their checking account statements and all their canceled checks for 20 years in their attic. And, you know, that starts to get up, you know, starts to get to be a problem. Yeah, it gets really big. Yeah, so, you know, you just clean all that problem yeah it gets really big yeah so you know you just clean all that out but anything that feels like it's big i mean keeping a copy of your old paid off mortgage from three years ago is not a big item it's you know it should be a two-page piece of paper well i used to keep all my um utility bills for like the last 10 years yeah that's useless

yep i i found that out from your page yeah yeah so you know you're you're right you know you just got to transform form to a paper a paperless or close to paperless existence is a good idea uh just in terms of you got more access to it than rummaging through the attic trying to find it um but you can go back on utility bills again online in almost every uh municipality now and and the only reason you don't need to know your old utility bills somebody buying your house you can prove to them what the electric bill's been or what the water bill's been in this area and you can we used to print them off and lay them out on the counter when we were when i was a realtor 100

years ago and just so you could look okay here's the last 12 gas bills, electric bills, and water bills, and they're laying there so they know what they're going to be. But you can just print that off as a printout now from online if you wanted to. And, again, you don't have to keep that kind of stuff. So, hey, good question. Interesting discussion. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Allison is on Facebook.

What do you think about life insurance policies with long-term care riders? $100,000 down and return premium-type plans and or other type plans to supplement long-term care health costs if needed. Absolute ripoff. Anytime life insurance tries to bundle with anything else, you're getting screwed. You can just count on it. It doesn't work out. And return a premium is a joke okay you get your premiums back if you don't die get your premiums back if you don't go to the uh and they charge you more for this feature by the way with what they charge you more you could put that amount in and you get your own premiums back if you put that amount in an

investment the upcharge for the return of premium feature so never do return a premium never do long-term care combined with whole life life insurance these guys will find more ways to sell this crappy whole life than any other product i've ever seen they're unbelievable so the deal is pretty simply this buy your term life insurance and separately buy your long-term care insurance. The only thing I ever suggest you bundle, and the only thing that ever works mathematically to bundle, is car and homeowners, property and casualty insurance it's called. And sometimes if you get your car and homeowners from the same place or renter's insurance from the same place, you get a better deal bundling those.

Sometimes, not always. but check with one of our property and casualty elps our endorsed local providers to get a fresh quote on your car and homeowner's insurance and you'll see what i'm talking about also by the way when you go through a broker like that you'll see you save serious money so you ought to go get a free quote right now this is the dave ramsey show This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM,

helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs. Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accredited organization, CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years. And our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills.

To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Thanks for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Josh is with us in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hey, Josh, how are you? I'm doing well, Dave. How about you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, God is great, and God has great timing. I actually listened to your show after I was pre-approved for a mortgage, and me and my wife both realized once I started listening to your show that we are not prepared for this next life venture into moving into a house. So the timing was great. I can't ask for any better timing. My question that I have for you today is right now we're working on Baby Step 1.

That should be done in the next two weeks or so. In Baby Step 2, we have about $26,000 of debt we're trying to pay off on a take-home income of about $50,000. So we're renting right now. We're looking into moving to a house, but we do have a newcomer to our family. She is about four months old. Yay. And we need a little more space. So right now I'm trying to sell my truck.

I currently drive a company truck, so the transportation issue is not an issue. But my wife's car is really too small for us to move around in. So my question is, should I save up first to buy a car and then work on the house, or should I do the house first and then the car? Buy a house? Okay. Is that what you're saying then the car. Buy a house? Okay. Is that what you're saying? You want to buy a house?

I'm in between buying a house or buying a car, and I know it's going to set me back just a little bit longer. By the time we're ready to buy a house. Okay, so you understand. Let's back up. You understand that we tell you to get out of debt and have your emergency fund before you buy a home, right? Yes, sir. Okay, so you've got $26,000 in debt to and have your emergency fund before you buy a home, right? Yes, sir.

Okay, so you've got $26,000 in debt to clear and an emergency fund to build, but your wife's car is too small. Is it a two-seater or something? It's a four-seater, but with the car seat facing backwards, really she has to sit in the back seat and she can't sit in the passenger seat with me. Yeah, the car seat won't fit facing backwards in the car? It will fit. It's just as tight, you know what I mean?

Oh, well. What's your wife's car worth? Right around $5,000. Okay, and you're selling your truck, you said. Yes, sir. But it has a bunch of debt on it right no sir it's paid for oh what is it worth uh roughly 11 000 okay so what if you bought your wife an eleven thousand dollar car and you drive your wife's car could do that i just said i'm trying to get the debt paid off

as quickly as i can okay why don't you buy your wife a $5,000 car and you drive your wife's car? I don't mind driving her car at all. I'm just talking her into the $5,000 car. It's a big issue. Well, it just depends on how fast you want to house and how fast you want to get out of that or whether you want to go out there and be normal. Right.

Okay. I'm tired of doing that. I've been doing that all my life. Yeah, you are, but she's not. Right. So we've got tired of doing that. I've been doing that all my life. Yeah, you are, but she's not. Right. So we've got to decide when she is. Because if she's tired of being normal, then she's going to be saying, we're going to drive whatever so we can get out of debt.

So we can buy a house with no debt and a house down payment and an emergency fund in place. So I'm not suggesting you drive a $5,000 car the rest of your life. I'm suggesting you do that until you get your emergency fund in place and you're debt-free and you are able to get your home purchased. I'd rather own a nice house than I would a stupid car. Exactly. And I'd rather have it that way than have the house own me. So, again, you guys can do whatever you want.

You're adults. But if you're asking me what I would do, I would use the proceeds from your truck. You were going to buy yourself another car. Just take hers and get something that's got a bigger backseat in it that she likes for $5,000 that she's going to drive until you finish getting out of debt and throw the other $6,000 at the debt. Now we've got $20,000 in debt, so you've got to be debt-free in 18 to 24 months and start saving your down payment.

So you're two and a half to three years from buying a house. Okay. All right. Cool. That's kind of the track I was going with in the assessment of life, but I just wanted to kind of hear from you if that makes sense. Yep. That's exactly what I would do.

Hey, thanks for the call, man. I appreciate you joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Christy is in Asheville, North Carolina. Hi, Christy. How are you? Hey, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm currently a home health nurse, and I use my own car for transportation to and from patients' houses, and we get mileage reimbursement. And I just was curious about how I needed to use that mileage reimbursement. It's just part of your income.

Okay. And part of your expenses are you've got some extra expenses on this car due to you using it, called gas and tires and brakes more often, repairs more often, right? Correct. But that's just part of your budget. And then part of your income is this mileage reimbursement, which means in your budget it's going to filter down through there and cause more to hit the bottom of the budget,

which you apply to your baby steps, wherever you are on your baby steps, and that's the route that you go on that. So, hey, good question. Thanks for joining us. Folks, if you're stressed out, overwhelmed with money, you don't have to feel that way. You don't have to keep living paycheck to paycheck.

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you know get started right now or you can call customer care They can sign you up for it. 888-22-PIECE, 888-227-3223. Nick's in Houston. Hi, Nick. How are you? I'm doing well. How about yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up?

Hey, my wife and I, we got heavy on the cards. We got about 53 on credit cards. A thousand? A thousand. Okay. And been paying them down. We'd use your, I don't know if it's called waterfall, trickle down, or whatever. That's snowball.

Snowball, yeah. Been using that. We got two or three of them paid off. But it's not going very fast at all it doesn't seem like what's your household income household income is about 120 a year and so how much debt have you paid off uh about 15 how long did that take uh four to five years that sucks sucks. Yeah. You're not very good at this, are you? Well, that's what I'm thinking. I was looking at talking to some of the debt consolidators.

You don't need a debt consolidator. You need a budget and quit spending all your dadgum money. You make a lot of money, and you have no idea where it's going. We changed the last two years for Christmas instead of... No, you didn't. You make $120,000 a year and you paid off $15,000 of debt in five years. You spend all your money. So what you need to do is get on a written budget and put $2,000 a month on this debt and it'll be gone in two years. That's what you've got to do. You've got to quit spending all your money. You can stay out of restaurants and quit going on vacation.

Quit buying all this crap you've been buying. Time to get serious. You don't need debt consolidation. You need to fix the guy in your mirror. If you do this one simple thing that we all do, you are literally at risk of being hacked and someone stealing what you've worked so hard for. Do you ever use public Wi-Fi? I'm talking about getting online at a coffee shop, a store, the airport, or even at home. Hackers can use a simple $100

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How are you? Hey. Good. Welcome. Where are you guys from? Greenville, South Carolina. And all the way to Nashville to do your debt-free screen. Yes, sir.

Well, welcome. Good to have you. And who's the youngsters you have with you? This is Jonas and Ivy. And how old are they? 11 and 9. All right. Very cool. Good to have you guys. How much debt have you paid off? Paid off $170,000. Wow. How long did that take? That

took 11 years. 11 years. All right. And your range of income during that time? For eight of the years, our average income was $43,000 a year. The last couple years, we've been able to get that up to $110,000 to $115,000. Well, that's a big jump. Okay, wow. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a police officer. I work in business development. We do prospecting automation work for other companies. Very cool. Very cool. So I'm guessing maybe you went back to work is how that income doubled i sure did okay all right because i'm thinking how in the world your income double like that so 11 years 170 000 i'm also going to guess and say that was your house that is the house i'm looking at weird people yes no mortgage no debt of any kind no whatsoever just like that wow and basically on a police officer's salary yes

is how you did this wow congratulations thank you what how's it feel not even have a house payment crazy it's a good feeling i bet what's the house worth it's worth about 170 000 wow neat very neat 11 years well Well done, you guys. How old are you two? I'm 41. I'm 40. How long have you been married? 17 years.

Have you ever been debt-free while you were married before today? No. Wow. I love it. You know what's running through my mind right now? We just finished this huge millionaire survey. We've surveyed 10,000 millionaires. The average person that becomes a millionaire, you know how quickly they pay off their home?

11 years. Oh. That's the typical time is 11 years. Yeah. I've heard those stats on your show before. You are on track. You are tracking it. Well done, you guys.

So tell me the story. What happened 11 years ago that put you on this journey well uh back in 2006 um we had 170 000 worth of debt and april that year she uh sarah lost her job and uh so our income basically got cut in half and so so we had to come up with a plan because that wasn't going to work for us. So I came up with the budget and figured out how to make it work and went to work in a lot of overtime. I bet. We were expecting Jonas at the time. And so we had to figure out something to change our family tree for the future.

So she loses her job, but perfect timing, stay home with the baby, right? Yes. Yes. I was the breadwinner. I made a little bit more than he did back then. We wanted to stay home with the kids. It just happened five, six months premature because of the job loss and the company bought us out. So he turned 30 in June of that year and his sister bought him the total money makeover book for his birthday. We knew about you. We weren't avid listeners necessarily.

We also knew that we were already headed on a path of wanting to be debt-free and knowing if I'm going to stay home, you know, we have to buckle down. And so we started the journey, and we stayed consistent, persistent. You're patient. But it was a long 11 years. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. We never deviated from it. Not one time. Well done, you guys. Well done. What do you tell people the key to being out of debt? House and everything by the time you're 40 years. The key, I think, is the budget and communicating and talking. Every month we go over it and look at what next month is going to

be and and are patient if there's something we want we just have to be patient and save up for it communication is so key and he talked a lot about it I was the one who did all the spending as the stay-at-home mom. I did the grocery shopping. I did all of the purchasing of things that we needed. And so it was my responsibility to stay within the budget we set and to communicate with him about receipts. I mean, there was a time we did Excel, entering some receipts and things like that. Every night we would go through it.

And then, of course, now. So he's like Mr discipline this man is either all in or all out there is no in between yeah um in everything in life and he's so disciplined and has led our family so well um did you ever run the car in the ditch while mr discipline was watching during this 11 years? You had to do it once. I don't think I did. You did that. I'm the one that would probably tear up the car before she would. No, I meant metaphorically.

Did you ever go spend something that wasn't on the budget and blow up everything? Not really. He has a super-duper love for technology. So for somebody who loves to dabble and he's very technically minded, all of the technology that comes in, you know, he would love to do and be part of that. And we we have done some things, you know, fun stuff. We've recently automated our home, but we're not free now. So, yeah, you can do that. Well done, you guys.

Very well done. So are the children scarred permanently? Will they have to be in counseling over this? I don't think so, but they were born into it, and they have been told no so much in their lives. I got told no. Did you? Yes. Oh, yeah.

Yes. I mean, I think that's kind of part of growing up. Yes, and wait. Oh, yeah. Yes. I mean, I think that's kind of part of growing up. Yes. And wait. No and wait. And so we've been excited to just recently be able to say yes. Yeah. What's something big other than the home technology that you're going to do?

We're going to eventually take a trip to Disney World. There you go. Ding, ding. There you go. That's always, they've always been told once we get to this point, we're going to do Disney and we're going to do it big. Yeah. Maybe an all-inclusive resort or something like that. Yeah, very good.

Where money, you know, isn't going to be. Well, you got the money. Right. You make $110,000, you don't have a payment in the world. Right. I mean, you can do whatever. You live like no one else now. You can live and give like no one else.

I'm proud of y'all. Well done. Thank you. Well done. Did anybody cheer you on or everybody say you were crazy? We had a few people that cheered us on. People that were encouraging.

But we had a lot of people who I'm sure thought we were nutso. Maybe they didn't say it. But, you know, we could tell that there was... Turn their back before they rolled their eyes.

Yes, yes. I love it. Well, way to go, you guys. We got a copy of chris hogan's number one best-selling book for you retire inspired i want you to be millionaires that's the next chapter in your story okay you can do this proud of you very well done all right have the kiddos been practicing their debt-free screen yeah for 11 years since they were born all right joe and sarah jonas and Ivy, Greenville, South Carolina.

They paid off their home and everything. It's a $170,000 mortgage paid in 11 years, making $43,000, and then just in the last few years got it to $110,000. All right. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! We're debt-free! I love it. scream three two one we're dead free

man that's how it happens right there gosh that's amazing beautifully done you guys beautifully done can you imagine being 41 years old and having your house paid for? You know, when they started, they could imagine it, but they didn't imagine it. You don't know what it's like until you don't have a payment. When you burn the mortgage and you walk through the backyard with no shoes on, the grass feels different under your feet, baby. I promise you, the borrower is slave to the lender. It changes things when you don't have a single payment in the whole world.

When you don't ever think about some idiot bank taking your house. Shoot. Where your kids live. Changes everything, man. Changes everything. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Richmond, Virginia is calling. Heavenly is on the line. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Heavenly.

Hi, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up in your world? Well, my husband and I, we had our child last year. I was working a corporate job, and I left the job to stay at home full-time with my son as well as pursue my business that I have full-time.

And we realized this year that the income that I had working, you know, full-time, I'm not bringing it back yet, working from home and staying at home with my son full-time and was wondering, you know, should I go back to work? We're trying to pay off our last debt, which is the student loan. It's only $7,000. We've paid over $50,000 so far in the past three years, but we have one debt we want to pay off. What does your husband make? He's $38,000 to $40,000. Are you living on that? Yes.

Okay. So you can make it on that. Mm-hmm. All right. And what did you used make it on that? Mm-hmm. All right. And what did you used to make? $35. Okay. And what do you make now at your business?

Around $15. Okay. What kind of business? Virtual assistant. Okay. Good. Good. Okay.

All right. So you're kind of freelancing in that sense? Yes. Okay. All right. So you're kind of freelancing in that sense? Yes. Okay. And we want to definitely try to get extra income. I definitely want to continue working from home with my son, but also we want to finish off all the baby steps and, you know, live freely. Oh, I want you to, too, but I think you want to stay home with your son.

Yes. And I would. It just means that some of the other stuff is going to go more slowly, and you're trading that for time with your son. That's a good trade. Mm-hmm. Okay. But so, like, how should we pay off this last debt?

Yeah, you work your debt snowball. You work your baby steps, just like before. But you just have $20,000 less income right now to deal with to be able to do it. So it's slowed everything down. Mm-hmm. And so you're just moving more slowly than you were moving before right yeah because you used to make 35 now you make 15 and that's the difference in the math for you but that's the trade-off the speed at which you accomplish the

baby steps and build wealth and so on is the trade-off for you being able to be there with him right now and i think that's a good trade personally if that's what you want to do if you want to be a a career mom and be in the workplace then go do that but i didn't hear that i heard i do i have to go back to work to hit these financial goals but i don't really want to that's what i heard did i hear you wrong no no yeah you heard it hurt you heard right we just want to make make sure that we can finish paying off our debt. I think you can. I think you can. It's just going to go more slowly.

Okay. I mean, can people pay off $7,000 in debt that make a household income of $53,000? Yes, they can. They do it all the time. And that's what your household income is. Now, what I do want you to do that I think we can work on, let's see if we can do some things with this business or even another business idea while being at home without ruining the time at home to grow another business.

So I'm going to send you a copy of Christy Wright's book, Business Boutique, Equipping Women to Make Money Doing What They Love. And I want you to jump on the business boutique website and start learning from that community and from christy on how to accentuate and start and run a business and make it even better make it even more profitable i mean that would be that it'd be wonderful i mean what how cool would it be if you start making like 70 000 from your business or something? Maybe it's not a virtual assistant business. I don't know.

But, I mean, while you're at home with your kid, people do stuff like that. Things like that happen, but you just kind of have to think about it and focus on it. But the natural tendency to just go back to work to that $35,000 job, I wouldn't if I were in your shoes. We took a pay cut when our first one was born because Sharon came home. And that's what she wanted to do. She did not want to work with the kids. And if you want to, I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm not saying you're a bad mom or anything like that.

Either way, it's what do you want to do? Love your life not theirs, Rachel Cruz says, right's what do you want to do love your life not there as rachel cruz says right what do you want to do and sharon wanted to come home and she's been a full time mom ever since you know 30 something years now right all right jose is with us in los angeles hey jose how are you dear dave how are you doing better than i deserve how can i help that's awesome thank you for taking my call. Sure. Long time listener, first time caller.

I'm a little nervous. I'm 47 years old, and this will be my first time getting life insurance for me and my wife. And what I'm getting quoted by an advisor is a term of $300,000 for 30 years at like $84 a month, and for my wife at $250,000 for also 30 years around $30 a month, which averages out to around $114 per month times $1,200 is like $1,400 a year. But I'm just saying, is that enough for me? I don't know. I don't know if 30 years is enough.

I don't think you need 30 years. You're 47 years old. Why do you need 30 years of insurance? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's why I called you. Yeah, we recommend 15- to 20-year level term, depending on the situation somewhere in there. Do you have children? Yes, I have a 20-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old daughter.

Okay. Well, in 15 years, they'll both be gone, right? Yes. Okay. And in 15 years, you should have your house paid off and be 100% debt-free. That's the stuff we teach here. The only debt I have is my home and I plan to pay that off

by around $58,000. So I plan to pay that off in like four years, three years. Okay, so 15 years from now you're 100% debt free and the kids are grown and gone. Okay, 15 years from now

you should have been investing if you're listening to me, putting at least 15, if not more, percent of your income into retirement. And so 15 years from now you now, what's your household income? $75,000 a year.

Okay. So 15 years from now, you should probably have, say, $700,000 or $800,000. So if you have $700,000 or $800,000 in your 401K and your IRAs and mutual funds, and the kids are grown and gone and you have no debt and you die, can she not make it? I think she can. I think she can make it. You become self-insured by building wealth and getting rid of debt.

That's kind of what I was thinking. And I do invest 15% of my income, and I do have probably accounts worth around $8,000, $750,000 as I speak right now. Oh, you're already there. All right, good for you. So you don't need 15 years of insurance. You may only need 10. Yeah, that's why I called you.

That's why I wanted to see what you thought. You're going to become self-insured. Your need for insurance is not perpetual. Okay. Because the point is to make sure your wife is okay if you die or if she dies you're okay and the kids are fed and the house and everything's taken care of right well dude you're just about there now yeah and i was quoted as preferred plus both are nice yeah but well to get a 10-year and you can shop it against this guy Zander. Go to zanderinsurance.com and shop it on their site.

Their site will help you in about 10 seconds shop among a gazillion different companies and get you the best possible deal anywhere. And I think it will probably beef and beat the stuff you're talking about. But you probably do only need a 10-year policy. And I would get about 10 times your income on you and about 10 times her income on her. And for 10 years, you got this. You're fine. You're going to be self-insured.

Don't overbuy on insurance. Insurance is there to cover things you can't cover. That's the only thing you buy insurance for, things you can't afford to cover. You can't afford to cover your house if it burns down you can't afford to take that risk so you buy homeowner's insurance you can afford to replace your television so you don't buy insurance on your television called an extended warranty you can afford to replace all these little gimmick insurance things right so you self-insure through that stuff and save the money. Even on something big like life insurance, eventually you can get there.

And that's what we're teaching. Get out of debt, get the kids grown and gone, and build a big pile of money. And your need for insurance goes away. Well done, sir. Very well done. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.