The Ramsey Show - App - How Much Should I Invest Into My Side Hustle? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: August 21, 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 dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. My co-host on the air today, Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author. We are here to help you with your life and your money. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Christopher is with us in Texas.

Hey, Christopher, how are you? Blessed and highly favored. Thank you, Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Hogan. It's an honor to speak with y'all. Sure. What's up? Let's talk about my life really quick. How about that?

Okay. My wife and I, we've come to the conclusion that we're in a position, we're trying to, we're at the IVF treatment to have a child. We've been trying for many years and many miscarriages. So I'm kind of in a position where the best person to call is Mr. Ramsey. So I'm trying to see where I'm at. Wow, that's a tough time for you. I'm sorry.

So have you gone through the different pricing models and learned all the different things yet? Yes, sir. All the stages is going to be adding up to about $80,000. No, it's not. For the Sabatow. No, it's not. There's procedures that should go prior to that. No, it's not $80,000.

Mall park-ish. No, not even close. No. Okay, good. Not even close. So that's what I meant. You've got to go shopping. Right. No. Not even close. No. Okay. Okay, good. Not even close. So that's what I meant. You've got to go shopping. Right.

Okay. Because there's a spectrum from all the way from $80,000 to probably one round for $8,000. Okay. Good deal. And so, you know, because $80,000 for most people would be prohibitive. So what's your household income? Take-home is $95,000 total. Okay. And you have any money? We have about $20,000 saved and about $10,000 in our 401k. Good. Okay. All right.

What other debt do you have, Christopher? We have a home mortgage for $330,000. We have a credit card bill for $20,000, not a loan for $20,000, and a student loan bill for $30,000. How old are you? Just turned 30. Okay. Hmm. All right. Well, here's what I would do if I woke up in your shoes, and that's the only way I know how to answer questions, okay? Perfect.

You're going to have to find some different pricing models than $80,000 because that's not within your range. Okay. You have $20,000, but you have $20,000 and $30,000 and $40,000 of debt, right? Yes, sir. What was it, was it 20 000 on credit card 20 000 on the car loan then 30 000 in student loan okay yes sir and so you're you're 50 grand from being out of debt if we use your 20 towards debt um if we ignored that and said okay we've got 20 000 what kind of ivf program can we get in for that? And you can do a lot for that, but it sounds like you're going to be using a different doctor than the one you shopped with initially.

Okay. It sounds kind of crass to say I'm going to shop around on something like this, but it's just like an adoption. You need to learn what the different methodologies are. Otherwise, you'll pay 3X what is required for you to do an adoption okay and so you just you know you need to learn what the different methodologies are and it's a very important thing that you're asking when someone asks me how do we save up for an adoption or how do we save up for ivf it's just because the most glorious thing in my life other than my walk with Jesus, has been having kids. Yes.

And so I empathize and sympathize with you. There's not anything you can call me about that I could tell you that would be more important that you could spend money on. So I'm right there with you, but I don't want you, A, I'm not going to tell you to go into debt to do it. Number two, I'm going to tell you to shop and get a best price. Let's allocate that $20,000 to that, and then let's lean in really, really hard with your budget and start cleaning up this other debt with your income. Yeah, because Christopher, if you guys were to have a baby, does your wife want to be at home with the baby, or is she going to work? Home for sure for a couple months and then go back to work. Go back to work. Okay.

All right. Well, like Dave said, shop around, buddy. I know you're at that point if you've dealt with miscarriages, which are gut-wrenching. You're willing to do whatever to try to solve it. And I'm going to tell you something. Having a baby is a blessing. But the pain of those other miscarriages, that's still real. And you guys may need to go talk to a counselor or a therapist about it.

But don't go blindly into the night trying to do whatever just to fix it because I've unfortunately talked to friends that have gone through rounds of IVF that did not work. And so you need to prepare your mind as well as your heart. And you guys working together. And you pay cash because you don't want to pay payments on some of them work. That doubles the regret and the grief, and you just don't want to do that. So it's a highly emotional thing, and the only way to work through it and to keep from making a mistake because it's highly emotional

is just to take lots of time, learn, talk to five different doctors, five different payment methodologies and and there are ones where if you pay a certain amount they'll keep going until you until you get a pregnancy there are others that are just every time you try once it's so much and so it's like group you know bulk discounts and that kind of thing it's all in there and i've i've seen i don't know 25 different plans over the years that people brought in to me as a financial coach and said, how can we do this? And that's why I actually do know the pricing.

It's not from personal experience. It's just from watching all of this. So we're right there with you. We want you to take your existing income while you're doing all this stuff. Take that $20K that you got cash and set that aside for this and for emergencies or whatever, and then let's just tear into this or take $19,000 or whatever and leave $1,000 and then start working your baby steps. Pretend like that other money wasn't there.

Work your way through these credit cards and work your way through. You might want to sell that stupid car. Dave, you know what's funny? You mentioned that. A couple that I coached did a payment plan through the doctor, and it didn't work to the tune of almost $20,000. And this was years ago. And she broke down crying saying every time that payment came in, it was a reminder of what didn't happen.

And so I'm with you. Do not finance this in any way. Sell what you have to. Take on second job if you have to but just pay cash yeah yeah you just don't want it you don't want to have that no hey man we're right there with you though good good luck with this i hope it all works out open phones at 888-825-5225 you know anything that's highly emotional, and so many of the big events in our lives,

when we're talking about personal finance, are highly emotional. A business, buying a home, having kids, adoption, IVF. Even in the conclusion of life where you're buying a funeral, when you're in a highly emotional state, you can overspend. So, listen, one of the things a lot of people have a lot of questions about is a will as an example. What kind of power of attorney do you need? Do you have everything laid out in terms of your final instructions? Hey, you want to take a quiz on how to get your estate in order text the word quiz to 33 789 it's free and uh quiz to 33 789 One of the questions I get all the time is,

which life insurance company should I use for my term life policy? A valid question since there are hundreds of companies out there with rates all over the place and riders and add-ons that are simply a waste of money. You need to get this done and make the right decision. That's why the only company I use and have recommended for over 20 years is Zander Insurance. Zander is a broker who shops the top term life companies for you and finds the best rates available from the only plans I recommend. They also save you time. Whether you want to work online, over the phone, or via text,

their team will cater to your needs and help you make the right decision. This is an absolute necessity, and Zander has made the process easy and convenient. Call them at 800-356-4282 or visit zander.com for instant online quotes. Thank you for joining us, America. Matt is with us in Palm Beach. Hi, Matt. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave. I'm a relatively new listener.

I've been listening to you for about six months. I found you on my podcast. Cool. Thanks for listening. I appreciate everything you do for us. Thanks. I have a question for you. I'm self-employed.

I make a very good living. My 401K, I've been contributing a ton of money to between myself and my wife. I've got a rental property that I owe about, about $40,000 on. I have a, uh, home equity line of credit on that. So I'm paying, it'll be paid off in a year.

Great. My, my, my mortgage is about $250,000 and I've got about 10 years left on that. So I was thinking of stopping my 401k contributions for the next couple of years, pay off my main house, but then my tax implications would be, you know, a ton of money. Not really. you know a ton of money not really between well between the my ira my 401ks um we contribute to the last two years eighty four thousand dollars a year you're not doing ross

no i'm doing it for the i'm 54 okay you probably ought to be doing ross anyway uh but this is for the tap the tax implications are not worth what you're losing on the back end because the Roth grows tax-free, and none of this is growing tax-free. It's all going to be taxed on the back end. And it sounds like you've got a couple million in there already, do you? No, I've only got $800,000. Oh, is that all? Okay. Well done. Good job, sir. You're a millionaire. I love it. At $54,000. Oh, is that all? Okay. Well done. Good job, sir.

You're a millionaire. I love it. At 54. Good job. Yes. So what I would tell you to do is you're not going to be touching this money maybe ever, you know, in depth. You're not really going to go into it. And so from age 54 to age 84, that money growing tax-free versus the tax deferral, not never pay the taxes, but the tax deferral on the $84,000 that you're putting in

now, I think just the, forget the house for a second, just the discussion of whether you do a Roth or a regular, because you're not going to be accessing that money anytime soon, the tax-free growth is mathematically going to kick the tax deferral on the small amount. Does that make any sense? Okay, let me try it this way. $84,000, let's just say $84,000 a year going in for 20 years, okay? So that's $1.6 million that you put in. That would have grown, though, over that 20 years to probably close to $10 million.

Because usually when you've got an account that's 20 years old or older, typically 95% to 97% of what is in the account is growth, not what you have put in. When you look at your contribution to get to the $800 versus how much of it is growth, you'll see what I'm talking about. Okay? Yeah. So the fact that, let's say, out of that $800, as an example, $700 you didn't put in, and you've got to pay taxes on it.

If it was a Roth, there'd be no taxes on 700. Yeah, I understand that. I just hate coming up with an extra 20 grand in taxes. Yeah, well, do that or come up with an extra 200 grand in taxes later. That's the problem. Yeah. And, Matt, let me ask you this. What's your household income right now?

It's over 300.,000. Okay. You're slaying it. Yeah. And so, I mean, the aspect of you attacking and paying off the house, you can do both. Yeah. Yeah, you can do both. It's not an easy thing. I mean, that's what I've been trying to do now, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I would do 15% of your income going into retirement, which is probably about what you're doing, actually. Pretty close. And then just let's knock that house out. And I think you're going to knock it out probably in about five years, not ten. And you're doing so good. You can't really mess this up. All we're trying to do is just maximize it.

That's right. And so if I were in your shoes, I'm 59, what I would do is I know you're not going to touch the vast majority of that money. You're not going to need it. You can live off the income of some of it without ever actually accessing what has become the principal, the original amount you put in plus the growth. And if that is sitting there tax-free, it's great for the next generation, or it's great for you if you want to access it.

You've got enough taxable already at $800. If I woke up in your shoes, sit down with one of our smart investor pros and run the math with them, they'll show you, I would go 100% Roth. Absolutely. And, Dave, I don't think people understand. When you utilize a 401K or 403B and it's tax-deferred, that means you pay taxes on this money later when you pull it out and so you don't have that on the roth side and so people are thinking the tax deferral and we're saying no no choose the non-tax option all the way yeah non-tax versus tax that's right that's

right but what it is is he's getting a he's saying and he's correct about this that when he puts in 84 000 in a traditional he's saving 20 000 on this year's tax on this he's correct about this, that when he puts in $84,000 in a traditional, he's saving $20,000 on this year's taxes. On this year's, correct. Yeah, and that would be about right. Right. Okay? But the growth on that is so much more, and that all being tax-free, you're saving $20,000 today, but you're going to lose $200,000 later.

There you go. There you go. That's exactly right. Because you didn't go tax-free. That's exactly right. And so, even though I don't want to give the government anything that I don't have to. That's right. They got enough.

Right. Because, well, they don't have enough because they're so stupid with what they do have. But either way, it's the island of misfit toys up there. It is. So the thing is, if you have a horizon of 10 years or longer before you're going to be accessing the money, Roth versus traditional math almost always works, assuming you're using a good mutual fund with normal growth rates in the market. That's what we're doing.

Will is with us. Will is in Tallahassee. How are you, Will? Good. How are you? It's an honor to be talking to you. You too, man. What's up?

So I just had a question on kind of what's my next steps in kind of my financial plan and building wealth. I'm 19. I'm currently going into my second year of college. I make around $6,000 a year, and that's before because I work on commission too. That's before commission um i don't i have all my school paid for i have a roth ira i didn't know if i should go into like a logo or a low-cost index fund or what what should my next steps be the fact that you can even ask that question makes you a rock star at 19 years years old. You're amazing. Thank you. Did your parents hold you down and have investment parties? All I was asking is what beer is on tap?

Yeah. So it really came from, I guess, kind of my dad came. He didn't really start getting serious about his finances until he was around 40. He was making a lot of money when he was younger, like me, but he was also spending a lot of it too. I don't want to be put in that position. What are you studying, sir? Right now I'm a finance major and I plan to get my MBA

because I'm a year ahead, so I plan to just go on a combined pathway. So I finish my bachelor's in two more years and then get a master's degree. Of course you are. Okay. And then you're coming to work for Ramsey Solutions, right? So, okay. You'll take Chris's place. No, my place, because I'll just step aside and let him have it.

I'll be gone by then. You can train him up. I'll be retired. All right. Chris? No, Will, I love the path you're on, buddy. And the fact that you are using your parents example to be your motivation is outstanding. The fact that you have school paid for, I absolutely love that. I would point you in the same path that we would tell others. The

growth stock mutual funds are going to be the way to go. You doing that at age 19, buddy, you are going to be an everyday millionaire on a faster track than many people ever thought could be possible. The thing I would tell you is not only do you need to play offense in building wealth, you have to play defense. And what that is is avoiding stupid around every corner because it's out there, bud, and just learn to save up and pay cash. You can have nice things. Just slow down and be intentional.

Well, before you do that, I would add one thing. I want you to pile up a big pile of cash in case something goes sideways with one of these scholarships because the best investment you can make in this discussion is called will. And the return on investment of you finishing your degrees 100% debt-free because you had a little extra cash pad, you can pull it out of that no-load mutual fund if you want to. But I want you to get out of school debt-free because you're going places you're doing well way to go man this is the dave ramsey show This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality, is my co-host this hour and today

here on the show. On the debt-free stage in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Jeffrey and Caroline are with us. Hey guys, how are you? Hey. We're wonderful. How are you? Better than I deserve. Welcome. Good to have you. So where do you guys live? Chattanooga, Tennessee. Actually, Ottawa, Tennessee. Just kind of northeast of it. Right where it is. Good to have you guys live? Chattanooga, Tennessee. Actually, Udawah, Tennessee. It's kind of northeast of it. No, right where it is. Good to have you guys. Welcome, welcome. And how much debt have you paid off? So we've paid off $130,000 and $130,450. Good for you. And how long did this take? That took us right at 30 months. Good. Wow. And your range of income during that time? We started about $120,000 and we finished up around $160,000. Good for you.

Cool. What do you guys do for a living? I am a sales engineer. And I am a fifth-grade teacher. Awesome. Very cool. Good for you guys. So tell us, what kind of stuff did you pay off?

Okay, so I got a list here. All right. I started off a little bit with, I was a credit card junkie. I loved my points. I had $36,000 in credit cards. So those points paid off. Yeah, we got a couple of free flights out of it. $36,000 in debt. But then we went on trips that we just paid with credit cards. Oh, of course. Yeah. Wow. So then we also had about $66,000 in student loans. Of course. That was me. Both of us.

But we also had $28,000 in two car notes. Oh, wow. And we can't forget the $1,000 lazy boy. Of course. Yeah, that's lazy. That was needed. That was my birthday gift to him for his 30th. Oh, there you go.

Very nice. You guys were normal. Oh, very. Completely. So how long have you all been married? Seven years. We just celebrated. Okay.

So two and a half years ago, five years and some change into the marriage, something happened. What happened? Well, I'll say it started, I lost a grandmother and I got a very small little inheritance. Maybe it was under $2,000. And I was kind of in control of our finances at that point. And I kind of knew where we were, but Caroline had no clue where we were. And so we were about ready to start making a family. And basically what happened is Caroline was like, well, why don't we take this little bit of money, add some to it, kind of go do another honeymoon, like a babymoon, and celebrate our last big trip without kids.

And so in my embarrassment, I was like, yeah, let's do that. But I knew deep down that was not a good answer. That is not the way to live life. And so we went to Jamaica to an all-inclusive resort and had a blast, but it wasn't the same as our honeymoon because I knew deep down we shouldn't be there. And so we got home, and I started Googling, how do you get out of debt? Like, how do I do this? And that's when Dave Ramsey pops up.

Like, it's everywhere on the Google machine. So I bought your book, Total Money Makeover, read it in probably under two days, and I was just gung-ho on it. And so I cleaned up a little bit of the mess myself, my mess, because I was so ashamed of it. And then a few months into it. Came clean. I came clean to Caroline, and it was so much easier at that point. It was just so much easier. I mean, our marriage has just been, it's blossomed because we now communicate.

And it's just, it's amazing. I read the book in a day and jumped right on board. And I'm super competitive so once i saw how the program worked i was like yeah let's do this gamification works for you you're like get it yes it was amazing yeah get after it i love that well very cool okay so caroline before he quote unquote came clean how much debt did you think you guys had? I knew we had my debt from college, so probably about 60 grand. And then I knew he had put a little bit on the credit card, but I did not know it was so astronomical.

And you did know there was a car payment? Yes, I did. And you didn't know you financed the Lazy Boy? Yes. Guilty as charged. Okay. knew you knew most of it i did the credit card was the credit card balance was the shocker then we um had separate accounts and so i think that was a major problem once we kind of got um financially on board as a team things where there was a lot more clarity there. Well, that makes, you know, that makes trust increase, but also communication.

And it increases the speed by which you do everything. Absolutely. Very well done. Jeffrey, tell me this. What did you all, what's the biggest thing you sacrificed to get out of debt? Oh, man, we are beach people. And we haven't been to the beach since that baby moon. And we've already booked our trip next summer to go.

Right next summer. Yes. Saying no to people is a big one. You know, with any budget, food is always the eating out. It's one of the biggest ones we can cut back on. And so we did a lot of cooking at home and things like that. But, I mean, we still lived life, but we kept it, you know, we tried every month.

We were trying to throw money as much as possible at the deck. The budget was crucial. Absolutely. And every dollar apps changed our life completely. And I'm in sales and I'm strictly commission-based. So there's some months that it was, yeah, we waited all month and we don't have that much to throw at it. But then in the bigger months, it was like, wow, we're really, you know, that's a big pile right there going through.

Big chunk. Yeah, it makes up for it. Well, way to go, you guys. Yes. Way to go. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? $130,000 in 30 months. I think just picking a budget, sticking to it, and communication, definitely.

The communication is number one. But I think what really changed my philosophy is when I truly believed that it's not ours. You know, you talk about it all the time. And we actually, quick shout out to my financial peace class. We just wrapped up lesson nine yesterday. Oh, yeah. So that was fun. But, you know, especially in that lesson the the analogy of the cup overflowing to the

plate and then just knowing it's it's not ours it's not we're just managing and when you when you give that up it's it changes everything yeah once you're there something has to happen inside of a person that makes the handling of money. A nobility happens inside of you when it's something bigger than you that you're doing. Whether it's your child you're saving for, I'm changing my family tree, I'm going to serve God because I'm going to manage his stuff better, I'm going to be a better steward. Those are all things outside of us that raise our nobility. And when you do that, you increase the speed by which you start to win with money because you will sacrifice and do things you wouldn't do just for yourself.

And you guys did great. Very proud of you. Who were your biggest cheerleaders? Each other. Yeah, for sure. No, we had some family that was encouraging us for sure yeah definitely in financial peace class you said you got in that yeah we took one so we we were on the journey for about a year after we read the books and then just uh i mean we weren't slacking or anything but just to keep in it we joined the class and went through it yeah for accountability you say so that was good and then very good for that and then now you're teaching it. That's right. Yes, definitely. Okay, wow. Coordinator. Yes.

Very good. Well, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. We're very, very proud of you. You guys are heroes. Well done. And you got two babies, but I understand they're going to sit with mom and dad. They're going to sit with the grandmas.

They are, yeah. And names and ages, though? Henry is two. And Aubrey was just born. She is five weeks old. All right. So that baby moon stuff works. Okay.

Good deal. I don't even know what that was until about four or five years ago. No, no. I'll have to Google it. I don't know what it is. My generation didn't know this, but it's good. I learned about it from my kids. It's important stuff.

So good job, you guys. Well done. Very well done. We've got a copy of Chris's book for you, Everyday Millionaires, and that's definitely the next chapter in your story. You guys are on track to kill it, man. Well done. Very well done. We've got a copy of Chris's book for you, Everyday Millionaires, and that's definitely the next chapter in your story. You guys are on track to kill it, man. Well done. You're making good money.

You're in control. You're working together. You have all the attributes of people who become millionaires. Yes, you do. You're right on track. Good job. Jeffrey and Caroline, Ottawa, Tennessee, just outside Chattanooga. $130,000 paid off in 30 months, making $120,000 to $160,000.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah! This is how it's done, boys and girls. I love it. Man, they and girls. I love it. Man, they are cool.

They are cool, Dave. I'm going to tell you, and so young. Teaming up. Obviously in unity. Yes, they are. Obviously in sync. You can see that. And that is just, that's one of the big data points of whether you're going to win or not.

That's right. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Thanks for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Derek is with us in Denver. Hi, Derek. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hi.

Thanks for taking my call, both of you. Sure. What's up? Let's see. I apologize. I'm a little nervous here, so if I talk too fast or whatever. My dad passed away late December of last year. He was taking care of my mom in the house.

Mom is now in assisted living. We've got her her in good position, good place. Her expenses are 43 to 4,500 a month, but she gets a pension of about 2000. We are selling or in the process of just about to close on the house that they lived in. And dad put the house in a trust that technically my sisters and I own, but we have all agreed that my two sisters and I, that the money is for to take care of mom. Okay. When all is said and done, after the sale, long-term cap gains, loan repay, and some sale expenses, there's going to be about a little over $300,000 left. Okay.

How old is your mom? My question, my mom's going to turn 81 in October, so she's 80 right now. How's her health? Okay. Not great, but okay. She's dealing. She's okay. These are tough times for you all. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I interrupted you. What's your question? are tough times for y'all. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So I'm sorry. I interrupted you. What's your question? Uh, so it's a two part question. One is, uh, once we get the check for the house, a little over 300 K, uh, do we just put it into a one account and pay all of mom's expenses out of there? Uh, do we take some of the money, put it into some kind of high interest earning account and the rest in a bank account to pay our expenses? Do we take some of the money, put it into some kind of high interest earning account and the rest in a bank account to pay our expenses? Do we distribute the money between all three kids and then say, hey, you got, you know, you have to pay this much a month to cover mom's expenses? Or I guess that's the first part of my question. Since your sister's in agreement, my opinion

would be, and I'll see what Chris's is, but my opinion would be $300,000 invested in some good mutual funds. Here's the thing. Your burn rate is about $30,000 a year from what you told me, right? You're about $2,500 a month in the hole, right? Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah. That'd be $30,000. You said $4,300 and $2,000, right? Correct. Yeah. So I heard $2,500 and that's $30,000 a year. So your burn rate is $30,300 and $2,000, right? Correct. Yeah, so I heard $2,500, and that's $30,000 a year. So your burn rate is $30K. You need $30K a year. If $300 produced 10%, it would produce enough to support without damaging the $300.

Now, it won't necessarily do that every year. Some years it might produce more. Some years it might produce more. Some years it might produce less. But even if it averaged 10%, you guys are basically going to end up with close to the 300 to distribute to the three of you when she passes. Okay. If you can get the money to invest it. And you see what I'm doing. If it makes 8%, it's going to eat some of the money.

If it makes 12%, it's going to grow. You follow me? Gotcha. Because you need 30 out of this money. And if you can make the 300 produce 30 or more, the whole 300 will still be sitting there. You see I'm doing the math? Yes, you do. And so that's what I would do with it is i would sit down with one of the smart

fester pros and pick out some mutual funds and um try to get something that's fairly stable probably some growth and some growth and income i probably would stay away from the normal international mix on this and i might have a little inaggressive but i don't know that it'd be a fourth or a third yeah but sit down and try to get together a portfolio. But high yield, when you say that, that usually means CDs. Yeah. And that's going to high yield CDs 2%, which means you're burning 30 grand a year. And after 10 years, 300,000 is gone. Yeah.

Derek, yeah, he's dead on. And I'm going to tell you this. Here's the unique thing about you all's situation that I'm proud of you, that you and your sisters are in alignment. Yeah. You know, that's like a rare unicorn type situation. And so rather than to wait on that, I think you take, as Dave suggested, put that in a growth stock mutual fund have this awareness and understanding you know you could have the document drawn up that you know what happens in case one of you whoever the executor is you want to have the first person that's the secondary but the agreement is is the

primary goal of these funds is to take care of your mother yeah and whatever's left when she passes we just distribute it three ways then rather than it and you and you can give, you know, like, for instance, say you were managing it or one of your sisters were managing it with the SmartVestor Pro, each one of you can get a statement every month and see what's happening with the money. You know, y'all can look at it, and you can even do a little review over the phone once a quarter, right, and just go, okay, here's where we are. You know, we needed $7,500 for this quarter, three months of $2,500, and the mutual fund made $10,000.

So we grew a little this month. Or it made $6,000, and, you know, we just ate $1,500 of our money. You know, and you just kind of review it so that, and if you'll do that incrementally throughout the year, at least once a quarter every six months, then later on someone doesn't look up and go, well, he stole all the money. That's exactly right. You know, you don't get that later.

Yeah. Y'all don't do that, but that's what hillbillies do, like me. That's what people like me do. And if your sisters happen to be married to crazy, that husband or spouse could cause that rift. So stay aligned. Take care of your mom. You guys are – Lots of communication.

Yeah. Communication is key. And as Dave said, get that copy of the statement to everybody so we all see everybody's on the same page and we can be in alignment you know what i would go further i would even just write it up a little agreement job one is take care of mom yep with this money job two is have the money invested so where it creates enough income to hopefully take care of mom without damaging it and um then job three is to distribute the money equally and have uh communicate equally upon mom's passing and in the meantime have quarterly updates and everyone sees the account and knows what's going

on and can discuss and has input boy that, that'll eliminate some drama. Man, because what happens is that when people don't know what's going on, that's when they become crazy. Oh, yeah. I'm with Chris, though. Congratulations. Hats off to your families. Beautiful people that you immediately can align with your sisters and go, this is not about you getting money and going off to Vegas or going on a trip this is about like you like there's anywhere you could go on a trip

right now but um but you know you it's about taking care of mom which is as it should be that's what it's supposed to be by the way it was her freaking house you know so there you go wow good job man well done that's just some ideas you could go out a lot of different ways but that's probably how i would do it and that's kind of what this place is about, how Chris and I would do it today. Chris Hogan, my co-host today, Ramsey Personality. Another Chris is in Boston. Hey, Chris in Boston, how are you? Doing well.

How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I have a question about investing in my side hustle. So I work full-time and essentially do firewood on the side. The issue I ran into recently was that my log splitter basically broke. So my way of earning money on the side died. Question about do I kind of just get it going again and see what I can do?

I don't know what it will take to get it going again, or do I try to invest and move up and do one that will help my productivity and be able to make more money on the side. So how much have you made splitting wood? How much money have you made? I can go on the side anywhere from $800 to $1,000 a month. $800 to $1,000. And what's a wood splitter cost?

Probably like $4,000 for the one i was looking at yeah four or five thousand all right and uh so how long does it take you to break even um and that's my only expenses are fuel and maintenance on it so i need to be probably six to seven months yep you're on the catch is i'm on baby step number two so i'm working on paying off all of my debt. Yep. Yep. And so, you know, what I'm going to do is repair the old one. Yep. Elmer's glue, rubber band. Duct tape.

I'm going to repair the old one if there's any way you can. What broke on it? The hydraulic lines and I ended up catching fire. The hydraulic lines ended up catching fire. The hydraulic lines busted and it caught fire? Yeah. Yeah, it's oil-based. Yeah. It's a hot day.

It caught fire when it hit the motor. What burned? The lines? The lines, the engine, the air filter. So there's like a whole lot of gas on it. I'm going to step two then, buy used. That's exactly right. Or step three, Dave.

Rent one, rental. That one's gone, yeah. Yeah. That one's gone. He's trying to justify buying new equipment, Dave. Well, it's okay. We're not having it. Yeah.

Well, I wouldn't. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on that kind of a return. If you can make your money back in 30 days on a side hustle on baby step two, fine. That's right. But not seven months. Ain't happening. Done it before, though. Splitting woods is not fun. That's like real work. This is the Dave Ramsey

Show. This is James Childs, producer of the Dave Ramsey Show. On your smart speaker, you can add our skill by saying, Alexa, open the Ramsey Network skill. From there, you can listen to all our shows. Ask Dave money questions like, how do I invest my money? Or what is the debt snowball? Find out more at daveramsey.com slash smart speaker.