The Ramsey Show - App - How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Wealth

Episode Date: April 27, 2022

Dave Ramsey & George Kamel discuss how anyone can become a millionaire by following the baby steps. Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ram...sey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 5 from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the 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. This is the show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create real and amazing relationships. George Campbell Ramsey, personality, is my co-host this hour. This is a Baby Steps Millionaire Theme Hour.
Starting point is 00:00:54 Thank you for joining us, America. We're so glad you're here. We're going to be talking with real millionaires this year, people who really are millionaires, not your broke brother-in-law with an opinion. We're asking how you really did it. What really happened? Now, a millionaire is not someone that makes a million dollars a year, George. A millionaire is someone with a million dollar net worth. What you own minus what you owe. It's a simple formula. Equals a million dollars or more than your millionaire that is your net worth there's not multiple definitions well he's a net worth millionaire that's redundant there's only one type of millionaire and that is a net worth millionaire someone who earns an income of a
Starting point is 00:01:37 million dollars or more is not a millionaire by any definition this is an accounting term it is a financial planning term it It is not a societal commentary. It is not a moral construct. And so you don't get to freaking change it. It's just this is what a millionaire is, and this is the only way you get to be a millionaire. You have a million. What you own minus what you owe is in excess of a million dollars. It doesn't matter if it creates an income or not.
Starting point is 00:02:02 You can have a family farm that just sits, and it's just dirt it's worth two million dollars and that's all you have then you're worth two million dollars because you can sell it for two million dollars hypothetically so there you go so anybody that has a million dollars we want to talk to you this hour because we want to find out what you did and how you did it did you win the lottery did you inherit the money uh are you a famous rock star uh did you um i don't know some other bizarre thing that people believe that doesn't ever really happen these are percentage wise never occur but if you're any of those that's wonderful we'd love to talk to you however you got your million we want to hear your story to tell people how they can do it open phones at 888-825-5225 we're talking with
Starting point is 00:02:43 real millionaires mike's going to start us off in California. Mike, what's your net worth? Dave, thank you for having me. 2.6 million. Oh, very good. Okay, cool. And very good. And so break that down for me. What's the mix on it? mix is um 1.4 and that's a combination about um 80 401k and 20% Roth okay so 1.4 in retirement all right and the other uh 1.2 is the is my home your your home is worth 1.2 exactly okay that off um two. Oh, good for you. Very good. Okay. How old are you? Thanks to you, Dave. Sixty. Sixty. Well, I didn't pay it. You did. Way to go.
Starting point is 00:03:32 How much of the $2.6 million that you have did you inherit? Zero. Zero. Okay, cool. And what was your best year household income since you've been working and your worst year household income since you've been working? 50 to over 200K. Cool. What do you do for a living?
Starting point is 00:03:55 Both my wife and I are in sales. She's in food distribution and I'm in IT. Cool. You got a four-year degree? High school, yes. A high school degree. Okay, cool. Do you remember your GPA? 3.3, and my wife was through 3.8. Okay, cool. Good, good. She's a smart one. I got you. Yeah, I understand. She picked you, yeah. All right, uh do you use an investment professional or do you do all this yourself yeah we started to of course you know through our whole adventure through um fpu and and yeah once once we went through all that dave yes we got our financial advisor and set up our trust
Starting point is 00:04:42 and everything so we followed your plan. Awesome. Mike, I'm curious, was this a goal of yours or did it just kind of happen? I've been a big Dave fan. I've been a big Dave fan for over 15 years. I've been doing Dave-ish.
Starting point is 00:04:57 So would you say this is a 15 year journey that you've kind of set out on intentionally? Well, for myself and until my wife, you know, jumped on board um you know about seven years ago and we and and it's it helps it helps the marriage it helps communication and we just um we just went after it and we focus on the house and and we did it wow very good good for you man i'm proud of you how's it feel awesome i mean it's it's freedom
Starting point is 00:05:27 and yeah so we're thinking what are we going to do now and that's it's like it's exciting to see where we're going to move forward yes yeah wow good for you and i'm going to you know dave i want to give a shout out to my wife i I love her. She's on the road. She wanted to be here. We're just big fans, and I just wanted to tell her I love her. Well, that's very cool. That's the way it works, man. Well done.
Starting point is 00:05:54 Rockstar couple. Okay, now, you're 60 years old. You have a $2.6 million net worth. You make $200,000 a year household income. You live in California. If someone's out there listening that's 22, can they still do what you did? For sure. I think my son is a good example. You know, he knows the value of a dollar, and if you want to buy something, you save for it and you buy it.
Starting point is 00:06:24 He drives used cars, and image is overrated. Yeah, just live your life. Who cares about what anybody else thinks? Very well done. Hey, brother, we're proud of you. Congratulations. Another baby steps millionaire out there. That's what we named the book after, was these guys just like Mike and his wife,
Starting point is 00:06:50 how ordinary people built extraordinary wealth and how you can too see the misnomer george is that everyone inherited their wealth that they don't deserve it that's the biggest lie that's the biggest lie well it also infers that if you don't have a rich uncle you're screwed and what mike is saying is you're not you can do this you can get out you can get out of debt you can live on less than you make you don't worry about image and you put money away and ta-da but it's easier to get mad at rich people dave than it is to do the work that's the truth well it is but it's not as effective and it doesn't get you what you want to get and if you believe a lie you will then function in that lie, and that's how we started doing this theme hour.
Starting point is 00:07:30 And then we ended up doing the largest study of millionaires that has ever been done in North America. Over 10,167 of them studied, and we asked them in great detail what their process was, who they are. We found that 79% inherited precisely zero, that 5% inherited a very small amount, like $5,000 from their grandmother or something like that, and another 5% inherited good money, big money, like $100,000 or something, but after they were already millionaires.
Starting point is 00:08:03 And so that five plus five plus 79 gives you the number of 89 percent of america's millionaires are not that because of inheritance it's a big deal george yeah it's because of intentionality consistency over time 94 said they live on less than they make it's's that simple. Wow. If you just do that, you will be wealthy. What a concept. Maybe they should run for Congress. I don't think they'll make it through. Live on less than you make. A concept Congress can't grasp. This is the Ramsey Show. In an uncertain world, being a good steward of your money is more important than ever. While some circumstances can't be controlled, there are items within your budget you can take charge of, such as your health care costs.
Starting point is 00:09:10 For nearly 40 years, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, has provided a budget-friendly means of sharing for medical bills when our members need it. Learn more by visiting chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org slash budget. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a Ramsey Trusted Provider. If you're looking to sell your house right now, it can be overwhelming, but you don't have to sell your home alone. You need an endorsed local provider by your side.
Starting point is 00:09:51 Our ELPs are Ramsey Trusted. That means they're highly vetted. They're top-tier real estate agents that my team and I trust. They're pros who are excited to serve you and help you sell your home at the right price. If you're ready to get a home sold, get with the Ramsey Trusted ELP in your corner. And it's free to connect, of course. Just go to ramseysolutions.com slash agent. You can find one near you.
Starting point is 00:10:17 ramseysolutions.com slash agent. It's a Baby Steps Millionaires theme hour. My latest number one bestselling book, Baby Steps Millionaires, How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Wealth, How You Can Too. Maggie is with us in St. Louis. Hey, Maggie, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve.
Starting point is 00:10:40 What's your net worth? My husband and I, our net worth is $1.2 million. Okay, give me a little breakdown on that. How much retirement, how much house, and so on? We have about $575,000 in Roth, almost $100,000 in traditional, so about $600,000 to $700,000 in retirement. We have $425,000 equity on our house, about $50,000 sitting in a savings account, and college savings and other assets are about $40,000. Cool. How old are you guys? I am 39.
Starting point is 00:11:15 Our goal was to be millionaires by the time we were 40, and I met that at the end of my 37th year. So you made it! Amazing. We made it! I love it. How much of of this 1.2 million did you guys inherit you know we did not inherit any of it in fact when we found you in 2007 we were 575 000 in debt whoa yeah this is a turnaround i talked to you i had talked to you in 2007 when we first started. I called into the show. Was I nice to you?
Starting point is 00:11:47 No. You ended my call with, oh, what a mess. And it wasn't a mess. It's been known to happen. And here you are, $2 million later. It's 575 negative to 1.2 positive. I love it. So what is your range of income in your working life, your best year ever and your worst year ever?
Starting point is 00:12:11 Our worst year was about $100,000 together. Our best, which only happened one year, was $325,000. What do you guys do? What's your career? We are both pharmacists. Ah, very good. Okay. Explains the debt.
Starting point is 00:12:23 Yes, it does. $300,000 in debt. Ah, got good. Explains the debt. Yes, it does. $300,000 in debt. Ah, got it. Okay. And so your degree is obviously in pharmacy. What was your GPA? Mine was pretty high. I was 3.9. My husband was about a 2.8.
Starting point is 00:12:39 Oh. Oh. Yep. Just like that. Yep. Yep. So they really don't care about that once you get into the real world they care about your ability to work and your hard work did you count the pills
Starting point is 00:12:52 in that bottle correctly that's all they care about yeah oh my gosh incredible very well done love it yeah so what do you tell people can Can they still do this? They absolutely can do this. There is hope. Even if the Dave Ramsey says that your finances are a mess, that there's still hope. That's the best part. I mean, you guys had in over 15 years, you had almost a $2 million turnaround. What do you attribute that to? Obviously, you guys had a great income, but you guys are really intentional. Yeah, we were. I think in the beginning, before we had kids, we were living about 20% of our income and tithing 10%. And then putting 70% into trying to get out of debt was mainly good communication. Like I just think, you know, when we started, my husband wasn't super
Starting point is 00:13:44 interested in it the only reason he want he went to a Dave Ramsey class was because we were new to the area and he wanted to meet people but after after listening to one the first lesson he was hooked um but just like good communication I think was a thing and the ability to just make it fun throughout the process and have goals and we definitely made a ton of mistakes along the way i'm telling you i'm proud of you guys what you've done is very intense i mean you're millionaires by the time you're 40 and you overcame a 575 000 debt hole very impressive so um the opposite end of the story the first time time I talked to you, I said, what a mess.
Starting point is 00:14:26 Now I'm saying, what a champion. I like that. What an amazing couple of people. Very well done. Yeah, that's incredible. Very well done. Inspiring. All right, Nick is with us in Connecticut. Hi, Nick.
Starting point is 00:14:37 What's your net worth? Hi, Dave. My net worth is $1.5 million. Cool. Very good. How old are you? 33. Oh, wow. Young millionaire.5 million. Cool. Very good. How old are you? 33. Oh, wow. Young millionaire. Give me a little breakdown on that $1.5 million between retirement house and whatever else it's in. and other equity, $150,000 in a traditional IRA,
Starting point is 00:15:05 and my proud claim of $1.15 million in a Roth IRA. Wow. Big Roth. You've been kicking it at 33 to get it to that point. Very good. So how much of this money did you inherit? Not a dime. Zero.
Starting point is 00:15:21 And what's your best working year and your worst working year since you've been with yeah with my wife it's about 75k and uh lowest and highest 120 okay cool what do y'all do what do you do for a living uh i'm between jobs i'm looking to get into banking and investing and my wife manages a an it team cool you got a four-year degree i do not okay does she yes in in what uh psychology okay cool very good all right and uh good good for you okay so how do you do this by 33 years old dude you loaded this thing up this is impressive uh honestly i gotta get lucky like i said i've been my passion's been investing um i know i don't have to disclose that i was i am a reformed i'm gonna self self-called degenerate um i got involved with wall street
Starting point is 00:16:17 bets hit gamestop really big got out and i am in neutral funds and ets now. Whoa. So you cashed the chips off the table before you took the hit. Exactly. So this all happened very recently. Yeah, this was in January of 2021. So what was your net worth before that? 55K. Oh, my goodness. That's quite the jump from 55K net worth to 1.5 million.
Starting point is 00:16:44 And you took some risks risks if you had not taken the chips off the table you'd almost be back there wouldn't you something like that but yeah no i when the time was right getting out getting good and putting it somewhere safe yeah your timing your timing is impeccable very well done good for you man i'm proud for you it's a needle in a haystack kind of story i'm proud for you it's a needle in a haystack kind of story i'm proud for you though it's a good thing to i like talking to somebody that did it that's good and uh the trick because most people don't have the uh they get they get lured by the siren song of the success and they stay in and they end up riding the same horse until it dies uh instead
Starting point is 00:17:23 of getting out at the top and you were smart, wise enough to get out at the top and realizing that this is not a forever play. So well done. At least I guess that's what happened. Is that what happened? Yeah. January 28, 2021 will be the most stressful day of my life. I had a million-dollar loss in unrealized games games and then the next day we sold it at the top wow amazing wow good for you hard to replicate wouldn't recommend it to to our listeners but
Starting point is 00:17:56 it's not a method that works very often but it got you got it done so that's what we we take the calls from however you did it and we want to hear the true story. So good for you, man. I'm proud of you. Open phones at 888-825-5225. I'm talking to some young millionaires today, a 60, a 39, a 33. Wow. Well, everybody that's rich are crooks, greedy rich people, greedy rich people. No, I hadn't talked to any of those today. None of these people stole their money. None of them did anything illegal. No. I hadn't talked to any of those today. None of these people stole their money.
Starting point is 00:18:27 None of them did anything illegal. Wow. No drug deals here. Just hard work. Not that we're aware of. Not that they're willing to tell us. Not that was admitted to here on the air. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:39 And we haven't talked to anybody who had a number one best-selling record. Yeah. I said most of them hit millionaire status at age 49 in our study. And if you took the average here, I think you'd find something similar. Yeah, the average is about 49 of those three right there. Very interesting. We'll talk to some more millionaires right here on a Baby Steps Millionaire Theme Hour. Thank you. It's a Baby Steps Millionaire's theme hour here on the ramsey show we talk to real millionaires and find out how they really did it not so what someone's political opinion is or people with
Starting point is 00:19:57 their expertise coming from twitter which would by definition be an oxymoron. So expertise from Twitter is an oxymoron. Was the keyword moron in that sentence, Dave? Could be. Okay. Yeah, that's a real keyword. George Camel Ramsey, personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. As we talk to millionaires, Rob is in Omaha, Nebraska.
Starting point is 00:20:21 Rob, what is your net worth? Hi, Dave. Hey, George. My net worth is $1.2 million. Cool. Give me a little breakdown on that by category. Sure. We have a paid for house, $255,000 cash, $170,000 emergency fund, $32,000 in HSA, $129,000 in some other equities, $540,000 in retirement, and then the rest is in a 529. Very good. How old are you? I am 35.
Starting point is 00:20:56 My wife is 34. Excellent. How much of this $1.2 million did you inherit? Zero. Okay. And what's your best working year of your working lifetime, household income, and worst working year? This year is slated to be the best. Our base will be somewhere around 330, potentially up to 372, depending on how bonuses pay out. Early on,
Starting point is 00:21:21 when we got married, it was 45,000. Cool. What do y'all do for a living? I am in IT security and risk management, and my wife is in accounts payable and is also a real estate agent. Wow, you guys are killing it. This is great. So what's your degree in? I have a bachelor's in MIS and computer science and an MBA, and my wife has a bachelor's in business administration and entrepreneurship. Wow a bachelor's in business administration and entrepreneurship. Wow. What's your GPA when you were in school? It was a 3.8, both for undergrad and graduate, and my wife was 3.8. Okay, good. Cool. Okay, well done. You did this quick, man, 35 years old. Proud of you.
Starting point is 00:22:01 So can this still be done if you're 25 listening to this? Absolutely. It can be done earlier if you you're 25 listening to this? Absolutely. It can be done earlier if you start earlier, too. That's what we kick ourselves about. The biggest mistake was not doing it earlier. Wow. How old were you guys when you started this? When we really got focused, you know, stumbled across the Ramsey team,
Starting point is 00:22:23 it was our late 20s, probably 26, 27, and then we just got focused and got to it. So in under 10 years, you were able to accomplish this. That's amazing because a lot of people think in their minds, well, yeah, I'll get there when I'm 65. I don't want to wait that long. But it doesn't take that long when you're intentional. Yeah, the average is 17 years. You guys did this really fast, but you have a way above average income, so you were killing it. So that's pretty cool. Well done, man. Very, very well done.
Starting point is 00:22:49 All right. What do you tell people the secret to becoming a millionaire is? You have to know your why, and you have to set your sights on a goal. Both my wife and I want the ability to control time, you know, to do what you want, when you want, where you want it, as long as you have the ability to separate yourself from the system and not have to make a payment to another. That gives you the ability to spend your time to find what gives you that true level of happiness. And no stuff can offer that. A lot of wisdom there that's pretty profound wow separate yourself from the system i love that stick it to the man
Starting point is 00:23:33 i love it absolutely that's very cool very good hey man we're very proud of you congratulations very well done rob sean is next sean's in louville, Kentucky. Sean, what's your net worth? I'm right at a million dollars, Dave. Look at you. And how old are you? I'm 33 years old. Bunch of young ones today. All right, good. Okay, I love it. So give me a little breakdown on your million dollars.
Starting point is 00:24:00 How's that broken down by category? Yes, I have a paid-off house right at a half a million dollars. I own some other real estate property at $200,000. Have a Roth IRA at about $200,000, and the rest is in cash. Good for you. And what's your best year working income, worst year working income since you started? Well, I vary a lot on my salary. I'm in sales. And so best year was right at half a million dollars. That was a few years ago.
Starting point is 00:24:33 And then, but when I started in my industry, I was starting in health care. And so I was making minimum wage right at about $8 an hour and just worked my way up in the industry, and now I lead a sales team. Okay. What do you sell? So I sell IT SaaS software. Okay, excellent. All right, very cool. That's making a lot of sense. Do you have a degree? I actually have a degree in biblical and theological studies and a master's in pastoral counseling. So I got into the industry to pay my way through school, and next thing I knew I had kids and made a career out of it.
Starting point is 00:25:13 Love it. What was your GPA when you were in school? 3.85 is what I averaged. Golly. Okay, good, good. Okay, so you've made a lot of money and that's part of the what has contributed to this you've had some really good years what else do you attribute this level of success at 33 years old too well dave i've during that time i've had a lot of hard years and so a big portion
Starting point is 00:25:42 of it was just always staying out of debt, especially early when I was pulling in $20,000, $30,000 a year. If a car breaks down, it could have been one thing that would have set you back, and it would have been very hard to survive. So just always having that emergency fund, living within your means, but also being proactive with my savings. So I'm very much the type that if I have to do something, I tend not to do it because I just get busy. And so within my savings, I was having to automatically pulled out. I was maxing out my 401ks. And so I just didn't need to think about my savings plans. Yeah. Yeah. You just get after it. Was this instilled in you from parents? Where did all this come from, this mindset? It very much was my dad.
Starting point is 00:26:30 He kind of taught me the power of compound interest at a young age, and he would tell me the math problems, that if you save starting young, what it would be worth when you were older. And so he talked that through with me and also taught me the lessons that he learned, you know, with making different financial decisions, one of which was never buying a new car. So he always bought a car with 50,000 miles on it. And right now I'm driving a truck with 198,000 miles on it. Wow. That well done well done i love it well congratulations brother we're very very very proud of you so you're the moral of the story for you is it still can be done
Starting point is 00:27:14 it absolutely can and you know i also had a i went unfortunately went through a divorce which was the hardest time and so i lost in the In the middle of that, I lost half my assets within that. And, you know, just being out of debt is what made me survive. It just took that stress off of me. Yeah. Wow. And still come back at 33 with a million-dollar net worth. Pretty amazing.
Starting point is 00:27:38 Well, well done, sir. Thank you for sharing your story. This is how it's done. So, George, we've been doing these uh millionaire theme hours baby steps millionaire theme hours for several years now um the number of times that um someone calls in and says that they are a millionaire because they inherited it and which by the way there's no shame in that i do remember precisely one guy calling in he's like yeah i mean mom and dad followed your stuff uh they had 10 million dollars when they died they By the way, there's no shame in that. I do remember precisely one guy calling in, and he's like, yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:06 I mean, Mom and Dad followed your stuff. They had $10 million when they died. They left us each $3 million. And no shame in that. Yeah. And he's like, the way I'm going to honor their memory is I'm going to do the same stuff they did. I'm going to stay out of debt, and I'm going to invest steadily. And so, hey, we don't throw any shade on that at all. We'll go with it.
Starting point is 00:28:24 That's a wonderful story. That's a legacy story. Yeah. steadily and so uh hey we don't throw any shade on that at all we'll go with it you know that's that's a wonderful story that's a legacy story yeah but the number of times that happens is very low almost all of the people have zero inheritance or very close to zero inheritance such a small inheritance that it didn't matter you know sometimes they'll joke and say well my grandmother left me an old car you know or something like. But most of the time, the thing they got from their parents was work ethic. Maybe they got from their parents an example of what not to do. Yeah, that can be a strong why as well. Either way, they did not have an inheritance, and they end up millionaires.
Starting point is 00:28:58 We're talking to real millionaires this hour. It's a Baby Steps Millionaires theme hour here on The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Our scripture of the day, Luke 14 and 28. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you sit down first and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it. Stephen Covey said, make time for planning. Wars are won in the general's tent. Ooh, there you go. I like that.
Starting point is 00:30:14 It's a millionaire theme hour, a baby steps millionaire theme hour here on the Ramsey Show. George Campbell, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. The lies that are out there about the wealthy are this, that they all inherited their wealth. 89% did not become millionaires, according to actual research, not someone's political opinion. Well, the wealthy are all crooks. Nope. There's a percentage of the wealthy that are crooks, and there's a percentage of poor people that are crooks. As a matter of fact, there's just a percentage of the wealthy that are crooks and there's a percentage of poor people that are crooks as a matter of fact there's just a percentage of people that are crooks and it actually runs about the same really when you really get down to it uh you know when a rich
Starting point is 00:30:55 person is a crook it's just it's it's with more scale it's easier to hate on yeah well and it's you know but they're they're actually crooks they just do I mean, Bernie Madoff, they do it with scale, right? More zeros on it. Yeah, and so it's more, you know, it's a bigger flash when it happens. And so most millionaires, most wealthy people are famous entertainers, famous athletes, rock stars, actors. No. Less than 1% of wealthy people are people of notoriety, people that you would know their name.
Starting point is 00:31:31 They're not household names. So there's wealthy people out there like that. And sometimes they're crazier than a bean. If they're in some of the entertainment stuff, it's out there. And sometimes they're regular folks. If they're in some of the entertainment stuff, it's there, and sometimes they're regular folks. If they're in some of the entertainment stuff that's out there. But the wealth isn't what did it. It's just that they were crazier than a bean, and they got some money, and so we noticed them.
Starting point is 00:31:51 And they can do crazy on steroids. You've met some of those people, and some of them are broke. Man, we have. We've met some interesting ones. They're all wealthy people. I can't be wealthy because all wealthy people are brilliant. They're all the 4.0. Nope.
Starting point is 00:32:07 Haven't talked to one today that got a 4.0. They're not dumb. They're not a 1.0. They didn't get a degree in beer pong, but they're usually around a 3, somewhere 3%, or a 3-point-something gpas what all of them today have been anyway and that's about right that's what we normally are occasionally run into a 4.0 but you don't have to be you don't you do have to be i mean smart but you know versus dumb but but you don't have to be brilliant inordinately brilliant to build wealth you just have to be
Starting point is 00:32:44 smart enough to keep doing your 401k and get your house paid off. And that's generally what causes people to become millionaires right there. Gabriel is with us in Clarksville, Tennessee. Gabriel, what's your net worth? It's about $1.2 million. Good for you. Well done.
Starting point is 00:32:58 And give me a little breakdown on that by category, please. I have two IRAs, one for my wife and one for me uh how much is in the brokerage account those um it's a little it's about two 220 okay cool five cool and then uh a brokerage account and that's got about uh 300 000 in it gotcha and then my house is worth uh uh 330 000 and then i have a not a mutual fund a money market account that's got about 250 000 in it and then the last category is i paid for my kid's college who came out to 165 000 and he is an investment now gotcha okay very good very good how old are you i am 55 perfect okay cool how much of this 1.2 million did you inherit none zero all right and your best working year and worst working year household income uh best working year was uh i retired from the army but um
Starting point is 00:34:04 uh it was 120k a year and worst working year i guess when i from the Army, but it was $120,000 a year. And worst working year, I guess, when I was a private, you know, making, I guess, you know, less than $10,000 a month. Okay. Or less than $1,000 a month. Right. Gotcha. Okay. So your career was military.
Starting point is 00:34:16 Thank you for your service. You're welcome. All right. You have a four-year degree? I do. I have a master's as well. Okay. Master's in what?
Starting point is 00:34:28 MBA. Oh, good. Okay, okay good and what was your gpa i think 3.7 on the master's and then my bachelor's was like a 3.3 yeah people always get a little more serious on the master's okay good good for you man well done a little more application of self yeah good okay so you're 55 years old. You're talking to a young private that's 23, making no money. You can't be a millionaire. Is he right if he says that? Nope. What should he do?
Starting point is 00:35:02 He should follow the baby steps and get on a budget. I know for me, that budget thing was hard when we first started doing this 14 years ago, I want to say. And not that we were in a lot of debt, but we would just spend money like crazy, and we owned two houses with two mortgages, and we moved. And so now they became long-distance, long distance, long distance, uh, real estate, which worked out for me. Uh, but in 2008 with the housing market crashing, I got upset that the, um, uh, the CEOs of, uh, banks were still getting bonuses, uh, for that. And I, you know,
Starting point is 00:35:42 me and my wife were like, we got to get rid of these mortgages instead of them getting the bonus one. We get the bonus. Then I ran into a billboard that had your face on it in Greenville, South Carolina. I was teaching ROTC at Furman University at the time. I'm like, I got to listen to this guy. You were on TV back then.
Starting point is 00:36:01 We started the budget. The first one was very difficult. Now we come out pretty even you know we still do a budget every month and um and it took us we had a five-year plan to pay the houses off i got promoted and then i got deployed which you know in turn created more money coming in and so that five-year plan turned into a four-year plan and haven't looked back ever since. And then we readjusted how much we were investing because we were all over the map. We were investing, we were paying mortgages, we were buying stuff we shouldn't have bought.
Starting point is 00:36:38 You got focused. Now we're much better. You got focused. You were doing a lot of different things and you went, let's just focus on this one path, the baby steps, and it worked. And you still do a budget because that's how you stay a millionaire. Yeah. Live on the lesson you make. Yep.
Starting point is 00:36:53 That's awesome. What kind of car do you drive? I have a RAV4 and a Toyota Camry. What years are they? The RAV is a 2017, and the Camry is 2016. Of of course i bought them both used of course there you go if you want to know what a millionaire drives it's probably more like that than it is the sports car next to you when you're driving unless you're driving next to dave and then you can uh you you'll know you're driving next to a millionaire well done gabriel proud of you man and uh again
Starting point is 00:37:24 thanks for your service that's beautiful beautiful work excellent excellent job good stuff so guys this is how it's done uh the point of this hour is to give you real facts that give you hope because if you believe that i can't be a millionaire because everybody inherits their wealth then you believe lie, and we want to disperse that. If you believe I can't be a millionaire because the only way to become wealthy is to be crooked and steal, I want to disperse that because most of the people we talk to are not crooks. As a matter of fact, all of them we talk to are not crooks.
Starting point is 00:37:57 And if you believe you have to get a 4.0, I want to disperse that. I want to dispense with these lies, this mythology, because it steals your hope. And these people out here that are spreading this crap are hope stealers. Yeah. You just have to do what actual millionaires do, which is have integrity, work hard, do something logical and consistent over a period of time, and you'll get there. And it may not be tomorrow, but I mean, looking at these facts, you go, okay, well, 10 years from now, I could have a huge turnaround. 15 years from now, what could life be like?
Starting point is 00:38:27 20 years from now, where could we be? So you've got to have that long-term vision. And a lot of them mentioned that vision they had for their life, whether it's a debt-free scream or millionaire status. You've got to have that vision. You've got to do a budget. You've got to live on the lesson you make. None of it's rocket science. Today they were young, 60, 39, 33, 35, 33, and 55.
Starting point is 00:38:46 Wow. Yeah. Sometimes we talk to 75-year-old ones, and sometimes we talk to 65-year-old ones. And there's nothing wrong with any of it. Wherever you are is where you are. The trick is we want you to get about the business of winning. And don't believe these hope stealers that are out there spreading lies. That puts us out of the Ramsey Show in the books.
Starting point is 00:39:07 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. Do you love a good day, Brandt? Want to see the latest Ramsey Show videos going viral? Check out your favorite moments from the Ramsey Show on YouTube. Go watch and subscribe to the Ramsey Show channel on YouTube.

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