The Ramsey Show - App - How Should I Adjust My Investing After Getting a Promotion? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 14, 2021

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Music Music Music Music Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is done, 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, Ken Coleman. Ramsey personality, host of the Ken Coleman Show, where he talks about careers. The path to your dream job. Yep, getting in something that you love and work that matters. He's here to answer questions about that and will chime in with me as we talk to you about your life and your money. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Brandon is with us in Lexington, Kentucky, starting off this hour.

Hi, Brandon. How are you? Doing great, Dave. How are you doing today? Better than I deserve. What's up? Hey, excellent. Back at the end of February, I was in a car accident where the airbag was actually put in wrong.

The airbag shot out the front of the car. The canister flew backwards. It took out my right eye, broke my neck. I had severe burns. It degloved most of my face. Wow. But it was pretty traumatic. Yeah, I think.

Wow. How are you doing? I'm getting better, you know, every day. Yeah, I think. Wow. How are you doing? I'm getting better, you know, every day. February, this is... A little improvement. Yeah, you're still healing big time, aren't you? Yeah, I still got a lot of scars and scrapes and bruises. But in probably 10 months to a year, there will be a settlement where conservatively it's probably around $5 million after everything's

taken care of, attorneys, all that. I've never had access to that kind of money, and I want to be... You're covering your phone. I'm not hearing you. I'm sorry. I never have access to that kind of money was the last thing we heard. Okay. Yeah, I've never had access to that kind of money was the last thing we heard. Okay. Yeah, I've never had access to that kind of money.

I want to do things the right way as far as taxes go, you know, take care of myself, my family. And I just wanted to see what the first steps need to be and where to go from there, if you have any advice. Oh, my. I'm so sorry. What a horrible thing to go through. So you have an attorney on your team, I assume. Yes. He's advising you you're going to get the money that quickly.

They've been going about 10 to 15 months typically. It's kind of open and shut days. Yeah, I would think that. But, wow. Okay. And how old are you? I'll be 38 in about a week and a half. What do you do for a living?

I've been in the restaurant industry, serving, bartending. Okay. All right. Most recently. You said family family are you married and kids uh married and i have two wonderful stepdaughters okay that are 11 and uh 14 okay well what you've been through is very traumatic and very dramatic um and so it's going to uh and it's been you know I can't speak to it as much as you can Brandon but I mean

if I get a hangnail I cry so I can't even imagine with the pain and all the things you've been through and then the permanent loss of one eye so you know you've got some emotional and physical healing to do from all of that.

It's not a good time to be making really big decisions like, woo-hoo, I hit the lotto kind of decisions. And so I can tell you how to do it over the course of a long period of time, and then you've got to implement it. So here's a whole bunch of things I'm going to throw at you, and then I want Ken to speak to your career thing. Sure. then it's going to work really, really, really hard for you. And you're going to be in a position of unbelievable wealth at the end of this story as a result of only $5 million. Because it can, let me give you an example, okay?

You're 38. If you just never touched it and invested it, and that's not what I'm going to suggest, by the way, but if that's all you did and you put it in a mutual fund, series of mutual funds, and it made 10%, it would double about every seven years. So that means when you're 45, it's 10. When you're 52, it's 20.

When you're 60, it's $40 million. That's how important it is that you don't go through this money and blow it all now we're not going to do that exact plan but you're going to put in place something that gets the advantage of that kind of thing because to me a 65 year old with 40 or 60 million feels a lot more exciting than a 38 year old with 5 million and5 million, and I hope it does to you. That's where you're going if you don't treat this emotionally like, woo-hoo, I hit the lottery. I know you didn't hit the lottery.

I understand that you've been through a lot of pain, and I'm not diminishing that part of it. But you see what I'm saying? You don't blow this, which is why you're calling, so thank you. So here's what we're going to do. Number one, you put an investment person in your corner, an investment advisor that has the heart of a teacher. Their purpose is not to do the investing for you. It's to teach you enough that you can start to make basic decisions on basic investing

and later on more sophisticated investing. Okay? Number two, if you're going to do some real estate, you put a real estate person in your corner, and if you're going to invest some of it in real estate, you would buy real estate, and that one's going to take you longer than the other kind of investing, and you're going to pay cash for real estate that's for investment purposes or you're not going to buy. Do you own a home? No, not currently.

Okay. Then we're probably going to buy a house out of this but something super conservative because every dollar we put in that house is not doubling every seven years right and that's where we're going to go with this so you begin to develop and then you get a tax person in your corner the same thing with the heart of a teacher and then you get an estate planning attorney in your corner same thing with the heart of a teacher. And then you get an estate planning attorney in your corner. Same thing with the heart of a teacher. And you start to develop almost an advisory board for Brandon Incorporated.

And the advisory board is an investment advisor, a real estate advisor, an insurance advisor, a tax advisor. And you start to put these people in your corner. And you can find most of them on our website. I'm not in any of those businesses. I't want anything from you i don't want to do any of it for you but i want you to do it and let them have the heart of a teacher and lead you and then i want you to move into a career ken yeah i curious did you have something you always wanted to do before the accident something you thought about? Honestly, no. I don't.

I've been thinking about that. I want to do something. I just don't know what I'm going to be more incapable of doing after all this has been said and done. Yeah, that's my first thing. You need to find out from your doctor what, if any, physical limitations you'll actually have because you're still in the healing process.

So I'd start with physical limitations, and then I'd begin to look to the heart and answer this question. Who are the people you most want to help? What are the problem they have or maybe a desire that they have that you would like to be a part of that solution? When you can answer those basic questions right there, you'll begin to see, hey, this is how I want to contribute. So don't think about work anymore as just work. Think about it as, how am I going to contribute? and begin that process? Go to KenColeman.com, download the Career Clarity Guide, go through that worksheet by yourself, then with some trusted people who know you really well. And it's going to begin to give

you some ideas. And then once you know your limitations and what you need to do to get qualified, that's how you begin that journey, that process. And I agree, Dave. If he's working, doing what he loves, he's already got all the money he needs. Yeah. Hang on. Kelly's going to pick up. I'm going to put you through Ramsey Plus with Financial Peace University. I'm going to pay for it.

We don't need anything from you. We just want to help you, sir. You call back as you're working through this, and I'll help you with it and advise you as you go along. Ever wondered how to save more money or pay off debt faster? What about the right way to invest? Listen, I've been there asking the same questions with no idea where to turn for answers. But here's the good news. You don't have to keep searching for answers. Ramsey Plus shows you every step of the way so you know what to do with your money. Get the plan and the tools you need to make consistent small

wins with money and even some big ones so you can see exactly how you're making progress. Then we can help you turn all those wins into better habits that last. You can be confident you're doing the right thing with your money, and that means no more debt, cash in the bank for emergencies, and a plan for your future. To start your free trial of Ramsey Plus, text TRIAL to 33789. That's TRIAL to 33789. 33789. 33789. Ken Coleman Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Angelia is with us in San Diego. Hey, Angelia, how are you? Hi, Dave. Thanks so much for taking my call. I'm so excited to be talking to you right now. You too. I'm really nerding out. So I have a question for you.

I just got a big promotion at work, which doubled my income. So my husband and I combined will be making over $250 a year. So I was looking for some advice on my Roth retirement account. I've got my own Roth fire away. And then through my employer, I have a Roth 401k. and with our new income, the $6,000 I can contribute to my Roth will only be about 5%. So to get me to my 15%, right now with my employer, they match 6% dollar for dollar, so that's what I am doing, but should I just increase that to 10% to get me to my 15% or is there another option that you think I should look at?

You can increase it if you want. You said you're married. Your household income is $250,000. What's your husband's? Does he have 401k available? Yes. So his 401k, he's been investing since he was 18. So he's got about $500,000 in his 401k through work right now as well.

Yeah, but does he have a Roth there? He has not switched over to the Roth just because they just started offering it in January, and with his age and how much he already has in his traditional 401K, I didn't know if it would be worth to switch him over to a Roth, like his new contributions. How old is he? He is 44. Absolutely. His new contributions should all go into that the old ones we can talk about later that's a big move because it's a lot of money

and it'll create it'll activate a lot of taxes if he moves the old contribution but from this point forward it should all be roth so here's the rule match beats roth beats traditional so the best thing you can do is both of you get the match. Then the next best thing you can do is both of you max out Roths until, whether it's Roth 401K or Roth individuals, until you get to 15% of your household income. Now, you both put in a max of $19,500 and a 401k. So basically $40,000 if you both max out your 401ks. You both max out your Roth IRAs at six. That's another 12.

So that should get you there. Okay. And, you know, and all of this in good growth stock mutual funds with great long-term track records. But we're trying to get to 15% of your household income, which would be, what, $37,000. And you can do that with your 401Ks alone, you know, if you never did an individual Roth. Now, if you're individual Roth, obviously you can choose from 8,000 mutual funds. 401K may not have great options. If you've got better options, then, you know, we go with his.

You've got better options, we go with yours. Or we go with individuals. I don't care where they are. But Roth is what it all ought to be plus the match that you're getting from this point forward. Now, I would not convert his 500 to Roth until you have some extra money laying around, because that's going to activate taxes. But, yeah, you look at it as a household situation, and that's how you do it. So, very good work.

Good job. Greg is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, Greg. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, thanks for having me. I appreciate you taking the call, Mr. Dave and Mr. Ken. Glad to be on. Sure.

How can we help? Well, so my wife and I are in this spot because we've been doing the steps. We're actually through step four. We're investing 15%. We have a six-month savings stored up. And we've got about an extra $10,000 now. Probably by the end of next month, it'll be close to 15 because we get an extra paycheck. And our plan was we'd have two vehicles that are older and cheaper, and they're paid for, of course.

No debt or anything else other than the house. Our plan was our family's going to be starting soon. We need a family vehicle, and so we've been saving up for that. However, one of the cars, we have a $3,000 car and we have a $1,500 car. The $3,000 car transmission went on it. So looking like we've got to replace that. And I don't know, should we, you know, scrape some extra together, go up to $20,000, $25,000, and get the family vehicle now and then keep going with the $1,500 car until we save up and replace that?

I'm sorry. How much do you have in your emergency fund? In our emergency fund, we've got about $25,000. How much do you have saved for a car? About $10,000 right now. So how did you get to $20,000? Well, so that's what I'm wondering. Because that $25,000, I'm wondering, because that $225,000,

I'm wondering if we steal a little money from the emergency fund, put it with the car fund to replace the vehicle now. What's your household income? About $220,000. Well, I mean, your emergency fund should not be below three months of your expenses. So what is three months of expenses for you guys? Yeah, three months of expenses is probably about $12,000, $14,000. $13,000, about $13,000.

So $15,000 is your minimum emergency fund. So if you move down an emergency fund and move up a little bit in car, and immediately then you're debt free right correct then immediately you start building that emergency fund back up and building that car fund back up because we need to get out of that fifteen hundred dollar car as well and you should do that at light and at breakneck speed with your income you have fabulous income what do y'all do for a living? Yeah. I work for an engineering services company doing sales. She's the nurse. Mm-hmm.

Okay. So the other little asterisk with all this is when we met, she had a house. Then I bought a house. Once we got married, she moved in. We turned hers into a rental. We actually have a third one as well that we have a rental. That's a rental as well. Both of those two rentals we have about 50 percent

down pay but we do have mortgages on those now i'm including the mortgage on that in the emergency fund number so that 15 000 for a three months is uh is includes the mortgages on those as well if you sold one of those could you pay off the other one yeah and and have the money to move on up in cars right yeah do it you need to move one of them right now this market's hot okay pick the one you don't like and move it and let's let's clean this mess up because now you're sitting with two nice cars paid for a fully funded emergency fund and one paid for rental property i'd rather be there than where you are. Okay. That's a good point.

Okay. Thanks for the call, brother. Perfect. Appreciate you joining us. So, Ken, when you've got a career that's cooking like that, it gives you lots of options. Yeah. Yeah. When you have an opportunity to get promoted and move yourself up the ladder and keep financing the baby steps, and then when you have a situation like the cars, you can go do that, get right back into the emergency fund. That is why the great job is the big shovel. It's a game changer.

Riley is paid for. Why are you going to college, whether it pays well and has good insurance, it's kind of a dead end. There's not a whole lot of room for promotion. My wife's job seems to be a bit of the same, and I really have no connection to it. What do you make? I work every day, and I dread going to work. What do you make? Between my wife and I, every month we make $20. Now, what do you make at your job? I make $22.85 an hour.

After taxes and insurance, I net about $34-ish a month. Right, but here's the thing. If you don't know why you're going to college other than I have a dead-end job, that's still not good enough reason to go to college. You've got to have a reason. Are you going to college to get a specific degree that will then qualify you to do work that you're deeply passionate about? Or you just think, well, if I go to college, I could upgrade my life.

So I love automotive. I went to a two-year technical program for it before I joined the military. And now that I'm out of the military, I really miss it. But I don't want to turn wrenches my whole career. So I've looked into it. And if I get a degree in it and I I've already been accepted into a program should I choose to go, then I can go into more of the management of the manufacturing of diesel and automotive technology. All right.

So in that situation, you said it's paid for. So if college is paid for, and it's the only way or the best way to get you to that management job in automotive, absolutely do it. But you've got to make sure that you can afford to do it, not just afford the college. You've got to get a budget together and make sure that we are living while we're getting educated. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Todd and Jamie are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? We're great, Dave. How are you?

Better than we deserve. Welcome. It's good to have you guys. Where do you all live? Fort Wayne, Indiana. Oh, fun. Very cool. Welcome. It's good to have you guys. Where do you all live? Fort Wayne, Indiana. Oh, fun. Very cool. Welcome to Nashville. How much debt have you guys paid off? $71,148.

All right. Very good. How long did this take? Three years. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? Started and ended around $100,000. Okay.

And what do you guys do for a living? I'm in finance. And I used to be a printer, but at the same time my printing plant was closing down, I ramped up my side hustle and paid off the debt as I was walking out the door. Oh, fun. What was your side hustle? Comic book shop. Okay.

Is that what you're doing full time now? Yep. All right. Look at you. Well done. Man, that's fun. What kind of debt was the $71,000? Our mortgage.

Oh, you paid off your house. Yeah. We're looking at weird people. How old are you two? I'm 45. I'm 47. Awesome. What's the house worth?

$230,000. Somewhere around there. I love it. Way to go, you two. Yeah. Thank you. Very, very well done. How does it feel to not have a payment in the world? Amazing. Yeah. Thank you. Very, very well done. How does it feel to not have a payment in the world?

Amazing. Yeah. Excellent. So, now that's sweet. I mean, you walk out from the printing job and pay the last payment on the house. Well, I paid it down, so she actually had to go through the drive-thru to make the last payment herself. I wanted to go inside, but, you know, COVID, I had to go through a drive-thru. That's so fun.

So it's kind of anticlimactic. Yeah. Yeah. I remember a cartoon years ago, drive-thrus at banks are where cars go to see their real owners. Yes. You guys. That's so fun. So what inspired all this?

What started this all three years ago? Well, like Todd said, he works in printing, and we knew it was going to end eventually. Just the whole book paper industry is just going away. So we kind of prepared ourselves for this moment. His plant actually closed on the 23rd of December, and we made the last house payment on the 28th, five days later. So we just, you know, we knew it was coming. We wanted to be prepared, and we didn't want to have to worry about, you know, finding another income if we needed to. You know, we could just relax and breathe. Wow.

So when you decide to finally attack the house, what was a big sacrifice? What was something big that you guys decided, okay, this is going to kickstart this or something maybe you didn't want to do but you knew you had to do? I mean, we cut back on, I mean, just your basics, going out to eat and stuff like that. But I was working pretty much a 12-hour shift, and I was working a comic book shop on the side. So it was kind of like time and family a little bit. Were you working for somebody else in the comic book business? No, I was a collector for probably 30 years solid without selling anything I collected.

Wow. So then I branched off and just started doing it myself. Okay. Okay, started selling. So you're doing a lot of it online then? No, I don't do anything online. Oh, you don't do anything online? Not yet.

You built a physical location that people come to to trade. It's inside of an antique shop, and I'm all the way in the back, and I've got like 20,000 comics in the very back of it. And I run it out of an antique shop. Oh, wow. That's amazing. So then my overhead's low, and then I don't have all the bills. Wow. So what is the most expensive comic book you've ever sold?

I mean, I've probably sold seven, $8,000 comics, but there's some worth a lot more. Oh, I know they're out there. I'm just saying that out of your collection, you sold one for seven or eight grand. What would be something that would go for that? It was a Star Wars number one, 35 cent cover. Okay. I sold that years ago. Oh, my gosh.

That's astounding. 35 cent cover. Okay. I sold that years ago. Oh my gosh. That's astounding. That's fun. That is very fun. We turn this hobby as passion into money. There it is. That's how you do it. Just like a Ken Coleman

thing or something. You've said it a few times. Yeah. Do work you love. Oh yeah, exactly. Yeah. And so does it just you still just employing yourself?

Well, the antique shop manages the stuff when I'm not there. So it gives me the opportunity to go hunt down comics and have a good time. Good for you. Yeah, okay. Fun. Way to go, guys.

What's this house worth? About $230,000. That's good. That's very good. And how'd you guys get roped in with us? I was listening for years, and she mentioned it one day. Hey, Dave Ramsey. And then she got on board, and I just followed her down the... I was like, okay, let's mentioned it one day. Hey, Dave Ramsey. And then she got on board, and I just followed her down the...

I was like, okay, let's do this. Game on. Game on. All right. Just like that. Let's knock this last $71,000 out. Yep. Three years later, ding, ding, house is paid for just in time for the print shop to close.

Yes. Odd timing. Yes. Hmm. Yeah, that's interesting. Wow. Good job, you guys. What advice do you have to somebody who wants to do this?

They want to get out of debt. What should they do? Oh, just keep your eye on the prize, the end goal. I mean, it just feels amazing to go to sleep at night, lay your head down, and you don't have to worry about anything. It's just that end goal. And just be honest with yourself and your partner. And, you know, this is something that's worth doing and just pushing through.

And the sacrifice is so worth it. I mean, if you really think about it, it's just a small amount of time that you're sacrificing. And you've got the rest of your life to just, you know, live like no one else. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Pay a price to know, live like no one else. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Pay a price to win. Live like no one else.

Later you can live and give like no one else. That's so fun. Very cool. Very cool. So are you still actively adding to the inventory? You said you still have hunting stuff. Oh, yeah. We've been all over Nashville.

No, you've been all over Nashville. We've been all over Nashville hunting inventory, so we're having a fun time. Yeah. That's cool. Where do you find your best stuff? It depends. I mean, estates. I usually buy full collections, so I mean, I typically go that route.

That's a good, yeah, that way. That sounds, you're right. Fun, fun. And you brought your daughter with you? Yep. Yep. All right. How old is she?

She is 18. All right. Way to go. and an 18 year old is named casey casey welcome casey good to have you very very cool all right we've got a copy of the legacy journey for you because you've changed your whole legacy way to go that's very fun and an extra copy of the total money makeover for you to give away to someone inspire them to do what you guys have done uh it's worth it, isn't it? Yes. How does it feel to not have a payment in the world?

Awesome. Oh, just, yeah, just breathe easy. I'm telling you. Peace. Yes, I love it. All right, Todd, Jamie, and Casey, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 71,000 paid off in three years, making $100 a year. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! We're debt-free! I love it. That is how it's done, ladies and gentlemen. That's how it's done. You know, sometimes when we talk to people that want to open a business doing something that they're passionate about,

the biggest obstacle they have is they refuse to start small. We've got a sign up over here, over the top of a trunk of a car that says, Don't despise small beginnings. Yes, so true. And, you know know he put this in the back of an antique shop so when he's gone somebody's managing the sales probably for very little is just an arrangement with the landlord there and he's sub leasing and got almost no overhead yeah and so almost everything he makes comes home brilliant way to start to turn your

hobby into a very lucrative business as a first step. That's exactly right. And here's the key. Something you love. So he's willing to swallow his pride and go to the antique shop owner and say, hey, can I come in the back? I just need X amount of space. When you care deeply about something, Dave, you'll swallow your pride. You'll work those extra hours.

This was a side hustle to get out of debt, but now it's become his full-time gig. That's the key. When we talk about passion, you've got to love it. And you're willing to suffer. You're willing to swallow the pride. You're willing to hustle. Drive all over Nashville to look for inventory. You know, he's chuckling right now.

Listen, that's what you do because you go, I desperately want this to work. I'd rather do that than work for some jerk that just shuts the plant down and I've lost my job. So I'll work harder. I'll work smarter. See, passion gives you the fuel for that. Yeah. The fire to stay with it long enough to figure that out. But it's almost like you're, to start, you're playing around the fringes.

You don't have to walk right out in the middle of the ring with the spotlight on you. No. No. Just play around the edges. Yes. Take the edges. There's lots of money in the middle of the ring with the spotlight on you no no just play around the edges yes take the edges there's lots of money in the edges yeah just go ahead and make you a living in the edges yeah you don't have to start in the spotlight maybe the most amazing miracle on the planet is watching a human being learn how to walk and they always crawl then they stagger a little bit then they start walking with some pace. And then they run.

Yeah. Not the other way around. Yeah. We got a toddler running around right now. Oh, my gosh. Once they take off, they go. That's it. Oh, my gosh.

This is the Ramsey Shad. Thank you. Ken Coleman Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. We're continuing to do shows on America's greatest legal fraud. It's kind of an oxymoron technically but it's still a great name what is america's greatest fraud out there that's legal timeshares for sure complete ripoff right we all know that and yet people still get stuck in them every day. And so if you have been burned by a timeshare, or you've had a horrible story with a timeshare, or you have just gone to one of those ridiculous sales presentations, kind of like getting stuck in a prisoner camp,

kind of like getting stuck in something, a tiger cage, and you can't get out. And you want to tell your story. We want to hear from you. We want to give you a place for your voice to be heard because real people are who's getting screwed by these people. So if you've got a timeshare story, email us at DaveOnAir at RamseySolutions.com. DaveOnAir at RamseySolutions.com. Just put timeshare ripoff story or whatever in the subject line.

Kelly will get back with you. We're not going to tell you what to say, but we'll give you access to a microphone and a radio show where we can tell people what's really going on in that business. Well, Dave, I don't like you talking nasty about timeshares. I sell timeshares. You shouldn't do that. You should get a good job. Your job sucks, and your job is to rip people off.

You should stop doing that. I'm sorry if you don't like it. If you work for a payday lender, you should get a different job. Your job sucks. Your job is to rip people off. You shouldn't do that. Why is this hard? I mean, this is an ethics problem because it's an immoral operation because of the way the customer is treated and the way they stick it to you. And so if you've had dealings with Westgate or Diamond or Wyndham or you've had dealings with Marriott or you've had dealings with any of these folks where you're dealing with timeshare, the blue-green folks,

oh, God help you if you got in that one, and just email us at daveonair at ramsaysolutions.com. We are going to continue to expose America's greatest legal fraud. And, oh boy, have we got some cool information about what's going on behind the scenes with some of these people and these companies. You are going to love the next show. They're not, but you folks are. All right, Edgar is with us in fresno california hi edgar welcome to the ramsey show what's up how you doing good i have a question so this is my

first time trying to buy a home and i'm 32 and i don't have no debt. And you dropped the phone. I'm 32, and I don't have debt was the last thing we heard. What happened? Yeah, you're having all kinds of trouble here with your phone. Try one more time. Sorry. I said I've been trying to buy a home for a year.

Yeah. And the issue is not the prices, but I didn't have any credit because everything I've owned, I paid cash for. So now the issue is I've been trying to, you know, say we've been looking at homes. I know the house or the house market is crazy. And we fell in love with that house on the acre. And I'm debating, what should we do? Should we buy a house already built? Yes. Or should we try to go buy a home and build a module home on the land? You should buy an existing property. And if you're having trouble getting a loan with no credit, if you have a good tax return showing that you're making money, you can do that.

It's called manual underwriting. You have to find a mortgage company that does that. Churchill Mortgage does that. They're one of the ones that does that. And here's the thing, Edgar. Modular can means a lot of different things. There are some home builders that are building with components of the home rolled in on a truck and stood up intact together,

like a wall system or a truss system or something like that that's pre-built, that's, technically speaking, a modular home. The trick is sometimes modular home is code for double-wide. Yes. And if it's code for double-wide, you do not want to buy that that's going to go down in value 100 of the time double wides go down in value sometimes the land under them goes up in value faster than the double wide goes down and you make the mistake of thinking the trailer actually went up it didn't go up it went down in value so if you can tell if the consumer the next buyer can walk up to the house and tell that it came on wheels or that it came in sections because of

the construction technique notifies the buyer that it is modular then you are not going to get the appreciation, and you may likely get depreciation, loss in value, on the property. Do not buy that. And if you need help with manual underwriting, just get in touch with Churchill Mortgage. They can help you. It's a very good point that you point out, because there are some companies that are really coming into the marketplace that are building nice stuff, and they're just building them in a giant warehouse in

pieces with real carpenters. So it's real wood. It's just they're building it there, and they're bringing it out. Then they put it together. And that's a house. Yeah. That, even though it's prefab, whatever you want to call it, or module, it just means the way they're putting it together.

But that's a very good point. Those are very affordable, and they're pretty well built in some cases those small systems are better than a stick because they're built in a giant warehouse yes sir so that is a very key distinction there and those to me i think that's if i'm going module i'm going that route yeah but but that's not what he's talking about no he's not talking about double what yeah that's right and trailers trailers are basically cars you sleep in. They go down in value. Yeah. That's what it amounts to.

Down in value. Stay away from them. And Churchill can help you. And you know what? The interesting thing, Ken, we're finding is that real estate agents around America are lining up to work with Churchill. The best real estate agents in America are lining up to work with Churchill because of the service they're providing. And especially Dave Ramsey listeners are working, having their agents work with Churchill because Churchill can do manual underwriting. They can get them the loan when they haven't had all the credit lined up. And they've stayed out of debt like he's done.

He's been Mr. Cash off the grid guy. Now, you have to, of course, have a tax return to be able to prove that you make an income. But that's, you know, back in the day, we used to, and Churchill does this, and again, they work with the best real estate agents in the nation for this reason. And so all you real estate agents out there, you need to remember them, by the way. But the best ones work with them. But in 1978, I get my real estate license, right, a thousand years ago. There were no pre-approved mortgages. There wasn't none of this stuff where you just walked in with a number and they gave you a loan.

Ooh, ooh, a monkey can make that loan, right? And so we had to actually do mortgage people actually did underwriting. That's where the word comes from. They did the research on the individual to make sure they could pay their bills, We had to actually do, mortgage people actually did underwriting. That's where the word comes from. They did the research on the individual to make sure they could pay their bills, and we had to have them sign a VOD so we could send to their bank a verification of deposit, a verification of employment, a VOE. That was mailed snail mail in those days to your employer, and they would send back verifying how much you make and that you work here

and verifying that, you make and that you work here and verifying that, mail to your bank, and they'd send a note back verifying how much is in the bank. And, you know, you pull up tax returns, and they show that you've actually made money several years in, you know, continuous years. And you just verify length of time of employment, length of time in a certain career. And all of this work went into approving a mortgage loan because it was a big deal back in the day when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Now, that's how a manual underwriting loan works is they're going to do that exact same kind of thing today.

Of course, it'll be done with electronic. It won't be done snail mail. And it's done very, very quickly. But with the advent of the FICO score and all of America worshiping at the altar of the great FICO, oh great FICO, you are our provider. And then everybody's gone to that. And the mortgage companies, a lot of people have forgotten how to really do an underwritten loan.

And it's a shame. But Churchill can do it, and that's, again, one of the many reasons the best real estate agents in the nation work with him. So if you're a high-quality real estate agent, you ought to check him out. This is The Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about an event, product, or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything you've heard about during this episode in the podcast show notes section or head to theramseyshow.com.

Thanks for listening.