The Ramsey Show - App - How to Ask for a Raise (Hour 1)

Episode Date: December 24, 2019

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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. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. It's a free call at 888-825-5225. Amber starts off this hour in Indianapolis. Merry Christmas, Amber. How are you?

Merry Christmas. I'm better than I deserve, Dave. How are you? Just the same. How can I help? I have a career question that I need help with. I'm currently with a contracting company that I've been with for four years. I do basically analysis work, and they want to onboard me, which I'm so excited about.

I wanted to know, I asked my boss at the contracting company for a raise, and they really can't do anything because they're in like a contract-like transition. And I want to know, since I'm'm getting onboarded if i could ask for more money um from where i'm at i currently make about 53 000 and i'm wondering if i can ask for like 60 or 65 okay i'm sorry you asked for a raise but they didn't give it to you now you're gonna ask for a raise again yeah because it's with a different like so i'm with a contracting with my boss and he's the director of engineering and then when i go to a different like it's with a different, like, so I'm with a contracting with my boss, and he's the director of engineering. And then when I go to a different, like, it's with actual company that we've been working for for four years.

It's going to be with a different person. I'll be reporting to a different director. But you're going to be working for the same company? No. I will be employed for, so, so like the contracting company does facility work, and then the company that I'm going to be switching to is like hired on full-time. Oh, you're going to work for one of the facilities. Yeah, like I'm working for the actual company that's been doing facility work.

Okay, so they've offered you a job to pay you $53,000? Yes. And you've accepted that job? I am in the midst of it. I've got over the weekend to think about it, and they're going to talk with me on Monday more about it. Have they offered you the job? Yes.

At $53,000? No, I don't know if they've got the money. They haven't talked about Money Wise yet, but I wanted to go in and have my ducks in a row as well. Okay. All right. So if you were them, why would you pay you 60 instead of 53? That's a good question. I think about the expanded roles i'm going to have there um i've

the platform like i've pretty much got to a platform where i'm at i don't hire people based on i don't pay people based on what they used to make okay so you're you don't you used to work somewhere else now you work for me and you have an expanded role whoopee i don't care okay you just took a new job that had an expanded role. Whoopee. I don't care. Okay. You just took a new job that had an expanded role. You just took that job. So why?

Try again. I'm being tough on you, but you've got to think this through. If you'll switch shoes with that guy or gal that's sitting there and answer this question, why are you worth more? That's good. I like that um basically because i'm going to be taking on an expanded role um with the saving money um we'll be using that to cut energy costs and because we'll be cutting energy costs um i believe that i should be compensated based on the savings that we are going to

be able to do in the future. Okay. But don't use the phrase expanded role. Okay. Okay. Because that refers back to the old place. It's an expanded role over what you used to do. But just go, look, I'm going to come in here and I'm going to cut your costs because I

know what I'm doing and so I'm worth this. Okay. If you come in here and show me how you can make me $300,000, I'll pay you $100,000 easy, right? Okay. But you've got to show me, you know, I think I can show you some energy savings that makes you really glad that I'm here and you're only paying me $60,000. You've got a deal on me. Yeah, exactly.

That's what I'm saying. Okay. Yeah, you got any, you know, because if you'll just be me $60,000. You've got a deal on me. Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm saying. Okay. Yeah, you've got... Okay. Because if you'll just be on the other side of that and go, well, of course, if you're going to save us $300,000 in energy costs and, you know, you want $60,000 instead of $53,000, yeah, sure. Your expertise makes you worth that then.

And so, because that's what every employer wants to do ultimately, is they want to make more on the person than the person costs. Otherwise, the business goes out of business. Should I be asking for more? Like, what should I be asking for? I have no idea what the job pays. Well, I just, I gave them, I threw them out a number when I first started back, and I said 50. The job market, like, basically goes up to about 70 from what I've researched.

Well, that's the other thing. You could come in and you could lay that, you could pull down some research that says, you know, this position at other places pays between 50 and 70. With my level of experience, I think I can make you so much money, you'd be happy you paid me between 50 and 70 with my level of experience i think i can make you so much money you'd be happy you paid me between 60 and 70 okay but if they can hire other people for this position for that range then they're not going to pay you 160 right right because they can replace they can replace think about two of you for that right Right, exactly. So it's a math equation for the business, and it's not being mean, and it's not saying you're just merely what you can produce, but it is about a return on investment for that business.

And if you'll think about it from their perspective, it'll help you keep your words coming towards them in a correct way. How can I add value? I want to be so valuable to you, make you so much money that you're smiling every time you think of me that you only have to pay me $65,000 because the range is 50 to 70, and I'm going to make you so much money in energy savings here. I really can show you how I can do that, and I'm so excited about it. And, you know, we started talking about 53, but I got to looking at this,

and I think I'm worth more than that because I think I'm worth more than that to you. I think I'm going to make you money, and that's how you will go at it. This is the whole thing. All right. Mike is on the line in Indianapolis. Hey, Mike, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you doing?

Better than I deserve. What's up? So my little sister has struggled financially, and my wife and I have helped her out in the past. Last time we offered FPU trying to explain how it changed our lives and how much better we are off for it, but she ignored us. And today she's cold and needs money because she's facing addiction, and we're just not sure what to do at this point.

Well, at what point is her irresponsibility not going to be your problem anymore? That's where our struggling. I know that in a sense we are enabling her by continuing to help, but I think that my heart keeps getting in the way, and I understand that there's part of it that is still might not be helping even by trying to help. Exactly. You're harming. Yeah. Now, I don't know what it takes to get her under control, but where does she live? She lives in South Carolina.

Okay. All right. Well, I'm going to have a talk with her that says, if I help you this time, you're going to Financial Peace University. And if you don't, we're not ever giving you another dime again, even if you're homeless. Do you understand me? You know, I'm going to get real firm with her. You're going to learn how to handle money, kiddo. I'm your big brother and I'm going to make you do it because I love you and I'm not giving

you any more money. If I help you this one more time, this is it. And you're going to the freaking class if I drag you there by your hair and you just have big brother talk. I don't know how you discuss it with your sister, but that might be how it sounds. Maybe it's nicer than that. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. For over 20 years, I've recommended Zander Insurance and their term life programs. I'm still amazed at how many families have no life insurance or not enough

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It's all about serving you like no one else so you get the protection you need. There really is no excuse not to get this done. Call 800-356-4282 or go to zander.com. You pick the path to getting your family protected. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you are here. Jim is with us in New York City. Hi, Jim. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave,, America. We're glad you are here. Jim is with us in New York City. Hi, Jim. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.

Thank you, Dave, for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Dave, I have a question about whether to buy a single-family house versus multifamily house. Basically, I am 51 years old. I don't have about $250,000 in my retirement, and we're single income making about $120,000 a year. And eight years ago, we bought our first home, which is about $40,000 in the payment, and all the housing costs.

It's about 40% of our net income. And we have about $100,000 in equity in this housing. We want to sell our house and cash out the $100,000 in equity. And what we should do is, should we buy a single family home and a lesser home and then trying to be done with the mortgage payment sooner? Or can we, should we buy a multifamily home that may cost a little bit more, but in overtime, it'll build up more equity for our retirement. Well, it needs to be something that you can get to where it's more affordable than where you are now, for sure.

It sounds like you're looking at a more expensive multifamily than single family for some reason or another. I mean, apples to apples, if you're looking at a, I don't know, $200,000 properties, $300,000 properties, $400,000 properties, whatever, in most areas of the country, a single family will go, if everything is exactly the same, which it never is in real estate, but if everything were exactly the same, the neighborhood, quality of construction, prestige, all of that, a single family typically has more of a market than a multifamily on resale, which means it's going to appreciate a little bit more. Now, if you've got a multifamily in a better area, more prestigious, whatever, it's going to go up more than a single family in a not-so-good area or not-as-good area, whatever. So, again, that's the problem. It's almost impossible to find an actual situation where a multifamily is in exactly the same situation as a single family. But all things being equal, if they ever were, the single family in general is going to have more market for resale in most markets. New York City is a different market, though.

And so there's a lot more multifamily in that area and so you know you're not going to see as big a a differentiation as you might an area that's a very very heavy single family and light multifamily in that case you know multifamily could be a mistake you've just got to look at it and you got you got to analyze the exact market that you're looking in, the particular neighborhoods that you're looking in, and those kinds of things. So it's just whatever's going to serve your family the best. As long as you've got a good, strong area on either one in your market, you're going to be fine. And as long as you've got something that you can afford, you're going to be fine. Steven is with us in Augusta, Georgia.

Hi, Steven. How are you? I'm good. How about you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I appreciate good. How about you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I appreciate you taking my call. I have a quick question.

I know a lot of times you talk about not cashing out a 401k. That's not my question, but the question is, is the company that I work for, they have options where you can borrow from your 401k? Yeah, most do. With a very low interest rate? Yeah, and you pay yourself back. Right. Do you think that's a bad idea to sit there and do that?

Yes, really bad idea. Even to pay some credit card debt off that has high interest rates? Yeah, really bad idea. And here's why. Really? A couple reasons. Number one, you're unplugging a good mutual fund that will make about three times what you're paying yourself. Number two, when you leave your company, and you will leave your company,

whether you get a raise and a better job, whether they fire you or whether you die, at some point you're going to leave this company. And if that loan is still outstanding, it's considered an early withdrawal. And you will be taxed and you will be penalized as if it's an early withdrawal. I don't tinker with it. I don't mess with it. No, I do not borrow on 401ks ever for anything. As a matter of fact fact our 401k plan here

at our company we do not even offer loans as an option we just check the box no loans and since i own the company i can do crap like that so um you can't borrow on your 401k if you work here period because it's such a dumb idea so i hope that helps you man thanks for calling brendan is in south bend indiana hey brendan how are you you're dave how are you better than i deserve how can i help yeah so um i'm graduating in may um and my grandparents have put aside many psychology cheers your phone is breaking up you're going to speak directly into it. Hello? Speak directly into your microphone on your phone, please.

Okay. Thank you. My grandparents put aside $50,000 a year for my tuition. I haven't used all of it. When I graduate in May, I will be receiving $100,000. And I was wondering what you thought I should invest in. Should I probably end up getting a place of my own, but there will still be money left over. Sure. Are you 100% debt-free?

Yes, I am. I don't have any bills. I live with my parents. Free rent. What's your degree in? Marketing. Very good. Cool.

Good for you. Congratulations. Well, I think when you graduate, I would just take the money and you can either think about what you want to invest in long term or use it out however you want. A portion of it needs to be your emergency fund. You should have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. Then get settled into your new place. And, you know, I'll probably just rent for a little while straight out of school. fund of three to six months of expenses, then get settled into your new place. And, you know, I'll probably just rent for a little while straight out of school.

Not a long time, but just get you a little apartment and get settled. The thing is, there's no rush for you to buy a home. If you want to park that money in a mutual fund and say sometime in the next four or five years, I'm going to buy a home. That's probably what I would do with it and not worry about and then just start your retirement at your new company or start your retirement with a automatic withdrawal out of your income from your checking account for your uh you know a roth ira or whatever um but just you know make sure a portion is set aside a separate little account for your emergency fund the rest of it i would invest in a mutual fund. Probably something like just a no-load index fund because it's a short-term park.

You're not going to leave it there 20 years. You're going to leave it there three or four, five, six years until you move to the next phase of your life, at which point you probably will buy a home or buy a piece of real estate to live in. But for today, that wouldn't be my plan. Hey, thanks for the call. What a beautiful place to live in. But for today, that wouldn't be my plan. Hey, thanks for the call. What a beautiful place you're in. What a great position that your family has left you in.

That's just amazing. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Guys, we've been talking a lot about the millionaire's mind around here. How does the millionaire's mind work? Well, it's got a lot to do with focusing on the little things. These everyday millionaires, one of the things they do is they do some nerdy stuff, grown-up stuff. They think about their coverages. They think about the defense as well as the offense.

The offense is where you're building wealth, investing. The defense is stuff like wills, insurance policies, the right kind of stuff, not getting caught up in gimmick ripoff insurance, but getting the right kind of stuff. And, you know, the everyday millionaires just think long term, and that requires you go there. So here's what I want you to do. We've got a thing that we've got a five five minute coverage checkup that will help you it's not tedious it takes five minutes and you'll know where you stand on some of these millionaire things that they do are you doing the stuff that it takes to be a millionaire and this is one of

those things so get out your phone it's completely free it's a five minute checkup text the word check up to 33 789 check up to 33 789 and then you'll be in a position you know you'll be able to take about five minutes to do this thing and you'll be rocking with it you'll know exactly where you stand you're going to be in great shape open phones this hour at 888-825-5225. Merry Christmas to you. Some of you are reaching the end of your Christmas budget.

You've almost spent the money that you had allocated for Christmas. You know what you do when you run out of money? You go home! And stop spending! You're not in Congress. Stop it. Stop it.

The reason for the season can't be found at the mall. It's okay to get some stuff at the mall, but when you're done with your spending money, go home. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. patrick and stephanie are in clovis new New Mexico. Hey, guys, how are you? Good, Dave, and you? Better than I deserve. Welcome, welcome. How much debt have you two paid off?

We've paid off $81,165.60. Cool. How long did this take? 18 months. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? During that time, we started at about $120,000, and we had kind of a temporary increase to about $155,000 to $160,000-ish,

but then we'll kind of go back down to $125,000. Okay. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a stay-at-home homeschooling mom. And I am a contractor working overseas. Oh, okay. What do you do? Well, I primarily work as an aircraft mechanic and inspector.

Oh, okay. Applying in non-destructive inspection. Gotcha. Okay. And so what kind of debt was the $81,000? It was mostly credit cards, and then we had a car, a tractor, and a Disney Vacation Club timeshare. Oh, goody. And you guys had a little bit of everything.

How long have you two been married? Almost 21 years now. Okay. What happened 18 months ago? Um, well, I had, uh, because my work is kind of cyclical. I work about 60 days on and 60 days off overseas. I, for a long time had, or for the first couple of years of my employment, I had the opportunity to do extensions. And we used those extensions, which kind of worked out like overtime, to kind of cover expenses and make things fit and all that.

And then about 18 months ago, I was told that we wouldn't be getting any more extensions. So I was overseas at the time in an area where I couldn't really call Steph. I had to do everything by text, and I texted her and said, here's what it's looking like, which understandably, the way we were doing things upset her quite a bit. Yeah, your income just dropped in half. Yeah, yeah, it just took a big hit to the income there. And she was pretty upset

about that, so we were considering cashing out my 401k to pay things off and to kind of make ourselves whole again. And then what happened at that point is when we got done texting that night, I was, like you said, very upset. I started looking into the 401K option. I didn't like that option because we've already, in our past of 20 years, cashed in a couple of my small retirements when I quit jobs. And so I called my brother at like 11 o'clock at night. He works nights, so I can talk to him. And I called my brother, Charlie, and he kind of ripped me,

is what he did. He pulled a Dave Ramsey on me because he said that, you know, we made too much money to be this broke. And he told me that we could, you know, he started telling me we could sell this or sell that. And he started talking about selling the car and selling the tractor and selling the truck and the van. And I kind of came up with excuses for everyone and, you know, wasn't really listening very well and hung up like in tears just crying and tried to go to sleep but couldn't and ended up getting up out of bed, went into my office, got on the computer, and started making a spreadsheet.

And I sat down, and the first thing I looked at was the car. It was the only vehicle, other than the tractor, that we owed money on still. We had my minivan was paid off. My minivan's now over 200,000 miles. But it wasn't worth a lot, so I didn't see that being helpful. But we had a unique opportunity with the car because we happened to own one of the Volkswagen diesels that was part of the scandal. Yeah, you could come out of that on top.

Yeah, and they were offering us, you know, we could do the buyback or keep it, and we were planning to keep it, but I looked at the options and started looking at if we did the buyback and got the cash settlement and got rid of the payment and the position it would put us in. And it actually had us at that point to where we would pay off in 36 months. And so at about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, I called my brother back and told him what I'd been doing. And he said he would buy us FPU for Christmas and allow us to do the program at home. We kind of live in the middle of nowhere.

And then I told him that I would text Pat the next day to talk to him. And I was a little nervous because the car was kind of Pat's, and I didn't think he'd be on board with it. Yeah, you got the minivan. Now Pat's driving the tractor. Yeah, exactly. He's like, I'm not driving the minivan. But yeah, I texted him, and surprisingly, he was like,

I told him about my spreadsheet that I'd made this nice color-coded spreadsheet, and I sent it to him. And surprisingly, he came back with, let's do this. So Pat, you were ready, too too you were sick of this oh absolutely yeah yeah and then you come home and you guys go to financial peace university well we didn't end up going to it we did it um through the program at home the home study okay i got you yeah our church is an hour and a half away. Right, right. Nowadays, you could just watch it all online, but it was different then. Yeah.

Very good, you guys. So what is the key to getting out of debt? You paid off $81,000 in 18 months. What did the Volkswagen sell for? The Volkswagen, well, they paid off the loan of $17,000. Okay. And then we also got about an $8,000 cash settlement on top of that. Okay, so you got 25 of the 81 with that one move.

Yes. Yeah, all right. And then what is the key to getting out of debt then? You did it in 18 months. I would have to say, for me, it was communication, close communication to where both of us know exactly what's going on with everything all the time rather than in the past where I had largely let her kind of control everything. Which she did as good a job as I could possibly expect. Exactly.

But she was by herself. But she was by herself. I. But she was by herself. I didn't have a full understanding of what was going on, how it was being done, exactly where we were. I knew small numbers. I did not have the big picture. And, you know, guys being visual creatures, the spreadsheet gave me the big picture

and color-coded clarity. So, Stephanie, you lost some of the control when Pat got involved, but you gained someone else's shoulders to help carry the load, right? Yes. It became amazing. Actually, what happened with Pat with this was beyond flabbergasting to me because he got so on board that what and God honestly had a huge impact in this because he was told there'd be no more extensions and that was back like just a few months before we started and then um about uh it'd be about a year into it, he gets a call.

He was home during one of his trips. And he gets a call from work saying he'd just gotten back three weeks before, but they needed him to come back a month early. And he gets off the phone, and he's like, what do I do? And I'm like, I don't know. Do you want to go back? And he's like, well, what would it do with our debt? And so we were out of town, and I don't even know how I got my spreadsheets or numbers if I just knew them.

But I sat down and was sitting in my brother's house actually calculating. And I'm like, you know what? If you do this, we could be out of debt in June instead of another year and a half. And it was like, wow. You did it. And I think he jumped on board, and he actually told them that he would extend for the month if they would give him an extra two weeks on the end as well that would guarantee us to get it all paid off in that time.

Congratulations, you guys. We're so proud of you all. Thank you. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's retire-inspired book for you. That is the next chapter in your story to be millionaires and outrageously generous as you go along. Patrick and go ahead. Right quick. Can I share one other thing? You got 10 seconds. One of the big keys for me was setting an example for our kids.

Oh, there you go. Teaching our teenagers about this has made a huge difference. Patrick and Stephanie, $81,000 paid off in 18 months. Making $120,000 to $155,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Okay, Hunter's going to count us down. Here you go. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free! I love it. Tom is with us in Columbus, Ohio. Hey, Tom, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey there, how are you doing today? Better than I deserve. What's up? So, I'm 26 years old. I make about $42 a year, and I have no debt. Good for you. All right.

So my question is, I've got about like three grand in savings bonds. They're making between 2% and 4% on interest. Yep. And it's just not that much, so I was kind of wondering, like, what can I kind of do with this right now? Okay. Well, I don't use savings bonds because, as you said, they don't pay any interest to amount to anything. And people tend to misplace them, forget they have them, and they just sit around.

And so I don't use them as a vehicle. What we teach folks to do is to have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses in something like a money market account. Do you have that? I don't. I just have a basic savings account. Okay. I've got about two grand in there. I'm trying to have a fully funded emergency fund. You have how much in there?

Two grand. So you're trying to get it up to a fully funded? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Let's cash those savings bonds out and use them towards that goal then. Okay. Just put it right in? Yep.

Put it right in and then move it from a savings talk to your bank about giving you a money market it's not going to pay much more probably one percent or something it's instead of a half a percent but it's still a joke but at least you've got it separated and you do not have an atm on it and you do not have it attached to overdraft to your checking account so uh that way you use it only if there's an emergency you have to stop what you're doing, move everything around to get there. And that's the only way around it. All right. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rashad is with us in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Rashad. How are you?

Hey, Dave. How are you, man? Better than I deserve. What's up? Hey, real quick. First off, man, I want to thank you for taking my call. Let you know that listening to your show has changed my life, man. The whole, if you can't pay for it now, you can't afford it has changed my life. So I want to thank you for that, just to start off with. Well, thank you. I'm honored. My question is, I'm about to get married.

I'm about to pop the question. I'm sure she's going to say yes. So I was finished with Baby Step 2 this week, but now with me getting married, I'm going to bring her on board. So her debt's pretty low. She's got like $4,500 worth of debt, but she's got this car that she's leasing. There's like a 2017 Honda. She's already over the miles on it. And so I was wondering what you think I should do to try to get this squared away,

because I know you're a big fan of selling cars. Have you guys discussed all of this? Are you on the same page about money? Yeah, she's good at following my lead about this, and I don't know if she'll be okay with me selling her car. So I'm hoping that you've got some advice on that. Yeah, that's where you don't want her following your lead. That's where you guys want to be talking this through

and both of you using your brains and both of you buying into what's best for the family long term. And that's, of course, once you're not only engaged but once you're married. But the way you deal with a car lease is there's a couple things to look at. You get the early buyout on it, which is like the early payoff, okay? Right. And you compare that to what it's worth. And look at a private sale on Kelley Blue Book.

And so let's just make up some numbers. Do you know any of those numbers by chance? I don't, sir. I'm sorry. Okay. All right. So let's just of those numbers by chance? I don't, sir. I'm sorry. Okay. All right. So let's just say that the early buyout is $24,000, okay, to get out of this car. And you can sell the car for $20,000.

Well, that would leave you $4,000 in the hole. In order to sell the car, you've got to have the other $4,000. You've got to borrow it. You've got to save it. You've got to have it from somewhere. Does that make sense yes sir yeah and so once you've got that four thousand dollars and you cover that difference now then you compare that to if you keep the car to the end what does it cost now if it's a three

hundred dollar a month payment and you got 10 months left that's three thousand dollars but she's over on her miles and that's another 1500 i'm making that number up okay find out what the mile overage is going to be by the time she turns it in and you estimate with the number of miles she's running what how much more she'll be over and so you put the mileage overage plus the remaining things and you compare that to the hole that you're in if you sell it now so what it amounts to is is the longer the more that is left on the lease the more likely you are to sell it now the closer to the end of the lease you are the more like you are to grit your teeth and bear it and just take it on through. But try to limit the mileage so that we don't go over. Do you have any idea how much time is left on the lease?

Well, she just got it last year, so I think maybe two years. So you think it's a three-year lease? I believe so. Okay, you're probably selling it. She's got like a 0% rate on it. Yeah, you're probably selling it, though. Okay, because when you add up 24 of her payments versus what you find out that she's in the hole, then you're going to find that 24 payments is a lot more than she's in the hole.

That's what I'm going to guess, okay? But you've got to get those three or four numbers together, and that way you can compare what it looks like to keep it, how much does it cost to keep it in payments and in mileage overage, and through the end of the lease and then turn it in, or what does it cost to sell it now because we're in the whole X, and compare those two numbers, and then that will tell you what you're supposed to do.

The math will tell you. And I think as long as there's left on this, you're probably going to want to sell this car. But she's got to want to sell it, too. And you guys need to get on the same page. That is absolutely imperative that the two of you talk this through and that she doesn't just follow your lead. Hey, thanks for the call, man. Appreciate you joining us.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Thank you for being here, America. We're glad you're with us. Cliff is in San Francisco. Hey, Cliff, how are you? Hi, I'm good. Thanks for taking my call. Sure, what's up?

So I'm planning on starting medical school in about a year and a half, and right now I'm saving up as much money as I can, but I just don't foresee how I can pay for it without taking out student loans. So kind of my situation right now is I so far have $58,000 saved up, and I'm hoping to have $160,000 saved up by the time I start medical school. And I guess my question for you is what else can I do to minimize the financial burden of the academic choices that I'm making? Two things.

One is school choice, and that's not something that people in your shoes like to hear because you're just feeling lucky to have been accepted anywhere. Yeah, well, the thing is, California in-state schools either don't have in-state tuition or they really like to accept out-of-state tuition, so there's no guarantee at all that I'm even going to get into one of the less expensive schools. Yeah. But school choice, the thing is, I've never gone to a doctor and asked them where they went to school.

That's a fair point, yeah. And so I want to pay, I mean, assuming that the education is reasonable, and I think it is, I want to go to the least expensive school. That's variable number one, and that variable could be half the cost of another one easily. And so just because you got in doesn't mean you need to go do it. You may need to keep working it. The second thing is I would begin to approach some of the hospital equipment companies and some of the pharmaceutical companies

and see what scholarships they offer for med school students. They're rare. They're hard to find. But if you can find them, they go well. The third thing is talk to some of the big hospital companies and ask them if they have any kind of a scholarship program or indentured servant type program, I call it, where you promise to work for one of their hospitals for a year or two after you get out, in return, though, they give you like $100,000 or something, that kind of a thing.

And there's some of that out there, the HCAs of the world and that kind of a thing. So check in with all of those while you're at it as well. The only other thing I can think of is the MD-PhD programs, which are, again, very rare and hard to get into. But if you can get into one of them, that basically makes you an employee of the university, and you go to school free. Right. And so look into the MD-PhD programs.

They are powerful as far as saving money goes on this stuff. And that's the way to go with that for sure. So, hey, good question. I think you can make it. You're just going to poke around until you figure it out. Thanks for calling in. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Our thanks to James Childs, our producer, Kelly Daniel, our associate producer and phone screener.

I am Dave Ramsey, your host, and we'll be back. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for the Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about a product or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything that is mentioned during this episode in the podcast show notes section. Thanks for listening.