The Ramsey Show - App - How to Get Current on Your Bills When You're Behind (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show. Where data's 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, Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, host of the Ken Coleman Show. We talk about careers and finding your passion in your work is my co-host today.

We're taking your calls about careers, about money, about life. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Karen's 888-825-5225. Karen's in Lubbock, Texas. Hi, Karen. How are you? Hi, Dave. Hi, Ken.

It's an honor to speak with you all. You too. What's up? My question is this. I am in Baby Steps 4 and 5, and I have a 23-year-old son. He will be going to graduate school in Dallas in August, and he's going to get a free scholarship for all the $2,000 of his graduate school. However, I'll be helping him pay for his rent,

and when he gets rent or when he rents his house, he will be having roommates. And if I am asked to co-sign, I know I've heard you say many times not to co-sign for somebody when they're renting for your child. So my question is, what can I do if I'm asked to co-rent? What other options would I, or to co-sign, what other options would I have? Are you paying the rent? I'm going to help him. He'll probably be paying some of it, but I'm going to pay, help him with a lot of it. Do you have the money? Yes, I do. I'm on Baby Steps 4 and 5

and How old is he? He's cash flowing. He's 23. Okay, and what's his grad work? He's going to graduate in music performance. Okay, is he working while he's doing his grad work? He's going to graduate in music performance. Okay.

Is he working while he's doing his grad work? Yes, he will be. In undergrad, he did a lot of gigs, and, you know, he did a lot of work, and he paid for most of it, most of his rent, and I paid for minimal of his school. So I won't be paying a whole lot, but the issue is I'm just concerned that when he gets a roommate, he doesn't have any credit or credit cards, thank God. But if I'm asked to co-sign for him.

The answer is no, I would not co-sign for anyone under any circumstances. The reason I was asking so many questions, I was trying to figure out where you were in a couple of things on parallels. So one of my kids at college moved into a house with a bunch of other kids. And A, I didn't want his name or my name tied to being liable for the whole rent if the other goobs didn't pay their share. Right. Which happens in college situations all the time. Okay. Yes.

And so what I did in that case was I called the landlord, talked to him, and I just prepaid his rent for the year. Okay. No signature required. No lease required. He's liable for the whole thing, because he's not liable for anything. His part's already paid, and I'm certainly not signing anything. Yes, that's what I just wanted to be prepared when that question arises.

And I don't want to burst your bubble, but I do want you to be thinking about something and your son. Why do you need graduate-level work and performance in the music business? His ultimate goal is to be a professor, to get a doctorate. Okay, then that would make sense. All right, that's the only reason I can think you would want to get that. But you certainly don't need it to be a performer. Like, the number of performers who have a graduate degree that stand on the stage and perform music is zero. In fact, there's a high percentage of those performers don't even have a college degree. Right.

Dave, I had a question there. You know, I'm a little old school. I don't know why the 23-year year old's not able to pay his rent 100 i appreciate mom she's awesome she's amazing she wants to help clearly this young man did a great job in college of paying for most of his college and he has no debt but at 23 i want my kid if he's going to grad school i want him paying his own rent am i am i an archaic old no i mean if she's funny no no you're not that that's preferable and she she's you know she said he's a hard worker and he's paid yeah he's absolutely responsible it's not his kid's not um right he's not a parasite

so um you know yeah i i think uh but but to say absolutely zero, you know, I might have helped one of mine in that situation. But my first and best choice for them is for them to figure out a way to cut their own way through the forest. Yeah. You know, get the axe out, get the machete out. Time for you to do your own thing, baby doll. Yeah. And it's good for that. That's not a bad thing at all.

Patrick's in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hi, Patrick. How are you? Hey, Mr. Ramsey. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. Sure. That's not a bad thing at all. Patrick's in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hi, Patrick. How are you? Hey, Mr. Ramsey. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. Sure. What's up? So my question fundamentally is I finished your Total Money Makeover book.

My mother wants me to have a credit card. I do not want to have one. How old are you? I don't want to. 28, soon to be 28. So background information. Well, that's sweet that you're what your mommy wants but who gives a rip right right so background background information my mommy wants me to buy a red car too but i'm 28 and i'll freaking buy a blue car okay so i just finished medical school i'm going to start residency here in a little bit. I have $158,000 of debt. I haven't

had a regular income-based job. I've been able to pay off my undergrad loans, but now I'm just with med school student loans, and my parents have been gracious enough to put me up and basically pay for all my costs of living while I handle tuition. So I want to be able to answer my mom respectfully other than, hey, I'm 28, it's my life, thanks for helping me through, but I'm not going to do that. Yeah. You know, all you have to do is turn up the respect one quarter of a notch to what you just said, and you'll be respectful.

Because she's out of line because she's out of line she's out of line yeah i've got a 30 year old i would no more tell him that than fly the moon you know and i'm freaking dave ramsey i mean really so um you know so that that's just that's that's a boundary violation and uh and so uh but anyway we don't have to be mean to her they're being kind to you they've been good to you and we want to be loving and and gentle that that's not i'm not trying to be sarcastic and mean but so the answer is mom i've been reading through this and uh this new material and i've become convinced that our debt-based way of doing things in America is a bad plan. And so I'm really scared about these student loans that we're going into here,

and one of my first goals is going to be get rid of those, and I'm swearing off a debt. I'm not going to go anywhere near debt. And so I've got a debit card. It'll do everything a credit card will do except go into debt, and I'm not going into debt, Mom. And you ought to really be proud of me for that because it means you raised me well and uh that's it nice end of discussion yeah and if she can't put it down and she won't um then that's on her at that point that's not on you People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, Thank you. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. Ramsey personality Ken Coleman is my co-host today.

Xavier is with us in Orlando, Florida. Hi, Xavier. How are you? How are you doing, sir? Good, man. What's up? Yeah, I have a question. So my wife and I, we just started the Baby Step 1 Monday.

I was reading the book when I get to the part where it says that I have to have all my bills current. So my question is, before we do the $1,000, we have to have all the bills current. Right. So my question is, when you're so far behind, sir, how you get to be current? Okay. That's a really good question. Thank you for calling. It's not to say you're punished, but the baby steps don't work while you've got these hornet's nests of bills chasing you, right?

So we've got to get the things calmed down to be able to work the baby steps. So I appreciate you a lot calling in because that's where Sharon and I found ourselves a few years back is in that same situation. Okay, what are you behind on? One car payment is two months behind. My light bill is a little bit behind. The insurance is a little bit behind. What else? That's about it, to be honest with you. Okay, how much is your car payment?

I have one that's $350, and the other one is $500. What are you behind on, the $500? Actually, no, the $500, yes, sir. All right, and how far behind are you on the electric? What's it take to get current? About a month, maybe, one month behind. How much is that? About $200.

Okay, and what about the insurance? Is this car insurance you're is that? About $200. Okay. And what about the insurance? Is this car insurance you're behind on? Yes, sir. How far behind are you on that, and what's it take to get it current money-wise? It's going to take maybe $357. Okay, cool. All right, so I got $500, $200, and $350.

I got $1,000 changes your life. Okay. You see how I did that? Yes, sir. What do you guys make? What's your household income? Between my wife and I, we make $89,000 a year. Okay.

Great news, right? Okay. So here's what we're going to do. You're going to get online. I'm going to give you Ramsey Plus, which will get you hooked up to the full thing, man. I'll put you in Financial Peace University, the class that almost 10 million people have been through. But most importantly for this discussion, it's going to put you into EveryDollar with a premium version where it hooks to your bank account to do your budget. And you and your wife are going to sit down tonight,

and you're going to work on that budget using that EveryDollar app, okay? Oh, are you? Yeah. I'm going to give you the whole thing free. Oh, my. I really appreciate that, sir. I've been where you are. I've been scared.

I remember how it feels. How old are you? Sir, I'm not scared. I am freaking out, to be honest with you. That's okay. How old are you? I'm 42 years old. Okay, cool, to be honest with you. That's okay. How old are you? I'm 42 years old. Okay, cool.

So here's what we're going to do. What you're going to do is you're going to, each month, you need to take the money that you have coming in and give it an assignment before the month begins. Okay? So you've got pretty substantial money coming in, correct? Yes, sir. Okay. So what does your take-home pay look like a month?

My take-home pay is $1,600. A month? Oh, no, a month? No, $1,600 every two weeks. Okay. So $3,200 for you. That means your wife's probably doing $2,000 to $3,000 as well, right? Yes, sir.

Okay. So I'm just going to say $6,000 just for an example. All right? Okay. Now, what I want you to do, here's how you get current to answer your original question. You're going to use this budget app tonight to first thing you buy before you buy anything with your $6,000 for this coming month is food. Before your family does anything, they got to eat.

Agreed? Yes, sir. And so we're going to put down a budget for food. How many kids you got? We don't have no kids in the house our kids are gone and married okay so no eating out you're broke and a thousand dollars behind you don't need to go to a freaking restaurant agreed yes sir so you're going to go to the freaking grocery store and buy food and cook food at home much much much cheaper okay now and so given that for two people let's

just say i'm going to give i'm going to be a little bit up let's say you said eight hundred dollars a month for food that's high you can make it on less but i'm giving you a little pad four hundred dollars every two weeks okay yes sir You'll put that in every dollar. Now, I had $6,000 coming in, and so now I have $5,200 left. You with me so far? Yes, sir. The second thing you pay is all your utilities, including let's get this electric bill current, okay? So it's going to take $400 because it's $200 behind and $200 for this month to get the electric current then you got to pay the water if you got gas you got to pay that whatever your utilities are your your cable bill if you got a big buck cable bill you need to cut it back and get almost nothing

just enough to have internet or something you're broke we're trying to get out of being broke you're in survival mode for a short time and you're going to live like no one else you're in survival mode for a short time, and you're going to live like no one else. You're going to live on nothing, beans and rice, rice and beans, so that later you never have this stress again. Does that sound like a good idea? Yes, sir. You can do this, man. I can tell.

I've talked to people for 30 years, and I can tell when somebody's ready, and this guy's ready, Ken. He's ready. Dave, can we talk about the car? I'm curious to know how much the car is worth that has the 500 payment attached to it getting there fast yeah yeah so so my my car my wife's car owes um actually i have i have it written down right here give me one minute i'm sorry it's okay no worries uh my wife car owes 19 370 and my car owes $13,265. What's your car actually worth, your car?

To be honest with you, I have no idea. What about hers? I haven't even checked how much my car is worth. A $500 car payment on $19,000 tells me you got screwed on the interest rate because you got bad credit. Yeah, we got bad credit, and then we got the car right after we did a bankruptcy like almost 10 years ago. What kind of car? They jacked you. You're paying 15%, 16% interest, aren't you?

Yeah, so I did numbers on Monday because when I read your book, I was like, oh, my God. So we owe $84,321, and $40,000 of that is owed to the IRS. Okay. Is that on a payment plan? So I called the IRS last week and submitted my paperwork like two months ago, and they still have not received it. So I don't even know. Okay. When you get off, get online at RamseySolutions.com

and click on TaxELP and find one of our tax providers to help you get an arrangement made for a payment plan with the IRS until you can get them paid off. But you need to get them on a payment plan because they're going to surprise you and come take stuff like your check. They're going to come like a thief in the night you don't want them doing that so you got to see what we're doing is we're getting all of these monsters out from under the bed and we're putting leashes on all of them so i think your wife's car is

probably going to be sold mainly because the interest rate is is just absolutely asinine they're just killing you they're killing you and get you a cheap car because listen here's the thing you make eighty thousand dollars a year you could be a hundred percent debt-free irs and everything in two years i'm not talking about being current i'm'm talking about debt-free in two years. But you're going to have no freaking life during that two years, and you're going to be driving a beater, and your wife's going to be driving your old car because it's the nicest car and the wife gets the good car.

My wife and I, we want to do whatever it takes. We just tired. We just tired. We're tired. You're ready, man. You're going to do it. I'm going to show you exactly what to do. Madison's going to pick up. We're going to get you signed up

for Financial Peace University and all the goodies in every dollar. All the goodies in Ramsey Plus. And we are here, Xavier. I want to hear back from you while you're fighting on this. You've got to have more questions. You call and talk to Ken and me anytime and we will help you with this process.

I'm so proud of you. You're why we're here. We'll be right back. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today here on the Ramsey Show, where we talk about your life and your money. It's a free call at 888-825-5225. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Jake and Riss are with us. Hey, guys. How are you? Great.

How are you doing? Welcome. Where do you guys live? Columbus, Ohio. Oh, fun. Welcome to Nashville. And all the way here to do a debt-free scream. How much did you pay off?

We paid off $44,215. Cool. How long did this take? 15 months. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? It was around $86,215. Cool. How long did this take? 15 months. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? It was around $86,000. Wow.

What do you guys do for a living? So I am a bartender server at a local restaurant. I'm a union electrician out of Local 683. Cool. Good for you guys. Well done. Excellent. How old are you two?

I am 24. 25. Excellent. How how long you guys been married since september of 2019 all right good so not long after marriage then 15 months right you look down and you see you got 44 000 worth of what kind of debt well we had 19 000 and her car loan we had 15 000 in my student loans and then the rest was in a couch, wedding rings, and furnace and AC. Ah, okay. And we cash flowed our baby.

We have a four-month-old baby girl. Yay! All right. While all of this is going on. Excellent. Yep. So tell me your story. How did you decide to get out of debt?

Well, my dad gave me a copy of the book, and for a couple months, I just sat around the house. And then finally— Total Money Makeover makes a really good coaster on the coffee table. Yep. Yes, it does. And then finally, I decided to give it a shot, and I liked it so much that I had to read it to Riz, and then we got it read in two days. And just from there, we were like, let's just get it done, you know.

What made you pick the book up after sitting there? Are you sitting around the house, or did something happen? Was there an emotional thing? We were on vacation. Yeah, we were on vacation, and we were just sitting on the beach thinking, you know, how can we get to this stage in life without working our whole life away, you know, looking at early retirement, stuff like that. So I said, hey, there's a book at home.

Maybe we should check that out when we get home. Nice. Love it. So your dad gave it to you. So he had some connection to us. Yeah, I'm not sure where he got it from, but he just informed me last week that they're everyday millionaires now. Whoa.

That's great. I love it. This is great. And now he's straightened out his grandchild's great. I love it. This is great. And now he's straightened out his grandchild's parents. Yes. That is wonderful. You guys are fun. Very well done.

Okay, so 15 months. What did you do? What do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt is? I think that we definitely have to be on the same page with one another and live below our means and just live like a simple life. Yeah, being on the same page with each other, I feel like there's just nothing we can't do together. So a lot of other people your age doing this stuff,

or you kind of were weird? I'd say we were weird. I mean, our friends, they were really supportive of us, but I don't know that they were all really on board to do it with us yeah they're kind of looking

at you side eyed yeah at least they weren't straight on making fun of you to your face that's true they were proud of us they were very happy for us

that's good that's good that's good kind of friends to have yes well done well done you guys excellent

so the book is the whole thing. That's how you did it? Yep. Just got the Total Money Makeover book out and followed the steps and did it. Yeah, and then I was listening to your podcast from there, too, on the way to work. Mm-hmm. Okay. All right.

And the good news is just looking at them and listening to them, it doesn't sound like you guys really argued about this. You just said, okay, let's do it. Yeah. Yep. Yes. What was the hardest thing you had to do? A sacrifice or getting used to this

gazelle intensity? Maybe when friends were doing stuff, going out to Topgolf, stuff like that, we just decided No Topgolf. No Topgolf. Just stay at home. Save the money. No crazy food stories like eating rice

and beans every night? None of that? No. I mean, we cook a lot at home, so we just try to make big meals that would last a couple days at a time. There you go. We would eat meatballs for like four days straight. Okay. There it is.

There's the food. There it is. I like it. That's good. But she makes the best meatballs, so. There you go. I love it. Well played. You're getting this married thing down. That's it. That's good. But she makes the best meatballs, so. There you go. I love it. Well played.

You're getting this married thing down. That's great. This is good. Well done, you guys. I'm so proud of you. You're rock stars, man. You've got the whole rest of your life in front of you. Dude, this is smart.

Most people sitting around, they're 55, 60 right now. God, I wish I had done that when I was 25. You know, there's, man, look at those guys. I wish I was those guys. But you're pretty incredible. Very, very well done. So you brought your uh youngster with you what'd you have a girl a little girl and what's her name her name is jemma jemma all right hey jemma okay so when mom and dad scream is it gonna scare her i might i don't know we'll see we'll find out well this is a legacy changed a family tree changed right here good good stuff that is so fun all right we've got a copy of the legacy journey

for you because you have a whole new legacy because of your courage and the fact that you stepped up like grown-up heroes and took care of business i'm so proud of you and also a copy of the total money makeover another one so you can pay it forward to somebody else now absolutely somebody else who's ready to be sick and tired of being sick and tired and uh you probably inspired them with your life and with this scream so well done all right jake and riss and gemma is it gemma does say they're right gemma i messed it up gemma at forty four thousand dollars paid off in 15 months, making 86K. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free. Well, we managed not to scare the baby. That's good. That's how it's done. You know, when you talk to somebody like them, they made it sound a little too easy. Yes. Like it's just so simple, and we just came home from the beach, and we read the book, and we got out of debt. And we cooked a lot of meatballs, and then we kind of got through it.

And we're out of debt. There's no drama with these two. None. None whatsoever. But you know what? There doesn't have to be. It really is fairly simple. That's exactly right.

It occurs to me, it's like anything in life that's worth doing. It's rarely complex. It's simple, the process, the baby steps, the seven stages. Look, it's hard, though. It's simple, but it's hard. And the hard part is submitting to the process, sacrificing, being okay with people looking at you weird, as you say, with a side eye, kind of saying no to Topgolf, whatever it is, depending on your situation. It's not complex. I'm thinking Topgolf's not going to be an advertiser now.

No. Oh, yeah. Good call. I don't know why, because now you can do a Topgolf envelope. You know what I'm saying? I mean, that's entertainment. A line item in the budget now. Yeah, we can budget anything in there once we're ready to go.

If you live like no one else, later you can Topgolf. There it is. It's so true. But you know what? There was something in the way that young couple was, both of them were raised, that kept this from being a drama, a series of dramas, because they were just like, this is what you do, and we're going to go do it. And there was no sense of entitlement, no sense of victimhood, no sense of, you know,

and sometimes people have to get through all that stuff, and that's where all the drama comes from. That's absolutely right. Shout out to Jake's dad. Yeah. You know, there were some boundaries. Everyday millionaire. Everyday millionaire. He's living it.

Jake has seen it, right? But he has some boundaries. He just gives him the book, and he just kind of says, all right, let's see what happens. Gives him space. Doesn't thump him about it i think there's something there i really do he lived it he modeled it yeah he modeled the way then he gives him yeah he's going you know we got all this debt and we're on the beach and we get home i think i'd rather be like my dad later yeah he's shaking his head yeah that's absolutely right that's that's probably how that works and uh then then maybe some of my friends are going to be yeah yeah but there's that again that's uh that's that same calm wisdom that's not uh not all this drama because people just

they foam with the mouth and flop around the floor and we suggest they shouldn't go on vacation and eat out for a few months while they get out of debt oh god they ramsey you know it's all this crazy butt stuff man and it's just like golly you guys really are really heavily invested in crap i mean it's unbelievable this is the ramsey show Thank you. Our scripture of the day, Jeremiah 17, 7. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jerry Rice said, Today I do what others won't, so that tomorrow I can accomplish what others don't. Chris is in Orlando. Hey, Chris, welcome to The Ramsey Show.

How can we help? Hey, Dave, thanks for taking my call. I've been a long-time listener, and your program has helped me and my family out tremendously. My question today is really on behalf of my mom. She's in a bit of a pickle. She's never been the one to handle financial stuff, and my father just passed away about two and a half weeks ago. Oh, my gosh. stuff. And my father just passed away about two and a half weeks ago. Yeah, it's been pretty rough. And she's just now, me and my sisters, we're working with her to get her, you know, kind of

get financial things in order. My question is that she was just served some papers regarding a past debt from 2005 that has gone to collections and has now been assigned to an attorney. It's now passed judgment. A judge has signed off on it, so she's getting ready to be hit with, have her wages garnished. The original amount was about $12,000, but it's now gone up to about 24,000. So my mom contacted them today, and I kind of coached her through, you know, don't give out any information, no checking account, none of that. Just let them know that you're just asking questions

and that you received the paperwork. And I know that we like to try to find some way to settle, but their first offer was about 21,000, which my mom doesn't have. She has a little bit that I think we could scrape together, but seeing how this situation has already, it's about to go, she's about to start being garnished. I know that we don't have a lot of... Who said she's about to start being garnished. I know that we don't have a lot of... Who said she's about to be garnished? So my mom lives about two hours away from me, and my sister took pictures of all the documents.

She sent them to me, and so I have the court orders in front of me. In fact, my mom thought it was... She thought that they could have been fake. They went to the clerk of the court. They verified all the documents. And the paperwork that she's been given is saying that she has, you know, X amount of days to file a response if she's going to claim exemption on the garnishment.

Based on the available options, I don't believe she will qualify for an exemption. Does she live in Florida? Yes. Okay. And how old is she? Sixty-six. And what kind of money does she have? She's still working.

She makes about $30,000 a year. I do believe that she's got, you know. You said she could scrape together some money, and it was a little bit, and you guys could help, and it was a little bit. What's the total? I don't know exactly what we could put together just yet because with my dad passing, she's a renter. She's not going to be renewing her lease.

And so we're going to be looking at trying to downsize to save her as, as much, as much as possible. So there's going to be a move happening, but I do think that we could probably get, you know, between five and, I think between maybe five and $10,000 put together between what she has and what me and my sisters could throw in. I'm going to go down and spend some time with her next week. I just didn't know if you had any advice in terms of, like, if this does go to garnishment, which it looks like the judge has signed off on it.

It's been verified by the clerk of the court. Unless she files an exemption, she's going to be garnished. So we don't have a lot of, you know, we don't have a dog in the house. What does she do? What's her job? She works for a hospital on the front end staff. She's a receptionist. She helps out in the child care. She's been with them for years.

Okay. So here's what I want you to try first. And you'll need to jump online and pull a form or just make up one giving you permission to discuss her account and have her sign it and your name and her Social security number and everything on it that you can fax to this attorney. And then you get on the phone with this attorney. And here's how it sounds, all right?

You need to remember this attorney is not a, this is not Matlock. This is not some real big attorney. This is a collections attorney, and your mother's account is one of 10 000 accounts that they're working right now she's a widget in a factory there's no emotion there's no big drama there's no big uh anything going on here okay and so uh they just want some money that's all they want and they have no soul at all when you're talking to them, all right? And here's what you're going to say. My mom is 66. My dad passed away two and a half weeks ago. She makes only $30,000 a year. So let me tell you what you folks are going to get.

Zero, because I'm taking her straight to the bankruptcy attorney, and we're going to file a Chapter 7, and you're going to get nothing. Or we're going to come to terms with a deeply discounted settlement on the phone today. If you screw with me, I'm leaving with my mother in five minutes to visit the bankruptcy attorney. Chapter 7, you're going to get zero don't screw with me i've got six thousand dollars you need to take it because it's all you're going to get from this broke little widow don't screw with me chapter chapter set chapter seven yeah chapter seven bankruptcy is a traditional bankruptcy in which all unsecured creditors get zero. You're not going to file a Chapter 7.

You're bluffing. Okay. But get all up in their face and explain to them this is a 66-year-old widow. It's my mother. I'm highly offended at this situation. My brothers and sisters and I have scraped together $6,000. We can offer you that, and that is all. And you will take it in this phone call.

Don't screw with me. Because let me tell you, when you get somebody on the phone on the other end, what you have is a collector, and you're dealing with a credit card collector, which by definition is scum. And so once you do get agreement, and you're going with a credit card collector, which by definition is scum. And so once you do get agreement, and you're going to have to pound them, are you ready to roll up your sleeves and stiffen your backbone? Because it's going to be a mean, tough conversation, because you're dealing with soulless human beings.

You with me? Absolutely. Yeah, I'm with you. You are fighting on behalf of your mother in this conversation. And then you get it in writing from this soulless creature that they will accept $6,000 from this 66-year-old widow. And then you send them the $6,000, and you do not give them any information on her. Nowhere are you going to find her. Now, your worst-case scenario is she goes and gets another job, and they never find her. And that would be like a money order that you would just make?

Yeah, a money order. You could get a prepaid debit card and a single usage, but no electronic access to her checking account or yours. Okay. And then you said a paper that has to be faxed to the attorney that gives you rights to speak on the mom's behalf. Do you know the name of that paper? It's a simple paragraph that says that right there.

Oh, okay. Okay. Just something that is in-house. Okay. There may be. Did you go through Financial Peace University at any time? I did not go through FPU. We used to put those forms in the back of the books 1,000 years ago.

There might be one in the back of an old financial peace book out there. We never put them in the Total Money Makeover books. So if you've got one of those laying around, but it's not that big a deal. You just write up a paragraph that says, I so-and-so give so-and-so permission, my Social Security number so-and-so, to act on my behalf, and permission to discuss this account and negotiate on my behalf. My son. My son, Chris.

And your name and her name. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Just something that you can scan and email to them. Because they're not supposed to discuss her account with anyone but her. It's illegal under privacy law. But, dude, you're about to enter a whole different world here. Be ready for the fight. Ken, good show today.

Thanks for having me. Always good to find you. James Childs, Kelly Daniels in the booth. Thank you for a great show. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. 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.

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