The Ramsey Show - App - How to Get Rid of an Underwater Car (Hour 1)

Episode Date: November 14, 2019

Insurance, Debt, Savings Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: http://bit.ly/2QIoSPV Insurance Coverage Checkup: http://bit.ly/2BrqEuo Complete Guide to Budgeting: http://bit.ly/2QEyonc Interview Guide: http://bit.ly/2BuGnZE Check out other podcasts in the Ramsey Network: http://bit.ly/2JgzaQR 

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. That's 888-825-5225. Karen is with us in Kansas City.

Hi, Karen. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. Thank you. I'm honored to talk to you. My husband and I are debt-free, including our house. Our daughter's college is paid. My husband, well, we both will retire in two and a half years at age 60, and that same year, our daughter will graduate from college.

So I have questions about life insurance. We have term life insurance renewable for five more years, and we're wondering how long we should continue to pay annual premiums until we retire or stop payment before or continue it after, since we have it for five years. How much do you have in your nest egg? um in retirement about 1.6 million okay so the purpose of life insurance the purpose of life insurance is to make sure you're okay financially if he dies and leaves you with kids and mortgages and other stuff right okay if he dies today you're a multi-millionaire. I think you're going to be okay. Okay. Well, it's in retirement. I mean, it's in retirement that we can't get at right now.

Yes, you can. You can get at it. You're 60. Well, not yet. I thought you said you're 60. No, in two and a half years when we're 60. Oh, oh. We will retire in two and a half years when we're 60. Okay.

And so now we have zero money outside of retirement. No, outside of retirement we have about 30-some thousand that we can get at easily. No, no, no, that wasn't what I asked. I didn't ask if we could get it at easily. How much money do you have that's not in a retirement account invested in other things? Yeah, about $33,000. You don't have more than that. 100% of your 1.6 is in retirement.

Really? Well, yeah. It could be, but it would be very unusual that you don't have a couple of hundreds sitting outside of that. Well, I mean, $33,000 in other, just the bank. I got that. Do you have any mutual fund investments or paid-for rental real estate or anything like that that is not inside of a 401k? Well, our house. Our house is paid.

That's it? Yeah. You don't have a mutual fund account that's got some money in it that's not in the 401K? Yeah, I mean, it has like $10,000, but that's part of the... Part of the $30,000. Okay, you don't have much money then. Okay, all right, that's fair. Yeah.

All right, so if you wanted to keep some life insurance to bridge until 59 and a half, you could. You could. Or you could say, I'm going to take the risk. And the only risk is not whether or not you get to eat, but whether or not you have to cash some of this out to the tune of penalties. So if he died, do you work? Part time. Very very part-time. Okay. So if he died today, you've got two years before you can access the money without penalty.

Without penalty. How's his health? Good. Okay. I mean, you're in a position, you're okay. The only thing is if something happened in that two years, you'd have to take out the money and you would pay a 10% penalty in addition to the taxes that would be on it when it comes out, which is going to have the taxes anyway. So that's your downside risk. But the purpose of life insurance is to replace his income and make sure you're okay if something happened to him

and you didn't starve because you had no money mortgages and babies and um you're not in any of those situations you got lots of money no mortgages and the babies are gone yes jesus this is the way this is supposed to happen and so well done you guys have done great so if you just don't want to spend the money um you can do that now i will tell you this i'm in a uh i'm a multi multi-millionaire okay my wife is completely set times a bazillion okay and we still have term life insurance there's absolutely no reason for it none whatsoever except swi sharon wants it okay there's no other reason it absolutely makes no financial planning sense whatsoever but she says the premium on that is less than what you would have spent to buy me another rock or something for my ears or my hand and i'd rather have that shut up and keep it and i went yes ma'am

yes ma'am happy wife happy life and so under that heading if you want to keep it you're not doing anything wrong okay okay but the point for purposes of teaching here on the air and all these other people listening into our conversation is the purpose of life insurance is to keep that until you are debt-free kids are grown and gone and you built wealth and you guys have done all of that so you've crossed the line you'll be fine if he passed away without life insurance. But if you just want it just cause, just KWI, Karen wants it, then that's okay. You can afford it. You got a couple million dollars, you can afford a little term policy, darling.

So it's okay. You know, just like Sharon. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But the purpose of life insurance is to get you to where you are. You guys are everyday millionaires. Very, very well done. It is very interesting, y'all, that when we started talking to these millionaires doing these everyday millionaire theme hours, more of you started calling with the net worth of a million to $5 million.

I'm talking to more everyday millionaires in the last three years than i ever have in 30 years on this show isn't that interesting i guess because by talking about it we gave you permission to be one and so i get to take questions from people like karen 58 years old 1.6 million dollars plus a paid for house so their net worth is in excess of we didn't ask about the house price, but it's well in excess of $2 million. And how'd they do that? 7% chance they inherited it, 93% chance they didn't. That's the statistical points on the study we did on millionaires.

So it's, you know, I'm getting to talk to a lot of you now. You've been hovering out there listening to this show. Some of you have been calling in, but we weren't saying these things out loud. And so now we get to say them out loud. Because, see, the beauty of Karen's situation is if you're 32 and you're listening to me right now and you've got two kids at home and you're going, I don't know about this term life insurance. I'm going, yeah, go to Zander Insurance, get your term life insurance, get 20 years. Because in 20 years you'll be 52 and your house, 15-year mortgage will be paid off. And in 20 years you'll be 52 and your house 15 year mortgage will be paid off and in

20 years you'll be 52 and your four-year-old will be 24 which means they should be grown and gone by definition i'm old school throw them out throw them out fly a little eagle yeah i mean an eagle that stays in the nest too long is what's known as a turkey. So let it fly, you know, and, you know, get them out. It's good for them. They grow. They grow. Let go of the bicycle seat. Take the training wheels off.

Helicopter mom, you know, let them go. They're gone, right? And you got the house paid off. You got some emergency. You got some money in your 401K. $1.6 million. Karen and her husband are doing a great job. Aren't they rock stars?

Don't you want to be them when you grow up? Yeah. Well, you will be if you'll do the stuff I'm teaching because that's exactly how they got there. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. folks let's cut through the bull interest rates are exceptionally low so you're missing out if you have not called churchill mortgage to see if you can save money on your home loan. Lots of other companies are out there claiming great deals, but don't get lured by slick advertisements. No-cost refinance offers do not mean they're free. Churchill Mortgage has a no-bull refinance. This means there are no hidden fees. They will shoot straight with you. Yes,

Churchill can offer loans with no closing costs, different down payment options, or of course, a traditional refinance. The key difference is you can trust my friends at Churchill to let you know what you're getting up front so you can make the smartest choice and save the most money. Go to churchillmortgage.com. Do it today while rates are low. This is a paid advertisement. NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender.

761 Old Hickory Boulevard, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027. Roxanne is with us in San Antonio. Hey, Roxanne, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave. So I've called in and talked to you before, and I appreciate the advice, and so I'm calling because I'm at another step. Overall, I've been Dave-ish for the past five years, and I have a five-year-old daughter who has been attending Catholic school for, this is the second year. And in our journey, I just started the FPU class this summer after attending your SMART conference earlier this year.

So I've been trying my best to complete the baby steps and have the Gonzalo intensity. I have had a drastic debt reduction. And because of that, I've also been looking at our commute daily to her school. Our school is in another part of town, and we're on the road a good two and a half hours a day, and I'm having to realize and admit that I think I'm a little tired. And so as I was looking at possibly selling my house, which I built eight and a half years ago, I realized that if I sold the house, I'd have enough to pay off my mortgage and pay off my consumer debt. And I wanted to get your thoughts on that. Okay. get your thoughts on that okay um i'm not sure i would move for a kindergartner in a school i think i'd move her school

a two and a half hour commute in san anton, Texas? My God, where is she going, Austin? They'll probably be closer. So, yeah, we just live in a very high-traffic area. The area really boomed in the last 10 years, and it's just continuing to grow. So just getting around that area is where the – What you said to me was, i want to move because i'm driving two and a half hours to my kid's school i'd put my kid in a different school i am limited on that because i i really feel passionate about having the catholic school education and so i'm just limited that there's really not an option closer.

And her school is actually right down the street from my work. Okay. Well, I mean, you certainly can move. I mean, if you're going to move, though, yeah, clear up the debt and rent until you can save up a down payment and an emergency fund and then repurchase. But, you know, being near your work makes more sense than anything you've said. But, um, so, you know, you do whatever you want to do. Uh,

but it sounds like you're selling this house. If it sounds like you made the decision long before you called me. So yeah, in that case, what I would do is clear up the debt. And if you don't have the money to repurchase right now and be 100% debt-free and have an emergency fund in place, then that means you're renting for a little while in the new location near your job and near her school. The good news is you'll be clear, and you'll be able to start fresh and get things going. Thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Daniel is with us in Seattle. Hey, Daniel, welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, Dave. Thank you so much for having me. Sure. How can I help? Well, I'm currently going to college, and I'm set to graduate next year. Congratulations. I'm majoring to college, and I'm set to graduate next year. Congratulations.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm majoring in psychology and pre-law. I love pre-law. But after I graduate, I don't know. I want to go to law school, but I don't know if I want to become a lawyer. So my question is, should I go to law school after I graduate, or should I get work as something like a paralegal? I'm so confused. Why would you go to law school if you don't want to be a lawyer?

Well, I really like the idea of teaching undergraduates in law at a four-year college okay um no i think i'd probably be a paralegal for a little while and uh then decide you know decide if you want to get a phd in the law in order to be a professor and uh and if you want to work that through, yeah, I guess that's a different track. I don't know that law school is the way you become a professor at law school. I guess it could be. But I would suppose that there's a Ph.D. program involved in order to do the professor idea. But right now what is tickling your fancy is you've enjoyed the law classes, the pre-law classes that you've had. You like the academic part of it.

That's what I'm hearing. Yes, yes, I love it, and I'm doing extremely well in it. I actually enjoyed the business law classes I took a lot many years ago when I was getting my undergrad, and so I can relate. They've been helpful to me, actually, running a business. Tell these lawyers what to do sometimes is a good idea. But, yeah, I think you need to probably look at this through a different lens and say, what is the best track to become a professor?

Because it sounds like that's what you are enjoying and then you know and maybe paralegal is a good way to do that it would be if you had some actual practical experience from having been a paralegal a couple of years before you hit the classroom it would make you more valuable as a teacher for sure because then you're not dealing with only theory you've actually been on the street so to speak doing it which are the best my favorite teachers were the ones that had actually done something other than just theory um and so you know i'm thinking with you out loud here but i'm certainly not an expert on any of that i don't know but that uh but i'd want to be

real sure before i went into that heavy an investment that's the way i wanted to go justin is with us in indianapolis hi justin welcome to the dave ramsey show hi how are you dave better than i deserve what's up all right so um i'm sitting with a car payment right now but I was offered a free car from my girlfriend's parents. And so I'm wondering if I should just turn my car back in and take the hit of my credit to have the temporary cash influx now or the other way around. Okay. So what kind of car did your girlfriend's parents offer you? It's a 2003 Honda Civic.

It has low miles, so it'll last a long time. Pretty nice gift for the boyfriend. Well, newly fiancé. Okay. All right. And what do you owe on your car? Almost $16,000. And what's your income?

Right around $1,600 a month. What do you do? I work in a factory. Okay. Forty? Between 45 and 50. Okay. What's your long-term plan um to i want to go to a police academy when i turn

21 when you turn 21 how old are you 19 okay all right well you can't just turn a car in and take a hit on your credit uh have you do you have any idea what the car is worth um it's worth about four thousand less than i own oh so you owe 16 and you think it's worth about 12 yeah that's what kelly blue book says okay if you turn it in you understand they're going to sell it on a repo lot it's not going to bring 12, it's going to bring 8, and they're going to sue you for the other 8. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, that's not a good plan. It's a much better plan to go borrow the 4

somewhere and sell the car. I'd rather you owe $4,000 than $16,000, drive the free Honda, and then pay it off as fast as you can. And you don't take the hit on your credit. So, you need to go see if you can scratch up four grand or the other thing you could do is um you know you could deliver pizzas every night for the next three or four months and you'd have four grand extra above your income or take on

overtime where you are or whatever but let's kick it up to about 60 or 80 hours a week, 70 or 80 hours a week doing something that pays really well and get your four grand together, and then you get it sold. But no, I'm not going to toss them the keys. That's a bad plan. Hey, thanks for the call. If you're going to join this team, we want someone who cares and has a passion about what we do. That's why we trust LinkedIn Jobs. They are the best at matching the right person with the right job. We don't want someone just looking for a 9 to 5.

We want thoroughbreds. One of the things that distinguishes a world-class thoroughbred in racing is the size of their heart. A true thoroughbred in the workplace is someone with a heart that is going to be staying and growing with our company. You can't get a more highly targeted field of thoroughbreds than LinkedIn jobs. They literally screen candidates for both those hard and soft skills that you're looking for. Thank you. today. Pay what you want and get $50 off your first job post. Visit linkedin.com slash Ramsey. Terms and conditions apply.

In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, LeBron and Jennifer are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? How's it going, Dave? Welcome, welcome. Good to have you. Thank you. We're glad to be here. So where do you guys live?

We live in Maryland, right outside of Washington, D.C. Cool. Welcome to Nashville. And here to do a debt-free scream. Yes. And how much have you paid off? $181,000. Good for you. And how long did this paid off? $181,000. Good for you.

And how long did this take? 42 months. Wow. And your range of income during that time? We started at about $140,000, and now we're just north of $200,000. Wow. What do you guys do for a living? We're both consultants for the government.

I'm in technology. I'm in human capital. Great. Very cool. So what kind of debt was this $181,000? Everything. Yep. So we had about debt was this? $181,000. Everything. Yep. So we had about $25,000 in credit cards, $27,000 on a car that we sold after I talked to you.

And we had about $129,000 in student loans. Okay. All right. Cool. And so how long have you guys been married? Four years. Okay. So six months after marriage, somebody walks in and goes, wait a minute. We got to do something. Tell me what happened. Yeah. So we actually, a couple of months after getting married, we wanted to buy a house.

And yeah, we realized we were very broke. But we had, you know, such a great income and we just couldn't put it together. And why we couldn't, you know, buy the house, our debt to income ratio was just way too high. So when we were going through our premarital class, we had friends that had reached out to us and they had hosted FPU at their home. But it was the same day that we were having premarital at our church. So we were unable to join at that time, but past the house situation, I went to LeBron and I said, hey, remember that Dave Ramsey guy that our friends mentioned to us? I think we should check him out. And he was like, no, not interested. So I was like, okay. Um, but I, you know, I Googled, um, you know, financial planning, how to take control of your money, how to get out of debt. And,

uh, you're the only thing that comes up, baby. So, um, you know, I came to him again and I said, you know, I really think we should check this out. Um, I really think we should do it. So, um, we went online, we bought FPU. We did the home study. And then after the first session, we were hooked, mind blown. Like, we know nothing about money. Wow. So, yeah. So, LeBron, you didn't want to do this, but she gets the DVD.

She gets the home study. She puts them in. You're sitting there watching it. Arms are folded. Yeah, that's what I would have been. I'd be like this right here. Exactly. Just like that. Right. Let's see this. it bring it yeah so what happened in the first lesson that made you

actually go i can do this right so there was um part of that was uh there's a part in the first lesson where you talk about the credit card companies and then you did like a graphic of like how big they are um and you keep on and that just really made me angry. And then I looked at that, and I was just like, that's just not how I want to live. And that you just hear all in the media that you need to have these things. And it was like the first person that says, you know, that I came across that you don't have to live like that. Like there is another option. And here's a plan to how to get there. Then after that, became a Dave Ramsey fanatic, and you couldn't tell me anything else. He actually wanted to cut up the cards right there, and I was like, wait, hold on.

Wait a second. He's in or he's out. I mean, he's hot or cold. He doesn't go in the middle. That's good. I like it. That is so fun. So what advice do you have someone that's listening? What is the key to getting out of debt? Yeah, I think it's running your own race. So at our church, one of the subjects in our teachings was exactly that. And just in the day in which we live, you know, social media and things that are just right in front of you. You see your friends making great accomplishments and doing things, buying things. And it kind of gets you like, we should be doing that. We should be able to do that or we should be there already.

But I think it's really just knowing where you need to put your focus, where you need to be. Like Rachel says, love your life, not theirs. Yes, exactly, exactly. Very cool. Very cool. Well, good for you guys. Very, very well done. I'm proud of you.

Great job. And you brought the kiddo with you. Yes, we did. We, very well done. I'm proud of you. Great job. And you brought the kiddo with you. Yes, we did. We did. What is his name and age? Noah. He's 11 months. He'll be turning one in two weeks, actually.

Oh, okay. Very cool. And we've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired. That is the next chapter in your story to not only be debt-free, but now be millionaires. Make it a couple of hundred with no debt. You ought to be able to do that. I love it. All right, LeBron and Jennifer and Noah, Washington, D.C.,

$181,000 paid off in 42 months, making $140,000 to $200,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Love it! That's how it's done right there. Man, beautifully done.

Beautifully done. Olivia is with us in Knoxville. Hi, Olivia. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

I am a 22-year-old recent graduate from the University of Tennessee. Proudly graduated top of the class from the College of Nursing. Wow. Congratulations. Go Vols. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, go Vols for sure.

I was able to move back in with my mom after college, and so I'm living at home with minimal, minimal expenses whatsoever, no debt whatsoever. School is paid for via scholarship. My car has been paid off for some time now, and I just finished the total money makeover. And so I'm currently able to save around 60% to 65% of my take-home pay from the hospital every month. Is there a reason that you're living at home?

I'm still in Knoxville, and I just didn't see a need to live anywhere else. I have a great relationship with my mom, and we love hanging out and being together, so I moved back home to continue to save money i lived at my church actually throughout college um they had a really low rate for students to live there and so once i graduated i decided to come back home okay i would put a one-year limit on that yes yeah for sure gonna be out of there in one year okay all right i didn't know i didn't know what your time frame was but i don't want you there when you're 40 um the uh so that that's awesome so you're banking money for what purpose um retirement potential home down payment within the next 10 years or so um i'm dating a really

great guy we hope to be married by the like august september of next year oh well there's when you move out okay all right cool yeah yeah um and so we'll obviously probably rent for some time during that he worked for um a campus ministry so we're not sure where we're subtle exactly wonderful um but right now the goals are to save for retirement um save for what might look like a down payment on a house. And then my biggest question was, my mom really gave me an awesome gift growing up of not having to question where I went to school or what kind of degree I wanted to get or how much it would cost because she had a nest egg for me that was my college funding. Wow.

So even though I don't have children, would it be a good idea for me to start putting that $2,000 a year into educational IRAs? You can't. That's what I was going to ask. You have to have a Social Security number, so they have to be born. Okay. And I wouldn't anyway. I think it's a wonderful mindset, and that means that you're going to do a great job of saving for college when you do have children. But it's just premature. Right now, I think you're going to do a great job of saving for college when you do have children but it's just premature right now i think you're being very smart your first savings goal is an emergency fund and let's call the emergency fund after you're married let's have that as the

goal and that would be three to six months of household expenses after you're married you and your husband new husband at that point this next year, have a household set up. You need three to six months of expenses of that as your rainy day fund. Your second goal would begin to save towards your down payment. Your third goal would be to start putting 15% of your income into retirement. And then when babies come, you'll easily be able to add a monthly amount to start saving for college. And you've got plenty of time. You're going to be great. You're going to add a monthly amount to start saving for college, and you've got plenty of time.

You're going to be great. You're going to be a great saver. You've got a head start by coming out of school with no debt. Mom did a great job. She's trained you well. You're saving 65% of your income. I mean, you're just bright. Way to go.

Way to go. Proud of you. I know she is. Well done. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. If you have ever changed jobs and you had a 401k, listen, the majority of employees who change jobs leave their old 401k parked with their previous employer, which means out of sight, out of mind. You're not watching it.

You're not keeping up with it. And you probably don't have it invested the way it should be. That's not okay. We always tell you to take your retirement with you when you leave. And the way you do that is a direct transfer rollover from a 401k to an IRA. If you have a Roth 401, you can roll it to a Roth IRA. If you have a traditional 401k, you move it to a traditional IRA. And we always tell you to invest, and I personally invest in four types of mutual funds, growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international.

And I use a SmartVestor Pro to do that to help me select those. The guy that helps me with that has helped me for well over a decade. I know a lot about it. I know a lot about working on cars, but I don't fix my own car either. I know a lot about taxes, but I don't do my own car either i know a lot about taxes but i don't do my own taxes so don't diy your investments dumb idea so get it rolling jump on davramsey.com click on smart investor enter your info it'll drop down a list of smart investor pros in your area and you sit down you choose you meet with who you want to meet with, or as many as you want to meet with, choose one,

and then they will help you fill out the paperwork to move your old 401K into an IRA with mutual funds selected well that will very likely outperform your old 401K, but at least it's right there in front of your face and you keep an eye on it that way. Having investments that you've, quote, forgotten about, and they're hiding in the closet over there somewhere in your past is a bad way to manage wealth. Michael's with us in Los Angeles. Hey, Michael,

welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. It's an absolute honor. You too, sir. Thank you. So, I'm just going to rattle some things off, and I want your opinion. I am a 50-year-old male. I am in baby step two, currently taking FPU.

Other than the $1,000, you know, I don't have a lot of savings. I have about $70,000 in student loans, which I should have paid off at the most about a year and a half from now. Good. I am originally from the East Coast, but I am nursing right now, being a nurse in Los Angeles. It's about $100,000 after taxes. Good for you. So, thank you. I went back to school late, and it's an awesome career.

Okay. My question is, I have this opportunity now to take a permanent job at a community hospital, which is state-run, making between starting about $125,000, going up to $140,000, $150,000 several years in the future. But it would also qualify me after 10 years to basically walk away, you know, by the time I'm 65 with about $4,000 a month, give or take, in a pension. And part of my, you know, direct paycheck

would be contributed to that. So my issue, you know, in terms of, you know, what your steps are, I don't know, or I don't even know if I would want, you know, to buy the exorbitant housing that is available to me in anywhere in California, especially where I'm living. So I don't know if I would afford or even want to afford to buy that, you know, $800 million house for, you know, which is not much of a house there. I do probably plan to move back to the east to be closer to my family, you know, after 65. Why don't you move now? Well, that's my point. The opportunity to work in California, and I love where I work.

I love the people. I love the hospital. I love the community. But literally it's basically going from $120,000 down to $70,000 for the same 36 hours of time. And it doesn't offer me any type of long-term, you know, I'm sure they have a 401k match, but there's no pension. I would not make my career decisions or my geographical decisions based on a pension. I would make them based on. It's not truly based on that.

I know, but that would not be the deal breaker for me i i would want to live where i want to live first and i don't think i um uh i mean are you an rn or an lpn no i'm an rn okay r i mean where are you going that you're only making 70 grand as an rn that doesn't make any sense. Are you some little country town or something? No. I mean, most. No, most RNs in major metro areas make close to six figures. And so I don't think you're comparing accurately. I don't think the idea that you could only make 70 on the east coast in a major metro area versus California making 140, that is not accurate. I mean, it's not that dispersed.

There's not that much difference. And so I think you need to do a little more investigation back in the home state. If you want to stay in California, that's fine. But my first goal is to be where I want to be doing what I want to do and making as much as I can possibly make doing that and then use that money to build wealth to retire with. Way down the list, a little bit of icing on a corner of the cake would be a pension. I would not work towards a pension. If it happens to be handy anyway, that's fine. I would work towards a situation where you're self-controlling

because the money you're putting into that pension that you're doing mandatory withdrawal on your check is not earning but about 6% or 7%. And you can do better than that. And it makes a lot of difference over the next 15 years, whether you make 6% or 7% or make 10% or 12%. a lot of difference over the next 15 years whether you make six or seven or make 10 or 12 a lot of difference so um i i'm not a fan of you know if you want to do the other thing it's okay there's nothing wrong with it but i really think you could make the same similar

money out east if that's where you prefer to be anyway and i think you need to do some more investigation on your career before you make this decision. Matthew is with us in Minneapolis. Hi, Matthew. How are you? Good. Yourself? Better than I deserve.

What's up? I have just a quick question. So my wife and I are willing to pay off debt, but she is thinking that the program is sort of micromanaging her money, not me, and that's where I'm having issues. I'm trying to explain to her, like, the steps are the baby steps and why it's important to save for sinking funds, et cetera. But I just don't know really what to do.

Should I just get, like, a separate checking account and then just have our bills come from there? Why would you get a separate checking account and then just have our bills come from there um why would you get a separate checking account because she doesn't agree no no just a separate checking account like for our bills why um why can you not why can you not come into agreement with what you're going to do with your money um we just have like just different um i guess beliefs i guess i'm i'm trying to say how to explain it um yeah she doesn't like going down to the zero-based budget which i do okay um but her plan doesn't work. Right. So this is not, let me just tell you, very, very few couples become wealthy when they're not on the same page. Right.

It almost never happens. And so it is essential that the two of you continue to work, work, work on your relationship and find some common ground and develop some kind of a plan that the two of you both can work. Right. And, you know, her obstinance to doing a plan, try it. Just try it, you know. Right. I have a feeling that you're tightening the screws down so tight on this budget that she can't breathe. Right, and that's the thing where I need to be a little bit more open-minded, I think, too. you're tightening the screws down so tight on this budget that she can't breathe.

Right, and that's the thing where I need to be a little bit more open-minded, I think, too. Yeah, I think you probably need to lighten up on some of your legalism and some of your, I mean, you're just enthused and fired up, and in that enthusiasm, you're winning the battles, but you're losing the war. The war is getting your wife and you on the same page. I would rather you give up some of the minor issues here so that you guys can get on the same page. So loosen up some of these categories. Give her some more room.

Let her vote count more so that she feels her vote counting. And let's get on the same page here um because that that's what's important no i do not want to prepare for your divorce by you separating your money no thank you i want you learning to work together because i want your marriage to get better than it is now that puts this hour of the dave ramsey show in the books thanks to james childs our producer kelly daniels 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.