The Ramsey Show - App - How to Turn Your Business Dream Into a Reality (Hour 3)

Episode Date: August 13, 2018

The show about you

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where your money and your life take the focus. Sitting in for Dave, I'm Chris Hogan, but I'm also joined in studio by a special guest, Miss Christy Wright. Hello. How are you? Great. I'm glad to be here. This is the first time that they've allowed us to be all together. I know.

It's dangerous. It is. I think they were scared of this combination. Oh, I know. Because we're going to shoot you straight. I'm going to tell you that right now. So listen, if you've got a question about business, if you are a lady out there that has an idea about a business and maybe you're scared, you don't know what to do, how to

jumpstart it, I'm telling you, I've got the experts sitting in the studio with me that can help you. She is the author of the bestselling book, Business Boutique, and she has guided women all across this country, even international, with some of the video trainings and things that you've been doing. She's here for you. So here's what I want you to do. Give us a call. 888-825-5225.

Again, that's 888-825- 5225. Again, that's 888-825- 5225. Or you can send us some information on social media. It's at Ramsey Show. Christy is here for you. So what have you been up to? Hogan, this is so fun. So we're coming out of summer. Obviously, we're kind of switching gears,

getting back at everyone's back to school. All the moms are doing all the back to school shopping, which did you know if you don't go in apparently May and get all your back to school stuff, like you're left with nothing. Like the racks are gone. Everyone's frantically trying to get the sports schedules, all that good stuff together.

But, you know, it's also fun in business because this is where people are getting out of the vacation mindset and they're starting to take it seriously. They're thinking about, okay, fourth quarter sales. I've got to start kind of buckling down. If I'm going to reach my year-end goals, I've got to start, you know, getting moving. And so it's a fun time. It's fun to kind of kick back into gear and to be having a front row seat to watch these women doing that and helping them win is really fun.

You know, you're so right. This is a reset period. It is. Kids go back to school. People start to understand we've got to get in. We've got to get it together. Right. Right.

Because the activity, and Christy, tell me if you agree with this or not in business and as a former business owner, the work you do in August and September becomes the deals you close and that revenue that you enjoy in November and December. That's right. And there's a there's a danger, especially if you're starting out in business or if you're kind of sliding into business versus deciding to have a business, you start to out in business or if you're kind of sliding into business versus deciding to have a business you start to think in the beginning oh i have to think like my customer i had a question the other day hogan in the business boutique academy where i do my coaching

a woman said well i feel like i should start thinking about christmas in october but that's too early because maybe the customers aren't thinking i'm like no you were supposed to be thinking about that yesterday like you can't think like your customers. If your customers are going to start thinking about in October, you're thinking about it now because you have to start writing your marketing copy. You've got to come up with your specials or your promotions. Do you have any new products you're going to release in Christmas? So you've got to think of those things now to build them and create them so that they can be released when the customer thinks about it, which is October, November. So you really need to start planning on that stuff now.

See, that's planning. And so, again, not only if you're a lady out there that has a business idea, but even if you're a gentleman running business, because you're right, we have to be prepared and we have to have a game plan. So Christy is here, would love to hear from you. We're going to dive on the phone. I've got Jason in Washington, D.C. Jason, how can I help you?

Hey, how you doing? Thank you for taking my call. Yes, sir. All right, so this is my problem. I have about $60,000 in debt, 34 in student loans, and about 20 in credit card debt, and $8,000 left on my car. I do own my home. I bought it at $206,000. I got it down to about $191,000 right now.

But I am thinking about selling, and I might get about, on the low end, I'll get about $23,000 cash to take home. And then I'll be moving in with my sister. So I'm just trying to get some advice on, like, how should I go about attacking all my debt? Like, what order do you think I should go? Okay. Jason, let me ask you, the $20,000 in credit card debt, what did you buy on those credit cards?

Man, a lot of it was when I first moved into my home, like, frontage and stuff. Okay. I got impulsive and I paid $15,000 for, like, a bathroom renovation on my home. It was crazy. Okay. All right. And so, making those decisions. And so now you're thinking about selling the house. You're going to get the money.

Now, if you sell the house, let's go hypothetical here. You sell the house. You get the equity. You're telling me you're going to commit that equity to paying off debt? Everything, yes. Every dollar. Why is that? Why are you willing to do that now?

Because I need to get out of debt i'm trying to be debt free why why because i want to live like uh no one can before and i just want to be able to everything that i make i want to be able to keep it for myself yes you see that's the root of what i was getting at if it's a if it's something you're interested in or something you're committed to because it it takes a mind shift. Now, you say you're going to move in with your sister, right? How long? Well, I just wanted to save my money, get my emergency fund back, and then save so that I can buy a better home. Because really, my home would give me problems, which is why I'm selling it.

Okay. How much? What is your household income? I was making about 95 and then I decided to get a second job, which is a hundred. So I'll make about 195 before taxes. Okay. What line of work are you in? IT. Okay.

All right. So you got, you, you, you make a good income. I mean, this is, I don't, I mean, you can, now see, you just told me something. You want to sell the house because you don't like it, right? Right. Yeah, I had like pipes bursting. I had to get a new roof. I'm just putting so much money into it. I know. All right. Well, see, Jason, that's on the front end. See, what happened was, is you went into something, you didn't have your eyes wide open.

You couldn't see what was going on. And here's the deal. If you're going to try to sell it, they're going to inspect this thing. So you're going to have to fix this stuff, right? I mean, you're going to have to get intentional and fix it. But here's the deal. In the midst of you getting a game plan together to fix the house, you can also get this student loan debt and this credit card debt out of your life as well.

So here's what I'd do. You said you owe $6,000 on the car, $20,000 on a credit card, and $34,000 on a student loan. You're making $195,000 a year. This is something you need to sit down and get budgeted on. You can get intentional. This credit card debt of $20,000 and the car loan of $6,000, get this out of your life. You don't necessarily need to sell this house just yet. What you got to do is get more intentional.

And see, Christy, this is one of those things where it's a mindset. Like, you got to believe you can do it before you'll get started. I love what Dave says. He says, you can wander into debt. You cannot wander out. And it sounds like that's what happened here. That's what happened with me, Hogan. I mean, I did not intentionally go into debt when I was 19 years old. It was a little credit card here, a little personal line of credit here. That's what happened with me, Hogan. I mean, I did not intentionally go into debt when I was 19 years old. I was just, it was a little credit

card here, a little personal line of credit here. But then at 24, I woke up and I was like, I'm asking my mom to help me make my bills and I'm embarrassed that I have to call her to put deposits in my bank account. I had to get mad to do something about it. And it was that moment in my life when things shifted and that's where you get

committed. But with that income, you can pay that off fast. You can live on way less than that cut some of those expenses and you can pay off those debts really really fast he really can and and again just with that mindset and even if he does get the home fixed and you plan to move in with your sister again that needs to be something where what bills are you taking care of right you're not just going in there to be a coop i mean i thought he was going to tell me he was making like 50 a year, right? This guy's making $200,000 a year. You can take care of this stuff. It's a matter of getting focused and getting intentional. So again, America, we want to hear from you. You got questions. I've got the business experts

sitting in here with me. I want you to call us 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. We want to hear from you. You're listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. Let me tell you a story about two families that are very much alike in a lot of ways. Both families have two working parents and a couple of young kids. Each has debt and has struggled to make ends meet. But they're starting to make headway with their budgets and smarter decisions with money. They have dreams and plans, and the only real difference is that one family has the right amount of term life insurance, and the other doesn't.

Big difference. If one of the parents die, and that does happen, their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and that does happen, their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other bills would be impossible, let alone saving for education or retirement. That's why every day I talk relentlessly about getting term life insurance. Just go to zanderinsurance.com or call 800-356-4282 and see how inexpensive it really is be the family that takes those deliberate steps to be different and responsible it really does make you the hero of your story and it puts you on course for better things ahead

hello america you are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Chris Hogan, filling in for Dave. But joining me in studio, I've got the business coach. Christy Wright is sitting in here. How are you? I'm great. You look like you're not a business coach. You're a business coach as well.

I'm ready for you to jump in on this with me. This will be fun. No, no, no. But I'm just excited because this is the first time they've allowed us to just be here. I know. And we're in control. I know. We may just never leave this.

Actually, this is a lie. James is in control. That's true. James and Kelly. That's true. But America, we're here for you. If you've got a business question or an idea you need to kick around or just get some guidance, give us a call.

The number to call is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. So we're going to go to the phone. We've got Tina Marie from Boston. Tina Marie, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you so much. Both of you take my call.

Yes, yes. What's your question for Christy? I first wanted to say thank you so much again for taking my call. And I just ordered FVPU. I'm a little short on it. I should have waited to get the bundle. I wish I could have gotten the bundle with your book preorder. So my question for Christy was I am starting to get a group fitness certification.

My goal and focus in the five-year plan in my head is to start doing group fitness classes and open up a center for teens and children fitness and kind of base my business around that. Right now I'm just doing this as a side job while also working full time. So should I focus on just the kids and fitness aspect or just any group fitness, adults, anything that I can get any experience in at this point? I do have fitness and youth training as a background, but it is not my career. Yeah, Tina Marie, that's a great question. I'll tell you, my gut reaction is to get any experience anywhere because you're starting this business and you're new in this market. You're

going to have to build trust with the people in your community. You've got to get your name out there. They need to start thinking of you when they think of somewhere to go. And so the best way to do that is by starting any classes that you can, helping the parents. And then when you want to branch into saying, hey, we've got a new focus, a new curriculum, a new class schedule for youth and teens and the parents of those youth and teens naturally want to bring their kids. It's a little bit of a disconnect to only go after the youth first because they're not the ones that are probably going to sign up or buy. It's probably the parents. Kind of like we run into, Hogan, with any of our teen entrepreneur kids or Generation Change Bible Study.

Some of those things, you've got it one step removed because you're selling to the parents, the uncles, that type of thing, the aunts that are buying this as a gift. And it's similar for you, Tina Marie, where you're probably going to be building relationships with the parents, and then it's those parents that either recommend you or bring their kids to you. So starting out, I would definitely just get your core program going. And what that's going to do is it's going to help you learn the market and know what they need. You know, what types of classes do they want for their kids or their teens?

What types of needs do they have or problems can you solve? And then when you launch those lines or those classes, they're that much more on point, that much more hitting home. Experience is never a bad thing, right? Like as much as you can get. No, I really do. I like that because now what you're doing is we got to get out of our own heads. Sometimes we spend so much time thinking about something.

Now, don't get me wrong. We need to plan and start doing things. But I think, Christy, confidence comes from the doing. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And we talk about that all the time. We think we have this myth in our head. So many women I work with think this.

Well, I've got to get it perfect first. My website has to be perfect. My idea has to be perfect. The product has to be perfect. Perfect is a myth because you only know so much. It's when you put it out there that the market tells you a little more of this, a little less of this. We're never done here, are we?

We're never done iterating. We're never done changing and improving and updating. She even mentioned Financial Peace University. What version are we on by now? We've changed and iterated and improved as the market changes, as the culture changes. So certainly figure out what your 1.0 version is you know that the apple apple launched his iphone one it started with one we're on 10 now or whatever but

start with your 1.0 version and then let the market tell you what it needs more or less of you iterate and improve and then you keep you learn by doing well i've got a question for you i've got a couple people i go to church with these These ladies are entrepreneurial. They have it in them, but they're not sure what direction to go. Now, I know you've run into this. What can you do? How would you help them? I get this question a lot. We call this group of people the dreamers. They want to do something, but they're not sure what. This could be men or women. I want to start a side business. I want to start a small business. I need extra income for baby step number two, my debt snowball, but what business should I start? What business is a good

idea? What business is a profitable idea? What business is the right idea for me? We actually created a course called the Business Idea Bootcamp, but I'll give you a quick summary of it. You're going to be the most successful when you start with what you have. So this course walks you through how to brainstorm all of the best business ideas from what you already have to work with your skills, your strengths, your stuff, your story. And then you narrow that down. I walk you through a series of tests to find the most profitable, viable business idea that's going to work for the marketplace and actually make you money fast. And so you kind of go through these different steps, brainstorming, and then testing, and then

you're left with your best business idea. But if you start with what you have, you're going to set yourself up to win because you're lowering the entry to the marketplace. So Business Idea Bootcamp, though, is the course that kind of walks you through that. All right. Where do they find this? BusinessBoutique.com. BusinessBoutique.com.

So if you've got an idea, you want to get it going, or maybe you're not even sure, that's a great option for you. That's fantastic send tina marie the bundle oh send her the bundle tina marie chrissy is going to send you the bundle and give you a great opportunity it's your bundle it's your bundle i'm giving away your bundle chrissy's giving away my stuff you know what she said she wanted the bundle with your book i think you're gonna get the the book as well s Santa Claus. You are going to mute your mic. No, Tina Marie, you did.

You beat me to it. Great opportunity for you to get the pre-sale for 20 bucks. You're going to get the audio book, the e-book. You're also going to get the two lessons from Dave, one from Dave, one from me. All that in the pre-sale is a great opportunity that will help you as well. So thank you, Christy. You're a generous person. Next up on the phone, I've got Mari. Mari is in San Francisco. How can'll help you as well so thank you christy you you're you're a generous person next up on the phone i've got mari mari is in san francisco how can i help you

hi thanks for taking my call yes ma'am um i have one of my questions is um i have i bought a car last year it was a new car um and i'm having some buyer's remorse for a couple reasons. One is that it was a new car, so it wasn't the best investment. I paid $5,000 up front, and I have about $15,500 left to go. Okay. And then I also had a baby within that time. And so it's a Honda Civic. It's not the best shape, but it works. So I'm just wondering if it's worthwhile to sell my car for pretty much, hopefully, you know, the $15,000 or $16,000 at least, and get something more affordable, like, you know, $10,000. Is it worth it to make that exchange after I already invested in the invested? Okay. Why did you buy this car to begin with? Well, I wanted a new car, um, or I wanted, you know, uh, I needed a car. My other car that I had gotten previously was off Craigslist and it was a total lemon. So, um, you know, I just pumped a bunch of money into a car that I originally bought for about $6,000.

Okay. So I just overcorrected. And then during the process of looking for a pre-owned car, my husband kind of was like, oh, let's get a new car. And so it just one thing led to another being at the dealership. Okay. All right. So you all made some emotional decisions after getting a lemon, as you called it. You wanted to go the other direction and make sure you got something that was going to work.

And then you're having the buyer's remorse again. So here's what I'd do. I'd contact the place you have the car financed through, get a payoff, a good 30-day payoff. That's going to give you an idea of what it's going to take to pay this thing off. And then I want you to go to KellyBlueBook, KBB.com, to find out what this car is worth. These are proactive steps that you can take to be able to look at this. And then I want you guys to slow down. See, that's what happens when we make these knee-jerk decisions, right?

We get ourselves in a predicament, and so it takes some time. So you all can fix this. You're just going to have to slow down. You know, Hogan, I don't know if I can share this resource, but one that my husband and I have used because we've bought and sold several used cars. CarGurus.com will show you what cars are actually selling for in your zip code. Now, Kelly Blue Book is going to show you what they deem it worth. Sometimes that's a little low. You might be able to actually get more money if you're in a certain area and it's selling for more.

So that will give you a range of maybe you mark it up a little higher. You might be able to make a little bit more on it than even that says. Well, the main thing is we've got to get the information, right? Again, we're not a result of our errors. We're a result of our decisions that we make as we move forward. So get the right information around you. Mari, be aware of what's going on, and then slow down. We want to make two-year decisions.

Make a decision today that you're going to be happy in two years that you made it. That's the difference. You're listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs. Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry, a Better Business Bureau-accredited organization CHM members share

to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years, and our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org Hello, America. You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. I am Chris Hogan, filling in for Dave.

And joining me in studio is Christy Wright, author of the bestselling book, Business Boutique, and also the leader of the Business Boutique Academy and just the movement. You are focused on empowering women to really, really start to chase after their dreams, but also to really do something they love. Well, and here's the thing, Hogan, and you've seen this too. There has never been a better time to start a business than right now. You've got free resources, free tools, free platforms, free marketing through social media.

You could start a business tomorrow with nothing more than your idea and a Facebook page. But because it's so easy to get into business, you get in and you get overwhelmed. You're like, well, what am I doing? Well, what about taxes? What about trademarks? How do I set myself apart from the competition? How do I sell without being pushy? So that's what the Business Boutique is all about.

I come alongside them as their business coach and friend. I help them with the business side of things so they can do more of what they love, less of what they don't. And it's really fun for me to get to use my God-given gifts to help them use their God-given gifts. It's fun. That's so exciting. So again, if you've got a question for us, give us a call.

The number to call is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. And we're going to go to the phones because we have Daphne on the line. Daphne, how can I help you? Hi. Hello. Is that me? Yes.

Hello there. Yeah. Well, I made up a business, and it was just to pay for braces and save for college, things like that. But it became the main source for income in the house. So right now, what I did was just a side job. It's a serious thing, and I'm not very organized, so I'm just kind of struggling with what to do next. And it's not what I love. It's a cleaning business, and I love to clean.

I have a super time for it. I take pride in what I do. I get in one house and make it better. I do new home construction, too. Right. And I leave it super nice, but I never thought it was going to be a full-time thing to help my family survive. So I'm kind of struggling a little bit with that.

How long have you been doing this job, Daphne? Well, I sent a paper to the city in 2012. Okay. And my husband has a normal job, but he lost it, and then now he has a small job, and the business is kind of taking half of the household. Oh, wow. And so, Christy, as you listen to this with Daphne's situation, where she's now stuck doing a job she doesn't love, what direction and guidance do you give to other people in that scenario?

You know, that's a hard position, and that's something Ken Coleman talks about a lot. When you're talking about finding the intersection of your passion and your skills and that type of thing. But here's the thing. I think Daphne, she sounds like she's obviously a very hard worker. She's very committed. She's got work ethics. She's willing to do the work. And the reality is if you need the income in your family, then you've got to stick with it temporarily.

Here's what I would encourage you to do, Daphne. I would encourage you to set a goal. And that may be a financial goal, that may be a certain timeline, where you are going to supplement the income you need from a different source, maybe whatever the business, I think she said the cleaning business is the one she loves. How can we raise our prices there? How can we have more clients there? And we have more strategy and focus on that business, building that business that she loves up that she takes so much pride in, where that begins to support her in the way that this side business is able to financially. It won't be an overnight thing.

You don't want to just have this Jerry Maguire moment and walk out and lose that income. But you can have an off-ramp, and you can stick with it for a season as maybe you scale down this side business or sell it or find a different solution there and then build up this thing that you do love to be able to support you. It's really no different, Hogan, from someone that works a full time job at a company that they don't love and they have a side business they do love. I say you're not going to walk out the door one day.

You need that paycheck. Now, hers is a business. That's fine. But you're going to build up that side business or build up the business you love to where it can support you and then gradually make that off ramp. Then it's not this terrifying leap. It's the next logical step. Now, see, I like that. I've heard you use that analogy before.

It's not a terrifying leap. It's a logical next step. Right. And I like that because that's what we teach people, right? One foot in front of the other. And I love that you gave Daphne that kind of guidance. But I'm going to talk with her husband now, who is right now out of work. What you have to do is we've got to find a job.

And it's easier to find a job when you have one. So I want you to take a job so you can alleviate some of the stress and pressure off of Daphne, and you all can begin to work together. And that is reaching out to your network of friends, update your resume, push it out to people because people know other people. So it's a great opportunity for people to really get connected and to find out what's available. And so definitely, Daphne, I hope you all will sit down and really make this a priority over the next 72 hours where we're going to update resume and we're going to have a mind shift too in how we're looking at this. I want you to be grateful and I'm grateful that you have a business that's bringing in income for the family. Now it's a matter of, hey, what are we going to do as we move forward? So this is a great

opportunity for you. All right, let's go to social. I've got a question here for you, Christy. This says, it's from Heather on Instagram. She goes, I need help. I own an event planning and event styling company. I've had this company for several years and I don't have any clients. I've tried advertising in the paper, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, all of those. I feel like I'm walking into a brick wall. I don't know what else to do. You know, this is one of the most common questions I get asked, Hogan, which is, where do I get customers? How do I get clients? You know, it's just it seems like the most basic thing. And really, you know, I'm not against paid advertising. I'm not against those different methods that she said. But I will say that sometimes the most effective techniques

are the simplest. They're the most underestimated and most overlooked. And that is simply leveraging the relationships that you have. Now, people buy from those they know, like and trust. So what relationships do you already have? It may be as simple as putting the word out to family and friends, letting them know you're doing this. If you have current clients, you know, even a couple incentivizing them to refer people to you. Hey, for your next event or for, you know, a future event, you get X percent off. If you refer a friend, referral programs, that type of thing. It may start really, really scrappy, but over time it begins to build momentum.

You know, anyone in the service-based business, leveraging the relationships is the best thing they could do. Word of mouth marketing. Because who do you have that does your hair? Who does your hair, Hogan? Let's be honest. Who does your hair, right? Oh, I'm self-employed in the hair department. Yeah, yeah. You got your hair covered. I'm self-employed. But who does my hair? Who does your hair, Hogan? Let's be honest. Who does your hair, right? Oh, I'm self-employed in the hair department.

Yeah, yeah. You got your hair covered. I'm self-employed. But who does my hair? Someone that I know, like, and trust. And I refer people to my hair girl who helps you with your house or your landscaping or teaching your kids piano, who does home organizing. It's people that you know, your friends have used or other people have used. So any service-based businesses are going to be set up for success if they leverage the relationships that they have

and really work on building trust with those people. It may start really small, but it's going to be much more effective than advertising in the paper. Christy, I mean, I want to go back to a certain area here. She said she's had this business for several years and still doesn't have any clients. Oh, I missed that part. You're right. I mean mean this is uh this this is not a business no something else is missing here you know this would be something where i would love to talk to heather and dig in you know it's hard on instagram to find out like

like i want to know what's really going on if you've been if you've quote unquote been in business several years and you don't have clients to your point hogan no you haven't been in business you got to have a paying customer to be in business. That's right. And again, she couldn't have customers. And she might mean ongoing clients or she's trying to grow it. So anyway, I think this is a great opportunity to really look and start to really dig in and get more focused and say, hey, we've got to be honest with ourselves when we're running a business, Christy. I mean, some people are so excited about the idea of owning a business, they forget you've got to run it. Well, and they get confused about what that means. I had a call on my podcast, I guess this was about six months ago, and she said, I've had

my business nine years and I've never been profitable. And I was like, oh, no, you haven't had a business nine years. You've had a hobby because a hobby costs you money and a business makes you money. You know, you're in business when you're making money. And so we've got to be really clear. And when you take your hobby and turn it into a business, it's tempting to continue to treat it like a hobby. But there's a different level of responsibility that comes with running a business.

And if you want to be in business, you've got to make money. If you don't want to make money, you're not in business. Right. Yeah. That's kind of. But I'd love to hear more from Heather. I'd love to know what's going on there. There's something else going on there.

But you're right. There is a difference between a hobby and a business. And we've got to really start to look and understand those things and be able to treat it accordingly. Right. I think it's impossible for us to start to make progress until we're honest with ourselves. For sure. Right. I tell people I've got a triple A process.

Right. You've got to be honest about where you are. You've got to assess yourself. You've got to acknowledge what can be improved. Then we've got to activate a plan of action. You're laughing. You've got three points for everything. I love it. You've got three points for everything you say. You better believe it. Hey, you're listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, America. You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. I am Chris Hogan, sitting in for Dave.

And joining me in studio I have author of the bestselling book, Business Boutique, Christy Wright, is joining us. And we want to talk with you. So if you've got a question, give us a call. The number is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. So I've got Holly on the line calling from Phoenix. Holly, how are you? I'm great.

It's such a pleasure to talk to both of you. Well, good. We're excited to talk with you. Hey, we're curious. What's the temperature right now in Phoenix? Oh, you know, it's probably about 100 and something. I don't know. I haven't gone outside of my day off and I'm doing all my paperwork today. Well, if it's Phoenix, I'm sure it's 100 and something. So I'm going to go with 120, but we'll let it

just rest there. How can we help you today? Well, my question is about long-term disability insurance. I am a 46-year-old single mom of a 10-year-old. I'm in baby step three, paid off $30,000 in debt. I'm very excited about that. But because of some health issues that I have, my life insurance, my term life insurance through Zander is about $200 a month. And long-term disability, they're quoting me at about $300. And I, you know,

I'm starting late with everything with retirement, and I just want to make sure I have time to save, but also protect myself from anything that might happen. Yes. With this, how much term life insurance did you get in place? For term, I got a million-dollar policy. Okay. So my income is $90,000 a year. Okay. And it just seems like a lot, but I want to have it in place for my son also. Right.

And you have how many children? Just the one. Okay. He's 10. And he's 10. Okay. And so in looking at this with the long-term disability, what was your goal, Holly, of pursuing that insurance? What were you trying to do?

Well, I try to follow everything that Dave says to do. And I know it's so important. I'm an occupational therapist. I want to make sure that if anything catastrophic happens to me, that I would be covered as far as my care and that my son would be okay, too. Okay. So I'm trying to just work out the kinks and see if I need to decrease the amount that I would get per month or how to talk to Xander about it.

No, and I definitely want to encourage that because the goal of insurance is risk management. Like, you get coverage in exchange for a payment. I think with a term life insurance, you're definitely there. On the long term, and again, with your health situation, I think it's always important to call around, to get quotes, and to have that discussion. I'm not going to ask you about the type of illness and all that here over the radio, but it's going to be really important to get guidance, to have those conversations and to get those second quotes.

Yeah, I think one of the hardest things in those decisions, Chris, is feeling like you only have one option. But if you see all of your options, a lot of times the right option becomes more clear to you. And so, like you said, sitting down with a professional, sitting down with your advisor and saying, okay, here are all the options, pros and cons of each, and then it may be a little bit more clear. That's a good point. And here's the other thing too, Chrissy, and this just dawned on me. Whenever you're talking about short or long-term disability, obviously long-term is the way you want to go, but there's also another thing.

It's called an elimination period. Now, elimination period is the amount of time that has to elapse before the insurance company starts paying. And most people naturally just select a 30-day, right? They want them to kick in as soon as possible. But if you're following the baby steps, you've got an emergency fund, right? You've got money that allows you to be able to take care of your necessities. And so you can go with a 60, a 90- day elimination period, which will shrink your premium each month. So that might be something, Holly, for you to take a look at as you're again, as you're doing a follow up call. And again, I definitely want you to call Xander, talk with them about what works in your budget and what your goal is.

But get that information and that kind of guidance so you can find out what fits you. All right. Let's get back to the phones. I like this. I've got Erin in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Erin, how can Christy help you? Hi, Chris. Hi, Christy. How are you? Great.

How can we help? Well, I'm trying to focus because I'm definitely not finished yet. Oh, I like you. So I, as a son, I have stepped away from a position I kind of thought I was pigeonholed into as a mom and a military spouse that moves all the time. And it wasn't a position in my gifts. It was physically and mentally draining. So I'm no longer doing that, and I'm stepping out into my gifts. I'm great at sales.

I love sales. I've had a side hustle that has proven to be more of a hobby, like you said earlier. So I'm kind of stuck in a place between growing that and stepping out into a place that I'm not familiar with, selling online and growing it instead of just locally making it a national thing. And then I also have an opportunity for a national known company to be a sales rep for them for one of their new products for the whole state of Oklahoma. So I have the opportunity to grow both. And I'm just looking for resources. Like I said, I have my mom coming back into the workforce. So I don't have the typical resume of

someone, but I've got the passion and I've got the drive. And I'm just looking for resources to step more into my gifts, I guess, and to learn more and to catch up with everyone else around me. Out of curiosity, what is your side business that you said is more of a hobby? So I buy and sell antiques and collectibles and go to auctions and that type of thing. So it's kind of I get to collect and I also get to make a little money to support that, I guess. That's awesome. Well, Erin, I'll tell you, what you're really asking is kind of which direction is right. But I think that the real question I would ask you is, what are your goals? You know, do you want to run your own thing? Or

do you want to work for a company that's going to be a very predictable income and you kind kind of follow these steps, and this is going to be the result. And those are kind of different paths. Because as you know, Hogan, going into business for yourself, there's some incredible rewards, but there's also a lot of responsibility. You're, you know, the buck stops with you, and you've got to build it yourself. And you know, it all kind of ends with you. So Aaron, I will tell you that one of the things that can help you, it's like we were just talking about even in the last call, is looking at all of your options. And then when you see your options,

you can see which one is going to be more likely to move you in the direction you want to be. Where do you want to be in five years or ten years? And then choosing the path that's going to move you in that direction. Aaron, I have a new course, Business Idea Boot Camp, and that helps you brainstorm all the best business ideas and narrow them down to the right business idea for you. I'm going to send you that course. Kelly, if you'll stay on the line, Kelly, I'll send it to you.

And that's specifically for business. So what I would encourage you to do, Aaron, is go through that course. It's four different modules. You're going to end up with your best business idea. And I want you to hold that against this opportunity for a career move, which I think you said was a sales rep for the whole state of Oklahoma. And I want you to look at the pros and cons against each. And they're very different paths

in whether you want to start your own business or work for a company. But once you have your best business idea, we'll at least narrow those down on if that business idea is right for you or if working for another company would be right for you. And hopefully that'll help you answer your question of where you want to be.

That's good. And I love her energy. I love Aaron that you are, you could hear the drive. There's so many things I can do. I was like, yes, girl,

there is. You know, and that's absolutely right. Get around the right people, get the right information around you, and then you can start down that path. I like it. Next up,

I've got John in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. John, how can I help you? Hey, Chris, hey, Christy,

hope you're doing well. I always know how Dave says, don't ever cash out retirement to pay off debt. But recently I was listening to a podcast, and he said, if it's an inherited IRA, it might be a different story. I have

a value of a beneficiary IRA I got from my father when he passed. The balance is about $53,000. Okay. I have $98,000 in student debt. I'm baby step two. I paid off about $20,000 of that in the last year or so. As of right now, without that IRA, it's going to be about four to five years paying off my student loans and my house. And I just want to know if cash in this IRA might kind of help boost me to get out of

debt another two or so, two and a half years earlier. Okay. And how long ago did you inherit these? I've been holding all of them since 2011. Okay. All right. Because you're right. Again, if there's money was earmarked for retirement, then it's not anything we're going

to ever advise that you touch. If this was money that you were just saving to save or inherit, now you begin to run the numbers and look at it. I think it's important to do a few things here before you start to make decisions. I want to know how it's going to impact me, right, financially on the tax side. And what obligation is that going to create for you? So here's what I would do. I'd want you to get connected with a SmartVestor Pro so you can find out, walk through, get the right information, and do the homework.

Also, get a tax ELP in your corner so you can sit down and really look at this. And John, if and only if you're serious about using it to attack the debt, then I think it's something you can do. If not, leave it alone. Let it sit and grow. Christy, thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me. It was fun.

I also want to thank our producer, James Stiles, Kelly Daniel, and also you, America, for all your calls. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm James Stiles, producer of the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm excited to announce that we're now carried on 600 radio stations across the country. To find one near you, head to DaveRamsey.com slash show.