The Ramsey Show - App - I Co-Signed on a Car That Got Repossessed! (Hour 1)

Episode Date: September 2, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I'm Chris Hogan, and hosting along with me this hour is Anthony O'Neill, and I can tell you we are very excited to take your calls to talk about what's on your mind. Now, I want to let you know right out of the gate, the number to dial is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. You can also find us on social media. You can find Anthony.

He's all over the place. At Anthony O'Neill. You can find me at ChrisHogan360. But you can also find at Ramsey Show on social media. If you're not following us on there, I want you to be sure to do that. We're on all the platforms out there. I'm talking about the Instagrams and Twittables and Facebooks and all the things. Anthony, you are all over the place on Instagram. Oh, man, I am. Instagram and YouTube are my two favorite platforms. I don't do Twitter bows, man. I'm a young guy. That's you. Okay, don't start the age stuff right out the gate. Okay, we're not gonna get along. But I know you are pushing a lot of stuff out. You have

definitely been hitting a topic in the mouth here in this last year and a half about debt-free degree and really helping people to understand that higher education is a good thing, but there's a right way to go about it. There is, man. Here's the key thing, Hogan. I'm about to call you Dave. You're not Dave. But the key message that I really want to see young people get today is that you can be successful without having that fake rich, without having a bunch of debt. Uh, you can be successful by going to college, 100% debt free. Uh, you can be successful without going to college. You know, you have to honestly sit back and analyze, okay, what's the best route for me

and my life in my walk. And once you identify that, then my process of really helping, not just young people, but really like that young person, 20 and 30s, really helping them identify what is that and how do we go after that process. All right. So if you are a 20 or 30 year old that has a question about going to college, how to do that debt free, definitely want to call in. Anthony can give you some guidance there. But we're excited to talk with you. We are pumped up, riled up and ready to take your call. So we're going to get to the phones. I've got a guy on the line, Chris, calling from Detroit, Michigan. Chris, how can Anthony and I help you? Well, first, I just want to say I'm honored to speak with you. Thank you,

buddy. No problem. So the issue I'm having is kind of a two-part issue. So my wife is pregnant with twins, and she's due in January. Uh-oh. We currently have, yeah. And we currently have a 10-year-old daughter. Okay. So I'm trying to start the baby step. We have $6,000 in credit card debt, $33,000 on a car that I just got her in December,

and $22,000 in her student loan debt. What kind of card did you get her in December, Chris? A Equinox. Brand new or used? Brand new. We traded in, so we had the negative equity, making stupid choices, paying a stupid tax. What's the payment on that thing? I'm about to say, with the negative rollover, it's around $650.

Okay. All right. Yeah, it's killing us. And you have how many credit cards is this $6,000? One credit card. That's my credit card with the $6,000, just the one. All right. And you guys, are you married? Yes. Okay. You got guys, are you married? Yes.

Okay. You got the wrong pronouns you're using. You say our. Right. Our. Say it. Our credit card. There you go.

All right. An hour car payment. But I like the fact, Chris, that you're saying that I'm the person who pretty much ran it up. Yeah. I hear you on that, but I agree with pretty much ran it up. Yeah. I see. I hear you on that, but I agree with Chris. It's ours. Okay.

So what are you asking me? I know it better be something about this vehicle. Oh, for sure. What is it? So I want her to sell the truck. Again, the babies are due in January, and in Detroit, it's not an easy winter. So, you know, a couple feet of snow. So she doesn't want to sell it because it's brand new, so it's not an easy winner. So, you know, a couple feet of snow. So she doesn't want to sell it because it's brand new, so it's reliable.

And she doesn't want to get anything used because all the used vehicles she had before broke down, and she doesn't want that, you know, with twins. So I'm trying to figure out. Yeah, just hold on because you keep going back to them pronouns. I'm about to get riled up, Chris. All right. Now, here's the deal. You got twins coming. You guys need to sit down and look at this situation and understand there's

$650 a month leaving you guys. Okay. This is not a helpful thing. Now, her mindset about the reliability factor and all that, this is what people have rationalized to foster this feeling of needing payments. This thing needs to go away today. Okay? And now it's a matter of sitting down and doing the math. Like, for example, when these babies come in January, and by the way, you guys need to take a nap at every chance you can because twins are coming. This is a battle. You need to get ready.

But is she planning to go back to work or is she planning to stay at home? Go back to work. Okay. So mindset-wise, you want to batten down the hatches, which is now you've got to start to get intentional. Anthony, what's your thoughts? Man, sell the car. I mean, I don't need to go any further than that.

And here's the thing. Your wife is saying, and you said you want her to sell the car. No, you all need to sell the car, like Hogan is saying. But here's a concept that I'm confused by. She doesn't want to buy a used car, but she's driving a used car. Because she put the miles on the car. And so now it is a used car that can eventually have potential problems. And so for her, that's the thing that I'm going to be having a conversation with my wife on.

It's like, yo, I get it, bae, but you know what? We need to knock out all this debt. Not just the car note. We need to get rid of the credit card payments. We need to get rid of student loans because I'm guessing you have about $1,200 a month going out just in payments. And so, Chris, if they get rid of that, that's $1,200 a month coming back in. I don't have kids. You do.

I'm pretty sure they can use that, especially with twins. Yeah, without a doubt. Chris, you know her really well. How long have you guys been married? A year and a half, but she was my first boyfriend at 14 years old. Okay. Before I joined the Army. How old are you now?

30. Okay, so you've been with her a while yeah you know her yeah this is now a matter of doing math and here's here's who it's for it's for all the kids yeah the 10 year old and the babies that are on their way you guys want your kids to have better than what you had growing up i've never met a parent or grandparent that doesn't want their kids to have better you know know how that happens? You have to do better. And when you're normal, and car payments are normal. I can relate to the 650. I did that many, many, many years ago. And now it's a matter of sitting down, looking and going, okay, what's needed? We got to know the difference between a want and a need. And right now, what you all need is to be

able to get money to be able to attack the credit card, $6,000, and from there go over to the student loan debt. You can remove $33,000 of debt just by you all being a little bit more intentional. Go to kellybluebook.com, find out the trade-in value on this thing. It's probably going to be a little bit of an uphill battle because you took negative equity. You took stupid and put it with stupid. And now we got stupid-ish all over the place. But it can be fixed. It can be fixed. And what you're going to have to do is get intentional, get serious. This is about these babies that are coming. I want you to sit down, talk with her about what's necessary. What are we going to do for the sake of these kids? And that's where you start to make grown-up decisions, because that's what grown folk do. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. I get asked all the time, when in the baby steps is the right time to buy life insurance?

My answer is typically now. Life insurance is not part of the baby steps because it's needed when your family has debt and not enough savings to provide for their financial needs. That's when they're at the highest risk. And no matter where you are in your baby steps, it's a necessity, not a choice. This includes working husbands and wives, as well as stay-at-home parents. It's pretty expensive to replace those stay-at-home parent responsibilities. I only recommend term life insurance since it's the most affordable way to get the right amount of coverage and not break your budget. Go to zander.com or call 800-356-4282. These are the guys I personally use. Term life insurance is inexpensive and your family needs this no

matter where you are in your baby steps. That's Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. Zander.com. Hello, everyone. You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Chris Hogan, and hosting along with me this hour is Anthony O'Neill. And I got some questions in via social media. On the last call, we were talking to Chris. He and his wife were expecting twins, and he used the phrase negative equity. And what negative equity means, especially in dealing in vehicles, is where you come in and you owe more on a vehicle than what it's worth. And the dealership, being your best friend, being your buddy,

tell you that, hey, it's not a problem. They'll take that negative equity and roll it into the new loan. And ta-da, now you get this vehicle. The issue is, is now when you get ready to sell, when you get ready to try to do anything with it, you've got that negative equity issue to deal with on the back end. So let's do this. Let's avoid car loans to begin with, right, first and foremost.

And if you do have a loan, I'm not condemning you. What I want you to do is get frustrated and irritated at that loan, pay that thing off, and get your money back. You ever thought about that? You give yourself a raise when you get out of debt. So that's what I want you to do. I want you to get intentional and battle that. But don't go get a car loan. Number two, don't roll equity, negative equity, over into that loan and make a bigger issue.

Okay, just had to clarify that. I'm sitting in here with Anthony O'Neill, and Anthony, you have been running and gunning. We all have been sitting still more than we ever have. Yes. We haven't been to an airport since 82, I don't believe, but you're used to traveling and speaking just like I am, and so we're sitting still. But you've got something going on coming up here soon. Man, yeah.

I'm really excited, man. I've actually just partnered with Teachable, which is an online platform where they teach young people how to, not young people, just all people, how to start a business. And so they're having their What Now Summit to where they're teaching young people, not just young people in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, how to really run an online business and what to do with their finances that they're making right now. So some of the top speakers would be myself, Gary Vee, Lisa Nichols, and Nicole Walters.

And so I just wanted to just let the world know, you know, like, hey, we're getting back out there to speak. I would love to see our Dave Ramsey crew out there. And for, like, the next one day or two days of offering, it's only nine dollars for the whole conference man oh wow three-day conference so they can go to teachable.com for slash Anthony and you'll get that price for like nine bucks and I'm telling you right now between Gary Vee and Nicole it's going to be a very entertaining but educational day I'm not

going to be as entertaining as Gary Vee, but I will bring some substance to the table. Very cool. Well, again, you can check that out. And we are here for you, so we want to hear from you. 888-825-5225. We're going to go to the phone line. We're going to go to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Kate, how are you? I'm doing good, Chris and Anthony. How are you guys doing? Oh, we're doing very, very well. What's your question for Anthony? Yeah, it is a little bit more directed towards Anthony. Sorry, Chris. But it has to do with my higher education. I currently have a degree in nursing. I work as an ER nurse, and I'm currently in grad school for my master's in nursing education. I want to be a professor. And so I, my question is in regard to the NFLP loan, it's the nurse faculty loan program. The school that I go through, I have the opportunity to

apply for it. They pay for my tuition for everything. So they pay for books and everything until my graduation date. After my graduation date, if I secure a full-time faculty position at any school of nursing within nine months of graduation, each year that I'm employed as a full-time faculty member, they forgive 20% of the loan. And then they do that for four years. And on the fourth year, they forgive 25%, so for a total of 85%. And so my question, Anthony, is if my husband and I, so far we've been cash flowing my graduate school for the last two years, and we just found out about the program. or a money market account in the event that I can't secure a full-time job, is taking the nurse faculty loan something that you might advise to potentially get like $30,000 of my school paid for? Or is that something that you might advise against? You know, I'm never going to tell someone to get into debt.

Let's be clear there. So I want to lead with that. But there have been several instances that we've been receiving emails and questions about this to where they are guaranteeing forgiveness and so anytime you can get some form of assistance from your your employer i'm all for that and so what what i i like the fact that if you do go that route that you're still saving all the money uh and decide if it was me i'm actually just going to go ahead. If I could pay for it cash, I'm just going to go ahead and pay for it because I just don't trust a what-if situation. That's my thing.

So if it was me, I'm going to pay for it up front and just go from there. I would even ask the program, like, hey, if I pay for it up front and don't take out the loan, can you all pay me back? That could be an option. I mean, I don't know if that's an option. But if I keep all the receipts showing I pay for school instead of repaying back the bank, can you pay me and my husband back? So that's something you should look into. OK, so I mean, I'm rooting for you.

But whatever route you go, Katie, I mean, just make sure if you do go that route, which I'm not a huge fan of it, but I get it. Then, yes, I want you to put that money in a money market account. Let it sit there. So that way, if something doesn't happen, you can immediately pay it off with no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Yeah, those forgiveness programs, these things, I tell you, can be a lot of hocus pocus. I think I've seen 96% of them end up falling through in some way. Well, Anthony also has an article on his website, Top 5 Student Loan Myths. You can go to anthonyoneal.com and read this recent article that we'll walk through.

And student loan forgiveness is one of those that you'll have an opportunity to read on. But do me a favor. I know a lot of you out there, you say, Chris, you know, I've either paid off my student loans or I'm in the midst of it. Do me a favor. Talk to young people about this. Let's help them avoid it like the plague to begin with. That way they have an opportunity to really look and understand their options. We've got too many young people walking into financial aid offices, signing documents they don't understand for payments

we know they can't afford. And what we can do is put an end to that by having open and honest conversations and sharing information like what's on Anthony's website. So again, that's anthonyoneal.com. It would be a great way to help people become empowered. All right, next up, we've got Sean in Phoenix, Arizona. Sean, what can Anthony and I do for you? Yes. Thank you. I appreciate you letting me be on the show. Sure. My friend, what's on your mind? Last year, uh, I made a big financial mistake. I, my, I was trying to show faith in a daughter. I've got a 24-year-old daughter, and she needed a car,

and so I co-signed a car for her, and she did not make the payments. She is now actually in rehab. We have not realized the extent of the trouble she was in, but she's now in court-ordered rehab, and she hasn't been making her payments. The car got repossessed last spring. Okay. Okay.

It had a $20,000 loan on it. The bank sold the car for $8,500, which left an $11,500 balance, roughly. My daughter, obviously, is not going to pay it. And I'm a teacher with 11 children. And besides some medical bills that we are making payments on, the only debt we have is our mortgage, but there's no way we can pay $11,500. The bank, of course, is coming after me because I'm the cosigner, and legally I owe them money. And they have offered a settlement of 60%, which comes to just over $7,000. Did they put that in writing, Sean?

Well, yeah. Well, they haven't given me that in writing, but they've offered it over the phone. I would not make a payment in writing. But $7,000 is still way out of our budget. They would want it in no less than four months if they made that deal. Sean, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter health issues, but how much was the payment on this vehicle? The payment was $300, but my daughter was supposed to be making the payments. I wasn't supposed to be making the payments at all.

No, I understand. All right, listen. We're about to go to break. I want you to hang tight because we're going to talk about this because we've got some parents out there that have fallen for this. And once it's done, the milk is spilled. Now what do you have to do? We're going to walk you through the process, Sean, right after the break.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, everyone. You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. Before we went to break, we were talking with Sean. And Sean had called in and let us know that he had co-signed for his daughter on a vehicle. His daughter had some health issues. And he was now responsible in dealing with this. The bank repossessed the vehicle, sold it. And now they're trying to come after you for the $11,500 difference. But, Sean, you mentioned that they offered you some type of settlement for around $6,000.

Is that correct? Well, a 60% settlement, which comes out to just over $7,000. Okay, just over $7,000. So, have you... Go ahead. Sorry. What I did, I called them this morning just to see if I could negotiate that, and I just said – I asked, you know, could we offer you $1,000?

And the people said, no, we don't negotiate. So my question for you guys is, am I better off making minimum payments? Am I better off, because if I make minimum payments, they're going to hold the debt clear up until the full $11,500 is paid off? Or do I not do anything and let it go to collections and then deal with the collection agent? Okay, so let me ask you this. The thought I've heard is that they will deal. Now, Sean, what is your household income?

About $70,000. Okay. All right. And so you guys, you said, what other debts do you have? Our mortgage. Okay. And so you qualified for this. So you told them you should be able to pay this well and yeah i'm a i'm a

teacher and we get uh we've also got 11 kids okay so there's a you have 11 kids there are other there are other medical bills in the that we're making payments on that are, and for that matter, this daughter's medical bills, she's been in the hospital quite a bit the past couple of months, and so we don't know how old those are going to be yet. I understand. How many of the 11 kids are living with you all? Right now there's three of them. Three of them, okay.

They're all adults, but they're still living at home. Okay. Anthony, I want to hear they're, they're still living at home. Okay. Yeah. Uh, I think I want to hear your thoughts. Here's the deal. You know, number one, this is a lesson, John, about co-signing because when you co-sign, what you're saying is, is you're guaranteeing that the loan is going to be paid. Your daughter did not qualify for this loan on her own.

The only way she got it was because you were on this loan. Uh, so first and foremost, you're going to need to go in and talk to the bank and communicate with them in talking about what they're willing to do. If they will put that $7,000, I mean, number one, let's face it, it would have been better off for you all to sell this vehicle yourself as opposed to letting it get repossessed because you could have sold it for a lot more, right? They gave it away for about 8,500. Now they're coming after you. I would go in, I would detail your situation to the bank about the other medical situations and all that's going on in the health issues with your daughter. Get them to put that dollar amount in writing and

you got to start making payments on this thing. You know, for you to say, well, I'll just wait and let it go to collections. Well, now you've got the potential of adding some other legal issues on top of it. Well, technically right now, Hogan, he's already in collections. And this is what I recommend, especially me. My very first job was in the collection field and I did that for three years. Right now, they're saying that they will not negotiate. Here's what I want you to do, Sean. Don't make any payments yet.

I want you to get up at least $3,000 to $4,000. Most collection agencies buy this on cents on the dollar. The best time to negotiate with collection agencies is the last week of the month. And you go to them and say, you know what, I'll give you $0.35 on the dollar. That's about $3,300 of the $11,000. And you wait to the last three business days. They will budge. They will bite at the end of the day. You signed you, you told them, Hey, I will help pay this.

If my daughter cannot. So legally you have to do it. And morally you have to do it. This is not a convenient way. You can't push it all on your daughter. And I'm sorry that you made this decision. Uh, but how you get out of this right now is get up a bunch, get at least $3,000 to $4,000 and tell them, hey, this is the best thing I can do as a cosigner. Offer that to them the very last week of this month, and I guarantee you they'll help them out. Yeah, I too have been in collections and have done that. The reality is right now it sounds like to me it's still with the original bank. So it hasn't gone to a collection status yet. And as far as you're behind, but they haven't

sold it off. I still think and again, you're right. And as far as coming to settle that thing, they're going to take money because they're greedy, right? So having some money, getting it saved up is going to be a big thing. But I think you if you can't pay, you can at least pay attention. And what I mean by that is having communication with them to help them to understand that, hey, here's the deal. I've got health issues, and I'm going to take care of my kids' health long before I worry about this thing. And so the reality of, you know, as you start to weigh them, this doesn't even become a factor when you're trying to keep your kids healthy and doing well. But communicate. Talk with them, lay it out.

And I'm with Anthony. You get up some dollar amount and go in as long as you don't pay them until they tell you they're willing to accept this payment as payment in full. Yes. Right. Which means they're not coming back to see you. They're going to write you a letter that says that. And then you can hand over the three to four grand or whatever it is.

If people won't put the settlement offer in writing, I'm telling you, it's not real. All right. So the moral of this, don't co-sign. Yeah. Okay. Don't co-sign. People will try to guilt you. They will try to, family members will try to make you feel bad.

Listen, I won't co-sign for myself. Just process it okay bottom line is you're guaranteeing it and what you end up doing a lot of people they don't think that hey if they can't pay then i'm going to have to yeah and that's exactly what happens and anthony what gets me more riled up than situations like this is to think of the grandparents out there that end up co-signing for junior or juniet and and they't make a payment, and now they have to deal with their Social Security or whatever, and they're stuck with the payment. You know, Hogan, I had that come up about a few months ago. A grandmother makes maybe about $900 from a Social Security check, but she has an 800 credit score, cosigned on her grandson's BMW, a $1,200 payment, brand new.

And he couldn't make the payments and they called her and the bank realized that there's no way in the world that she can do it. No. No. So it's just that is predatory lending because there's no way on earth her making $900 a month. She should have been a cosigner on a $1,200 payment.

But you know what they did? You know what the banks are doing? I mean not the banks. You know what the car dealership is doing? Lying on her income because her credit score was so strong, they don't have to prove her income. Oh. So it was like these dealerships, man, are just misusing people and just... Anyways, that's why we just teach don't do debt. Yeah.

And here's the deal. Let's talk about this. If you're running behind on your payments, typically by the time you get three to four payments behind, they are talking repossession. I want you to contact them. I want you to outright try to sell the car, the vehicle. You're going to do a better job of selling it. You're going to get more money than they are because once the bank or the car dealership repossesses it, they're going to take it to an auction. The auction is going to sell it to the highest bidder.

And then the bank is going to turn around and come to you for the difference. And this is what Sean is dealing with. So, again, if you can't pay attention to it, try to work it out. You're going to advocate for you much better than the bank will. And so you have to have that mindset. This is stressful. And we've got people right now in a position throughout this COVID situation, Anthony, that are having to make some choices

about what they can afford to pay. Yeah. You know, and here's the thing. We already know what you need to be paying right now. You need to be focused on the four walls. Okay. All right, America, listen to me clearly. You're going to focus on your house. You're going to focus on your transportation and your transportation is make sure you got gas and cars running, make sure you got food, make sure you got your lights on your utilities. So those are the four main things that you need to be focusing on right now. And then if you have those four walls covered during this season, then let's start looking at paying your bills. But right now, make sure that you and your family are safe.

But let's say, for example, you do have your job. You do have your income coming in. And let's say you do have some student loans. That's your only debt out there right now. Well, student loans have been pushed off to December. Go ahead and pay those. Okay? So have your priorities.

Follow the process. Follow the system. And I promise you, you will be okay. And we're right here. We're going to walk you through this process. This is the Dave Ramsey show. Thank you. Hello, everyone. You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Chris Hogan, and hosting along with me this hour is Anthony O'Neill, and we are excited to take your calls.

Kelly is standing by ready for you to call her. So dial the phone, 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. We'd love to talk to you. All right, we're going to go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Caleb, how can we help you? Hey, how are you all guys doing? Thanks so much for taking my call.

I actually have a question that is geared towards Chris. All right. Me and my wife are on Babysit 3, and we started looking into the 401k options that our jobs offer, and they offer a Roth 401k and a traditional 401k, but they don't do any match. They do profit sharing. Okay.

So when we get to Baby Step 4, should we invest in the options that our company gives us since they don't have a match, or should we go outside and just do our own thing? Okay, great question, Caleb. Buddy, I'm just curious. How much debt did you all pay off? We paid off $57,000. Wow. Wow.

What was that? What kind of loan was that? Woo! It was a mixture of credit cards. It was credit cards and two cards, but the biggest, believe it or not, was jewelry. Me and my wife had been married for a little over a year, and we took a vacation over to Mexico, and I ended up financing jewelry in Mexico. Uh-oh. What did you get her?

I got her a 14-karat gold ring with, I believe, 11-karat diamonds in the engagement ring, and I got her a matching earring set. Oh, you got her a vehicle that hangs on her ears or ring or something. Wow. Never again. He said never again. Hey, buddy, I understand that feeling. But I always like to know because you sound really motivated. How old are you, Caleb?

I am 30. 30 years old. I like this. Well, listen, my friend, when you said something, talking about the company's investment plan, you said they got the standard 401k and they got the Roth. I immediately got the goosebumps, okay, because you said Roth. And Roth is my best friend. And so I love it because you're dealing with after-tax dollars when you do the Roth 401k.

So that means the government isn't going to touch it anymore. It's all going to grow tax-free. So, Caleb, I would go the Roth 401k option without a shadow of a doubt. Okay, and you would stick with the company even though they don't have a match? Yeah, oh, without a doubt, because here's the deal. You've got that opportunity, again, to get yourself to 15%, and so that's fine. Now, you said they do some profit sharing. So mentally, as you look at this,

you could start to think profit sharing is a little bit of the match. You've just got revenue coming to you right now. Okay? So you doing the 15%, my friend, is going to put you on a path to becoming an everyday millionaire. Be very intentional. Caleb, let me tell you this. Like you said, never again about

buying that jewelry. There's nothing wrong with buying stuff for your spouse or significant other. You just want to do it with cash and within reason. No reason to put a whole vehicle on a hand. But don't touch that money, the money you're putting aside in that 401k. It's not an emergency fund. It's not a home down payment. It's for your dreams. And if I could go back and grab a younger Hogan, I would shake him and make sure he knew that. So that's why I'm so passionate about making sure that you know. All right, let's keep on the phones. We've got Troy on the line. Troy, how can we help you?

Hey, how are you guys today? Focus did not finish, my friend. Hey, great. Hey, so my mother passed away about two weeks ago oh man and um i'm set to inherit about three hundred thousand dollars yeah and it's in it's invested in um non-qualified annuities and an ira and i'm just wondering if it would be wise to cash it out and pay the taxes to pay off my house, or should I spread it out over time to limit the tax liability? Gotcha. Troy, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your mom.

Um, uh, how many brothers and sisters do you, do you have? Um, I've got, I've got a brother. Okay. Okay. And so the 300,000 is what you stand to inherit? Yes. Okay. And how much do you owe on your home? Uh, about 165,000. Okay.

And do you owe on anything else? No, we're debt free other than the house. That is fantastic. Um, so when you talk about cashing out, are you talking about cashing it all out or cashing out enough to pay off the home? Probably just the house. Okay. And then obviously I'd have to figure out what to do with the other part of that.

But yeah, just to cash out enough to pay off the house. Yeah, I absolutely think that's a great idea. Because, again, you start to think about it. An inheritance is something that was intentionally left to you, right? And I can think of no better way to honor your mother and your mother's memory by you owning your home outright and being able to make that statement, you know, that that's something that she was able to do for you. People don't leave an inheritance by accident. That's a very intentional act. And, again, prayers go out to you and your family.

But also, I'm going to tell you to do this, Troy. I want you to go to DaveRamsey.com, and I want you to get connected with the Smart Vestor Pro. And the reason why is, as you're looking at this and as far as what you're inheriting, I want you to be able to understand the timeframe of what you could leave versus what does need to be cashed out or cleared out or transferred within a year of the passing of the individual that left it to you. Just so you're looking at all the nuances, if you ended up cashing it all out, you could pay off the home, but then you could also take the remaining dollar amount and start to invest it.

Or you think of something, some improvements you were thinking of doing around the home, but there's some options there. I mean, absolutely, Dave. I mean, not Dave Hogan. I said Dave the third time today. I'm so sorry, man. But, you know, I agree with you there, Hogan, that what he's doing, I would cash it out, honor his mother, pay off the house, and then definitely go to smartvestorpro.com

and see exactly how can you best invest the rest of this money to grow so that we could build something for your kids down the road one day. Yeah. And I typically will tell people, if you come into a large sum of money, the best thing to do is to park that money over into a money market account. Let it sit for a little bit because we can get so excited, so just jittery that you can end up making a lot of smaller mistakes, frittering away that money. And you don't want to do that. The gentleman I talk about in my first book, Retire Inspired, he inherited a home free and clear.

Wow. The next thing he did, he started getting into day trading. And so he went and he got a loan for $150,000 and took this free and clear home. He was, he was 35 years old, free and clear home, had $150,000 mortgage on it and had lost all of that trying to day trade. And I just remember the look on his face because it wasn't about the money loss. It was the blessing he squandered. Hogan, I've never heard you talk on day trading. What is your philosophy on day trading?

It's stupid because what you're trying to do is time the market. So what you're doing is you're buying single stocks and you're looking at it and you're watching the ticker and you're trying to make moves based on what the market is doing. And I'm going to tell you at least a headache and heartache. Instead, it's what we talk about. Invest for the long haul. You want to invest in growth stock mutual funds, not single stocks. Stay away from those things.

You want to stay in growth stock mutual funds and allow it to grow over time. Yeah, day trading is a no-no. Cool. I give you, oh, I need some Pepto. And I've just been talking about that with the millennials who follow me because that's very big in that millennial space right now. Day trading. Yeah, man, I just made $600 today. Okay.

Okay. Yeah. How much did you make the rest of the week? Well, I lost about $3,000. Yeah. Day trading is a lot like fishing. People talk about what didn't happen or they exaggerate what did happen. Right. You know, I caught a 80 pound bass. That's a lie. Okay. Never seen one. But I mean,

so it's that mindset of being intentional. But if you're out there and you're serious about investing or you're serious about moving forward, go over to my website, Chris Hogan360.com. I've got a free investing guide that'll really start to break down what all of these terms are in the investing world. I think us helping young people and not so young people understanding this more will help them kind of get more comfortable with the concept, and it allows people to just say, you know what? This is what we're doing and why. All right, listen, I want to thank all the callers for taking the time to call in. We appreciate you sharing with us. I want to thank James Childs, producer, associate producer Kelly Daniel.

And I want to thank all of you all for listening. And I definitely want to thank you, Anthony, for hanging out with me this hour. Thanks for the opportunity, bro. Absolutely. This has been The Dave Ramsey Show. On your smart speaker, you can add our skill by saying, Alexa, open the Ramsey Network skill. From there, you can listen to all our shows.

Ask Dave money questions like, how do I invest my money? Or what is the debt snowball? Find out more at DaveRamsey.com.