The Ramsey Show - App - I Don't Like My Daughter's Boyfriend (Hour 3)

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where 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. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

He is the host of the Ken Coleman Show, heard on over 75 radio stations, Sirius XM, and a very popular podcast all across America, answering your questions about jobs and career and finding that paycheck with a purpose. So thanks for joining us. The phone number, 888-825-5225. John is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hey, John, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave, nice to talk with you.

Long-time fan, first-time caller. Actually, I attended your Financial Peace University at our Methodist Church a number of years ago. And really, really enjoyed it. Glad to say that my wife and I are now debt-free. Good for you. And have been for some time now. So you've really helped us out in our finances over the years. But I did want to call in because I've got perhaps a common problem with college-age kids, and I think you've touched on this in the past,

but we have three daughters. Our middle daughter is a freshman at a university two hours away, a great kid. She was senior class president, athlete of the year in high school. She's got final exams coming up on her first semester, and all indications are her grades are going to be good, but she's got her finals here in the next few weeks here. But she's had a longtime boyfriend that's back in our hometown. He is two hours away from her, and we are concerned about him, particularly the influence that he is having over her. This is a kid, the boyfriend that has not graduated college or high school. He stopped going to school and

doesn't live at home with his parents anymore. He's sort of out on his own. And there's been talk of our daughter coming back home and not going to college two hours away because of the normal, hey, I'm in love with the boyfriend. And over the years, the last couple of years, there's been some negative influences by him. Alcohol a little bit, him, not her, him having his license revoked for a little bit, those kinds of things. And I have a lot of older buddies, I'll say, that are 10 years older than me and trusted friends that I've bounced this off of, and I'm getting a lot of different opinions on how to handle this. And I think in the past, you have mentioned, hey, there's a couple of levers you can pull here, persuasion or the economics or financial aspect of it. By the way, my wife and I are paying for everything for the daughter, car, vehicle, food, tuition, everything.

And we plan to do that for four years. But the boyfriend is just a bad influence, and if we clamp down on our daughter, we are almost certain that she's going to pick the boyfriend over us and supporting us through college. And just not sure how to handle it. What gives you that belief? You guys, there's something in her life and her personality that makes you feel that, or is it just straight-up fear?

Any evidence that she would do that? She is strong-willed. Where her mental state is now is that she wants to graduate as fast as possible so she can earn a lot of money because she knows that he is not going to earn a lot of money because he does not have a high school diploma. And so she's obviously in love, and she's doing everything right, except for the boyfriend where there's a problem. Now, here is one thought that is going through our minds, and this is a little crazy idea, but maybe not, is supporting the boyfriend.

In other words, being able to prove himself. Okay, hey, come on over to the house for dinner, and let's have a conversation, and we would like to support you in getting your ged um and seeing if he takes us up on the offer and if he doesn't perhaps that proves something to our daughter and she could see hey he's not going to really do what he's supposed to or a positive benefit to it is hey we, we've supported him, even though his family hasn't supported him as much through the years, and we're helping him, our daughter sees that, hey, he gets a GED, and perhaps he's got the ability to get a decent job.

She your youngest? Middle one. Okay. What's her sister say about all this? The older sister is a senior in college. She's about to graduate. What does she say? She doesn't like the boyfriend.

Okay, that's what I was asking. Yeah, it's simple. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the youngest. Turn her that's what I was asking. Yeah, it's simple. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the youngest... Turn her loose on her sister. Yeah, yeah. I can tell you my three have policed each other when they were in that age group.

They don't now because they have separate households now and they're all stand-alone adults and they respect each other's boundaries now. But if one of my both my daughters were in college at the same time, if this had been going on one of the other ones would have said, you've got to be kidding me. This guy's a loser. And she would have called it out that way. You've been real nice, but that's what you're saying so i think the other only other thing i can tell you is you probably you more than your wife probably have more influence with her than you think you do

and i get that from dr meg meeker and i would pick up the book matter of fact i'll send you a copy of it called hero and it's all about how dads are a hero, that good dads are a hero in their daughter's eyes. And you probably can, you're very even-tempered. You're not saying anything flamboyant. You're not going over the top one way or the other here. You're not abandoning this. You're willing to stand in the gap for her. You're willing to make it difficult for her for her own good.

But you're trying to just be wise about how to get at this whole thing. And that tells me you're probably going to find the right equation because of who you are. And I think she knows who you are. And I think the guy I'm talking to is a guy she'll listen to. And it might be you just make a couple trips over there for a Saturday morning breakfast. You make the two-hour drive and just start speaking into the situation very bluntly. And say, you know, I've known guys like this my whole life. And we love you and we're going to walk with you.

We're not going to abandon you. But this is a bad situation and I'm worried about you because I love you. And I think she'll hear you more than you think she will. Yeah, and real quick John, I want you to try smothering this kid with kindness. Asking him what is he planning to do? Put some kind pressure on him. See if it freaks him out. Gets him to leave. It'll run him off. When we talk about giving like no one else,

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I love it. You can even give it as a gift. Visit Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. There's no better way to protect yourself and your family while helping others at the same time. That's Zander.com or 800-356-4282. Well, if you're struggling with debt, you know what it's like to be scared. You know what it's like to be overwhelmed where you can't even think straight. I've been there too. You don't have to live like that anymore.

When you pay off all your debt as fast as possible, you will never have that kind of stress in your life again. And you can do this. Here's where you start. Millions and millions of people have gone through and gotten out of debt by going through Financial Peace University. They've learned how to pay off their debt, take control of their money, and you can stream all nine lessons right now. And you get some extra support by going through the class with others. And the only way to get Financial Peace University is with a Ramsey Plus membership. You can get rid of the debt that's holding you back and end the cycle of worry and stress.

Start the free trial of Ramsey Plus by texting TRIAL to 33-789. Text TRIAL to 33 33789. Text trial to 33789. Our question today comes from Blinds.com. Find out for yourself why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. Free samples, free shipping, and with new promos they run all the time. You'll save even more. Use the promo code BRAMSY to get the best possible deal. Today's question comes from Alex in Alabama. He writes in, I'm single, 25 years old, in the military, and on baby step 3B

with $170,000 in investments. I've always wanted to be a pilot, and I'm halfway through the process of getting my commercial license. If I stay in the military, it will take me three more years to get the license and qualifications to be a pilot. It will only take four months if I pursue it full-time. I'm afraid the aviation industry will recover soon, and I'll miss the employment wave, so I want to get the license ASAP to de-risk my situation. Burning bridges in the military and taking a step backwards career-wise is holding me back. Should I leave the military now to pursue flying full-time? Okay, there's so much here, Dave.

First of all, I'm afraid that the aviation industry will recover sooner and I'll miss the employment wave. That's not true. There's always going to be a need for pilots. That's a false narrative that's creating some unnecessary pressure. I also have questions about burning bridges in the military. I don't know why in the world you would need to burn bridges. If you're leaving honorably and you're leaving from the military to go into the marketplace to pursue a

future, you don't have to burn bridges. If you're a jerk and you leave the wrong way, that's the only way you're burning a bridge. So don't quite understand that. You have two options here. If you want to take your time and financially it's more viable for you to finish out the three years or you stay in the military and then get the license, that's fine too. But if you're 25, you've got some good investments, and you've planned for this financially to go full-time for four months. You've got to have living expenses. You don't want to go backwards financially for the four months

that you've got to go full-on to get the pilot's license. So I don't think it's a bad decision if it's me. I'm planning for this, and I'm going to go for the four-month option, and I'm not going to look back. But you can't let fear of something that's not real hold you back here, Dave. What I can't tell from the email is if he has served his time that he has promised the military. You can't just walk out. And I think that's what he's alluding to. That he has promised the military. Yeah. And if he's, you know, you can't just walk out. That's not. And I think that's what he's alluding to.

That's not burning the bridge. That's just not an option. Yeah, you can't do it. You can't just walk away. You said, we're going to serve four years. You're going to serve four years. That's correct. You know, so, you know, or whatever it is you signed up for.

What was your tour? And so now when your time is up, if you're referring to burning bridges because somebody's going to get their feelings hurt that you left the military, well, that's on them. That's not on you. You just don't be a jerk. And you say, I've enjoyed my time here, and I've enjoyed serving my country, and I'm going to move on with my career if your time is up. So if you can leave without doing something illegal or breaking a contract and be done in four months, that's what you should do. Yeah.

But not because the whole aviation industry is going to evaporate in the next three years. If it's going to evaporate in the next three years, why are you going into it in the first place? That's a dumb plan. You know, it's like you're going to get the one job that's left, and you're never going to need another thing ever. They're going to hire everybody, and you're going to be the last one. No, that's a completely false narrative. But, again, it has to do – I can't tell from what –

I don't know what burn bridges means here. Yeah, it's hard to say. I'm assuming he realizes you just can't walk from the military. You would think. You can't just show up and ghost them, you know, like, hey, I'm out. I think I'm going to get my two-week notice. Yeah. I don't think that's the way that works.

It doesn't work that way. I don't think that's how it works. All right. Tyler is with us. Tyler is in Salt Lake City. Hi, Tyler. What's up? Hey, guys.

Thanks for letting me join you today. Sure. How can we help? Hey, so I just kind of have a unique job situation. So we're in baby step four, five, and six, and I'm a professor at a university. And so they put 15% of my income through a retirement account, every paycheck. They do free tuition for my kids. And our plan is to get the house paid off in the next four years. But I wonder if what's the, I guess what I should be doing in terms of that four, five, and six, in addition to maybe doing some remodels to the house that my wife really wants.

Okay, well, baby step four is 15% of your income going into retirement, right? Mm-hmm. Okay, and that gets you the full match, right? Well, so they do that without a match. So they just they do 15 regard i don't put in any they put in okay well that's just that's just a nice benefit okay that's wonderful but you need to be putting 15 of your income into retirement that's baby step four okay you knew that you knew that was baby step four right yeah i knew that was baby step four i

just thought what i've been listening to you for five years and a few years ago you when someone had a big retirement like that you would say well maybe you do five or seven percent and throw a little more towards the house but lately i've been hearing you say you do the full 15 no matter what they do a big retirement you mean like the amount they're putting in or have you got a million dollars already in there no so i have about 150 000 dollars you don't have a big retirement that's a little no no yeah yeah you're talking about the amount they're putting in i think the only time i have said that and i one of the few things I am is actually consistent. So I think the only times I have said to lower it down to that to 7% or something is not based on how much they were putting in, but mandatory placement.

Like they require, there are some positions where they require you to put 12% into a program that's like a pension plan or something, and then do I need to put 15% more on top of that? No, we back that off, or they're going to furnish this or that. So anyway, you can do whatever you want, but I would recommend you put 15% of your income in and that you take care of kids' college, and then you work to pay off your house and remodel your house out of the balance. And that's pretty consistently yeah what we teach so hey thank you robin is with us robin is in nashville hey robin what's up hi dave thank you so much for taking my call sure i really appreciate it sure i've listened to you for years and years

okay um i'm calling because i have an situation. I've been married for almost 25 years, um, live about 10 hours away from our in-laws and the rest of my entire husband's family. Um, they own a, his parents being, they own a lake house and they came to us recently asked if we'd like to buy in. Um, they own it outright, but they told us in the next couple of couple years they would like us to make a monthly payment to keep it running, and then they would then turn it over to us in about the year 2023. My husband and I kind of sat down and did the math and decided to not do that.

Good. His other two siblings opted in. We opted out. Good. But there's two problems there. Number one, we're the only weirdos that left the family and left the state, and we're also weird because we follow your plan to a T and are debt-free except for our house.

And you're 10 hours away from the lake house, so there's no reason to buy into it. Right. Yeah, logical. But they see us as having a lot of money and so why wouldn't we because it's such a small because we don't want to and it's our money correct yes exactly and now they are going around the family telling everyone that we have opted out of our inheritance well and i'm struggling how to explain to them that's not inheritance. I just wouldn't.

Just let them do whatever they're going to do. I mean, they're just being butts. You can't make somebody not be a butt. So it hurts your feelings, though. But you didn't opt out of anything. You opted out of a dumb plan. Good for you. And if they're not going to leave you something because of that, oh, well, that's okay.

Move on with your life. miss our sad people trying to control people We'll be right back. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. This is the Ramsey Show in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage. Tim is with us. Hey, Tim, how are you? I'm well, gentlemen. Thanks for having me. Honored to have you, sir. Where do you live? I'm in Rockford, Minnesota. Okay. Small is with us. Hey, Tim, how are you? I'm well, gentlemen. Thanks for having me. Honored to have you, sir. Where do you live? Out in Rockford, Minnesota. Okay. Minneapolis area. Yeah. Small town, a little west.

Yeah. Cool. Welcome. Welcome to Nashville. How much have you paid off? $77,479. Excellent. And how long did this take you? 13 crazy months. And your range of income during that 13 crazy months? I went from $49,000 up to $75,000. Wow. What do you do for a living? I'm an elementary school physical education teacher. And then for the 13 months, I was delivering pizzas for Domino's, and I worked a golf course for a while.

Wow. Anything it took, huh? Yeah, pretty much. Scratch and claw and get it done. Love it. What kind of debt was the $77,000? I had a little over $8,000 in a a car loan and then the remainder was student loans. Student loans, student loans, student loans. Here we go. I love it. Very cool. So what happened to you 13 months ago that made you go crazy like

this? So before I can kind of share the debt payoff story, I want to tell a story that kind of informs how I had the energy and the motivation to do it. Coming out of high school, I was close to 400 pounds, very unhealthy, just not really taking care of myself. And back then is when I kind of first discovered what gazelle intensity was before I even had any idea of your teachings. Ended up getting into the gym and, you know, just working hard seven days a week. And I was able to get myself down to a healthy range and take care of things there. That's amazing. Oh, yeah. Thank you so much.

So you lost over 200 pounds. Yeah. Wow. Unfortunately, after that, some life happened, and I did go back up a little bit. I was up to 336 pounds again. But then it was three years ago or so. I got back on it and, you know, got back on the right path. And now I'm back down to where I was pre-putting it back.

So fast forward to the debt. I had a conversation with my cousin's husband, Alan. He had read your book and did debt payoff of his own. And he asked me if I had any sort of plan in place for my student loans or if they were just going to hang out forever, which at the time, my plan really wasn't a plan. I was signed up for the public service loan forgiveness, and I just assumed I'd make minimum payments,

and eventually it would be forgiven. Alan pointed out that something like 1% of people who had applied were receiving forgiveness, and it wasn't much of a plan at all. And that's where we put together a budget and came up with a plan. And at the time, we said it was going to be 24 months to get rid of it. I already had close to $10,000 in the bank, so that was just pay off the car, got the emergency fund figured out, and we were off to the races from there.

Yeah. Okay. Cool. So he lined you up on how to do this then? Yes, sir. All right. Very cool. the car got the emergency fund figured out and we were off to the races from there yeah okay cool so he lined you up on how to do this then yes sir all right very cool and then how'd you connect up with us just through him yeah so he gave me a copy of your book i read the total money makeover and went through financial peace university and it was instantly hooked just as fast as i took to the gym years ago i just dove dove in and got to work. Okay. So, yeah, you had already figured out through your weight loss and everything and your career choice and everything else that you can control the guy in your mirror. Yeah.

And that wasn't a revelation to you. You just had to apply it to the money piece. Yeah. Yeah, I just hadn't done it in the financial side of things before, so it was a somewhat easy transition in that sense. Yeah, I've got to ask you because you shared a really compelling how you went back a little bit on the wait. Yeah. Did you have that happen on this debt-free journey, or were you just laser-focused and

you never stopped? Were you kind of like a wood chipper, just throwing logs in there? Yeah, it was wood chipper this time for the debt. There was really nothing stopping it. There was only a couple of times along the way where I just felt tired, but never really wavered or went back. How many hours? You just described for us pizza, working at a golf course.

How many hours did you log? What was the longest week? At the peak of it, I think I put in 85, 86 hours. And I was doing consistently 80. Very fortunate to have understanding and patient friends and family and my wonderful fiancé who I met actually during that time. How? It doesn't seem like you had any time to meet a woman.

I know. Online dating, it worked out. Oh, okay. All right. Good for you, man. That's incredible. Just drove by and waved and went on to your next job. We had to get creative in finding ways to find time for each other,

but we made it. Now we're here. And now you're free. That's awesome. How does it feel to be free? Oh, it's incredible. It's hard to describe, honestly. Will you go back?

Will you add this back? Will I go back into debt? No, sir. Never. All right. Good. Good. I'm glad to hear that.

You're a hero, man. I'm proud of you. Absolutely. Very well done. Thank you very much. I'm very, very proud of you. I appreciate it. Excellent, excellent job.

So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? You know, for me, it was honestly just letting go of the idea that there was a magic pill, silver bullet, or white knight coming to save me. There isn't. There's nothing but you and good old-fashioned hard work, and you just got to put in the time. Also, finding what's important and making sure that they remain a priority. During that time, I was working 80 hours a week, but I did see my girlfriend at the time, fiancée now,

and made time to see family and things like that. Very cool. It's all about the balance, right? Very cool. Well done, man. Well done. Very well done. Excellent, excellent job.

What was the hardest part, the hours? done. Very well done. Excellent, excellent job. What was the hardest part? The hours? Yeah, it was tough. So as the relationship with Bree grew, I started to get to know her kids more and things like that. And then they are starting to want more time with me. And that's when I knew it was time to quit the dominoes. You know, when we got little girls at home wondering when Tim was going to be around, I was like, okay, we're done with that. But so the last

couple of months, it was just my teaching salary that we did it with. Okay. So you kind of, that's cool. Very cool. And when you can see the end,

it's easy to make some adjustments. Yeah. You got to bust into it until you can see the end. Yeah. Yeah. Very well.

Very well done. Good job, man. Hey, thank you. Well, we got a copy of the legacy journey for you. And that's the next chapter in your story for sure to build and create a whole new legacy with this new marriage coming up and everything do you have a date set not yet this is actually very very recent uh

proposed on my trip here so this just happened we uh actually went to ruby falls and yeah proposed down in the cave i didn't have a ring at the time because it wasn't planned but i'm like I actually went to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. Yeah, beautiful. Proposed down in the cave. I didn't have a ring at the time because it wasn't planned. But I'm like, I'm never going to be able to beat this moment down in the cave by a 100-foot waterfall. So I just decided to do that. And then we went ring shopping the next day. Oh, that's great.

Congratulations. Oh, thank you very much. Congrats. That's excellent. Best part of the ring shopping thing was I told the gentleman that I was going to be on your show. And he started to talk about it. And he caught himself as he was explaining financing options. And I'm like, we don't need to do that. No, thank you.

Yeah, I don't think that's going to work out. No. That's fun. Very cool, dude. Well, that is fun. And we got a copy of Total Money Makeover for you to give away to somebody as well. So Legacy Journey, Total Money Makeover, thank you, man to somebody as well. So Legacy Journey, Total Money Makeover. Thank you, man.

We appreciate you. Very well done. Very proud of you. And congrats. And thanks for making us part of your whole story here. That's a beautiful story. I appreciate you guys. Thank you.

Very cool. All right. Tim from the Minneapolis area. $77,000 paid off in 13 months. How? 80-hour weeks. $49,000 to $75,000 paid off in 13 months. How? 80-hour weeks. $49,000 to $75,000 during that time. And now he's free and can work however he wants to work nowadays. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. All right, here we go. Three, two, one. I'm debt-free! Yeah! Yeah! That is how it's done right there. You know, it's almost as if today our theme has been hard work all through all three hours today. And we've seen examples of people who have done it and examples of people who couldn't figure it out.

Don't want to try it. Don't even want to work hard. And this guy, man, he's a machine. And turn around and look, sees two little girls that are starting to count on him. This relationship is growing, and he says, I'm going to dial it back now because I can see the finish line and get on across the finish line. That's huge. It's really huge. What you see there is the commitment to a future, a desired future.

And then all of a sudden, the relationship piece comes in. He goes, okay, I'm going to dial it back, and I'm still going to finish. I might finish a little bit slower time, if you will, but it matters so much because of this beautiful relationship and those little girls. I mean, this is what it's all about. It's so much bigger than us. Money holds us back from really the desired future that we all long for. What an incredible

story. What a hero. 85 hours at his top week. That is gazelle. If there is a gazelle, that's it. That's getting it. I love it. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Our scripture today, Philippians 4, 6, Don't worry about anything.

Instead, pray about everything. Elon Musk says, when something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor. Amen and amen. Good stuff. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Whitney's with us in Las Vegas. Hi, Whitney. How are you? I'm well. How are you? Better than I5. Whitney's with us in Las Vegas. Hi, Whitney. How are you?

I'm well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Thank you for taking my call. So I just had a question. So I'm debt-free besides my mortgage. I actually just bought a house. I contribute.

I match my company's 401K, and I just started contributing to our IRA. Good. I was wondering if you were familiar with or you know of the app Acorns. I've been also putting money into that and I was just wondering your views on that, if that's a good, if you've heard anything about it, if you would suggest doing that or no. Well, the premise is that it's small amounts that go in, correct? Yeah, so it can round up, like, connected to your bank account, but I also put in money, you know, a couple hundred, or if I have extra, I try to put it in.

But is it, you know, something that would be good on, I feel like it is just like an S&P, right? It just follows the main market. But you're not putting enough money in there that it matters. I mean, I've got a coffee cup, an old coffee cup that sits on my dresser, and I put the change out of my pocket in it, but it's not going to make me rich. Right. But it's something that kind of goes.

No, it doesn't. It's not going to make me rich. It's just a coffee cup full of change. What makes me rich is what you're doing on the other stuff. When you're putting thousands of dollars in your 401K, in your Roth IRAs, not nickel and dime roundups. Right. Okay. So it's almost just kind of just like another...

It's a joke. Yeah, it is. Because it's a small amount, and if you put in a small amount, even if it did really well, it's going to end up being a small amount. The only danger with it is it makes you feel like you're actually doing something right right and that's laughable would you suggest getting like with the smart investor pro and starting like the mutual funds that you say if you want to put more into investments you need to do real investing and put a put a substantial amount in what would you say is put a substantial amount in. What would you say is like a substantial amount? I mean, you're putting 15% of your income away and you're in baby step four, right?

Yes. So you would not put more away now other than kids college unless you have a mortgage to pay off. Do you have a mortgage to pay off? I have a mortgage, yes. Then you need to be putting all extra nickels and dimes towards the mortgage above 15 of your income towards retirement so let me tell you this is not just dave ramsey so let's back up okay that there's a reason that i'm telling you that and if you understand the reason maybe it'll be helpful okay we did the largest study you probably heard me talk about a thousand times ever done on millionaires in north america over 10 000 millionaires were surveyed the typical plan that came out of that was the vast majority

of them they had two major components of becoming millionaires they were investing steadily a large chunk of their income, like 15% as an example, into their 401ks and Roth IRAs. The second thing they did was they had a paid-for house. Those two items added together made up over a net worth of over a million dollars. The vast majority, over 80% of them them followed that plan and out of 10 000 of them that we interviewed the number that said that they became millionaires because they saved nickels and dimes with acorn was precisely zero right okay but would did you say once that investing in your 401k you should only go up to what they match and then you know do an ira yeah you should do if you should only go up to what they match and then, you know, do an IRA. You should do match first, Roth second, traditional third.

Does your 401k have a Roth option? Yes. Okay. Then you would do your 401k with Roth, take the match. Does your 401k have good mutual funds in it to select from? That I don't know. I would have to look. Okay. If they're good mutual funds, it to select from? That I don't know. I would have to look. Okay.

If they're good mutual funds, you max the whole thing out. And if that doesn't get you to 15%, then you can reach over into a Roth IRA in addition to get you up to 15% of your income. But the best thing you can get is a match. The next best thing you can get is tax-free growth, which is Roth. The next best thing is tax-deferred growth. Okay. So match beats Roth beats traditional. Roth paper students, right?

Exactly. That's the deal. So take that match for sure, and then look at the mutual funds. If they're decent mutual funds, just load that 401k up. What is your income? I'm in sales, so it varies, but 90 to 110. Okay. You could be done with your 15% then in a 401k.

Okay, yeah. You won't have to reach over to the Roth if your 401k has good options because you can put $15,000. 401k allows up to $19,000 and some change this year. So you're fine. Yeah, you can do it all right there. And I imagine you've got decent options in that 401k. Most of them do now. There's a few of them we run into that are lousy mutual funds.

But most people do a pretty good job of putting a decent selection in there. The four types we talk about, growth, growth and income, aggressive growth. But you don't really need a side investment fund. You need to be throwing those side dollars at the mortgage. That's my point. It's a distraction, Dave. It's good marketing. good marketing they've made people think oh this is really wise and you're just not the roi in it it becomes a distraction well yeah it's you know if you plant a few kernels of corn you're going to get not much corn right there you go if you plant a few acorns you're gonna get a couple of trees yeah

yeah but if you want a whole forest boys and girls okay you want the tree farm you better plant a lot of them big money in tree farms dave so i hear oh i got a friend of mine that's mega wealthy he bought tree farms years ago told me i was an idiot for not doing it, and he is looking like a genius. He's growing gold bars out there right now. Dead gum lumber. It's not just a metaphor. It turns out that it's actually real money.

No, they're gold bars with branches. I mean, they're just unbelievable. Lumber prices are through the free disguise. Oh, my goodness. Isn't that the truth? He was already a billionaire, and he is twice over now just because of those stupid trees. It's unbelievable. I'm so mad at him.

It's such a good—I'm so proud of him, but he didn't make fun of me, and now he's really proven that he was right when he made fun of me. It's just—I'll never forget it. I'm going to give him a hard time at dinner the next time I see him. That's funny. Michael is in Boston. Hey, Michael. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hey, Dave. Thanks for having me on. Sure. What's up? So I have a question on tackling Baby Step 6. So I recently paid off about $50,000 of debt. Way to go. Thank you.

I have $25,000 in my emergency fund, and I have close to 15% of my income since I can't do full 15 because I'll hit the 401k cap. And when I'm looking at Baby Step 6, my mortgage is like this massive thing since I just got it in 2019. And just the thought of putting everything in there would take me years to do to pay it off. No, it's not. So my question is, do I do it? What's your income? I make $170,000.

Way to go. What's this mortgage? $408,000. Oh, stop your whining, dude. You can do this. You could totally do this. You make $170,000. Wouldn't you want to do some sort of thinking fund for

unknown expenses or would you know an unknown you make 170 000 you're a single guy you're so awesome way to go man you have a fiance well you okay you're not you know is she to mess this up or is she going to work with you? We're working together. What does she make? $50,000. Holy crap, you're going to be making a quarter of a million dollars and you're not even $30,000. Yeah. So I guess then that's the answer then.

Just throw it all in there. Seriously, $100,000 a year. In four years, you're done. This is not exactly overwhelming. And then put everything in. Then you'll be debt-free, and you'll just be making a quarter million dollars and become unbelievably wealthy and unbelievably generous. And if you don't do $100,000 a year and you only do $75,000, it's going to take you five years.

Wah. Dude, you really got this. This is very, doable you're a stud act like it you got this ken good show thank you sir always fun james childs great show madison great show i'm dave ramsey your host we'll be back with you before you know it in the meantime remember there's ultimately only one way to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the prince of peace christ jesus only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes.

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