The Ramsey Show - App - If You Want To Win You Need To Stick to the Proven Plan (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 30, 2022

Dave Ramsey & George Kamel discuss: Using savings to pay off a home, Why a pension doesn't count toward the 15% retirement goal, Moving up in house for safety reasons, Investing more than 15% to make up for lost time. Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods of Moving and Storage 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. We help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. George Camel, Ramsey personality, the most hated man in the restaurant industry, is my co-host today.

It's an honor. And by the horse people, too. Oh, gosh, I forgot about that. The actual contingencies of people that hate you, it's awesome. I'm so glad that you're moving things around and causing some friction. It's good to have you as my co-host today. So if you don't know, he posted a thing on Instagram that is cheaper to eat at home than it is cooking your own food than it is to eat out. And apparently this is a revelation to people in America.

So we've had a lot of fun making fun of you people that have argued with George. Common sense is offensive these days. It's so rare. It's like having a superpower. Abigail's with us. Abigail's in Nashville. Hi, Abigail. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave.

Hi, George. It's good to talk to you. You too. What's up? So my husband and I are on baby step number six, and we're curious if we should use our savings to pay off our house, either now or in the near future. Why would you not? That is maybe step six.

Yes. No, we've been unemployed since September. My husband just accepted a job, and we'll start next week. Yay. Yeah, at a lower income as we had before, but then I'm also eight months pregnant. Phenomenal. I assume when you say you're taking out savings, you still have an emergency fund after you pay off your house, right?

I think so. So we have about $175,000 saved right now in various money markets, venture funds, stocks, all this stuff. And we owe $148,000. That would be like $50,000 left. No, $25,000 left over. Right. So that would kind of be our emergency fund. What's your household income?

So with this new job, it would be $40,000 a year. Oh, yeah. Pay off your house tomorrow. Really? Why would you wait? Why would you wait? What do you wait, though? Well, yeah. Pay off your house tomorrow. Really? Why would you wait? Why would you wait? I mean, do we wait until after the baby? Well, a baby.

Well, the baby's not going to affect. I mean, babies don't cause foreclosures. No, well, that's true. You have health insurance, and you have your emergency fund. You have $25,000. You have health insurance. Your husband has a job, and you have a paid-for house. I can't think of a better thing for a baby to come home to.

Okay. What's your mortgage payment? your husband has a job, and you have a paid-for house. I can't think of a better thing for a baby to come home to. Okay. What's your mortgage payment? So our mortgage right now is about $1,300. Under what circumstances do you need $150,000 for your baby? No, we don't, but part of that was the severance package. No, but under what circumstances would you need $150,000 due to the fact you're having a baby next month? We wouldn't need that much.

I can't think of one. That's what I'm saying. Right, yeah. And you said, yeah, but baby, do I wait until after the baby comes? Well, no, it doesn't have anything to do with it. And you've increased your cash flow next month because you don't have principal and interest to pay. That's true. So we're just, under our current insurance plan, I think we have like $17,000 in our deductible. So if the baby had a NICU stay, we'd still need quite a bit of cash.

But that's just like the worst case scenario. Well, it's not the end of the world to wait until after baby comes if you want to but the point being that um you know we're i don't want you sitting around figuring out a way to rationalize that you keep this money because it makes you feel safe because paying off a home was going to make you feel safer and by the way if you hate being debt free you can always go get a mortgage later no i think we would enjoy it. I think so, yeah. Okay.

When's baby due? January. Okay. Any indications that there's any issues? No. Good. Well, congratulations. That's wonderful. Exciting time. So what we're talking about here is the difference in four weeks or five weeks. Yeah, it's not that long.

Pay off your house now or pay it off if the baby comes i don't care at the end of the world but what i what i do want to challenge and what i was doing is to just challenge your critical thinking on it because what happens is um most people me included because babies are so cool um and they scare you uh when they come because it's a whole new set of responsibilities, even if it's the second or third one, it's that much more responsibility. And so, you know, they're looking at you going, I just cost a lot of money, you know. So, I mean, I, you know, I've been through that myself as a dad and then as a granddad. So I get all of that. But what that is, is thinking with emotion rather than the

actual math and that so that's why i'm pushing back is i just want you to think you know critically thinking there's a one percent chance that paying off your house is a problem here and but if on that one percent if it just makes you feel better wait till your baby comes home and then pay off the house but don't do not get to the end of february with a mortgage okay under any circumstances unless unless baby has serious problems and you're in like you said some kind of nico stay or something yeah but um just don't don't don't don't figure out another reason to kick the can down the road that's emotional and not logical so there's always a what if out there but yeah but i mean the other thing is most of them end better with a paid for house i mean what if what if he loses the new job well paid

for house what if what if what if what if what if we don't have a mortgage payment next month that's there you go brady's in st louis hey brady what's up hey guys how you're doing great how can we help hey so i've got a couple questions for you all. I'm 21 years old, and I'm in college. I'm about to graduate here in May. Good for you. Thank you, sir. I've actually signed to start a position already.

Great. What's your degree on me? It's going to be in computer science with a concentration in software engineering. Wonderful. Well done. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. And I, I'm going to be working at Boeing in St. Louis as a software engineer. So I'm super excited about that. But my, I guess my general question is, is how can I set myself up? And I have a fiance now we're getting married end of next year in September. How can I set myself up, my kids up, my fiance, the whole family, where we can be successful month to month and successful retirement and live comfortably?

What are you going to be making? I'll be at $82,000 starting salary, and I'll have an $8,000 signing bonus in May. And this is kids, this is future kids. Your fiance doesn't already have kids, you don't already have kids. Exactly. Okay. Thinking ahead. So do you have any debt? I have, I have no student loans graduating, but I have about $20,000 in car loan. Okay. Well, your A1 would be to pay that off when you get out. Do you have any money saved up? I have about $2,000 saved up now. Well, get graduated, get married, get the job, get the car paid off. That's thing one. Your most powerful wealth building tool is your income. And if you quit giving it to other people,

that sets you up, right? Okay. Yes, sir. So the best thing you can do is get out of debt, stay out of debt, have a pile of money in the bank, be investing for the future, pay off your house once you get that as soon as you can. And, man, that is the way to set up your family's future. And you're going to get there in no time. At 21, making the money you're making, it's only going up from here. If you follow the steps, the baby steps we teach, you'll be there in no time. I'm going to gift you Financial Peace University to help kickstart this journey for you. So hang on the line.

Austin will pick up. We're going to gift you that. Watch all nine lessons with your fiancé as a premarital counseling. It'll change everything, man. I'm telling you. Oh, every young couple getting married ought to do that. Wow. This is The Ramsey Show. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Well, we're in the holiday season where our brains are focused on buying presents,

decorating our homes, and all the Christmas and New Year celebrations. And then all of a sudden, January's here. And some people hit January with what's known as a financial hangover. Well, we have the antidote for keeping you from doing that, and it's called Get Signed Up for Building Wealth Live. We're going to be doing it here in Nashville January the 12th. This one-night event will help you kick off 2023 feeling confident about your finances. Rachel Cruz, George Camel, Ken Coleman, me, Dr. John Deloney,

join us as we walk you through a simple but proven plan to get back on track and build wealth. Yes, it is possible. Our building wealth events have been a huge hit, and we just wrapped up our sold-out fall season. A lot of fun. And our January event will be here in the Ramsey headquarters. But we're also headed to Indianapolis, Austin, Salt Lake City, and Anaheim. All the dates in the spring. They're selling very, very rapidly.

Passes are only $39 to come to these events. Building Wealth Live. Get your tickets to Nashville today at RamseySolutions.com slash events. RamseySolutions.com slash events. ramseysolutions.com slash events. Our question of the day comes from blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That means even if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds for free.

Free samples, free shipping, and new promos all the time. You'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal. Today's question comes from Claire in Vermont. She asks, does contribution toward teacher pension count in the 15% investing in retirement, or should 15% be invested and then the pension contribution be extra on top of that? I'm asking for my mother-in-law who is 63. She started an IRA outside of the pension, but that's been started pretty recently. All right, so a lot of numbers got thrown around there with pension, but what she's asking is, you know, if the company is paying into

the pension, not the person, how does that affect this baby step four, 15%? Doesn't at all. If the company's paying in. If you have a pension that you are required, that's mandatory for you to put money in and you're putting in 15%, there's two problems with that. Three problems with that. One is you have no control of it. It's not an asset of yours. It's an asset of the company.

If the company goes broke, the pension goes with it. So if you work for xyz company that just filed chapter 11 bankruptcy because they were into bitcoin or something then you would have zero pension because your pension goes broke when the company goes broke the second problem with the pension is um you don't have control over what it is invested in and so it doesn't produce as much income later and of course the third problem is it dies when you die so uh you lose it it's gone poof just like smoke and so all of that to say if you are putting 15

percent in it's not as good as you putting 15 in the other but we'll count it i would count it something if i were in your shoes maybe half or something like that that's what we usually say yeah so let's uh for an example if you have to put in 12%, it's mandatory. We would count that at about 6%, half, because of the poor performance, because you have no control. So if you have that six, you'd still put another nine to get to 15%, maybe step four. Great question. Mary's in Boise, Idaho. Hi, Mary. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hello. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. I have a question about gift giving and gift receiving at the holidays.

My husband and I are, we don't have any debt other than like no credit card debt, no student loan debt. We do have some automobile debt in our home, of course. So we're rapidly paying those off. And every year we tell our siblings, I have three siblings. My husband has two. We have a total of 11 nieces and nephews, plus our parents. We just say no gifts. We just want to see you. We just want to hang out. And every year we find out everybody's getting us gifts. And then last, excuse me, last minute,

we all, we decide to buy them something. But it doesn't feel like it's coming from the heart. So I guess my question is, is it cheap of us to know that we're going to be receiving gifts but not give gifts because we're focusing on ourselves? Or is this the time when we just put our financial goals aside so that we can gift people with something. I don't think you're cheap. I personally don't think you're cheap. I think forced generosity where I'm giving you something and I'm expecting something in return, that is not the spirit of giving to begin with. So if you've had that

conversation and they are resentful of you, then you can't carry that. That's not on you. I don't feel like there's resentment there. It's guilt on your end. It's too bad we're going to give you something anyway. So I guess it's just in between our ears where we feel like we're being cheap by not getting everybody something. But, I mean, if you do the math, you know, 11 is enough. You can do whatever you want do well the math you know you can do whatever

you want to do obviously any family can do whatever they want to do um our families years ago when sharon and i went broke we sat down with all of her brothers and sisters there's 13 grand kids on that side um and uh five brothers and sisters and spouses, right? So there's 20-something people involved. Yeah. And going into Christmas at her folks as an example, all right? And we had to sit down with them, and we said, guys, we're really sorry. We cannot afford to buy everybody a gift. And so we're begging you guys to join us in this.

It's kind of gotten ridiculous anyway. And let the adults draw names, and each one buy one a gift. And little kids that are under, whatever, 10 or something get gifts, and the rest of them are in the drawing, you know, or whatever thing. And would you all join us in this? Because we don't want to come in here and feel guilty. And if you all are all going to give each other gifts and we're going to be sitting here feeling guilty, we're not going to be able to come because we don't want to come in here and feel guilty and if y'all are all going to give each other gifts and we're going to be sitting here feeling guilty we're not going to be able to come

because we don't want to sit here in that okay and you know what they went thank god somebody said it out loud we always were thinking the same thing they weren't even broke and they were just glad to draw names because it gets just dumb anyway right when you're buying somebody you see something you see four or five times a year a gift, and they've already bought anything they really wanted. And so it goes in a drawer or it's thrown away or ends up in the seldom used kitchen items bin or whatever it is, you know? And so it starts to be silly, really. Yeah.

In most families. Now, some families are unbelievably into it and whatever. That's fine. But I would just have a conversation please don't put us in this position and well and then i guess my next question is when you get to the step of give wealth and get uh you know gain wealth and give or um i'm messing it up listen we're extremely wealthy and our kids the ramsey kids got together at Thanksgiving and drew names as a matter of fact there's an app that you can use to draw names okay I found that out at the Thanksgiving table

this year there's an app for that of course Rachel knows there's an app for drawing names right and I think it's more fun anyways that way and then no one's going well he got three gifts and I got two and his were worth more than and it just becomes a weird spirit to the whole thing I mean our kids can afford to give each other anything they want to give them and we can afford to give them anything we want to give them it's ridiculous and we don't we don't i mean we just we give we drew names and we're going to do that and you know now mimi's you know our philosophy is you know just spending time with each other that's all the gifts we want even if we were millionaires it's like i just want that's the point that's the point and so we do one gift in the spirit of gift giving for adults and all the little kids get gifts and it's fun to watch

the little seven-year-olds get gifts that's fine that usually doesn't kill you but it's just the the big thing here is the manipulation of the relationship process to where you ask them not to put you into this position and you'll probably find that somebody will go along and you may have to kind of draw a line and go you know we're just not going to be able to be here if you're going to put us in this position because we just don't think that way and you know we'll get with you another time and we're not going to sit here and watch all y'all open gifts and we didn't buy them that's just weird awkward that's awkward as crud that's just weird i don't want to be i don't want to be guilt tripped intentionally or unintentionally or in my own ear between my own ears or whatever it's it's a difficult time you know the beauty

georgia of this time of year is you get to see your family the bad thing is you get to see your family both and i mean our cousins sit around. We're adults now, and we just give each other a $25 gift card, and I get a $25 gift card. I mean, the Dirty Santa stuff is a lot more fun. Yes. The gag gifts, have fun with it, steal from each other. That's a lot more fun. Set a gift limit.

I think that should be the new trend this Christmas. Just tear into it. Absolutely. You know, I mean, oh, my gosh. Which, by the way, Dave, I still have to buy you a gift, and I expect one in return. George, the chance of me feeling guilty about this is really close to zero. Zero.

Maybe negative amounts of guilt. I'm thinking beaver pelt. Oh, gosh. Back to the beaver pelt. Here we go. You can make a hat out of it, George. This is the ramsey show are you sick of planned obsolescence you, when companies make products crappy so you have to buy more of their crappy products? Well, me too.

And it's why I love companies like Grip6. Grip6 is all about quality products meant to last forever. That's why their comfortable, bulk-free belts, slimline wallets, and lightweight wool socks all come with a lifetime warranty and simple returns and exchanges. So check them out at Grip6.com today and get up to 20% off with the promo code Ramsey personality, host of Smart Money Happy Hour, at least co-host with Rachel Cruz, is my co-host here today on The Ramsey Show. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, David and Jessica are with us.

Hey, guys, how are you? Hey Dave. Welcome to be here. Where do you guys live? Just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Oh cool. Well welcome. Glad to have you in Nashville. So here to do a Debt Free Scream. How much did you pay off? About $120,000. All right. How long did that take? 22 months. Good for you. And your range of income during that two years about 110 to 150 cool what do y'all do for a living i'm a commercial truck driver and i'm a supervisor for pharmacy operations awesome good and what kind of debt was this 120 000 everything everything credit cards student loans uh cars medical bills medical bills personal loans all of it. You guys were like normal.

Super normal. Super normal. And normal sucks. So how long have y'all been married? All of the years. The whole time? How long have you been married? Five years.

Five years. Okay. And out of the five years, about two years ago, something happened and gave you a wake-up call. Tell us what happened and how did you get started on this Ramsey stuff well going back um a couple years before that um 2015 uh she was coming out of a uh a very toxic marriage um I was coming out of prison um did a couple years in Indiana for uh drug addiction related stuff um so we were both kind of starting over we'd known each other since high school but we kind of off and on stayed connected. So kind of came back together.

And after we got married in 2016, we didn't really know what to do. We were living with family, talking to bankers, talking to people that knew their stuff. Everybody was telling us, buy a house, do this, got to build your credit, get credit cards. So that's what we did. They never said 17 credit cards was too many they just said get credit cards never gave me a number exactly they never said stop they just said to do it so we did and we did a lot and um so then um 2019 um we had bought a house we we really should have been able to afford it, but we were so swamped in every other area that we ended up selling that. Moved back in with family, and then we just found ourselves really, really broke and trying to figure out where to go from there.

And then we found you. This new life was supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be. That's right. And it didn't turn out that way. So you bumped into us where? That would be me. I worked with a guy for a while.

I wouldn't even call us friends. We were just buddies at work. And I remembered we had an open enrollment. He had mentioned he didn't need any of the or do any of the benefits at work. He used Zander. And I said, what's Zander? And he said, the Dave Ramsey stuff. And I said, what's that?

He said, the financial guy. Two and a half years later, Tylerler hard to see if you ever watch this two and a half years later don't know why it triggered in my mind but jump back into it there it was okay so you just google it and find us and here we go just dove in found you yeah yeah well congratulations i'm proud of you you went i trusted bankers long enough let me trust this dave ramsey guy and see what he has to say after watching it for a little while he seemed like he knew what he was talking about. Wow. So how much of a turnaround?

Was it instant where you just went, I'm going to cut up all 17 cards? What was this process like to get started? Kicking and screaming. Was that on your end? That was on my part. I was very, very reluctant. I had been in a toxic marriage, and said you know from that point forward i'm going to be independently broke i am not going to be codependent on anyone else for financial anything

so you said this was a control thing you're like no one's going to tell me how i'm going to live my financial life yep um and you know i thought this is just a fad he's going to lose interest in this um and then he introduced us to our ELP, Tracy. Hi, Tracy. Who's been our biggest supporter, keeping us on track. But that very first meeting, she'll tell you, I was like, I don't want to do this. I am not excited about this. This is not how I wanted to live my life.

But here we are. They never said a good attitude was required. That's amazing. But you started doing this stuff, and you went, oh my gosh, this actually works. At what point did you flip from being heels dug in to running forward? So there were two. I actually started getting really into the Ken Coleman show and had some questions about my career. He gave me some really great advice, put myself in proximity of the people who could make things happen, got two promotions within six months.

But really, I would say what solidified it for me is, don't know if you remember, but we very publicly had a hiccup in our financial peace journey in February. So about nine days before my son was born, I went out and bought a van. Yep's us so we bought a i called you i have no idea you're the only one in 30 years that's ever done that no i have no idea what you're talking about he called in february and gave his side of the story and i think you asked if i lost my dad gum mind i remember this call now. And then I wrote an email the next day, which I didn't expect to get a response.

But you responded. And I think you called him a twerp. I think George called us both grown children. He did. He did. It's all coming back to me. I don't remember this, but you're legendary, apparently. Oh, wow.

I wanted a response. Yeah, it's funny that you talk about the YouTube comments because they were not friendly at all. But for that, for me, that was the changing point. You had said there was some fear there. You had said that we needed to recommit to our why. You even suggested him coming off the road. And so we sat down, we had a meeting and we said, this is our why. This is what we want to do and we're going to do it. And we actually, I think it was may 2023 was our projected date and we hit it this november wow what turned them around they go into the ramsey woodshed they get beat up by you me and the youtubers the youtube comments they get just

destroyed and then they go okay okay i'll do it it was well deserved who knew that could be inspiring wow we still have the van by the the way. It's right out there. And it's paid off. That's awesome. We're proud of you guys. Well done. Very cool. You went from May 2023, but you did it months and months earlier.

What happened? I think it's fair to say before the van, which was just kind of a catalyst for us communicating even deeper, we were most, well, well not most but sort of dave-ish there was there were some things we should have cut out of the budget and things we could have done a little more intensely and after that it it just the intensity just leaned into it when you realize it worked all the nonsense completely out of the budget we went a couple months uh no plastic at all all cash all envelopes you get you get called out on national radio it'll do that to you.

Oh, my God. It'll wake you up a little bit. He can't hear me, right? Because once we gave up the restaurant budget, that's when things really knocked it out of the park. It's not eating out. Eating at home is cheaper, Dave. George, one more time.

There it is. Oh, my gosh. You guys are amazing. I'm so proud of you thank you well done i'm sorry we took you to the woodshed but i'm glad it worked out i'm glad it worked out we we did it in love we love you we want you to win and we're glad you're winning that's awesome it was a good needed motivation at the time wow oh my gosh what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is now that you've done it? Everybody says the budget because you have to look at your numbers.

If you're not, you just don't know what you're looking at or what you're talking about. So that is a have to being on the same page, communication. I know she would say having grace. It is. It is. And that's part of why we're here is because, you know, we had a hiccup. We had a really big setback. I bought a van when we were $5, 000 from paying off the car that we had um and so having grace

and understanding that you're gonna mess up or you're gonna make mistakes throughout the journey but it's not a reason to quit wow that's good i like it good for y'all well done well done hey we've got a copy of the the and Give box for you, the bundle, and that includes the Total Money Makeover book, the Baby Steps Millionaires book, and a one-year membership to Financial Peace University. Use those things yourself or give them away to other people. Enjoy them.

And we're so honored to have you here. I'm glad that we get to hear the other side of a woodshed story. It's the where are they now. They're debt-free now. That's what's up. I have no recollection of this because I've done that stuff so many times in 30 years, but I'm so happy. It's only been 5,000 calls since then.

So happy. Well, I mean, I'm just, I can't remember my name. But anyway, well done, y'all. Very, very, very proud of you. Good work. And you brought the kiddos. What are their names and ages? This is Walker.

He's nine months. And Wyatt is 29 months. All right. Cool. All right. $120,000 paid off in 22 months, making $110,000 to $150,000, plus or minus a van. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. We're debt-free! We're debt-free! Yeah! Woo-hoo-hoo! We're Death Fiends! Yeah! Oh my gosh! Wonderful! Well done. This is the Ramsey Show. Редактор субтитров А.Семкин George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host open phones at 888-825-5225

Tiana is with us in Evansville Indiana hi Tiana how are you hi Dave I'm well. How are you? Better than we deserve. What's up in your world? Yeah, so I just have a quick question. I was wondering if we can afford to move up in-house and whether or not I should allow my mom to move in as well. Okay. Okay.

So what is your payment now? Well, our house payment is $458. That's pretty cheap. What's your take-home pay? About $6,600 right now. Okay. All right. And do you have other debts?

Yes, we do. We have a car for $15,000. Mm-hmm. Okay. And so your car payment's bigger than your house payment? Yeah. No, actually. It's $280,000. Oh, okay.

All right, and what's your household income? You said $6,600,000, your take-home pay, so your household income's $100,000. Just not quite. Right now, it's at around $80,000 to $85,000, but I receive SSI from my daughters, and that's a fixed income. So that's how much I get with no tax. I see. Okay. All right. And so we tell folks not to have a house payment that's more than a fourth of their take-home pay on a 15-year fixed. So you have an awesomely low house payment.

So you're just wanting a better house? Why are you wanting to move? Well, our neighborhood is a bit sketchy. It always has been, but we had a plan to pay off our house very early. That's kind of why we feel safe in the neighborhood. And on top of that, with my two disabled daughters, one of them has a lot of equipment that requires a ton of room for her to be able to have it with her. So we just feel like we need a bigger space. All of that was there when you moved in, though, right?

Except for the shooting part. Well, no. My daughter is only four months old. Oh, okay. And we moved in a month before we found out we were even pregnant. Okay. So what could you sell the house for? Maybe 80, 81.

What do you owe it 70 okay so you can barely get out right okay so you get out and then you move and your house payments no more than a fourth of your take-home pay as long as you do that that's going to be okay the trick is you you you don't want to get in a habit of and it doesn't sound like you are that every time i want to get a bigger or every time my income goes up i go get a bigger house because that just means you stay in debt the rest of your life so we want to avoid that but if you make this one move to get away from the shooting gallery and and to get a little more room for the you know for the equipment and everything then uh that doesn't sound out of line. And why do you want your mom to live with you? Well, with my daughters, one has multiple appointments a week that I can't really make now that my other daughter is basically homebound and I have to be with her literally 24-7. I can't even walk outside without having at least another person with me in case of emergencies.

So there's only two people who I am having trained in her care, which is my husband and my mom. And my husband works very long hours during the day so it would be just a huge help if she was there to help take care of my daughters with me okay and well your mom doesn't own anything she's just going to move into your house and help you with care um the only downside is is that someday you know the situation is going to change and you're going to you know there'll be some undoing of that as long as you don't say this is forever and ever until you know i'm obligated to do this for the rest of my life no i mean we're this is what we're doing for this season right okay yeah i mean i that sounds like a wonderful thing and your mom's

able and willing to do that and it sounds like you've got a pretty strenuous situation, kiddo. The caveat I'm seeing here is if you sell this house and you've got $0, you might need to pause and save up to have something down on the next house and maybe pay off this car and, you know, kind of solve that situation. So I'm wondering, could you rent somewhere? You have a good income with $6,600. Could you rent for a little while while you can get some foundation? Yeah, a year or two and clean up the car debt and then build up a good down payment.

You're right because you're not going to have a down payment. That would give me a little more financial peace, stepping into this situation. I think that's probably a wise suggestion right there, something to follow. Austin's with us. Austin is in Wisconsin. Hey, Austin, welcome to the ramsey show hey fellas how you guys doing today great how can we help hey so uh i'm a 28 year old guy in college and i just got home from the jewelry store purchasing an engagement ring for hopefully my future fiance

yay way to go yeah thank you guys very much. So, obviously, I'm a huge fan of the baby steps and everything, and follow them to a T. However, when talking with her about it, she has one asterisk that she wants to make, and I want to know if this is something I should raise a stink about, or if this is kind of something I should just let fall by the wayside. So we're both in baby step two right now,

paying my way through school and everything. And my question is, should we put 20% into retirement once we get to baby step four, that's her asterisk, or should I fight about it and make sure that it's 15? Because I really want to pay off the house as soon as we can, but she's looking at the numbers and thinking that we're going to lose out on a lot of, you know, like growth and growth and growth and time and everything like that. Yeah.

So what is her net worth? So her net worth right now is probably upwards of $50,000. Mine's not. No, i completely agree if she was so concerned about the power of compound interest why would she go into debt in the first place yeah that is a fantastic question that's a smart aleck answer, Austin, to say, you know, if you use your best ideas and your best ideas have gotten you nowhere, you probably should use someone else's best ideas. That's kind of my opinion as well. Yeah.

And that's not a 20% versus 15% thing. That's not a caveat or an asterisk thing. That's a philosophy of life thing. And so it's kind of like saying, you know, I just hired a personal trainer. He has an eight-pack and I have a keg. And I'm going to do everything he says, but there's one thing. Well, you can do that. You can do that.

But please don't be arrogant enough to say it's because you're smarter than the guy with the eight pack when you have a keg and then don't blame him when you don't have the eight pack because you didn't follow the plan he set out exactly because i mean he's he's got he's got the plan to get you to where he is and he's got proof standing in front of you that it works now you can adjust his plan if you want but it's to your own peril and tens of millions literally tens of millions of people have followed these baby steps so it really honestly it doesn't matter the 10 versus 20 all that doesn't matter what matters is this idea that um that i'm going to question my personal trainer who's got a track record. That's the important part of the question.

It's not the nuance of, you know, did God ordain? No, he didn't. That's not the point. And it's just that the stuff we teach works, and so why would you screw with it? If it ain't broke the stuff we teach works. And so why would you screw with it? That's the thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yeah. But, you know, let's enjoy being engaged and having a lot of fun and planning a marriage.

And let's learn to take advice from people who are ahead of us on the journey, whichever journey that is, whether it's parenting or marriage or career or money. That puts us out of the Ramsey Show in the books. Do you love a good day, Brandt? Want to see the latest Ramsey Show videos going viral? Check out your favorite moments from the Ramsey Show on YouTube. Go watch and subscribe to the Ramsey Show channel on YouTube.