The Ramsey Show - App - I'm 71 Years Old With No Retirement Savings (Hour 3)

Episode Date: August 4, 2021

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Music Music Music Music Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where dad 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, Christy Wright, number one best-selling author. Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Her new book is on pre-sale. It will come out September the 14th, but if you want to get $50 worth of extra goodies to go with it, all for $20, you can preorder it at RamseySolutions.com.

It's called Take Back Your Time, The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance. Janice is with us in Oklahoma City to start this hour off. Hi, Janice. How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm doing okay. I'm really pretty very concerned about my finances. I'm 70 years old.

I have no retirement. My husband and I, neither one have a retirement. We are not in agreement about what we should do with the cash that we do have. We have $25,000 cash, no CDs, nothing. That's it. The question is, we owe $27,000 on our home, and the value of the home is about $250,000. We have $11,000 debt on a car. My husband wants to take the money that we have and pay off the car, and then he says apply the $350 a month car maintenance payment towards paying off the house.

My problem is I'm so stressed. I at least want to have a house to live in, and the way I see things, I don't think I can live anywhere cheaper than where I live right now, I don't think I could even live in an apartment for what we would be paying a month on our home. So I need some help here. What are you living on? What's your income? We have $2,000 a month Social Security combined. I have some income that I get above that with a job that I have that is pretty physically challenging. I'm able to do it now, but, you know, I don't know how long I'll be able to do that.

What do you make? Probably another $2,000 a month on that. Okay. Is your husband able to work? He has a part-time job. It's kind of whenever the store owner needs him. And so he has occasional income, but nothing that we count on. Is he able to work um a little so he's got physical limitations

yes he does okay he's got health problems yes okay and that's part of you know our situation we've had large medical bills and we've also made some real bad cash investments. What do you do that makes you $2,000? I clean homes. And it's physically demanding. Okay. It's good money, but That is physically demanding. Okay. It's good money, but it's physically demanding. Hey, how many cars do you have?

We have a paid-off, old, very dependable pickup, and then we have the one car that we have the outstanding debt on. We also have an old Roadster that's probably, I would say, about a $10,000 value on it. I'm sorry, but the Roadster is gone. Okay. I'm sure that's going to break his heart, but I'm sorry. It's gone. And then that gives us $10,000 to put towards the house

because the Roadster will sell for enough to pay off your car. We can leave $15,000 in your emergency fund, put $10,000 towards the house, and then that leaves you $17,000 to go. And you guys get in the business of the next 17 months or so getting that house paid off. Okay. Because with no debt at all, you can make it. It's not going to be pretty, but you can make it. Right? Right.

You know, we don't spend money. I mean, everybody spends money. It costs money to do anything. But the main thing we do is we eat out, and that's not a lot. We don't go to the supermarket anymore. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. If you want to keep this house, you're going to start living like you're completely bankrupt

because you've got to clean this mess up. You do not have wiggle room here. That's where all this stress is coming from in your stomach and why you called me. Yes. So you can't eat out you're broke eating out is causing you to clean toilets okay yeah i agree yeah and so you know i'm sorry about in the future you may may be able to but right now you've got to get a roadster sold you got to get your car paid off and

you got to get your house paid off and you got twenty five thousand dollars in a roadster to pull all this off and a two thousand dollar income that's questionable because we don't know how much longer you can do this at 70 years old right so we have got to get you clear of this debt before you're before you start losing the ability to work like he has. Otherwise, you're going to end up selling this house and buying a condo for $100,000 and have a $100,000 slush fund to live on and have a life. Now, you can go ahead and do that now if you want. Okay, I'm listening to you.

Well, you got a $250,000 house, right? Yes. So if you sell it today, you're listening to you. Well, you've got a $250,000 house, right? Yes. So if you sell it today, you're debt-free. Take $100,000, buy a $100,000 condo, two-bedroom, move yourself into it. And that's your retirement home. And that's how you're going to retire. And that enables you to not be stressed and not be worried. And you've got $100,000 to invest over there that will make you a little bit of money.

And, you know, that's a much better mathematical equation, but I'm guessing that that's going to cause an awful lot of emotional pain. Well, and also, you know, the HOA fees would be probably much as much. No, no, no. You can live in a $100,000 condo in Oklahoma City. It's just going to come down to making the choice, Janice. Like, you're going to have to make a choice. You're either going to get out of this debt or you're going to have to leave that house.

Like, something has to give. This is not working right now, which is why you feel that tightness in your chest. But you can fix it. You've got several ways to fix it, but you have to make a choice and commit to doing that. You can't keep doing this. He's going to have to work. All his health will allow him.

You're going to have to work. All your health will allow you. You're not going to see the inside of a restaurant unless you're working there you're gonna sell the roadster and you guys are gonna get serious about paying this thing off otherwise you need to sell it and move to a hundred thousand dollar condo you'll be better off or something like that this is the Ramsey Show. Hey, I'm Christi Wright. Do you struggle to find time to connect with God?

Well, I have great news for you. Glorify is an app that makes it easy for you to have a quiet time practice that works for you. Glorify is an app that makes it easy for you to have a quiet time practice that works for you. In fact, it's the number one daily worship and well-being app trusted by over 1 million Christians. And the great news is the app is free to download. Just search for Glorify in your app store. You could also access their entire content library at half price by using the promo code Christy. Download the Glorify app today. Christy Wright, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. She's the number one best-selling author and getting ready to be so again.

The new book is Take Back Your Time, The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance. It's on sale at Ramsey Solutions for $20, including an extra $50 worth of goodies, which also includes a ticket to the live stream event she and I will be doing on balance. And that's on September the 16th. The book actually launches on September 14th, which is when we will ship it to you. Why would you buy it now when it comes out September 14th? Because we're going to give you $50 worth of stuff as a bribe to get you to go ahead and do it now. That's simple. That's called marketing, I think.

Believe it or not, y'all, it's August here at Ramsey. We think of August as a second new year. We've noticed that once everyone is done with the distractions of summer, they're ready to kick things into high gear. And you have goals that you want to reach, like getting ready for Christmas, which is here in about 30 seconds, right? And, you know, you've got things you need to do. Doyle, to help you get back on track, we're running a great new deal every week,

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Text CASH to 33789. CASH to 33789. Shelly is with us in Spokane. Hi, Shelly. How are you? I'm going to get you. Less more than I deserve to be. There you go. Good plan. How are you? I'm going to get you. Bless more than I deserve to be. There you go.

Good plan. What's up? How can we help? Okay. I love two things in life, planning events like weddings and saving money. And I'd like to combine the two and find a little niche where I can help couples to plan that party without spending the down payment on a house over it. All right.

I just don't know how to do it. I do little things like when there is a clearance on kind of fancy wear at St. Michael's for tables, I buy them on clearance. clearance on kind of fancy wear at St. Michael's for tables. I buy in on clearance. I buy stuff on Craigslist as far as tablecloths and stuff like that. I may have a venue that can be my go-to venue, depending upon the wedding that I'm helping plan for my cousin's daughter. And I'm trying to do it sensibly, but I am not a business person, and I don't know exactly how to go about it.

I know how to go about finding people that I need that can help me as far as certain aspects, but it's all really overwhelming. I don't know how to set up a website and it's just, I really want to do this, but I don't want to fail. Hey Shelly, I want you to know that exactly what you said is what I've heard for 10 years and you're not alone. Every single person getting started feels the exact same way. I hear those exact same words. I'm not a business person. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want to fail. So I just first want to encourage you. You're not alone and that's normal. You're doing something new. The great news is it doesn't mean you can't do this. You can do this and you will do this. You're going to do this like everybody else does

it, which is just being scrappy and taking it one step at a time. So I want to give you some really tactical things you can do because when you accomplish one tactical step, it's going to build your confidence. It's also going to help you make progress in this direction. Okay. If I give you a list of things to do, will you do it? Yes, ma'am. Okay. They're easy. I promise. Okay. I'm not a scary teacher. I mean, I might seem scary. I don't mean to. Here's what I want you to do. First, I want you to do a little research on the wedding planning business. You can just stalk people in your area you can stalk people

online i don't care how you do it i want you to get a list of what are the typical services a wedding planner covers you just need to know what those are you probably know the basics from cakes to linens to florals that type type of thing. But I want you to get a comprehensive list. I want you to make a whole list. Okay. And then that's going to help you know what areas that you need to source that you don't already have a source for. And that's just going to give you a good starting point. Okay. Then I want second, I want you to think about your pricing. There are several different ways to charge in the wedding planning business. You can do it as a percentage of budget.

You can do it as a flat fee. Obviously it will include what package people buy. If they just want you to help them day of, that's going to be less expensive than if someone wants you to plan their whole wedding for six months with them or a year. So think about your pricing and you've got some options here. This is your business. I know that sounds scary, but it's not scary. It's exciting.

This is your business. You can price it and structure the pricing how you want to. But I want you to do a little research on what's out there and what's normal and think about what you want to do. Okay, so first we're going to make a list of all the services that are typically covered so you know what you're going to cover and where you need to do a little bit more homework, find some sourcing. I want you to think about your pricing. Okay. And then I want you to think about even some of the language around how you talk about your business, because I love how you

talked about it to me. I think that could be your elevator pitch right there. I love planning weddings and I love saving money and I want to help you do both. That could be it. It's clear and it articulates your niche. You are the wedding planner on a budget and that's beautiful. That's awesome. It's so clear why people should come to you because you're going to specifically help them plan a wedding on a budget. I love it. So those are just some tactical practical things. The other thing I want you to do is when you are planning this wedding, who is it? Your cousin? Your sisters?

My cousin's daughter. Okay. She was rustic without country, and I've nailed a lot of it. We've got the venue, and we've got the catering all set up. I have all the tablescapes taken care of. Everything that needs to be done other than a DJ and a photographer and the event, the

people that have the events at the place have contacts with both. Okay, okay, okay. Here's what I want you to do. I think that's great. Here's what I want you to do. This is a trial run for planning a wedding for you, so what I want you to do. I think that's great. Here's what I want you to do. This is a trial run for planning a wedding for you. So what I want you to do is take notes. What are the things you didn't expect that you encountered?

What are the things you learned? What are the things you want to do differently next time? What are the things that you loved that works well that you want to do again? You take notes on this whole experience from your perspective and then certainly ask for feedback from this family member afterwards once she's home from your perspective and then certainly ask for feedback from this family member afterwards once she's home from her honeymoon and all that say hey what could i've done better or different if you do these simple tactical things that i've just given you to do you are on your way to doing it and it's going to build your confidence but i want

you to stay on the phone shelly because we are having our business boutique conference in october 14th through the 16th i'll be speaking along with Dave, a lineup of incredible speakers. We're going to give you a ticket to that event. If you can't come in person, we'll give you a live stream ticket, but stay on the line. We'll make sure Kelly gets you a ticket so you can come get all that you will need from marketing, sales, money, all the things. We're going to teach you how to start and grow this thing. So we're just, you're going to do it and you're going to learn what you need to be able to do it. It's a three-day conference and it is packed yeah you will leave so fun emotionally and intellectually exhausted in the best way

in the best possible way because you you you listen if you want to come down and goof off don't come because this is like we're going we're going to turn on fire hose that's right we have a lot of fun and we teach you a lot to get a drink we turn on a fire hose so it's uh we're. So you're going to leave knowing and you're never again going to be able to say, oh, I don't know anything about business. That's right. Every single woman that walks in that room or that tunes in online thinks exactly what Shelly thought. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not a business person. I don't want to fail.

And they walk out of there ready to charge hell with a water pistol. Like they know how to do this. One woman said, she goes, I came feeling like a mom with an idea, and I left a business owner. There's an identity shift that happens in those three days. And you're going to be there, Shelly. I'm excited for you. That's Business Boutique. It is coming up in October.

October 14th through the 16th here in Nashville or on live stream. You can get your tickets. And all at RamseySolutions.com for the rest of you. This is The Ramsey Show. Most teens are graduating high school with no clue how to handle money the right way. Ridiculous. If your teen is prioritizing visits to the drive-thru over saving for their future, we can help. Our fully digital Foundations in Personal Finance self-study course will walk your teen through how to save an emergency fund,

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Text SELFSTUDY to 33789. Christy Wright, Ramsey Personality, number one bestselling author, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. In Buffalo, New York, Matthew and Tara are on the line to tell us their debt-free story. Hey, guys, how are you? We're doing great. Cool. Excited to be here. How much have you guys paid off?

Well, we started 10 years ago with about $65,000, but three years ago we still had $43,000 to go. Okay. And what's been your range of income? Ranged anywhere from $30,000 to $36,000 a year. Okay. And what kind of debt was the $65,000? It was a mix of $38,000 in school loans, $16,000 in family loans for our house, and $11,000 in credit card debt. Wow. Kind of normal.

Very normal. So what happened 10 years ago? What happened three years ago that got you guys going? So 10 years ago is when we got married. And we started out just making minimum payments, planning to pay off the school loans, and eventually build a house. And three years ago, looking at it, we'd been at it for seven years and still had $43,000 to go. It was getting pretty tiring. And so we decided to get serious. Tara got involved much more strongly, helped us to start a emergency fund. And I have a small business, so my income tends to fluctuate a little bit. And so she put together an emergency fund and we started doing a cash base. And then a year ago, we started following your plan. Wow. How'd you find us?

I don't know. I think probably just somewhere on YouTube, I saw videos about being debt-free. I love all the personalities. And so I kind of just grew up on, you know, watching videos and making, you know, making life better for myself. And so I really loved all your stuff and we're believers. And so to me, it was just like, wow, this is amazing. Like, you know, and it was just kind of easy to, I mean, the plan makes so much sense. So it was just like, let's just do this.

Okay. So when you got more involved, you went to Matthew and said, okay, now we're going to do it my way. We tried it your way for seven years. Now we're going to do it my way. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, our, our upbringings financially were a little different. I actually grew up with handling cash a lot more. So I was super comfortable going all cash. Like, if it's not there, we're not buying it because there's no money. But, yeah, something clicked in me a couple years ago, and I was like, man, we just got to get out. This has been so long.

It's been such a long haul. We work so hard. Our money should be going where we want it to. And, too, I want the kids to not see us ball and chain, not living out our dreams or the calling that God has for us. And so, yeah, so, you know, we both got on board. Not that it really took a lot of convincing, but the proof was kind of in the pudding once some of the smaller loans started to get paid off. And the momentum was just phenomenal. It was like, let's do this. Like we kicked into such a high gear. It was like so, it was so awesome.

I love how you guys described that because I think, Matthew, the way that you said it, you said we got serious. There's such a difference between plugging along, making minimum payments, not really going anywhere. No one's excited about that. No one's making any kind of progress with that. When you get serious and you get committed, it does create that momentum you're talking about, Tara. That's what makes the difference. That's what actually gets you out. Dave, I always quote you. When you say you can wander into debt, you cannot wander out. You're going to have to get fired up, and you guys did,

and you see the difference in the numbers once you got fired up. So well done. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? I say a budget. You cannot do it without a budget. I meal planned to the scent when I went to the grocery store because I was like, this is what it is like, you know, and we can't go over that. And I think budgeting it like our, you know, electric, our utilities are pretty

expected and reliable, but like food, it's so easy to spend so much money. And so to me, it was like, you cannot do it without a budget and you can't do it. I personally, I enjoyed doing it with just using cash only personally. Yeah. I would say before you can get out of debt, you have to stop going into debt. And for us, a huge key to that was having that emergency fund buffer. Yeah. That's why we do that. I didn't start out with that as Baby Step 1 back in when we first started, but I learned quickly that you've got to have a little bit of wiggle room there in Baby Step 1 to get moving. So way to go, you guys. We're so proud of you.

Way to go, heroes. You took control of your life. Ding, ding, ding. I love it. Well, we've got a copy of the Legacy Journey for you. That is the next chapter in your story for sure. You've changed your family tree and changed the whole direction of everything. And the last three years is a whole new chapter for you.

And we've also got a copy of the Total Money Makeover for you so you can give that to someone and pay it forward and get them started maybe on this idea of, you know, complete focus, completely laying your ears back and going into it. I love it. All right. So you got the three kiddos with you to do the debt-free scream? Yes, we do. Their names and ages?

Gracie is eight, Kenny is six, and Vincent is two. Perfect. Sounds awesome. Good-looking guys guys we see them here on the picture on youtube popping up so well done well done guys uh love it all right matthew tara gracie kenny and vincent uh-huh are 43 65 000 paid off over 10 years but 43 in the last three years, making 30 to 36. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. At the front. Woo-hoo.

Yeah. That is how it's done. That's awesome. I love it. So beautiful. So fabulous. So's awesome. I love it. So beautiful. So fabulous. So well played. Yeah.

And, you know, what's interesting is that they paid off almost all their debt in three years. Yeah. I mean, there's another part of that story. But, you know, things change. When you get sick and tired of being sick and tired when you finally say i've had it that's when you open up a small business that's when you get out of debt that's when you know the kids are made to behave for the first time ever you know when you finally say that's it i've had it we're not living like this anymore yeah and you know you have to reach that point and it's it is a

healthy level of frustration or anger yeah because it motivates you to do something different it's hard to do something different not just the discipline of of paying off your debt not going into debt just change is hard the habit changing is hard uh the mental energy to think about we've got to sit down every month and do a budget, is hard. New things are hard. But if you're going to face that hard and have that discipline, you've got to have that visceral anger, frustration, whatever, to motivate you. Because otherwise you're not going to face the hard. But you've got to face it and make those changes if you're ever going to get to making your debt-free scream and experiencing that life.

You have to actually go through that. But so many people don't. They get stuck at the,'s hard i think i'm just gonna keep on keep it on you know keep on making minimum payments the sad thing is is that normal in america sucks yeah yeah and so widely accepted we're all just okay with but it's also by the way extremely comfortable oh sure yeah that your your comfort zone in america is really big yeah you have a really big comfort zone yeah i mean you can wander around and Yeah. You have a really big comfort zone. Yeah. I mean, you can wander around and do stupid and have a pretty decent life.

Oh, yeah. And people will applaud you. Yeah. And they'll like, oh, look at you. You've got to look at your new car. Yeah. Look at your new vacation. And you keep buying stuff that you don't need with money you don't have to impress people

you don't even really like. And you keep on this path and you keep on this path, and you keep on this path, and you just hang out in the comfort zone, and then something happens, finally, that jolts you awake and say, the pain of staying the same is now exceeding the pain of change. Yep. And that's the only time you'll change.

That's right. You finally wake up and say, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm sick of this dull existence of mediocrity, and I'm about to bust up into something and create some excellence in my life. Sick of not having any money. Yeah. Sick of whatever. Yeah.

Let's get her done. Name it, feel it, and then do something about it. Get it, baby. Get it. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Our Scripture of the Day, 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Florence Nightingale said, I attribute my success to this.

I never gave or took any excuse. I bet she didn't. Can you even imagine? Oh, my goodness. I love it. That's fabulous. Christy Wright, Ramsey Personality, number one bestselling author with a new book on sale, Take Back Your Time, The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance, is my co-host today.

The phone number here is 888-825-5225. Robert's in Oakland, California. Hey, Robert, how are you? Good. Hi, Dave, how are you? Good. Hi, Dave and Christy. Hi. My wife and I are in a good place. However, we do live in a very high-cost part of California.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. We just retired a few months ago, and we want to pay off our home, which is our only debt. However, our plan was to reach a nest egg amount to be able to pay off our home and then have our nest egg at a level where we can live comfortably the rest of our life. We're short of that goal, and I think I know what you would probably say, but because we live in such a high-cost area, I'm wondering what you think of my plan. And that plan is to grow our investments another $280,000 before we pay off our home. Okay.

So what's your nest egg today? It's almost $1.5 million. And what's it take to pay off the house uh 280 000 and we would our goal was to have 1.5 million after we paid off our home yeah okay so here's the thing how's the money invested what's it invested in it's uh invested well it's in 403Bs and Roth IRAs mostly. And inside of that in mutual funds? Yes, mutual funds. So are you getting a rate of return 10% or north of that average?

Yes, absolutely. Yes, I'm doing well. All right. So let's just say 10% because that's conservative probably. Yeah. How old are you? 66. Yeah. How old are you? 66. Okay.

Every seven years, it's going to double if you don't touch it. Right. So 1.5 is going to be three in seven years. Okay. Or 1.2 will be 2.8. Okay. Or 2.4, I'm sorry, in seven years. So, I said three.

Yeah, two point. That's right. I'm sorry. So, I mean, you've got to run your budget out. Can you not live on the income that a million two creates? Yeah, we can, but we might have to cut back on our lifestyle a little bit. But you don't have a house payment anymore. Correct.

And you still can't make it on the income? You can't live on $120,000 with no house payment? Oh, yeah, we can. Yeah, we can. Absolutely, we can. Okay. We're anticipating a withdrawal rate of around 5%, not 10%. Okay.

That we'd pay ourselves about 5% of our investments. Okay. So here's, I mean, you can do whatever you want to do. You call me and ask me. Yeah. If I woke up in your shoes, I'd write a check and pay off my house today. And I would change my withdrawal rate to 7% until I got my nest egg where I wanted, and then I'd drop it back down to 5%.

Okay. And you're going to come out at about the same place, but you will have had no house debt all through this time. Okay. And the house is worth currently, you said, how much? Almost $670,000. Okay. okay and the house is worth currently you said how much uh 600 almost 670 000 okay so your net worth two million bucks give or take good way to go man you did it congratulations um how much of this did you inherit oh around 40 000 for my wife and my wife and my parents. So how did you become a millionaire? What did you do? A two-millionaire? We lived within our means all of our adult lives.

We lived debt-free, and we saved very well and invested very well. We were in the ministry, so we never made a lot of money. We just lived frugally, and we invested well. What was your average income through your life well it's probably 70 to 80 000 maybe so you never made 100 grand well we did the last few years because my wife and i were both on staff that only for a few years we made over 100 000 and you got two million dollars well i'm so proud of you, Pastor.

You did it, man. You lived out the principles of that book you've been teaching from. Well done. Well done. Live on the lesson you make. Stay out of debt. Have a plan. I mean, this is what you did. And this is, by the way, what the typical millionaire does, the everyday millionaire in America today.

They're all over the place, and they're not evil. They didn't steal it from anybody, and no, none of that money's yours. It's his. Now, he's a generous guy. He'll give you some if you're hungry, but, I mean, you did it, man. I'm so proud of you. Well done. Very well done.

If I woke up in your shoes, I'll be debt-free. Let me tell you something that you don't anticipate. You taught from the pulpit for many years, right? Yeah. And have you had this experience before I have from the pulpit where I teach a biblical truth, and then when I actually have the opportunity to walk in that truth, I have a different feel about it, a different insight, a different paradigm of it.

Do you know what I'm talking about? I do, yes. When you pay off this house, you're going to understand Proverbs 22.7 at a different level. The borrower is slave to the lender. There's going to be something in you that's going to flip like a switch when you pay this house off, and you're not anticipating that. Yeah, well, we're looking forward to that, and I agree with you. I feel with that. By the end of the day, brother, by the end of the day.

You're going to feel it tonight. You're going to be singing hymns about freedom. It's happening tonight, Robertbert hope you're ready you know the the times that you have something happen like um uh those that are last will be first that you know that that i came to serve uh i came to live give life in abundance j said. And when you hear that the first time or two as a Christian or somebody that's a potential Christian even, you kind of hear it. But when you walk in it and it gets all over you, it's a different thing. Yes. And you experience it.

It's going from your head to your heart from just the idea that you understand intellectually to feeling it in your spirit. There's a reality. Yeah. It becomes reality. It. There's a reality. Yeah. It becomes reality. It's no longer theory. Yeah. And that's true of a lot of things in life and in Scripture. And especially someone who's devoted their life to serving God.

When you do something that's, you know, he's very mathematical. He's really got a plan. He's a planner. And when you do something that you kind of, it's almost stepping out on faith a little bit. It's not because you've got plenty of margin. But it's not like he's taking a risk here. I mean, because, hey, Pastor, if you hate being out of debt, you can always go get you a mortgage. I mean, so it's not like you're stuck or something.

But what happens is, you know, it kind of catches you off guard because i mean i remember that that feeling where i went wow it feels like cold mountain air just blew in the room and fresh air you know wow there was a moment you know and you just there's something that happens and i uh it is a spiritual experience because there's a spiritual principle involved here. Yeah. And, you know, the same thing's true that in the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil. My wife feels different when we have an emergency fund. I feel different when we have stores of wealth.

And it's not because we're greedy, and it's not because we're hoarding. It's not because we're not generous It's not because we're hoarding. It's not because we're not generous or not being willing to help someone. But that margin that money gives you is a spiritual principle. The security and the, yeah, absolutely. It's a stewardship issue. Just being wise.

Very cool stuff. What we have. Good show today, Christy. This was fun. Christy Wright, new book is Take Back Your Time, The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance. James Childs is our producer.

Kelly Daniels, our associate producer. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. We'll be back 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. 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. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.