The Ramsey Show - App - I'm in the Military...How Do I Approach the Home-Buying Process? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: March 7, 2022

Dave Ramsey & Dr. John Delony discuss: How to approach home buying in the military, Planning retirement for your future, Prioritizing school and paying bills. 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

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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 of Bullock Choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Dr. John Deloney. Ramsey Personality is my co-host today as we answer your questions about your life, your money, your mental health, your relationships, your job, your career. All of it's on the line right here at The Ramsey Show. Thank you for joining us. Logan is going to start off this hour in Dayton, Ohio. Hey, Logan, what's up? Hey, Dave, John, how y'all doing? Better than we deserve.

How can we help? It's an honor to be on the show. I'll get right to it. So I've been watching your YouTube videos online for about two weeks now. Kind of a really strange way to end up finding it, but I'm very thankful that I did. My parents taught me a lot about finances growing up. So thankfully, where I'm at in life, I'm actually on baby step six. I'm 24 years old.

I have a mortgage now with my house in Dayton, Ohio, and I had a question regarding it. So, again, I started walking two weeks ago. So some of the decisions I've made, not quite in line. But I got a house in November on a 30 year VA mortgage. Um, so right now I have it financed for $161,000. Um, I have my emergency savings all up, uh, everything like that's good. Um, but I have $35,000 that is in, uh, mutual funds that my parents set up for me for college. Um, I'm in the military, so our college is paid for, thankfully. So trying to find out what I want to do with that.

I'm looking at being here between three and five years in Dayton. So in talking with my parents, a little bit of confusion and trying to figure out what will be the best option. Is it to put that money onto the principal and just try to knock that down as quick as possible or to keep it in like a mutual funds because it is growing pretty decently in there. that money onto the principal and just try to knock that down as quick as possible or keep it in like a mutual fund because it is growing pretty decently in there. Well, thank you for your service.

Absolutely. My pleasure. What do you do in the military? So I'm in the Air Force. I work, easiest way to describe it would be like military police, so base security. Gotcha. Okay, cool. Good for you.

Very nice. Thank you. Well, our normal process is we try to determine what the shortest distance between where you are right now and wealthy is. What's the shortest distance? Okay. okay and having studied wealthy people and people that built wealth for 30 years and lots of data on the subject uh we have found that the first one to five million dollars in net worth that people get generally comes from two areas um the uh the the wonderful built-up retirement plan in your case the tsp um and uh and a paid for house those are the two things that

we talk to the typical millionaire with their first one to five million dollars of net worth is usually their paid for home and their retirement accounts their roth iras and their 401ks and that kind of stuff and that's where it is and so so you can try to get there other ways, but we find very few people that do. I don't, you know, the number of millionaires that we talked to and we studied 10,000 of them that said, I borrowed money on my house and put it into the stock market because the stock market was doing really good, and that made me a millionaire was really close to zero.

Hardly any of them did. Everybody talks about that, and a lot of bad financial advisors recommend that, but in real practice, actually finding wealthy people who really did it, there's not many of them. And so that's what I go with. I say, let's get the house paid off, and let's build up your retirement accounts. Now, you're going to be moving, but the good news about paying that $35,000 down on your principal is when you sell your house, they're going to give you a check for the equity. It's not like you spent the money.

You just moved it over onto the house. Your net worth doesn't change. Right? Okay. So, yeah, that way, you know, whenever I do move, you know, that's just going to put the equity, and I'll be able to pull that. Yeah, and be sure you sell the house when you leave. Don't have long-distance landlording everywhere you get stationed.

You end up with a house and a rental property, and you end up with 17 rental properties in 17 places you were stationed over the last 30 years or something in the military career. But don't do that. That's a disaster. But so sell it when you leave leave and then you may even rent depending on how far how long you're going to be in the next place but um just just again don't go with what they said and i heard they're the worst financial planners on the planet everybody's got a dead gum opinion they're the worst mental health practitioners they're worth marriage counselors the worst pet owners it's like you know the current version of going to the old old school

barber shop like floyd's on maybe area rfd right you sit around a bunch of old men and they're all going to tell you how to do something that they don't know how to do yep and the current version of that's googling it except that that except that that barber shop had some common sense well they they looked at the guy down the way and said you're an idiot you don't tell that that that except that that barbershop had some common sense well they they looked at the guy down the way and said you're an idiot you don't tell that boy that and then they would say no you don't tell there was you can hear it back and forth google tells you exactly what you want to hear yeah and yeah if you're if you get sick the last thing you need to do is google it because it will scare you because you're dead always you're dying of whatever it is you're dead and there's also a natural uh homeopathic answer for whatever you've got.

Essential oils. Death and essential oils. Death, essential oils, homeopathic witch doctors. I mean, there's every – it's something everywhere, man. Dave, the letters we're going to get about the essential oil people. I don't really care. I mean, it's just – it's okay if you want to do those things. They're going to poke pins in a doll.

But, you know, you can do whatever you want to do those things. They're going to poke pins in a doll. But, you know, you can do whatever you want to do. But the thing is, yeah, so that's it. They said not hurt. When broke people are giving you financial advice, run. Oh, we're dead. That's a good rule right there. Run! David's in San Antonio.

Hi, David. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. How are you doing? Great, man. What's up? Hey, my wife and I are in a bit of a conundrum. We don't know what to do, and we're hoping for some guidance.

We, seven years ago, purchased our dream home and built it, and then life happened, and I got a job across town, and we got another home, and we didn't sell the dream home. We continue to rent it. It's been a rental for about four years now. Our primary home, we owe $370,000 on. And our rental home, we owe $320,000. And our tenant has been in that house for two years, is requesting to purchase it for fair market value. We got a CMA done, and she's willing to give us that market, the CMA price. How much? And also willing to not use realtors.

$480,000. Okay. You got $100,000 coming your way. After taxes and everything, our tax guy said we'd looking about 130 okay all right good and the deal is the wife wants to sell and put 120 or 130 down on the house our primary home and recast the loan and save some money i am looking at wanting to continue running it and hoping i can sell it for $200 or $250 or $300 grand profit. What's your household income? About $170. Okay. If you're going to keep it,

develop a plan to pay it and your home off within five or six years. Let's get with it. We'll get it cleaned up. If you're going to sell it, you don't need to recast your mortgage. Just throw it at the mortgage, and then let's get your mortgage paid off as soon as possible and then save up and pay cash for the next rental because this didn't become a rental by plan it was by default you did not buy this house to be a rental you ended up with it being a rental so is it a good rental i don't know you can decide that but if you're going to keep them, you've got to get them paid off now. Get with it. People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way

of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, is a non-profit organization that helps members carry one another's burdens with health care expenses, and they have successfully shared each other's medical bills for nearly 40 years. See if CHM is right for you by visiting chministries.org. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Mattia is with us.

No, Darcy's up. I'm sorry, Mattia, you're up next. Darcy's up in Washington, D.C. Hi, Darcy, how are you? Hi, I am so excited to be speaking to you guys. Thank you guys so much for your help. Sure, what's up? Okay, I'll make a long story short here.

I am 33 years old. I am not married married i have no kids i'm in baby steps four and six and my question is what should i do with an extra two thousand dollars to hit my 15 retirement goal if i can't do a backdoor raw due to the pro rata rule so you got an aggregation problem you got too much in the in the traditional i do i have about 80k in the traditional ira yeah okay uh you can just drop it into a mutual fund i mean that's all you need to do the point is just to try to get make sure you're saving into something uh what i do in non-retirement mutual fund investing is i invest in what's called a low turnover mutual fund, which means they don't sell the stocks inside the mutual fund very often.

And hardly at all, like a 5% turnover ratio would be called a low turnover mutual fund. A good example of that is just an S&P 500 fund. Your smart investor pro can hook you up with one, or you can just go buy a S&P 500 somewhere. They're non-commission no-brainer you know you don't there's nothing to it you just buy it and hold it uh because as the money grows you don't pay taxes on it uh like a like a rental property you don't pay taxes on the value increasing until you sell it so if you're churning inside that fund all the time

you're always paying taxes on that sale exactly okay and if they if they buy and hold the stocks inside the fund and you hold the fund then you've got capital gains growth okay meaning you don't pay taxes on it until you sell it so what you just mentioned aggregation i didn't understand half the words you use what does that mean what's that mean okay that's a rule that the ir IRS has that does not allow a Roth IRA or backdoor Roth IRA if you have a large, as a percentage of your world, a large traditional IRA. Okay, so another thing you could do, you could start to move some of that traditional over to Roth and pay the taxes on it. That would have the same effect.

But I really wouldn't do that until you got your house paid off. I think you're probably just putting some money in mutual fund will make it easy enough. Matea is with us in Eugene, Oregon. Hi, Matea. How are you? I'm doing good. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? All right. So I am 18 years old. I recently live on my own. I have an income, but the majority of that goes to paying all of these financial bills I now have. I am currently in college and about to graduate with my associates. But because of all the recent events, I don't have the money to pay for college, and I don't want to just stop going until I have the money because I'm so close. So I'm kind of hoping for some guidance. This sounds like you suddenly left home.

I did, yes. Why? I had a very bad living situation with my parents at home, and I needed to get out. Okay. I'm sorry. Yeah. Are you safe now? I am, yes, now.

I live on my own. No one knows where I live, so it's kind of nice. Okay. That's not a bad thing. It is a bad thing that you've had to go through this, I mean it's a good thing that nobody knows. So what do you make? I make an average of $1,600 a month between two jobs. On a good month it can be like $1,800 or $1,900. What do you do? I am a part-time nanny and part-time barista. Okay.

What are you going to school for? General studies, but focused in psychology. Okay. And you're almost through with your associates? Yes, I am. Okay. Have you got the through with your associates? Yes, I am. Okay. Have you got the money to finish that? I do not, no.

Almost as in like I could. It's a long associates because I started when I was pretty young and I didn't take a full load of classes. So I would say like by fall term I would be graduated. Okay. Okay. Rule number one is not college. Rule number one is existence, sustainability, food, shelter, clothing, transportation, utilities.

In the eighth grade when I was in school we called that necessities. Okay. And so that's the main thing you have to do right there until you get that done we don't think about the other and if you delay college whoop-de-doop-dee you're 18 you're safe you got time you'll get there but your big thing is safety and security meaning that you have a place to live you you have food, you have the lights on. Okay? Because what you're going through is very scary. I mean, albeit terrifying. Am I wrong?

What? Yeah. No, you're not wrong. Yeah. And so let's just pretend for a second. The way my brain's work is, if we could get your income from $1,600 to $3,000 and you didn't go to school, I think you could breathe a little better. And then let's start talking about how we get back to school. Okay.

I mean, what if you made $4,000 in a month but you didn't go to school? You'd feel better than being terrified and going to school. Yeah, for sure. And we're not going to do that as a permanent way of life i believe in education and i want you to have a track that you're on to have a career that's not a barista okay a long term you don't want to be a 48 year old barista you want to move on you want to have a career right uh you want to become you know whatever it is you want to become and i want you to get there but i want to do that from a place of strength, not a place of terror. John? Yeah.

Matea, can I be real honest with you? Yes. What you've done so far is very brave, and few people have the strength and bravery to do what you did, which is to keep yourself safe, even though it meant going off on your own. And this is a moment when people in your situation bury themselves in short-term decisions that will haunt you for years and years and years. Okay. So hear me say, commit now. I will not borrow money. I will no longer be trapped by anybody. And you just escaped one situation.

Don't jump into another thing. Okay? Agreed, yes. You are 18, about to finish your associates. You're two years ahead of everybody. Okay? So slow down and become safe. Become safe.

You, honey, are worth more than $1,600 a month. You just are. You work hard. You're so far ahead. I can tell you're a hard worker. You're brave. You're strong. You can do really hard stuff.

I want to see you get a job where you're working full time and then going to your associate's degree in the evenings or in the mornings. You can figure that out. I know you can. And you made a big grown-up decision and you're gonna have to work real hard okay this is gonna be hard the next couple years full-time nanny might make three to four grand right um it it depends on the need i i live in a um i'm just naming for for a family i've been with them for a few years. I know. You're a babysitter. Yeah.

I want you to change to a nanny and make $3,000 a month. Okay. Market yourself there. And this family? Double your income. Yeah. This family probably is your safety lifeline. Is that right?

Yes. Yeah, they are. I actually have a boyfriend we're planning to get married sometime this summer as well. Okay. I want you to get somebody that is an adult that you can sit down and talk about all your plans with. Because right now you're running, and I don't want you to run into a marriage you're not 100% in on. I don't want you to run into student loans just to finish. I don't want you to run into a job that's paying you half of what you're worth.

Right now, you're just running for your life. And I want you to run or walk to an adult, one or two or three people in your life that you can sit down and say, here's what I'm thinking, and they'll go, oh, honey, slow down. Make your school decision. Make your career decision. Make your marriage decision from

strength. And John and I are saying that you're probably not feeling super strong right now. So any of those three decisions right now are really, really tenuous. I'm not saying you shouldn't get married. I'm not saying you shouldn't finish school. I'm not saying that you're not going to have a career.

But I think you need to get a financial strength, a sustainability, and then go, oh, from strength I'm going to have a career. But I think you need to get a financial strength of sustainability and then go, oh, from strength I'm going to decide to get married, not from weakness. This is The Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Kathleen is with us. Hey, Kathleen, how are you? Hello. I'm nervous.

That's okay. We've never lost a patient. You're going to make it. That sounds good. You're going to make it. Where do you live? I live in Spring, Texas. Cool.

Did you grow up there? No, I'm from up north, and then I went down there. I was recruited to teach. Oh, very good. What do you teach um i'm a school administrator now i've lived in texas for 33 years okay well you're a texan then i'm a texan i want you been there 33 years they they make it official somewhere around that i think i guess it's about 30 minutes once you're in you're oh 30 minutes they jump you in and you've got the tattoos we know you're You're in. Okay. All right. That's it. Well, welcome.

Thank you. So how much debt did you pay off? I paid off $74,400. Way to go. And how long did this take you? 17 months. Wow. Whoa.

And your range of income during that time? I make about $100,000, and with my side hustles, I made $32,000, so about $132,000. Okay, cool. What's your side hustle? I started Uber Eats. I did that for a while, and then I got into umpiring with my boyfriend. So we started umpiring. We do that all the time, and then I had kids that moved back home, so I decided that they could help pay for the mortgage. Why not? That's a good thing. So what are you umpire? Softball. Softball. Girl softball. What age? Anywhere from 6 to 16. So is there anything meaner on the planet

than parents of children playing organized sports to umpires? No, sir. No, sir. We could solve the Ukraine crisis pretty quick. That has been a truism since time began. Little parents overseas. Wow. If you're behind the plate, you take your mask off at times and just kind of stare them down. Yes. And they look at the floor, the ground, and they're like, I'm sorry. No, not necessarily.

You're out! That's right. Throwing them out. I love it. So what's it like being a an administrator of a school and then hopping out of work and then going to do uber eats you ever show up to the house of a student no i have made sure that i have delivered in a different area okay all right yeah that could be that's that's humbling that'd be weird that's i mean that's putting it all out

there yeah all right so what kind of debt was the 74 000 um it was personal loan i had medical loan that i paid off um i had my ex-husband's student loan that i still had to pay off because i co-signed on it which i would recommend never ever doing um he passed away but i still paid it off um and just kind of a collage oh So I had about $64,000. But in that time, as I was Uber eating and different things like that, I had a car accident. Somebody ran into me and drove off. So I had to purchase a new car within that time. And then also, my youngest got married.

Oh, wow. So we cash flowed $11,000. Okay, wow. You covered a bunch of stuff. Yeah. So what inspired you to do all this 17 months ago? What was the story? What started you?

I met a man that's sitting over here, and he's always been my cheerleader. He's lived the Dave Ramsey baby steps forever, and he just kept on encouraging me that this is the way we do it. We would go do things or go places. And we always listened to the Ramsey show and all the time. And he just told me once he said, you know, hey, send me your finances, you know, through email. Let's set up a payoff quote and everything, you know, a program for you. And I was like, no, I don't talk about finances.

I don't want to talk about finances because I didn't think it was ever possible. Even though you hear all these people say it, I just didn't think it was possible. And I said, okay, well, here's my finances. And I walked out the door and he's like, you don't want to talk about it? I'm like, no. But finally, he called me that evening and we talked about it. He showed me how it was possible and how I would start with the snowball effect and how I would pay a little bit on one and then I would pay that off and then I add that to another one and he had a spreadsheet all made

for me of my income and what I would pay off and how I could do it and I mean you were spoon-fed he was just straight up I mean he just did it for you this is awesome yes and yet 17 months later you're free of something you didn't think was possible. Correct. Wow. My paychecks would come in from Uber Eats on Tuesdays, like I would never take the cash out on it. Yeah. So, on Mondays, I would take my money from softball, and I would go deposit it in the bank. So, I would make one payment on Mondays from softball, and then I'd make my Tuesday payments from my Uber Eats. So, if I didn't have softball on the weekend, then I was doing Uber Eats.

I did either Uber Eats or I didn't have softball on the weekend, then I was doing Uber Eats. I did either Uber Eats or I did league ball softball during the week. How far into the 17 months did you go, wait a minute, this is going to work? I would say it took about six months, honestly. Really? Because, I mean, I kept on thinking, I got some things paid off, but I don't know.

The smaller ones, I thought, well, okay, well, that was just $1,500. So you just trusted him to put the system in place, and then you trusted his systematizing. He was a huge cheerleader for me. Just a huge motivator and cheerleader. Because you weren't sure it was going to work. In six months, you did it anyway. I kept on doing it.

I enjoyed what I was doing. I'm being an administrator. I'm not in the classroom anymore. So really being out there on the ball field with the girls and everything like that, I mean, that's turned into be a passion for me. Just being with them and stuff. Not the parents, but the girls. Somebody's got to care for those kids. And so that's been really fun just being out there and doing it. So I would say maybe five to six months. But when I got my car paid off, I think that's when I was just like,

oh my gosh, I got that paid off. And that was the biggest one. I remember that was in January. How long has it been since you were completely debt-free? How many years ago? Too many. Like when you started your working life, probably, huh? Probably.

Probably had debt your whole adult life. Yes, sir. Yeah. Okay. Yes, sir. What kind of freedom did you experience when you paid off that student loan? Because that's wrapped up into some other feelings, into loss. There had to have been a cathartic moment of goodbye.

It was. It was pretty unreal, and it's really weird, but the month I did it was also the month that my youngest got married. And so my ex-mother-in-law was here, and I told her, and so it was really rejoicing. I have to give her a shout-out. She told me, she said, Kathy said, you know, I told you all about Dave Ramsey 30 years ago, and you never listened to me, and yada, yada, yada. What a mother-in-law. I told you so. I told you so.

What an ex-mother-in-law. That's right, yeah. But, you know, she was there for the wedding. That's awesome. And just all that. So it was a big release, and it was a big accomplishment. Now I just hope my kids follow in my footsteps, and they learn before I did. Yeah, amen.

Amen. Way to go. I'm proud of you. Thank you. Good work. Good work. Very well done. Okay. Now when you back up and you look at the whole process, what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Having that budget, having that budget and sticking to it. And then when you do your side hustles, really making sure you're taking that money and you're putting it towards your debt. So you're putting that towards whatever you're paying off at the time. I think that was the biggest thing.

If just any extra money I had, then you just put it towards that debt. That speeds everything up substantially. Very much so. Incredible. 17 months later, she's free. Just like that. Boom. Changes everything.

Everything. You don't meet a lot of really great Longhorns, man, but this guy's done all right. He's decked out, Dave. He's decked out in all his gear. He went to the wrong Texas college, but I applaud him. He did a good job. Did a good job. He's done a wonderful job.

Now that you're free, how's it feel? It feels fantastic. I've saved money, so I've started on building up my next step and um my financial security um but i've also taken some of the money to do some fixes on the house that i needed to do just kind of making sure that everything is working order good for you so well done it's been wonderful well done we got a copy of baby steps millionaires for you we want that to be the next chapter in your story go on and be a millionaire now thank you you're on your way thank you you're on your way how ordinary people built extraordinary wealth and how you can too also a copy of the total money makeover book

that uh eight million people have now read you can give that to one of your kids maybe maybe get the other one that just got married maybe get them moving in the right direction so good stuff all right it's kathleen from spring texas 74000 paid off in 17 months, making $100,000 to $132,000 with the side hustles. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I'm debt-free! Yeah!

You're out! I love it! This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. John's new book, Own Your Past, Change Your Future, is on presale. The not-so-complicated approach to relationships, mental health, and wellness. Dealing with all kinds of trauma. Getting connected to a community.

Change your thoughts and actions. So here's the thing john that that we're experiencing with the sale of the book the book is selling like hot cakes by the way and if you want to pre-order the book uh i'll go ahead and tell you you can get it for 20 and what comes with it is pretty incredible a month of weekly one-on-one therapy through our partners at better health is included that That's an unbelievable deal. The Better Health people really believe in John, as we do. But, boy, they have really stepped up and made this pre-order purchase

the bargain of the century right now. And here's why that's important, Dave. For years, the last several years, there's been a shortage. People, they get the courage up to say, hey, I want to go get an appointment with a local counselor, with a local therapist, and you get put on a six-month wait list. And we just were talking about an article that came out today talking about the wait list across the country. And the better help, there are guarantees someone will call you within 24 hours. And so my fear was someone was going to close this book and say,

all right, it's time, and I've got some stuff I've got to deal with. Not everyone who reads this is going to need therapy, but there's time. Guaranteed, if you read this book, you'll be in therapy. That's right. But they're going to pick it up and then go, cool, in eight months, I'll get back on that. So, man, that better help deal.

Well, what it does do is it does wake you up and go, there's a chance that I don't have to live with the mental issues I'm dealing with. That's right. I can get past those. I need some help. Starting today. I need some help, and this BetterHelp thing helps you get it done. It's incredible.

Yeah. I love it. Really grateful for them. The whole premise of the book is just to change the story. Yeah. is just to change the story. The stories of our life, as you wrote, good and bad, are how we operate in our brains. And you can be set free from some of the bad stories that keep running. They're on loop in our brains, aren't they?

They're on automatic response over and over and over, yeah. And you can just even realize that that's what's happening, and it doesn't have to be this way. And then you can, the challenge there is, and then what do I do? And that's what we walk through. Yeah. Own your past.

It's there. We're not going to deny it. It happened. Change your future. You don't have to be what happened to you. Hey, and I found out today, I didn't even know this was going out today, but they uploaded,

so if you go to my normal podcast, The Dr. John Deloney Show, they released today as a special release the first chapter of the audio book. Oh, yeah, the bonus. Yeah, so you can go check out if you're interested. I'm thinking about it. I don't know. The first chapter of the audio book's been released today with the podcast, and so you can go check it out. As read by the author oh yeah you know and this is the first audio book that i wrote the forward and i actually voiced the forward oh yeah

that's strange that is true i don't know who voiced the forwards and the other ones i wrote but it's the only one i've ever voiced probably kelly she did it no one even knows yeah well nobody reads the forward that's why nobody cares but uh all it all it all i said was it's a great book. You should read it or something like that. So dash forward. So Own Your Past, Change Your Future by Dr. John Deloney, the latest or the newest or the soonest, the next number one bestseller.

It's not yet because it's not out yet technically, but it is on presale. You can get it at RamseySolutions.com and get yourself signed up. And, man, you get a lot. You get the e ebook and the audio book all as part of the package along with a month of free one-on-one weekly therapy through our partners at better help dave is with us in indianapolis hi dave welcome to the ramsey show. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Hey, I just had a few quick questions. I've been saving for a home for what seems like a very long time.

I'm 33 years old. I was just recently married last year. My wife is 27, and I have a 13-year-old son. We just purchased a house this year i paid it off um and i have zero debt and uh i was just wondering uh what what would your next step be i i need a plan and a path for my future okay so you're 100% debt-free. Yes. And your household income is what? 46. Okay, very well done, sir. Wow, man.

Very well done. Okay, there's only three things you can do with money. You can invest it to create more money. You can give it in generosity. And you can enjoy it. You should always do all three, and you can decide the percentages because you have done an incredible job

and have set yourself up to win. But I would not recommend giving all of your income away, but I would always give some of it. I would not recommend investing all of your income, but I would always invest some of it. And I would not recommend consuming or enjoying all of your income, but I would consume and enjoy some of it. So what are you going to do with it?

Well, I did purchase a house. It's not my dream home. It needs a lot of fixing. The one you're living in? Yes. Okay. Oh, so you're going to have to spend some money on the house yes how much i have no idea probably at least 10 and 15 000 okay we'll just put that in your budget man

that's your new that's one of your new payments you pay yourself for the renovation okay i just paid it off last week so uh that's kind of what i was thinking but yeah absolutely absolutely and and you're that's that's part of your enjoyment money and then part of your money is investing and part of your money is generosity and just keep on man you're doing a great job very well done wow yeah and and man i I've heard this call more often than I would have thought, where someone crosses a major milestone, and they kind of have this moment of feeling untethered. I just let the ski rope go, and I'm kind of all over the place.

Just get a new plan. Just be intentional about what comes next, right, whether it's saving for your house, retirement, give a chunk of money away, go do something fun, go on a vacation. You paid your house off, man. Celebrate. Don't let this paralyze you yeah here's the thing if you will write it down that this much is going to this this much is going a this much going to be this much is going to see whatever it is the simple written out formula that's what we do with our money all

right i just opened my mail before i came down here a while ago i got i got a check from the publisher from an old book years ago but it's a nice little check still selling and uh i know i know exactly where that's going to go i did not know that that check was coming and i did not know exactly how much it would be if i had known it was coming because we don't know till we get the statement in on the royalties right but i do know exactly what percentage of it is going to generosity i know what percentage of it is going to enjoyment and I know what percentage of it is going to enjoyment. And I know what percentage of it is going to further investing. Because it's all preset on every dollar that comes into the Ramsey's household these days.

And then within each of those categories, here's how generosity looks. We do that through the foundation in our case. And we tithe. We're Christians. We give a tenth of our income to our local church. And here's how the investing i'm going to buy real estate and we'll pay mutual funds i got this next project i'm working on over here i'm building up for and over here some enjoyment here's something sharon wants to do and something we want to buy at the house or do something and you know go on a trip or whatever and so it's all laid out it's all laid out it's kind of boring but it's all very very. It's all laid out. It's kind of boring. But it's all very intentional.

No one wins by accident. And it says, look, I won. How did that happen? They all go, it was a series of progressive incremental decisions, intentional decisions that caused you to win. That's right. That's what winning always looks like in mental health, in marriage, in parenting, in business and money if we could convince the world

that the path forward is boredom and consistency it's doing it over and over again we'd win systems systems let's create a good system you know and just keep going one of our buddies wrote a book that's been on the number one on and off number one and on and off it's been hanging out on the bestsellers for about a year atomic habits well itits. Well, it's a couple years old now. James Clear. And that's all he talks about. He says, you know, people don't win because they set goals. They win because they systematically work incremental progress,

Atomic Habits, small habits, a series of small habits, a series of small habits, and a constant process to take you towards your goal. And you rise and fall to the level of your system. Yep. Right? Yep. And so you can have all the goals in the world, but if your house is full of Twinkies, you don't have a gym

equipment, you know what I mean? It's going to be tough for you. You can lift Twinkies. Into the mouth. Over and over. But yeah, it's about your systems, man. Set yourself up for success. Keep in mind, those Twinkies will last 500 years. Both in and out of your stomach. Which is exactly

why you should not ingest them. That's right. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's John Deloney, co-host of The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? A lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, go to RamseySolutions.com slash show.