The Ramsey Show - App - I'm Running Out of Time To Become a Millionaire (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 14, 2021

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, best-selling author four times over,

is my co-host today. Because we're announcing today the Wall Street Journal lists her brand-new book, Know Yourself, Know Your Money, as number two in the nation. So very well done. Good stuff. All right, let's start off this hour with Brooke in Spokane, Washington. Hi, Brooke. How are you?

Hey, doing great. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I was looking for some help to try to decide whether it's smart for me to reduce the amount I work. I work as a school teacher, and I currently work full-time, and I'd like to bring that down and still be on track for retirement and kind of, yeah. How much do you make now, Brooke?

I make $75. And you can live on less than that, obviously? I do, yeah. I spend quite a lot of money. I mean, I don't spend, excuse me. I pay off my house at quite a quick rate. Actually, the house I just purchased, I also rent out part of it as well, so I guess I should include that in my income as well. So I guess I make both that $75,000 and I make in terms of monthly from rent about $2,000 a month.

So what is your goal here? Well, really, like my dream is to work at like 60% of what I work right now. and I'm 43, so I've got another many years of working, another 20 years of working. And then I play music, you know, on the side, so I, you know, not right now because of COVID, but that's kind of my dream is to work less at school and play more at night, basically. So you just want to back down your hours now to play music? Kind of, yeah. And play music?

Correct. And you can afford to do that? I think so. Well, yeah, in terms of like right now, I spend about $2,000 a month on my expenses, and then all the rest of my money, all that other stuff. Yeah, I mean, it sounds like you've got tons of room in your budget. So what's your concern? I guess I'm just worried that if I back down that I won't be paying off things as quickly.

And when I get to the retirement age, which is quite a long way away, I will not have saved enough money, basically. If you'll save 15% of your income between now and retirement while you're paying down on the house, you'll retire with dignity. If you're putting it in good mutual funds across four types, growth, growth and income, aggressive growth and international, and Roth IRAs and 403B at your school or whatever, if you got a Roth there, that's a good thing. you've got a Roth there, that's a good thing. If you get a match there, that's a better thing.

If you're doing all of that at 15% of your income, even with a slowed down income, you're going to be just fine as far as having enough for retirement. You're 43. I would say you're tracking to have the house paid off in under 20 years even if you slow down, aren't you? Yeah. With what I'm paying right now, it's like seven years. Yeah, but you're not going to stay on that track.

You were going to slow down, right? Right, for sure. So if you slow down, what is it, 14 years maybe? Yeah, probably. So you're 57 and your house is paid for? Yeah, okay. That'd be okay. Okay, yeah. Well, that's what I needed was waylaying my apprehension. and your house is paid for? Yeah. Okay. That'd be okay. Okay.

Yeah. Well, that's what I needed was waylaying my apprehension. Yeah. I mean, it's just the thing is it's what is going to give you the least apprehension, a little slower work on the thing, but the, you know, I mean, you're going to slow down a little bit or what? Are you going to feel better by doing that? Or are you going to feel better by getting the house paid off? And, you know, it's okay either way.

Nothing you're talking about here is wrong. Agreed? Yeah. And I just think it's a little bit of a different mindset because I feel like we live in a world where hustle is glorified. Like, the more I work, the more I work, the more money I make, the more money I make. Right? Like, that's the American mindset and people feel that. I could kind of hear in his voice it feels weird saying

hey, I'm going to back off work at 43 and not work as much so I can kind of do this hobby that I enjoy and I love and this is my passion. It's kind of it goes against a lot of the cultural norms of what you hear in America today. It's just kind of a different way of looking at it. norms of what you hear yeah in america today so there's fair it's just kind of a different way the hustle and grind idea you're not doing which

yes because there's that side and then even like the fire mentality is in my head the financial independence retire early which not all that's bad i think there's elements of it i would i have questions for people that are on that track but like it's a little bit of that hey i'm gonna work hard and do smart with my money early so that when we teach people live like no one else so later you can live like that yeah i mean that's kind of you're in baby steps four five and six and just slowing down the pace of that a little bit uh to have a greater enjoyment of your time there's not there's not a problem. Yeah. You're still going to retire with dignity. You'll still have plenty of money, and you'll still have the house paid off. Now, if you were going to retire broke because you did that,

or you were going to retire with a house mortgage because you did that, then I would say, no, I think you're dialing it back too much. Yeah. I would encourage, you know, and you can always turn the hours back up if you want, and that's how it goes. So that's the direction. Good question. Thank you for joining us.

That reminds me, we always talk about baby steps one, two, and three. One is $1,000. Two is debt snowball payoff. Everything but the house with great intensity, smallest to largest. Three is finish your emergency fund. When you're in those three, you're on fire. You're going crazy. I mean, you're completely focused.

You're gazelle intense like a gazelle running from the cheetah trying to stay alive you are running once you break through and you've got your fully funded emergency fund and you don't have any debt but the house you go from intense to intentional and four is 15 of your income into retirement five is kids college and six is pay off the house early. You're doing those three simultaneously. And you're doing them more of a marathon pace than a sprint pace. It's intentional.

But you get to do some other things. And that's really what the discussion with him was about. That's right. Because we're just going to slow that down just a little bit. We're going to turn the work back. Dial the work back a little bit. And enjoy the rhythm of life a little bit. And you never know. You're going to get to playing some music. It dial the work back a little bit, and enjoy the rhythm of life a little bit. And you never know.

You know, you're going to get to playing some music. It might turn into some serious money there, too. Sometimes when you don't have to make money with music is when it best works. I've seen that a time or two around the music city here. That's it. So, oh, man. Way to go, guys. Way to go.

That's good stuff. Yeah. Go, you know, when you're in Baby Steps 1, 2, and 3, guys. Way to go. That's good stuff. Yeah. Go. You know, when you're in baby steps one, two, and three, you're not eating out. You're not going on vacation. It's intensity. You're running like your hair is on fire. You know, you're busting it, busting it, busting it, busting it, busting it.

But when you got an emergency fund and no debt except the house and a pandemic hits, you're in a lot better place. And it's worth the sacrifice to get there. Then when you a pandemic hits you're in a lot better place and it's worth the sacrifice to get there then when you get there you get in a rhythm and so it's almost like doing uh like interval training or something when you're when you're training for a long race you can do some sprints and some slow runs some splints sprints and some slow runs and that's really what you do you're sprinting in the first three, doing slow runs in the other. That's simple. Good question. Thank you for joining us. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Imagine the day you submit the last payment on your debt

and you finally have extra money to spend and save how you want. For some of you, that day feels like it will never come, but it doesn't have to be that way. It's a new year, and it's time for a new way of thinking. You have to believe you can get rid of debt and take control of your money, because you can, and it won't take nearly as long as you think. With Ramsey Plus, you'll learn practical ways to get small, quick wins that add up to big results fast. We'll help you put more money back in your bank account so you can get where you want to be faster,

debt-free and spending your money without worry. This year, you can make more progress on your debt and savings than you ever thought possible, and you can start today. Get Ramsey Plus so you can get started living the life you want faster. To start your free trial of Ramsey Plus, go to DaveRamsey.com slash reset. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. We're taking your calls at 888-825-5225.

We're working on a special new podcast. And we're looking for stories from you. And if you have a horror story about using online tax software we want to hear it maybe you thought you were saving money using software to sell file but didn't realize there were hidden fees or you owed a lot more than you thought you were going to owe after you use it or they signed you up for one of their credit cards or their loans to cover your tax bill or they hounded you and spammed you and spammed you and spammed you after using their online tax, which is actually what they do with a lot of it. So any of this stuff, if we want to hear from you, we're hearing some real problems in that space, and we want some stories about it.

We want to hear your stories of how you were surprised when doing your taxes online online and we want to fight back at these companies that are trying to screw people over so email us at dave on air at ramsey solutions.com put tax story in the subject line and put a little bit about your story and our gang will get with you and collect your story and make it part of this new podcast we're putting together. We're going to start going behind the scenes on some of these industries and stepping on them. Some of them are screwing you people over, and we don't think that's okay. So let's hear from you. A horror story about online tax software.

Send it to DaveOnAir at RamseySolutions.com. Put tax story in the subject line, please. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Carla is with us in Orlando, Florida. Hey, Carla, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, thank you for taking my call. Sure, how can we help? All right, so I started Baby Steps last January, Hi, thank you for taking my call. Sure. How can we help?

All right. So I started the Baby Steps last January, and I got all the way through Baby Steps 1, 2, and 3 as of right now. Awesome. Good. Now I don't know where to go. I own a business, and so I have $296,000 in business debt. Do I gazelle intense the business debt, or do I continue four, five, and six and just pay the business debt as it's due? My Lord. You got an SBA loan?

I've got a business loan from where I bought the business. I have a warehouse loan from where I built a warehouse and have a car loan. If I stay on track right now, I can have them all paid off in six years. Okay. They are business debt in your mind, but they're all technically personal debt. You signed for every one of them. Exactly, yes. And so these are personal debts. The car loan goes down in your Baby Step 2. Okay.

The real estate loan goes in your Baby Step 6. Okay. And you can put the in your Baby Step 6. Okay. And you can put the business debt wherever you want. How much of it's the business debt? The business loan where I purchased the business is $133,000. Okay. And what are you netting on the business a year? About $60,000.

Okay. Here's what I would do on that. Is this your only income? Well, last year was rough, and I was gazelle in 10. So I did this, and I did Uber Eats in the evening. But, I mean, in a normal world, this business is your only income. And are you a single income? Yes, I am.

Okay. All right. So here's what we tell small business people in Entree Leadership. We work the business debt a little differently inside the business itself. And I'm going to address the $130,000. We're going to put the warehouse up with your house in Baby Step 6. You got that? Okay.

We're going to put the car down in Baby Step 2. It's your car loan. Okay? Okay. You got that. Now, so the business debt, we're going to put that on the books over here in the business. And what we tell folks there is take a living wage out of the business. What does it take you to live and not beans and rice, but just have a decent income?

It sounds like that's maybe $60,000. Well, I've only been taking like a living wage for about $30,000 and then keeping the rest in the business to make extra payments. Okay. All right. So what I tell folks to do is take a living wage out, and then whatever is left over, we're going to call that profit. And so let's say we took $40,000 out as a living wage,

and we leave $20,000 in the business as a profit, okay? Okay. As an example for my formula. Now, then what I want you to do is I want you to take some percentage of that profit, most of it, and put it towards the debt. Okay. And I want you to put the other percentage in retained earnings inside the business, savings inside the business, to keep the business operating.

Right. Because businesses don't need to run with no cash like you can run with no cash at home but you don't need to do that you got a single income this business is your it's your it's your saving grace it doesn't make money you're screwed you're doing uber eats so we we want you making money in the business so i i would set your living wage about 40 because now you got to pay this car off. Right. And then whatever your profit is above that, apply a percentage to it. Something like 80% of that profit goes to the debt and 20% goes into retained earnings business savings. Okay? Okay. So we can build up a little cushion inside the business itself and pound on that $130,000. And then, of course, as you make more and more profit, your living wage is going to stay fixed, and more and more money is going to apply to that 80-20 rule. Right, right.

Or whatever. My concern was I could get everything paid off in six years, but then I'm going to turn around and be 50 years old with only the retirement that I have now. And a paid-for house and a paid-for warehouse and a paid-for business only the retirement that i have now and a paid for house and a paid for warehouse and a paid for business right yeah that wouldn't be too bad but uh you're you may still get there anyway but you may just get there a little different a little different way because we're gonna knock the car out and we're gonna knock the business out inside the business with the formula we just talked about and then when you get money you're

gonna throw it over on baby step six you're probably gonna pay your your house off before the warehouse then you're going to pay off the warehouse okay and so you're going to get there eventually but it may be seven years it may i don't know you know if your business blows up it could be five years yeah i'm a saver so it's hard for me i want to stay gazelle the whole time but i don't know if that's feasible no no it's probably not you need to you need to get in the the marathon rhythm rather than the other so good question bill's with us in boise idaho hey bill your question for rachel and me hey dave hey rachel how are you guys good how can we help well i have a question regarding managing my kids 529 plans uh at their ages. One of them is in college. The other one is a senior in high school. So be in college in the fall. And I currently have both of their plans invested

in very aggressively, which I know I probably need to scale back. But I just wondered how far back you would scale that, and then any additional money I contribute to those plans, would I put that in the same category? Would I continue to even put it in that plan to take advantage of the tax savings? How would you approach it? Well, there's not any tax savings except on the growth, and it's not going to be in there long enough to grow.

So I would stop funding the plan. Any money you've got for college, I'm just going to pay for college with, and then I'm going to pay for the rest of the college out of the plan. What do you mean by aggressive? Within the plan, the options I have, it's an Idaho 529 plan, so it's an aggressive growth portfolio, I think is what it's called. It's probably 80% stocks, 20% bonds, I would guess. Yeah, a plan like that, what a plan like that calls aggressive, we call a normal good plan.

Okay. And I think I misstated the tax savings. What I meant by that was in Idaho, when I contributed to that plan, it's a write-off on my taxes. Oh, your Idaho income tax? Yes. Oh, well, you may want to run it through the plan then. Okay. Yeah.

But you would be fine leaving it in what they consider aggressive growth and then discontinue? Okay. Yeah, I think when you look inside of that, you're probably going to see funds that look a lot like the four types we talk about, growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international. Our kids' plans stayed in that the whole time they were in school. Outstanding. I really appreciate it, Dave. Hey, thank you for the call, brother.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. There we go. That's it. Another segment in. I don't think you said a word. I'm listening. I'm learning. Business debt.

It's all great. It's all great. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Eric and Beth are with us in hartford connecticut it says on my screen you guys are debt free congratulations thank you thank you cool how much have you guys paid off ninety thousand nine hundred and twenty four dollars way to go how long did this take eighteen months good and your range of income during that time? $169,000 to $184,000.

Whoa! What do you guys do for a living? I'm a lawyer. And I'm in health care management. Good for you guys. Great careers. What kind of debt was the $91,000? Credit cards, cars, and student loans.

So what happened 18 months ago they got you on fire well 18 months ago we were we were just dating at the time um i was following this coupon lady online and she mentioned something about um cash envelopes and dave ramsey so i got interested and did some more research um and found you, bought the Total Money Makeover and got really excited about it. So I told Eric about it and he thought the idea was great. He read your book as well. So then we started doing our separate debt-free journeys. And during Baby Step 2, Eric cash flowed my engagement ring. All right. We opened a joint bank account for our big wedding that we were going to have

and our nice honeymoon in Hawaii to cash flow that. But then COVID happened that canceled both. Oh, no. So we had a very small wedding and realized that all the money that we had saved up for the wedding would be enough to pay off our debt. And we started our life as a married couple debt free. Wow. Well, that's the good end of the story. Yeah.

Except for the lack of Hawaii part. Yeah. We're still talking about that. We hope to get there this year. For sure. For sure. Oh, wow, you guys. That's incredible. Okay. So what would you say was the hardest part?

I mean, I guess you were saving for a wedding. It's kind of a different story. But yeah, what was hard about it? I think it was just the initial decision to jump in headfirst and then convince my 14-year-old daughter to do the same. That was probably the hardest. How was she? She was really, really good about it, actually. You know, we sat down and explained to her why we were doing it, you know, and she was all in as well. Yeah, that's great. It really wasn't that bad once we started it. She didn't like the no going out to eat or, you know, the no Dunkin' Donuts or fast food, but she was a great sport, and now we get to enjoy that stuff.

That's awesome. It ends up being a family affair, right, when you decide to do something that changes your lifestyle, but not just yours, the kids. So we hear that from a lot of people of having to have that conversation with their kids that, hey, life's going to look a little different for a short period of time. Yeah, and, you know, she's getting ready to work now, and she, you know, asked us the other night if we would show her how to budget. So I feel like it'll be a lot of good.

That's great. Yeah, very good. So what do you tell people the key is to getting out of debt now that you've done it? I think having an accountability partner, you know, help that we were both doing, you know, the journey at the same time. And, you know, having to say no to things and being okay with it. Yeah, that instant gratification is just something that needs to go away. Will you ever go back in debt?

No. You're done? Done. I love it. Very, very, very good. Good for you guys. And what a fun way to start off your life, right? Yeah.

You're not married. There's no payments. Oh, there's such freedom in that. It's a horrible thing to lose your wonderful, big, beautiful wedding, but it's a beautiful thing that ended up the way it did. Yeah, the silver lining. Yeah. If we could go back and do it over, I wouldn't change any of it. We still had a beautiful wedding.

It was just very small. Yeah, absolutely. It's awesome. Well done, well done you guys very very proud of you congratulations and uh so we've got a copy of chris hogan's book for you everyday millionaires that is the next chapter in your life for sure after debt free now you move on bill wealth and become outrageously generous so and you're in a great income position to do that with no payments so very very very well done all right what's your 14 year old daughter's name she's 16 now her name is mackenzie mackenzie eric and beth in hartford connecticut 91 000 paid off in 18 months making 169 to 18 to $184. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one, we're debt-free!

Yeah! Woo-hoo-hoo! Excellent job. Well done, well done, well done. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Eugene is in Canada. Hi, Eugene. How are you?

Good, thanks, Dave and Rachel. Thanks for taking my call, guys. Appreciate it. Sure. What's up? So I'll make this quick. My wife and I have a second property that we are currently renting out. And basically the situation is,

is the amount that we take in per monthly rent, we are losing about $300 a month shortfall on it. So what we're trying to figure out is if we should sell the property, but if we do, based on the closing costs and everything else, we would take anywhere between a $10,000 to $15,000 hit on it, or if we should just wait it out and kind of see what happens at that point. Well, this piece of real estate is not a blessing no matter what you do. Yeah. If you keep it, it loses $4,000 a year, and if you sell it, you lose $10,000.

Yeah. So it sounds like about two-year break-even, two-and-a-half-year break-even, right? Correct. I'm selling it. Selling it. Okay. And should I just use it up for my savings account or take it? Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. You got the money to write the check for the difference, right? Yeah. Yeah. So how did you end up in a rental property that you owe too much on? Well, before my wife and I met, she lived in this condo. Oh, okay. And we got married, and then we still had that place, she lived in this condo. Oh, okay.

And we got married, and then we still had that place, didn't know what to do with it, so that's why we rented it out. Okay. All right, cool. Very good. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. All right, fun. Yeah, that's exactly what I would do. I'd get rid of it.

Excellent stuff. Yeah, it was not really a rental property it was a uh became a rental property by default expense yeah it's default yeah right and so it's just something to get rid of it's just a problem there's no blessing anywhere in it it's just a matter of you know the other thing you'll find is that you know the you know you're you're kind of paying some of your losses in advance by paying eight or ten thousand or $10,000 to get rid of a $4,000-a-year loss. But what you're going to get back is all the time and worry and anxiety and crap you've got all over this. I was going to say the amount of headspace, even just for a rental that works and you actually make money, there's still that level of headspace.

So to have that with the rental not working and losing money, all of it, oh, yeah, it's like just get rid of it. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. All right, open phones at 888-825-5225. Hannah is on Twitter. We need your help. My husband and I have been saving for a down payment on a house. Instead, we took that money, decided to make a large part of our savings and pay down our debt. We paid off everything but one student loan, $23,000.

Do we start saving again for the down payment on the house or pay the student loan off instead? Pay the student loan off. Before you buy a house. And then get that emergency fund in place, Hannah, and then you start saving for that down payment because, and we get this a lot, there's a lot of people, they're itching to buy a home because when you buy a home, you feel settled. It feels like a good investment. It's the American dream. It's just what you do. But when you do that, when you have no money, when you have debt, when you don't have savings,

it just creates this mess. And it does, we say it all the time here, but it's true. It ends up being such a curse rather than a blessing. And homes are expensive. One of the easiest, cheapest days it feels like of owning a home is the day you buy it. And homes are expensive. One of the easiest, cheapest days, it feels like, of owning a home is the day you buy it. And then from there on, it is upkeep and it's wonderful, but a lot of money goes into it.

So again, not having that stress on your life is so worth it when you don't have money. But when you have no debt and a savings account and a good down payment, that's when you buy. Exactly. Exactly.

You clean out, because then you're going to have, the house as a blessing instead of a curse. And when you move into a house with no money and a bunch of debt hanging around your ears, you're asking for trouble. The heat and air is going to go out. The hot water heater is going to go out. The roof is going to leak.

And you're going to get yourself in a pinch. Don't let that happen to you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Our scripture today, Proverbs 1.5, Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and let the one who understands obtain guidance. John F. Kennedy said, Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. Darren is with us in Minneapolis. Hi, Darren. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

Well, I feel like I'm kind of running out of time to become a millionaire, but I've got, I'm 48, and I'm trying to decide if I could take my savings of 260 and put that down towards the mortgage, or if I should save some of that and put it towards my retirement right away, and then have a goal to pay off the mortgage in like two to three years. How much do you owe on your mortgage? About 220. Oh, so you could just pay it off? Yes.

What's your household income? I net about $140,000. And you have nothing in retirement other than this money? About $25,000. And this money is not in retirement? Correct. Where'd it come from? I had a career transition in the last two or three years, and I've just been saving like crazy.

Good for you. Okay. Okay. So the good news is you have learned how to save. Yeah. I was going to say, Darren, you're not going to have a savings problem because you're pretty good at it, considering how much you saved in such a short period of time.

You almost could pay off the house today, continue that savings habit for a little bit, build up your retirement. Yeah, you'll be back there super fast because you've built that muscle. And with no payments in the world, what I would do is pay it all off. I would set aside an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. And then I would load up every possible retirement account. You got a 401K at work? No, I'm looking into getting a SEP because I'm self-employed.

Okay. You got employees? Not yet. Okay. SEP will work great until you have employees. You want to do a Roth. You might look into the Simple IRA. It's a 401K for small business.

In addition to that, you can do a Roth IRA. Are you single? Nope, married. Okay, you can do two Roth IRAs. Does she work outside the home? No, I was thinking about hiring her to do book work so we can get... Not worth it. Yeah, it's not worthy.

That way you can do a Roth IRA for her anyway. You don't yeah it's not worthy that way you could do the you can do a roth ira for her anyway you don't have to create an earned income for her to do that and the taxes that you'll pay bringing her in on payroll and everything else won't make it make sense so don't do that i looked at it i almost did it several times when i was your size in our business uh and i just could never get the numbers to work out. But you can do two Roth IRAs, one for her, one for you, $7,000 each at your age. And then you can – oh, no, you're 48. No, I mean when you turn 50, you can do seven, six now. And then you can do the 401K, a simple IRA, which is a 401K for small business, or do the SEP, either one.

Do all those, load them up. And then in addition to that, you're just saving in the wild, wild west out in mutual funds. I'm probably just using some good growth stock, probably a S&P 500 or something like that. Sit down with one of our SmartVestor pros. They can help you map all of that out. But I think when you run the numbers out without a house payment, you max out everything in retirement, and you save over and above that, invest, not just save, but invest over and above that, you're going to be right back where you are in about 20 minutes.

It's going to scare you how quick you got back to 240, and you will have had a paid-for house all that time. Which adds to the net worth as well. Big time. Yep. Big time. Two major components to retiring with dignity, a nest egg and a paid-for house. And we found those in virtually every millionaire we found in the everyday millionaire study. Millionaire next door, of course, is Tom Stanley in 1992.

That inspired all of us, by the way. But the, yeah, the study that we did, we found the typical millionaire with one, two, three million dollar net worth, about a third of their net worth was their paid for house. About two thirds was their loaded up retirement accounts. And that, you know, so you got a million and a half dollar net worth, 500,000 in the house, million dollars in mutual funds and 401ks. Yeah. And, you know, that's where you're going to be. Pretty easy.

And your income's great, Darren, as well. That's going to add to that. So, yeah, you'll be good. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Very, very well done. Proud of you, man. All right. Zach is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Hi, Zach. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. How are you doing? Great. How can we help? So I wanted to know if I made the right decision to go back to school. So a little bit of background is I'm 24 years old and I had left school due to some addiction issues I had. I went and handled that. And my grandfather seems to think

that I'm an idiot and going back to school doesn't make any sense. And it's going to cost me 40 grand to finish my degree. And I have 105K liquid assets. And I wanted to know if I made the right decision to come back to school. What are you studying? Finance. Okay. What do you want to do? I want to work in a bank and help people with their investment accounts and really grow and become financially independent. What was the nature of your addiction?

So I had a cocaine issue. Okay. And how long have you been clean? Two years. Way to go, Zach. That's very powerful. Thank you. That's very powerful. That's a very tough one to kick, and you've been clean two years. That's a beautiful thing, brother. Proud of you. And it took my dad. Oh, no. i'm so sorry yeah so your grandpa's your grandpa's opinion means a lot then yeah he was you know after my dad died i got into the same drug my dad died from and my dad my grandpa was my dad growing up and um he means the world to me yeah so why is he calling you an idiot for going

to school so um because in the past i wasn't focused on school so he doesn't he doesn't think you can do it right so it's more an environmental thing that he's worried about less about the education exactly yeah he's worried about the cocaine on campus um yeah and you know no matter how many times i tell him that i haven't spoke to those people since before i went and got sober and no part of me ever wants to go back to where i was he like he still sees all the mistakes i made, all the false promises and everything else. Yeah. And, you know, he runs my trust fund because I had won a lawsuit when I was younger,

and I'd spent so much money, like wasted so much money, and I wasted a good amount on school. Okay, so let's clarify here for a second then. Your grandpa doesn't think you're an idiot for going to college. He's afraid that you're going to get hooked up with the wrong crowd again. That's what he's worried about. Yeah. And the way he expresses himself might be more like me.

But, okay, that's fair. So I think you talked to him about what you could do to, Grandpa, in what situation, I think education is important to do what I want to do. How can I go about getting that education in a way that you would endorse? Maybe a different school. Yeah. Or even small things, living off campus or, you know what I mean, a living situation that's different. Do you live with your grandpa? No, I actually just moved out.

And so back during my addiction, I was living off campus. And what I decided to do this time around was live in the on-campus apartment. Yeah, there you go. So it's the opposite. Yeah. Yeah, that you go. So it's the opposite. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. That's good. Well, I think you just talk through with him some of the things you're doing to protect yourself and ask him if he thinks there's anything else you can do to protect yourself.

He's lost a lot of people to white powder, so I don't blame him for being sarcastic and blame him for being worried. Fearful. A lot of fear. And so I don't blame him for that. I don't necessarily think he's right, but I don't blame him for doing that. don't necessarily think he's right, but I don't blame him for doing that.

Well, and on the financial side, Zach, yeah, taking that $105. Yeah. And spending $40 and getting your degree. Yes, I would do that. Which is great. Yeah. The whole trick is to do that and navigate the post-addiction mentality. And that's where you need to be.

So I'm proud of you, brother. You call us anytime. We'd be honored to help you as you do walk through this. You're a sharp young guy. Rachel, good job. Good job. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey show in the books. Thanks to James Childs, our producer, Zach Bennett, filling in for Kelly today. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, guys, this is Kelly, associate producer of The Dave Ramsey Show.

Did you know over 16 million people listen to The Dave Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country. To find the station near you, head to daveramsey.com slash show