The Ramsey Show - App - I’m Saving Money but Not Sure What To Do With It (Hour 2)

Episode Date: January 31, 2022

Saving, Investing, Retirement, Career, Home Buying, Debt, Education As heard on this episode: Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY: https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup: https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting: https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I'm Ramsey personality, George Campbell, joined today by Dr. John Bologna, and we are excited to take your calls about life, money, relationships, mental health, boundaries, getting scammed on Instagram, your emergency fund, maybe an inheritance. You name it, we'll talk about it. Open phones this hour, 888-825-5225. Joshua kicks off this hour in Dallas, Texas. Joshua, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hi, guys. Pleasure to be on there today. What's up, man? Hey, I have a question. I make about $48,000 a year. I have a

fully funded emergency fund, about four to five months is what I have in my checking account. In my savings, I have about $25,000 that I don't know what to do with. That's a good problem to have. That may be one of the better problems we deal with today, Josh. Well done. I appreciate that. Glory to God, by the way, for that. But I'm wondering if I should give that $25,000 to my Edward Jones guy, and we could put it in my Roth or my 403B or whatever.

I don't know the right terms for that. Or if I should put it toward my mortgage and pay down my mortgage. Well, you're following the steps so far, and so you are at baby step 4, 5, 6. Do you have any kids? I have three daughters and one boy on the way. Okay. Congratulations, man. That's awesome, man. You're crushing it. Thank you. So are you currently investing 15% or is this kind of a new step for you?

I am almost, I can get to 15%. I haven't started that yet. I just got a raise at my job. So I haven't adjusted my giving to my retirement yet. Okay. Well, let's first start on that 15% towards retirement. And then once we get that plate spinning, you're consistently investing that 15% every single paycheck. Then we're going to move on to step five. We're going to throw a little bit of money for each of those kids in a college fund. That could be a 529 or an ESA. And you should be able, you could do both. I'd probably start with the ESA right now. You could throw, you know, up to the max, about two grand for the year for each of those kids. That could be cool. And then beyond that, we're paying off the house early. And so this money has now been allocated. It has a job. And it was so fun to be holding on

to it until George just took it all away from you. I won the lottery. Yeah. So I would do it in that order. And so that might not mean you make a big lump sum for investing or for the kids' college fund, but I want you to be able to have that margin consistently in your budget in four or five to be doing that every month. And then beyond that, every extra dollar that's coming in, beyond your normal lifestyle stuff, which you guys can enjoy life. That's what we want for you in Baby Steps 4 through 7. So you can enjoy some of it.

I would give some of it, and I would save some of it. Josh, what do you do for a living? I am a children's pastor. Children's pastor. Yes, sir. How honest can I be with you? Go for it. Go for it.

$48,000 a year raising four kids in Dallas seems like a tough slog. Well, I'm outside of Dallas. Yeah, we're making it. The Lord has blessed me with good vehicles. My house is a little on the small side. We're a little crammed in there, but the area we live in, if we wanted to upgrade, especially right now, it's just out of the question okay um with the housing market and so uh you know god has has has really really uh blessed me and um 48 we make it every single

month good and we have we're in the black every month excellent every year we've seen growth in our finances, and all I can say is praise God for that. But this $25,000 was a culmination of a couple tax refunds, saving, and I loaned out some money, and that's going to get paid back. And my church mispaid me a couple times. I loaned out some money, and that's going to get paid back. And my church mispaid me a couple times. They didn't pay me the full amount. Sure they mispaid you, Joshua. Sure they did.

I'm just messing with them. They accidentally didn't pay my health insurance for the whole year. So I got a big check back for that. That's a big whoopsie-do. Hey, so I appreciate your deference to God's favor, but I want you to also, you and your wife, I want to personally celebrate both of you for your stewardship and your just incredible discipline with your money. A couple of tax returns. That means you've been sitting on this money for a long time in a tight, tight budget.

And so good for you for making every penny count and for eking it out and being able to survive a year when your employer, quote unquote, forgot to pay you the health insurance benefits. The old classic, forgot to pay the health insurance thing. Damn. But good for you, brother.

Yeah. It's a great question, though. A lot of people have money sitting around, and they know it could be doing better in the market. We always hear that. I could make 10%, 12% in the market, John. Why would I use it as an emergency fund? Why would I use it to fund my kid's college?

And it's funny, as I've talked to people who follow the steps and the people who don't, the people who follow the steps and the people who don't, the people who follow the steps have a lot less anxiety in their life because it simplifies everything. You just go, I know exactly where this money's going. I'm going to invest it. I'm going to save for my kid's college.

I'm going to pay off the house diligently. Instead of throw it all in the market, hope for the best, and watch my phone 24-7 as it rockets up and down, which we've been seeing the past few weeks, haven't we? Well, if I pay attention to the stock market, yes. I do walk by the TVs and see the up arrows and down arrows and see the people pulling their hair out and whatnot. And all the crypto bros going nuts as it crashes to half of what it was.

Can we just say that about six months ago I told you that was going to happen? You did, John. You prophesied it. I don't think I prophesied it. I just saw crypto as a deflation hedge when inflation was going up. Anyway, that's a whole other conversation. All right. We'll save that. But that's a great question. Very good question from Joshua there about savings accounts. So if you have extra money, here's the simplest way. If you're listening right now and you've got that situation, filter it through the baby steps. Where are you at? If you're at baby step three, well, you might be able to fully fund that

emergency fund. If you're at four, five, six, well, now you've got some margin. We can start investing. Maybe you can fill up that Roth IRA for the year. Maybe you can throw a huge chunk in a 529 to set your kids up for success. Or you've got that mortgage and you're sick of paying the lender every single month. That's me, man. I just want to get rid of that mortgage. This is your year, John. I believe in you. Well, I don't know. We'll see.

I'm cheerleading you on. But yeah, you know the freedom that comes with not owning anything on your house. Even if it's just like Joshua says, a small cramped house, getting that mortgage knocked out. Man, oh man, oh man. It's so great. I keep waiting for the email that's like, hey, your mortgage is due. And it never comes, John. I know.

And I can't say I miss it. And that paycheck that just deposited today, it's all yours now. It's so great. I keep waiting for the email that's like, hey, your mortgage is due. And it never comes, John. I know. And I can't say I miss it. And that paycheck that just deposited today, it's all yours now. It's all mine, and it goes mostly to my dogs. You can call my show for that. Yeah, that's a whole other problem, John. I need a whole coaching session there. Well, hey, folks, open phones, 888-825-5225. Give us a call. We will talk about whatever is on your mind. I'm George Campbell, joined today by Dr. John Deloney.

This is The Ramsey Show. for a lot of you last year was another year of just trying to survive but you don't have to live like that. You can have confidence in your money and your future. So if you're tired of being stressed out all the time, you can decide to make a change. You can follow a plan that works. For almost 30 years, Financial Peace University has helped millions of people take control of their money. You'll learn our proven plan to save money, pay off debt, build wealth, and give generously. Watch FPU on demand or get plugged into a class for encouragement and support from other people. You don't have to face another year of stress and worry. You can have confidence in your money. FPU is only available with a Ramsey Plus membership.

Start for free by visiting. John Deloney. This is The Ramsey Show. Give us a call, 888-825-5225. Sam joins us in Portland, Oregon. Sam, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, thanks for having me. Sure, how can we help? Yeah, so my wife and I were just introduced to Total Money Makeover a little over a month ago and finished reading the

book, finished step number one, and are starting baby step number two. Awesome. A couple or two and a half years ago or so, we made the wise decision of leasing a Ford Explorer. And in September, that lease is coming up to an end. I'm seeking just your guys' opinion or just recommendation on what we should do when that lease comes to an end. You know, how should we approach that? Obviously, I think either purchasing it or returning the vehicle is probably preferred, but how can my wife and I prepare for that upcoming expense or upcoming event, taking into consideration the baby steps that we're on right now?

George, I'll walk you through this. I just have a quick question. Does the, is the payoff amount baked into your lease agreement? Does it have a payoff amount? You've already contractually agreed to. If we go over in miles. Are you talking about the buyout, John? Yes.

Here's what I'm asking. Is there like two years ago, the prices of an Explorer were not what they, a two-year-old Explorer would not be what it is right now. Is there a chance that this, you're making a, you know, doing something goofy, getting a car at least two years ago, can turn around and you can buy a two-year-old Explorer for way less than if you went and bought a two-year-old Explorer from off a car lot somewhere. Yeah, that makes sense. Is it baked in there?

Do you know? Or is there a market value payoff? Okay. What's your income, Sam? What's the household income here? Yeah, household income's right around $180 a year. That's good news. What's the car worth today?

The purchase option price is right around $30,000. Okay. So that's what you would owe in September if you wanted to keep the car? Correct, if you were to purchase it. What's that car worth? I don't know. I'll need a Kelly Blue Booket, but it has gotten in like a,

it got side swiped. So there's some repairs that need to be done to it either prior to that or if we're going to walk away. But you're going to have to do those repairs anyway, right? If you hand them the keys to that thing, you're going to have to do those repairs anyway, right? If you hand them the keys to that

thing, you're going to have to make those repairs anyway, right? Exactly. What other debt do you have? What's the total and what's it made up of? We have a total of $100,000. Most of it is in student loans. $84,000 is in student loans. We have another car that we own that has $7,000 left on it. We have roughly $11,000 in credit card and a little over $500 in medical bills. All right. Well, I'm going to give you some good news and the bad news. The good news is you have a fantastic income, and you're going to be able to save up and pay cash for a used car by September. The bad news is I think this car is going away because we have a pile of debt to clean up right now, and we're just not at a place to own a car that's worth this much.

But with your income, you've get $100K in debt. I want you to filter this through the debt snowball once you have that amount saved, which how quickly could you save up for a used car? Let's say $5,000, $6,000, $7,000, $8,000. Two months, probably three months is my guess. You make $180,000 a year. It take you three months to get a couple grand? I mean, probably sooner. We have three kids as well.

Where daycare costs come in. There you go. Okay. That's fair. That's fair. I think you could clean up the credit cards and that car loan for $7,000 before this lease even comes to an end. And save up for a used car. Yeah, I agree.

So where that puts you is you've got just the student loans. You're down to $84,000 in debt, making $180,000, and that's it. And we're going to plow through that debt as quickly as possible. My guess is that takes you a year. Could you do that? 18 months. To get through all of the debt? To get through the student loan debt. Yeah, I mean, that's the plan. Like I said, we're fresh on this, and we're kind of attacking this head-on,

trying to get good at budgeting. But, no, I think it's totally, totally feasible. Do you use the EveryDollar app? We don't have that. I've just been writing it down. No, that's cool. Hey, so stay on the line. We're going to give you a copy of,

I mean, we're going to give you a year subscription to our flagship product, Ramsey Plus, and it's got all the videos from Financial Peace University in it. It's got lots of different, there's a lot of content in there to keep you on your journey over the next two and a half years as you pay this stuff off. But it also has a premium subscription for a year to the EveryDollar app that's going to connect you and

your wife. You're all going to be able to track expenses, work together on this deal, and get this stuff knocked out for you and your three little kids. Is that cool? Awesome. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. You got it, man. Hang on the line here. Kelly will hook you up. Thanks for the question, Sam. Chris joins us in Miami, Florida. Chris, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, good afternoon, guys. How are you? Great. How can we help? So last year I paid off my mortgage, pretty much all my debt. Way to go, Chris. Yeah, it feels good.

It definitely feels good. I was listening earlier. I feel the same way. I'm kind of waiting for them to send the bill, but it never comes. I love it. My question is this. I'm putting away for the kids. I have two kids, five and seven. I'm putting away for the kids school for the future.

My wife and I are contributing 15 percent into retirement but and I have I mean I think at this point I have like 12 months worth of of expenses saved up so I'm wondering what the next step is you know I do give to the local church faithfully the church that we go to we're a part of. And we are enjoying some of it. But as far as the rest of it, I mean, I've got a significant amount of money, or what I think is significant amounts, is kind of sitting there in a savings account that's not really generating all that much. And so just at this point, I'm kind of like, now what? Sure.

Sort of the honeymoon is over, and it's like, now what? And you guys are spending and having a good time, right? You're not just hoarding this money and living a miserable life. No, we're definitely not miserable. Definitely not miserable. I love it. My life's better than yours, George. I don't know how to say this nicely, but way better than you, George.

Some people have a real hard time enjoying themselves once they hit step seven, and I just want to make sure that that's not an issue for you guys, that you're not hanging on with a closed fist going, we can't go on vacation. It'll never be enough. And so if you're at that point, there's a few things you can do. Obviously you know you're already giving and you're spending. And so your question is, how do I make this money work for me on the saving side, on the investing side? Right. If I'm you, I'm going to park this in index funds for now until

we have a plan for it. And that's what Dave does when he wants to buy real estate with cash. He just parks it in index funds, lets it grow. And when the time comes, he's got enough money to buy something, he'll pull it out and buy something. And so I would just put it in one of those taxable investments and index funds. You can also throw in some mutual funds and work with our smart investor pros on that. But that's what I'm doing until I know what that next thing is. And do you have a wife? Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's a teacher and I'm a CPA. Awesome. And we both work.

I'd sit down, go to a nice dinner and start dreaming about what do we want to do? Do we want to get into real estate investing? Do we want to do something outrageous? Do we want to sock this away for college or for vacations? What do we want to do with this money that would be just totally outrageous? Because we live like no one else and now we get to live like no one else. Yeah, I can tell you she wants to do real estate and then her and I kind of are on the same page. You got your answer, Chris. That's your next step. We don't have enough to buy it. Yeah, we just don't have enough right now to buy a cash. Yeah, just keep saving. You know the drill.

You know how to save up some money. Do it with cash and let that be your next goal. We are such driven people as humans, John, at least the good ones. There's always a next goal we got to dangle to keep us motivated along the journey, and so that's not a bad thing. You told me your wife wants to get into real estate. Let's have some fun with real estate. And we're going to do it with cash, which means there's going to be no risk, no stress other than being a landlord, which comes with its own problems.

But, hey, it changes the game when you don't have a mortgage on it. That's a total game changer. Thanks for the call, man. This is The Ramsey Show. Every January, we get hundreds of calls from people who are ready to start fresh and finally take control of their money. But without a plan, most of them never make progress and just give up. Maybe you've been there too. But 2022 can be different. This year, you can win with money by following a plan that's worked for millions, including myself. That plan is Financial Peace University.

You'll learn step-by-step how to save money, pay off debt fast, build wealth, and give generously. You can go through the class with other people or watch it online at home. Either way, FPU is available only with a Ramsey Plus membership. This year, you can take control of your money for good. Start FPU for free by visiting ramsaysolutions.com slash FPU. That's ramsaysolutions.com slash FPU. Open phones this hour. I'm George Campbell, joined today by Dr. John Deloney. Give us a call, 888-825-5225. Elizabeth joins us in Norfolk, Virginia. Elizabeth, welcome to the show. How can we help? Hello.

It's so exciting to talk to you. We're excited to talk to you. What's going on in your world? So I just need some advice. My husband and I are on babysits four and five. We're hoping to build a home this coming fall, so that's why we're not on six. We currently rent right now.

Okay. But I've had some controversy in my current employer, with my current employer, and it's been a difficult last four months. A little bit of just burnout on my side and moving towards just, I don't want to say toxic, but it's just been an uncomfortable

working environment. So what's this controversy? So I'm currently an assistant manager. I work in healthcare. To the? And it's just, I'm sorry? I was just making an office reference. Assistant to the regional manager.

That's all. Oh. So, yeah, so I'm in healthcare care i'm an assistant manager and health care is very difficult climate right now and my boss and i aren't necessarily seeing eye to eye um we've had some conversations and it's moved forward and it's just become a question of my work ethic and whether i'm pulling enough hours, whether I'm meeting the job requirements or not. I've tried to receive it very positively so that I can move forward and be what my team needs me to be in my work environment, but then it's also affecting

just how much I'm at home, which is very difficult because I have three young children and I'm trying to balance being everywhere I need to be right now. Yeah. Let's back out 30,000 feet for a second. How are you? You mentioned burnout. You mentioned you got three little ones. You mentioned being in a bunch of different places. How are you in this season? I'm very burned out. You're cooked? I've been a nurse for 15 years in emergency department, so I'm cooked. That's right. I really am. You're cooked, if we're honest, and I've spent years working with folks in your world. You're cooked before COVID, and this is like nothing else, right?

Afterwards, right? The last two years have been insanity for for nursing professionals so is the so let's go back into the hospital now is the criticism you're receiving fair and there's a point to why i'm asking you this stuff no no okay sometimes not sometimes always when i'm get chaotic when i get exhausted when i am dealing with kid stuff and i don't gotta run over here my wife needs me to do and then it just happens to be the day that one of the folks that i work with here says you know what you need to really step it up they're often right and as frustrating or as angry as that makes me

when they when they say something when james is like, hey, Deloney, you've got to be on time, man. He's right. You know what I mean? But you're saying your boss is not right. And in fact, your boss is contributing to this feeling, not calling out things that are going to help things. Correct. Okay.

So do you still want to be a nurse? Some days. not every day. Yeah. Is that new or is that longstanding? That's longstanding. Okay. Okay. So back to your original question, how close are you to the end here?

Well, we're hoping to build in the fall. So our income is a huge driver to this question because we've made more than we've ever made before. Our income is about $175,000 a year. So we're really saving a lot because we have this end goal of finally building the home that we want, which would require us moving and new jobs, new schools, everything. But Elizabeth, if you build this house and it requires you to die every day to do it, will it be worth it? I hope so.

I'm telling you right now, it will not be. Okay. One of the hardest things about reaching goals is that we go with us wherever you end up you will be there and if you are fried and cooked and exhausted then you're going to be fried and cooked and exhausted in a brand new fancy house with new schools you're just going to be more stressed because you had to move and change schools with three little ones yes i would much rather you see you square your heart and your mind and your professional life up and make it more in line with the reality that three kids is thrown into your life,

whatever your husband and your relationship looks like. I'd much rather you line those things up and then say, what do I want to do? What do we want to do? And then say, how do we fit our dream goals, which is building a house, buying a boat, whatever, moving to Paris, whatever that is. Can we do that in reality?

Do you hear like just listen back to what you've told us. You're basically sacrificing yourself for this other dream over here. Yeah. Have you looked at other jobs? Do you know that this is the only place that you can work that will pay you this much? No, I haven't.

I think that's a good first step. I've been scared to. I think in your head you're going, well, if I go to another job, I'm not going to make as much. Why are you scared to? Because I've done this for so long, I know what I'm doing. Yeah. The devil you know. If I step out of my comfort zone, I have to learn something else. Yeah. But you're capable of that. You're amazing. You can absolutely learn something new. You can start somewhere fresh. You're going to move somewhere fresh anyways, right? You just told us that.

That's true. So I would start looking. And if it's in the new area that you guys want to live, that's not a bad thing either. And you can rent for there for a little while, maybe a six-month lease until you can build this dream home. But there's really nothing driving the urgency of this home other than we want to, right? But there's something driving the urgency of the other side of this equation, which is you cannot keep going like you're going. It's exhausting. It is. Would you take a $10,000 pay cut per year

if it meant you weren't in a toxic environment and it slowed down this home process by a month or two? Would you do it? Yes. I think we have our answer. I think you've got to do some research and not be afraid of the unknown because you're about to step into it anyways. You're going to move to a new town with new jobs and new house and all of that stuff.

So you can do hard things, Elizabeth. Can I tell you where I would start with this, Elizabeth, if I'm you? Because I know it feels overwhelming. Have you sat down with your husband and told him, I'm not okay? We talked about it. Okay. But I told him I could push through if I needed to. Okay.

I would love to see you take him to dinner and you all sit down and have an honest conversation. Because I think you've hinted at it, hoping he would pick up on it and pull the plug on this deal. Or hint at it and say, well, well I can you know what I'm saying and I think it's time that you are able to lay all the cards out on the table and say we got three kids we've got this we've got that we've got that you and I our relationship has changed not for better or worse it's just different now we got three kids we're both working full time. Things are bananas. And I can't continue at this trajectory. Whether that means I'm getting out of nursing. Whether that means I want to stay at home with the kids.

Whether that means I got to just change hospitals because I can't work with a supervisor anymore. I got to change whatever that means. I think we needed to sit down on the table with your number one fan, your chief partner in life, and say, I'm out. I can't go anymore like this, and I don't know what this means yet, and I promise that I'm going to get to the bottom of it. And then let's build something new together. Man, I feel for the healthcare workers, John. I think everyone is experiencing some level of what she's experiencing. It's unbelievable what they've been through. This is hard, it's toxic, long hours, no end in sight. I feel for you, Elizabeth.

Good luck on your journey. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, Ramsey personality, host of the Fine Print and Entree Leadership Podcast, joined today by Dr. John Deloney, host of The Dr. John Deloney Show. You can find this show and all the shows I mentioned on The Ramsey Network or wherever you listen to podcasts. Mary joins us in St. Louis. Mary, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Yes, I have been trying to get my financial advisor to convert some of our IRA into a Roth. I've been trying for about three years. He has one excuse after another. I've told him the taxes are low now. I would rather pull it out, put it in a Roth, pay the taxes,

than wait until the taxes increase. But he says, no, that's not a good idea. Mary, are you married to this man? No. Then why haven't you fired him yet? Oh, I'm thinking about it. I have been thinking about it. It's been three years.

Yes. Wow. Well, okay, I just want to hear some of the excuses. What is he saying? Why doesn't he want to do this? He has said it's too late. I should have done it years ago. He is saying if there's any money left over and my daughter inherits it,

let her pay the higher taxes, things like that. But he doesn't get to tell you what you do with your money. That's the hallmark of a bad financial advisor. Yeah, this guy's the worst. Even if he's right, the way he's doing it is just bonkers. Yeah, fire him today and smile when you do it. Is converting part of the money into a Roth a bad idea? If you have the cash on hand, it's not.

Can you afford to pay the taxes on it? I think so. How much money do you have? In the IRA that he's handling? Sure. 2.1? How much? 2.1 million. Yes. Wow. Way to go, Mary. And so what is your reasoning for wanting to convert it? Taxes. I don't want to pay higher taxes. Oh, okay. But he is saying, no, don't convert it.

Whoever inherits it can pay the higher taxes. So how old are you? 72. And my husband's 73. Okay. So you're going to pay taxes either way. You're going to pay taxes on it right now because it's traditional. So if you pulled out the $2 million, you're going to pay that as your income tax of whatever you pull out. When you convert it... Right, you pull out about

$80 a year. $80 a year. Okay, and you're saying I don't want to pay the taxes on the $80 a year? No, I don't mind doing that. In fact, I have asked him, we get the RMDIs, I have asked him if I could have that divided up by 12 and get that much more money every month. The required minimum distribution? Yes, yes. And he says, no, I can't. I'm just, you know, I'm trying to see an angle where maybe he's got some reasoning behind

this and maybe there is, but either way, I'm getting a second opinion. So I want you to connect with one of our SmartVestor pros and just run these numbers by them and say, hey, here's what he's saying. Here's what I want to do. Can you tell me if he's – is there a reasoning behind this that you can help me understand? Because our SmartVestor pros have the heart of a teacher. So they want to teach you why they're recommending to do what they say to do. And so I would jump on. Okay, if I change, I'm sorry, I was going to say if I change, is that a consuming thing that it's going to take forever? No, I did it recently.

And I got connected with SmartVestor Pro and I had accounts scattered all across four or five jobs that I've had over the last 20 years. And I mean, I just had to sit on the phone and they transferred it over. It was a very, very simple process. You're bringing over a couple of million dollars in a portfolio. The Smart Investor Pro who takes you on, who partners with you for the rest of your financial journey, and then is going to help you set this up for your kids to be successful. They will bend over backwards to help you because you're a even if i'm a little client i got 2.1 million dollars that i'm bringing over and they were extraordinary in helping me walk through the process it's in their best interest to make this process the transfer as simple as possible

and okay but i have one i'm sorry go ahead no that so yeah don't don't worry about it's not a complicated thing you have to sign a paper and be on the phone when they do some transfers. But it's not like months and months and weeping and hugging and all this kind of stuff. It's just going to be what it is. Okay. The reason I hesitate to get a different advisor is this one picks the stocks by themselves. We have nothing to do with that. And he's been good.

We started off with, I think it was 1-2, and now it's been 10 years and we're at 2-1. So, I mean, he's done a good job with that. Well, if you look over the last 10 years, the market has been bonkers too. And so if the bull's on the dartboard is, you know, 15 feet by 15 feet, we all look pretty good throwing darts, right? Okay.

So I also, here's the thing. If he's got a great performance, great. I still think character counts, and I think the way he treats you counts. And so if he has a, and I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not smart enough. This is George and Dave's territory to get into the conversion of Roths and time and how old you are and all that. I'm more concerned that he hasn't sat down and taught you.

Here's why you don't want to do that. Here's the mathematical reason why this is not a good idea. And when you say, I would rather eat the taxes than cause my children to have to pay taxes in the future. And he says, give them to your kids. I don't like the spirit of that. And so this whole exchange needs to, you need to know why he's picking the stocks or the portfolio that he's picking.

In fact, the SmartVestor Pro started to tell me, and I said, hey, honestly, I don't care. I want it to match your family's portfolio. If it's good enough for you, it'll be good enough for my family. And he said, with all due respect, I'm going to teach you this. And so I had to listen and say, here's why I'm doing this. So I want you to walk alongside whoever is pushing your financial future ahead of you. The reason I don't like this is you get a couple of million dollars, and a lot of these investment folks out there are unscrupulous.

They're going to buy the products that make them the most commissions. Not a smart investor pro. So make sure you connect with somebody today. Yeah. JimbonRamsaySolutions.com and click on Trusted Pros Mary and you can connect with one in the St. Louis area over there. Thanks for the question. Grayson joins us in Atlanta, Georgia. Grayson, welcome to the show.

Hi. thank you. Sure, how can we help? So I'm 21 years old. I make $60,000 a year before taxes. I live at home with my parents. I have zero monthly expenses. What should I do with my money? How much do you have as far as savings?

Right now I'm at about $5,000. Okay. I just graduated college in december awesome good for you man what are you doing for work uh i have an accounting job for an hr company nice and you graduated debt-free can i ask how you did that um i have about 10 000 college loans but my parents hold on you just told me you're debt-free. Well, other than that. Well, you lied to me on national radio, Grayson. I'm handsome other than my face, Grayson.

Come on. Grayson, we're paying off the student loan. You're saying Mom and Dad are paying it off right now? They paid for most of it, yeah. Dude, you're a big boy now. It may be time to fly the coop and pay off these loans yourself because guess what? For the rest of your life, you have to pay your own bills. Yes, pay them back off.

Pay them off, man. All right, so answer his question. I'm about to run up the clock here. So to answer the question, you make $60,000. I'd get a fully funded emergency fund, and I'd find somewhere to live and start my life as an adult. You graduate. You get a big boy job. What's the reasoning for staying with the parents right now? I'd rather not have to pay rent somewhere if I don't have to.

Absolutely. I totally get that. But part of the adult experience in doing the baby steps is saving up for a down payment on a house and investing 15% of your income. And I love the fact you're living with your parents and you have no expenses, but you're an adult. You've graduated. So if I'm you, I'm going to go find a place to rent. You make great money for a 21-year-old, way more than I did at 21. And so I would use that money very wisely. I'd get out of this student loan debt and I'd stay out of debt for the rest of my life. I'd get that fully funded emergency fund of three to six months. I'd start investing 15% into retirement, which you're 21. You will be a multimillionaire if you just invest consistently that 15% over time and

start to save up for a down payment on that house, whatever that looks like for you. You got this, dude. You're crushing it at 21. But let's not pretend on what debt is and what it isn't. And it's time to start paying your own bills, man. I appreciate the call. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. My thanks to my awesome co-host, Dr. John Deloney,

all the folks in the booth, James, Kelly, Ben, you name it. They're making it happen. Appreciate you guys listening in, America. We'll be back with you before you know it. Until next time, spend wisely, save intentionally, and give generously. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit theramseyshow.com and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.