The Ramsey Show - App - Is $1,000 Really Enough of an Emergency Fund in a Pandemic? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: October 1, 2021

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Thank you. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, it's The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life, and your money, and your purpose, and and your career and all sorts of things. I'm George Campbell, Ramsey Personality, joined by fellow Ramsey Personality, Ken Coleman, host of The Ken Coleman Show, aptly named, and we are taking your calls. And it's a free one, 888-825-5225. Paul joins us in Houston, Texas. Paul, welcome to The Ramsey Show.

Thank you. Thanks, George. Thanks, Ken, for taking the call. So I'm new to The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Thanks, George. Thanks, Ken, for taking the call. So I'm new to the Ramsey program itself. I discovered it here trying to figure out how to pay off all my debts. And before, I'd been doing some probably less than ideal things with my finances. So my question is, with this pandemic, should I adhere to the $1,000 in an emergency fund, or should I have that multiplied by a certain amount? So you're wondering, because of the pandemic,

because of what's going on with the economy, how does this affect me? Do I need to save up $2,000, $10,000, $40,000 in an emergency fund? Right, right. I've got some other circumstances going, but that's besides the point. But I want to make sure that I'm doing everything I possibly can. Well, Paul, since you're new to the plan, I'll go easy on you. But there is no Paul caveat in the Ramsey plan that says, well, if your name's Paul

and you live in Houston, yeah, it's okay to save more. The purpose of this is not to instill fear and have you walking on thin ice. The purpose of the $1,000 is to fuel you to pay off all of your consumer debt to get you the stability. So if you have a little fear, I want you to be a little bit uncomfortable because when you get comfortable, you get broke. And so the purpose of this $1,000 is not to say, hey, if the HVAC goes out, you're not going to be able to cover it. The purpose is to get you angry enough at this debt and get you scared enough because

you're not in a good place right now when you have all this debt. So the purpose of that is to fuel you through baby step two, which is the debt snowball, paying off all of your consumer debts except for the mortgage to get you to Baby Step 3, where we create this financial force field between you and life, between you and the pandemic. So you were talking about your circumstances there, Paul. What are those circumstances? So over the past about five years, I've doubled my income, which is great. Awesome. But I unfortunately was letting someone else manage the money. Um, and I discovered back in December just how it was managed.

It was definitely not, um, in financial best interests. Was it a spouse or what? What do you mean someone else was managing the money? It was a spouse. Since then, I had to take the reins and it obviously caused a big turmoil and a separation

to occur. I'm sorry. We've got 100 grand plus coming in. Why do we have $99,000 going out? So you guys obviously weren't on the same page with money. You didn't know what was going on with the money. No, no, and she actually did financial peace a number of years ago.

But it didn't stick, clearly. Obviously didn't. This was prior to her and I meeting many years ago. So you guys are separated now? Is there a divorce being finalized? Not as of yet, but I need to get everything on pace because I do have a son that I have to take care of. I'm sorry to hear that, Paul.

I'm $191,000 in the hole with a mortgage. Oh, the mortgage. What is the other type of debt, the non-mortgage debt that you have? Credit card vehicle, back taxes, unpaid homeowners association fees. What does that all add up to, the consumer debt? About $49,000. $49,000. And what's your income? $126,800. And that's you solo,

which I'm guessing you will be. Is your money separated yet? Are you back in the range? Completely separated. Okay. So you've got $126,000 coming in and you have $49,000 in consumer debt. So that gives me hope because you've got a big shovel. And to me, this debt is gone in a year. With your take-home pay, you can absolutely crush this debt using the debt snowball method. So what that is saying to me is you've got $1,000 saved for a year while you clean up this mess. And then you're going to very quickly get the three to six months in place and have that financial stability. Paul, I got a question here as George is walking you through this.

You're very new to the Ramsey Solutions process. How's your budget right now? Have you got every dollar accounted for? Have you figured it out? Have you tightened things up? I definitely accounted for every dollar here. I actually downloaded the EveryDollar app a couple days ago and started an Excel spreadsheet after I've already done.

Basically, I started out doing Baby Step 3 before anything. Right. So I've got a nest egg put up now. What do you got? What's in your Baby Step 3 that's out of order? What's in it? About $13,000. Okay, so you got $13,000 in cash right now? Yes. Is that in addition to the $1,000 or that includes the $1,000 that we say needs to be the emergency fund? That's including the $1,000 emergency fund. Okay, well you heard George walk you through this.

You heard George walk you through this, and I know you're new to it. But the reason that Dave Ramsey taught it this way is because it's all about psychology and momentum. Do you understand? There is some actual science behind it. It's not just Dave's opinion. And the momentum is this. With $1,000 in your emergency fund, baby step one, now you take $12,000 today.

What's the smallest debt you've got right now? What is it? About $1,200. Okay. What's next? Is that a credit card? Yeah, that's a small credit card. All right.

What's next after that? Homeowner's fees, that's a small credit card. All right, what's next after that? Homeowner's fees, another almost $2,000. Okay, what's next after that? Another credit card. Well, how much is that one? $45. No, I'm sorry, $49. Okay, I'm doing quick math here.

That's got, yeah, I'm counting it. We still got money to spend. How much, what's next after that? We're wiping these debts out today. What's next after that? By the way, if you're keeping up with me, Paul, every one of these things you're telling me, you're paying off with that $12,000 today.

Right, right. And I also have a personal loan out because I did sell an upside-down real estate property in preparation for... How much is that? $8,000. Okay, so we're not going to get to that one. But the idea is, as George walked you through, you're going to go smallest to largest.

So we're going to spend $12,000 today. Before you go to bed tonight, you're wiping out several debts. We just got to three. We don't have to keep walking through this on the air. And Paul, what that does, it takes you down to $37,000. And when you're making $126,000, you're going to clean this thing up in six or seven months. And you'll probably get gazelle intense and want to take a side job and work more and clean this thing up even faster so that you can create financial stability for yourself,

for your kid. That's what it's all about, Paul. That is why we teach the baby steps in order. And you got this, man. Follow the steps. You can do it. This is The Ramsey Show. Imagine a world where people never have to worry about money ever again. At Ramsey Solutions, our mission is to teach people how to get out of debt and build lasting wealth. And if that means we have to take on the toxic money culture that says you need debt to get ahead, then we're okay with that. We've seen millions of lives changed, and we will continue technologies. Or if you're a UX designer or an SEO and content marketing specialist, we'd love to talk with you. Together, we will disrupt the toxic money culture in America. Find out about all the available jobs by texting careers to 33789. Text careers to 33789 to find out about all our open opportunities. This is The Ramsey Show.

I'm George Campbell, joined today by Ken Coleman. It's a pre-call, 888-825-5225. No parent ever wants their child to experience the panic of being unprepared for an emergency. But teaching your teens how to be smart with money can feel like a big job. We've got your back. With our digital self-study courses, you can rest assured that your teen will know the right way to handle money no matter what curveballs life may throw them down the road.

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Use promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal. Rules and restrictions apply. Today's question comes from Drew in Minnesota. I'm a 32-year-old graphic designer married with two young children. We have no debt except for our mortgage. I design full-time for a very large corporation with decent pay and benefits. I also take on quite a bit of contract work on the side for various clients, and my earnings for those jobs add up to almost 50% of what I'm

making in my nine-to-five job. These side projects generate much more passion in me than my day job does, and I could envision myself doing it full-time. I want to be patient and set myself up for success, but I feel like I'm working two full-time jobs, and I don't want to burn out. What should I consider before making my solo venture my primary source of income? Well, this is a math question. The fact that you're already making almost 50% of your day job in this side hustle dream job tells me that you're not very far from making this step. And I said step, not a leap. And I think it comes down to, and again, I said it's a math question.

I think it comes down to your comfort level. You've clearly, Drew, you guys have done life the right way with your money. You have no debt except for your home. And I would be taking, if you haven't already, and I suspect George that he has, that he saved a good bit of the money he's made from the side hustle. If you haven't, though, Drew, I would begin to put all of the money. Okay. I changed my budget, whatever I've been paying myself. I would put all of the money from the side hustle back, whatever you make, I'd keep it in the account. We call it retained earnings as we teach this to companies through Entree Leadership here at Ramsey Solutions. And I would

get to a point where I had six to nine months of my current salary in the bank. And then I would go, I'd feel pretty comfortable knowing I had six to nine months saved and existing clients coming in. I think that comes down to you and your wife sitting down, and I think it comes down to a comfort level. Yeah, what is that number? Well, we're going to be comfortable jumping ship here. Thoughts on that? I mean, clearly right here. Because it's a money thing. How would you come about that one? Side projects generate much more passion. So what that tells me is if they could really put the foot on the gas with the side business,

it's going full-time real fast. And then they're in a great financial position. If they had loads of debt, I would say, hey, let's pause. Let's clean up this mess. But if you can get that retained earnings in place and not slow down once you leave that job and go, we're comfortable, we got the savings, then you're in a good spot, Drew. Way to go. That's awesome. All right, we're going to Ray in Dallas, Texas. Ray, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Thank you. What's going on? I'm 61 years old. I've worked for a small or medium-sized city for about 25 years. I'm about ready to retire, but I feel like I'm trapped at this job because I can't retire because of the insurance. And so I kind of hate my job, and I kind of like my job, and I really don't know what to do. I guess just tough it out for the next four years or

kind of looking for another job. Okay so just to get a little bit more clarity because I'm a bit confused with how you laid it out uh you said you're about ready to retire uh do you mean 65 is that what you meant by that? 65 yes. Okay so we're so you're definitely in now you said you can't retire because of the insurance so at 65 are you still saying you're not going to be able to retire? No, at 65, I should be able to retire or get Medicare and retire if I want to. Okay, I totally get it. That's kind of another part of the problem is I know myself, and I know that if I don't have anything to do, I won't do anything.

I agree. I agree. So this is actually kind of exciting, Ray. So I'm going to ask you a question. Let's just keep this simple for right now. I know you'd like to do it now, but we'll get to that in a second. But let's just say we fast-forwarded to 65, and now you've got the safety net of retirement, and yet you still want to do something.

What would you do at 65, Ray, knowing you may not have to make anywhere near what you make now, but you would just love to go do some work that you enjoy, work that you're good at, Ray? What would you do? That's a good question. I know. I really don't know because I've been doing what I've been doing for 20 years.

Yeah, but forget all that. When I asked that question, I took my time with it. I don't know if you could tell. And the reason I took my time with it, Ray, is I've done this thousands of times with people like you who go, I don't know, Ken, but see, you actually had a couple of things that kind of scrolled across your brain while I was talking. I want you to tell me what you've wondered about but you're not sure about. Okay. Back when I was younger, a friend of mine and I ran kind of a handyman business on the side.

Yeah. And we would, you know are still best friends but he lives in in a different part of the state now and so uh you know i i don't i don't want to do that work by myself because i've done it by myself and it's you know it's tedious and it's and it's difficult but with him there we we both got together and and you know it was it was fun to do but i know that you know so that's that's kind of off off the yeah but what did you enjoy about the work besides hanging out with him what did you enjoy about it um well i mean i'm don't overthink this it's all you're already editing i don't know why you need to edit. This is you.

This is your answer. It's not Ken's opinion on your answer or George's opinion. What did you love about him? Basically, it was just hanging out with him. Yeah. Really. Okay. We had fun doing the work.

Yeah, okay. Let me ask you this. Of your whole life, has there ever been a type of work in your whole career, a type of work, a task, or a role that you played that you really did enjoy? What's the answer? I was a peace officer for a few years, about 16 years. Yeah. And so when I was thinking about retiring, I went to a small department and applied, and they said, no, thank you.

Well, who cares? Who cares that they said, no, thank you? I asked you, what kind of work did you enjoy? What did you love working? Why did you enjoy being a peace officer? Tell me. Give me the short answer. What did you love about it?

And I was an investigator. And I loved doing that. Okay. All right. But, you know, if I started over again, and basically I would be because it's been over 20 years. And I still have my license. I would just have to get a commission with one of the departments. But if I started over, I'd have to start over in patrol.

Okay, but hold on a second. But we're assuming that's the only path. What I'm trying to help you see, Ray, is that there's a type of work that you enjoy doing. Okay, forget about the position and the industry. I'm talking about the work itself. So, you know, had you said, I really like working with my hands and solving problems with my head and my hands,

I'd go, great, you enjoy doing it with your buddy. You're acting like your buddy's the only person that ever could work alongside of you. But you could find a young 20-something-year-old kid who wants to get in it or maybe a family member who's got some of those skills. You could have done that. You could go back into a role where you go, I'm going to do investigation,

but I'm going to work for an insurance agency because I've got a peace officer and investigative work on my resume. I'm going to go work for a local insurance company who needs to investigate workers' comp claims. I mean, Ray, you've got to start looking. Wait a second. I'm retired. I fast-forwarded you to 65 where you've got income coming in.

Now it's just doing something that you really enjoy and you enjoy only. It doesn't matter if you're starting over. It doesn't matter how much money you're making. I enjoy it. Do you get what I'm saying, Ray? Yes. So, Ray, I'm going to give you a homework assignment. I want you to sit with it for a few days.

What would you do? What would you try? At 65, if you knew you couldn't fail, and you could quit it six weeks later and try something else, make the list of the top two or three things. Start investigating how you would do it so you could get in there with it. And let's dream a little bit. Ray, you've earned it. Now go do it. This is The Ramsey Show.

I'm George Campbell, joined by Ken Coleman today. We are taking your calls, 888-825-5225. Amber joins us in Akron, Ohio. Amber, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Hi, how are you today? Doing well. How can Ken and I help? My question that I've had is related to my term life insurance policy. Okay. And my question is basically, it is relatively expensive annually. Would it be a good time to either reapply for a new policy or to negotiate a lower cost?

Now, talk to me about relatively expensive. What does it cost annually? So I say it's relatively expensive because of my medical history. So we just paid it for the second time last month, and it's $548. Per year? So we just got the policy last year. That's $548 per year, correct? Right, yeah.

Okay. So we're talking about under $50 a month. Yeah. That doesn't sound astronomical to me. Is it a budget issue? Is it a large percentage of your income? So, no. I just am curious because we have the similar policy for my husband, and his is less than half the cost of mine. Yeah, and that's because he doesn't have medical history? Right, right. His would be your typical normal person.

Yeah, I mean that's part of how these things are priced, because there is higher risk for the insurance company to take on someone like you versus your husband. So that's why that rate is higher. Did you shop independently to get this term life in place? Where'd you get it through? through um zander so they um you know showed the list of options and so we picked um whatever was the lowest one from then that they okay yeah that's great i just wanted to make sure that you didn't go with a captive agent you know like someone my buddy at state farm and they're only going to give you the state farm policy so i wanted to make sure that you shop with an independent uh term life agent who can help you and absolutely you can do this once a year and contact them.

You can go to RamseySolutions.com, click on Trusted Pros, and click on Term Life. And you can try this and say, hey, has anything changed based on the rates or my condition? Are you comfortable sharing what this medical history is? Is this something that could change over time? Sure. Sure. So what it was, last year when we got the policy, I was almost six years after this event. So this was back in 2013, September.

I was only 19. I had surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. How are you doing now? Everything's great. So I go back every two years now for checkup, MRI, and stuff, and I'll go back in December this year. So everything's great. They gave me, you know, all clear, free to go, so they just given me to come back every two years.

That's awesome to hear. So good to hear, Amber. Well, here's what I would do. If I was in your shoes, I'm going to reshop this thing once a year, go through Zander and check with them to see if anything's changed. Otherwise, what I see is this is just a line item in your budget,

and this is here to protect your family. And I know insurance is not the most fun thing to pay, but what it does is it protects you and your family and replaces your income in case something happened to you. So if I'm you guys, this is just a budget line item like groceries or anything else and make it a sinking fund in your account so that once that annual renewal is up, you've got $548 sitting there ready to pay this thing and you just yawn and you move on. Right. You know that it's there. That's exactly what we do. Great. Well, you're doing

the right things and we're so, so grateful to hear that you're doing better and that you do have term life in place. Super important. This kind of stuff really hacks me off. And I think that of all the crap that politicians are dealing with in D.C.

on both sides of the aisle, by the way, that they can't get together and do something about pre-existing conditions. This is garbage. The amount of money that we pay to insurance companies, and I'm not trying to say that insurance executives are evil people. They're in the business of business. They insure us, but they're in business.

They have all the right in the world to lobby for breaks if they want to, but I've got to just tell you, George, to me, it's absolutely outrageous. With the amount of money we pay in premiums. That six years ago, she had a benign tumor taken out. And she's not getting ripped off. But still, it bothers me. I've got to tell you. What's the point of insurance?

It's like a Seinfeld thing now. What's the deal with insurance, Ken? I just, you know, every time I hear this, it irritates me to no end. We the people ought to stand up and just hold these people to fight. All we can do is keep on fighting the good fight, Ken, and we will. Karen's on the line in Columbia, South Carolina. Karen, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Thank you.

Thanks for your help. Yeah, what's going on? Well, I think I'm getting a little impatient. I'm completely debt-free except my mortgage. Hey! Let's go. That's pretty awesome, Karen. Way to go.

A lot of stupid mistakes for 20 years, but I got on board maybe three to five years ago and paid off about student loans and everything, maybe close to half a million dollars. Oh, my goodness. Oh, Karen, you just slimmed that in on us. Clearly, you do have some patience. That's incredible.

Well, I think it's running out. So I owe $175,000. On your mortgage? On my house. Okay. I refinanced it, paid off my student loans, did the right thing for the interest, of course, but I want to pay it off now. Hey, don't we all? I get it. Well, you've paid off half a million dollars, so you know how to do this, right? Create as much margin in your budget as possible, which,

by the way, you have all of it now because you don't have any debt. So how much extra are you putting on the mortgage every month? Well, that's the whole thing. Today I paid off, paid another $10,000 on it. I sold a little beach condo that I owned, and I put $80,000 on that about a year ago. So I just can't seem to make as quick progress as I want to. So what I want to know is,

and I want to know how good a shape I'm in too for the future, but I'm to. So what I want to know is, and I want to know how good a shape I'm in, too, for the future, but I'm 59. I have close to $600,000 in retirement, and I make between $360,000 and $400,000 a year. Wow. Well, that's good information to know. Karen, Karen. So this is paid off within 12 months easily. But you want to do it today. I don't think I should take it out of my retirement. No. No, no. Wrong answer. Hold on a second.

George, you can do the tactical money stuff because you're a money personality. We've got a minute until the break. I know, but I've just got to coach Karen up in 20 seconds. Karen, you've been in gazelle intense for so long. You've paid off so much money. You need to relax. You are in great shape. How much is the house worth? Tell George and I real quick. I think we're going to sell it to downsize a little bit, but it's worth 600. Well, if you're going to downsize, just sell the house and then we take care of the debt.

You can pay that off even faster. I know, but I don't know. It's a unique house. I don't know when we'll sell it. Oh, all right. Okay. Well, Karen, here's the thing. Or if we'll even go through with it. I mean, your take-home alone, you could pay this thing off in six months. But you're saying, I don't have the patience to go another six months. I'm just done.

I've been doing this a long time. I want it done today. Is that right? Well, I want to be – yeah, but I want to be smart, too. Yeah, well – Absolutely. Then using your retirement money and getting hit on that is not smart. Yes. So take that off the table, Karen. You, well, absolutely. Then using your retirement money and getting hit on that is not smart. So take that off the table. You have an incredible shovel here.

You don't need to touch your retirement at all. What you need to do is just find out how much margin you can create in your budget every month. And whatever margin you create, throw that onto the mortgage and let that fuel you to pay this thing off. But goodness, these numbers are hopeful, Ken, to say the least. Karen, you are a rock star, Karen. You're a champion. Just keep playing the plan out. It's going to work, and you're going to get there, and it's going to be glorious. Karen, come visit us to do your debt-free screen when that house is paid off.

I'm excited to meet you. You're a rock star. Way to go. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. welcome back to the Ramsey show I'm George Camel joined by Ken Coleman it's a free call this hour 888-825-5225 and we are headed to Chicago, Illinois to talk with Thomas. Thomas, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's nice to talk to you guys. You as well. How can we help? So my question is kind of broad, but it's for Ken. I have a phone screen for an internship coming up at a large financial institution. And I'd just like

to know how to leave the best impression and basically just ensure a callback. Yeah. Well, you know, the simple answer, and I'm going to break this down for you, the simple answer is relentless preparation leads to reflexive performance. And what that simply means is that when we put the right information in our brain, even when we're nervous, and certainly something like this, a job interview is terrifying for so many people. It's a big performance.

Not many people like George and I, we enjoy being in front of large crowds, and we're just nuts. But most people are like, it's a terrifying proposition to perform in a job interview, and that's what this is, even though it's an internship. So if you are really, really prepared and you're thinking ahead of time through some of the basic questions, why you want the internship, where you want to go in your career, why did you pick that company, what excites you about it, just your general questions. And you really think through your answers and you run them through your head, whatever that looks like for you, however you would normally prepare for a test, you're really taking the same approach here. And what will happen is, is that brain of yours is a supercomputer. And even in pressure situations, anxiety-filled situations, it's going to perform. Now, that's my general answer. Specifically, what I want you to do is I want you to plan to go in with some questions.

And, George, one of the techniques that I tell people is go in with a moleskin or something to write with, pen. I'm a pencil moleskin guy. But I'd have the questions in front of me on that pad. And the reason is because that doesn't make you look anything other than serious and prepared. And you can glance at those questions. And then here's the deal. Write something. When you ask a question, write something.

Even if you're writing, I'm really nervous, but I think it's going well. I mean, just be engaged. But pay attention to the answers they give you. And if you ask really good questions, Thomas, it's going to separate you from the pack and make no mistake this is a competition so some of the questions you need to ask are how do interns win in this position who are how would you describe some former interns who were really successful in this role what made them stand out what were their character traits what are some of the things they did you ask a question like that and they're gonna go okay this guy thomas where'd he come from he's serious did he park his alien ship in the parking lot uh because

that's really going to separate you so that's the kind of stuff and i'm going to make sure we give you uh in fact you can go to ken coleman.com as soon as the call is over thomas and in our resources uh tab at ken coleman.com there is a how, how to win the interview guide. It's a PDF. You can download it. It's totally free. And it's going to go way deeper into the types of questions you should ask beyond what I just gave you. And it's going to help you really prepare, but that's the key. Uh, and if this is a screener, uh, it, it's really no different if it's in person, it's no different than if you're doing it on video or over the phone, I think you said over the phone. So, um, is that fact, is that in fact what you said? It's on person. It's no different than if you're doing it on video or over the phone. I think you said over the phone.

So is that in fact what you said? It's on the phone? Yeah, it's a phone screen, so like 20, 30 minutes. Yeah, you know what I would recommend? I really want you to stand. I would stand during this because we know from research that there's a confidence that comes with standing. You sound different. I would be, you know, I wouldn't pace, but since it's a phone, I just gave you the idea of the pad.

But I would write your stuff down because they don't see you. So have everything written down or on a screen in front of you. And have everything there and go to it and ask good questions. And if you ever get to in-person, that same advice I gave you, do that in-person as well. Okay, so then kind of a follow-up. I don't know the depth of which they're going to be asking me, like what kind of technical skills or any of that, but if it is just like a general screening, do you think,

and I really like the question, what does a winner look like? That's stuck in my head ever since I heard you say that, but do you think those questions are appropriate? Yeah. Okay. Man, listen, you don't know if you're going to get past the screener. I wouldn't leave anything. say that but do you think those questions are appropriate yeah should i okay man listen you don't know if you're going to get past the screener i wouldn't leave anything i wouldn't leave anything in the arsenal i'd fire all the ammunition you got all right am i right you're in a you're in a competition and you got to look at it like a competition except you can't see your

competition you're not hand-to-hand combat with them. You just got to throw your best foot forward. So yeah, man, blow them away. But go to the website and get the How to Win the Interview resource. It's going to be a game changer for you. Okay. And yeah, the screener's actually an alum too from the college I'm going to. Well, okay. There you go. Okay. Real quick, George. So is there some sort of saying? Is there some sort of thing that a lot of guys say to each other? Is there something like that? I guess so, yeah. Then say that, right? So, for instance, I'm a Michigan fan.

So anywhere in the world, if I run into a Michigan fan, I go, go blue. And they say, go blue. So whatever it is for your college, I'd lead with that. And he goes, oh, hey, what years were you? Like break the ice a little bit with that mutual connection. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. All right. You got this, man. Thanks for that. You know, Ken, I started as an intern here and I remember doing so much research and I had the word document in front of me on the call. I barely needed any of the research. We didn't cover it, but I felt so prepared because I had it and I knew the company, I knew the numbers, I knew exactly what they were all about. And that's partially how I got into a

full-time job. Well, take us back there because now you're in your dream gig here, dude. Yeah. I mean, you're co-hosting the second largest radio show in the world. I never thought I'd came in as an intern. So can I interview you real quick? Yeah. What were your emotions like from a confidence level? It's a nerve wrwracking thing but because you were so prepared do you remember i do like how did it play out my confidence well my memory our leader jeremy breland uh his father uh worked at university mobile which is where i graduated college we had an instant connection just like thomas did so you dropped it in there and so he dropped in i said hey you know i actually graduated from the university mobile and i know your dad you know dad. I thought there was a connection.

And that was one of the first conversations I had, and I was also so passionate about this internship. They were like, you're going to move to Nashville for a two-month internship? And I said, yeah, I'll do whatever it takes. I love this kind of work, and I'm dreaming about doing this kind of thing. And here's the strategy I worked up just to give you guys a taste of what I'm excited about to do. And you start dreaming about it, and they go, well, this guy's an intern. Okay, so you just ran right over that. So you had a little bit of a plan that you wanted to, and you shared it with them, and it just blows their mind.

I said, here's where I've seen you. You guys are here. I want to take you here, and I feel like I can add value in these areas. And here's the numbers that I think we could see increase by doing these specific strategies. And I think they were like, whoa. Well, first of all, they were. And let me tell you something. Young people, I mean, that's brilliant what George just shared.

And here's why. Internships, the very nature of them, you're trying to get in so that you can get something. Experience, connections, right? Yeah. You were coming in going, yeah, I want to get those things, but here's what I'm going to give you all. Yeah. Dude, I'm a little bit like way after the fact going, attaboy, George. Yeah, this was back in March 2013. It's textbook. Yeah. So that's really what got me the internship. And they said, well, let's get you a temp job. You already graduated.

So I did a temp job over in social media and I just tried to really excel at whatever was in front of me just get a little more rope and that led me into all kinds of jobs into this one Ken which as you would say is the sweet spot getting to do this kind of work we get a lot of questions on the Ken Coleman show about interviews and I just

I want to revisit what I shared with that young man because I think we over complicate performing well in an interview. And I think it really is, George, as simple as just be prepared. Read that job description so many times that you could recite it backwards. And as you're reading it and you get so familiar with it, you begin to go, where does my talents plug into this job description? Where am I passionate about the talents plug into this job description? Where am I passionate about the stuff included in this job description? How are the results that this company produces? Yeah.

A product or a service, that's all that the options are. How does it connect to my personal values? When you think about all of that stuff and you're really familiar with the job description, and we're assuming here that you actually are a good fit for it sure okay the conversation pieces and the confidence that you'll have in those moments so because you're so locked into this thing you're a mini expert in the very job that you're applying for yeah that's a huge game changer yeah incredible well thomas we're pulling for you man good luck with luck with this interview. Hope you land the internship. Hope you use Ken's clear path to get to that dream job. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books.

I want to thank our phone screener, Jenna, our producer, Ben Hill, in the booth. We'll be back with you before you know it. Until then, 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 screen 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.