The Ramsey Show - App - Is Work/Life Balance a Myth? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 7, 2022

Dave Ramsey & Dr. John Delony discuss: Getting a future spouse on board with the baby steps, Achieving work/life balance when making a high income, Focusing on paying off the house, How to set up retirement. Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods of Moving and Storage Studios, it's the Ramsey Show. When 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. We help people build wealth, do work they love, and create actual amazing relationships.

Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author, host of the Dr. John Deloney Show, mental health expert, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225 that's 888-825-5225 hardy is going to start this hour in atlanta georgia hi hardy how are you hey dave how you doing i'm great i'm great good man how can we help yeah um okay so i i completed the the baby steps um officially i would say february but i paid off my mortgage in december this is past december way to go man thanks and and now um all right my job due to covid went out of business and that was April, but they paid everyone up to, um,

five months. And so technically now I don't have a job, but I've completed the baby steps. I have my, my, um, my paid off mortgage. I have my, my, um, um, security. Why don't you have a job? Why don't you have a job? Okay, well, when they laid us off, they paid us off. You had five months to go find a job. Why didn't you

find one? Because it's a little complicated as far as with the... I was in school last year and I was trying to get far as with the, I was in school last year. And I was trying to get out of the field that I was in. I was a machine operator. And I was in school at the same time for HVAC technician. So this year was me just finishing up some more of the classes due to COVID, I had to continue going to the classes because we wasn't allowed to go

to the college while COVID was going on. So it prevented us from being able to. So you're trying to get a two-year certification in HVAC? Yes, yes. No, no, not a certification. I got a diploma. Oh, did you finish it yes i just did i just recently that's what when do you start your new job

well i haven't i haven't i haven't um well i've been working with people um who have their own businesses and i and i do that but i mainly do handyman work since when he when he laid me off i mean you knew you were getting ready to finish your HVAC degree. Why didn't you go talk to HVAC companies and get a job as an HVAC guy? What did you train for? Why haven't you done that? Because I was nervous because the COVID stopped us from learning enough. And when some of the guys in my class tried to go get certain jobs,

the people were like, we didn't know enough. You didn't even try. Hardy, Hardy, you haven't even tried, man. Somebody told you along the way. Yeah, it was discouraging. Yeah, somebody told you along the way that you weren't good enough, and that's bull crap. You are good enough.

You are good enough. Man, he and their people are begging for help right now. Begging. I passed a big billboard that said we pay 401k we'll we'll take your mother to lunch i mean they'll do anything to get your house come be an hvac you are sitting on a golden ticket man and you're doing handyman work because you're scared go get a job you got it listen listen my kids need you because when something like that breaks in my house, their father is useless. Because he doesn't have that certification.

Yeah, I could care less about it. Here's the deal. You've learned all you're going to learn in the classroom. Now you've got to get out there and figure out how to do it in the wild. And you're going to have to learn. You're going to screw stuff up, and your boss is going to be like, what did you do? And you have to go make it right.

That's just part of learning, in a trade man you you brought up this job layoff and the fear around covid and the damage that covid did to your life and your future in your mind has punched you in the stomach and you still ain't got your breath back shut you down that's right so we're telling you throw back your shoulders get back in the game go hit somebody that's right you have and i love that you got the breath knocked out of you i know you were scared i know covid got you i know you lost your job and i get all that and that that takes some of your confidence away take some of your swagger away but we're telling you you're in a business you pick the right thing you can go land something by the end of the day tomorrow man and

not just a something you could go make some money money yes yeah so but it's all about swagger again it's all about and you go you know what i heard that maybe some of the stuff we learned in class wasn't right if you guys will teach me that stuff you're gonna find me to be a hard worker they'll go okay and hey here's another thing i worked for two decades in one career, and I got pretty good at it. And then I switched careers. I took a complete left turn. I don't think a day goes by that I don't ask you, Dave, hey, how do I hit this? And you make sure I hit the clock here.

James is coaching me on how to. You're starting at the bottom. So ask a whole bunch of questions. You're brand new at a new trade. Yeah, but be there and be going, I don't know how to do it, but you're going to catch me caring. You're going to catch me showing up. You're going to catch me working hard.

But you don't have to come in there with a PhD in HVAC. You're just going in there and get a job fixing air conditioning. Man, go do it. Go get it. Go get it. Go get it. Yeah. And a lot of those guys that you're working for don't have a certification or, and certainly don't have a, quote, certificate or degree.

Either one. a certification or and certainly don't have a quote certificate or degree either one and i was gonna keep piling it on hardy that sense of you've got defeated i guarantee you that's playing into your romantic relationships that's playing into your if you're a parent that's playing into all of you man stand up you're hardy you got knocked down it's time to get back up yep let's do this man hey we're always giving away uh the most fun you can have with money especially at christmas Head up. You're hardy. You got knocked down. It's time to get back up. Let's do this, man. Hey, we're always giving away the most fun you can have with money, especially at Christmas, and now we've launched the Ramsey Christmas Cash Giveaway.

Go to ramseysolutions.com slash giveaway. You can enter for your chance to win $500 prizes or the $5,000 grand prize. Enter every day. No purchase is necessary. Go to ramsesey solutions.com slash giveaway and right now in time for christmas the ten dollar sale is back that means you can buy almost any of our books including baby steps millionaires including king coleman's book paycheck to purpose and including a whole bunch of the conversation cards questions for humans

i've got the i've got the christ deck here, man. The Christmas deck. So if you have awkward Christmas family. Hey, this is us saving your families during the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas. You're not allowed to talk about COVID, and you're not allowed to talk about politics. You have to pull out this deck. That's right.

So, Dave, which Christmas song would you pay $67 to never hear again? I don't know. I like them all. I would rather set myself on fire than listen to Parumpapumpum ever again. That could be on the list. I'll go with that. If someone said, hey, I'd like to hit you with a stick or I'm going to play Little Drummer Boy on repeat,

I would gladly choose stick. Gladly. All right, what Christmas movie gets way too much hype? Oh, oh, oh. Man. Just say it. You just thought of it. Christmas story.

The one with the BB gun. Shoot Your Eye Out. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That one's way too much hype on that. What's it called? It's not The Christmas Story, is it? Yeah, it's yeah, yeah. Yeah, that one's way too much hype on that. What's it called? It's not the Christmas story, is it? Yeah, it's a Christmas story. It is the Christmas story.

I think Jesus is the Christmas story, so I'm so confused. Oh, here we go. There's a Jesus guy. Well, I know. I am over-saved, so there you go. That's it. Got to bring Jesus into Christmas.

Come on, Dave. Here we go. Come on, Dave. Who are you? This is The Ramsey Show. dr john deloney ramsey personality is my co-host today open phones at 888-825-5225 thank you for joining us our question of the day comes from blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, new promos all the time.

If you want a deal, always use the promo code RAMSY to get the best possible deal. Today's question comes from Joseph in New Mexico. Joseph writes, I'm 27 years old, engaged to be married, and we have a young son. I own an IT consulting business that last year made 130 grand in profit after paying all expenses, including my salary. I'm grateful for all the opportunities that helped my career and financial growth, but I feel stuck. I've been putting more thought into what I want to do with my life, and I realize I'm sacrificing a lot of time with my family. I want to slow down, regroup, and regain focus on my life, but that feels impossible with all my work responsibilities.

The other day, I saw how happy my son was when I was able to clear my schedule and pick him up from school. It truly made me question a lot of my past decisions. I want to change, but I'm afraid that means I wasted a lot of time growing something i want to change but i'm afraid that means i wasted a lot of time growing something just to shut it down is there such thing as a work-life balance what do you think dave i don't think i'm qualified to answer this well i will go backwards no there's no such thing as a work-life balance it's not real it's a myth it doesn't exist there are seasons right and there's seasons of madness and wildness right now we are on the road i'm writing another book i am all over the place and so back in september or maybe

it's august my wife and i sat down and mapped out the next four months and we knew it was going to be bananas and we have built in touch points all through four months and we knew it was going to be bananas. And we have built in touch points all through that time because we knew. And when the kids ask for stuff, yeah, it stinks. And it's also part of it. And because of this season, it's going to allow for a different season on the other side of this thing. So no, it's not just a thing that's work-life balance. There's being honest about what season we're in. Sometimes you wear a coat because it's winter and other times you wear shorts because it's the summer same thing when it comes to your life um i could tell you right now joseph your kid was really happy to see you if you picked

him up every single day in about a week and a half he'd be really tired of seeing you that's just the way that works man uh those moments are special or great dogs happy to see you every night because i don't even know you've been gone. Yeah. So what we don't have in this email or this, however it came in, is what the number of hours you're putting in and what your long-term goal is and those kinds of things. Okay? In general, the idea that I don't want to work much so I can play with my kid is not going to work well with you long term. Okay?

In general. No one in the equation is going to respect or like you at the end of that story. They're just not. Okay? So, in general. I mean, I'm talking like I want to work 10 hours a week and I want to, you know, be the interfere with the teacher at the elementary school because I'm there so much. You know, that can, you know, whatever. So, but what I think I'm hearing is that you don't see any end of this in sight. And I don't know how many hours you're working.

If you're working 40 to 60 hours and you're running a business and you're paying yourself a salary plus 130, well, welcome to the real world. Right. Oh, well. That's exactly right. And the good news is you're self-employed. And if your kid is doing a Christmas play, you can go. You can just decide, I'm going to book around that. And you can go.

You can decide that. But do you pick them up every day from school? Probably oh well you're running a business you work you're earning money for your family it's not bad you're not a workaholic and you don't have issues there's nothing like like that going on um and you're not burning out you're doing fine you got a good career so the only parallel I know is this when When I was 32 years old, we started this show. I was working 16-hour days, ridiculous hours, during that time for about two years. My kids were little. My wife, if you sat her down today, would still say something snarky about that period of time, about her being a single mom.

But during that time, even though she's snarky about it and of time about her being a single mom uh but during that time even though she's snarky about it and harbors some bitterness um her life turned out okay i can tell you that because we for a period of time turned the heat up and got the got the stove going you know we got we got the thing cooking and so then later on uh the next year if there was a prom uh we did not book live events around the prom date if there was a uh my coach my son's ice hockey uh so that means on saturdays and every night whatever i was down there coaching him when he's seven eight nine years old that kind of stuff for years i coached his ice hockey team. And so we were there. I mean, we would go to the lake,

and I taught them all to do stuff behind the boat, drug them around on the tubes, throw them off and do mean dad stuff to them and all that stuff. I mean, so we have all of those memories, too. But we also have a thing. I did not take 12 weeks off as the father that was working when my children were born i took

12 hours off and it never occurred to me had i taken more than 12 hours off my wife who grew up in the country where hard work is taught uh would have said what the bleep are you doing here get out you need to get out of here you got to? Get out. You need to get out of here. You've got to pay for this kid. You need to get your butt back to work. So what I hear in this is. But my point is I've had balance come and go here or there, and then there's times it's winter and you have to turn the heat up. You've got to go.

And right now, you know, you've got the thing running. It sounds like. I don't know why you need to be burning it 180 degrees at boil over. Just turn the heat down a little bit and work 40, 60 hours, 50 hours, whatever, and then another week, you know, work 30. I don't think this is about his kid. I see this over and over where somebody's 27 to 35. They've gone all in on a particular career.

Then they found out they had to work. They don't like it or they have to work really hard, right? Or I thought this would just be super fun all the time, whatever the thing is. And then you start looking around in your life for reasons to do something different. So what I would tell you, Joseph, is if you want to do something different, own it and do something different. Don't blame this on your kid. If you want to do something different and you don't't like doing it jobs but you want to go be a police officer or counselor go be a police officer counselor you don't need to justify it

in a different way just just do it um in a safe but here's the thing appropriate way expect if you're going to avoid mediocrity in your life in any area of your life you're gonna work hard expect to pay a price absolutely if you want to get your body in shape to run a marathon expect to pay a price if you want your marriage to be good expect to concentrate and be unusually intentional about that more so than your idiot friends on instagram that's right you know expect to work hard at a career over a long period of time before you make any freaking big money that's right and before you get to ah and this instagram world we live in where if you just do this then you can be have your private jet next year it's just not real man it's not real well and here you know

if you want to work four days a week or you want to work from home which means work part-time and you want to do that expect the different result expect a diminished return so because here's the thing mediocre if that's your target you're gonna hit it i had this um epiphany dave i did something i shouldn't have done way back in the day and i got online and looked what the top salaries were at the university i was working was and i found out my boss made two or three times what I was making. And I was working 24 seven, 365 and like a young idiot. I got so indignant and it wasn't two or three or four weeks later, my boss calls me and says, Hey, um, I want you to start coming to these meetings with me. Cause I'm going to teach you how CFO talks and how president talks and how board

talks. And it was a gift. And it was about two or three weeks in I follow him around to these meetings that I realized oh crap he earns that money yeah he's like smarter than me and stuff but he's carrying the whole thing yeah on his shoulder every decision that I make reflects on him and he has to call make the call on this and on this and i realized oh there is no free ride man yeah those guys that who put in the time and they get this they make this money it comes at a cost it's not the it's not the five minute repair it's the 25 years to learn how to do that repair five minutes that's right repair that's the thing so there's a price to be paid sir somewhere in your life. That'll

give you your work-life balance. That'll get you there. That's what our gazelle intensity that we teach is. For a short period of time, you just go crazy and get out of debt so that you can live without the stress of debt. It's a price to be paid. Or you can be YOLO and be paying payments the rest of your dadgum stupid life. This is, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Thank you for joining us, America. We're so glad you're with us. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Christina is with us. Hi, Christina.

How are you? Good. How are y'all? Better than we deserve. Where do you live? I'm from Stephenville, Texas, which is about an hour southwest of Fort Worth. Oh, yeah. Perfect.

Well, welcome to Nashville. Thank you for having me. I'm here to do a debt- which is about an hour southwest of Fort Worth. Oh, yeah. Perfect. Well, welcome to Nashville. Thank you for having me. I'm here to do a debt-free scream. How much you paid off? I paid off $39,414.23 in 19 months. Way to go. And your range of income during that time? It started about $40,000 and then between like the million side hustles I had, probably

up to about $65,000. Okay. Out of the million side hustles which was the best one the one that paid the best? Definitely the pumpkin patch so I'm a manager at a pumpkin patch every fall and my bosses Josh and Ashley they're amazing and they've really blessed me so really been very generous financially so I've got a feeling you're a pretty good pumpkin patch manager. How do you how do you what does a pumpkin patch manager do do they come alive at night like what what are you doing well one time

my boss told me that my life as a pumpkin patch manager is like a hallmark film so I'll just let you take that one for how it is it's really not like that it's kind of crazy it's it's a lot of moving parts all right there's a lot going on here there's a lot going on in the pumpkin patch i'm telling you all right so what kind of debt was the 39 000 oh my gosh i had everything so i had um 5500 in a credit card 8 000 on a trailer aka like a camper like trailer trash um and student loans of 26 000 okay yeah all right are you living in this trailer so i was while i was paying off my debt and like a camping trailer yes sir yeah in stevenville yeah there it is on the screen no way that's not that's not a bad looking trailer no it was really nice camping trailers yeah

yeah they're really affordable how much did you owe on it i started well i had already paid off about half of it so whenever whenever I started my journey, it was about $8,000. Okay. So it's paid off now. Yes, sir. And I've sold it. And you don't live there anymore. I don't live in a shoebox. No, sir. That's good. Good. I'm proud of you. Wow. Okay. How old are you? Like 23 plus or minus five years. This math thing is tough. Hey, man. Okay. I was 27 27 whenever i finished so we'll go with that number you're not old it's okay you don't have to lie about your age do you realize how old dave is you are you are all right you're like right behind him watch out that's right i'm right

behind him i'll just play little drummer boy again if you keep that again but the uh okay so uh wow okay so you're 27 25 years old and you say all right this is not working uh whatever I've learned to this point about money is a disaster I don't like my life something's got to change what happened that flipped the switch for you and how'd you get connected to this Ramsey stuff yeah so it's actually funny I was in I one of my college classes got dropped so I had to pick up another class and it was personal finance and ironically the professor that taught it was actually really bad with money and so one day he was like have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey and I'm like no and then I started listening to your podcast I was like well look

him up and I started listening to your podcast and was like well look him up and I started listening to your podcast and after that I was like oh my gosh this guy is like very common sense I had been doing the envelope system I just didn't know it was your thing it wasn't I stole it from my great-grandmother okay perfect yeah and so I just started listening to the podcast and right about then is when COVID hit and that was a really scary time because I had two jobs and I was finishing up college and I lost both jobs basically overnight. And so I was like, oh my gosh, I am never going to be in this situation again. Like I owe so much money.

I was playing the game, Dave. Like I was playing the game. So I had student loans that were paying my credit card payment and I was using my credit card to pay my tuition. And then I was also using student loans to fix my Jeep. Like it was just a mess. And I would just swipe my card, my debit and my credit card to pay my tuition. And then I was also using student loans to fix my Jeep. Like, it was just a mess. And I would just swipe my card, my debit and my credit card. And I just like, wouldn't even look at the balances. And finally it got to that point, your show really convicted me. I was like, I can't do this anymore. Like never again, this is my never again moment.

And so, um, I just kind of started working the plan and, you know, it took me a year and a half. So one thing I'll say is like the Lord did provide like this whole time. It was just insane because the math does not work. You know, it doesn't work to pay off as much as your income almost in a year and a half. And so he just kept providing me with opportunities for side hustles. I actually worked like six different side hustles during this time. So I was working a lot. Was it worth it?

It was so worth it. I think about it now and I'm like, yeah, I don't ever. But just for a season? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It was the longest, shortest time of my life. Where did you get this thing inside of you that caused you, you had this instantaneous reaction? I mean, you're in denial.

Money's flying everywhere. It's not going anywhere. And as soon as you go, wait a minute, this instantaneous reaction. I mean, you're in denial. Money's flying everywhere. It's not going anywhere. And as soon as you go, wait a minute, this is stupid. I got to stop. You just stopped. I mean, you didn't, it sounded like there was no negotiation in your head, like trying to talk you into continuing the other way. You just said, this didn't work. And I stopped. Well, I will say that with COVID and stuff, everybody was going literally insane. And y'all were like, it's okay. Like we're going to get through this and blah, blah, blah. So honestly, like partially, I just was listening to y'all to stay calm. And then I was like, wow, like, yeah, I should do the money thing too. I guess what makes it different is that, cause I started listening to y'all in

about four months later is when I started my debt-free journey, whenever I got like my first big girl job. And so, and my income was more stable and stuff. And so I guess what changed it is I was 23 when I came back to college. And so I was already an adult. Like I had been living an adult life and then I got into college and just went willy nilly with finances. You know, my Mimi and my dad were helping me with money and everything. And I just squandered it. Like I was taking out student loans, paying cash for a little bit of my tuition, but just

not managing it wisely. And so once I started hearing y'all's material, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm 25. I can't waste any more time. So what's your day job? I'm a loan administrator at a farm credit bank. Yeah. We do loans for farmers and ranchers. And what's your take on paying that job? Well, it's about 40-ish. And. And so, yeah, between the other side jobs is where I got the rest of the income. Okay. I was just doing the quick envelope math in my head. If you worked six jobs and made $65,000, here's what I'm telling you. You're brilliant and you're not scared of hard work. And you are able to look at a problem and say, I can work through that and

head directly into it. And those people are making a whole bunch of money these days. Okay. And so I just want you to not settle wherever you happen to be. Thank you. Thankfully, I love my job. I think you're probably worth twice what you're making. At least. Thanks. Yes. At least. The ability to see something and face it and step into it instead of run and hide your head in the corner. Yeah. And then it's a big deal, and you got the stuff. That's why I was asking you about it. I was sensing the exact same thing. And there's this old saying, the harder I worked, the luckier I got, right? That's like, man, I just kept taking on jobs, and I don't know what happened,

but I just kept making more money. The Lord blessed me when I worked more. Yeah. He did. That's how he does that. And it was job four and five and six, right? Yeah. Well, I will say that at

my job they're extremely generous with bonuses so you know i make 40 000 base salary but um with the bonus and everything it's it we weren't we weren't trying it's amazing we were just saying you're good you're good excellent excellent hey we got a copy of total money makeover for you to give away to somebody because i'm sure you've been talking about this and people are going okay i'm ready to do it uh baby steps millionaires I think you're going to be one pretty quick here by the time by the time you have the 10th anniversary of your 23rd birthday you all right and financial peace university one year membership will get you through that where you can get all the details and let's finish this this portion of the life training

up you're incredible you're a very neat young lady thank y'all for having me a lot of fun a lot of fun to talk to people like you and um there's just uh moms and dads when you raise one that will just turn and face a storm like that it is um it's uh it's rewarding it's it's gratifying what's one piece of wisdom you'd give to somebody in your shoes right now? I had a sticky note on my dash in my car and it said,

life is too short to spend it in debt. And that is something that I just really told myself like every moment. And it was really convenient because like anytime I'd want to go buy something, that would be staring back at me. So yeah, life is too short to spend it in debt.

Heading to the store. Oop, I got to go back. Yeah, for sure. Way to go. at me so yeah life is too short to spend it in debt heading to the heading to the store oh i gotta go back yeah for sure way to go all right christina from fort worth texas area stevensville to be precise 39 000 paid off in 19 months making 40 to 65 with a bazillion side jobs count it down let's hear a debt-free scream three two. I'm debt free! Impressive. Wow. Love it, love it, love it.

This is The Ramsey Show. Teksting av Nicolai Winther Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Marie is with us in Sacramento. We were just there. Hi, Marie. How are you? I'm good. How are you guys?

Better than we deserve. What's up? My husband and I are having a discussion about paying off our mortgage. This is our situation. He is active duty military. We know that we'll be stationed here for about three and a half more years, but then we'll be moving to the Midwest. So we're trying to figure out if we should pay down the rest of our mortgage as aggressively as possible, or should we invest that money for a future down payment at our next db station you're going to sell the house when you move yes so either way you're going to get the money back it's not like we're spending it right no i mean you're either going to put it in an investment

or you're going to pay down the house either way the money's going to be sitting there when you move and going to come out of the investment or come out of the house and be used for the midwest house correct yes okay so i think if you get that out on the table and say that out loud sometimes that changes the way it sits in your brain because sometimes people feel like when they're paying off their house that like they're spending money or something it's not going away you get it back when you sell the house so you're making the interest rate as your rate of return because when you don't pay interest on it you save that interest right by paying it off or paying it down either one or you make the rate of return on an investment.

The difference, though, is you can cash out an investment by a bass boat. You really can't do that with your house. It's what we call a forced savings plan. Once you pay down the house, you are stuck. Only two ways to get that money out, refinance, which you wouldn't do, or sell the house, which you don't do until you move. So you from spending the money and you get a rate of return and you're moving towards wealth i'm paying down the house okay that is my opinion as well but um you know i thought i would call and get your opinion just so i could have that uh to talk to my husband. And here's the weird thing, too.

After doing this for 30 years, sometimes people's plans don't work out. Can you imagine? That is true. And I don't know what series of events would occur for you to remain there. I don't know what those would be. Or to be delayed there for five extra years or to move sooner because something else happened i don't know what any of those things are but seldom have my plans that i laid out worked out exactly like i thought they were going to my never do day and so well that's what my that's kind of my point none of them so yeah i'm paying it down

because that works no matter what happens so there's this fear permeating the uh the interwebs that if you paid on your house now it's going to be worth less than three to five years the house values are not affected by the debt on the house say that again the house goes up in value based on what someone will pay for it not based on what you owe on it right but the fear being if i pay off my my mortgage in at six hundred thousand and suddenly have to sell it for four hundred i've lost two hundred thousand dollars you you've lost it anyway because if you if you haven't paid it down and you sell it at a loss you've got to pay the difference oh my gosh you're a genius you should start a radio show dave but that's not what they say on the internets man i know but if you listen i know i know exactly what if you owe five hundred thousand dollars on the house and it goes

from 600 down to 400 you owe a hundred more on your house than it's worth they don't give you a break on it and so the illusion of having a hundred grand in the checking account is a hedge against that isn't real. It's not real. They're going to take that money. Yeah, this is why they should teach basic accounting in the 11th grade, but they don't. That's called a balance sheet entry. So, oh, God.

The Internet is just. Hey, that's what he was asking. The Internet is just. Oh, that's what she was asking. No, no, no. He's just saying he wants the money easier to access so when they move, they can just do the move. And then he's going to try to buy the house in the Midwest before he sells the house to

Sacramento. And I'm going to prevent him from doing that because he's not going to have any money. Gotcha. Because he's going to have it. It's all tied up in the house. He's got to sell the Sacramento house. His house. And not going to say, we're going to keep that one as a rental while we move to Kansas City.

No, we're not either. We're selling that dadgum thing. And it does not change the value of a home whether you pay it down or not. That's a different issue. But, yeah, both of those got covered in one call. Look how good we are. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ronnie's in Houston.

Hey, Ronnie, what's up? Hello, Dave and Dr. John. How are you? Better than we deserve, sir. How can we help? Same here. Dave, I've got a question for you. I am 69 years old.

I'm retired from a big city fire department. My wife is retired from a school district, and we have about $100,000 in a money market account that basically pays nothing. And we have no debt, and I have an account. It's called a Deferred Retirement Option Plan, and it's a fixed rate every year, and there is $1.4 million in it. I've never taken any money out of it since I started this account, and I know I've got RMDs coming up in a few years when I turn 72. You have RMDs on this account? Yes, sir. This account is affiliated with my retirement fund. Is it a 457?

To be honest with you, Dave, I don't know the number. That's a lot of money. Congratulations. I'm glad you got a million for it. I have no idea what this account is you've stumped me yeah it's it's tax deferred account right it's affiliated with my pension system and it it's basically when you have 20 years of service you can sign up for this and the the valuation is $1.4 million? Yes, sir.

Okay, but there's no lump sum option available to roll it to an IRA? I don't know. Okay. Does it die when you die? Surely not. No, no. It goes to my beneficiary. Not like a pension?

Yes. My pension doesn't come out of this money but it's an account that started way back and uh i mean i could go down there and other than have to pay taxes on it i could draw it all out if i wanted to but uh okay here's what i want you to do because i'm ignorant and i don't know the answer. So if I woke up in your shoes, I'd have to go get the answer, and you called the wrong guy because I can't help you. I don't know what you've got. Go to one of our SmartVestor pros and sit down with them and have them unpack this and teach you what this is.

I think I'm hearing it's a fixed rate of return, probably a lower rate of return, and I think I might be hearing that you would probably be better off to roll that to some mutual funds in an IRA. You're still going to have RMDs with it. If you have RMDs with it now, required minimum distributions of 72.5. I do know what that is. So it sounds like it's in that class of products. But I want to make, first I want to make sure that all the money is going to stay in your family, that you don't lose it like you do a pension when you die. The second thing I want to make sure of is that you don't have a lower rate of return and that if you moved it, you couldn't get, instead of getting six,

you could get 11 or 12 in good mutual funds over the next 25 years. That's a lot of difference on a million four. And they'll help you get some of that $100,000 working. That's too much of an emergency fund. That's too much sitting there. Man, that's a mess. So, yeah, but, yeah, you just need to get better advice than the guy you called well and man it's yet again somebody who's been just chipping away at this thing i put the money

in the account i've never touched it and i just went and looked and it's got 1.4 million in it yeah that was not an inheritance no for you people that practice snowflakery and it wasn't a uh it wasn't a savings account that he drew out of. He's not a crook. He didn't steal from anyone. He's not a famous Hollywood actor. He's a guy that worked and worked and worked and worked and saved and saved and saved and saved.

And now he's a millionaire. And it's not your money, and you're not entitled to his money. Keep your socialist hands off of it. This is The Ramsey Show. Dave here. You can find all of our shows with the Ramsey Network app on your smartphone. It's the only place to listen to the entire back catalog of episodes. Download the Ramsey Network app in your favorite app store today.

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