The Ramsey Show - App - I've Lived in Debt My Whole Life and Am Ready To Change (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 2, 2021

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Dr. John Deloney. Ramsey personality and best-selling author is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Stephanie is in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Hi, Stephanie. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. Thank you. How are you guys doing today? Better than we deserve. What's up? So several years ago, my husband left a job and had an IRA there. And when he left, he took the IRA, but at the time he moved it into an IRA savings account.

So it's just, it's not even an IRA, it's just a holding account. He's never moved it back to anything else, so it's still sitting there and getting like $2 a year. We're in baby step two still, and I know when you get to baby step four, you invest back into that. Should we move that into an IRA actually right now, or just leave it in the holding account until we get to baby step four? Now, you can go ahead and roll it. Just get with a Smart Vestor Pro. Click Smart Vestor at DaveRamsey.com and tell can go ahead and roll it. Just get with a SmartVestor Pro. Click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com and tell them you have an IRA you need to do a rollover on, and you'll just roll it into the types of mutual funds we talk about,

growth, growth and income, aggressive growth and international. Spread it across those four. Sit down with a SmartVestor Pro and understand what you're doing, but there's no taxes, and immediately that money will start working much harder than it is working then when you get to baby step four and you start saving 15 of your income in retirement you'll either start opening roth iras at that point um or you'll be doing you know the retirement plan at work a 401k or a 403b or something along those lines you technically can't add to a rollover ira okay so you won't you won't like pick up where that account left off it's just going to sit there and do its own thing okay okay okay that's that's all we know it's been sitting in there for

several years and you know yeah it's just that will be coming up so yeah it's just doing nothing it's just doing nothing. It's just doing nothing, and you might as well get it doing something, even if it's a small amount of money. So every week I feel like I am taking the role of another caller on this show, but I just heard something I've never heard before. Explain to me an IRA savings account. It's a bad – okay, an IRA is not an investment.

It is the way an investment is treated. We suggest inside it's a coat, like a winter coat that wraps around an investment and keeps it warm from taxes. What is in that coat can be mutual funds,

which is what we suggest, or you can do stupid. can be all game stop stocks it could be well you'd be difficult to do that but you actually could be that stupid yeah and i mean you have to be a self-directed ira to get that far but you can open an ira at a bank right and what's inside the coat is a simple bank savings account at 1%. Ah, okay. Translation, sucks. Right, dumb. Well, I mean, you're not dumb for doing it, but it's a dumb thing to do. Right.

Because it's obviously paying no money. And so you don't buy, you don't get your transmission fixed at the muffler store. Okay. So you don't buy investments at the bank. Love it. Ever. All right. Ever.

Because they know how to do one thing. Get you in debt. Actually, two things. And run your checking account for you. There you go. That's all they know how to do. But, you know, so some banks have investment divisions or departments or whatever. But by and large, they're not even good.

Okay. So you're much better off to go to an investment professional like a SmartVestor Pro and sit down and get your transmission fixed at the transmission fix store. Gotcha. And by the way, you don't go to SmartVestor Pros to do other stuff. You don't go over there to get, I don't know, get your tires put on the car. You just don't, however far we stretch the freaking metaphor. But don't, you know, use the thing for what it's for.

Okay. And when you start messing that up, that's. So another example of that is when insurance people start doing retirement planning. Yep. A hundred percent of the time, that's a bad idea. Because that just, yeah, that's a product for them. Because here's what happens. They act like they're a financial planner.

They act like they're an investment broker in the way they conduct themselves, the vernacular that they use. But the actual product that they're selling you is cash value life insurance. Sucks beyond belief. Right. Or worse than that, some kind of an annuity product. Okay. When you don't need any of that in your retirement investing,

you need just good mutual funds inside your Roth IRA or your 401K. Really, it's very clean, simple, low fee, low transaction costs, all that kind of stuff compared to insurance. So when you're buying it, you don't buy your investments from insurance people. So don't mix the transmission. Don't get the transmission fixed at the muffler store. And it just keeps you moving in the right direction. So that's all she did. They just went over at their bank and did an IRA rollover. Don't get the transmission fixed at the muffler store. And it just keeps you moving in the right direction. So that's all she did.

They just went over at their bank and did an IRA rollover. But what was inside the coat, keeping it warm, was a tiny little savings account. So that bank made a whole bunch of money on their money that they didn't see. I mean, just like they do every time we park money in a bank for 1%. They loan it out. That's why you don't put $100,000 in there and have it sitting there at one percent all right okay because what are they doing they're loaning it back out people on credit cards at 18 they're making that that's how banks work you know they're making a eight percent ten percent car loan yeah and paying you one or three quarters of one percent on your money and to borrow your money from you then they loan it

back out and make money on it. Now, you're loaning the bank money is what you're doing when you have a savings account. And if you have an IRA savings account, you've effectively locked your money up, right? Yeah. You've loaned it to them for a long time, or at least until you wake up and roll it over. So you can always roll it over and get out of it. But you don't have to stay in a bad IRA. You can roll it to a good IRA. But it's just moving the coat and keeping something

much more high-quality warm than something low-quality warm. I love it. Frank is with us in Philadelphia. Hi, Frank. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. How are you doing there, Denise? Good, man. How can Dr. John and I help?

Yes. So I am a recent college graduate. I graduated about a month ago. Congratulations, man. And I'm in $60,000 for debt. Thank you. Thank you. So I graduated.

But I graduated with $60,000 in debt. And I'm also a lucky homeowner. I don't pay mortgages. I don't, I just pay taxes at the end of the year, but the house is worth $47,000. But due to the coronavirus, I wasn't, I actually lost my job. So now I'm unemployed and it's like, you know, I got $60,000 in debt to pay off soon, and I live in the house. I can't really pay bills. I can't really do anything like that.

What's your degree in, Frank? It's in communications. In communications. Okay. And you got a four-year degree from a college in communications. Yes. Excellent. Well done, sir. That's awesome. well done well you're you're in a troubled market in uh philadelphia right now with corona shutdown very difficult to move around in philly much less get employed and those kinds of

things but we'll try to come up with some ideas you hold on through this break and john and i'll come back we'll see if we can guide you on some ideas this is the dave ramsey show I'm going to go on a little rant here for a minute. I took a call from a father who wanted to know how to plan for the care of his special needs daughter after he dies. Why is it that parents of special needs children are so deliberate in their planning while other parents have a tendency to be sloppy? Do the needs of your family matter less if something happens to you? Oh, I'm sorry, did I just guilt trip you into getting some term life insurance? Well, then good.

Your family needs you to step up. Having the right amount of term life insurance is a matter of personal responsibility. If you want to use the new year as a reason for doing the right thing, then do it. Term life insurance is something every family needs, which is why I talk about it every day. It's not complicated, it's not expensive, and you need to do this now. Zander Insurance is the only place I recommend. Visit Zander.com or call them at 800-356-4282 please learn from other people's mistakes and get this taken care of that's 800-356-4282 or zander.com all right we're talking to frank in philadelphia he's got a paid for

45 000 house no job but just graduated lost his job but just graduated with a four-year degree in communications we got to get him some income coming in john what do you think that's right so frank what is it that you want to do, man? Did I push the button? Let me try this. Now, try it again, Frank. There you go. Sorry, Frank.

What is it you want to do? What do you want to do, man? I aim to be a biographer and a photographer in the future. That's my tree. That's my passion. Okay. I plan on doing it in the near future. What kind of photographer

uh uh any kind of photographer okay so why do you need a four-year degree to be a photographer uh it's not it's uh it was kind of a decision that i made when i was younger i got back into school uh when I was 25. I'm like, I'm not a traditional student. I'm 29 now. So I got back into school when I was about 25 or 24. So I wasn't really thinking it through. But, like, now that I completed my degree, it's like I'm finding out, like,

I really needed to become a photographer or videographer, you know. Have you ever been paid to take pictures? Yes, yes. By who? Was it a customer or were you working for somebody? Yeah. So I'm going to ask this question. I'm going to ask this question not to be disrespectful,

but just to get an honest assessment of where you're at. Are you good at it, or is it something that you just like to do? Yes, I'm great. I'm great. Okay. So you've got two things going on here. Number one, you're going to have to join the ranks of millions right now who are putting together two and three jobs. You're stringing it together.

You've got to hit the streets, man, and start hustling. And that might be working a shift at Home Depot and then driving Uber at night. You got to go get a job. You got a four-year degree, so I think you can even do better than that or go into a management position. And then what you're going to have to start doing is figuring out ways to market yourself, put yourself out there where you can take pictures, whether that's on Instagram or YouTube or getting next to some folks' weddings or whatever the thing is in Philadelphia that will even allow you right now to go take photos and start getting your work out there. But just to sit at home and wait to be able to work full-time as a photographer from the floor up,

man, that's a tall ask. So you've got to get some income coming in quick. Yeah, the photography gig needs to start as a side hustle to your main gig, and your main gig is making money to eat. That's right. And pay that $60,000 off student loans that you got. So that you can be a side hustle on your photography business so that you can grow it enough that you quit the main gig.

That's right. And our friend Ken Coleman in this proximity principle book, here's the thing. You're going to go work, let's say, at Home Depot. You'll get a job there. Every person that you hear that's got a wedding, you're going to be on their front door with a card. You're going to be talking to them in the aisles. Anybody who's got a kid who's about to be born, anybody who's got graduations, you're going to be hitting those folks up, and you're going to slowly build your circle that way.

Or start working for a wedding planner, setting up chairs. Yep. And, oh, by the way, you're going to be hitting those folks up and you're going to slowly build your circle that way or start working for a wedding planner setting up chairs yep and oh by the way you're going to be around weddings and then you might get to take some pictures at a wedding who knows oh there will be a day when that wedding photographer doesn't show up it's going to be too cold or too hot or too snowy and you're going to have your gear ready to rock and roll and you're going to save the day and their car broke down and Superman was there setting up chairs. Oh, that's exactly right. Clark Kent. That's exactly right.

You get in proximity. That's what Ken talks about. So we're going to send you a copy of Ken's book, The Proximity Principle, but you need to get in the proximity of people who need photography, even if you're setting up the chairs. And get in there and bust it, man. And John's right. The first thing you've got to do is get the wolf away from your door because he's howling.

I heard him on the phone. Yeah. And we've got to get him away. You've got to get the dadgum bills paid and get the pressure off and the stress off of you. And that's just the primary reason for making an income is existence. Right. The secondary reason for making an income is self-actualization and doing what we love. And so we don't sacrifice existence in order to self-actualize.

That doesn't, it's backwards. That's not how that works. So you hang on. Kelly will pick up. We'll get you a copy of Ken Coleman's book, The Proximity Principle. And get out there, and John's right, and stir it up, man. Stir it up. Leanne's in Charleston, West Virginia.

Hey, Leanne, how are you? Hey, Dave, I'm fine. How are you? Better than i'm fine how are you better than i deserve what's up well um i grew up listening to your show my parents were avid listeners they completed every step of your plan and then they started me and my husband out on it when we first got married wow and now we've been married yeah 13, and our only debt is the remaining $100,000 on our mortgage. Back in September, my parents both passed away in a plane crash. Wow. I'm sorry.

Thank you. We've inherited $360,000 just from the life insurance and the estate, and then another $300,000 from my dad's 401k. I really want to honor my parents and how I manage the inheritance. Good for you. And so here's my, thank you. So here's my question. We would like to move into a bigger space, but how do we decide how much house we can afford in a situation like this? Our idea has been to buy a new home with cash and then sell off the current one

and use that money to pay off the remaining mortgage. But I don't really know. What is your current home worth? I don't really know. We got it for $145,000. I think it's worth more now with the market going up. What do you think it's worth today? What are you going to sell it for $145. I think it's worth more now with the market going up. What do you think it's worth today? What are you going to sell it for?

I think at least $160. Okay, and what are you talking about moving to? What kind of price range home are you moving into? Well, that's what we're not really sure about. We've been looking around $250, but also maybe $300, $300. Not $1,250, but also not $1,250,000, but $250,000. I mean, entertaining the

idea of $350,000, but I feel like that's overkill, and obviously you wouldn't have to offer. My husband's a pastor, and he makes about $57,000 a year.

And you're a stay-at-home mom? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I think $300,000 is a good budget. I don't mind that. You got $300,000 that's not in the IRA, right? Yeah. And you're going to pay cash for it,

and then we're going to sell the other house. We're going to pay cash. Would it be better to pay off the current one and then we're going to sell the other house is it is would it be better to pay off the current one and then go house shopping but then we have a smaller smaller budget to work with no you got you have 300 in cash sitting there right now from their life insurance right yeah yeah you pay cash for it and then sell your house okay and you're gonna have a little bit of equity out of your house that you can invest and do other things okay and you're gonna have a little bit of equity out of your house that you can invest and do other things with and you've got the inherited ira to invest and do

other things with you paid cash and you're 100 debt free i think your dad's smiling uh it just feels kind of crazy to go out and spend all that in a house um so what what is about 250 yeah i hear the hesitancy do you not do you not feel like you're worth 300 what's what's go out and spend all that on a house. So what is... Well, about $250,000. Yeah, I hear the hesitancy. Do you not feel like you're worth $300,000? What's the hesitancy there? I don't know. They never lived like that.

Yeah, but you're not talking about they. You're talking about you and your husband. What is it about that number? I don't know. I mean, he's a pastor. He doesn't... You know, I don't... It just feels...

It's not extravagant. It's not extravagant, and it's a pastor. He doesn't, you know, it just feels. It's not extravagant. It's not extravagant, and it's not gross. If you told me $750, I would tell you that was extravagant and gross. Yeah, well, I don't want to go into debt. I know. You wouldn't be in debt. I mean, if we cashed out everything, you could do that, but I just don't think you ought to do that.

In your case, your situation will be that you will have about 40% of your then net worth in your home, and you're 100% debt-free. That's not a bad ratio. And then everything that was going towards the mortgage is going to be used to build wealth and to be generous with. Continue to build an estate, continue the legacy that your parents started, and that you're just working off of the platform that they created yeah and you'll be millionaires and and be past me and be pastors and that's there's nothing wrong with that you didn't do anything wrong you weren't gross you weren't greedy you weren't showing off

you're not out of control and there will be a number of people. I would tell you if you were, you know that, right? Yeah, I know. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm telling you the truth. I mean, I'll call you out if I thought you were doing it. Because I love your, listen, your primary filter on this is this honoring to mom and dad's memory. My answer is yes.

You're paying cash and it's memory? My answer is yes. You're paying cash, and it's a reasonable ratio. Yes. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, meaning if you mismeasure, you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your window blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping. And with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more.

Use the promo code RAMSY to get the best possible deal. All right, today's question comes from Nicholas in New York. Nicholas asks, how do I say no to friends and family that want to go out and do things that just do not fit in my budget? I'm currently on baby step two, and I'm doing the debt snowball, and my budget is very tight. I just always feel terrible saying no to my friends, and I'm afraid to lose them. Any thoughts? I think you're under 40. Yeah, I was going to say, I think so.

Nicholas, I'm just going to call out the elephant in the room here. If your friends don't want to hang out with you, then you need to get some other friends. They're not friends. They're not your friends. Friends that you have to pay for is called prostitution. I wasn't going to go there, but Dave did, so yes. Nicholas, he's not your friends. So to put it in perspective, when me and my friends, this is just five, six, seven years ago.

We got together, and we were all trying to tighten up things financially. And so we had fun at the house bringing leftovers over. And there would be a quarter bottle of wine and a half two-liter bottle of Diet Coke and a half-eaten casserole. And we didn't care. We called it rotisserie. We just rotated friends' houses. Here's's the deal we made it work why those are my closest friends in the world and friends who say oh you have a goal you're trying to better your life and we don't want you around then uh sucks to be a man we're going out without you are sending you

very clear signals that they're not your friend so how do you say no i hate to tell you this but you say no and then you have to do the hard work of trying to find some other friends man yeah if um your friendship is based on the activity of hanging out it is not a real friendship right and so you've got some work to do on how to build actual friends yeah um because you you know i feel terrible saying no to my friends at 60 years old also but not for those reasons it's it's if a friend of mine you know has something going on and i really should be there but i can't because i got something else right i can't be present but it's not uh and so I feel bad if I can't be there. One of my friends' mom passed away.

I couldn't get to the funeral. I was in the middle of something else. I couldn't go. And I felt terrible for that. But that's a different kind of a thing than I don't have the money to go spend money because the only way my friends want to hang out with me is when we're spending money at some club. And an example in my life, very similar similar is i had a buddy call the other day with a great real estate opportunity said hey me and another friend of ours we're getting in on

this we want you to pitch in and it wasn't a part of my plan for 2021 and or 2022 and i'd said or ever well i mean i wouldn't mind but but here's the thing i told him god i can't be in on this one and he said well you're an idiot and then we talked about our kids right he's still my close I mean, I wouldn't mind. But here's the thing. I told him, I can't be in on this one. And he said, well, you're an idiot. And then we talked about our kids, right? He's still my close friend, right? And so that's the difference between is he going to love you plus your values, not walk away from you. Yeah.

That sucks, man. There's a reading your sentence structure, and the way you went at the question tells me that there's a shallowness to your connectivity to these people you call friends. Yep. And so let's deepen the connectivity. So let's get a few of them that are real friends and fewer hangers on. There you go. Yeah. Yeah, that deal. Hey, folks, if you're like me, drive time is podcast time.

And if you listen to podcasts, you're going to love this. The brand new Ramsey Network app is like a podcast player with all of our shows in one place. So you can get the Dr. John Deloney show. You can get the Anthony O'Neill, the Table with Anthony O'Neill show. The Dave Ramsey show, the Chris Hogan show, the Rachel Cruz show, the Ken Coleman show, the Christy Wright show. Entree Leadership, the Call of the Day podcast, all in one place. And and you can browse by topic you can save your favorite clip and you can share them with your friends and you can get better in every single area of your life to money to career to business to leadership it's all there mental health even never again should you struggle to

find the education the empowerment you need to improve your life. Download our Ramsey Network app in the App Store. Just search for Ramsey Network. Yet one more way you can get Dr. John Deloney. You know what the world needs, man. I'll tell you what. Ryan is with us. Ryan's in San Antonio. Hey, Ryan, how are you?

I'm doing all right. You, sir? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm not sure if y'all are who I need to talk to, but I just, I'm 60 years old and didn't do any good planning in my earlier years and getting to the point where I don't know that I can keep on keeping on. And I was just needing somebody to talk to.

And I thought maybe y'all could line me just needing somebody to talk to and I thought maybe y'all could line me up with somebody well man I appreciate your trust um tell me what's going on I just getting old and tired and hurt all the time and just hard to go to work every day what do you do I said i do uh i work maintenance okay where do you work maintenance what type of facility just state um it's a state park okay how long you've been doing that um going on nine years now okay all right so i can hear in your voice you things are heavy man what what just just talking on the radio like this is kind of stressful oh of course yeah

yeah i feel it man so why when you say you're tired that means a lot what What do you mean? I just, I don't, physically, I just don't get any rest, and it's hard to get up and get going. And just, I hurt all the time. I mean, this is not stuff y'all, I mean, the financial part is, I didn't plan good, so I don't have a whole lot to fall back on. So what do you make? What kind of income? I think gross about $40,000. Cool. Are you married? No. Okay.

Was once a long time ago. Okay. Sounds like that you can fix anything to me. Okay. Can you? If I called you up and said, hey, my dishwasher's out, I need you to come check it and change it out for me could you do that yeah but it would probably take me twice as long as a lot of folks why because of the physical no because i i have a lot of knowledge in a lot of areas or a little knowledge in a lot of areas and i can get things done but i've worked with enough people to know

there's a whole lot of people that have a whole lot more skills than i do so let me ask you this are you go ahead i'm gonna no you go ahead i think well let me tell you what is running through my head okay um i know a guy that is a handyman for a living has a little business called Handyman. And he goes and just does miscellaneous stuff for people in their homes and even small offices and that kind of stuff. And he'll show up at your lake house and fix your whatever, put that gutter back up or make sure it gets put up or get a little subcontractor if he needs some help. And, you know, he's making like $100 a year. But he can fix anything or figure out how to fix it,

and he doesn't overcharge, and he always shows up on time and does what he says he's going to do. But it's so freaking dependable, it's unbelievable. I got the last part covered about being dependable. Okay. The knowledge part, and I'm not a people person. I don't, you know, I work where there's a lot of people,

but I'm not. So here's the thing, Ryan. My guess is you talk to my friend Ryan from San Antonio in a voice that if you heard somebody talking to a woman at a grocery store, you'd probably knock their teeth out the back of your head. Because when Dave Ramsey compliments you, your first thought is to deflect it.

You know what I'm thinking of you right now? I'm thinking of what COVID has been for millions of people. And state parks have been a place where people could go be humans and they could go get together i could get my kids together and we could go outside and see other people and wave and see pets and see dogs and all those things and you just slump your shoulders and see i'm just doing this and so until until you start treating ryan with the dignity and respect he deserves, you're not going to be able to hear compliments. You're not going to be able to look in the mirror and be proud.

You're not going to be able to go see a doctor and get your physical stuff taken care of. You're not going to be able to go have the humility to see a counselor and get the help you need there. But I want today to be the day you start talking to Ryan. And hang on, I'll tell you what. We're going to hook you up with our career guy, Ken Coleman, and see if he can't give you some guidance in helping you move to the next stage on your career. Because you do need a new career.

You're physically tired of it. This is The Dave Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Michael is in Sacramento. Hey, Michael, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. I've just got such a predicament. I'm 54 years old.

I've got my primary residence. I've got so much credit debt. I've got about $10,000 in credit card debt, but I probably have about $300,000 total in non-mortgage debt. And I just feel like I'm spinning my wheels, and I don't know what to attack first. I just feel lost. What is the other $290,000 is between student loans, lines of credit, loans that I had to take when I got divorced about 12 years ago. I had a house that we were trying to sell, and I told the bank that if you let me sell this and not go to foreclosure, I will take on that loan as a personal debt because I pay my bills. So I did that, and I've been paying on that ever since.

And then a variety of other loans. How much is that loan? That loan is $50,000 at 4%. Okay. And how much is the student loan? The student loan is uh sixty seven thousand and the cars are what the cars total uh ninety yeah ninety thousand two cars and what's your household income uh 170 salary and then i just recently had an opportunity, which I started to make an extra $3,500 a month for overtime.

That's going to be consistent. Excellent. So $210. I have a pension. And what is your home worth? My home is worth $900,000, and I owe $575 on it. What do you do for a living? i have two properties i'm a physician assistant okay and you have two rental properties and what are they worth uh let's see i have one in montana that's worth uh 300 310 000 and i owe $230,000 on it. I have one in Idaho that's worth $325,000 and I owe $330,000 on it.

And then I have a pension of $600,000 that I can have once I'm selling 11 years or I can take, that's lump sum, or I can take $3,000 a month annuity. Okay. So, how... where I can take $3,000 a month annuity. Okay. So how much do you want to be out of this mess? Really bad or just sort of bothering you? No, I've lived like this my entire life. And when I got divorced, I mean, the other part of it. Are you ready to get your life back?

I've been ready for a long time. Because you need to really be ready, because I'm getting ready to sell everything in your life. I'm ready. I mean, but don't... Sell both rental properties and both cars this week. Sell all three properties? No, both rental properties and both cars. Yeah.

Okay. All right. Get you two $5,000 cars. You. Okay. All right. Get you two $5,000 cars. You make $210,000. So now you have, now you have, you have your home and you will have

$210,000 left minus, so you're going to have about $150,000 left in debt and you make $210,000 and you're so you're going to have about $150,000 left in debt, and you make $210,000, and you're going to pay that off in two years. The only problem is I just got these properties a few months ago, and I did it on a 1031 exchange. I don't care. And I'm going to be taxed heavily. I don't care.

Doesn't matter. All right. Your life sucks. You're drowning, man. Yeah. You have so much crap in your life that is not producing joy. Well, if I can tell you one more thing, I've got an alimony of $2,000 a month that's never going to go away until I die.

That's $24,000 out of $210,000. That doesn't keep us from getting out of debt. Right. So $24,000 and $75,000 is $100,000 out of $210,000. You're going to live you're going to live on 210 and you're going to be debt-free in two years and you're going to sell everything except your personal residence if i listen what i i'll tell you what i'm reacting to i'm reacting to the tone of your voice when you called in you sounded so overwhelmed so despondent so stuck that it sounded to me like you were willing to do almost anything.

And that's where I am. That's where I am. I think you should do. I think you should feel that way because you feel like there's 12 freaking years this stuff's been hanging around your neck. And you make all this money and you're a PA and you can't get traction. You are so freaking stuck it's unbelievable. And you can't breathe. And that's what I heard.

Did I miss something? Nope. You nailed it and every time you walk into that hospital to help other people you've got 14 cinder blocks in your own backpack is that fair yeah at least brother you got to set that pack down you got a bunch of crap in your life, man. Put it down, man. Just stuff. $90,000 worth of cars? Yeah. Jesus. Who are you impressing, man? I know. Nobody.

I'm not asking that in a jerk way, but there's something in you that says, I need a million-plus dollar house and these... Well, I mean, he's in Sacramento. It's not a big house. Yeah, that's a 3-2. And two expensive cars and two homes. Something's telling you that you're not good enough, man. What is it?

Yeah. You know, this didn't happen all at once. This has been death by a thousand cuts, layer upon layer upon layer. This stuff is built up, and then it never goes away. So it's a cumulative effect. I saw them adding something else. We've got a 12-years-ago thing. We've got a student loan that's still hanging

around after all these years. Then we go buy cars, and now we roll these houses into a 1031, so you're going to get hammered on taxes out the backside. So you're going to have, what, $100,000 in taxes? Probably, yeah. I'm going to have a lot. 15% of what? What do you think your gain is that you rolled into these? My gain will probably, because I put $80,000 down on one and $70,000 down on the other. What you put down has nothing to do with the calculation of your gain. How much capital gains did you roll into this 1031?

I was told my taxes will be, if I were to cash out, about $50,000. Okay, good. That's less than I thought then. Good. It's only $50,000. This, good. That's less than I thought then. Good. It's only 50 grand. This is the price of cleaning up your life. Yes. So, you know, basically you're going to get enough out of these properties to pay your taxes and be free.

So that's a wash. We're going to sell the cars for close to a wash. And so now you have $210,000 left. I was wrong earlier it's not 150 because of the capital gains bill i said 160 150 but it's going to be 210 i didn't have 50 000 capital gains bill in there but now i do so you're you're still you know so how fast do you pay off 210 making 210 three years at 70 grand okay and that means you have 200 and it means you have 110 000 to live on after you pay alimony and 70 grand towards debt for three years and you're 100 debt free how old

are you 54 you won't be debt free when you're 57 this is how you do it okay i just want to make sure i understand so both cars sell both rental properties and then hit your plan hard nothing else complete focus like i'm so pissed off i am so sick and tired of being sick and tired that i have not only sold this stuff i'm gonna sell two of the kids if they don't hide i'm just gonna have to get my wife to buy in hopefully it won't be too hard yeah well i mean does she want her life back ask her if she wants a husband that can sleep a full night of sleep can breathe yeah a husband that can walk around the neighborhood without his head spinning without having to grab his phone every two seconds yeah they can wake up

with a smile on his face we call it financial peace that's what we call it and you can do this man you can do it but it's just a matter of if you want to. If you get sick and tired of being sick and tired, that's when you change your life, man. If you can get through PA school and if every day you can walk into that traumatic situation and heal people, you can do this. This is easy. I know you can do it.

Just are you ready to be willing to go? Because there's a completely different groove. We're going to have to plow down the middle of your brain to get your brain to function differently, because you've been running the great American mess. And if your wife can contribute to this, too, you can get it done even faster. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So, I mean, the only thing I did to her is sell her car. That's all I did. And her Montana house, I guess. But, oh, well. You're costing us the Idaho house, Dave. Oh, well, see. Yeah.

That's that old mean Dave Ramsey guy. Hey, man, you can do it. I believe in you. My chest is tight for him, man. I felt it. I could feel it. It was in the air. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.

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