The Ramsey Show - App - Learning To Save and Spend (Hour 2)

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual, amazing relationships. Rachel Cruz, number one best-selling author, host of The Rachel Cruz Show, co-host of the Smart Money Happy Hour. Both Ramsey Network hits and my daughter, Ramsey Personalities, my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rachel, this is right up your alley. Let's jump in and do the question of the day. It's Financial Literacy Month, and one of the ways we're celebrating

is taking questions from students in high schools that are teaching our high school curriculum, Foundations in Personal Finance. And by the way, Texas and South Carolina have just mandated, the latest two states, to mandate that personal finance be taught as a graduation requirement in their high schools. Salute to you two states.

Well done. There's a time that the legislature in your state did good work. And, of course, we're one of the options that are adopted by your state board of education, whatever it is, and have adopted us in both cases, which means we're one of the options the schools are selecting from, and we're honored that a whole bunch of schools in both of those states are now going to add this. So today's question comes from a student at BB High School. Yes, and it says, if you are a natural spender, how do you learn to save when your tendency is to spend? Oh, that's what you said. It's my kind of question.

It's you and me both. We're both natural spenders. Just on the break too, I was like, just buy the thing. Dad, we're talking about something else. Yeah, I mean, I think for me, I had to, I realized two things pretty quickly. Number one, I realized if I didn't save at all, then the amount of stress, the future Rachel of what she would

want to do, like all of that is gone, right? There's something there to say, I'm going to plan for the future. And that's motivating to me. So that kind of helped get this rhythm for me to be able to say, okay, the savings is there. And there is to a point it's a spender. And again, I think savers have their negatives. We can talk about that.

But the spender negative at times is we can get in a rhythm of like, oh, if I just, that thing is exciting to buy and I get some excitement from it and then that excitement fades and it may fade an hour after you buy the thing. It may fade a week after you buy the thing, but eventually that excitement fades. And if you depend on your happiness or your joy in life to

be on that type of excitement, you're going to be a rat in a wheel for the rest of your life. And it becomes a contentment issue at that point, not just a money, dollars, and cents issue. And so that part's very important. And that's a hard one. I mean, the contentment idea is really difficult. I think that spenders can kind of be that rat in a wheel at times and just get, get, get. And so understanding where your joy, your happiness, your identity even comes from. And one question I even ask myself, Dave, when I buy stuff for me is I filter through the question, if nobody sees this purchase, do I still want it? Like, is there any motivator for what whether it's a compliment or what someone's going to think about me like is that any level of you never posted online that

you had bought this yeah or you went on that vacation if nobody knew like whatever it is in the woods and no one is there they're still spending yeah so it's just uh making sure the motives you know are healthy it's really good That is healthy because that's trying to get affirmation from others based on the label is a real problem for spenders. Yeah. So spending as a reformed spender myself, a matured spender, I still spend. It's still my natural bent, but I'm also a math nerd. So I came up with two things that

caused me to do it in my case um one is i knew if i saved more i could spend more because i would have more and so the quality of car i drive today far exceeds the quality of car when i didn't save back in the day and i was a broke person so uh yeah you get you get a better life you know and a better spender life and the second thing is not always true but in the 30 something years i've been doing this more often than not it's a generality but more often than not spenders are also generous people they They like to give. And you can't give if you're broke. And if you give a $1,000 car or a $2,000 car to a single mom and it changes their life, what if you did 10 of them?

And you change 10 of them's life for $20,000 instead of $2,000. You can't do that if you're broke. And so the way you get that $20 20 000 to give is to save it and so the enjoyment of money is what a spender likes and the enjoyment of giving the enjoyment of the generosity but also the enjoyment of consumption too and so both of those are what drive um me in the situation but I think your answer was probably better. Thanks. I'll take it. I mean, you know, because, you know,

the problem with spenders is that we're worshiping at the idol of stuff if we're not careful. Yes. And if you bow down to that idol, you will find it's a false idol. It does not deliver. Yep.

It does not deliver satisfaction. And to swing on the other end of the spectrum, because I talk about this in my book, Know Your your money that that's the that's the downside of the spender and that's real very very real but there is a downside of a saver where you become so control freaked tight-fisted hoarding mentality that there's almost this level of of stress because you just have the money. I mean, like, you almost can't find the peace either, right? Because you're holding on so tight. There's not a big enough savings to get peace.

Yes. So it's kind of on that other end, too. So savers, we're not leaving you off the hook. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's, and Larry Burkett used to say it well. He said there's a difference, the only difference between saving and hoarding is not the amount. The only difference is saving and hoarding is not the amount. The only difference is saving and hoarding is the intent. You know, why are you doing this?

Yeah. What's it for? Because hoarders are, I might need that someday. Savers are, I might need that someday. You know, and it's this idea that you're going to get from something money can't give you. Yes. Yes. Which is contentment is peace there's not enough money to you can't

have a big enough pile of money to uh for it to serve you you have to i mean for you to serve it you have to it has to serve you yeah and so if you're trying to get from stuff spenders joy and contentment it's going to come up short you eat enough lobster it tastes like soap and i like lobster but uh if you if you're doing if you eat enough fine dining it's no longer fine um and and so you know it doesn't matter and and as soon as you get a really expensive car you you know you you get a real problem with where to park it because some body will bounce a door off of it like it's a basketball and then go oh did i do that yes you just did yeah and then your whole enjoyment's wrapped up and like oh my gosh this thing like yeah now i'm worshiping this thing and ready to kill this person you know and it's just like you know but yeah but i mean that's

all that is that's the thing you can't you can't you just live in this world where the stuff you're asking stuff or a pile of money depending on whether you're a saver or spender to do something for you it can't that's right that was your point it was a better point than mine that's good it's true it's all true of a good point and uh god is not fond of idol worship it comes up early and often in scripture and that's what this comes down to is where are you trying to get joy from yeah and and so if you uh i like our friend, the minimalist title, it's use stuff, not people. Yes. You know, that's a good thing. And don't let stuff use you.

That's the deal. And when you got a $1,200 car payment, you're being used. Hello. This is the Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality is my co-host today thank you for joining us america we're so glad you're here hey we are really excited about this upcoming total money makeover event weekend here on the ramsey campus uh rachel and i and george camel and jade and dr john deloney and ken coleman we're going to be doing a weekend long event the total money makeover weekend we want you to join us we're

going to help you get real healthy money habits that'll really change your relationship with money for good we're covering all the things you want to know how to get out of debt how to create a budget with every dollar how to communicate with your spouse about finances, how to ease anxiety around money, how to invest and build the retirement of your dreams, how to increase your income so that you can do all of these things. What is the key things that, when woven together, give you a very high probability of not only getting a handle on this money stuff but becoming wealthy? We're going to take you all the way through it. This weekend long event is the ultimate motivator to get you fired up and excited to live the life you've always wanted. We're going to be doing a live taping of the hit podcast, Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel

and George. We're going to have lots of Q&As throughout the weekend and all the personalities, me, Rachel, Dr. Deloney, George Campbell, Jade Warshaw, Ken Coleman. Don't wait to get your tickets. This thing is not sold out yet, and you can still get them. We would love to have you. Get them at ramseysolutions.com slash events.

We'll start on Friday evening and go through Saturday evening. And if you get here a little bit early, you can watch the show. This show happened on the glass from 1 to 4 Central Time, and that's free for anybody, but you can certainly make that a part of your plan to do the whole thing. Later on, I'll be speaking on Friday night. They'll be doing the Smart Money Happy Hour on Friday night, and then all day we're going to. If you bring a reluctant spouse, they won't be reluctant anymore when you leave.

If you bring a friend that thinks you're crazy for doing this stuff, they will be just as crazy as you when they leave. We're going to teach you how to do this stuff. And, man, when you get in that kind of an all-immersive setting, you can't come away. It's like taking a cram course on all the stuff you should have known about money. It's going to be so fun. Yeah, it's going to be great. These events are, they are, they're really fun. I mean, it's being in a room with it there's energy there's people

there's learning there's me you know we bring hopefully lots of laughter and storytelling and it's relaxed and it's fun i mean just come hang out with us it's gonna be it's gonna be a really great event it's life-changing yeah ramsey solutions.com slash events to get your tickets. We'll be doing this, of course, May. What is it? What's the dates on this thing? May 10th through 11th. 10th and 11th. Okay, that's it.

I should have been on here, I guess. Okay, cool. All right, let's go to Kenneth in Rochester. Hey, Kenneth, welcome to The Ramsey Show. What's up? Hi, Ramsey. How are you guys doing today? Better than we deserve. What's up? Hi Ramsey, how are you guys doing today? Better than we deserve. What's up?

So I'm a relatively new listener but I've been watching your videos for the past couple weeks now at work and I keep hearing you like take miniature jabs at SoFi and so as somebody who uses SoFi

I was wondering if there is a reason you don't like the app and if you would recommend an alternative. Well, SoFi is a bank. Yeah, I know. You know that, right? Sorry, not app, bank. Okay, they're a bank, and they sell debt. Okay.

That's what they do. Everything in the app is designed amongst all this cheesy acting like they care about you bullcrap but they don't care about you they're trying to sell you debt they're basically you know uh bank of america in a in a millennial clothing that's all they are i mean they're a bank they sell credit card debt they sell student loan debt they sell mortgage debt they sell home equity loan debt it's where they are. I mean, they're a bank. They sell credit card debt. They sell student loan debt. They sell mortgage debt. They sell home equity loan debt.

It's where they make all their money. They're a bank. They sell debt. You know that, right? Yeah, I was just wondering if there was something more to it, because from what I've listened to in your videos, it seems like basically every bank does that. So I was wondering if there was a reason why you usually call out SoFi specifically. I call out Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank, and Chase pretty regularly too, right?

Because they're large mega banks that don't have a soul and don't care a dad-blame thing about their customer. They're there to milk you. That's their whole job. The only difference in SoFi and those other guys is those other guys just tell you, we're here to screw you. And SoFi puts it all in all this little sweet millennial nurturing clothing

and it's just a bunch of crap. It's so hypocritical, it's unbelievable. And they have a great arena. And they have an arena. The SoFi, or stadium. I always make fun of that. I just go, SoFi, right? That's when you hear me picking on them, right? i mean it's it's just that it's just the big they are not your friend so if there was an alternative kenneth it is more of the credit union your local bank a state

you know wide bank a regional bank yeah going more localized with your banking is is a better way because you're actually going to talk to people too but they have most of the local community banks and credit unions have at least a bit of if not a really good soul and they actually will treat you like a human being in the process if you have to go and sit down with somebody these guys you know they serve the stockholder these mega banks they get one thing they need one thing from you your money that's it that's all they want and so um and it's just it is kind of you know when you watch their ads it's like oh come on really i mean but i guess people believe it well they're good i mean they i mean their marketing is yeah it makes you sound like that they actually care you know it's a hoot um but they don't i mean

i promise you i'm not mad at them i mean just they just is who they is they're just another mega bank that's all they are they're out of san francisco which is where bank of america was born and the visa card which was when it was born was called the bank americard was the birth of visa that's the dna of visa it comes out of that same place it's the same problem so yeah no it's not it's not i don't but i don't hate so far more than bank of america our whole thing here kenneth is we want what's good for you we want somebody you know and so when somebody is you know not taking care of the consumer then there's a good chance like timeshare people or something that i'm going to say something negative about sure well and and i think there's a point there to just to realize

and be on guard kenneth of how great we mentioned like their marketing is like their commercials and stuff you're like oh my gosh and if they're that good on that side they're going to be that much better on all their online products you're going to be in it and you may not even realize oh my gosh i'm getting you know this here this here this here and they're and the ultimate yeah product is dead because they're making interest on you i mean all of it's how most banks are making all their money and so they're just really good at it so yeah like they spend be aware billions and billions of dollars trying to get your money yep it's their thing man i mean and so and wells fargo i mean that's the other one we can drop in there the level of fraud that company's gone through is unbelievable so i mean but it's you

know what you're looking for is uh a bank that their whole existence is not built on trying to milk you like yesterday's cow i mean that's really what you've got to get your head around. And so, yeah, I do business with a bank or two or three, but none of them loan me money because I don't borrow money. So it's not an option. But just be careful when you're playing with snakes because they bite. That's the whole point. Yeah, and I think, too, a question we're getting a lot is whether yeah where to where to hold my

my checking right and we talked about that but then a lot of questions about high yield savings account that's like one of the biggest right now because the interest rates are so great so even online banks are another great option i'm fine with an online bank but again watch what you're doing i mean like okay because are they using the high-yield savings account as the loss leader to get you in there so they can milk you with credit cards and home equity loans? And are they going to just completely hammer you over and over and over and over and over again? Because that is the business that they're in. The margins in that stuff is, it's incredible. Yeah.

It's incredible the amount of money banks make. And so you just have to watch what's going on with that. And so, yeah, anybody that's going to take advantage, you know, that's not doing a stellar job for the consumer, especially in a financial arena. Yeah, I'm going to call them out by name. And I have for 35 years. So I don't know that I'm, but I don't recall being harder on SoFi than I was on those other banks.

But other than I sneeze and say SoFi because I think it's funny. But other than that, I don't, you know, it's not. I hear Bank of America more from you than SoFi. I can't stand them. I know. They're just awful. It's just, why would anybody do business with those people?

This is The Ramsey Show. This is The Ramsey Show, where we prove every day that having common sense is like having a superpower in America today. Thanks for hanging out with us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, best-selling author. My daughter is my co-host today. Oksana is with us over in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Oksana. How are you? Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. It's an honor to speak with you. You too. What's up? Well, so my husband and I, we have made some really dumb choices. And so I just wanted to get some of your wisdom. We bought a house. We moved to Charlotte like

two years ago, bought a house that needed a lot of remodel before we could live in here. And so we didn't calculate what it would take, of course. So we just were not very smart financially. We were not disciplined and I'm just disgusted would take, of course. So we just were not very smart financially. We were not disciplined. And I'm just disgusted from our lack of discipline. So now we're on our every dollar budget. And I feel like we're finally getting control of our money. So my question would be, would it be wise for us to sell our house in order to get out of debt?

Or should we find a way to get rid of our expensive car and work our way out of debt that way? Is the house renovation complete? It's livable. We're living in it, but it is not complete. Okay. And so if we don't sell it, you've got this need staring you in a face to continue to fix it up, right? Yes, we're slowly working on it like every weekend because my husband does construction, so it's already his expertise. Yeah, okay. Generally, when I find folks in that situation, by the time you're a couple of years into it, like you all are, you're sick of this house. I'm sick of our debt.

No, that's what I'm talking about. That's different. That's a different subject. You're living in sawdust all the time and drywall dust. Yes, that is true. Yes, this is our third house with renovations. It's never finished. Yeah, and it's a perpetual state of construction yes and most people some people are okay with that but

it's not unusual for me to talk to someone that's sick of living in those conditions with no hope of it ending anytime soon is that true of you or is that not true of you it's okay it's it's okay if you're different hope of it ending anytime soon. Mm-hmm. Is that true of you, or is that not true of you? It's okay if you're different and you just love it. It's okay. No, I don't love it, but I do see a light at the end of this tunnel

finally. Where? How far out? This house. Probably by the end of summer, we should be done. Oh, okay. okay that's not bad that's a reasonable i do feel like but i have been very sick and tired of living in a construction home like forever so so that's so regardless of the other part of the discussion you guys need to write that down and he needs to hear you because he does he's's not sick of living in construction. He does it every day.

It doesn't bother him because guys will live under a bridge. I mean, we're not, I mean, we'll live anywhere, but ladies somehow need a little different set of situation. And that's reasonable to me. But I,

you know, so, cause I can live in a construction situation, but, um, but I, but not with my wife. Guy's threshold is gross.

Because she's not going to live there. Walk through a guy's college home and walk through a girl's college home, and there's your answer. Guys are disgusting. Yeah. So, yeah. All of that to say, going forward, don't do this again. Not because of the debt, but because it's not how you want to live you've done it enough okay yeah that that's just some advice okay now how much debt do you

have we have 137 000 and how much of that is the expensive car yeah it's uh 68 000 and that's his truck no it's our everyday driving car what is it it's a toyota 4runner oh okay it's your car okay yeah all right okay and what's he drive oh i'm sorry i said 68 it's actually 59. The 68 is credit cards. He drives just a van, a work van. Okay, and the 68 was from the renovation, right? Yeah, renovation and random stuff like going out to eat. Okay, all right. And you stopped all that.

All right, so what's your household income? Yes. Well, it dropped a lot since moving here because we had to start back up from scratch. And last year we made $47,000. But this year I'm projecting it's going to get a lot better because just in April we're going to get about $10,000 in just a month. What do you think you're going to make in 2024? I'm going to guess like 70 or more at least. That sounds right.

Sounds good. Okay. And what do you owe on the house? On the house, we owe $405,000. $405,000. What's your mortgage payment every month? Our mortgage is $2,473. How long have you been making a mortgage payment, making $40,000?

Credit cards. Wait, what was the question? How are you making a $2,000 mortgage payment making $40,000? Honestly, we've been borrowing from people, and it's been really tough. I don't know if you can afford this house. We're moving here. Yeah. You need to be making a take-home pay of $8,000 a month, which is $110,000 a year to afford this house.

Really? So without talking about even the debt? Not counting the debt. Yeah. Really? Yeah, your take-home pay should, your house payment should not be more than a fourth of your take-home pay otherwise you put yourself in a pinch and so do you see your way to 110,000 income from 70 in the following year what did he what was his high what was his high point before

you left the other place like 120 a year yeah okay all right okay. Can he get back there in another year after this year? I'm hoping, and it looks like it's going up. It's like going up pretty fast all of a sudden, and he's a very hard worker. So I could see that happening. I'm not questioning his work ethic. Yeah. Questioning his math ability. But I would sell the car.

I'd sell the car, and I'd keep the house. And if your income does not go up to 120 by the end of 25 you need to sell the house oh okay that makes sense because you know but we need to get rid of the car now and um okay and then you start chipping away at the credit card debt as your income comes up you'll be able to do that but if you're if you're living on a seventy thousand dollar income then your take-home pay is going to be somewhere in the $55,000 range after taxes. And, you know, that's $4,500 a month, and almost 50% of that's going to a house payment then. And so it's very...

So you work for upside down? Like, on the difference, how do we pay that difference? You're upside down on the house? Or the car? No, no, no, on the car. Oh, I got you. What could you sell it for? We can sell it for $55,000.

Who said? $55,000 to $55,000. Who said? Oh, I just looked on Facebook, like what people are selling it for. Okay. Go to KellyBlueBookKBB.com and look at private sale. That is an accurate number. Very little on Facebook is true.

What about J.D. Power? I also got a quote there. That would be okay. Did you look at a private sale on J.D. Power? Yeah, it was $54. Okay, that's what the car's worth. It's worth $55. Okay.

And you owe $59, so you've got to come up with four grand to sell it yeah and replace a car with a bank oh we just find the cash for it and just pay that a cheap cash car a hoopty because you're broke people but you'll probably have to take out a small loan oxana possibly to make the difference of that four grand and a little bit of money to replace the car. About a $5,000 car. Yeah. You need a $10,000 loan instead of a $59,000 loan. So, yeah, that's going to move you in the right direction.

But, yeah, you need to get rid of the car, and then you need to say, if we don't get our income up to the $120,000 mark by the end of 2025, then we've got too much house. And Oxana, hold on the line, and Austin and Taylor are going to pick up, and we want to give you guys Financial Peace University and Every Dollar Premium. Or you said you were doing Every Dollar, so if you have that, no worries. But watch nine lessons with you and your husband, and you guys get on the same page with this,

because that's a really helpful course to get these basics down. And so you guys can really go full steam ahead. When you have that knowledge and you start working and creating these new habits, it's going to be so helpful for you guys. It really is. I see the light at the end of the tunnel for you guys. I think you're on the cusp of change. It's right there. You just need that little extra push. So we're cheering for you guys though. Yeah, you are. You're going to make it. You're going to be okay. And if the house is worth a lot more than $400, yeah, you might want to sell it. That'd be cool, too.

Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Aaron is with us in Oklahoma City. Hi, Aaron. How are you? I am very well. Dave, how are you and Miss Rachel doing? Better than we deserve, Aaron. How are you? I am very well, Dave. How are you and Miss Rachel doing? Better than we deserve, sir. How can we help?

Well, I have a question about I have some money sitting in a savings account that I wanted to see your advice, but as I told the screeners, I have a fairly complicated backstory if you want to hear it.

Sure. It would affect the decision, yeah. Absolutely, yeah. And so, I am a three-time cancer survivor, but also a current cancer patient. About two years ago, I was diagnosed with a stage four incurable and have been doing really well for two years. But, you know, when they tell you that, you fear the end is near every day. So my history is roughly in, let's see, I have a 16-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 9-year-old. And when my two older ones were very young, four and one, we started to do the Dave Ramsey plan.

Sorry, I'm nervous. That's okay. You're fine. And we had a lot of debt at that time. But we paid off all of our credit cards. We paid off my wife's student loans and a few other little things, and then in 2012 is when I got, well, originally I had cancer in 2000. Yeah, exactly, 2000. Then in 2012, I had another issue issue, had to have a surgery and

remove part of my kidney and, uh, started to have to pay some, uh, medical stuff. And it kind of derailed, um, where we were. Uh, so for the next, I don't know, nine or so years, we lived on a budget. We still were prudent with our money, but we weren't really getting ahead. Um, and then, uh, bought our own pharmacy, uh, bought our own business, uh, had it for 10 years and in 2022 we sold it and I made a fairly decent amount of money. But then, uh, that was in March and then in the end of June is when I got diagnosed with this stage four terminal cancer. Okay. So, um, my question is from the sale of that, um, business, I, um, we, we put 320 or so in savings, had to use about 50,000 of that for medical expenses and to live. And then fairly recently, I have opened 529s for all three kids,

but I've only put 10 in each, so a total of 30. So what I'm looking at is $240,000 in cash savings. My question is, well, I want you to just kind of guide me, but my, in my head, the thought process was, uh, do I continue to invest in five to nine? Do I pay down on the house? Um, in preparation to try to obviously help, wife and kids if and when I do go. Sorry, that's a lot. No, it's fine. What do you owe on your home? $284,000.

Okay. And what's your household income today since you sold the business? Well, I've since moved on and got a new job. We combine, we make about $150,000, $155,000. Okay. Well, I think together. So what's your wife make? She brings home around $800,000 every month.

I mean, she works part-time, takes full-time taking care of the kids. Yeah, okay. Do you have life insurance in addition to this? I do. I have roughly 1.3 in term. Okay, all right. So I have about 70 combined. We have about 75K and 401K ROPS.

Good. So what I want to do if I'm in your shoes is put together a plan that works if I live through this and a plan that works if I don't. Okay. Is that okay? I believe so. I think that's what you're asking. Yeah.

Yes, because I do believe in miracles. I'm fine with either one, whatever God chooses, okay? Yes, sir. And so before we do that, have you got your will done? In the process. Okay. And your wife's will as well? Okay.

In the process? Yes. Okay. And that doesn't need to well. Okay. In the process. Yes. Okay. And that doesn't need to drag out. You need to do that now. Okay. Very important to get that wrapped up because that will, it will change things in the emotional state of both of you to have had that done. It's a weird thing, but it gives you a level of peace and her a level of peace because it's all dialed in.

That box is checked. Do you know what I'm saying? Yes, sir. And it's also like if you've got your spiritual life arranged, like you know where you're going, right? Yes, sir. Okay. So you're you're going, right? Yes, sir. Okay. So you're walking with God, right?

Amen. Yes, I am. Okay. All right. So that's, you know, not one less thing to worry about. So, you know, to die at this point is gain then. Yes. Those of us that are people.

It's hard to accept that with a nine-year-old kid. You are correct. I get it. i get it i get it i i'm there's the spiritual understanding and the intellectual understanding and the emotional acceptance i don't know if i could deal with it i it's i don't i don't want to trade places with you but i'm just talking through what i would do if i were in your shoes i'd want to make sure i had these things arranged that gives me a foundation to arrange the rest of it. Does that make sense? Yes. Because what I found is I get when I'm facing hard stuff, if I address each of the buckets in the hard stuff,

then I've done all I can do, and then the rest is the ride. And so the will, your spiritual walk and condition, all of that. And then we say, okay, if you you pass away she's got 250,000 in the bank she's got 1.1 million in insurance coming so she's got you know a million three and she writes a check and pays off the house that day sits down with a smart investor pro oh by the way you could probably go ahead and do that now and let her and you develop a relationship with this uh an investment broker that understands what's going on, and, okay, if she walks in here with a paid-for house and a million dollars,

we're going to invest that, and she can live off the income it creates and raise the kids and not have to work. Because I think she can probably live on $100,000 a year, can't she? Yes. Okay. All right. So if you lay that out now that's the if i die scenario the house is paid off we invest in mutual funds with the balance of the

insurance money and um and then we know that financially the kids are going to eat and go to college we're good i would not do 529s with this money. Okay. And now, if you live longer, you're going to need this liquidity to fight this, because you're probably at a, it sounds like you're in alternative treatment stage. Is that right? No, no, no. I'm actually doing very well. I tell people I'm in really good shape for the shape I'm in. Okay, okay.

I work. So you're still doing straight chemo? I'm doing chemo every 21 days. Yeah, okay, all right. I work 46 hours a week. If you need $50,000 to fly to XYZ country to begin a treatment that is beyond what your normal course of events are here to take another shot at this whole

thing you've got that money laying there and i want to keep it laying there for you okay i also want to keep it laying there if you guys decide you want to take like a family trip and create a memory yeah that'd be okay too that's a good use of this money we i've already paid for a trip at the end of may good for you for us to go do that um good for you okay and so i want to give you permission to use some of this money that way and then if 10 years later we're sitting here and that money's gone but you're here i'm good with that that's a good investment yeah okay so kind of sit tight on it and yeah let's sit tight on it but sit down and lay out

your plan of you know what i'm doing is if you're alive i'm keeping this money liquid so we can take care of you and create the situation best situation for the family if you're gone we got this money plus the insurance money pay off the house and invest and we lay that out and put all those relationships in place to go there. So you've got a, you know, you've got a thing laid out. And then if I'm you, that gives me peace because I got a plan to fight through this. And I think it's helpful to do that. Man, I'm praying for you, Aaron. You're a strong dude.

This is The Ramsey Show. I'll see you next time.