The Ramsey Show - App - Long-Term Care Insurance Doesn't Replace Life Insurance (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 20, 2018

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Starting point is 00:00:00 🎵 🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Amy is with us in, woo, I'm missing this up here. Let me try again.
Starting point is 00:00:54 All right, where am I supposed to be? I'm totally screwed up here. All right, Casey is with us in San Diego. Hey, Casey, how are you? Good, how are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I am a recent graduate.
Starting point is 00:01:09 I just graduated graduate school, and I have a lot of student debt. So I was just wondering what was your opinion on how quickly I could pay back this large debt burden. So what's your graduate degree in? Nursing. You got a master's in nursing? Yeah, I'm a nurse practitioner. A nurse practitioner. Okay, good.
Starting point is 00:01:33 And so have you landed a position as a nurse practitioner? Yeah. My income growth before taxes is going to be $100,000. Okay, good. And you're used to living on nothing because you were a broke college student 20 minutes ago, right? Right. Okay. And how much student loan debt do you have?
Starting point is 00:01:56 $209,000. Wow. Yeah. It's a lot. Yeah. Okay. So I use big numbers here, all right? $209,000 divided by three would be $70,000 a year if you want to be done in three years.
Starting point is 00:02:16 And that would put you on beans and rice, rice and beans with absolutely no life, and all your new doctor friends are going to think you're crazy. But they're all broke, by the way. There's nothing more broke than a doctor. Do you think that's doable even after the taxes come out of the $100,000? Probably not. It's probably going to take you a little more than three years. But the other thing is you can probably pick up some ER time,
Starting point is 00:02:41 and you can probably pick up some side gigs, because you've gotten a degree in a wonderful field that's in high demand as you know probably yeah and so i would hope during the next three years that not only can you pick up some side gigs some er time or whatever but in addition to that your income will just increase that you're just starting at 100 that by the end of three years, you might be making $130,000, right? Right, yeah. So when we add all of that in, I'm just kind of putting your income on a curve, not on a static line, and I'm expecting you to work like a crazy person because you ain't got anything else to do right now. You've got to get out of debt.
Starting point is 00:03:17 Yeah. You don't need to be buying anything. Okay, yeah. You're broke. So I just started listening to you. Yeah. Before I started listening to you, I did lease a car. Sell it.
Starting point is 00:03:32 And so is there any way I could get out of the lease? Yeah, sell it. Okay. Now, here's how you do it. You have to find out what the car is worth versus what the early buyout is, which is the equivalent of your payoff. Call and ask them what the early buyout is and then get you a beater because you're a broke nurse practitioner. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:52 It feels like you have entered the medical field and you make six figures, but the problem is you have this deep hole that you're in. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I was very excited to get a large salary and then I kind of realized it doesn't really mean anything. Not yet. It will. It will. Later on you're going to be okay.
Starting point is 00:04:11 But you need to really – you have paid a price to get here in terms of your academics and in terms of your study habits and the length of time you've been in school longer than most and all that. So you know how to pay a price to win. You know how to delay pleasure to get a greater result and that's what i'm saying see if you come let's visit the three year from now you how old are you right now um i'm 25 okay let's visit you at 28 right now and let's visit you make let's visit you making 140 130 000 a year with no payments in the world. Yeah. See, that sets you up to build wealth very, very quickly, and that is worth sacrificing to be that girl.
Starting point is 00:04:54 Yeah. Okay. And that's what I want you to do. That's what I would tell you to do. That's what I would have you do is don't live like a doctor. Live like a broke college student because that's really what you are right now. And so it's just real easy to go celebrate, you know, the graduation and the new job with more debt, which is what you did with the car. But we probably have to reverse that situation.
Starting point is 00:05:20 If you can, if you can figure out a way to get out of it, that's what you need to do. Heather is with us in Montana. Hi, Heather. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. So my question is, we have one rental property,
Starting point is 00:05:38 and we're wondering where a rental emergency fund would fit into the baby steps, if it should be like baby step one and a half, and about how much we should keep in that. Does the rental property make money? It makes us about $4,000 a year after we pay, you know, that just includes minor, you know, repairs and whatever. Right, right. So do you have a separate checking account for your rental? Yes. Okay.
Starting point is 00:06:00 And do you just leave the money in there? No, we've been just leaving about $500 to $1,000 in there. And then we started the baby steps, obviously, and we did our $1,000 emergency fund. So now we're kind of wondering how much we should put in that one. Yeah, I would let that build up a little bit. And I would just use other methods on your personal debt snowball. Okay. I'd let that, just let it naturally. I mean mean you don't have to feed it just let it grow but but and so you know it sounds like within six months or something you might have a couple grand in there does that sound right yeah yeah that's probably enough right now and then let's
Starting point is 00:06:41 get it back up to there but let it self-generate that don't take anything out of it but don't put anything into it okay and then if after we pay off of our debt should we build that up even more yeah you ought to keep probably um probably three months of uh of the rental payment in there whatever the rent is about three months worth of that because that would fix a heat and air system that goes out or a roof or a tree that falls or a tenant that moves out and tears up stuff and you got to go in and redo you know and recarpet and repaint some stuff and you know you're going to pour you're probably not making any money on this much overall it might not even be a property you want to keep well Well, it's attached to our house.
Starting point is 00:07:26 Oh, you don't have a choice. It's like a second unit. So our container is wrapped into ours. Yeah, okay. Well, that's good news then. So you can, yeah, all right. So, yeah, let's just build it up. Let's have a little bit there now,
Starting point is 00:07:40 and then let's get up to about three times your rental or four times your rental, roughly, in their rental price. So if you rent it for $1,000 a month, you know, $3,000, $4,000, that kind of a thing. That's why you rent so much. But anyway, somewhere in there. Thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You can call in and join us there.
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Starting point is 00:09:21 It truly has become an issue of not if, but when. That's why the only plan I've ever recommended is through Zander Insurance. I actually sat down with them, and we put together a plan that I felt provided the best protection, but didn't waste dollars on things you could easily do yourself, or were just gimmicks. The key is getting protected before you're a victim, and it's too late. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282.
Starting point is 00:09:46 We are all at risk, and it doesn't make sense to wait. Numbers don't lie. That's Zander.com or 800-356-4282. Amy is with us in Seattle. Hi, Amy. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hi there, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure.
Starting point is 00:10:24 What's up? I'm calling i have a question in regards to um health savings accounts um i just realized that our insurance offers a health savings account option but i'm also actually looking to possibly cancel our insurance and go to one of the medical sharing, Christian medical sharing programs. We're about $19,000 in debt between cars and credit cards, a car and a credit card. But I'm also thinking that possibly we should fund the health savings account for 2018 and 2019, 2018 this year and then the first part of 2019, and then cancel the insurance when we go over to the medical sharing, because we'll save about $600 a month going over to the medical sharing, and then going back to getting rid of the car
Starting point is 00:11:24 and credit card debt. But I just kind of wanted to hear your thoughts on how to go about that. Okay. Well, there's two components to the HSA. There's the insurance component and the savings component. You do not have to do the savings component. The insurance component is simply a large deductible 100 coverage after the deductible cheaper premium health insurance plan and at in baby step two i would not do the savings component i would only do the insurance component or i would do the medical sharing
Starting point is 00:12:01 program whichever one you want to do i don't know why you would need to jump back and forth. If you're going to move permanently to the medical sharing, why would you not just go ahead and do that now? My only thought was to fund the health savings account, seeing as that it never goes bad. The money can stay there and be used, you know long term for my for my children for races down the road or that kind of thing even if we were to cancel the medical um the insurance and go over to the health sharing stuff i see so do it for one year to fund that account
Starting point is 00:12:38 is that what you're saying right i can yes i can fund, right, I could fund it for 2018, $6,900 for 2018. Yeah, I wouldn't do that while you're in debt. Okay. No, and so, you know, if you want to go just straight health savings and then get out of debt and then fund your health savings account and then move to medical sharing, that would be one option to get you where you want to go, or you'd be moving to medical sharing, moving back out, then moving back then moving back in okay one of the two either one of those plans would be but i wouldn't fund a seven thousand dollar savings account only for health insurance or only for medical while you're
Starting point is 00:13:15 not even the baby step three yet um that money needs to be used to clear these debts up first um so uh it's not the end of the world if you don't have that health savings account funded ever. If you just moved to medical sharing and you just said, well, we've got a large emergency fund to cover needs that we have. The only thing you lose is the tax deductibility of it. That's it. So everything else is fine. So good question. Thanks for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rob is in Nashville.
Starting point is 00:13:52 Hey, Rob, how are you? Hi, Dave. Thanks so much for taking my call. Appreciate your time. Sure. What's up? So I'm actually calling from my father. He is 68 years old, still working, making around $200,000. I've read your book,
Starting point is 00:14:10 and I listened to your show, and as a result, I'm getting my finances in order, but I'm also trying to help him with a couple things, one of which is insurance. He has a whole life policy, and he also has a term policy that is going to expire when he's 70 in two years is he broke i'm sorry is he broke he's not um i think he's net worth's probably around four to five hundred thousand okay your mom lost that she is yes sir okay. She does not work. Okay. Is her home paid for? It is not. Okay. I think they owe, forgive me, I don't know full numbers, but I'm guessing in the $200,000 range. They just bought a home a few years back. So my question is, I think his whole policy is worth around $30,000 to $40,000.
Starting point is 00:15:04 I know he needs to pick up some long-term care insurance, and I'm wondering if he should put it towards that, or should he get another term policy, even though it's going to be a lot higher rates due to the fact that he is 68 years old. Okay. Well, long-term care insurance doesn't have anything to do with this discussion he makes two hundred thousand dollars a year he's put long-term care insurance in his monthly budget and start buying it today it doesn't get anything to do with life insurance that's nursing home
Starting point is 00:15:34 insurance and so he's that needs to be done for on him and his him and your mom today um because if one of them goes in a nursing home and spends $300,000, that's going to crack and scramble this $500,000 nest egg. Right. And so that's why we do that beginning at age 60. That's immediate. Now, as far as life insurance goes, life insurance, the job of life insurance is to take care of your mom if he dies. If there's not enough money to take care of her. Well, they owe, you think, $200,000 on their house?
Starting point is 00:16:04 Right. her well they owe they owe you think 200 000 on their house right and i think that's the only asset that would be a hindrance for her because he has uh yeah retirement money coming in military stuff coming in she'll have money um so i think it's just a house that's the uh it would be an issue yeah and so uh how much is his term policy coverage? How much coverage does he have? I think it's about $100,000. What about the whole life? I'm guessing it's about the same.
Starting point is 00:16:33 Okay. It's a pretty expensive whole life on a guy that age, depending on how long he's had it. I mean, it's probably outlandish. Well, the first thing I would do is talk to Xander Insurance and see what options he's got, because he needs to have enough insurance to pay this house off until he gets it paid off. Okay. Because I want to leave her in good shape if something happens to him.
Starting point is 00:16:59 And same thing if something happens to her, but I'm not as concerned because she's not the income earner right now. How's his health? He's doing great. Okay, good. Both of them are in good health. It may be that Xander can make a market for you on some term that's not outlandish, get in touch with them beyond 70, but I think if I'm in his shoes, my number one goal right now is get this house paid off.
Starting point is 00:17:23 And as soon as that house is paid off, his need for life insurance is gone. Right. Because she'd be fine. She'd be fine with the income she's got and the paid-for house if something happened to him. But today, you know, she might have sold the house if he died today with no insurance, right? Right. Yeah, it's a big house. I don't think she would stay in it.
Starting point is 00:17:42 Oh, okay. Well, then that's another thing. How much? What's the house worth? It's probably worth about $300,000, maybe a little over. Okay. I think they probably need to hold this insurance until they get this house paid down a ways, because I want her to have housing that's paid for if he dies, that she wants.
Starting point is 00:18:01 It might not be that house, but I don't think it's a $100,000 house, which is all their equity either. That's not enough. But if he got this paid down, if he got another $100,000 paid off on it in the next two years, he'd probably be all right to drop everything. I don't want him sitting with his whole life policy when he's 80. Right. And so the game plan needs to be, I would try to get rid of both of them by age 70 and get rid of the whole life policy first because it's by far the most expensive,
Starting point is 00:18:30 20 times more expensive than the term, assuming they were bought about the same time. And term insurance is about 5% of the cost, 1 20th of whole life. And so the first thing he does is get this thing paid down to where she's okay without the whole life policy dropping it and then get it paid down so when the term expires at age 70 that she's okay and so if she sold the house and had enough money equity from selling the house to live in the house she wants to live in paid for in cash if he dies then we've got them to the point that she's self-insured. And that's what I'm working towards in this discussion.
Starting point is 00:19:11 Hey, thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. There's nothing smart about smartphones if your wireless plan is blowing your budget each month. Pure Talk USA offers smarter wireless with unlimited plans starting as low as $20 per month. You never pay data overage fees and we never turn off your data. No contracts, no hidden fees. And if you're thinking our low cost means less coverage, think again. Our voice and data service covers 99% of Americans,
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Starting point is 00:21:17 Hey, guys, how are you? Hey, Dave, how are you doing? Better than I deserve. Welcome. Where do you all live? We're originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, but as of yesterday, we're new residents of Nashville, Tennessee. Yeah. So you just moved here.
Starting point is 00:21:29 So I heard you're starting with us Monday. Yes, sir. So excited. This has been a dream of mine for a while. So a debt-free scream right before Thanksgiving and following Thanksgiving, you start your new job with us. Yes. It's been crazy. Cool.
Starting point is 00:21:41 What are you going to be doing? I'm going to be a finance administrator with the Entree Leadership Team. I've got a lot of them with us here today. So they're not even technically your team yet, and they came over to cheer for you. Exactly, yeah. It's been amazing. You always talk about how great your team is, and I'm just so proud to be a part of this family here. Well, that's great.
Starting point is 00:22:01 Well, we're honored to have you. Very cool. So how much debt have you paid off? We paid off $83,447. $83,447. And it took how long? It took about 40 months. 40 months. And your range of income, since you weren't working here, I can go ahead and ask your income. I wouldn't expose your income in front of your teammates if you were working here.
Starting point is 00:22:23 But since you weren't working here, your range of income during that time? It was from $58,000 to $79,000. Okay, cool. And what were you doing then? I worked at a small Christian university as a financial aid counselor. Perfect. And what about you, Sage? What did you do?
Starting point is 00:22:38 I worked as a coordinator for campus recreation for the college I graduated from. And I also worked as an athletic trainer at a physical therapy clinic. Cool. What are you going to do here? I'm not sure yet. You're looking? Are you thinking and looking? Yep.
Starting point is 00:22:50 Yep. All right. Cool. Yes. Good. Fun. So what kind of debt was this? $83,000.
Starting point is 00:22:56 Oh, Dave, it was everything. We had student loans, we had a car loan, and a little bit of credit card debt as well, but mainly student loans. Yes. Okay. All right. Cool. So what got you on this journey 40 months ago?
Starting point is 00:23:07 I'm guessing maybe you got married then? Yeah. We went through the Financial Peace University when we were engaged, and that's when Ryan actually found out about your company. And then we knew we wanted to start our family off right. So that's when we started paying down the debt. Okay. So almost three and a half
Starting point is 00:23:26 years roughly yes you've been married and been doing this yes very cool very cool where'd you take the class um at christ fellowship church in west palm beach yeah we love those folks yeah they're great people wonderful good yeah pastor todd pastor tom good friends yeah yeah great church good people good folks, good job. Yes. Way to go. You did it. Thanks, Dave.
Starting point is 00:23:49 And you went all in. I mean, you even joined our team. I mean, my gosh, you come to work here. It's like ridiculous. I know. Crazy. Yeah. So what do you tell people when they find out you paid off $83,000 in debt and they say, how'd you do that?
Starting point is 00:24:02 What's the key to getting out of debt? I would just say communication. That's been the biggest thing for us is is really budgeting and sitting down and just letting each other know you know this is what's we're spending money on each month and these are the expenses we have coming up but just really communicating and and not only did that help us get out of debt but it really strengthened our marriage it really launched that um you know going to our. Well, you've never really known anything else in your marriage. Exactly. Except doing a budget together.
Starting point is 00:24:28 Right. I mean, it's like part of your pre-marriage counseling almost, right? Exactly. Yeah, definitely. Wow. Well, that's a great foundation to take off and go from. Absolutely. Very cool.
Starting point is 00:24:37 Absolutely. Very cool. Well, congratulations. Outside of the two of you, who was your biggest cheerleader? We had an amazing friend group, and both of our families have been super supportive throughout it all. Okay. Yeah. So they both looked at you and went,
Starting point is 00:24:52 Ah, it's a good idea when you first get married to get this right, because it might take you 20 years to recover otherwise. Exactly. Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. Good for you guys. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:25:03 Very well done. What was the hardest part of this? I would say the hardest part for me was, you know, getting out of debt is a huge accomplishment. And the big part of my debt was student loans. And working in a financial aid office where I'm surrounded by that and students taking out loans was really, really rough. Because on one end, you know, I myself am trying to get out of debt, or I mean, we're trying to get out of debt. At the same time, you know, students are taking out loans. And I really, really did my part to really try and educate students on budgeting and financial
Starting point is 00:25:37 literacy. And quickly, if I just could tell a quick story. I know you had Anthony O'Neill earlier on the show, and he's talking with high school students and college students. And it's a really big problem in America right now. I know you talk about that all the time. And I had somebody high up in our university stop me one day in the office. I was so excited to talk about financial literacy and how I'm doing these presentations for students. And it kind of just sounded like it all went right over his head.
Starting point is 00:25:59 And he just puts his hand on my shoulder and he says, they can still take out loans to go to school, right? And it just really hurt me. And, you know know dave that was one of the launching points was like i need to get out of here and i need to join this team so that was the hardest part at least for me sage do you want yeah yeah it was um a challenge along the way definitely just making the sacrifices of having free date nights most of the times and we did like walmart bingo and like just feeling like it's okay and you can what is walmart bingo i'll let you explain yeah so it's like first person to see somebody in socks and sandals and first person to spot a mullet and somebody in a bathrobe
Starting point is 00:26:39 you wander around yeah but just feeling like you can still build memories together, and it doesn't have to be with spending a lot of money doing it. Yeah. That's so funny. Yeah. Well done, you two. Very good. Well, we've obviously got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you.
Starting point is 00:26:59 They're going to be readily available around here to you anyway, but we've got a copy for you anyway. And that's the next chapter in you guys' story, as well as joining our team. But to be millionaires now and outrageously generous as you go along. Welcome aboard. Thank you. Congratulations. Ryan and Sage, now residing in Nashville, formerly of West Palm Beach.
Starting point is 00:27:20 $83,000 paid off in 40 months, making $58,000 to $79,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Alright. 3, 2, 1. We're debt-free! Woo-hoo! Well done!
Starting point is 00:27:42 Love it! Way to go, you guys. Welcome aboard. No, you do not have to become debt-free before you come to work here. Nor do we manage your finances for you while you're here. We don't make you cut up your credit cards. There's all these mysteries and lies about our team members here. They're like regular people.
Starting point is 00:28:01 The only difference is they're smarter and they care more. And the vast majority of them, as a result, are getting out of debt or are out of debt and are building wealth and are outrageously generous. They actually live the stuff. All of our team lives the stuff we teach. But no, we don't big brother them to make sure they do it. I have no idea what is in your wallet, James Childs. I don't know if you have a credit card. But I suspect sitting across the glass from me three hours a day for many, many years, it would be very difficult from a psychological standpoint to actually have a credit card in your wallet.
Starting point is 00:28:35 It would be pretty psychotic, actually. So I'm guessing he doesn't because he's not psychotic. So there you go. Good guess. Good guess, he says. Okay. All right. Open phones at 888-825-5225.
Starting point is 00:28:49 You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. Tyler is on Twitter. You can follow me there at Dave Ramsey. Can I contribute to a Roth 401k and a Roth IRA at the same time? Absolutely. The Roth IRA has a maximum of $5,500 a year for you. And, of course, same thing for your spouse,
Starting point is 00:29:15 whether your spouse works or not, as long as your household income has an earned income in excess of the amount you're wanting to put into the Roth or Roths. And, of course, you can put $6,500 a year in each of those if you're over 50 years old. It's a little catch-up there. And as far as the 401K, you're maxed out at $18,500 in the year 2018. And that's the most you can put in to your 401K. But you could put an 18-5 plus 55 and 55, and it'd all be in Roth.
Starting point is 00:29:45 And for Roth 401k and Roth IRAs. And, you know, that would be a lot of money going in. If you did that every year for quite a few years, you would be so unbelievably wealthy. And it's all tax-free growth. Wow, wow, wow. I mean, you'd be in a position to go bananas. Yeah. But it just takes doing it. I mean, this'd be in a position to go bananas. Yeah, but it just takes doing it. I mean,
Starting point is 00:30:12 this is how people build wealth. A step at a time by incremental wealth building. That's how it happens in the real world. There's no lightning strike here. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. We'll see you next time. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you are here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more.
Starting point is 00:31:31 Use the promo code RAMSY to get the best possible deal. Rules and restrictions apply. Kevin is in Texas. Dave, I have a $60,000 student loan debt, and I will have to start repaying soon. I see that loan consolidation is an option for less monthly payments. Is this a good idea? Well, we don't want less monthly payments. We want more.
Starting point is 00:31:52 We want less interest rate, maybe. If you can get that, that'd be fine. Fixed, not variable. But you don't need less payments. You need to make big payments. Large, huge payments. $5,000 a month, it to make it go away in one year yeah there you go that'd be fun wouldn't it or 2,500 a month to make it go away in two years that's thirty thousand dollars a year see that's what you want to think about
Starting point is 00:32:21 and not not how little a payment i can get so I can stay in debt longer. That's going the wrong way. Edward is with us in Connecticut. Hi, Edward. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you? Thank you so much for taking my call.
Starting point is 00:32:35 Sure. What's up? I'm a fairly new listener, and I just wanted to get your thoughts on putting our daughter's savings into a large mutual fund versus a 529. Okay. Well, there are several types of 529s. 529 is not an investment. It's the way an investment is treated. Okay.
Starting point is 00:32:57 And so one type of 529 is prepaid college through the state. You don't want to do that one. Another type of 529 is an investment that is locked in into certain mutual funds. You don't want to do that one another type of 529 is an investment that is uh locked in into certain mutual funds you don't want to do that one but the type of 529 the only kind we would recommend would be one where you pick your own mutual funds inside the 529 but that just all that does is it's the 529 is like a coat that lays over the top of the mutual fund that keeps it warm and it doesn't get taxed it's tax-free growth that's like a coat that lays over the top of the mutual fund that keeps it warm, and it doesn't get taxed.
Starting point is 00:33:26 It's tax-free growth. That's all it does. Now, if me and my wife were looking for flexibility, because we just didn't want the savings to be just tied out into education expenses, what would you suggest for that? Number one, I wouldn't suggest that. I would say for a child's college education, period, the chances of them going to school, if you plan and save and talk about them going to school, is very high, and it is a good thing.
Starting point is 00:34:02 As long as they, you know, go to a reasonable school that is that you have enough money to pay for. And as long as they're going to study something that's actually usable. But, you know, regardless of how mad everyone is at the universities and what they charge and all of that, education is valuable. If it's a proper education, I mean, if you get a degree in left-handed puppetry, that's not worth fooling with. But, you know, get a Ph.D. in German polka history, this is not what we want to do. But if you can get a solid degree in a solid field of study that is usable in the marketplace, you will make more money in your life, especially if you learn how to apply yourself and so forth. There's no guarantees of anything, but that's what you should do.
Starting point is 00:34:42 So I just believe in brainwashing the kid to go to school. I really do. I think it's worth it. I mean, there's children with certain different types of learning or certain special circumstances, but I wouldn't worry about that. I really wouldn't. I'm really, really glad with our three children that we saved and saved and saved and saved so that when they got ready to go to school, we knew that we could pay cash for it. And it was a huge change in the way our family operated and thought. Now, if they get scholarships, academic or otherwise, you can pull that amount out of the 529 without any taxes. So they get a $10,000 a year scholarship or a $20,000 a year scholarship or whatever their scholarship is worth, if athletic or whatever it is.
Starting point is 00:35:28 You can pull that amount, the equivalent amount, out of the 529 with no taxes. So you would have had tax-free growth on the amount of money you put in there and the kid gets to keep it. I mean, that's pretty stinking incredible. So a really, really good way to go. Now, I would not overfund a 529. I would fund it to the area, to the level that you think you're actually going to need for the kid to go to school. Jack's in Ocala, Florida.
Starting point is 00:35:55 Hi, Jack. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. So I have about $14,000 sitting in a traditional savings account. It's supposed to be used for my college, but I know I'm not going to need it over the next two to two and a half years. So I'd like to use that to put it towards my first house in about three or four years. So at that point, I was thinking about putting it in municipal bonds. No, absolutely not.
Starting point is 00:36:23 I already thought about that. Oh, absolutely not. Horrible idea oh absolutely not horrible idea you don't know how the bond market works as interest rates go up bond values go down we are an increase we are in an increasing interest rate environment bond bond market is the last place you want to be in the next four years no absolutely not i wouldn't put a dime in there. I don't have any bonds, not a one. And you're going to end up losing money doing that, much less making money. Now, I'd leave it sitting right where it is to ensure that you get through school debt-free. You don't think you're going to need it.
Starting point is 00:36:57 I hope you don't need it. But if you need it, the most important thing, Jack, you can have is that money available, and you just write the check and pay the tuition. I wouldn't be screwing around with this money i'd let it just sit there it's not going to earn anything i get that part i get your frustration with that but i don't you know i don't care i would rather it sit there and that way we know that jack comes out with zero debt and jack graduates and this is a good thing and then that money will be sitting there and you can use it for your first down payment and so forth. But the money you can make on $14,000 over the next two years investing it or three years, it's not worth taking the risk.
Starting point is 00:37:33 I mean, if you made 10% on it, you make $1,400 a year. We're talking about $3,000, $4,000. And, you know, but that's if you made 10%. If you didn't and you lost money, you could lose that much money. So I wouldn't take the risk personally in your situation. I'd rather just sit there and guarantee you graduate. Well, Black Friday week is in full swing. You know better than to pay full price for stuff, right? No, you shouldn't have to do that. Not with Black Friday week is in full swing. You know better than to pay full price for stuff, right?
Starting point is 00:38:05 No, you shouldn't have to do that. Not with Black Friday. And, you know, don't battle those store crowds. Oh, my gosh. So you can shop online from now through November the 25th and take advantage of our Black Friday deals at DaveRamsey.com with no lines. Yep, we're bringing back the famous $10 sale. We're offering 79% off some of our top gifts. This is one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year.
Starting point is 00:38:33 And you can get Chris Hogan's brand new book, Everyday Millionaires, which is on sale, pre-sale now. We'll, of course, be delivering that in January. Get a live stream and over $50 worth of free bonus items. Or you can get our number one kids bundle, the Adventure Pack, plus two free audio books. There's just all kinds of deals at DaveRamsey.com for this special shopping week. And most of all, there's no lines. So just go to DaveRamsey.com or call customer care. They'll help you out at 888-22-PIECE. 888-227-3223.
Starting point is 00:39:08 Hurry up. These deals are not going to last. $10 sale means you can get all the different books at $10. I mean, pretty incredible. Pretty incredible. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jessica is in the Ramsey Baby Steps community on Facebook, which you can join if you ask. Since starting the Baby Steps, I have paid off six cards out of ten.
Starting point is 00:39:34 Should I just go ahead and cancel each card already paid off, or keep them but don't use them? Cancel them, cut them up. Cancel them, cut them all up. Cancel them as you get them paid off. As as you're going to paid off, close them up. That way there's no fraud and no temptation on your part. The number of people who actually have their credit card number memorized is amazing to me. If you leave that account open, even if you don't have the card, the number of you that will enter that into a website and buy something.
Starting point is 00:40:05 Can't believe it. Don't do that. No, cut them up. Close them. and buy something? Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. Can't believe it. Don't do that, no. Cut them up, close them. Cut them up, close them. Be done with it. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Here's a tip.
Starting point is 00:40:46 To keep from missing Dave's classic facial expressions to some of those calls, make sure you watch him live. Just visit Dave Ramsey.com slash show each day from two to 5 p.m. Eastern.

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