The Ramsey Show - App - Making Your Marriage More Important Than Your Money (Hour 1)

Episode Date: November 29, 2018

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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. Open phones this hour as we talk about your life and your money. It is a free call at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225 that's 888-825-5225 the advice is free and some folks say it's worth what you pay for it ashley is in baltimore hey ashley how are you hi dave how are you better than i deserve what's up just had a quick question. So I just completed FPU. So I'm trying to follow your plan exactly. And I had a question about life insurance. Okay. So my parents started a

universal life for my brother and I back when we were younger, and I wanted to cash out the value of the universal life policy and get term life. I'm 29, and I don't have any dependents, and I believe in the FPU video you stated that you needed to do 10 times your income. So I didn't know if that would still apply to me if it's just myself and I don't have any dependents. No. If you don't have any dependents and it's just yourself, the only thing you would need to do would be to have enough to take care of your burial.

Do you have your emergency fund in place? Yes. Okay. And how much is in that? $2,000. $2,000. So you're working on baby step three then, trying to finish it up to a fully funded emergency fund? Well, I wanted to just have a little more than a thousand so oh you're on baby step one okay so you're trying to get out of debt right now

yes sir okay all right uh do you own a home no do you own a car yes i just paid it off two weeks ago what's it worth um it is worth probably about $6,500. Okay. So if something happened to you today, your parents could sell the car and use that to pay for your funeral, correct? Mm-hmm. And that's really all you need to cover. So you can just drop the policy. Okay.

Yeah, you don't need to carry life insurance. The reason for life insurance is to replace your income when other people count on your income. But no one's counting on your income to eat right now. So someday when you're married, have kids, that kind of thing, if that happens, then at that point you would need to carry life insurance. But you've got enough to take care of your burial with the sale of your car. Later on, you'll have your emergency fund fully funded of three to six months of expenses. And at that point, you know, you'll have enough cash to bury you if something happens to you

and no one's going to go hungry because you're not here producing an income for them. And that's really what life insurance is for. So it's kind of like if you think about if you're 32 and you've got two little kids and you make $60,000 a year, you die. Those kids count and the husband and wife counts on that $60,000 coming in. And so if you had $600,000 invested, you would have 10 times, you know, you'd be making somebody invested that at 10%. They would be making $60,000 a year. So we've replaced your income. But they're counting on your income at that point.

Right now, there's not anybody counting on your income. So I would not go to the expense of life insurance today. I would just cash that in. And if there's a cash value in it, use it to help you finish getting out of debt. Rico is with us in Cincinnati. Hi, Rico. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing well.

How are you today, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm calling because I'm trying to get some guidance on where to shift, I guess, and the baby steps are kind of what we should do. I'm on board, but my wife is Dave-ish. So it's been challenging in that regard. We paid off everything except like a very large student loan of like $92,000. We didn't have a mortgage at the time. So I kind of treated the loan like a mortgage and we went ahead and finished our emergency savings

and, you know, should have been getting started on four, five, and six, but we were kind of not in agreement. So we started saving for a down payment and things like that for a home. And we ended up getting a mortgage. So now we have the mortgage and student loan. They're both pretty much $90,000 each. And I'm trying to figure out, should we just treat those together kind of like a mortgage and just keep doing four, five, and six?

Or should we, you know, I guess get rid of the student loan and then, you know, I don't know. Okay. So how are you familiar with what we teach? We went through financial university like in our first three, four months of marriage. We're like three years married. How long ago was that? This was early 2017. Okay. Just last year.

Yeah. Not even two years ago. I see. Okay. Well, you flunked. Okay. You flunked the class. I mean.

Indeed. You know. Yeah, because we're not totally in agreement. Yeah. And so that's what you've, you know, we're not totally in agreement. Yeah. And so that's what you've just got to decide. I can't tell you what to do. I've already told you what to do and you didn't do it. So, you know, I don't know how this conversation changes that.

So go back through the Financial Peace University materials if you want to know what I think. And it'll tell you exactly what to do, which you already know what to do. And that is your student loan is not a mortgage. It is not baby step six. It's baby step two, and you should have paid it off before you did any of this crap. So now that you're in this mess, you've got to pay off your student loan before you do anything else, and you need to stop your retirement temporarily and completely. But I don't think you're going to do that because i think you and your wife make up your own rules so you know it's whatever y'all want to do i don't care i mean it's not gonna affect me but if you want to know what i think uh that's fairly easy you already know

what i think and you didn't want to do that so you know you just got you know if you want to follow the baby steps baby step two includes all student loan debt. If it's $900,000, it includes it. And so you just got to decide if you're going to do that or not. If you're going to keep a student loan around so long you think it's a pet, you're going to struggle to build wealth. And you keep doing crap out of order and you keep not following good financial planning principles, you're going to struggle building wealth. But, you know, because you're doing whatever you want to do, and that's what you've got to do.

Thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. 225. So the reason that we put the baby steps in place 8 million people ago was because folks needed a clear path that followed basic financial planning principles and biblical principles of handling money. And that's where this came from. And it really has worked so well for so many millions of people. And it's, you know, well, it's one size fits all.

Well, I mean, you know, the law of gravity is one size fits all. If you jump off a building, 100% of you will hit the sidewalk. The law of gravity is one size fits all. The truth principles are one size fits all. And so the shortest path to building wealth is to not have any debt. That is one size fits all. And that's because it's the truth. And if you're listening to my voice right now, you're not the exception.

So you get to decide what you want to do, but that is the shortest path to building wealth. And all the data points we find from all the millionaires that we've studied, it's what they've done. So you guys get to decide what you want to do. But if what you're doing is already working, then do what you're doing. You don't need to ask me. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM,

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Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you are here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Bill's in Richmond, Virginia. Hi, Bill. How are you? Hi, Dave.

Hey, what's up? My wife and I, we're in baby step number two. Okay. We owe $97,000 on a line of credit, and we've just had one of those hiccups in life where my car is now in need of a transmission. A 10-year-old car is probably worth $2,000. It's going to cost more to put a transmission in than it's worth.

So right now, my question is, I've looked at other cars. I saw one that I liked last night. It's about $5,500. Agreed on a price. Should I borrow all my line of credit to get that car because I'm going to need to go back and forth to work? That's my question for you. So you have $1,000 saved. Yes.

And what's your household income? Anywhere from about $165 to $190. Oh, wow. Great income. Okay. And you have two cars or one? Two cars. Well, this one's now got a transmission problem.

Right, right. I got that. Okay. But your wife has a car, right? Yes. Okay. And does she work outside the home? Yes.

Okay. And, I mean, here's the thing. Certainly, the world is not going to come to an end and stop spinning on its axis if you go borrow five grand, make $165,000 on your way out of debt, right? But there's something that happens in the psychology and the emotions of what we're trying to do that that's kind of fallen off the wagon. And so if I'm in your shoes, I'm going to force some unbelievable discomfort for a very short period of time to make the point to myself that I'm done with that. And so it's what Sharon and I have done many, many times in our lives. In other words, what we said

is we don't borrow money. Now, how do we solve this problem? You see what I'm saying? And if you draw that line in the sand and you chisel that in stone, then how do we solve this problem? Well, you make really, really good money. And so you could have, if you stop everything, you could have $2,000, $3,000 next month, right? Yes. I get you.

Yeah. So, I don't know. You pair up in one car for a month. You rent a car from dollar for a month. I don't know. Which would be, I don't know, would be i don't know 300 bucks or something right you got that and uh but if you just said i don't have the option of borrowing money because i don't borrow money then how would i solve this problem how would i skin this cat right and that's

what that's what's been so freeing to sharon and i for so years, because we've run into stuff like you're running into over the years. There's a lot of stuff we wanted to do and couldn't do right then, or it was really uncomfortable or whatever, especially in the early days of doing this stuff, which is what you're in. So you can certainly do whatever you want to do. But I'm going to advise you to take some kind of an uncomfortable, inconvenient methodology that caught because i don't see anything convenient or comfortable that's going to allow you to have a car tomorrow

um and so you know the two things that come to mind is a pair up in one car or rent a car for a month or if you got a you know as your your grandmother got a car that's sitting in her driveway 90 of the time you borrow you borrow it for three weeks. I mean, with the kind of money you guys make in one or two checks, you could have $3,000 or $4,000 if you stop everything. So stop your debt snowball. Stop everything. And we're going to go solve this emergency problem we've got. Oh, by the way, your car sells without a transmission in it for $500 or $600.

You're going to get some kind of money out of it salvaged, and that goes in the territory. It's certainly an emergency. You can use the $1,000 that's laying there, and then we start again, and we, you know, baby step one's $1,000 saved, and then we start back on the debt snowball. That's what I got to advise you to do, do because something's gonna happen inside of your all's relationship inside of your behavior and because you said we don't do this anymore and that's what i'm going to advise you to do and that's my reasoning because folks everybody out there listening here's the thing we solve so many of our problems that we have with debt that it just becomes normal.

And everybody's in debt. Consequently, everybody's broke. So we somehow have to, there has to be something that snaps down inside of you. Now, Sharon and I didn't have a choice. We went broke. You guys listening, you got a choice. I mean, Bill's got a choice.

He can go either way and nobody's going to call you stupid or crazy or whatever but you know you got you could go either way you could you can go get the 5500 and then just turn around pay it right back off you you'll be okay to do that it's not the end of the world but there's something to be there's something that you acquire in your character that you acquire in your spirit when you say i don't do that anymore i don't do that anymore and there's not a circumstance under which i do it and we figure it out and and you know that's what you're facing and i've had lots of stuff i didn't do over the last 30 years since I quit borrowing money because I didn't have the money.

Lots of stuff. There's always something. Hey, that's my opinion. So it's just fun to think about because it's a spiritual philosophical discussion more really than it's a math discussion for you, Bill. Good call, man. And I appreciate your spirit on this. Mary is with us. Mary's in Dayton, Ohio. Hi, Mary. How are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

Well, last week you talked to a woman about you asked her if you would take out a mortgage to invest in the market, and that got me thinking and I kind of have the same situation i'm wondering if i should pay off my mortgage and take it out of my brokerage account but that would only leave me fifty six thousand dollars left in the brokerage account and how much money do you have other than your brokerage account i have a two annuities and social security that i'm living off of and how much is in the two annuities um the transamerica is 142 000 and prudential is 94 and the brokerage account has

a hunt well yes 136 okay i lost like 20 000 due the market, so that's why I'm getting scared. Yeah. Because I can make it all the time. How old are you? 63. And you're completely retired? Yes. Okay.

Well, I've never worked. My life is, I live life totally opposite from what you teach. So now it's like I'm trying to get it together, and I hope I'm not too old. No, you're not too old. We can always learn something, can't we? My husband, that's how I got this money. Okay. This is my husband's.

He passed away from leukemia, so the annuities are his 401K and his pension and his Social Security, the widow's benefit. So the Social Security and the money coming from the annuities, can you live on that? I'm squeaking by. If you didn't have a house payment, you could live on it easier, right? Oh, easy. Yeah. That's, yeah.

I'd pay off your house today. Even though it only leaves me with $56,000. No, it leaves you with $300,000, counting all the annuities. Oh. You know? You're not broke. Oh, I see. I see what you're saying.

Okay. Yeah, and just this one brokerage account is down lower, but so what? And that brokerage account sounds like it's invested pretty aggressively, which you may want to sit down with someone and understand a little bit better what you're invested in there. I don't know that you ought to be playing single stocks. I know you shouldn't in your situation, and it sounds like that's what they're doing with this. So you may want to sit down with one of our SmartVestor pros and just talk about investing that money a little more conservatively than the way it is now.

I don't know how it's invested, but you just have to look at it and learn and think about that. But I'd pay off your house today and then make sure you're on a budget, kiddo, and that you're living on the money that you've got coming in. But without a house payment, I think that budget will start to work again. But you can't be spending more than you make you're not in congress so you got to behave this is the dave ramsey show Identity theft has become an epidemic. Data breaches are being reported every day, and hundreds of millions of people have had their identities stolen, sometimes multiple times.

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All the way in from Seattle, Washington. Scott and Ashley are in the lobby. Hey, guys. How are you? Hi, Dave. Hi. You did it. I'm proud of you.

Thank you. Well done. How much debt have you paid off? We paid off $35,000 in seven months. Boom. Just like that. I love it. Very cool.

And your household income during that time? We were at the low to mid-100s. Okay. All right. Cool. Very good. Good for you. What kind of debt was the $35,000?

Student loans. Okay. All right. So now we've known each other longer than seven months. A lot longer than seven months. We've been doing work with Timeshare Exit Team for several years. So what happened seven months ago that made you go, hey, that guy's not crazy. I'm doing this.

What happened? So I've always been a fan. I've always been a fan of yours. I've been listening to you for a long time and read your books. I couldn't get him on board. Ah. But we did do Financial Peace University online. Okay.

And then a little before seven months ago, we found out from our landlord that we needed to move. Oh. And I knew that we couldn't buy a house. He knew that we couldn't buy a house, and we decided that we needed to get on the same page. We needed to... Get in tents. Yeah. The landlord woke you up. Yeah. I yeah very cool good well you did it we did very cool what do you tell

people the key to getting out of debt is i think the big thing for us was um one listening to her she already knew but really you know we uh took financial peace online and honestly the words about hey this is going to be something that you better get on board with together or else it's not Really, you know, we took financial peace online, and honestly, the words about, hey, this is going to be something that you better get on board with together, or else it's not going to work out, and not just work out like you're going to be in debt, but work out like your relationship. And she's worth more than my money, so I had to get on board.

There you go. Cool. Are you glad you did it? Not a day that we go by that's not thankful for it. Yeah. Amen. Way to go. Will you ever go did it? Not a day that we go by that's not thankful for it. Yeah. Amen. Way to go. Will you ever go back?

No. No. We've changed our family train. We're so grateful for that. I love it. Way to go, you guys. Very cool. Who was your biggest cheerleader outside of your house?

I know it's inside of our house, but our kids. We have three daughters at home. Okay. And they're 14, 11, and six. And they were with us the whole step of the way. They would cross out and color in a line as we would pay off, make a payment. And they practiced their debt-free screams all the time. And that left a mark on them, didn't it? Yes. And Dave, I'll be honest, your staff too, even though we're doing business and talking,

they were invested in our journey. And they've been rooting for us. They're here today. And they were all just as invested in our success as we were. Yeah, half the dadgum broadcast team's over here to cheer you on, man. They're not even doing their work. We're excited. Cool.

Well done, man. Thank you. Well done. Very proud Thank you. Well done. Very proud of you. Excellent. What was the hardest part of this for you all in the last seven months? I think saying no and being okay with that. Yeah.

And, you know, not doing vacations, saying no to vacations that family would invite us on. I think also saying no to things that are good for our kids that we know, but we knew that having that delayed gratification and making a sacrifice now would be so much better for our family and for our kids. We found blessings in that too, I think also. Kids want to do soccer and piano and basketball and all these things at the exact same time,

and we just said no one at a time. And as we said that, then we also found all this joy in the family time that we gained back from not being as busy with all the other things. Oh, there you go. Yeah. That's good. Yeah, we get too programmed. Definitely.

We all do. We all do. Good job. Well done. Thank you. Got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired. We want that to be the next chapter in your story, that now you're going to become millionaires and outrageously generous as you go along, okay?

Looking forward to it. Well done. I love it. Proud of you guys, my friend. Scott and Ashley from Seattle, Washington. $35,000 paid off in seven months. Making mid-100s. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Love it! Love it, love it, love it, love it! Man, oh man, oh man. That is fabulous. That's how it's done right there.

Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. Find out for yourself why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos every month, you save even more. Use the promo code Ramsey at Blinds.com. Nate's in Pennsylvania. Dave, should I cash out my stock for my emergency fund? 45 years old, married, $85,000 income, no debt, $70,000 mortgage. Tough to get to an emergency fund after doing every dollar budget.

I don't have an emergency fund. I recently stopped my 401K to try to fund it. Stock total is around $25,000. Thank you. have an emergency fund. I recently stopped my 401k to try to fund it. Stock totals around $25,000. Thank you. Yes, I would. Basically, your emergency fund is in stock, which is a really crazy place to have your emergency fund because about the time you have an emergency is when the stock market is going to go down or that stock is going to die for some reason or another. So yeah, I would cash that out and use it for your appropriate baby steps. Get your emergency fund in place and then make sure that baby steps 4, 5, and 6 start to happen.

That's exactly how I would do it. So, hey, good question. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. We're glad you are here. Isaac is on Twitter. Dave, I'm on baby step four, working on my retirement, and I'm looking to go back and get my MBA.

I'm able to pay for it in cash, but will delay buying a house. My parents offered to help out. Should I take the help? If the help is a gift and not a loan, sure. That'd be wonderful if they can afford it. If they're borrowing the money to give it to you, no. If they're loaning you the money, no, that's not help. That's a trap for both of you.

But if they have extra money and they're doing very well financially and they want to gift you some money to assist with the MBA or assist with the purchase of the home, either one, that would be awesome. I think that's cool. But we're paying cash for everything we're doing here in this whole scenario. It's the only way to go. Kelly's in Salt Lake City. Hi, Kelly.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So my husband and I are going to be selling our home in the summer. We have quite a bit of equity in it, which will cause us to finish step two and three. Good.

I also have been awarded total and permanent disability discharge for my student loans. So what we are wondering is we're hoping to have our credit score go down to zero and go through Churchill. We are wondering, I'm going to be monitored for three years with a discharge. Will that cause any issues with our credit score going to zero? What is going to be monitored? Just your health is going to be monitored well yeah so um my disability is a um an autoimmune disability where it's basically

caused my hands to close up um so they are going to monitor it for three years to make sure i guess so i can't work. Before they release your student loan? See, that's what I'm not sure. Like, it just says that it's been awarded, but I'll be monitored for three years. Okay, I have no idea. I don't know if that's something. Yeah, I have no idea what that's going to mean. I hope it means that they've knocked the student loan off of your credit bureau report and they won't be reporting on it anymore.

I hope that's what it means. Okay. But I don't know for okay but i don't know for sure i don't know for sure the fact that you've gotten this uh award from them it's usually a real pain in the butt to get that piece of paper so you've really accomplished something by getting it this far and uh you've obviously jumped through a lot of hoops to prove your actual disability because they don't they're supposed to do that and it's what's you know if you become permanently disabled student loans you know sally may student loans are forgiven if you die sally may student loans are forgiven they don't count

against your estate but um but man going through the process with those people it is a pain in the butt so the fact that you've gotten this far is a big deal congratulations but i honestly do not know what they're going to do with your FICO score, what they're going to do with reporting it to the credit bureau. Ask them. See if they know. They may not know. They're not that competent, generally. But ask them. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Vanessa is in New Orleans.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Vanessa. Thanks, Dave. I've been a listener for a long time. I'm delighted to talk to you. Well, you too. Thank you for listening. How can I help? So recently I received an inheritance from my grandfather and my parents.

And my situation has changed quite a bit from when I first started listening to you. Because I was married at the time and we had a really good income and we went through Financial Peace University and did really great. But fast forward a decade later, I'm in a new situation, a new relationship. I brought in quite a bit of debt into this relationship and my boyfriend at the time is supporting me while I finished my internship for graduate school. The plan was once I graduated, I would start paying off on my debt. But so now I'm trying to decide what do I do with the inheritance it's only $15,000 it wouldn't even put a dent in one of my student loans so I'm trying to decide do I put it in a money market account do I put it in a CD because I definitely want it I want to try to be smart with my money this time, and I want to make sure that I have kind of a safety net if I do find myself, you know, back on my own again.

And I don't get the job that I anticipate getting when I graduate. So I guess, you know, I wanted to reach out to you and see what your thoughts are when you do get a little extra cushion, but it's not enough to cover the existing debt you already have. Well, if you were working the baby steps, you would apply to the debt. But right now it's on hold while you're in school and you're broke, right? Yes, sir. And so you're not working them right now. I wouldn't be if I were you.

I think you're wise to do that. So what are you studying? I am studying clinical mental health i'm working towards my license to be a professional therapist got it and when will you graduate i graduate in may oh good good and is that is the uh is everything paid for through may um as far as my just uh daily expenses or monthly expenses no your your your education your tuition um yes currently we're my boyfriend and i are paying cash for it okay do you work um i have a couple of side jobs um i'm a tour guide for my city, and I babysit, but it basically covers my car insurance and gas.

Otherwise, he covers all of our expenses. He's paying for your tuition. Yes, sir, and the intent that I will, when I finish, I'm going to set something up to pay him back. But he is floating me right now while I finish because it's pretty much a full time seeing clients commuting assignments research it's 40 plus hours a week that i put into it you're going into debt to your boyfriend yes no what will it cost to finish school if you paid for it um it would pretty much drain my inheritance um it would take about about another six or seven grand to finish and you of the 15 yeah i don't

think i want you in debt to your to anybody i don't want you continually going in debt with fifteen thousand dollars laying in your account. So I would pay cash for myself. And if you're married, it's completely different, but you're not married. Right. No. If you're married, his money is your money, his money is your money. But you're not married, so you're borrowing money from this guy.

That's just bad. Okay. I'm not going to tell you to continue that i would use the money to not add any more debt to your situation finish your degree okay and then start your baby steps which is to begin to clear up all your debts which is your existing student loans plus your debt to your boyfriend and you'll start to clean those up when you graduate in May, get licensed, and get your real therapist job at that point and start making some money. But no, I'm not going to put money in an account and borrow money from your boyfriend. No, not a chance.

Kevin is in Springfield, Mass. Hi, Kevin. How are you? Good. Yourself? Better than I Kevin. How are you? Good. Yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I started listening about a month ago to you, and right before I started listening,

I bought a $30,000 truck. Ouch. I'm on step two already, the baby steps. Cool. And when I started, I was $186,000 in debt. Wow. Not counting your rent. And when I started, I was $186,000 in debt. Wow. I was searching for ways to sell the truck, even though I had bought it only a couple weeks ago. In the meantime, I ended up crashing the truck and totaling it.

Oh, wow. Which, between the truck and other items I've paid off, I've actually reduced my debt by $33,000 between totaling it and other items in the past month that I've already paid off. Okay. What's your income? $120,000 a year. Good for you. And does the 186 include a home?

No. Okay. So what is it, student loans? Like you said, I had never met a debt I didn't, uh, that I didn't, uh, didn't like. So it's personal loans, home improvement loans. Everything in the world. Okay. All right.

Cool. Well, the good news is you make good money and that you're now paying attention to what you're doing. You're being very, very careful and you got to decide what you're going to do. So you're trying to buy a car now, right? Uh, no, I actually had a second vehicle. My question is, in the steps, what step is it okay to start saving money for a vehicle? Do I have to wait all the way through step seven? No, no, no, no, through three.

I want the foundation laid in your life, and then you start buying things and start, you know. So basically, baby step one, two, three, where you get out of debt and have your emergency fund in place is scorched earth. No life until you get an emergency fund in place and you have no debt. You're going to be there pretty quick because you're so intense and you're so intentional. But once you have that emergency fund in place, then baby steps four, five, six, retirement, kids, college, paying off the house earlier, simultaneous. And right in there is when you start saving up to go on vacation again or, you know, you might go out to eat again after that. And, you know, you may buy a couch or a car or whatever, and you save up and pay cash for them as you go.

And all that does is slow down how fast you pay off your home. But that's fine. But to not have an emergency fund fully funded and to be in debt, that's an emergency, the whole thing is. So you've just got to be game on until you get past that. So I would drive the beater that's in the driveway until you get through baby step three, and then I would begin saving and move up in car. So, hey, good question.

Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in. Doug's in St. Louis. Hey, Doug, how are you? Hey, I'm doing good, Dave. And yourself? Better than I deserve.

What's up? Great. Well, I have a question for you. My wife and I are in a Chapter 13. We have two and a half years left. I'm on permanent social security disability. I've lost both my legs and working with prosthetics now, but my wife's a nurse. Between the two of us with the disability and her, we make about $83,000 a year.

We're just trying to find out, does Financial Peace University, would it work effectively for us? Please try that while we were in the chapter 13 yeah what it's going to lead you to do is treat the chapter 13 like one large debt okay and it'll be the last debt you paid and so you can you can dismiss earlier than two and a half years from the 13 by paying it out early you need to work that in conjunction with the chapter 13 trustee but the total amount that is that is still owed in the two and a half years if you just added all that up and said that is one big debt and that's your largest debt at the bottom of your debt snowball even if it's not

the bottom of your debt snowball make it the bottom of your debt snowball okay okay but yeah because you might get out i don't know how much is owed in the 13 still or what other debts you've got. But as an example, you could, say, finish in a year and a half, a year early. And you just have to coordinate that with a Chapter 13 trustee and work that with them. And they're actually some of the most competent people in the bankruptcy system are the Chapter 13 trustees. They actually have a clue, most of them. And they can walk you. I'm sorry.

They can walk you right through how to do it. A few colleagues we had a little bit ago, she's on social security disability as well. Just this last week, I had $59,000 in student loans forgiven by the government, too, as well. So just to let her know on that three-year monitoring thing, they're sending letters out right now to whoever has the loan, and they're totally forgiving them. Just pick them zero, and they will report to the credit bureau as well. That's reported at zero? Yes, it reported zero or charged off.

They haven't said which yet. Okay, cool. That's great news. Good. Well, I'm sorry you guys are facing all that you're facing, but that's how I would address your 13th. Hey, thank you, Doug. Appreciate you joining us. That puts this hour of The Dave Ramsey Show in the books.

Hey, guys, this is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm excited to announce that we're now carried on 600 radio stations across the country. To find one near you, head to DaveRamsey.com slash show.