The Ramsey Show - App - My Abusive Boyfriend Won't Let Me Leave My House (Hour 3)

Episode Date: July 7, 2021

Debt, Relationships, Investing Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY: https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup: https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting: https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

Welcome to the Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the 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. My co-host today, number one best-selling author, New York Times best-selling author, Rachel Cruz. Ramsey personality and my daughter. We'll be here answering your questions at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Luke is with us in Little Rock. Hey, Luke, how are you? Hey, Dave, I'm good. Thank you all for having Little Rock. Hey, Luke, how are you? Hey, Dave, I'm good. Thank you all for having me on. Sure, man. What's up? So I made a pretty boneheaded, risky move, but I'm coming out on the good side of it.

I bought a farm a couple months ago, and I bought it for undervalue, and I just got an offer on it that's going to leave me with at minimum $100,000, maybe $130,000, depending on how much my deductions go on taxes. I'm 25. My wife's in school right now and I make about $75,000 a year. And we own the house. We own $165,000 on the house and we own $100,000 on our school. So my question is, what do I need to do with this money? I know I need to get out of debt, but should I live my life and work through the debt and just invest this as though I'd never gotten it and then reap the benefits later? Or what do I need to do? Luke, you said how much you're going to make off this? $100,000, did you say?

At least, yeah. At least, okay. Well, if I woke up in your shoes, once you get the money from this after it sells and taxes are paid and it's all in the clear, I would immediately pay off your student loan. That's the only debt you guys have, right? Is that $100,000 in student loans? We have about a $5,000 loan for a medical bill.

Okay, perfect. Yep, I would just knock all those out, so you'll be completely debt-free, 100% after you sell this farm, which is amazing. Any other cash that you have, I would open up a small money market account or a money market account and put the rest in there because that

will get you close to probably your baby step three, which is three to six months worth of expenses. So having cash in the bank. I have that. You have that already? How much do you have there? About $40,000. $40,000. Okay. Well, I'd go ahead and just throw that at the $100,000, the student loan debt right now. I would clean that out. Keep $1,000 for your emergency fund. So the goal here though, Luke, is to get this debt paid off as quickly as possible. And then on the other side of it with your numbers, you guys are going to have a savings of three to six months of expenses. And then you guys can move on to investing. But I would use the money not to invest right away, like you said. I know it sounds like a good idea. Let's just put

it in the market and forget I ever had it and you wake up 65 you're like oh i'm a millionaire because of this money because the sell the farm but listen if you don't clean up what's going on in the present that's going to sneak up on you so get that cleared get some money for your emergency fund and then you can look at start investing at that point so okay great that's that's what i thought i I needed, but I just needed to hear it from someone else. Yeah, the baby steps are the process we've developed over this 30 years that is the shortest distance between where you are in wealth. The shortest distance between two points, right, straight line.

And so that's what Rachel did. She just walked you right up the baby steps. And so we're going to clear the $5,000 in debt today, write a check when you get off the phone, get rid of that medical debt. We're going to take everything but $1,000 and throw it at the student loans, and then we'll finish the student loans off with the sale of the farm. Now, you've got a couple of issues. One is the farm deal, even though you came on the show knowing that we wouldn't have gone along with the crazy idea of going into debt and hoping you can flip this thing and make money, and yet it worked.

And so you're the guy that walked up to the slot machine and dropped two quarters in and made $200. Right. It's going to be real hard to not do that again. Right. Because you think that's going to happen again. Some part of your brain still thinks that works. And you didn't use that part of the brain when you were talking to us. You discounted it.

But be careful. Just say, I'm not the guy at the slot machine. Because you're going to go do this crap again if you're not careful. Well, the level of anxiety that i felt over buying and and realizing i needed to sell as has kind of pushed me away from that but there is a there is a small bit of me the great news is it worked the bad news is it worked right and it might make you want to do it again. Okay, so that's the danger. Now, when was the closing date on the purchase of the farm? About three months ago, so I know I'm in short-term capital gains.

Yeah, which means ordinary income. And so if you clear 100 net, 40 of that's going to the government. Yeah. So you barely have enough to clear your debt after taxes and your emergency fund so that's that's where you're going to end up unless you've got something else going on we haven't talked about but that's right where you are man so you're you're a wise young man to have recognized that you got out with your skin intact uh and i hope you don't do a repeat because i'm saying that because that's the kind of crap i did. I would go, well, you know, maybe I'm the exception to the rule.

Maybe gravity doesn't apply today. You know, it turns out gravity applies to all of us, right? So I always think I'm the one that can get away with it. There's a level of arrogance. Pride goes before the fall, the Bible says. And, man, I've fallen all over the place. And I'm not saying that's you. I'm susceptible to that.

And so that's why I always warn everybody else. And i think naturally people just have a higher risk tolerance than others you know some people are like i just want that and then some people are like i i it's it there's something about living on the edge that they thrive on i mean honestly though there's a level of that 24 years old we go on a first cruise we'd never been on a cruise. We didn't even know what that was. And your mother is the most risk-averse person on the planet, saves every nickel. And she dropped two dadgum quarters in a slot machine and hit $200. Oh, so this was a true story. This is a true story.

And you know what that $200 cost us? $500. Because she put every quarter she got for the next week into that dadgum slot machine. And she's as risk- averse as you get. But she fell for the, you know, your brain goes, I know it's rigged. I know that they make more money on it than they make put out. I know in your brain, your intellect says don't do it. But your emotions going, I'm the exception. And you just keep putting out.

God, man. And I've done that so many times. And I'm not risk averse. Risk doesn't bother me. But even your mom and, you know, you oh, God, man. And I've done that so many times, and I'm not risk averse. Risk doesn't bother me. But even your mom, and you know Sharon's not, Sharon's not, she's not a risk taker. I know, but I'm saying in general. Sure, a slot machine or playing some craps in Vegas. I mean, like every now and then.

Yeah, or I don't know anybody that did that. I won, though. I did. Yeah, see, there we go. What are you, your father's daughter? I paid for half my vacation with my fun envelope. And I even had it in an envelope. I really did. Yeah, see, there we go. What are you, your father's daughter? I paid for half my vacation with my fun envelope. And I even had it in an envelope. I really did.

You're making my point for me. But what I'm saying is I'm not talking about that, because that's like just kind of... I'm not talking about that. But I'm saying, though, people's lifestyle with their money, though. There are people I talk to, and they get a thrill... Oh, I know. Losing money. ...on living on the edge of it. I mean, they do, thrill. Oh, I know. Losing money. Living on the edge of it.

I mean, they do because. It's a dopamine. Whatever. Yes, yes. Stupid telephones. Just got to keep the dopamine going. Keep the smartphone happy. Check 63,000 times a day.

How many times did you check your email today? How many times have you checked your email? 5,000 times. At least while we were on the air. That's what I thought. Oh my God. This is the Ramsey Show. People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, Thank you. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events.

Well, if you've been paying any attention to the real estate market, you've noticed it's crazy out there. Yeah, it's not an amateur hour. If you want to buy a home in this market, you need a pro in your corner. If you're going to sell a home in this market, you could leave $100,000 on the table screwing it up unless you have the right agent that knows what they're doing that does a lot of deals. You need a pro on your side, really. Our agents that we recommend, our endorsed local providers, have years of industry success. They don't compromise your financial goals.

They will not participate in you doing cray-cray. They're going to walk away and let you do it by yourself. They don't want their name on that deal. And so no matter how tough the competition is, you've got to have someone to guide you through this weird and wacky time. So connect with one of our endorsed local provider real estate agents, some of the best in the business. Go to RamseySolutions.com slash agent, and you can find a Ramsey-trusted agent near you.

RamseySolutions.com slash agent. Danielle is in Tampa, Florida. Hi, Danielle. How are you? Hi, Mr. Ramsey. Thank you very Tampa, Florida. Hi, Danielle. How are you? Hi, Mr. Hanson. Thank you very much for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

I'm in a position where I'm thinking about selling my house. My son's father and I live together, and it's not the best situation. Yourblinds.com advice actually was pretty spot on as far as our situation goes. I've connected with one of your ELPs, and I'm just really torn because I love my home and I love my neighborhood, but I just want to be able to pay my debt off and provide better for my son. Okay. So you own the home with your boyfriend? No, sir. it's just me.

You own it? Yes. Okay. When is he leaving? That's a great question. Well, I'll give you the answer. Tonight. I can hear it. No, no, I can hear it.

No, no, I can hear it in your voice. You sound really afraid to me. Yeah, well, I'm trying to talk to you outside, and he's actually standing next to me because he can't go inside. I have about $16,000 worth of debt. It includes a car, a credit card, some medical debt from the birth of our son that I get no help with. My home, your ELP said that I could potentially walk away with about $88,000.

So I could reasonably pay all that off. I could set myself up in a nice townhome or a reasonable townhome in a nice area. Good schools. I've thought all this out. What is your income? I just got a promotion at my job. I've been there about 10 years. I don't quite know what it works out to be, but it's $21 an hour.

I believe it's like $44. Okay. How old are you? I'll be 32 this month, sir. How old's your baby? Eight months. Okay. I don't know if you need to sell your house or not.

You may. That's possible. But that's not your problem today, is it? No, sir. Yeah. Okay. Do you have family in the area? I do.

My mom passed away about two years ago, unfortunately. I still have my dad and brothers. Oh, you have a father and brothers in the area. Yes, I have my grandma and my aunt who would you have a father and brothers in the area. Yes, and my grandma and my aunt who would have room for me and Charlie, my son. Okay. You need to get in the car and go to your dad's house when you hang up the phone. I can't do that, sir. I've tried that already.

Why can't you do that? Do I need to call the police for you? No, sir. We've already gone through that. Well, I'm about to go through it again. You have to... Daniel, where are you, Daniel? Are you outside your house right now? Yes, I am.

You are. Okay. Do you have car keys? Where's your son? In his father's in front of my car all right you need to uh when you hang up you need to call the police you need to call your father and you need to get you and your son away from this guy do you hear me do you understand? This is not going to work otherwise, honey. This is not a house problem, and it's not a debt problem.

You and your son are in danger. Do you understand me? Hello? Yes, sir. Can you hear me? I'm sorry. Where'd you go? Sir, can you hear me? I'm sorry. Where'd you go? Sir, can you hear me? Yeah, I can. Where are you? Okay. I'm sorry. I'm not here.

Did you hear what I said, or were you distracted? Yes, I did, sir. No, I heard you. Okay. So are you going to sit there in the middle of the sewage, or are you going to fix it? I want to fix it. That's why I want it to my home, and I just want to just want to no no no honey we don't need to call a realtor we need to get the boyfriend out of the house and that's going to involve the police and or your father and your brothers he needs to leave it's your house and you're afraid you understand that this is

wrong right yes understand that this is wrong, right? Yes, sir. Okay. You're not the crazy one. I'm talking to the sane one. You know how all the crazy things feel like that? Yeah, I know. All right, I'll tell you what we're going to do.

We're going to put you on hold, and Kelly is going to make sure that law enforcement gets over there, okay? No, sir. No, sir, please. No, baby doll. I'm not going to be able to. No, I can't. I'm not. I can't. I love you and that baby.

I don't want to be in the way. Do what? Just being able to know if I should go home or not. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's okay. It's okay, honey. You're in a hole. I respect you, Mr. Enfield. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's okay. It's okay, honey. I'm sorry, Mr. Enfield. I'm sorry. I trust you. Listen, listen. Easy. Breathe.

You're in a horrible situation, and you have to make the moves to get away from it. Okay? And part of the type of situation that you are in is that part of his psychological job is he has convinced you that you're not able to operate without him. And I'm convinced the only way you're ever going to be able to operate is without him. You understand me? Yes, sir. Okay. Listen, you are worth being okay.

It's worth being okay for your kid. It's worth being okay. It's your freaking house. He's trespassing. We're going to remove the trespasser. It has to happen. Okay? You have to get away from this guy.

Anyone who calls a national radio show and is in this kind of distress tells me that there's serious stuff going on inside your walls. You understand? And then once he's clear, we're going to put you with one of our counselors free. I'm not going to charge you a dime, and we're going to walk with you, and then we can start making decisions about your finances. But you don't have a financial problem. You need a boyfriend-ectomy.

Yeah, I've been eating that. And it's happening today, darling. It's happening today. Yes, sir. Do you understand? Yes, sir. Today. it's happening today do you understand yes sir today and danielle if you feel like you need you and your son need to be somewhere safe then i would get out of the house as well removing him may not well not you know but i mean after he's gone you can make this determination you may need to go somewhere law enforcement but you know get a restraining order you can do

whatever you need to do at that point but you and the baby need to get out of there until he's gone and then you need to get someone to remove him and it's that simple so um that's what you have to do and then you can begin to have a conversation uh in some form of sanity because the situation you are in right now is insane. It's an insane situation. You're not insane, but the situation's crazy, girl. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Hey, we love you.

You hold on a second. Kelly's going to pick up, okay? And we're going to make sure you get taken care of. Thank you. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. It just so happens that we have a crisis trauma counselor as a Ramsey Personality named Dr. John Deloney, who just happened to walk by a minute ago. And so he was able to get on the phone with the young lady, and he's handled people like this before. We'll just leave it at that. And so the Calvary's on the way.

Everybody's okay, or going to be okay shortly. So we're going to walk her through it. And we just work with a lot of extreme situations around here because money brings that out. And so sometimes we can sniff things that, how did you know that? Well, it's just because I've been doing this for 30 years. And I can smell the other end of a bad dude a long way away.

And I've seen it, sadly, too many times. The great news is Dr. John's a whole lot better at this even than I am or you are for sure. Well, you handled it well. But I mean, that's scary. He's got it under on the phone with them and getting everybody in the right places, which is a part. And so it'll be, it's all good for you listeners. Thank you. You can pray for the young lady and her

child she's going to need it she's got a long road from here a lot of healing and good news though in the lobby of ramsey solutions on the debt free stage jordan and selena are with us selena or selena selena selena are with us welcome good to have you guys where do y'all live hi dave where do you guys live? Long Island, New York. All right. Nice. Made the trek to Nashville.

Yeah, took an RV down here to celebrate. How much debt have you guys paid off? $130,000. Whoa. Good for you. And how long did that take? 45 months. Good for you.

And your range of income during that time? $120,000 to $150,000. Cool beans. Excellent. Excellent. Wow. What kind of your range of income during that time? $120 to $150. Cool beans. Excellent. Excellent. Wow. What kind of debt was the $130? Dave, we were disgustingly normal.

It was department stores. It was credit cards. It was a tax bill. It was student loan debt. It was cars. A little bit of everything. Wow. All mixed in together.

Yes. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a teacher and also a real estate agent. And I'm a stay-at-home mom. All right. Very good. How many kids y'all got? We have two.

Oh, sorry. That's okay. Fun, fun. So sweet. And the, man, how long y'all been married? Today's actually our 10-year wedding anniversary. Woo! Boy, congratulations.

Boy, am I romantic, right, Dave? Yeah, that's great. A debt-free scream on the 10-year wedding anniversary. Woo! Congratulations. Boy, am I romantic, right, Dave? Yeah, that's great. A debt-free scream on the 10-year and an RV trip to Nashville. Bring it, bring it. Yeah. Wow. Okay, so what happened four years ago, 45 months ago? Because you guys have been on a pretty long hustle grind here.

Boy, has it been. You know, we were about three days before our next paycheck, and my wife came home from grocery shopping, and I didn't have the heart to tell her, but she used the overdraft account that she didn't know about. And as a man, I didn't have the guts to tell her that we were using overdraft account to get us to payday. And I just said, I make too much money to be this broke.

I worked too hard my whole life to be this broke. And there's got to be a way out of this. And my friend Pedro's here from Rochester. He drove all the way down and I called him. And we got together and he helped me organize my bills electronically and helped me get current. But the only problem was I didn't talk to her. I didn't go to her because as the man and as the provider, I felt it was my responsibility to try to fix this. So a buddy of mine at work mentioned your name. His name is Greg. He mentioned the Total Money Makeover. I read the book. And one day, it was a great plan that I liked because it was steps one, steps two, steps three. But the only problem is I didn't mention it to her.

So I told – There's a theme here. Yeah. And I forever will regret that. And I hope those that are listening will understand that if you are in this marriage, you must work together and stop trying to take the burden. And once I sat down with her and I said, listen, I'm sorry I sold the TV and the treadmill and this and that.

And we need to, we had a lot of friction in the beginning. Yeah. I wasn't a fan of yours. I guess. In the middle. I guess. Come on, your TV's gone. Yeah.

Oh my gosh. What, has this guy lost his mind? It was all because of you and I blamed you. The TV's gone. Where's it gone? Dave Ramsey. Who's Dave Ramsey? Yeah.

He took our TV? What? He would ask me a question about something. I'd be like, why don't you go ask Dave? No. And I deserved it, rightfully so, because I think I just took that burden on. And once we started talking about it, we started to really work together. There was less friction when we talked about the budget.

And she really started to see, we both started to see the small debts going away quick. And then we hit some of the bigger ones. And we started to really have more money at the end of the month. And obviously doing a lot of side hustles. The real estate business that I operate in, and I coach three sports. And she takes on all the responsibility of staying at home with the kids. So we really were dancing and working as a team and we really started to see the debt really go pretty fast in years, you know, two, three and, you know, pretty, not at four, but we almost got there.

Yeah. Wow. Not quite to four, but yeah. Wow. So. It's amazing. All right. Selena.

This is a funny story, but it's also happens a lot and i appreciate the way you the the way you guys are approaching it because it's very helpful for other people um so the total money makeover is the whole thing that's what y'all use that was your map correct you check the podcast or the other stuff you go through financial peace university and just the just the book i that's okay i listen to you every day through the podcast, and I can't help but encourage listeners that... I'm not trying to sell something. I'm just trying to figure out what you did. No, the podcast got me through the daily grind.

Every day on my way to work, every day on the way home. All right, so, Celina, at what point in this process did you get past the, he's lost his mind because of this Dave Ramsey guy? I'm still not. It's stressful every day. It's my 10-year anniversary. Because of her, and he brought me here. I'm down here in an RV.

An RV that I hate, by the way. Come on, Jordan. Come on, Jordan. I know. I know. I know. He better take me to a nice dinner tonight. Dead gum right, he better.

Yeah, I'm going to tell you what the most expensive stinking restaurant in Nashville is. I'm going to set up the reservation. That's what Dave Ramsey does. That's it. Oh, my gosh. That's so fun. Seriously, because you said that you start dancing together. So you got on the same page at some point.

Yes. Yeah, we did. When was that, Selina? That was, oh, Steve. It goes back and forth. You know, sometimes I'm good, sometimes I'm not. But I'm grateful that it's gone on this path. Yeah, okay.

It's ended this way, yeah. All right, wow. Well, it's so good to have you guys. You're fun. So how does it feel, though? I mean, $130,000 of just stuff everywhere. Debt is gone. It feels amazing.

Yeah. You know, we feel that we have so much opportunity now ahead of us and to ultimately give back to people that need it and to also do things like this trip where we can just get an RV that we never used to camp anywhere we didn't you know we just basically used it to drive here but we had plenty of space and it's so relieving

and I thank you guys so much for all the work that you do here at Ramsey Solutions you guys are true light for a lot of us out there well we're honored by that and you guys so much for all the work that you do here at Ramsey Solutions. You guys are a true light for a lot of us out there. Well, we're honored by that, and you guys are heroes. You absolutely did what it took to go win. I'm so proud of you. Thanks. What was the hardest part for you all?

Hardest part for us was when we got to the larger debts. You got to the cars. You got to the student loans, and you're just grinding and grinding. And the advice I can give to people out there is listen to the debt-free screams every day. Listen to the stories because you're going to be one of them one day. And just keep chipping away.

I even have a little turtle sticker on my dashboard and on my driver's, part of my dashboard where I just kind of look at it because a tortoise beats the hare. You just have to slowly peck away. And that was hard because everyone's doing all these different things and consuming things

all around you and going on trips and going out to dinners and we're sitting there, you know, just chugging along. But you don't have $130,000 worth of debt that they do. Right. I'm so proud of y'all. It's awesome. We got a copy of the Legacy Journey for you. That's what you've done is change your legacy.

Bring the kiddos in. Tell us their names and ages. We have Savannah, who's eight, and Abigail, who is six. We call her Cookie. All right. Bring it, Cookie. All right. Sweet girls.

Yeah, beautiful. And we got a copy of the total money makeover for you to give to someone and pay it forward and get their journey started because it started the journey for you guys. Thank you very much. And your friend, having people around you. Yeah. I'm sure it was huge. Way to go, friends.

My father loves here. And my friend Pedro from Rochester came down. Way to go, Pedro. Good job, man. All Pedro from Rochester came down. Way to go, Pedro. Good job, man. All right. Count it down. $130,000 paid off in 45 months. Make it $120,000 to $150,000.

Jordan and Selena, count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Ready? Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah! Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Yeah! Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop! Yeah!

This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day psalm 13 they are like trees planted along the riverbank bearing fruit each season their leaves never wither and they prosper in all they do harriet beecher stowe said never give up for that is just the place in time that the tide will turn it's amazing that people get right to where they're almost winning and then they quit and they didn't realize they were that close one more step one more push one last piece of effort would have got them there andy's in cincinnati hey andy welcome to the Ramsey Show. Thank you. I've been hearing a lot about title theft lately, and I'm wondering if I need title insurance.

You don't need title theft insurance, but you do need title insurance. They are two different things. Title insurance is ensuring that the title is clean and that the seller that sold you the property had proper title to transfer to you. It ensures the chain of title up to that point. That's done at the purchase of the property. And if you've got a mortgage, the mortgage company required you to buy title insurance for them, and you could get an owner's title policy simultaneous issue for usually $50 or so.

Yes, you do want that the crap that's on tv you do not want okay yeah you do not need to worry about your fraud your property being fraudulently stolen that version of identity theft is almost uh impossible number one number two it's so rare that it really happens it's i i do not understand how they're getting away with pushing this like it's something that happens every day. All right. Well, thanks for taking my call. Hey, man. Thank you.

We appreciate you joining us. I haven't seen that. What is... So there's TV commercials on cable, and there's other things on this thing. It's in the identity theft space. Of course, we recommend Zander Insurance for identity theft protection, and it would take care of title theft insurance as well. You wouldn't need it because this covers you for that. So it would be like, for instance, if someone wrote a quit claim deed out on your home and signed it as if you signed it over to them, fraudulently signing the property over to someone that it wasn't signed.

In other words, if it's not your signature on the document, then the deed is not valid. It's fraud. Yeah. But then they go and file that deed, and so now it becomes part of record. Then you've got to go and fight the fraud, but you always have to fight the fraud with identity theft. That's part of what identity theft is.

But the crook signs Rachel Winston Cruz,z right on the bottom of this deed does like a quit claim deed as an example back to the crook and so like you have quit claimed that your house to them or your property to them or your real estate to them whatever and then they go and record that quit claim deed at the courthouse but all of that is criminal fraud and it's very traceable right because you don't get any benefits of the property unless we can find you and if we can find you then you go to jail so it's not like we're identity theft on credit cards and stuff see those guys can you know well they they go and you know they they take the card and they get stuff right right and then they disappear right but real estate you can't disappear with it and so you got to kind of hang around to get the benefits of it and so it's very difficult

to actually end up with it's impossible unless somebody just is stupid and lets you walk away with their property right but i mean they're not going to walk away because the crook is readily accessible and goes to jail and so it's very uh it's very rare very unusual but they're running ads as if it happens all the time and you need to get insurance on the title of title theft on your real estate no you do not okay no you do not but you do need identity theft protection which would encompass that that is under it and that's sander insurance and that's what we have on you and all of the people that work here and on me and on, you know, we've got all of this stuff. And so that's because what happens then is, let's say title theft did occur and you had Zander Insurance.

They assign a counselor to take over the problem, and they go and prove that this was fraudulently done. And then they get the deed removed at the courthouse, and they get it all undone. Like they clean up your, you know, like Bank of America opened up a credit card in your name, but it wasn't you. done and then they get the deed removed at the courthouse and they get it all undone like they clean up your you know like bank of america opened up a credit card in your name but it wasn't you because it was a crook well they go get that they get with bank of america and go no no no no no it wasn't them this is theft it's id theft and then they do all the dadgum work because the problem with with identity theft is not that you actually lose the money because you don't it's a fraudulent transaction you're not liable for the debt if debt was opened up in your name you're not you know obviously

you're not going to let them just take your property right real estate you're going to fight that fraud but all the work but it's all the hours and hours and dealing with stupid people at bank of america or stupid people at chase you know because you got the well they think they think you didn't want to pay the bill, so now you're claiming identity theft. No, doofus, I didn't make the bill. And so then they transfer you to the identity theft department, which is dumber than the department you were talking to before. And Xander people take care of all that stupidness for you. And it's just, oh, God, it's a parade of stupid people.

It's just a problem. It's a stupid people parade. All right. Michael's with us in Kansas City. Hey, Michael, how are you? Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure.

How can we help? Yeah. So I was pretty lucky, and I got a job at a company that granted me stock options that bested over four years. And so I have a second year allotment that's bested, that's worth about $182,000 pre-tax. And I'm wondering, do I liquidate that and then jump forward to pay off my mortgage? Or would you reinvest it in like an index fund and then kind of be just slowly paying off the mortgage. So this was an employee benefit.

You did not purchase these stock options. They were given to you as compensation. Yes. Wonderful. And what is the total package worth right now, all the stock options? I mean, estimated value is around $650,000. Wow. Very nice.

What's your mortgage balance? $90,000. Okay. All right. Well, it's kind of a no-brainer to take enough out to pay off your mortgage, isn't it? Yeah. Why would you have a mortgage if you've got $650,000 in your bank account? Yeah, I mean, it's not vested yet.

It obviously does depend upon the stock price. It doesn't depend on the stock price. I'm cashing that crap out and paying off $90,000. How much of it's vested? Roughly about a third. Okay. So let's just say you have $200,000 piled up in the middle of your kitchen table. Yeah.

You see the $100 bills looking at you? You see Uncle Ben? He's winking at you. $200,000 is laying there. Kind of a no-brainer to pay off the mortgage out of that, isn't it? I would think so. Yeah, I think so. I've had so many financial people tell me that.

Well, there's a lot of broke, stupid financial people. Listen, let me tell you, all the data we have on millionaires, they did two major things. One is they get all their debt cleared off, including their home, and the second thing they did was they load up their 401ks and their IRAs, and that's the first $1 to $5 million worth of net worth. Beyond that, you can start doing some other things if you want to, but that's the first $ to five million most people never see this in the inside of that belly to start with so you get there you're in the top you're one of those dadgum ugly one percenters at that point so go ahead and get there first and then we'll worry about all this other

stuff i did not meet millionaires who borrowed on their home to invest in the stock market and got rich. They're not there. I mean, we studied 10,000 of them. They just don't answer the question. They don't go, oh, yeah, we leveraged our home all the time, and we never paid off our home because we wanted to keep investing. They don't say stuff like that. But people with financial blogs living in their mother's basement say stuff like that all the time. And, oh, let's put it in Bitcoin and all kinds of stupid butt stuff.

So, no, don't do that. Let's just use some common sense. Lay a solid foundation in your life that gives you a lot of peace. You got $650,000 freaking dollars. Way to go, man. That's awesome, Michael. I'm so proud of you. That's so incredible.

Yeah, so let's pay off the mortgage immediately. And then from there, you're 100 debt free make sure you have three to six months of expenses set aside for your emergencies and then it's time to be outrageously generous enjoy some of the money and have a systemized plan for investing the rest i was gonna say then i think when when he says yeah i'm getting all these different opinions when you run the, the investing option looks appealing, right? Yeah. But to say, okay, you get to do that still. You get to do all the above.

Yeah, because you got an extra. Paid off from all of us and investing. When we're done, we still have $500,000 to play with here. Right, right, right. So plus. Yeah. It's in really, really good shape. Pretty amazing.

That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. Great job, Rachel. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Thanks for hanging out. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

Hey, guys, this is James, senior producer for The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600 plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, head to theramseyshow.com.