The Ramsey Show - App - My Fiancée Has $350K in Student Loans! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

Debt, Home Buying, Taxes, Education, Debt, Budgeting, Career As heard on this episode: 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

🎵 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. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. His show, The Dr. John Deloney Show, is where, oh, it's an amazingly popular podcast where they talk about life and boundaries and relationships and mental health things that are going on.

So we will talk about all of that and your money this hour 888-825-5225 ali and jesse are on the line with us in montgomery alabama to start off this hour hey guys how are you hi it's actually just ali now my husband had to go get the one-year-old oh that'll work okay good for him so what's up so our question is we are kind of having a disagreement over what to do with our money um as of august we are completely debt free um and we currently have 35 000 in our joint savings account i hate it when that happens. The house and everything is debt-free? So we are military, so we move frequently, and we had to sell our home in Washington to move here to Alabama, and with the proceeds from that, we paid off everything that we owned, student loan debt, everything.

And we have $35,000 right now. We're a joint income home. We bring home about $6,000 a month and currently have $4,000 a month going into savings. Our disagreement is he wants to use the money we currently have in our account as a down payment for a mortgage on a house that we cannot live in for three years. And I would prefer to save that money and maybe wait a year, which if I do my math correctly without interest, that our account would be at about $83,000 at that point. Does he just not want to live on base anymore? So we wouldn't be buying a house here. We would continue to rent here.

The house would actually be back in Washington. Why? Because that's where we plan to retire whenever he gets out of the military. When? He still has 10 years left okay but we are projected to go back yeah you both lose you shouldn't buy a house until you're ready to go back yeah absolutely not so the reason why is it's it's it's a build it's not a purchase i guess it's technically still it doesn't take 10 years to build a house.

Correct. He said that we could rent it out during the meantime. I'm sure. But I don't necessarily want strangers living in my forever home for me to have to fix before I move back in. There are no forever homes. Everybody moves. Just about the time you think you have a forever home, you'll discover forever is not there. So that's bogus. But I don't want renters living in it

either no you don't buy a rental property that you're going to move into later just wait until you get ready to buy right until you get a landowner yeah when you when you come out of the military go build your house where you want to live yeah and even then it's not a forever home how much of this is he he is trying to put an an end date on this thing is this a psychological move for him so our goal was if we were to use this as a down payment we'd want the house paid off before he got out of the military um in order for us to have adult income after he retires with his retirement income from the military and start a woodworking business. So here's what it sounds like.

It sounds like y'all are in a hard season right now, and y'all have created a fantasy of what the world's going to be like in a decade for y'all. And it's cool to have goals and to paint pictures, but y'all are watching a lot of HGTV and you have a fantasy about what a decade from now is going to look like. And that's cool and all, but let it be there until you get there.

I'd much rather you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash or whatever you want to do when you buy a house than go buy something now that you're going to strap yourself to on the other side of the country for a world that you don't know what's going to exist in 10 years you move a renter into this property i'll give you a 90 probability you never live in it ever ever well to be honest you said what i wanted to hear you won't like it yeah so neither one of you

win the argument though so i'd put the 35 000 and whatever you're going to say per month into a good growth stock mutual fund or a series of them meeting with a smart investor pro and that's your house fund and then have enough money saved up to pay cash for a house when you come out of the military and if you are coming out of the military in nine months and you want to start the build, that's fine. But nine years, nah, don't think I would do that. And just do the math on what you think you're going to earn in rental income over the next – it's just like the math doesn't work. It's not worth it.

No. No. And you're not going to move in that house after those rentals. You're just not going to do it. You're going to end up having to gut it and do everything else to get it back to being your – no, don't do that. And by the way, you'd be buying a house in the most bonkers market ever. Wait a decade.

Yeah, this is not the time to buy unless you really, really need to buy. Right. Open phones at 888. Thank you for your service. That's great. Great call. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. Okay, let's go to Michael in Dayton, Ohio. Hey, Michael, how are you? Hey, how are you doing, Dave? Can you hear me well? Absolutely. What's up?

Hey, I just had a question about W-4s. I don't make too much money. I only make like $32,000 a year. And what's the best way to where you don't have to owe taxes at the end of the year, but you give the KGB, I mean the IRS, enough to where you're just getting the maximum year paycheck. Well, there's two ways to do this, or three ways to do this. One way, the simplest way, is if you have made the same amount of money for a while, how long have you made 32? Hello? Michael? Yes yeah can you hear me yeah now i can you need to turn that stupid phone off speaker and talk into it okay now um the how long have you made 32

uh i've made that for probably two years now okay Did you get a tax refund in the last two years? No, I owed money last year. I owed about 800 bucks. Okay. Then you're not having enough taken out. Did you owe money the year before? No. That was the first time that I owed money.

Okay. How much did you refund the year before? I think the year before was about 150 to 200 bucks okay you're pretty close then i mean in so you know yeah you're you're not having enough taken out if you're having to pay extra in when you get there and if you end up having to pay too much extra and they're going to penalize you for not having enough withheld eventually so uh but you know 800 bucks a month is what 80 bucks i mean 800 is like 80 bucks a month so, you know, $800 a month is what, $80? I mean, $800 is like $80 a month.

So, you know, you may want to have that much more taken out of your account. The second way to, that's the quick and dirty way to do it. The second way to do it is actually do your taxes and calculate what your taxes are going to be and make sure that amount is withheld out of your check. And then you'll be exact um and the third way is to do your taxes no that's pretty much it yes it's two ways yeah so that's how you do it this is the ramsey show Imagine a world where people never have to worry about money ever again. At Ramsey Solutions, our mission is to teach people how to get out of debt, build lasting wealth, and be outrageously generous.

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To get more information on these open opportunities, text CAREERS to 33789. Text CAREERS to 33 789 text careers to 33 789 or if you want to learn about this year christmas is in december yeah you knew that and the stress was already starting to build up for you wasn't it hey the stress over the food the travel even the gifts no reason to stress like that doesn't have to be that way you can lay out a plan. You can have confidence. You can have control. You can have peace in your finances. We call it financial peace. We'll show you how to do it in Financial Peace University. We've done that with about 10 million folks now, where we teach them how to get out of debt, how to save money, how to become wealthy and

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It's not that hard. Grace is with us. Grace is in Cincinnati. Hi, Grace. How are you? Good. How are you? Better than I deserve.

What's up? I am 20 years old. I am about halfway through college, and I've racked up about $17,000 in student loan debt. I am currently at the point where I am not really in college anymore for myself. I'm in college for my parents. I really want to go get my real estate license and drop out, essentially. I'm at the point where I am making about $25,000 a year to $30,000 a year, working a full-time job.

I'm in a school as a nontraditional student. I'm attending online and night classes. And I'm just at the point where I feel like it's as a non-traditional student. I'm attending online and night classes, and I'm just at the point where I feel like it's almost a hindrance to my goals, but I want to make my parents happy. What are you studying? I'm in business school, like business undecided marketing. And you have two years to finish. Yeah, I've gotten to about 75 credit hours, and I need about 130 to graduate. How old are you? 20.

I'm 20. Do you still live at home? No, I live on my own. Okay. So your parents want you to do this. They want you to go to school. They want you to get your degree, but they're not paying for it? No, they're not paying for it no they're not okay well let me tell you you frame this in such a way that you were trying to control our answer okay okay because you you desperately wanted i mean you know you wanted us

to say oh you don't need to make your parents happy you need to go live your life and and so you you completely put that together that way live your life and and so you you completely put that together that way i'll go ahead and tell you ahead of time however um i don't want you to do either one okay um i'm gonna choose c none of the above i would finish that degree for you okay while getting your real estate license i've got a degree in finance with a specialization in real estate i got my real estate license when i turned 18 years old and i worked 40 to 60 hours a week for four years while i went through school selling real estate so i did exactly what you're talking about doing and what i'm prescribing for you okay now you got to go sell some stinking houses because you're going to quit your full-time job

or you're going to work a part-time job with your full-time real estate career with your full-time go-to-school thing. But you're going to be glad when you're 30 that you finished up this marketing degree for you, not for them or for me or for John. It's going to be valuable to you um i think i think because i think it's a good field of study and it'll help you with your real estate business if you spend the next 20 years selling houses a marketing degree will be helpful to you and you'll be glad you spent the academic uh rigor to insert these things into your brain but i wouldn't want you to do it for your mom and i wouldn't want you to do it for your mom, and I wouldn't want you to do it for me. I'm asking you to do it for you.

It is, again, I'll tell you what I did. I'll also tell you this. Selling real estate is tough. Selling real estate when you're 20 is even tougher, and that's not me putting you down. I've just been there, done that, and when I was 19 years old and I'm trying to sell a 45-year-old or a 60-year-old a house, it was hard to have credibility with them to help them make that decision harder than it is when you have a 40-year-old talking to a 40-year-old. You see what I'm saying?

So this is a very large transaction for someone, and they're looking at a very young person who's assisting them, so you're going to have to develop a level of professionalism post haste which i think i've gotten with my little experience and internships not to the extent that i think a 40 year old would have per se but um i guess my other question for you would be i don't necessarily have the fun to be a full-time student and i really don't want to go any further in debt i don't i don't want you to either but you're you know all this is about is work and earning you just got to earn enough to pay for it yeah and if you drop down and go take nine hours one semester that's great yeah and you can make more than twenty five

thousand dollars a year what you're making now it's on real estate yeah and you can make more than $25,000 a year, which you're making now just on real estate. Yeah. Even as a 20-year-old, right? I mean, even though you've got an uphill battle, and you walk with an extra swagger, you walk with a little extra strut on your gate, confidence, poise, because that way they can trust you, but you've got to be actually knowing what you're doing

and also why you're doing all this. But I think you can trust you, but you've got to be actually knowing what you're doing and also why you're doing all this. But I think you can do it, but I just wouldn't. I don't think it's an either-or. I hope you hear the wisdom in what Dave told you. Mm-hmm. Your ability to be against something runs out of time. You get exhausted by that. It's much easier, and the legs legs are longer when you are for something you're going towards something you want and you've turned for

some reason and we could probably talk on this for a couple of weeks for some reason you've turned the idea of education as a battle between you and your parents and not as a way for you to pave the way for the rest of your life and for you to learn some new skills and you to become a ninja you've turned it into a well my mom wants me to do it so i don't want to and at least that's how you framed it to us i'm with day i'd love to see you finish and if your school is no good find a cheaper alternative transfer in you're halfway through this is when a lot of people transfer get a school where you're going to be picking up some good information.

But I'm with Dave, man. I want to see you work really, really hard. Graduate. If it takes you three years to do two years' worth of work because you're selling real estate all the time and you're working a side job delivering Uber, I don't care. I did that, yeah. Scratch and claw, baby. Grind.

You're 20. You've got nothing but energy. You're not going to die from hard work. Right before you die, you pass out. You'll be okay. And don't spite yourself don't don't yeah cut your own toes off just to show somebody yeah exactly exactly mom and dad aren't in the equation anymore yeah except that they just get to cheer from the sidelines or boo from the sidelines but that's their decision that's not your decision but um you know you're. I hadn't thought about that.

There's a lot more energy in working for something than against something. Always. Always. You can only work against something until the anger runs out. Well, or what happens is you solve that problem and your identity is shifted from I want to solve this problem to I'm someone who just goes looking for fights. And now I'm fighting out in the street for something that I don't even care about anymore. We're just fighting now. Hey, don't talk about me now john john is in colorado springs hey john

what's up hey guys thank you so much for taking my call you guys are my heroes oh you too sir how can we help you um my question is how do you appropriately ask your employer for a raise two things uh i'm an employer of over a thousand people number one ask how you can add value that would make how can i what can i do here how can i add value to this organization that would make you die to pay me more money you come in my office and ask that i'll give you a list of things to do and then i'll pay you more money because you added more value number one number two uh you're underpaid for a an area that is very definable and they can do an easy compensation study on that area and you know you're you're a project you're a pm2 you're project manager you're in pm2 and

pm2s i'll make x and you're only making y and you show evidence if a pm2 walks into our offices and go look hey here's a study and we go oh we've already got the study so but we're ahead of you but you know if they had done that in the past before we had the comp studies done and said you know here's a realistically people like me make this now and can i what can i do to make sure that this happens here i don't want to be i'm trying to be rude but i just want to be helpful and um we go oh my god you're kidding well we look at it too and we agree then we're going to raise your pay because we want to pay street rate on what you are because we don't want you to leave for street rate i'm not going to pay you

double street rate just because you think your mama thought you were pretty but i'm going to pay you what street rate is on the job you get paid for the job man We'll be right back. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rhoda and Randy are with us in Phoenix. Says on my screen, you guys are debt-free. Congratulations. Yay! How much have you paid off?

$355,000. What? Woo! Yes! How long did this take? Four and a half years. Oh, man. Look at you guys.

And what was your range of income during this time? We started off with $85,000, and we ended at $140,000. Excellent. Very good. And what kind of debt was this uh three hundred and fifty five thousand dollars oh it's it was a mixed salad it was uh credit cards all sorts of credit cards we had some fun tax debt we had uh medical bills and our home whoa paid your house off? Yes. You're weird, people! Way to go, you guys!

Wow. That is so awesome. What is this house worth? Well, we actually just looked at Zillow just recently, and it said just over $600,000. Wow! Woo-hoo! How old are you two? I 41 and i'm 42 and you have a paid for house worth 600 grand yes we do how much is in your 401ks and your retirement accounts we have 378 000 you. You're millionaires.

Yeah. If you have a Honda Accord in the driveway, you made it. Yes, we did. Wow. Congratulations. 40-year-old Baby Steps millionaires. I'm so proud of y'all. Way to go.

Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Way to go. All right. Tell us a story. What happened? How'd you get intersected with Ramsey five years ago, four and a half years ago, to start on this process? Oh, well, it's actually a really interesting story.

So Rhoda and I met on a reality TV show. Yep. About six years ago, five years ago. And part of the TV show is there was a matchmaker and our matchmakers while at a lunch one day they uh we were sitting down eating and i bought appetizers all sorts of fun stuff and and they had cash and they're like well this is what we had budgeted and they put the cash out there and we're like this is weird. Why aren't you chipping in on all this other stuff? And they're like, well, we have a strict budget.

And when you get married, you share the same finances. And I remember thinking, we were dating at the time, and I was starting to sweat thinking what would happen with, you know, my future wife sharing the same account. And the matchmaker basically looked at me he's like you guys got to get it together you should check out dave ramsey wow yeah so as god god had it he opened up the doors uh i listened to the radio um and then roto's working at a church, and at the church that very week, they had a FPU class starting. And we went, and we drank the Kool-Aid, and we've never turned back.

I love it. Financial Peace University comes through the reality show in the church. Who knew? Yeah. Love it. Very cool, you guys. That's incredible. Very cool. love it very cool you guys that's incredible very cool and here you are 40 something early 40s with a paid for house and your baby steps millionaires i'm so proud of you guys

all right who are your biggest cheerleaders outside the two of you so our friends courtney and blake they also did dave ramsey and they did the free screen they came over there um they were on our back. When we first told them that we started this program, they're like, you guys need to be on it. So they kept cheering us on when we first started. They talked to us about, like, life insurance and all of that, literally, like, calling us to make sure we got stuff done. So they were really awesome. But also our financial advisor, smart vester, we got paired up with the most amazing, amazing smart vester. We love him so much. He pushed us to pay

this house off. Yeah. Dave, when you say that smart vesters need to have a heart of a teacher. Our smart investor, Alex, he really, you know, he held our hand. He educated us. He walked us through it. He showed us that, you know, money isn't just green there. It actually multiplies if you do it the right way. And it was really, really cool. And he held us very accountable. So if somebody's listening and

they say i want to be a 42 year old baby steps millionaire with a paid for house and everything paid off what do you tell them the key is besides obviously join a reality show right we know that for us i am a first generation afric, so we have like two completely cultural backgrounds that this was just like going to be impossible for us. So I would say God first prayer. The Bible says in Proverbs 3, 5, that in all your ways, acknowledge him and he'll direct your path. And we definitely kept our goals and prayed over them every time we took a step. We prayed and prayed.

And budget meetings. That was big, big on budget meetings, making sure that you are always looking and making sure that those little dollars don't have a mind of its own, you know? Yeah. I think what really helped out the most, especially for me, is I believe in that whole proximity principle. Like, you keep those podcasts going, you hear how relatable, how people from grocery stores and every walks of life can do it. They could be an everyday millionaire. They can pay off all their debt. And it becomes so real. And the more we were around it, we were like, okay, this is good. And then we went to FPU.

Three times. Wow. We did FPU Live twice, and Randy went to the Entra Leadership. Wow. Well, thank you guys. Well, you guys are an impressive, impressive young couple. Very, very, very well done. So we got a copy of the Legacy Journey for you.

That's the next chapter in your story. You're there towards that Baby Steps Millionaire thing happening. So very, very well done. And an extra copy of Total Money Makeover for you to give away for somebody who's just starting on their journey. Maybe you're going to be like those matchmakers where you'll be showing them how to do it. I like that. So way to go, you guys. Very, very proud of you.

You are heroes. You're very impressive. All right. Rhoda and Randy Phoenix, Arizona, $355,000 paid off. Four and a half years at 41 and 42 years old. They are baby steps millionaires. Woo! Making $85,000 to $140,000.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! I think our building just shook from Arizona. I'm telling you, man. We blew some speakers out. That's impressive.

Very cool, you guys. Very cool. We're getting to talk to more and more and more of those every day. Can I tell you what's cool? One of the unsung heroes in that story is the matchmaker who's just living their life. This is how I do stuff. And somebody who's a real handsome guy is like, I'm going to order appetizers around the table.

And they said, you're free to do that. This is how I'm choosing to live my life. And that's a bold move in that industry, in that setting. Everyone's trying to impress everybody. And that's a bold move in that industry, in that setting. Everyone's trying to impress everybody. And that person said, you need to. And if y'all are getting married, you ought to be on the same page. You ought to probably check yourself before you wreck yourself.

That's right, man. Be on the same page with your money. Wow. What a cool story. See, I'm starting to meet, after being on the air for 30 years, thousands and thousands of stories just like that that have become Baby Steps Millionaires following the baby steps and that's why we did this new book that we put on pre-sale this week baby steps millionaires i'm so excited for you man how

ordinary people built extraordinary wealth and how you can too you can pre-order it at ramsey solutions right now this is the Ramsey Show. Let's go. Our scripture of the day, Ephesians 2, 4 through 5, but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace that you have been saved. Helen Keller said, Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. No question about it.

Open phones this hour. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. Justin is in Pittsburgh. Hi, Justin. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, John. Thanks so much for taking my call really appreciate it sure what's up uh yeah so the the reason for my call is uh currently 28 years old i've been in a relationship with my girlfriend for the past two years and i'm thinking about taking that relationship to the next step uh here Cool. She is a veterinarian who just graduated last year and is going to bring about $350,000

worth of student loan debt into our marriage. Good lord. Congratulations. Wow. So I guess I really just wanted to call. I've been new to the show, new to you guys, but I've been doing things for the last three or four years and was just curious what your advice would be in regards to how we can plan to make those repayments once we get married,

as well as how we would prioritize that against other large life purchases such as a house, vehicles, things along those lines. That's a hard one, man. How much debt do you have outside of that 350? How much debt do you, are you going to bring into this relationship? Uh, nothing completely debt-free. Um, you know, but I'm saving and investing for, for quite some time. Uh, I have about $21,000 in cash, uh, $60,000 in, uh, my traditional, uh, savings plan, our TSP, and 401K, as well as about an investment portfolio of $110,000.

Okay. That's helpful. What do you make? So, apparently this year, it's got back from a nine-month deployment, so I'm going to make somewhere around $107,000 this year, and then on track to make like $135,000 next year, projection-wise. Okay. And so obviously you're military. Thank you for your service.

Appreciate it. All right. Here's the thing. The number one cause of divorce in North America, money fights and money problems, money stress. You are walking into a mess. She has made an unbelievably large mess. And you guys have, as part of your pre-marriage counseling, have got to, because you have an unusually large mess, you've got to go unusually deep in your relationship and in your agreement on what our short-term and long-term future looks like.

If she says, if she's going to play, and I have no idea, okay, but there's kind of two ends of the spectrum here. If she's going to roll up her sleeves and be blue collar and go, oh, my God, we've made a mess. We're going to dive on this thing. We're going to fix this thing. I'm going to work like a maniac. I'm going to work with every sick puppy in an 800-mile radius as a veterinarian. I'm going to work my tail end off and i'm going to make 200 000 a year while you make 100 000 a year we're going to put your 100 000 out of your investments towards this and we're going to clean this stinking mess up in two years

now you got a woman you can marry if she's like oh well you know it might take us 30 years and i don't really want to work that much i went and spent 350 000 to become a veterinarian but i'm not going to veterinary much run run yeah no she's she's definitely fantastic and uh you know oh i know she's fantastic that wasn't what i asked so is is she all in, brother? Is she in on the work part? She's in on the work part. You know, she definitely, when she looks at the grand amounts, you know, her heart kind of pounds a little bit.

Good. I definitely think that it's something that's on the tip of her mind. But, you know, with our goals. What branch of the military are you in uh navy sir yep what do you do uh well so i'm in the the reserves actually so um i'm a supply guy in the navy and then uh i work in the oil gas field as a program manager so gotcha okay this is a program to be managed it's exactly what this is and And here's the deal. The deeper you sacrifice in hours of work and in lack of lifestyle, the faster this mess goes away. The faster this mess goes away, the higher the probability is that it's going to go away and you don't crash in the middle of it. And the faster it goes away goes away obviously the faster you can go become very very wealthy and you can back your hours back down where you can breathe again but both of you are

going to be working like maniacs and you're going to live on nothing and you're going to drain every account that's not a retirement account you're going to throw it at this after the honeymoon and you guys are living on a budget that's beans and rice rice and beans and she's working all the time until she cleans this mess okay and then one more thing i want to throw at you can you got capacity for one more absolutely john all right you agree to this and you walk down that aisle this is not going to be you versus her this is going to be you with her right and so i know especially i know guys who like to flex and say well if you hadn't and if you had once you're in y'all are in this together and so the shame part's over then it's just y'all about y'all digging and building it's not about

her digging something out and you just standing there watching it as she digs right we're all in this together is that fair absolutely? Absolutely. That's awesome. That's awesome. Good, man. The problem becomes ours and the opportunity becomes ours. That's right. Both. And listen, here's the thing.

You guys will come out of this so freaking strong. Oh, man. And your relationship will be so strong and your character will be so strong if you bust up into this. But if you screw around with this this is a mountain and it'll bury you guys that's what i'm concerned about yeah so you got it's got to be like game on and all her friends coming out of vet school are going to get new lexus and they're going to get new houses and all that stuff they can all jump in the creek man because they're

dumber than rocks they're gonna they're gonna make a mess i'm telling you man you're gonna have to be so laser focused but the beautiful thing is that's gonna knit you all together like a because you're fighting a common foe a common enemy and you you're knitted together it's gonna it's gonna do stuff in the dna of your relationship that uh that easy times won't bring to your relationship. Absolutely. So it's a huge opportunity if you approach it right and you're both fully committed to it. But it's a huge problem if either one of you are going to be half-buttoned this thing.

So you're, like, blaming her or she's, like, going to be a little princess or whatever with a vet coat on. I mean, no, you've got run, got run run away you know that's the thing if that's the case but i don't think that's her i i think she's special and um and i know you are after talking to you yeah so i think you guys can do it but this is the parameters this is the boundaries by which this huge mess becomes a blessing to your family generationally. Because you'll be telling the grandkids with the marshmallows on the end of a stick someday 50 years from now, well, back in the day when your granny got out of ed school, we didn't have nothing. And we had to work, and we had to sweat.

I had my that's why you're here on the back of this mountain and we own the whole stinking mountain and you're doing your marshmallow here kid this is your story man and grandma had her arm halfway up a cow's you know but we got it paid off we got it paid off you could have never gone there we'd have been okay hey man if i'm grandma that's what i'm pulling out you went and played your oil and gas i had to stick my i had to go shoulder deep to get this debt paid off but i did it but i did it oh you are wrong that's awesome oh well that's it i mean you you've got to have the story. It's like when you're getting out and you're driving a junk car,

you're driving a hoopty, you need to give the hoopty a name, and you need to take pictures of it. It needs to be on the wall. Never forget. Picture the hoopty. This is why we're here. No more. Because we did this.

Yes. And that changes everything. And there's nothing wrong with telling those stories. That's what families are made of that have substance to them. That's right. It's good stuff. And you're getting ready to build one of those, Justin. Proud of you, man.

John, glad to have you on the show until the last three minutes. But, James, good show. Laura, good show. That puts us out of the Ramsey Show in books. 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. Have a friend or a family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life?

Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.