The Ramsey Show - App - My Parents Won the Lottery (Hour 1)

Episode Date: November 16, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host, Chris Hogan, Ramsey Personality. Number one best-selling author is my co-host today here on the air as we talk about your life and your money. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. James is starting off this hour in Tampa, Florida.

Hi, James. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, guys. How are you? Great, man. How can we help? So, question for you, for you both here. Right now, I am 24 and have a great job. I'm not quite sure where I should be saving my money at. I've been pretty financially responsible, I would say, as of now, but I'd like to start thinking about saving for a home, but I don't know if Florida is my forever place, so just looking for some guidance from you guys. Good for you. So, how much debt do you have? No debt.

Not at all? Nope. No student loan, no car payment? No, sir. Okay, very good. That's pretty good, buddy. Did you ever have debt at all, James? I didn't.

I was very fortunate that my parents helped me through college and took care of that for me. So I'm definitely seeing the returns on that. So I owe them a lot, and they really set me up. That's pretty cool, dude. Yes, it is. So what do you make a year? I make about $50,000 base and then commission on top of that. And how much do you have in savings?

About $40,000. Good for you. Well, dude, you're right. You're on top of the world. You're way ahead of the game for a typical 54-year-old, much less a 24-year-old. So average 54-year-old in America can't lay their hands on $1,000 cash, so you're like 50x of that or 40x of that. Well done. So excellent job. Excellent

job. Well, you probably, if you've been listening for more than 10 minutes, we talk about the baby steps. Yep, absolutely. And that's where you want to get $1,000, which James, you can do that. That's going to help you break the habit of using debt. And you've got 40. And you've got 40. So you're well beyond. No debt. So that's baby step two. Baby step three is three to six months of emergency fund. You're there. So now, buddy, you want to start investing 15%. Are you investing yet? I am.

I'm doing about 5% right now. That's where I wanted to start. I've already made the claim to up that beginning of 2021. Good. I've already started talking to someone about that as well. That's good. Yeah, let's get that up to 15%. Let's allocate some of the $40,000 for your emergency fund of three to six months of expenses.

I'll just make up a number. Let's say $15,000 is your emergency fund. Okay? It's probably somewhere around there. You you decide set that in a different account just a money market account just sitting there okay if we did that that would leave 25 000 in the second account correct yep and that's your down payment money where you're saving for your house above the 15 percent that you're putting into retirement beginning in 2021, any more money that you can save, and, dude, you're a saver.

You've been watching yourself very carefully. You just keep adding to that $25,000 until you want to pull that money out and build your down payment and make your purchase, in other words. Yep. And, James, I like that you're not rushing to hurry up and buy. You already said you don't know where Florida is going to be, where you're going to stay. And so if you're thinking of another state, I'd advise you get in there. Once you get relocated, rent there for six months to a year.

Learn about the layout. Learn about where you want to live in whatever state it is. And then when you find a place or you think, hey, I'm going to be here for three to five years, then you can think about buying. Yeah. And, you know, if you think you're going to be in Tampa for two to three years, even though it's not, quote, forever, you probably want to talk about buying. Because Tampa's a great market. It's going to do extremely well on real estate. And it's going to be a great place for you to be an owner.

But if you think you're going to be gone within 18 to 24 months, you probably don't want to buy it because the expenses will take out any profits that you would have made on the house during that time. You got to own a house usually in most markets, three to five years to make money on it. Otherwise, you'd lose money with your expenses on each end. Parents out there, hear this. James's parents taught him about money, and guess what? The boy listened. He not only listened, he did it. So I want to encourage you out there, have those conversations with your young people. Don't have just one. That's called an introduction.

But have a series of conversations with them and help them to understand this so they can get out and start to apply it. You know, I've got a buddy of mine that was a congressman on the wrong side of the aisle. We're buddies anyway. And his daddy was a governor. Uh-huh. So he grew up in the governor's mansion. Ah. And you know what they talked about at dinner?

What's that? What do you think? Politics. Yeah. And guess what? He's a congressman. Yeah. You know what rich people talk about at dinner?

Money. Mm-hmm. You know what? Rich get richer. Poor get poorer. It's not that you're obsessed with it. It it's not that you're greedy it's not that it's preoccupied but it's part of the rhythm of your life a lot of poor people and a lot of broke people that act like they're rich but are poor don't talk about money because every time they bring it up it puts their stomach in their throat in james's house they talked about money oh and they did something about it they paid for his college and uh so he's completely set up not only by the financial contribution

towards college but by the fact that he obviously learned yeah his mom and dad the rhythm of their life was they discussed you know what you discuss at your dinner tables what your kids are going to become do you want them to be spiritual giants? Then you discuss God. Wow. You talk about scripture at the dinner table. Do you want them to be good with money? You talk about money and you keep it in its proper perspective. You keep it in its place.

It's not a God. We don't worship it. That's right. But those that don't talk about it don't know squat about it, to your point. Yeah. And here's the thing. Did you hear the thing out of his mouth? He said, I was fortunate enough for my parents to take care of college.

So he had a spirit of gratitude. Not entitlement. Not entitlement. And I'm going to tell you, that entitlement, boy, oh boy, that's another epidemic we got going on out in our country today. That's a pandemic. It really is. It really and truly is. I deserve crap because I breathe.

Or it's somebody's fault that you don't have it. No, don't do that. Don't do that. Just it's time to wake up and take the bull by the horns, and we've got to do things for ourselves. Well, you know, you become who you hang around with, and I think it's your fault that I don't have hair. There we go. Here it goes. We're shot fired.

Here it goes. Game on. I was trying to be lovable. Yeah, it's all now. Huggable. We're fighting. It's Monday, and he's huggable. That's right.

That's him. You do become who you hang around with. No, I've heard you say that. That's why Rachel Cruz doesn't want to come here and do the show. With either one of us. Because she knows baldism is coming. You hang out with us. It's coming.

Never been a president elected president of the United States since television that was bald. Baldism, I'm telling you. Gerald Ford. It's a thing. No, he wasn't elected. That's true. Dang. He was appointed because his boss resigned.

All right, Ramsey. And he did not get reelected, by the way, when he ran. He got beat. You and I are running in 24. That's it. Ramsey and Hogan. Baldism. We're making it happen, people.

We're victims. We are victims of baldism. I'm entitled. I want my rights. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Life sure has a lot of twists and turns. Unlike a roller coaster, we never know what's around the bend. The same can be true with unanticipated medical bills. That's why Christian

Health Care Ministries, or CHM, is a great option for those who are faith-focused and budget-conscious. CHM is not insurance. Rather, it's Christians helping other Christians carry one another's burdens with health care expenses. You know how important it is to be ready for whatever life throws your way, and unfortunately, medical expenses can be some of the biggest, most unexpected curveballs. With CHM, you'll have peace of mind knowing you and your family have a caring, faith-based community behind you. As a Better Business Bureau accredited charity, CHM has helped its members successfully share over $5 billion in each other's medical bills for nearly 40 years. To see if CHM is right for you, visit online at chministries.org budget. That's chministries.org budget. Chris Hogan, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host on the Dave Ramsey Show today. Brian is in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hi, Brian. How are you? Dave and Chris, how are you guys? Great, man. How can we help? Good. So, first off, I just want to thank the both of you i listen to your guys's show all the time my wife and i started our debt-free journey uh last november

cool we paid almost uh twenty thousand dollars off way to go i'm really excited yes thank you so my call actually isn't about me um my parents uh i'm really emotional about this i apologize uh okay sorry i started my debt-free journey because of them. They've struggled with money. They've always been there for us. They're wonderful people. So they've struggled with money. They were heading into retirement here in these next couple months with a lot of debt.

Mortgage was $80,000, and I think the same amount in credit card and vehicle debt. Well, we found out yesterday that they actually just won, uh, a lottery here. Uh, they won $340,000. Um, I want to make sure that, I mean, I want to help guide them, uh, the way you guys have kind of helped me on what they should do with their finances. Um, they're going to pay off all their debt. I just didn't know what you would recommend they do with their finances. They're going to pay off all their debt. I just didn't know what you would recommend they do with any remaining money as far as investments or savings and stuff along those lines. Well, $340,000 is wonderful, and if you send me a check for that, I'll cash it.

Okay? Absolutely. But let me tell you what happens with people that don't have any money, that are broken in debt, and they win $340,000. Their brain tells them it's $34 million. Right. And I don't want to sound snobbish, but it's not that much money because they can screw this up real easy. It's not so much money that they don't need to become very, very serious about the subject of money, because they still have a lot of problems. This does not set them up for retirement.

It helps, but it doesn't set them up. And so the first thing I would coach you to tell them is to try to help them get their head around the emotions of this is not that much money. So I still need to learn to behave. Yep. Okay? Because if they don't, it's going to just evaporate. And let me tell you, seven years they'll be sitting right where they are today if they do not change their mentality about money. Because their money problems are symptoms of their behaviors.

The behaviors are the core problem. So that's not to shame them or beat them up. When I went broke, it was because my behaviors made me go broke. I did stupid butt stuff, and it always knocks you upside the head. You know what I'm saying? It does. I did stupid butt stuff, and it always knocks you upside the head. You know what I'm saying? Boy, does it. And they've been doing this their whole lives, not because they're bad people. They're wonderful people.

They just suck at money. Okay? So I don't want them to think this heals that. That's what I want to break. Big deal. Sure. Because if we can get inside their psyches and lovingly let them admit out loud and admit down in their guts that this is not this much money but if i play my cards right this could

be the thing that's going to make it okay even though i've messed up up until this point so first thing is yeah we're going to get out of debt then we're going to do some investing and chris can walk you through that and then we're going to put them into ramsey plus where they go through financial Peace University. I'll pay for it. So they just hit the lottery again because that's worth more than $340,000, by the way. Yeah. Because over the scope of their life, when they change their behaviors, they're going to have a lot more than $340,000, even though they're approaching retirement age.

Yep. And, Brian, I have worked with people. I've been with Dave 15 years now. I have worked with people that have hit the lottery, much larger dollar amounts. But I'm going to tell you, the story of the people that do it well are the people that get connected, they understand the game plan, and they start to walk through the baby steps rather quickly because they have that. But here's the ones that didn't do it well. The ones that, as Dave talked about, thought that this was enough to set them up. They didn't change their habits. And these are the people within two and a half years have gone back into debt, gambling or doing something to reach for that other savior. And so I would tell you.

It worked once. It'll work again. It'll happen again. So, Brian, you can guide them, but you can't be that person. Okay. You can guide them, but ultimately how they choose to handle it. You would, I'd get them connected with some people that are really going to love on them and walk with them. But, but that can't be you.

So let's, let's do a couple of things. One is we'll put them into financial peace university and Ramsey plus I'll pay for it for a year so that they can have the chance at this turning their lives around. And it can be a blessing in that regard. If they do not change their habits, the money is going to be wasted, and so will this effort. So this is their shot. This is their opportunity to reset. Okay?

And you've got to get that through to them. Then the second thing is jump on, as Chris said, let's get somebody in their corner, jump on it, uh, at Dave Ramsey.com, click smart Vester. And then when all the debts paid off, we got the emergency fund set aside, whatever's left, let's throw that towards investments. Uh, and I would hold out three or $4,000 to blow and enjoy, but not $30,000. It's not that much money. So you pay off the house, you'll be back in debt. You pay off the cars, you'll be back in debt.

You do all this, you'll be back in debt. If you don't get on a budget, have your emergency fund and live on less than you make the rest of your freaking lives. And then they're going to have a lot more than $340,000 a decade from now. They really will. And Brian, also reach out to one of our tax EOPs. They need to go ahead and get a full view of exactly how this is going to impact their taxes on a federal and a state level.

Probably going to take half of it. You're going to hit them. It's going to get hit. There may not be any money left after you pay off the debt and pay the taxes. It really may not. But either way, as Dave said, it can be a blessing or a curse. It just depends on how they view it and what they do moving forward, my friend. Thank you for calling us.

Yeah, intentionality, intentionality. Bill's in Lansing, Michigan. Hey, Bill, how can we help? Hey, what's up, guys? How are you doing? Great, man. What's up? Good.

First of all, I just want to thank you guys, too. Kind of like the last caller said, my wife and I have been listening to you guys for about a year now, and we've paid off about $43,000 of debt in seven months and just gotten tense, and it's been awesome. So thank you. Wonderful. Good for you. So my question is, we have three kids. We have a 9-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 7-week-old.

And I just started getting into life insurance stuff with them we my wife and i have term insurance um but we signed them up for insurance too which i thought was going to be term plans but come to find out their whole life policy yeah cancel them and so are there companies that do term or is it just like not worth it like it? Like, can you do, like, a rider and say, I don't really know much about that realm? And talking to an agent about it, it's just a sales pitch, so it's hard to have that conversation with them. Yeah, it's not. All they're pitching you is how it's a savings program.

They're bad policies. Just cancel them. Just cancel them. If you want life insurance on the kids, I would only do that until you had an emergency fund in place. Do you have your fully funded emergency fund yet we do yeah we have where then you don't need then you don't need life insurance on the kids okay because um let me let me be cold let me be cold-hearted and let's just talk mathematics for a minute god forbid a child were to pass away which we can't

even put our heads around that okay but just let's just say that happened which is what we're talking about it's life insurance okay your household does not lose an income because of that your term life insurance on you is to replace the income that you create for your family if you were to pass but when a child passes we don't lose uh an income the only money effect there is other than lots of tears and lots of other things but the only money effect there is is the you got to cover final expenses burial and funeral and usually 10 10 grand or under will do that and you got your emergency fund. Gotcha. So I would just cancel these and not worry about it personally. Chris, what do you think?

No, Bill, Dave's dad on. Cancel these. Unfortunately, you can have some unscrupulous people reach out and grab you by the heartstrings and lead you down a path of blowing money. And essentially, that's what this is. Again, life insurance is to replace an income. Your kids don't have an income. That's why you have it, buddy.

So cancel that and stay away from the people that tried to sell that to you. Amen. And one of the pitches is always, well, they may become uninsurable while their children, less than one-tenth of one percent do. Yeah. It's an absolute BS line. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. I'm going to go. And the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage. Lee and Rosalind are with us.

Hey, guys, how are you? Hey, great. Welcome, welcome. And you're here to do a debt-free scream. Where do you live? Richmond, Powhatan, Virginia. I'm sorry. Okay.

Outside Richmond, then. Yep. All right, cool. And your debt you paid off was how, Powhatan, Virginia. I'm sorry. Okay. Outside Richmond then. Yep. All right. Cool. And your debt you paid off was how much? $92,000. Cool. How long did this take?

13 months. And your range of income during that time? About $125,000 to $130,000. Okay. Cool. And what kind of debt was the $92,000? Our house. Your house?

Oh. You paid off your house. We're weird people. You are weird people. I love it. What's this house worth? About $300,000 maybe. About $300,000.

I love it. Very cool. How long you two been married? 19 years tomorrow. Is this the first time you've ever been 100% debt free? It is. Wow. So tell me about this.

What in the world happened to you people 13 months ago that made you decide to be weird? We took my son and his fiancee back through Financial Peace University, and we had a conversation with my sister, who initially introduced us to you guys. And then we knew about it. And that just gave, we want to change our legacy. We know our why. And we just got on the same page and got on fire. But our journey really started about 10 years ago

when neither one of our parents really had financial conversations with us. So we went into it, car debt, student loans. Our kids did travel, everything, even though we could afford nothing. And we got smart, and so we refinanced everything into a HELOC, even the car. And so that allowed more monthly income to just be more in debt. And we got stuck in that cycle. Then two house payments behind, two kids don't know what we're going to do. And my sister, who's, I'm sorry.

It's okay. She's taught financial peace for, I think, 15 years now, her and her husband. Wow. And they stepped up, helped us out through a hard time, and were just really encouraging. And then you go through the first time as a student and get the mess cleaned up. Right. And we did Dave-ish. Yeah, we joke that we did Dave-ish.

But, yeah, it was really hard. It was hard, but we're so glad. And then this time, you're paying it forward. So you're taking your son through like your sister took you through. Right. And this time you go, hey, hey, wait a minute. Right. I'm knocking out the house.

Yep. Man, your sister's had a whole lot of students in 15 years, but she's not had one she's as proud of as you. Yeah. Roslyn, I see you get choked up talking about your sister's had a whole lot of students in 15 years, but she's not had one she's as proud of as you. Roslyn, I see you get choked up talking about your sister. What has she meant to you? You'll never get an answer out of her. She's just going to start crying. Everything?

Everything. She has just been always my rock and my encourager. So you said you had a big why. Why did you do this? I have two children. I love more than life, and being a mom is absolutely the most important thing. How old are they? 31 and 26.

And I want to be a good example. I want to teach them what I didn't know. I want them to have a chance that we now have through the help of others, through you guys, through the knowledge, having the knowledge to do the right thing. Lee, what did you find out about your wife through this journey over the last 13 months? She can be very, very determined. That was a very kind way of putting that. That sounds like a fight. That was nice.

That was nice. Our anniversary star. Lee, don't get dropped off here. Don't be dropped off in Tennessee. Get it right, buddy. She's an amazing woman. It's very, very humbling to watch her sometimes. The gazelle-like focus focus was amazing i wasn't 100

on board at first when we did the davish uh i was the i was the uh wheel chuck if you will you were the ish part i was the ish part um but once we got on the same page it changed everything y'all have you have literally changed our our family tree no you did you're heroes man we're proud of you true but you taught us. I'm proud of your sister. I mean, look at the ripple effect of this. Yes. I mean, not only are you here with a paid-for house and 19 years of marriage and everything's paid off, house and everything, never been debt-free before now, but now you're changing the next generation, which is like your heartbeat.

It's why you do everything. I'm a mom. That's what I do. And so now they don't have a choice. Now that determination is aimed at next generation. Which is amazing because you all's example for the people that are around you, that go to church with you, that work with you, they're now going to believe that it's possible. Right.

You see, so many people hear this information and they think maybe other people can, but I can't because I didn't come from money like you. Right. I didn't come from that, but you all have proven it is possible. All right. You brought your sister. Yes. And her husband?

And her husband. Okay. And what are their names? Heather and Richley. Okay. I'm looking at the supporting cast the uh supporting cast over here and that beautiful girl is my daughter okay all right cool so the 26 year old's with you then no 31 31 i got it backwards the son's 26 okay all right cool beans all right so we don't usually do this

but i think it's appropriate that they're all up there with you i would love that okay come on yeah let's get them all up there because I think this is a generational family affair right here. This is why you do this stuff. This is why you do this stuff. And this is why you're a financial peace coordinator for 15 years so that you get to see people like this. But what better than your own? You know, it's really touching when it's somebody else's. It's your own baby sister.

Absolutely. Own older sister. whatever it was. I don't know. But either one. And pretty, pretty stinking cool. Pretty amazing. So proud of you guys. You're heroes.

Thank you. You did it. You are. You're why? You're stepping into it. It's very, very powerful. Very well done. We've got a copy of Chris's book for you, Everyday Millionaires, because that is definitely

the next chapter in your story. All right. So you're seasoned now. You went through the hard part. You got all the debt cleared off. Then you go back through, start changing the next family tree, and you look down, you go, I'm knocking out the mortgage. Thirteen months later, boom, it's gone.

Did I get that story right? Okay. So now you're professionals now. This is not, you're not, you are walking, talking proof it can be done. You're not a theory. You're real people. What's the secret to getting out of debt? I'll go off of this one.

It was 100% to be on the same page. When I was issuing it, it was a struggle. And as soon as we, once I got on the same page with her and agreed, then it just, it's not easy by any stretch, but it was easier. And that was, that would be my thing. Yeah. 100% being on the same page. And the why. The why keeps you motivated.

Very cool. Why's a big deal and you got a big one. I like it. You got to know where you're going and why you're going there. All right. It's Lee and Rosalind, their daughter and sister and brother-in-law, all here. $92,000 paid off in 13 months, house and everything. These are weird people making $125,000 to $130,000.

They're 100% done, baby. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream three two one that's it baby oh that's it you know if read a good book, if you go to a good movie, you tell your friends and your relatives, you've got to read this book. You've got to go to this movie. When you go through a class that completely changes your life and you teach it for 15 years, it don't get any better than getting your sister through that. That's right. I mean, to get a family member to hear and listen and do, uh, is a, is a magnificent feat. Um, I've got family that's

heard me talk about it. Um, and they're not all the way in. And so, you know, it doesn't stop me from talking. It doesn't stop me from talking. I don't even want to bring this up. Oh, well, that's how it works, right? Oh my. Oh, my gosh. It's so funny. Wow. That's so rewarding, though. Yes, it is. Everybody in that picture is winning. Yeah.

What a great picture. As you said, the ripple effect, it's real. It is. It is. Wow. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They're 100% satisfaction guarantee, which means even if you goof up, if I goof up, if you mismeasure, you pick the wrong color, they'll still remake your window blinds for free.

Not guarantee they won't mess it up. They even guarantee it if you mess it up. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. It's a great company. We've endorsed them for years. I've got their stuff in my house. Use the promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal, blinds.com. All right, today's question comes from Justin in North Carolina.

He says, I received $1.1 million in insurance money this year when my wife died of cancer. I've paid off all my debt and have about $750,000 in savings left over. I would like to invest $500,000 so it can be growing for me. I've spoken with an investment company and they have a program that will manage and move the money around as needed in the long run so it'll grow money and help me with my taxes and they will also help me with my taxes when I decide to use the money around as needed in the long run so it'll grow money and help me with my taxes, and they will also help me with my taxes when I decide to use the money. It all sounds good, but the fees for this account will be 1.5% per year, about $7,500. Is this too costly, or is this a good rate?

Well, Justin, first of all, my heart goes out to you for the loss of your wife, first and foremost, but I'm so grateful that you for the loss of your wife, first and foremost. But I'm so grateful that you all took the step to get life insurance and that you had that in place for the sake of the family. Looking at this, it is important to work with a company that can help you. To me, it sounds like these people are trying to do a bunch of stuff for you, moving it around and helping you with your taxes. First and foremost, I want a reputable company that's going to help me grow the money. I'm going to reach out and get a tax professional to help me with my taxes. So you don't need the all-in-one, we got your back for you, don't worry about it, that kind of attitude. You want people that are going to walk alongside you. That's what a smart investor pro will do in a tax ELP. Some of the smart investor pros are doing managed accounts,

just like this. And most of them are in the one to one and a quarter, some are one and a half range. It's not outlandish. It's not an outlandish fee. It's just called a managed account. That means the mutual funds in it can be moved around without any commissions by moving from fund to fund. And so either one's fine. You can do what we call A shares, which is what I do, which I just buy mutual funds. If I sell it i buy

another one i pay another commission but i don't pay an annual i only pay if i buy a mutual fund and that's what i do but the el lots of our smart investor pros the majority of them are moving towards the managed account version where they charge one to one and a half is the range if you told me two i would have had my eyebrows up. Yeah. But, you know, what you're outlining here would not be something unusual. You would hear from a SmartVestor Pro where they line you up with a tax professional. They're not actually doing your taxes, and they're going to charge you a managed fee

to manage the account. And it's just a matter of whether you want to do it monthly or not, or annually or not. Let's kind of do the math for a second, because I get a lot of pushback on this from the investment professional world. Dave, you should always do managed accounts. Well, let's say that I had a million dollars in an account, and I was charged 1%. And the million dollars, just for simplification of this discussion purposes, never went up. So every year I was charged 1% of a million dollars. For 10 years, that'd be 10%. That's right.

I had been charged over 10 years. If I bought mutual funds, a million dollars worth, and I paid full commission on A shares, it's typically 5.75 percent so in year six if it's one percent a year i'm coming out yeah yeah if i don't do managed accounts now the advantage of managed accounts is if the markets shift or you want to move some funds around to different funds, you don't like the fund you've got or whatever, then you don't get charged any commission. So my example is a pure example where I bought, hold, and never move it.

Which, by the way, is what I have done. I hardly ever move a mutual fund unless it's just stinking up the place at a time when the rest of the market's doing great. But so after year six, the managed accounts have become more expensive. Correct. And if the account goes up in value, which it should be, it won't take six years. That's right. It'll happen in about four.

And so everything after that, you're paying more to have your money managed than if you just paid the commission only up front. Either one is okay because neither one is that expensive right so it's 57 500 on a million dollars and it's not that's not doesn't kill your investment no it wasn't a 50 commission it's a five percent right and i heard you say years ago and this was the light bulb moment for me you said there's a such thing as a fair nickel and an unfair dime you You don't want to pay the unfair dime. So my friend, thank you for reaching out, Justin. That dollar range, that percent range is within range, doesn't raise questions. But more importantly, do you trust them and can they help you? That's the biggest thing.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Good stuff. And a good question. Adam's with us in Boston, Massachusetts. Hey, Adam, welcome to the Dave Ramsey show. Thank you. I appreciate your advice for this question. So I have a nine-year-old Shih Tzu that is getting medical care for an ulcer in her eye. I've already invested about $400 going to two separate emergency care vets for her. And at this point, she's going to need a surgery, which will probably be about $1,000. I'm trying to decide at what point do I say no, no more surgery, no more cost going into this dog? Well, I'm old, and I've raised a bunch of dogs, or had a bunch of dogs raise me, however you want to look at it. And I've had the unbelievable crying day where I've had to put them down.

And I always cry like I'm 12 years old because I love dogs. I'm a dog guy. I've always had a dog, and we baby talk to our dogs. It's ridiculous, right? So I'm a huge animal nut. So given that, the rules that Sharon and I have used over the years is the first thing I want to do is I want to make sure that this is about the dog, not about me. Because sometimes people will pay a whole bunch of money to prolong an animal's life three months, and that's selfish on your part. Because the animal is hurting, suffering,

because you can't be a grown-up and let go. And that's me. I have to watch myself because I will do that. The problem is I got the money too, right? And so I can make a choice that's not good for the poor animal. And I can use examples in our own life, but I won't get into them. But where I've had one where I just don't want to make that trip to the vet, you know, and not come home with my dog.

I just can't do it. But, on the other hand, it's not fair to the dog. So that's the first question you ask yourself is, are these surgeries and the pain for 11? I mean, a 9-year-old Shih Tzu, I've got one that's 11 right now, and, you know that that's about their lifespan and so uh is this dog's is this dog gonna be okay and live a pain-free life for another three or four years and you want to spend a grand then that would be okay assuming you've got the grand right does that make sense it does and i actually went down the road with

that conversation with the vet to see if maybe euthanasia would be an option. And because the surgery would correct the issue and cure her in essence, they are unwilling to do euthanasia. So I guess my only option would be either to relinquish the pet or to go ahead with the surgery at this point okay and do you have the money wasn't i do i do i guess um but it just it it's just a lot of money for an eye um and i love my dog i'm like you know i love them and stuff but i just didn't know at what point you just draw the line you know i had a lady when i was in college i was selling real estate in college and this woman gave me a dalmatian with papers now i grew up redneck and we never had a dog that had papers we had ones that went on the papers but we didn't have a dog that had papers right and so i thought i was so proud i had a dog that was actually certified or whatever this dog was mean or snot by the way the only mean dog i've ever owned and the dog had been

hit by a car or something when it was young i ended up spending twelve hundred dollars i'm a broke college kid i don't have a dollar and i ended up spending $1,200. I'm a broke college kid. I don't have a dollar. And I ended up spending $1,200 on this dog's leg that I didn't have. And so that's the thing you've got to go through. And, you know, if that vet won't euthanize the dog, it needs to be euthanized. There's other vets or there's – I'm from the country. There's other ways to handle this. But I don't want you to have to do that.

If you've got the money and the dog's not going to be in pain, I personally would go ahead and do it if you're not broke. That's exactly right. I'd fix the puppy. If it was mine, that's probably what I'd do. But again, I have to go through those particular filters when I'm making these decisions because it's a dog. It's not a human. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.

Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for the Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about an event, product, or service and didn't have human. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.