The Ramsey Show - App - My Wife Thinks God Wants Us to Remain in Debt (Hour 2)

Episode Date: September 22, 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 done, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

That's 888-825-5225. Craig is starting off this hour in Dallas, Texas. Hi, Craig. How are you? Hello, Dave. It's a pleasure to speak with you. You too, sir. How can we help? I've got a question. My wife and I are kind of in a little bit different, unique situation. We just finished up baby step number two, debt free except for our mortgage,

starting on our six-month reserve savings. It should take pretty quick based on the amount that we're able to put back. Well done. We both have pensions through our employer that we contribute in a percentage, and they match it. You have a mandatory contribution into the pension. Yes, sir. How much?

Yes, sir. What percentage? Mine's 7%, and I have a two-to-one match. Railroad? It's actually Texas Municipal Police. Oh, okay. Good. Okay.

And your wife has a mandatory as well? Yes, sir. She's a school teacher, so she's got a mandatory retirement as well. Contribution is how much? Hers, I believe, is 8%. Okay. And I'm not sure exactly on their match. Okay.

My question is, you know, should we pay our house off or should we start putting in an IRA? No, we need to do something. Number one, you're only putting in 8% and 7%. We teach to put in 15%. Okay. Now the question then really becomes, for baby step four, do we just add 7% or 8% to what you're already doing in other Roth IRAs to get you to the 15% and count your pension contribution at 100% towards the 15%?

Does that make sense? Yes, sir. Okay. So I don't count the pension contribution as heavily as I do a regular investment because you don't have control of it. Gotcha. And I don't think, and I don't think, I'm not suggesting that the Texas law enforcement pension is weak. I have no idea.

But some pensions have gone broke. And your 401K never goes broke because it's your money invested in an investment that you chose i mean unless you just pick the worst possible investment ever for a 401k and it became worth zero so i would you know if you want to say uh let's put in eight percent each into roth iras uh in addition to this or 401ks if you have them available or whatever, in good mutual funds in addition to your 7% or 8% pension contribution, and then count that as baby step four. Then kids college, you can get the house paid off.

When the house is paid off, come back and do even more investing. That's fine. But what I don't want you to do is I don't want you to count on your entire retirement existence to be in control of someone else. I got you. I got you. That scares me. We already have $40,000 in an IRA that we previously had saved before we stopped putting in and started doing baby steps. It's with a smart investor.

Yeah, just get back with them and get restarted. Yeah, just get back with them and get restarted. Yeah, exactly. Start putting 8% of your household income, and that will put you at 15% between your mandatories. And then later on, let's circle back and do even more after you get the house paid off because we want money other than pension. The days of people counting 100% of their golden years being on someone else's controlled money from the union, from the government pension, the whatever. Pensions are highly regulated. Very few of them are about to go broke, but some of them have.

We've all heard the stories. And they can be mismanaged. They can be screwed up. And you work your whole life, you got zero then so uh it's okay to count somewhat on it but i just um the beauty of the 401k is that you're in control of it so good question man you're doing great keep it up open phones at 888-825-5225. In the decade of the 90s, remember way back in the 90s, the 1990s, boom, boom, boom, boom, 78% of the companies in America did away with a pension plan and went to the 401k. The only place you find pensions today,

with rare exceptions, is government and union. There's almost no places that have pensions other than that that are substantial. So teachers, policemen, feds, whatever, government and union. It's the only place you find pensions. And everybody was whining and carrying on that corporate America was not taking care of their employees by doing away with the pension plans. And the truth is that the 401K has made more millionaires than pensions ever did.

So it has turned out to be that when you invest money in your 401k, and sometimes your company matches, upward of 70% of the companies do some kind of a match on a 401k, you're in complete control of that money. It is owned by you. It does not get moved unless you move it. It is not invested in something unless you choose the investment. It is in your name, and it's portable, meaning that if you leave that company, you can roll it to an IRA. You still own the money. There's no special little gotchas like pensions have or anything. So the 401k has proven over the last three decades to be a vastly superior wealth-building tool

for the typical American than the pension has. And that's not to pick on him. He's a policeman. We appreciate his service. I'm glad he's got a pension. That's great but the point is that uh this whole philosophy of you are in charge of your life is represented by the 401k someone else is in charge of your life and you're dependent upon them is represented by the whole pension philosophy. And so it becomes golden handcuffs. And you have to wait to get your money.

You can't access it. There's all kinds of other things going on. So I am a huge proponent of you investing your money so you end up with money. That sounded deep, didn't it? but i mean really that there's a there's a real thing there that you need to think through who is in charge of your success who are you dependent upon that you can look at that person and say, you caused me to be successful financially, become wealthy financially. There's only one. He's in your mirror. No one's going to come do it for you. And if they do, they're going to screw it up. You take care of you. That's simple.

And that's what the 401k does. That's why I love it. It's made more millionaires than pensions have made. Just write that down. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. folks i love telling you about well-made well-thought-out products today i'm talking about grip six belts i don't know about you but I'm not a fan of traditional belts. They never fit right, and they're uncomfortable. Grip6 belts are unique.

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Or you can text the word survey to 33789. DaveRamsey.com slash survey or text survey to 33789. Joel is with us. Joel is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lancaster. Hey, Joel. Joel, what Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lancaster. Hey, Joel. Joel, what's up? Hey, how you doing, David?

Better than I deserve, man. How can I help? I'm on currently baby step two. I do have more in my emergency savings than the $1,000. I've had a hard time throughout life learning how to save. I finally learned how to save, but now I have a hard time letting that money go and put it towards my debt.

How much for debt do you have? All together, it's about $25,000, but I'm in a situation with a car. I'm in a dealership. They sold me a bad car. So minus that, I'm about like 12 000 between credit cards and a student loan okay and how much is in your savings uh about four thousand okay

all right and so your question is whether we work your plan or my plan i never know what you're gonna say no. I mean, that's your question, isn't it? Yeah. I can't answer that question. You have to answer it. Not today, but, I mean, you just need to decide. You have a valid concern. It took you a while to get $4,000 put aside because you've not been a natural saver.

You finally got it, and it feels like you're cheating to use some of it. Yes. The only reason you would do that is if you believe, I mean, you wouldn't be, you'd be an illogical person if you use that $3,000 of the four and put it towards the $12,000 in non-car debt and push your way on out of debt. The only reason you would do that, which is my plan, obviously, would be that you believe that that's the fastest way to be out of debt and build wealth. If you believe the fastest way to be out of debt and build wealth is to hold that for

and chunk on the other debt out of your cash flow, get the car suit over with and be done with those two debts and then build up your $4, thousand to an emergency fund and then move on towards debt if you believe that to be the fastest way to be out of debt and build wealth then you would go that way does that make sense yeah and so uh the only difference is i while i understand you know how emotional it feels to let go of three of the $4,000, it's a temporary thing because it's a step along the journey that is a proven journey, if you follow it all the way through. And it might be that you're not saying, David, it's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust me. You might be saying that.

Do what? Yeah, that could be saying that. Do what? Yeah, that could be a partial. Yeah. And so are you married? We've seen divorce, but now me and the ex-wife are back together. Wow. Okay. Well, that's good news.

Yeah. All right. Well, let's do this. Let's do this. You don't have to decide today. Let me continue teaching you, and then you can decide after you learn a little bit more. I'm going to put you and the ex, hopefully not to be ex soon, wife into Ramsey Plus, go through Financial Peace University together, get on the every dollar budget, and develop some confidence

in yourself and your money skills as I teach you to do it, and then it'll be easier to make these decisions. Because part of it is, is you're worried that you're going to screw this up. And that's a fair thing to worry about. Because I mean, when I've screwed something up, and I worry I'm going to screw it up again. You know, that's a normal thing that's what guys do we just think about that so uh i don't blame you for having those thoughts uh but all the emotions and the insecurities and the lack of confidence aside i can assure you the fastest way to building wealth is to work your way out of debt very quickly and follow these baby steps. I can get you to millionaire status faster than anyone doing that without debt. Now, you can get to millionaire status borrowing money, nothing down, and buying houses on zero down weekend ripoff real estate seminars.

But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about real wealth that you hold on to with no debt. And so I want you to be a millionaire with no debt. That's what I want you to be so that you can change your family tree. And I can show you how to do that. I've shown millions of people how to do it. So hold on. Kelly's going to pick up.

We're going to sign you up for Financial Peace University inside of Ramsey Plus for one year. I'm going to pay for it and let that be part of hopefully your reconciliation with your ex. That sounds like a cool thing. I can be part of that healing. But as you get your confidence up, Joelle, then you're ready to make this because that's what it is. It's like I'm afraid, you know, if I ever, I'm afraid to buy new clothes after I lost weight because I'm afraid I'll eat 17,000 donuts again. You know, I mean, we all have that, right? And so I keep the old clothes in the back of the closet in case I get on the donut binge. You know, I mean, this is what, this is the normal human reaction when you've gone through a transformation

and when you've gone through a change in the way you're looking at doing things. So hang on. Kelly will pick up. We'll get you taken care of. Jatim is with us in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Jatim. What's up? Hi, everybody.

Nice to speak with you. I'm a little nervous, so just bear with me. I'm sorry. No troubles. We've never lost a patient. You're going to be fine. Yes. I actually have a question so i am on baby step number two i just started paying my debt off this year and i'm on my um pretty much my third um third to last debt which happens to be um i had a couple years back i'm a single mom, and I had went through some financial hard times.

I unfortunately got trapped into the, I guess it's like those cash events, like what public finance owns. So I have a balance roughly of that. When I actually took the loan out, it was at like $1,000 something. But with the interest and all that, it's up to now $6,000. Good Lord. Yes. And it's up to now six thousand good lord yes and it's obviously at a charge off status so i'm trying to figure out as to how i can go about getting that um taken care of okay but you're not paying anything on it now it's just sitting there it's sitting there but it's my it's actually really my um i'm actually going to start next

week to get it paid off okay but. But is that your only debt left? No. What other debts have you got left? Okay. So I have my student loan debt, which that's about roughly $6,000, and then I have a car loan, and that's at $18,000, and those will be my last three. Okay. Don't pay the bad debt, the charge-off debt, until last.

Okay. Actually, I was curious about that because I listen to your podcast basically every day, and I know it's kind of finicky with that charge-off. Yeah. So you think I should go, so I should really just skip that and then go to my student loan? Yeah, because you're not paying anything on it. And you're going to save up and offer them $1,000 or $2,000 as settlement in full.

Okay. You're going to settle with them when you get there. But I want you to get these other things out of your life that are bothering you. Right now you're paying student loan payments and car payments we need to get rid of. Right. And so I'm actually really just chunking about an extra, because I get an extra like $2,000 a month. Great.

So with the student loan, fingers crossed, I'm trying to have that paid off by the end of this year, plus with the interest. They're not, you know, because it's everything going on. Yeah, you're going to be done with the car and the student loan in under a year. Right. Okay. So pretty much have those taken care of and then just revisit the charged off the finance.

Yeah, then offer them like $2,000, settlement in full. Now, when you're settling a debt, Jatim, you know this from listening, you always get the settlement agreement in writing or you don't give them any money. If it's not in writing, it didn't happen. They lie. Get it in writing and do not give them electronic access to your checking account on an adversarial thing like a collections. So we're going to pay cash or rather a wire or something that way and in writing. Hey, guys. At the Dave Ramsey Show, we really value your input.

It helps us to know what's important to you so we can deliver relevant content to help you crush your money goals. We just launched a brand new survey, and we'd love your feedback. It only takes a few minutes, and you'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. No purchase necessary. Take the survey at DaveRamsey.com slash survey or text survey to 33789. Brian is with us. Brian is in Boston. Says on my screen, Brian, you're about to do a debt-free scream. Congratulations.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsey. How are you? Better than I deserve. How much have you paid off? So just under $40,000 in about a year and a half. Good for you. And your range of income during that 18 months? Between $85,000 and $100,000 a year. Cool. What do you do for a living?

So I work in human resources. I'm an HR director. Cool. And what was the $40,000 in debt? So a little bit of everything. Student loans, a car, and a stupid key lock. All right, man. How old are you? I'm 31. Oh, cool. So what happened 18 months ago that lit you up here? So, you know, I was getting tired of keeping up with the Joneses

and wanted to get ahead with the Ramseys. And, you know, it's one thing to have the material things you want, but I think the financial peace and financial freedom that you have of being debt-free is so much more valuable. I don't disagree with you. I don't think that's what got you started on this. What'd you do? What got you going, man? Something lit you up 18 months ago, because you were just ditty-bopping along doing stupid like everybody else, and all of a sudden you got smart. What happened?

So, you know, I think really kind of long-term range planning and kind of deciding that this isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. Okay. I want to have the ability to, you know, take trips when I want to. I want to have the ability to, you know, continue to work hard like I do and do something I really like, which I'm doing. Good. But not having to worry about drowning in debt or making it month to month.

Okay. How'd you get connected to us? So, you know, probably like a lot of other people on YouTube. And, you know, really, after watching a few of your videos, I read your book and really decided that your path to financial freedom really makes a whole lot of sense, and it really worked for me. Cool.

Well, we're honored, brother. Well done. I'm proud of you. Thank you. You said you're 31. Have you ever been debt-free as an adult? I have not, no. How does it feel?

It feels great. I feel fantastic. I feel like the genie in Aladdin getting those cuffs off my wrists and, you know, just having financial freedom is awesome. Amen. Yeah, it does relax you in a place you didn't even realize was knotted up. It really does. Yeah. I'm proud of you, brother.

Well done. Who are your best cheerleaders? So definitely my parents, I i think are all about this i definitely got my work ethic from both of them and uh probably wish i listened to a little more of their financial advice when i was a little bit younger uh but they are very proud of the progress i have made and uh really happy to make them proud yeah way to go i'm sure you are i'm sure you did i'm sure they're screaming with you. Well done, sir.

Well done. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Everyday Millionaires, and that needs to be the next chapter in your story, man. You keep plowing, okay? Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Well done. Brian in Boston, Massachusetts, $40,000 paid off in 18 months, making $85,000 to $100,000. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I'm debt-free. Yeah! Well done, sir. Yeah! Open phones at 888-825-5225 ella is in los angeles hi ella welcome to the dave ramsey show how can i help hi dave so i am currently pursuing a four-year degree but i am itching to go back into the job

market i'm 27 so i went back as a non-traditional student there's an executive certificate that i'm looking at it's a little bit pricey but it's from like an Ivy League school. I would be paying cash, but I'm taking money out of my nest egg and given like the fires and the pandemic, I'm really nervous about anything. So I wanted to get your feedback because I do really want to get back to work and I want to get some credentials to legitimize my experience. So was it the Harvard executive cert 50 grand? No, no, it's $5,000 and it's from Wharton. It goes over artificial intelligence and digital analytics. I'm a marketing person. So one of my concerns was I was kind of in a senior level role before I went back to school and I don't want to go to employer and say, you know know I've spent the last two years at community college and have been raised an eyebrow

I'd rather say I've been focusing on math I'm more digitally agile than I was before kind of I'm hoping for that leg up in that direction okay well I think there's a it's how you do your narrative is part of the equation and that I don't think you go in and go, I went and took some classes at the worst possible college in America, and now I'm back to work. We don't do that, okay? Right. You're a marketer. You know better than that.

Instead, you go, hey, I've been beefing up my skills. We don't even have to cover where we got them. And then if you want to throw the $5,000 cert on there, that's fine because you've been making six figures in your past, hadn't you? I was making 85. Yeah, okay. I thought I smelled that. So, yeah, you're yeah you're gonna be i mean but here's the thing what i don't want you to think and somehow you've got this in your head um very few quality employers hire people based on where they went to school

it's highly unusual it's one of the greatest mythologies out there regarding the famous colleges okay and uh that if i went to a famous college that I can get a better job. It's just not so. There is zero data. No research project has ever confirmed that you make more money based on where you went to school. If you got the knowledge and you present yourself well in the interview and you prove that you have the knowledge, then that's fine. $5,000 isn't the end of the world. What I don't want you to do is to think that that's what made you successful.

What makes you successful is you, Ella. You're the secret sauce. So I have 938 team members today. We won Best Place to Work in America in Inc. Magazine last year. Okay? You walk in here with or without that certificate, you get the exact same job with the exact same pay, or you don't, and it'll be based on Ella.

Mm-hmm. That's what I'm saying. Okay. Right. No, that makes sense. You know, and so I just, people place too much emphasis that their success comes from something outside of themselves in that regard. So you're very articulate. You're very bright.

Just in talking to you for a minute, you know how to carry yourself. You've got a lot of poise. You're going to do great in an interview. You're going to land. You just put the narrative together. I don't mind if you go get the certificate. Just don't get it for the wrong reasons. Don't get it for the reason that it's the thing that it's the one thing if i did if i had that i could really get through no no no you get you through

you're the one hey thanks for the call 888-825-5225 jessica is in mil. Hi, Jessica. How are you? Hi, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. So I just want to ask a question regarding actually building a house in our budget. And I just want to get a sense from you as to whether or not we are crazy with our plan, if we should scale things back or if our strategy is okay. So my husband and I are looking into, and we've actually already purchased a lot to build a house that with the lot included, um, the final budget would be just over a million dollars. Um, and we were planning to put down 300,000. Um, and right now we're in, yeah, uh, it's, it's an expensive house because we're in it's an expensive house

because we're accommodating my parents as well who have been through some financial stresses and so we're going to be having them live with us permanently so right now we're on baby step two and that we're finishing paying off my student loan debt

which we have about $100,000 left of so we'll be done with that by the We're on Baby Step 2, and that we're finishing paying off my student loan debt, which we have about $100,000 left of. So we'll be done with that by the time we plan to start construction next year on the house. So what's your question? So is this, I mean, these numbers sound astronomical, and as I alluded to. It has everything to do with the ratio to your income. Just make sure on a 15-year fixed rate that the $700,000 mortgage is no more than a fourth of your take-home pay. And don't build a white elephant for your mom and dad. You build a house that's so weird that nobody ever wants to buy it because you built this weird thing.

Build something that's very usable for other people because you're going to move someday. Jonathan is with us at College Station, Texas, Aggieland. Hey, Jonathan, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave, how are you doing? Good, man. What's up? So I heard about you when I was growing up, but I recently looked into you, and my wife and I are about $130,000 in debt and another $178,000 on a mortgage. I'm ready to start getting debt-free, but my wife looks at it like God put us here, and he could take us to a trial, so what's the point of trying to get debt-free? Well, that's stupid.

Yeah. Horrible theology. um well that's stupid yeah yeah horrible theology that's like a farmer standing in the middle of a dirt field going god put us here if he wants his corn to be planted i guess he'll plant some corn of course you've got to impact the situation you don't stand around and wait on god to fix something he's going to tell you you get your butt in gear and he'll join you in the process but farmers have to plant corn it doesn't grow because god because the farmer just prayed and said god's going to put the corn in the ground then god sends the rain and god sends the the wind and god sends the nutrition in the dirt but you have to put the corn in the ground you got to put the work in standing around and saying well god will take care of it that's that's ridiculous it's insulting

yeah i'm trying to get her on the same um yeah how old are you guys uh 25. Okay. So what's your household income? I just recently started my own business. Started without any debt, and I make $1,500 a week after taxes. And what does she make? She's a stay-at-home mom. We have four kids. At 25 years old?

Yeah, we started young. Okay. She had a child when we got Okay. Yeah, you did. And, yay, yay, yay, yay. Okay, so you're making $50,000, $60,000 a year. Okay. And who got all these student loans? I got $50,000 in student loans.

I couldn't work 100% full-time. Well, okay, you got $50,000 in student loans. I couldn't work 100% full-time. Well, okay, you got $50,000. You said there's 130. What's the other 80? A couple vehicles totaling $60,000, and then $10,000 in credit cards and about about 10,000 in personal loans. All right. I'm going to be a smart aleck.

You ready? God says for you to sell your cars. I agree. You know how I know that? It's in the Bible. The Bible says the blessings of the Lord have no sorrow added to them. These cars are not from God. They are not a blessing because they have sorrow added to them. These cars are not from God. They are not a blessing because they have sorrow added to them.

You're so freaking broke you can't breathe. You're 25 years old making 60 grand, and you owe $60,000 on two stupid butt cars. Now, that's my smart aleck, okay? I got it over with. Now you and I can be friends, and I'll help you, okay? Okay. All right. So here's what we've got to do you guys have to decide as a couple that your shortest distance to a real

high quality life is to be clear of debt so that you can build wealth and be great moms and dads to these babies and be able to pay for their college so they don't end up with student loan debt later, okay? And both of you, you and your wife, one of your highest desires, I can tell, your family people, is to be a blessing to your children. And that is going to require that you clean up the mess that the two of you have made, and it's going to require some sacrifice. And no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness. The way I say that is, if you live like no one else, later you can live and give like no one else but you guys

have made a significant mess by not paying attention and the only way it's going to be cleaned up is by paying attention so if you were my son i have a son that's 28 and i would sit down with him and my daughter-in-law assuming she would listen to me, and my daughter in law would, but your wife might not, would be, guys, sell your cars. Let's get on a beans and rice, rice and beans budget. Let's really roll up our sleeves and clean up this mess as fast as we possibly can. Because, dude, if you had no payments but a house payment, as your business continues to grow, you're going to become wealthy.

Agreed? Agreed. Yeah. So I'll help you with that. Now that I've been a smart aleck to you, I'll give you Ramsey Plus for a year. If I give you the Ramsey Plus membership, which puts you into Financial Peace University, can you convince her to put the kids to bed tonight or tomorrow night and start watching the videos with you? Can you get her to watch one with you? She's usually open to reviewing something before making a final decision. I think she'd do it. Well, it doesn't cost you anything, so you don't have to make a decision.

It's free. The only decision is just throw it in the trash or not. But I'm giving it to you for free, a several thousand dollar gift here, because I've been 25, I've been scared, and I've been a young dad that didn't know what the crap to do and messing up left and right. And so I know exactly who you are, but here's the thing. very clear if you're going to quote god or if you're going to say you know god will take care of us then you have if you're going if you're going to use god as your paradigm which i believe i'm a believer then you've got to use your scripture as a thing and scripture is real clear that we live in a cause and effect universe you reap what you sow. What you put into the ground is what comes out of the ground. What you put into your life

is what comes out of your life. Scriptures are real clear. Like, for instance, Proverbs says, The diligent prosper. You know what diligence is? Working your butt off. That's what diligence is? Working your butt off. That's what diligence is. Prosper.

And so there is nowhere in Scripture, with a few rare exceptions of miracles, and that's why we call them miracles, because they're rare and they're an exception, that the way God put his universe together is that you just stand back and he just shovels candy into your lap. It's not in there.

He loves us, and if we being evil know how to give our kids good gifts, how much more so our Father in Heaven. He allows us to enjoy wonderful things, but they are what, in Ecclesiastes it calls it the fruit of our labor, meaning that we labored to get the fruit. And so work and working a plan, the mind of man plans his ways, the Lord directs his steps.

Work and working a plan. Don't build a tower without first counting the cost, Jesus said, lest you get halfway up and you're unable to finish. And all who see you begin to mock you and say, this man began to build and was unable to finish. Having a plan, working a plan, is all in Scripture. Standing at the edge of your field as a farmer and saying, grow corn when you've planted none is nowhere in the bible and so you've got to

align yourself with truth in order to be able to get to your goals and so you you're not afraid of hard work hard work is the answer to your situation you hold on jonathan kelly will pick up we'll get you guys signed up for Ramsey Plus, and hopefully she won't be too mad at me for me picking on her so hard. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Debbie is with us. Debbie's in Colorado Springs. Hi, Debbie.

How are you? Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I'm real short on time. Can you go straight to your question, please? Absolutely. So we have a little bit of money to invest.

We're completely debt-free, everything, including our house. We'd like to pay off my mom's mortgage. How much do you have to invest? About $200,000. And how much is your mom's mortgage? $112,000. And how much other nest egg do you have? About $2 million. Write112,000. And how much other nest egg do you have? About $2 million.

Write a check, baby. Enjoy the gift. Awesome. Is there any legal ramifications I need to worry about on that end? Yeah, you need to get some tax advice and probably do it on the Unified Estate Tax Credit because if you give more than $15,000 to an individual, you're going to get gift tax. And so you don't want to just do $112,000 gift. You're going to get hammered.

So get some tax advice. But I think you'd pay off her mortgage unless like she's doing cocaine or something. I mean, you don't want to do it then. But as long as she's sweet mom and she's worked hard all her life and you're just trying to be a blessing, pay off her mortgage. I love it. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Dave here. We just launched a brand new survey,

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