The Ramsey Show - App - NEVER Co-Sign for Anyone EVER (Hour 1)

Episode Date: June 18, 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'm Dave Ramsey, your host, my co-host this hour on the show, Rachel Cruz, number one best-selling author, Ramsey personality, also my daughter. And we are excited, before we go to your calls at 888-825-5225, to announce a free live stream event for you guys next thursday june the 25th with all the things that have happened with the corona pandemic shutdown the economic calamity that has happened in and around the shutdown people are wanting to know what to do with their money now now when it all first happened and it was all hell broke loose we sat

down we did the message of hope and you and me and ken coleman did that right yes and that was that was a very sobering time i think for the country right i mean there were still a lot of questions in the air at that time no one really knew what was happening it was starting quarantine and it's just like this this whole thing and just giving people peace and hope that it's all going to be okay we're going to get through this that was that was the the real um need for that now fast forward uh three three and a half months how long it's been 90 days almost yeah it's a it's a different world now states are opening up people who are afraid they're going to lose their job may not have people that thought they wouldn't lose their job did i mean like it's just like the reality has really set in to where we're

at and we thought man we need to circle back and address the country again of of what now what to do now so a whole different tone of event as you said that was more somber this is a is going to be like okay now what you know what are we going to do now? And we're calling the event What Now? Because everybody's asking us, okay, now that the sun has come out and people are coming out of their caves after the nuclear winter, what now? And so that's as good a name as we could come up with. And it's because it's a question everybody's asking. Oh, yeah.

What now? And, again, depending on where you live in the country, obviously there's still some states that are more shut down than others. We're in Tennessee. It feels like and we're in a county that's very open right now. So we probably feel like things have recovered in my head. I forget sometimes like, oh, yeah, all you in California, there's still major lockdown going on. You know, there's still in New York City. So there are still parts of the country that still are feeling the effects of major, major quarantine.

But again, as people are seeing the light in the tunnel, that things are starting to move, the market's even recovering. I mean, there's a lot of things. So it's OK. So what do we do now? What does this look like? And it's going to be a fun night. Chris Hogan, you, myself, and taking the stage, talking about your money. So, you know, off the what appears to be the back side of the pandemic economic

effects what now this one week from tonight thursday night completely free live stream uh we're gonna have a live audience here in our building uh those tickets sold out in about 20 minutes and um uh we're gonna be doing a live, which is very exciting for all of us because we've not gotten to do all the events we were supposed to do this spring. And so, Chris Hogan, this is Rachel Cruz, me. We've written material. Yes, we teach you the same things over and over because they're still the truth, and you're going to hear things you've heard before. But we're going to answer the question for you, your relatives, your friends,

the people that think you're crazy, the people that wondered how you made it through, those of you that wonder how you're going to recover after this. What are you going to do? Thursday, June 25th, what now? COVID-19 and your money. Chris Hogan, Rachel Cruz joining me. And after the event, you will never again be the same. This is going to be a free event.

It is live streamed. If you want to watch the event, all you have to do is text the word CONTROL to 33789, and you can RSVP for the event. And we'll set you up to be able to watch the event completely free live streamed text the word control to 33 7 8 9 33 7 8 9 and that's very very important and you know i love that that our marketing team decides i looked at that one control but we told you in the message of hope one of the things you've got to do is you can only control what you can control so control the controllables yep and if you control the controllables in your life the outside variables you've got some margin you've got some pad so that you get control you

keep control even when things are bad even when the car goes into a slide you can get back in control again because you've got a system you've've got a process, you've got the principles in place. And so if you want control or you've had control and you want to know why you had control, we're going to teach you this stuff. And that's still, I mean, we talked about that a lot in Message of Hope of saying, hey, really focus on, yes, the things that you can control. But I think it's still that, even that word is still so, so important. I just did an interview yesterday, and they're talking about, you know, the another stimulus package that Congress has beaten back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.

Is it going to come out all this? And I just thought, you know, if it comes out, it comes out. But we or if it doesn't, it doesn't like but you don't have any control. You can't sit there and just wring your hands. And is Washington, D.C. going to say, right, right. So that that theme is still very strong and very needed of control, which you can. And we're going to and we're going to break down all the all the money things around that. Yeah. So it'll be go ahead and warn you ahead of time. It's going to be like a two hour long live stream, roughly a little under two hours.

That's what our plan is. OK, so we'll see if we shut up on time. I have a feeling you might get a little passionate and run over. You think I might run long? I think I'm going to just wind you up and you just go. Just pull the string on the monkey and watch him go. They'll be like, I thought Chris Hogan and Rachel Cruz were here. We're like, I think he's got it. Rachel will hit her times, but Dave won't.

This is the over and under bet. Okay. But I have to hit my times on the radio show because, you know, I don't have a choice. The commercials are going to come on whether I quit talking or not. But on stage, I kind of do whatever the flip I want to do. But we're not going to go three hours. It's scheduled for 90 minutes. Expect under two hours.

There you go. Okay. And so that's what we laid out. And that's how much time they gave each of us, we gave each of us as we sat down and mapped this thing out. So the event is called What Now? What to do with your money at this stage following the pandemic. Now, what did you learn? Where are you going to go from here?

What now? And again, completely free. We're not charging a dime for this. And you can watch it live stream. No, you cannot get a ticket. They're already gone. We gave the tickets away for the building. To come here live, yeah.

We gave away about 1,000 tickets or so, and they were gone in like 20-something minutes. It was ridiculous. So if you want to watch this, you want your friends to watch this, just RSVP, and we will set the link up for you, and you can do it. It doesn't cost a thing.

Text the word CONTROL to 33789. It will be next Thursday, and at 7 p.m. Central Time. I was looking for the time. There it is, 7 p.m. Central Time. It's generally when we do these things. So it's 8 p.m. Eastern, obviously. And so plenty of time for you to get the supper dishes out of the way. Pop the thing up on the Apple TV and just have a night there with your family.

See, I actually know how to do this. I'm super impressed. Apple TV reference. Yeah. Pretty cool. I mean, well, you don't want to watch it on a tiny little butt screen. But you can if you want. I just wouldn't.

You know. All right. Rachel Cruz, Chris Hogan and me. The event is what now? Text the word control to 33-789. Control to 33-789. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey folks, Father's Day is just around the corner. If you're looking for the perfect, unique gift to give dad, I've got it. Grip 6 belts.

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That means if your dad no longer likes the fit or style of his belt, he can replace it for free. Plus, these guys do business right. They make their products and source their materials in the U.S. So show Dad you love him and get a GRIP6 belt. To get the Dave Ramsey special, visit GRIP6.com. my co-host this hour ramsey personality rachel cruz number one best-selling author as well josh is with us in virginia hey josh welcome to the dave ramsey show thank you sir it's pleasure to talk with you guys again, this time being debt-free. Awesome. How can we help? So I've got a quick

question. As of this week, I received my employment offer to go into law enforcement, and I'm looking to find a one-bedroom apartment that I can live in so I don't have to deal with other people in my apartment while I'm on overnight. I'm having a hard time finding a apartment that is cheap enough to live in as I'm only going to be making $34,000 for the first year or so due to probation. And so my question is, how does the quarter of my take-home pay relate to utilities? So if I find an apartment that has utilities included, can I factor that into my budget and maybe pay more than a quarter of my take-home pay? Yes. Or what's the limit on that? Yeah, well, there's not a rule. I mean, it's just a guideline that we say, don't spend all your

money on housing so you have no money. That's all it amounts to. But yeah, utilities are not part of the one-fourth of your take-home pay guideline. Okay. And Josh, are you, and you're confident after the first year, your income will increase if you stay at the job? After the first year, I go from 34 up to 38. Okay. Yeah. And I think that that's something to, to, to factor into the math. I mean, obviously you don't want to make a crazy financial decision, which renting a place isn't in my opinion, buying a house would be, but if you're in a crazy financial decision, which renting a place isn't, in my opinion, buying a house would be. But if you're in a year-long lease, you can just know that you could probably stay put if you needed to with the increase of the salary that gets bumped up. Yeah, that's going to give you

even more room. In other words, when the salary starts coming up, if you stayed for the following year in that same exact place. But I'm with you. What you need is not something fancy. You just need something quiet. And thanks for entering that profession. A lot of folks are leaving it right now, and we need good men and women in that profession. And so thank you. Brandon is in Ohio.

Hey, Brandon, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hey, Rachel. Thanks the Dave Ramsey show. Hi Dave. Hey Rachel. Uh, thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Uh, so I kind of made a dumb decision when I was, uh, three years ago with my ex. Um, getting married in September.

So I'm trying to, you know, fix out those wrinkles. Um, so I co-signed on a car for my ex and, uh, I ended up letting them take it. They repossessed the vehicle and everything. And there's $11,000 still owed on the car. Um, I'm not sure if we should, you know, worry about that right now or cause we have $8,000 saved up. Um, but we just wasn't sure if we should tackle that or leave that for later until they actually you know pursue it okay who's we uh my fiance sorry oh oh i see okay well she should not do anything until she's married do you yeah yeah i understand because that's what that's how you got in this mess in the first place yeah exactly yeah so let me make sure i understand the story right you got divorced

and then no it was you co-signed for a car it was a girlfriend he co-signed his ex-girlfriend oh okay your ex is your ex-girlfriend so you co-signed for a car for your girlfriend and then broke up then she broke up with you or vice versa or whatever, and the car ended up getting repoed. How long ago was it repoed? Yeah. It was repoed probably maybe five or six months ago. Okay.

All right. So rule number one, you said I did a stupid thing. That was what you said. Okay. And I agree with you. That was stupid. I've done a lot of stupid stuff in my life. As a matter of fact, that's what makes this show entertaining is all the stupid things I've done in my life. and so um uh the thing i always want to do after i do something stupid is i really want to say never again and so the rule is never cosign alone for anyone ever and have you thoroughly learned that lesson now yes yes i will never ever go down that road again so have you got a little brother a little sister yeah i got a little i need some help would you co-sign for me brandon i need a car oh if you're a good brother yeah it's still gonna be it now no okay you. I think Brandon's feeling that the $11,000 is going to have to pay for his ex-girlfriend's car. You just don't ever want to.

And your poor fiance is like, oh, gosh. Yeah, your fiance is like, yeah. No, so here's the deal. No, you don't use your $8,000 to fix this right now. Let it sit a little while. You will end up having to settle this, at least your part of it. They can go after your ex. And what I would do is offer about 20 cents on the dollar.

So if it's an $11,000 bill, I'd offer them about two grand. And I would do that six months from now. When are you getting married? September 12th, so here in a few months. Yeah, so up around Christmas or so. Call these people up. Let them sit until then uh they typically get none of this money that's what they normally get zero so if

you say i don't really care about her meaning the ex's name i don't care about sally joe all i care about is me i'll settle my part you can still go after her if you want i'll settle my part. You can still go after her if you want. I'll settle my part for $2,000. And you'll have to beat on them because they're going to whine and they're going to act like they always get more. They usually get nothing. And so 20 cents on the dollar is what we can usually settle a repo for when our coaches, our counselors are working with people in these situations. Because, again, the companies on the repo deficit usually get nothing, nada. And just putting that in your debt snowball.

If there's other debts that you guys are working on. Yeah, clear up your other debts first. Just let that thing sit. But if you've got $8,000 and you don't have any other debt and you get married and you still got $8,000, you know, then just call them up and start trying to negotiate. It may take you two months of going back and forth with them, just messing with them. So what's the average percentage that they're going to go after her for the car versus him? Well, what's the likelihood?

Almost zero. Because they knew she wasn't worth the cost of a bag of flour. That's why they wanted to co-sign her. They knew she was a deadbeat. That's why they wanted to co-sign her. She a deadbeat. That's why they wanted a cosigner. She may not have been a deadbeat. She just didn't have the money for it. Well, where do we end up?

She didn't pay the bill. The car got reposted. What do you call that? Deadbeat. Okay, so that's what you call that. So, yeah, I mean, that's the thing. What's wrong? She just doesn't have the money.

Anyways, nothing. It's semantics now. Okay. But, I mean, you know, she didn't pay the bill. So, that's, I mean, when I didn't pay the bill, I was a deadbeat. So, you know, sometimes you're a deadbeat. That's what you do if you screw up your life. I'm just the empathizer over in the house.

And I'm thinking, what did Brandon's ex-girlfriend, what if, we don't know her story. What if she got in a lot of trouble? We don't know. So, I don't know. Not that she's listening to this show. You We don't know. So I don't know. Not that she's listening to this show. You're just so sweet. You're so sweet. That's why people like you.

No, you just have to think about the whole picture. That's why people like you. You got to think about the whole picture. You give them the benefit of a doubt. I got a Dr. John Deloney fist pump in the booth right now. Think about the whole picture. That's right. We're expanding our minds.

We're learning. We're expanding our minds. I'm just kidding. Keep going. She didn't pay the bill. The car got repoed. So you can call it what you want to call it. That's right. We're expanding our minds. We're learning. We're expanding our minds. I'm just kidding. Keep going. She didn't pay the bill. The car got repoed. So you can call it what you want to call it. It's pretty simple.

That's it. That's the facts. That's the facts. I didn't pay the bill. House got foreclosed on. What do you call that? Call the guy got foreclosed on. You call it a deadbeat.

That's what you call it. So not a deadbeat anymore. Quit doing stupid butt stuff. So there you go. It changed the whole thing. That's your life was better growing up. So there you go. It changed the whole thing. I'm sure life was better growing up. So there we go. That's right.

That's right. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Proverbs 17, 18. King James, New King James Version says, One lacking in sense signs surety for another. Surety is Old English Bible talk for debt. The contemporary English version says, It is stupid to cosign a loan.

Proverbs 17, 18. The Bible says, It is stupid to cosign a loan. Never cosign. I have cosigned loans. I ended up paying them. One poor fool co-signed for me. He ended up paying it when I went bankrupt and I had to go back and pay him back. His wife still mad at me 40 years later. So that's what happens. It screws up everything. Don't co-sign. If the bank who's hungry to make a loan won't make the loan, it's a really big sign that you've got a problem

and you co-sign for it. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Business leaders, now more than ever, we need people with the right skills to support our communities, especially the frontline workers who provide resources and care for those most in need. To help, LinkedIn is offering free job posts for health care and essential service organizations that need to quickly fill critical roles with the people who help us all. If you are hiring for one of these organizations, free job posts on LinkedIn can help you quickly find the right people for your front line. LinkedIn jobs can help by screening candidates for skills and experience you're looking for and putting your job post in front of qualified people who have what you're looking for so you can find the right person to quickly fill critical roles. To post a health care or essential service job for free,

or if you're in another industry and have hiring needs, visit linkedin.com slash Ramsey. LinkedIn.com slash Ramsey. LinkedIn.com slash Ramsey. Terms and conditions apply. Oh, it's so nice to have humans in the lobby at Ramsey Solution. Hey, humans. Good to have all of you. Some of you have come from states where you have not seen humans in a while, and you escaped and came to Tennessee where we're open. Thanks for joining us.

Right here on the debt-free stage, Mike and Kristen are with us from Baltimore, Maryland. Good to have you guys. Welcome. It's good to be here. How much debt have you two paid off? $174,760. Whoa. Whoa. How long did this take? Three years and 11 months. Wow. And your range of income during that time?

We started off around $120,000 and finished around $150,000. Good. What do you guys do for a living? I fix big computers. And I'm a stay-at-home mom. Cool. Cool. Very good. Good for you guys. So what kind of debt was this $175,000? Well, this was the last payment of our credit cards. We had a couple thousand there and a hospital bill.

And then the last was $168,000 of our house. You paid off your house! Looking at weird people! There's weird people in Maryland, too. I like it. Very good. Congratulations. Thank you.

What's this house worth? $370,000. Oh, nice. How old are you two? Today's my birthday. Happy birthday. Now I'm 39. Oh, $370,000. Oh, nice. How old are you two? Oh, today's my birthday. Happy birthday. So now I'm 39. Oh, that's great.

And Kristen? I'm 38. Not even 40. Not yet. And you have a paid-for house worth almost $400,000. Wow! We are excited. Impressive heroes.

Well done. Thank you. Very, very well done. So what started you guys? Okay, I love that you said three years and 11 months. Not quite four. Not quite four. Thank you. Very, very well done. So what started you guys? Okay. I love that you said three years and 11 months. So what happened almost four years ago? I'll give you the credit of three years and 11 months. What happened then that started you guys on this journey? Well, I've always been on the money side of things and I would like the research of that. I've always

been on a budget since I was 18. Um, but about four years ago I started to run and I needed to have a watch. You know, I got to have a watch that tracks my running and my heart rate and all that stuff. So I had to figure out what watch was the best. So then I went online and found a guy that was good at viewing those and he had to have a podcast. So I'd never been on any podcast. So I downloaded a podcast player and I started listening to his podcast. But I can't just have one podcast. So I started researching money and then the Dave Ramsey show pops up on the podcast. So I started listening to your show and was hooked

from the first show. Wow. I couldn't believe there was a guy that talked about the Bible and he talked about money in the same episode. Wow. And we heard about your book, The Total Money Makeover. And that gave us all the steps that we needed. And it also taught me that I was doing my budget wrong.

You're doing it wrong. I was. So what were you doing that was wrong? Well, you guys explained it so well that you have to do your budget every single month. Because what happens in May and happens in June doesn't happen in December. They're completely different. And so you need to sit down as a couple every month

and figure out what you need. I was trying to have this big budget for the entire year and remember everything, but I just need to do it every month. So good. Kristen, okay, as a stay-at-home mom, because you guys have two. Two, yes, ma'am. Two kids. And how old are they?

Eight and ten months. Eight and ten months. Congratulations. I have a little Charles who's eight months. I feel you, girl. I feel you. Okay, so what was all that journey like? Being a stay- we're, I feel you girl. I feel you. Okay. So what was all that journey like being a stay at home mom?

You're there with the kids. He's obviously you guys are being focused on where the money's going, the income that he's bringing in, but you play a huge role in this process as well. So talk to the moms out there that are listening that are home. Like what kind of support did you give him? What did you do at the home to help accelerate this journey? Well, I mean, basically he was like, well, this is what we got to do when we have the money. You know, we do the envelope system. So whatever was in that envelope I could use. There were times that,

you know, I had to cut back quite a bit. But just I found that it's not something that I really needed. Things were what I wanted. So I had to decide, do I really need this or is it just a want? And I was able to get the things I needed. And then there were times that I was able to get the things that I wanted also. And now you don't have a house payment. That's right. Woo! I love it.

Way to go. Way to go. Way to go. Well, because Kristen, Mike is a little bit wired up. Just a little bit. Maybe a tad bit. A little bit. So he goes from like buying a running watch all the way to putting you on the envelope system. In like one conversation just about.

I mean, boom, right? So were you resistant, Kristen? How was your response to him coming in and saying, hey, I found, boom, right? So were you resistant, Kristen? How was your response to him coming in and saying, hey, I found this whole new plan? You know, it was hard at first. There were some things that we needed to discuss. Oh yeah, they were

some of those. Yeah, just a few. She's so sweet. We got where we needed to be on a budget that I was happy with along with him. That's key, yeah. We worked it out together, and we communicate together and just keep on that budget system, and it just really has helped out a lot.

And now I can say we are debt-free. I love it. No house payment. Not yet. So now if there's really something i want then you know so what do you be able to afford it amen now you can do you live like no one else later you get to live and give like no one else so what do you guys tell people the secret to getting out of debt was when people find out you're not even 40 years old you paid off your house you're officially weird it's

awesome that's right the day rachel there's four things that we say. Number one is you have to have a budget. You can't win without a budget. But the budget isn't it. Besides the budget, you need to have a plan. And that was in that book. There's seven steps. You have to have a plan. What are you going to be doing? But it's not just the budget and the plan. You have to have a belief. If you don't believe you can do it, you're not going to do it. But just because you have that belief too, you also have to have communication with your spouse. So those four things that I think are important. Absolutely. That's good. That's good. And they do weave together and depend on each other. Like you just said, that's yeah. And those last two things, right? You have to have those, right? The tactical side of, I mean, cause yeah, like you said, you can do a

budget. You don't have to live by it. You should, but of, I mean, because yeah, like you said, you can do a budget. You don't have to live by it. You should, but some people, they do it and they don't even, you know, they don't live by it. They don't stick to it. You can know the plan, but if you don't do it,

that's the difference. But having, yes, the belief is huge. And then, yeah, working as a team. And I love that you guys said that, Kristen, I love when you said, yeah, it was a budget that we both agreed on. And I felt comfortable with,

because it is, it's a, it's such a team effort when you're married. And the couples that have a tough time are ones that are running on these separate lanes. But you guys are a beautiful example of doing it together. And it's amazing. Amazing. And for your kids. I mean, it's an exciting legacy that you guys are creating right now.

Way to go, guys. Thank you. Outside of your immediate family, outside of the two of you, who were your biggest cheerleaders? I would say our parents. Our friends were more like, that's good for you. But I think now they're looking at it, wow, they are debt-free. They actually did it. But I think it's probably more of our moms and dads, brothers and sisters.

Not bad. That's cool. And you brought the kiddos with you. We did. Let's bring them into the shot. What is their names and ages again? We got one, Alexis. She is 10.

No, she's 8. She's not 10. She's 8. Sorry. Now, we got one in heaven. Ian Michael, he would have been 5. Oh. And then we have our youngest one here, Haley Grace.

Sweet. 10 months. That's awesome, you guys. That's so fun. Proud of you guys. Well done, well done. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Everyday Millionaires.

And you guys, that is the next chapter in your story for sure. You guys can do anything after this. I'm so proud of you. All right, Mike and Kristen, Alexis and Haley from Baltimore, Maryland. $175,000 paid off in three years, 11 months. House and everything before they're 40, making $120,000 to $150,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

All right, Haley, you're going to cry, but we're doing it anyways. You ready, Lexi? Ready, Kristen? Yep. Three, two, one. We're debt it anyways. You ready, Lexi? Ready, Kristen? Yep. Three, two, one. We're debt free! I love it. Way to go, you guys.

Awesome, awesome. Now, you guys do understand out there that when you start saving a house payment investing a house payment every month from age 40 to age 65 that that's millions and millions and millions of dollars so when i say they're going to be everyday millionaires, I'm not kidding. It's mathematically what's going to occur. Very well done. Very well done. Our family tree has changed.

I love this stuff. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. folks save cash by fixing your major appliances yourself. Get your parts from my friends at Appliance Parts Pros. We just heard from a listener who said he saved his family at least $500 by getting his parts and expert advice to fix his leaky fridge and dishwasher from Appliance Parts Pros. These guys carry over 2 million appliance and outdoor power equipment parts and offer easy returns.

Order your parts today at AppliancePartsPros.com. My co-host this hour on the Dave Ramsey Show, Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality No. 1 best-selling author. She and Chris Hogan and I will be doing an event that is a free live stream event for you. One week from today, for most of you listening, if you're listening live or on the proper day, it's Thursday, June the 25th at 7 p.m. The event is called What Now? COVID-19 and Your Money. After all this thing we've been through, what now?

What now? Well, Chris Hogan, Rachel Cruz, and I are going to tell you free, a free event. We'll be broadcasting it from the stage here in the atrium at ramsey solutions with a live audience that is sold out by the way that was those tickets were free too and uh so text the word control to 33 789 text the word control to 33 789 and you can get your free tickets to view this next Thursday night, June the 25th at 7 p.m. Central Time. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Yes, it's going to be a great, great event. And I mean, and I love, again, that we, I feel like we caught the early end on this with the Message of Hope event we did about 90 days ago. And now just walking through, because, you know, the pandemic and everything happening, like it's touched everyone. Like everyone's been affected by it and so to be able to to walk people through and what to do on the money side of it uh is something that is is exciting and and i love because again we're seeing hope now 90 days 90 days out yeah yeah it's amazing how much different things are 90 days later. And, you know, we did tell you the truth.

We told you this too shall pass. You're going to be okay. And that's what we told you with the message of hope. It's going to be okay. And it is going to be okay. It's not quite over yet for some folks, more over for others than some and so forth. But, you know, certainly we don't have anything to do with the medical side of this equation everybody's got opinions on that um i certainly do uh strong

ones but uh their opinions we're not medical people we do however we are experts on the financial parts of it and we're going to walk you through okay what now what now after this event see when you go through something like this you ought to learn something from it so what now and we're going to teach you it's what we do and it's completely free again text the word control to 33 789 let your friends know let your financial peace groups know. Let your church know. Let your Facebook groups know. It's free. Everyone tune in Thursday, June 25th at 7 p.m.

Megan is with us in North Carolina. Hi, Megan. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, how are you guys doing? Great. How can we help? Good. So I have a question. My husband is military and he's planning on doing career, which means that we're moving every couple of years. So my question is, do we rent for his potential 20-year career because we're bouncing states?

Or do we buy and sell because it could be anywhere from a year or two to four, six, eight years in one place that there's no guarantee? To start with, you set aside money every month for the purchase of a home at some point, either when his career allows him to stabilize his location or when he does retire, either one. But you're on to something. We work with the military all the time, and we have for decades. And it is a pattern with military people messing up their finances with buying a home in every location that they go to. So, no, you do not buy,

with rare exceptions. If you're moving into an area that the real estate market moves quickly, meaning you can sell the house easily, and it goes up in value a lot during the time you're going to be there, then you can talk about buying at that point but normally we tell most military people not to buy yes because again usually when you want to plant down roots and you know okay we're going to buy is is five years or more and the fact that you don't know you said you know it could be one two four six we don't know and so uh gosh there's just so much i mean buying a home it's one of the largest financial purchases you make in your lifetime and having to do that and uprooting constantly it's just less stress just to rent find something great and cost less money yeah cost less money to do that so

because the problem is if you can't sell it because the market's flat where you're leaving you end up with a rental property there and then you go and do it again then you do it again and the number of times i've talked to somebody that's been in the military for 10, 15 years, and they've got five houses or four houses scattered all over from everywhere they left, and they couldn't sell it, so they rented it. And they end up being the worst kind of long-distance landlord, a landlord by default because they couldn't get rid of the house, and they're scattered all over the dead-blame nation.

That just creates a problem. Now, if you want to do the technical details, here's what you do. If you're looking in an area and you say, okay, we're, let's say you're Navy and you're moving into San Diego. Well, that's a pretty hot market, very expensive market, but a very hot real estate market. That's where you might find something different. You can look at these two statistics with your local real estate endorsed local provider.

Number one, look at DOM, days on the market in the area you're thinking of buying in. And if the average days on the market are 270, that's nine months. There's nothing moving there. Don't buy a house there because you're not going to get rid of it when you move. But if the average days on the market are 27 days, that means you can turn a house in less than a month. Yeah, that's something to consider. because you're not going to get rid of it when you move. But if the average days on the market are 27 days, that means you can turn a house in less than a month. Yeah, that's something to consider.

The second statistic is what is the appreciation rate on the homes within a 5- or a 10-mile radius of where you're talking about buying, and you can get both of these numbers from your real estate agent. So if the average appreciation rate is 2%, and it's 270 days on the market, you can't get rid of it. And if you do, it hasn't gone up enough to even cover your expenses. Well, you definitely wouldn't buy in that market. And that's what you're going to find in a lot of towns, especially that are flooded with military families because they're putting houses on the market all the time and so um but if you go into an area and you say okay average days on the market is 27 and the average appreciation rate is 10 a year well i mean if you're there three years it's going to go up 30 and you can offload the thing when you move quickly and easily

because it's a hot market then that's when you'd consider buying in that market but the number of military markets that that is true would be less than probably 10 or 15% of them. And so, again, depending on which branch of the service you're in, all those kinds of things will affect all of that. But thank you for your service. Thank you to him

for his service. We really appreciate you. Justin is with us. Justin's in California. Hi, Justin. How are you? Hey, Dave. How's it going? Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So here, I have kind of a dilemma that I'd like your advice on. So I am 30 years old, single, no kids, no wife, debt-free, and I have $175,000 in savings. So I've definitely been a saver, to say the least. My concern is I need to buy a new car, and I've been driving the same car since high school,

and I'm looking at a car that's $21,000. I'm looking to buy it in cash. It's a 2017 Mustang. The only thing is that there's about 45,000 miles on it. So, one, I'd like to get your opinion on that. And then, two, do you kind of have a baseline for how much of somebody's savings should go to a car if you pay in cash? No, I just tell folks not to tie up more than about half their annual income in all the things that they own with motors and wheels. So all the things you have with motors and wheels which if you don't own anything but

that one car it would be that one car okay now what's your income a hundred thousand okay so that that this fits easily within that dude you're a conservative guy you're a saver you're looking at a used car you make a hundred thousand dollars a year you're looking at a good-use car. That's a cool car. I'd buy that car. Yeah, I definitely want to. Like I said, it's just more of the miles versus the cost of it. You've got to look at that. But, I mean, that's not that many miles on a Mustang. A Mustang's a solid product.

Ford's building a good product. You're fine. Unless it's been ragged out. Has some teenager been driving it and burning the wheels off of it or something? No. So this is the first time. This is the first owner of the car. He's pretty much like 35 years old.

He's been driving the car mostly highway miles. Oh, you're fine. Bye, Justin. I don't know if that's what the car is worth or not. You'd have to look that up. I'm not an expert on Mustang values, but Mustang's a great car. Again, Ford's building a good product. I wouldn't worry about that mileage at all. I think you ought to buy that car well the math works justin so you're good yeah absolutely

rachel thanks for dropping by this hour yeah thanks for having me rachel cruise this hour here on the dave ramsey show remember thursday night june 25th at 7 p.m the what now event it's completely free text the word control to 33-789. Hey guys, it's George Camel, host of the Dave Ramsey Show video channel. You can now listen to the show on your smart speaker. Just tell your Alexa or Google device to play the Dave Ramsey Show or find out all the ways you can benefit

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