The Ramsey Show - App - No, Credit Cards DON’T Make You More Secure (Hour 3)

Episode Date: December 21, 2021

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

I'm Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of a BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, George Campbell. Ramsey Personality is my co-host as we talk about your work, your relationships, your life, and your money right here every day. And one of us, Ramsey Personalities, can help you with all of those things.

Some of us more than others, but we're all here to help it's a that's for sure the phone number 888-825-5225 cory is in white plains new york hi cory welcome to the ramsey show thank you so much for having me i appreciate you taking my phone call sure what's up um thank you so much for everything you do for everybody and help change my family's life. I had a quick question I heard you mention the other day about the backdoor Roth and it coming to an end. I believe you said maybe at the end of this year. And I wanted to know if I should try to convert a traditional IRA into a Roth before the year is over. No, you wouldn't do it.

And by the way, the backdoor has not gone away because it was part of the Build Back Better thing and it didn't pass. I just figured it was going to pass. So it may pass yet or some version of something may pass. I mean, the Biden administration is going to plug this hole, so I don't know whether they're going to get it year or next year but just be looking for that but you can do a backdoor roth and that's different than a than a roth rollover okay yeah now when we would roll a roth when will we roll a traditional to a roth how much is in your traditional

um it's only about 30 000 okay so you're going to create a seven thousand dollar tax bill yes okay when would i create a seven thousand dollar tax bill to convert to roth so it grows tax-free baby step seven yeah are you in baby step seven no i'm not i'm still in four five and six i just again my concern was that I was going to miss out on this, and I just wanted to know if it was something I should or shouldn't do. Good question. No, you're not going to miss out on it. And two, I'd rather you put the $7,000 towards your mortgage.

Yeah. Okay. What baby step are you on right now? Four, five, six. Oh, four. Okay, four, five, six. Yeah, I'd put that on the mortgage, and once you're at baby step seven, hopefully it's still around and you can convert it over. Yeah, so, like, folks, if6. Yeah, I'd put that on the mortgage, and once you're at baby step seven, hopefully it's still around and you can convert it over.

Yeah, so, folks, if you're listening, it means you've got like $100,000 sitting in a traditional rollover, and you want to move it. It's going to cost you $25,000. I don't want you spending that $25,000. It's a good move to do it if you're in your 30s or 40s, 50s. To move it and let it grow from this point tax-free is going to be beautiful. And it has the same mathematical effect of having invested another $25,000 into your IRA or into your investments.

But don't do that while you've still got a mortgage. Don't do that while you've still got other debt while you're earlier in the baby steps. Your kid's college isn't taken care of. I don't want to create a $25,000 bill for you while you're still working the baby steps. But once you're out there in baby step seven, it's a wonderful thing to be able to do that. So good, good, good question. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Christopher is in Oklahoma City.

Hi, Christopher. How are you? Hi. I'm pretty good, I guess. Good. What can we help? I don't have problems. Well, so we had some fraudulent transactions on our account,

and my wife was talking about getting a credit card because she makes online transactions and to, I guess, fraud is easier to handle on credit cards. And, I mean, I've watched your YouTube stuff all the time for years. So I wanted to know what you would recommend to prevent fraud, preferably something free. Yeah. Well, fraud is, if you get a fraudulent transaction on a credit card, you don't owe the money. If you get a fraudulent transaction on a debit card, you don't owe the money.

And so the net result of both is no loss to you it's both free visa has the and mastercard have the exact same protections for fraud on debit as they do on credit now on your debit it can come out of your account and it may to be a little bit before you get it put back into the account but the bank is on the hook for that transaction, not you. So you do not have a greater risk of losing money with a debit card than you do with a credit card. So that's just bogus.

Now, here's the other thing. If she's bouncing around doing online crap or she's showing up with fraud all the time, she needs to fix her dadgum ways. I mean, what are you doing? What kind of sites are you hanging out on that's crazy i'm not going to continue to a behavior pattern that's inviting fraud into anything no i don't think she's like going crazy online i mean like this is the first time we've noticed well i mean what how many different fraudulent transactions were there?

There were two. Then shut up. We just found them yesterday. Oh, my God. That's just ridiculous. You're going to completely change your whole way of handling money over two fraudulent transactions. I had a fraudulent transaction on my debit card last week. They shut it down, removed it instantly, shut the card down for 48 hours, reopened, we're done.

I'm not going to completely change my whole life over two transactions. You live in a world where you're going to have a fraudulent transaction occasionally. I thought you were talking like you had a hundred or something. Yeah, she needs to just make sure she's got the right security measures in place when she's shopping online. Don't store your card info. Make sure you've got secure passwords. Don't use the same passwords across sites. This is basic. If she really wants security, this is how she's going to get it, not from a credit card. And so that's going to be a conversation you have to have with her. It sounds more like a marriage conversation than it is a financial question, but she has to understand that it has the same protections. You'll be okay. There's even sites like I use one called

privacy.com. It makes fake debit card numbers that are attached to your real account. James Childs is a big fan of that and that really protects you and you can set a lot of different limits on there so if she's really that concerned there's some great tools out there but a credit card is not the tool to go with and two fraudulent transactions two of anything shouldn't be enough to cause you to completely change the way you handle your money no but people freak out it sounds to me like she just wants a credit card that's what it sounds like and yeah and so that she can go into debt and go do a bunch of other crap with money y'all don't have that's what it sounds the credit card is much more dangerous for your financial future than any chance of fraud on a debit card that's the truth mic drop all right ira is with us in lexington ira how are you wait a minute let me try that again everything i deserve

dave how are you doing sir just the same what's up so my wife and i are baby step seven um we became debt free in 2019 and we're saving up for uh real estate investing And I would like to ask you, if you woke up in our shoes, would you form an LLC or would you buy properties in cash personally? I'd go ahead and put it in an LLC just for risk management. And I don't put more than $5 million of property into an LLC. After that, I form another one. And so if I have a single property that is more than $5 million, it has a standalone LLC.

And that way, if something happens on that property, they can only sue for and take that one property. They don't get everything else you own. So it's a risk management thing to separate your risk with an LLC in real estate, and I like using them for that. Imagine a world where people never have to worry about money ever again. At Ramsey Solutions, our mission is to teach people how to get out of debt and build lasting wealth. And if that means we have to take on the toxic money culture that says you need debt to get ahead, then we're okay with that. We've seen millions

of lives changed and we will continue to create digital products and services to help people transform their lives. If you want to join me and over 1,000 other team members on this crusade, we're currently on the hunt for web developers, UX designers, and SEO and content marketing specialists. To find out about these positions and more here at Ramsey Solutions, visit ramsesolutions.com slash careers. That's ramsesolutions.com slash careers that's ramsey solutions.com slash careers together we will disrupt the toxic money culture in america and change lives visit ramsey solutions.com slash careers for more information George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Blinds.com. It gives us our question of the day. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. It means even if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSEY and you'll get the best deal. Today's question comes from Jermaine in Florida. Why pay off collections if your credit score, debt, and taking loans goes against your teachings?

I got to read that one again. Why pay off collections if your credit score, debt, and taking loans goes against your teachings? What is he asking there? Well, he's asking why pay off your debt. You know, if you're not worried about your credit score and just let it run up. Well, it's not about the credit score here. Yeah, so what it amounts to is, Jermaine, you're picking and choosing which of our teachings you like

in order to do something stupid. So let me help you. The teaching number one is, the number one correlating character quality to people who build wealth is extreme levels of integrity. You're not representing that in your question very well. So integrity says if you have debt in collections that you go settle it if you're broke. You offer them a settlement of some kind, and we teach people how to do that regularly, or a settlement if the fees and other

things added to it are unreasonable and out of control, crazy, like double, triple, quadruple, that kind of thing. But, you know, you got a $250 medical bill there where you actually went to the doctor and you did a $250. You need to just pay your bill, Jermaine. That's why. Yeah, this does not go against our teachings to pay off your debt. That is, in fact, what we teach. And we're not concerned about the credit score. Nowhere do we say pay off collections so that your credit score doesn't take a dip. We are not concerned with that. But like Dave's saying, it's the integrity factor here.

You took out this debt. We believe you should pay it back. It does help your credit score, though. Sure. Because the collection is standing against your credit score. But if you're not worried about your credit score because you're not going to borrow money anymore, per our teachings, then his point is, why bother and pay them off? Why go clean it up?

Because you owe the money. And because it's your electronic reputation and you need to spend some effort. And a bad credit score can hurt you in certain situations. So we like no score, and that's what happens when you pay off all of your debt but with it sitting in collections out there that's not going to be a pretty situation if for some reason they needed to pull that score and they go no you're not going to get no score is preferable uh bad score you can live with if you never try to borrow money or never try to do anything where they're pulling your credit score but um I'm not trying to get you off the grid. I'm just trying to get you where you're not dependent on debt as your source.

That's the thing. And so that's where you misunderstood. And, again, I think you're picking and choosing which of our teachings because we've always taught people to pay their bills. If at all possible, if you have the money, if you can find the money, if you can work extra, if you can work extra if you can sell stuff pay your bills we want you to pay your bills because that's what's best for you in the long run and again the number one correlating character quality of people that are able to build wealth and win is extreme fanatical levels of integrity so that's what you're you know that's what you're aiming for nikitaita is with us in Boston. Hi, Nikita.

How are you? I'm doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I have what may be a fairly simple question, and that is how to best allocate money after you've maxed out your 401. So for a little bit of context, I just got a pretty massive increase in income um i'm making

about 200k a year way to go yeah uh i don't have any debt besides about 20k in a car payment um and i have about 70k already saved good it. Good. Is $70,000 in what? It's a mix of things. I mean, most of it is in a mix of an IRA, which is a Roth. Do you have any money saved that is not in retirement? Yes. Yeah, I have about three months emergency in a high interest savings account. How much?

$16,000. $16,000. All right. So here's the thing, Nikita. I know it's not a fun answer, but you're not ready to invest right now until we clean up this debt. How quickly could you... Just the car payment. You said you had $20,000 on something else? On a car. Just the car. Okay. So, I mean, you on something else? On a car. Just the car.

Okay. So, I mean, you can do it Nikita's way. That's fine. But if you want to do it the Ramsey way, what we teach is that you're going to have a $1,000 starter emergency fund, and any other money is going to go towards debt. That's not in a retirement account. You can clean this up real quick. With your income, I mean, you're going to be there really fast.

So I'm going to put $15,000 on your $20,000 car car i'm going to pay the $5,000 off in a month or two then i'm going to build your emergency fund up to three to six months of expenses which sounds more like 15k in cash in your situation then and only then would you restart your 401k which you need to stop until you've done those things yeah i mean i mean, I can, I mean, realistically, uh, my retirement account is pretty small. I actually have a much larger personal investment, like it's invested, but not in a retirement account. Um, so it's liquid. So, I mean, I could, I could pay the car payment off in full today. Go ahead, do it. Um, but so then the question becomes you know after that with the money i'm making i'm also i'm single i'm young um i can definitely max out the 401 very comfortably

okay you're debt free and you have i thought you i thought you said you had nothing except 16 000 in an account plus your retirement money. And so I have my net worth right now is... No, no, stop, stop, stop, stop. You're talking in circles, all right? Do you have money other than the $16,000 and other than retirement money? Yes. What?

I have $50,000 in an investment account that's non-retirement. Okay, that wasn't what you answered before. All right, good. Cash that out, enough of it, and write a check and pay off your car today. Okay, then we'll get on with your question. You make sure you've got three to six months of expenses. $16,000 is not enough. It's okay if you want to call it that.

We'll call that your emergency fund. Okay, then you put 15% away. Now, you can do your maxed out 401k which won't get you to 15 because 15 of 200,000 is 30,000 we're trying to get to so you can put 19 in your 401k you can max out your roth ira and you'll be just fine doing those two things you're not going to quite get to 15 do you own a home no okay cool then we start saving like crazy to buy a house and it's always good to save for a house even if you're not sure you're going to buy soon you are going to buy someday and it won't hurt you to have 300 000 bucks in an account when you get ready okay so that's your next big goal beyond maxing out a roth and maxing out your 401 yeah i don't think i can do a raw you can do a backdoor roth oh backdoor yeah yeah and so jump in with your smart investor pro and get that started but pay off that

car today, girl. Don't walk around acting like this car is okay. Because I don't smell you paying it off. I think you think it's like no big deal. I can eat 17 donuts and I won't get fat. Yes, you will. 17 donuts equals fat. I know.

I did it. Okay? So you can't do that. I got big as a dadgum house during covid because i ate every donut in a 50 mile radius but if you just if you act like that that's what's going to happen and so you just can't you can't misbehave and and just gloss over it and act like nothing's going to happen there's a result to your behaviors pay off the stupid car and don't buy another stupid car unless you pay cash for it you make

too much money you make a lot of money now girl you're doing so good congratulations on the incredible raise the incredible income yeah now let's now let's use it and go make some money with it go make some wealth with it you're already making money but let's build some wealth with this thing this is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host today here on the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey in the hobby of Ramsey Solutions. It might be a hobby, but it's a lobby. And on the debt-free stage is Colinin and caitlin hi guys how are you hey better than we deserve how are you doing today just the same brother merry christmas to you where

do y'all live just south of lexington kentucky oh not a too bad a drive to nashville but welcome good to have you thank you here to do a debt-free scream how much have you paid off 156 580 dollars i love it and how long did this take? 33 months. Wow. And your range of income during that time? Started out about 36 and got around 55 towards the end. You sold something. We did. Okay. It didn't work. All right. What kind of debt was the $157,000, and what did you sell? A little bit of everything. We had credit cards, a lot of student loans. I had a car payment.

I had some medical bills. And what we sold was our home that we had at the time. Oh. Ouch. Big sacrifice to make this move. Yes, sir. Okay. And so how much equity came out of the home?

About $75,000. Mm-hmm. Okay. And then so you cash flowed the other $75,000. Yes, sir. Or $80,000. Okay. Now, those numbers work.

So what are you doing? Renting right now? Well, right now, we were fortunate enough that we had some great grandparents that were really good about money. You talk about that all the time. This is stuff that they knew and applied, and so we were a beneficiary. There was a vacant farmhouse that my family owned, and so at the time I got a job where I traveled,

and so it didn't matter where I lived. And so we got to move up there after I finally convinced her to kind of get up and get out. We're originally from just south of Atlanta, Georgia. Oh, okay. So it was a big move. Okay, so you moved to the family farm, the free rent. Yes, sir.

In the old farmhouse. So it's Green Acres. You probably don't even remember that song. Yes. That sitcom. That's right. so yeah and uh uh yeah and so you move her onto the farm we got out of debt and uh was it worth all that man that's a lot absolutely absolutely yeah so you like farm life then definitely the traffic is so much better hey all traffic is better than Atlanta.

Yes, it is. Oh, my God. Atlanta's cursed. Yes. Yeah. And Lexington, they don't even know what traffic is compared to Atlanta or nowhere near Lexington even. Wow. So that's a big move.

Yes, sir. It was. Tell us the story of how you processed all of that that i mean it's literally a move but i'm saying emotionally you guys you you changed your whole way of looking at life yeah we did it was really hard at first um it was hard on our family it was hard on us just to um because it was such a big move and we had um three kids at the, but they're all very young, so it wasn't too hard for them to adjust to it. But it has been hard to be away from the grandparents and the aunts and uncles, but the financial benefits that we've experienced have just been completely worth it.

And it's not forever. No. Right. But it's for a stage to make the turn here. Yes. So, like, your parents are in atlanta then yes yes all of our parents are both of you okay but the grandparents or the great grandparents are up in the lexington well i've got some aunts and uncles still in the lexington

area but the property you're on was your right yeah okay your family yes okay i thought so wow wow okay so 33 months ago like what was that turning point where you guys said we're normal we got credit cards we got grenade was dropped into the house people don't just up and change their whole life like that what happened with you guys right well um we just didn't want to be slave to the lender anymore like you're taking the proverbs all the time uh 22 7 it says the borrower is slave to the lender and we want to have one master and that's jesus and so um this was just the big thing that we've been convicted about doing ever since 2016 um we started an fpu class at our church at the time our shovel was

more of a spoon and so we kind of dropped out of the class because there was no way that we could afford felt like this isn't for us i guess right we did but it was always on our hearts and on our minds and we just kept that that burden on our backs of that weight then we realized the um compounding interest of the student loans and we were like we just had a moment in 2018 after he had gotten his new job and we were like we just have to do it now it's now or or never and so you bust it yeah did your family some of your family think you were crazy oh yeah oh definitely they still think we're crazy okay some of your friends too absolutely what church were you going to with financial peace university um it was uh first baptist jonesborough yeah okay great yeah very cool good okay so now you're debt free a hundred

percent because you got rid of the mortgage yeah and everything now we don't have a house yet but we're 100 debt free and uh how's that feel such a burden lifted um you know that there's a there's a future there's a hope in a future now uh you know when we think about our kids and just the legacy that we want to live with them there's there's there was a way out and so we're just so grateful uh for the way the lord provided that just just out of the blue with the new job the the house that happened to be vacant at the time it was just you, providential to say the least. And we're just so thankful. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is?

Of course, sticking with the budget. But for us, it's really more knowing your why. And of course, our number one why is we want to be ready to do whatever the Lord asks us to do. And we believe that the debt was limiting that potentially. And so we wanted to get rid of that master and just have one master. That's good. And then, of course, our other wives are sitting out here with us. We want to just change the family tree. We want to leave a legacy that just teaches them good financial principles and hopefully blesses them so we can continue to give to others along the way.

Beautifully said. I love it. As a person of faith, it is amazing the doors that can open when you have all the options in the world because you're not chained to debt and lenders. That's a powerful thing. It sounds like it started for you guys with a whole lot of conviction and you went, we should probably listen to this there's probably something here yes so when you were sitting back there and you say okay proverbs 22 7 is real i got a monkey on my back i got to get him off you had this vision in your mind of how it was going to feel when you finally did get there was it as good or better than you thought it was going to be or worse i mean does is it is it like oh i thought it's gonna be better than this i'd say it was better better than we

expected okay so now when you get the next two hundred thousand dollars cash which you're on your way to get that'd be your next thing right you got a big pile of money what are you gonna do next well uh we kind of had to go into stork mode uh we had planned to save up baby step 3B and save up a down payment on the house, but we found out we're pregnant with twins now. Baby boys. That's exciting. Of course you are. Incredible.

What does that take the grand total to now? How many kids will that be? Six. Woo! Yeah, okay. You've got to get a new van. Yeah. So now you get the van you get the the twins

landed and then you're gonna buy a house will you stay in lexington or will you go back towards atlanta we don't know god hasn't shown us yet okay exactly where we're gonna land so you'll be there for a little while longer yeah saving up that's good it's it's a great season of life you look back on this section of your life as an adventure when you change the whole direction of everything. There's a sense that there's a milestone. A stake was driven in the ground right here. So very, very well done. I'm proud of you guys.

You're heroes. You've got to feel great. We do. Feels good. Way to go. We've got a copy of Baby Steps Millionaires for you. It comes out January the 11th, but we're going to give you an early release copy because I know a guy. And I'll also give you a copy of Total Money Makeover,

and you can give that to somebody and get them started on the same kind of journey. So let's get the kiddos in, and it's Colin and Caitlin, Cara, Krista, Corbin, and Chloe, all from the Lexington, Kentucky area, plus two little brothers on the way. $157,000 paid off in 33 months, making $36,000 to $55,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Woo-hoo!

Yeah! Touchdown. Look at that bunch. Oh, my gosh, they're cute. Adorable. Wow! This is the Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Jeremiah 26, 14. As for me, I am in your hands.

Do with me whatever you think is good and right. Richard Branson says, train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don't want to. John's with us in Austin, Texas. Hi, John. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you as well.

So I am following the baby steps. I just finished baby step one, so I have $1,000 for an emergency fund. And I have credit card debt left over, and also I have a car lease, which I promise to you, it's the last car lease I'll ever do. But I'm sitting out because the used car market is really good right now. So if I were to compare the Kelly Blue Book value of the car for the trade-in compared to my buyout, it would basically net me a $4,700 check. I was calling to see if I should potentially do that

or if I should prioritize one of my lower credit cards that I owe. It nets you money. It doesn't cost you money. So how does it compare to a credit card? I'm confused. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I mean, you're saying should I move it up in the dead snowball because you got to come out of pocket with forty seven hundred? No, there it would. I would end up getting $4,700 back. So Kelly Blue Book value is $19,000. Yeah, and you would get rid of a car payment and have $5,000

in your pocket. And how does that... You should do that or do a credit card? I'm confused. I'm sorry. So basically take that amount and then I was wondering, like, is that enough to get, like, a decent enough used car?

Oh, yeah, definitely. Okay. Yeah, get you a $5,000 car. Okay. That's a net zero. That costs you nothing towards your debt snowball, except it gets rid of your big buck car payment. Sure.

What do you make a year? About between $55,000 to $60,000. Cool. Good. Okay. And how much debt do you have left not counting this car yeah not counting the lease so a credit card that's about 17 000 and i have about a 5 000 personal loan that i'm paying off okay so 18k clears you and how much is your car payment uh car payment is $375. Okay, cool. All right, so you've got an extra $400 a month to throw towards the 18. When do you project you'll be done with the 18?

Without a car payment? Oh, yeah, without the car. I don't know. Everything I've done taxing has been including a car payment. So, I mean, if I did did 375 extra a month that's uh yeah i don't know it would definitely shorten your last five thousand dollars a year uh making making you said 55 uh yeah i'm 55 to 60 i do commission so it varies i would want your debt free in under a year that's 1500 bucks a month yeah and you don't have the 375 car

payment that gets you there in a year you can do that and then i guess probably insurance payment probably go down too because i imagine insurance on a uh yep lower end car would definitely go down significantly from what i'm paying now yep cool i guess that was an easy question well it's a painful thing to do but here's the thing the way i answer these questions and the way i look at it george is to say okay 10 years from today which of these moves am i going to be glad i did am i going to be glad i drove a piece of crap five thousand dollar car for two years one year while i get out of debt another year while i save up some money finish my emergency fund and buy a better car um is that going to have led me towards more wealth and more peace and more prosperity or slogging my way

through this lease which one's going to have done it and it's so for me it's a no-brainer because doing it this way is going to get you to wealthy faster. Yeah. And we're driving a piece of crap for two years. Oh, well, give it a name. Old blue. You know, old big red, right? If you've got a car that needs a name, you're probably working their plan. Oh, yeah.

And I was just telling Dave before the break about my crappy car that I'm excited to upgrade now because we've been aggressive on paying off the house. And so if you've got big goals like that, you're willing to do some things and sacrifice. And one of those is driving a nice car. You know, I can live without that for now. So with our last debt-free scream, George, for the year 2021, screaming on the air. These are people who actually did the on-the-air scream,

not other ways we track. In the lobby or on the phone. Just in the lobby or on the air. These are people who actually did the on-the-air scream, not other ways we track. In the lobby or on the phone. Just in the lobby or on the phone. They made it to the show. $54,434,043. Wow. That's incredible. Debt-free screamers have paid off in one year.

$54 million a year. That's what, $4.5 million and a half million or so if you did that for 10 years that'd be half a billion and i've been doing this show for 30 years so we're well over a billion worth of debt-free screams easy uh during the time i've done this show on the air of people that have paid off their debt and celebrated on the air a billion dollars in debt reduction. And that's just the ones that have made it. But Dave Ramsey doesn't know what he's doing. So just in case you idiots on Reddit didn't understand, right?

Oh, my God. So, yeah, this is just so insulting. But, yeah, $54 million paid off this year in debt-free screams alone. Those people think that George Camel and the people at Ramsey Solutions are geniuses. Those people that have had their lives changed and completely moved around, it's a big deal. That's incredible. That's a milestone to achieve. And shout out to Kelly and everyone in the booth who helps make these happen. It's a task to get all these scheduled and get them on the air.

And, man, I can't imagine how many applications we have. So if you add up all of the people who became debt-free in a year who didn't get to share their story, I guarantee you it'd be closer to a billion. Yeah. Everyone that follows this book. Oh, it'd be billions and billions. That's incredible. And billions and billions and billions. That's why we do this.

It's inspiring. Billions, like a thousand million. Yeah. That's good math. Pretty amazing. Tyler is in Columbia, South Carolina. Hey, Tyler. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hey, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. How can we help? So I have a question. I recently got a new job, and my fiance, we live together, recently got engaged, and I make about 90 a year, and she is doing a paid externship, and she makes about 12 a year, and she'll graduate in May doing full-time respiratory therapy at the hospital.

When will you get married? November 19, 2022 is the hospital. When will you get married? November 19th, 2022 is the date. Okay. This coming November. Okay. Yes, sir. And my question is, I've recently been introduced to you and I've got a thousand dollars in savings, and I've got about $16,000 in credit card debt total. And I just in May bought a brand new truck. So I'm wondering should I – I've got an offer for the truck from one of the online dealerships room. They're willing to give me $43,000, and I owe $45,000 on the truck. I can make the payment on the truck and still have money left over to throw at the compounding debt ball. But I'm wondering, should I keep the truck and just blast the debt like normal, smallest to largest,

or should I let Vroom take it and then drive an old beater that I have at my apartment? It's a 99 F-150. You have two cars? It's a 99 F-150. I have a 99 F-150 with about $200,000. It needs about $1,000 worth of work. I love that truck. But I wouldn't have the payment on the new Tacoma.

How old are you, 23? I'm 26. She's 22. Okay. How much do you make a year? 90. I make 90 now, starting out. Yeah.

If I woke up in your shoes, sir, I would sell this truck in a heartbeat. Okay, so sell the truck. And I would cry when I sold it because it's a sweet truck. It is. I love it. It's my dream truck. Man, you know what? It's a freaking nightmare, though.

It's not a dream. It is. Because here's the thing. You found what you really love, and you're marrying her. Yes. And it ain't trucks. Yes, sir. And the fact that you guys are going to work together both of

you're going to have you're going to have a $200,000 a year income in three years and you'll and you'll have no debt and you'll be able to save up and buy whatever you want to buy in cash because you made this move and so this is a move for your future it's not a move for your present but yeah i would sell it wouldn't. Cash flow that wedding, get out of debt, and start your marriage off right, man. Congratulations. And never, never, never, never borrow on a vehicle again if you want to be wealthy. Wealthy people just don't do that. You're a sharp young dude.

I'm going to cry when I sell it, though, because it's sweet. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, guys, this is James, senior producer for The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country.

To find a station near you, head to theramzyshow.com.