The Ramsey Show - App - Not Having a Will Is Irresponsible and Ridiculous (Hour 1)

Episode Date: May 13, 2019

Get Started on Your Debt-Free Journey We’ve made it even easier to get started taking control of your money.  Learn How! How Fast Can You Be Debt-Free? You don’t have to be in debt for the rest of your life! Answer 5 simple questions and our Debt Calculator will show you how quickly you could be out debt!   Get the Complete Guide to Budgeting. Budgeting is often misunderstood and overcomplicated. It doesn't have to be! We made it simple. After 90 days of budgeting with EveryDollar, 9 out of 10 users feel more confident in their financial future. Get the Complete Guide to Budgeting.   Get the Coverage You Need. How does your coverage stack up? This Coverage Checkup will show you what you need (and don’t need), which questions to ask, and where to get the best coverage.   Find the Right Financial Advisor. Finding the right financial advisor doesn't have to be complicated. Our free guide makes it easy to know what questions to ask so you can make a confident choice. Get the guide!    Listen and Watch Anytime, Anywhere.   The Dave Ramsey Show app lets you download episodes for offline playback, customize your content, and see what’s coming up!

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Well, it's launch day around Ramsey, and what that means is that we have a new baby, a new book that has launched today.

Today is the launch day for Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality's new book, The Proximity Principle. And it is exploding already. He was on Fox & Friends this morning. He's in New York City doing media. We'll talk to him a little bit later this hour and check in. The proven strategy that will lead to the career you love. It's running about number 100 on Amazon right now.

Translation, it's killing it. Doing very well. The wait is over. The brand new book is here. And if you listen, you've been hearing us talk about it, and it is absolutely, the reviews are incredible. Everybody's loving it. And Ken is, of course, an absolute pro on delivering this message of hope in the career

space. So a little bit more on that as we go through the show today. The phone number here, 888-825-5225. Ben is with us in St. Louis. Hey, Ben, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Mr. Ramsey. Thank you for taking my call. I appreciate all this work that you're doing and the way you're using God's gifts.

That's awesome. Well, thank you, sir. How can I help today? I am 36 years old, and I'll try to keep this short. Unfortunately, I live with my parents. I had some medical issues, a back injury, and college debt without a college degree. My debt is a little under $45,000. Most of it is, 35 of that is college loans through Wells Fargo. And so the interest rate has been climbing for the past year or so,

and I'm trying to figure out is there a way that I can move that to another lender or is there another option to kind of get that interest better so I can get that paid off and get out on my own. Yeah, I hear you. So is it a federally insured student loan a sally may and navient it's private okay um well without an income um you're probably going to struggle to move that i i do work um okay so uh my make after or excuse me taxes, it's a little over $33,000. Okay. What are you doing for a living?

I'm sorry? What do you do for a living? I'm an optical technician, and honestly, I've been doing that for a combined total of 17 years. I'm also looking at trying to figure out a career change because I kind of, there's nowhere else for me to go as far as income and to climb the ladder besides becoming a doctor, which that's not going to happen. Okay. And so I'm also – So the nature – is your back injury ongoing? Did it cause a disability for you?

No, it's – no. It just bumped you out of college. Yeah. Back in the day. Yeah. Okay. And so I can't afford to go back to college, and honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what my calling is, occur-wise. Yeah, that's fair.

Well, I mean, you're just, it's basically an unsecured personal loan is what you have when you have a private student loan. There's no federal insurance on it. A bank, Wells Fargo, made you a loan, and they're probably charging you north of 10%, aren't they? Actually, right now, it's at 5.7. Well, that's not bad.

I didn't think so, but at one point it got up to 7, and it fluctuates. Yeah, interest rate's not been your problem. What's been your problem is your income and your ability to make enough to apply big chunks to this, because 5% or 7% is not going to kill you what's killing you is is that you haven't been able to put 10 or 15 000 a year on this thing and get rid of it yes sir and so if you're living at home and don't have overhead where's your money going um so it's i mean i maintain all the minimum requirements, but then I also have a car loan because the car I did have went kaput. And then the car that I bought ended up having problems, and I ended up getting $2,000 in credit to pay for the repairs.

Okay, so borrowing every time you have a need is not working out for you. Which is that's where it's stopping now. I'm to all this and uh so no more carring or anything good okay so what are y'all in your car um on my car it's about 45 000 4500 excuse me i feel better i almost had a heart attack okay she's getting ready to talk to my grandmother who's in heaven. Okay, I'm coming. I'm coming to visit Granny. All right, so $4,500. And how long have you been living at home making $33,000?

So I've been home, so it's been about five years. Okay. All right, so then you've outlined adequately. You've done a good job of saying where you are. And what I'm going to tell you is if we had this five years to do over again, and to the extent we're going to stay there and apply these principles, then you do have it to do over again. You should have done a whole lot better making progress given that you have no overhead and 33 000 and nothing to show for it but a car loan in

the last five years okay does that make sense yes sir i don't know where the flip all this money went um so you you need to get an idea where the money's going that's called a budget make every dollar behave and really lean in on the idea that, A, we're going to change careers long term. I'm with you on that. Short term, maybe even. I'm okay with that. But every time we're going to make more money and we're going to take the dollars that we

have and this luxury that you have of being there with your parents temporarily to start working your debt snowball. And if you make $33,000 a year and you don't have any personal overhead then you should be able to pay fifteen or twenty thousand dollars a year off okay right yes sir otherwise we don't know where all this money went and if you did that for like yeah if you did that for like two years i mean you'd be largely out of debt not completely but pretty close And I'm not saying that's necessarily the plan. The career is part of the plan. But really making the money that you have behave a whole lot better, because you're behaving a whole lot better, is going to be your secret, dude.

That's where you're headed. So we're going to celebrate Ken's book launch today by sending you a copy of The Proximity Principle. You need one, because you need to think about where you're going with your career and this is the proven strategy that will lead you to the career you love so we're going to send you a copy of that hey thanks for calling in i hope that helps you open phones at 888-825-5225 you know what anytime there's an area of my life that I am screwing up in, that's not going well, that's mediocre or poor, I generally figure out later it's because I just wasn't paying attention. How many people lose a marriage just because they don't pay attention?

How many people get fat just because they don't pay attention how many people get fat just because they don't pay attention i've noticed when i don't pay attention i eat a lot more cookies and get fat you know i'm talking about because i don't when i'm paying attention i go i don't need that i don't that color that caloric intake is not worth the offset because i already can't fit my freaking pants so i need to stop that. When you have trouble with your money, it's because you're not paying attention. That was our last caller, right?

For five years, he hadn't paid attention. Sometimes this show is just about getting you to pay attention. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs. Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accred accredited organization CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance.

It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years. And our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org learn more visit ch ministries.org that's ch ministries.org christian health care ministries is a proud sponsor of dave ramsey live events ch ministries.org Standing in the airport getting ready to head to Chicago after doing media in New York this morning. So it's nice and noisy. Ken Coleman joining us in New York City.

Hey, Ken, welcome. Congratulations on the launch day, baby. Yes, sir. Thank you. You had a great day in New York and as you said, heading to the Windy City tonight for a full day of media tomorrow. Yeah, very cool. So good hit on Fox & Friends, and you were doing Yahoo Finance and a few other things while you were there, right? Yes, sir. So we're excited. We're off and running. The response is great so far today. And just reminded, Dave, you know, being in New York, went by Grand Central Station earlier today in the midst of our media rounds.

So many people come to this city just to get an opportunity. And that's really what the proximity principle is about, is getting people to a place where they have opportunities to advance in their career and do work that means so much to them. And so it's just a special day. I'm so grateful to you, the whole team that's behind this project. Yeah, so you're on Good Day Chicago in the morning, right? Yes, sir.

And also going to be something by our Chicago affiliate, Dave Ramsey Show. And so we've got a full day, and then we'll be heading back to Nashville to a book signing tomorrow night. So it's jam-packed. We're having fun. Yeah, you've already got your day screwed up. It's Thursday night, isn't it? Thursday, you're right. You're exactly right. Thursday It's Thursday night, isn't it? Thursday. You're right. Exactly right.

Thursday night. Thursday night, Nashville. One day on book tour and he's already melted down. Yeah. I love it. Exactly. Well, congratulations. And the book's already hovering right around number 100 on Amazon, doing very, very well out of the gate.

And so just exactly what we hoped for and what we had predicted. Very, very good stuff. So, well, congratulations, Ken. We're proud of you. Thanks for checking in. We're going to keep pumping it on this end. We'll see you in a couple days. All right.

Thanks, Dave. Hey, be good. Yeah, so if you listen to the show regularly, you've heard me talk about your income is half of the issue. It's income and outgo, and your income is your most powerful wealth-building tool. The Proximity Principle, Ken's new book, is all about getting the job you love, and you would love it more if you got paid more, right?

That's how that works. It's one of the things, anyway. Just because you're doing your passion doesn't mean you have to make less. It means you ought to make more. So I received an early copy of your book steve says to ken i'm absolutely loving it i feel so inspired i'm ready for any challenge that comes my way i'm a 20 year old in college and the future is really scary because i feel so lost i just can't figure out what i want to do when i read your book i feel inspired well there you go it's exactly

what it's for now as ken's traveling around country, he's going to be doing a signing tomorrow evening in Chicago at the Barnes & Noble at 6 o'clock. That's the one on Old Orchard Center in Skokie. And we're giving away $500 at each one of his signings. And that is no purchase necessary. And you must be 18 to win now 450 will be in cash and 50 will be in a coffee house card because ken encourages people to have coffee and get in proximity with other people doing what you want to do and then this thursday the signing will be in nashville at barnes and noble in brentwood about five doors up from our offices here right here on mallory lane

and uh right just come right out to cool springs and that's that barnes and noble Brentwood, about five doors up from our offices here, right here on Mallory Lane. And just come right out to Cool Springs, and that's that Barnes & Noble. And that is at 6 o'clock as well. And, of course, we're looking forward to having you guys come out from our hometown. I'll be up there. A bunch of the other Ramsey personalities will be up there to support Ken. And we're looking forward to this book being a bestseller. So very, very well done, gang.

The book is The Proximity Principle, the proven strategy that will lead to the career you love. That's a big deal. All right, Lizette is with us in Portland, Oregon. Hi, Lizette. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thank you so much for taking my call.

How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I just had a quick question about estate planning. So I have a 28-year-old brother. I'm 26. My little brother is four. We're all from the same parents. When my little brother was born, I told my mom and dad that I would want him to have a will indicating who would take custody just in case something bad were to happen. I didn't want that to be something that would be struggling in court for.

And it was understood that they would want me to take custody just because of the lifestyle my brother has taken. But recently I found out they still haven't done that. And I was just kind of wondering two things. One, I'm on baby step one. Should I be prioritizing saving money so that I could pay for an attorney to write that up for them? And two, is there some kind of biblical thing that I can show my mother? Because that's one of the things she said recently. She's like, I've been praying about it, and I don't really think that it's necessary.

Like, we're going to live a long life. And I get the whole premise of that but you just never know we're going to live a long life so we don't need a will and she calls that prayer that wasn't the Holy Spirit that was last night's pizza

that's absurd that's absurd the mind of man plans his ways the Lord directs his steps don't build a tower without first counting the cost 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 we're here for just a vapor these are scriptures that say do a will don't play the christian card and cop out of doing stuff you're supposed to take care of your family

that's ridiculous that's ridiculous like no offense mom yeah i'm okay with offending her that's because that's crazy bones i mean really mom come on your job is to take care of this kiddo, and you want one of your other kiddos to do it, and yet you're not going to write it down because you've been praying about it and you're going to live a long time? Really? Famous last words. Oh, my gosh.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Now, it doesn't take an attorney and know you don't need to pay for it. They need to pay for it, and they need to do it yesterday. Have them jump on mamabear.com, who we're using for online wills now. They can do it for about $50. This hasn't got anything to do with money. This has got to do with their being lame-o. Okay.

And so, I mean, you need to be nicer than I am because I'm not their kid. But you can go in and just go, Mom, if you – Dad, Dad, help me with Mom here. She's doing that Christian thing that ain't Christian. So, Mom, we got to work through this because if you want me to take care of kiddo, I need this in writing, like now. My dad's just as guilty. Okay. I have to, yeah. Yeah, so listen, I'm going to tap out, and somebody else is going gonna take care of the kiddo if you're not gonna do business right you gotta do business right

you gotta do business right i don't i don't want them to because i it's just me and my brother that could basically take custody of them all of our rest of our family is in a different country i got that but they're being so irresponsible you need to give them a little punch. Okay. This is ridiculous. Well, thank you so much for that. Yeah, they really, you need to light them up. Because you can't make them do a will even if you pay for it.

So, but you can make them, you know, feel really bad for not doing a will, which is what they should feel. Because there's a kiddo involved here. You need to take care of this kiddo. MamaBearLegalForms.com. MamaBearLegalForms.com is the website. Very inexpensive online will, state-specific to your area, and that'll get it done without spending a whole bunch of money. And you've got to do it, and you've got to do it state-specific,

and you've got to do it right now. So, folks, we have done detailed research. You're going to do it, and you've got to do it state-specific, and you've got to do it right now. So, folks, we have done detailed research. You're going to die. You're not going to make it out of this alive. And I just watched a video that our team did of a young couple in Charleston, South Carolina. He's 28 years old, sitting on the couch watching TV with his sweet little wife and fell over on her. Dead. Just had a massive, weird stroke.

Just non-predicted. Nothing. No medical. Just out of the blue. You don't get to decide this. I've never heard someone say, I prayed about this and I'm going to live a long time. I've never heard someone say that. The audacity of that, to which God is up there going, say what?

What did she say? Like she gets to decide this no you need a will all of you need a will unless you're a child if you're over 18 you need a will you need a will everyone needs a will well was i unclear this is is the Dave Ramsey Show. La, la, la, Lois are joining us. Hey, guys, how are you? Hi, Dave. Good, how are you doing? Welcome, welcome.

Where are you guys from? We're from Eden Prairie, which is a southwest suburb of Minneapolis. Oh, cool. Well, good to have you in Nashville. Good to be here. All the way down here to do a debt-free scream. Oh, cool. Well, good to have you in Nashville. Good to be here. All the way down here to do a debt-free scream. Yes, sir. That's right.

How much have you paid off? We've paid off just under $380,000. Whoa! In 38 months. Okay. And your range of income during that time? We started off at about $175,000 and ended just right around $300,000. Wow. And you averaged $10,000 a month

in debt during that 38 months. That's amazing. What do you guys do for a living? I work in staffing and recruiting. And when we started this plan, Dave, I was a high school business teacher teaching personal finance. When we had our son Calhan in March of 2017, I stayed home to become a stay-at-home dad. And I love this process so much, I've recently become licensed as a financial advisor. Oh, okay. Wow. Very cool. So you're killing it on the staffing side, income-wise, obviously, right? Yes. Yeah, well done. Excellent job. So the debt, the $380,000, what did you owe?

We had about $15,000 on our car loan, and then we had about $90,000 on a condo, which we ended up selling, and the remaining was our primary residence. Your house and everything! Yes, sir. I'm looking at weird people! Look at you! How old are you two? I'm 37, and Kyle is 39 today. Oh, happy birthday!

And no house payments even. Did you ever think? Back then when you got married, did you ever think? No. We would ever be no house payment. Most people think that's for the rest of their life. Right. Wow.

And here you are, not even 40. What's this house worth? About $340,000 to $350,000. I love it. Very cool. Very cool. Very cool. Where was the condo you sold, and why did you choose to sell it? Well, we like what you preach, and when you said that if you put all the money on a table,

would you buy it back again? And we said, no, we wouldn't. And it was in a nearby suburb in Minnetonka. Okay. All right. But it didn't fit the long-term plan anymore. No. Which was to have no debt and a fabulous income and all kinds of choices.

Right. Options. Options, baby. I love it. Very cool. So, what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? You guys killed it

and you're a budding financial advisor. So, you're going to be telling them all the time. Yep. Well, you have to play on each other's strengths. So, Kyle's strength is to be a visionary

and kind of set goals. And I'm really great at execution and the day-to-day. Not as good at the visionary. So we work together as a team, and that's what helps. Very cool. Very cool. So what does the day-to-day look like when you were doing that, Lois? What does that mean?

Just remembering that I've got a husband and a son at home that I love and a job that I love and doing the best that I can with whatever it is I was given. Gotcha. I think you give out the tactical, the budget, working together. But I think to add to that, you have to have accountability. And when you go through this plan, and I think in human nature, we don't change unless we're we have to change unless we're forced to change and you can manufacture that so we went on to the social security website um pulled our life-to-date

earnings and we saw a number that we didn't like to see because it was a big number we had with we looked around we had nothing to show for it and you talk about being sick and tired of being sick and tired you have to get to that point emotionally. And we manufactured that emotion. And we got there. We got really angry. And we decided to do something about it. That's cool.

That's exactly what you do. You just decide. It is an act of the will. And it is manufactured emotion at that point. It's just like, I don't have to live like this. I'm not doing this anymore. That's a big deal. That's really a big deal.

So who were your biggest cheerleaders in this process outside of the two of you? I don't know if we really had. We've got some family that were big supporters of us. But I wouldn't say a lot of detractors or a lot of big supporters, just kind of people that would hear about it and say, oh, good for you guys. But that was about it. Yeah, not a lot of comment one way or the other then. Right.

All right, cool. How did you get connected to us? So I had read your book years ago, and I was just like everyone else. I read it and said, oh, that's nice. I'll leave it back on the coffee table. But when we went through this process and I was teaching personal finance and getting to this point of just being sick and tired of being sick and tired, we were teaching our kids to go down the same path, leading to the same path that we were on,

and we were frustrated by that. So I remembered your book, got connected with your team here, and wrote an essay, got a grant, brought it into the high school, and then we started the process ourselves as well. Wow. Very cool. Very cool. Way to go, guys. Absolutely incredible.

Not even 40 of your freaking houses paid for. Woo, woo, woo, woo. I love it. Excellent job. All right. Kyle and Lois from the Minneapolis area, $380,000 paid off in 38 months. And Callahan's going to join them here. How old is Callahan?

He turned two in march all right go big guy 175 income to 300 sold a condo in the process count it down let's hear a debt-free scream three two one his dad scared him yelling i love it oh man fabulous stuff hey you know what you can do if you don't have a house payment anything you want jeremy's with us in toledo hi jeremy welcome to the dave ramsey show hi dave how you doing good better than i deserve what's up in your world um so i got a question for you i've been

following the program for a few years here and i recently accepted a job promotion inside the company i work for and it requires relocation only about two and a half hours from where we're currently at my wife and i were given a $10,000 cash relocation bonus. So with that, we have $16,000 in the bank, so including the $10,000. We're planning to move middle of next month, so in June, and we currently have $7,000 left on student loans and $8,000 left on car loans. We expect all the moving costs, including the furnishing and the first couple months of rent, to be a maximum of $7,000. Do we pay the student loan off now or treat it like there's a baby on the way and wait until we get settled into the new rental?

B. B. I'd wait until you get settled, and then let's get the move done. You got the money for the move. Let's make sure the move accomplishes and you get settled in. We're not going to upgrade a bunch of stuff and buy some expensive stuff for the move, okay? We're going to move on the cheap as best we can because every dollar we don't put on the move, we can put towards the debt. So this is not a time to buy a bunch of expensive items and use the move as an excuse. But we do need to make the move, and we need to be able to accomplish the task

and you not get caught, you know, homeless because you couldn't do deposits or something because you got all carried away paying off debt. And so let's get moved. Let the smoke settle, as you said. And then with whatever's left the following month, we're just going to kick back in, push play again on your baby steps. And any money you have above $1,000, you're going to throw at your smallest debt, which it sounds like you'll be able to pay off the student loan if you do this right. And maybe even more. Maybe you'll be able to put some more on the other debts as well.

So, yes, you're exactly on track there. You're thinking about it. You're being intentional. You're doing all the stuff you're supposed to do. Very well done. Well, we now have a million subscribers on our YouTube channel. Thank you, YouTubers. We appreciate you guys.

Angela is a YouTuber, and she says, Dave, what do you think about the current market as it is? Is it still a good idea to put 15% of your Roth, 401, what do you think about the current market as it is? Is it still a good idea to put 15% of your Roth, 401K, or hold off until the market recovers? I put 15% or more of my income into my retirement consistently my whole life. When the market's up and when the market's down. When the market is down, it's on sale. It's like you're in the department store and they come over the speaker and go, aisle three, there's a special, aisle three, there's a special.

Right? And that's exactly what's happening right now because the market overall, over long periods of time, goes up. And you're just a pup. You've got plenty of time for the market overall, over long periods of time, goes up. And you're just a pup. You've got plenty of time for the market to come up. And I keep investing. I invested all the way down when it went all the way down to $6,800, the Dow did. And back in the 2008 end of the world is predicted. I made a ton of money doing that, too, by the way.

You invest up and you invest down. You invest up and you invest down. You invest up and you invest down and you will end up with money. That's how this works. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you are here. Alicia is with us in Dallas. Hi, Alicia.

How are you? Hi. I'm doing. Hi, Alicia. How are you? Hi. I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can I help today? Good. Thank you. Yeah, so I've been struggling with kind of a question for a while. I'm currently on long-term disability. I was on short-term, and then I switched to long-term disability. I was on short-term, and then I was switched to long-term disability, but I'm kind of in limbo with my job situation. At the same time, I have, you know,

saved $1,000 for Baby Step number one, and I'm wanting to move into number two to start paying down my student loan, but I don't know if I should hold off since I'm kind of in into number two to start paying down my student loan, but I don't know if I should hold off since I'm kind of in limbo with my job and not knowing if I'll be able to return and just kind of just stacking money just in case, even though I am on long-term and I'm getting paid through that, or if I should go ahead and just start paying my student loans. Okay. What do you start paying my student loans. Okay. What do you owe on your student loans? So it's about $45,000.

Okay. And what do you make at your job back when you were working at the job? $42,000. Okay. And what's the nature of your disability? So I have MS, so it's kind of a wide range of things going on, but I have multiple sclerosis. Right. Okay. Wow. And what do you do? What is your job? I do tech support over the phone.

Okay. All right. Cool. Okay, alright, cool Well, I have a couple different friends that have MS And as you know, it takes a wide spectrum of how it affects people The only things that I have observed just watching them And I'm not a medical professional And you tell me if this is accurate or not But fatigue and stress seem to aggravate the symptoms Is that correct? Oh, yes.

Yes. All right. And so you've got to be careful about getting fatigued or in high-stress situations. But aside from those things, there's a lot of things you can still do, depending on how severe your symptoms are. Is that correct? Yes. Yeah, for me, so my job is very reliant on my, you know, typing and stuff like that,

and that's kind of part of my issue is my hands, and so, and, you know, and then I also have issues walking and stuff like that, so it's kind of, it's all over the board, so, yeah, I think maybe I can do something, but I'm not really sure what at this point. Okay. Have you applied for and received federal disability, SSI? Yeah, so as a part of the disability, I'm required to apply for social security disability, so that process has been approved. Has that been approved? You're cutting out. Thank you. You're cutting out.

You're cut out. I lost you just for a second. See if you can get it back. Oh, okay. Is that better? No. Yeah, it is now. Were you approved for federal for SSI?

No, not yet. It's kind of in the big stages. So, no. Okay. All right. It's kind of in the what stages? The early no. Okay. All right. It's kind of in the what stages? The early stages? Right.

Yeah. It's kind of in the beginning. The beginning stages. Okay. That word cut out. Okay. So, and these are federally insured student loans that you have, right? Yes.

Okay. Here's the thing. If you become approved federally for disability, those loans are forgiven. Right. And I want you to go through that process since you have MS. I think that's a good thing to go through. I do not know what the requirements are, how long before you can go back to work after that, or what kind of money you can make in the interim for those.

I mean, I'm guessing that if you got approved for it and 30 days later went back to work, they would rescind that, correct? So I'm guessing there's some kind of a timeline or regulations on that. The only thing I am positive of is they will forgive that. So I want you to do some digging and find out how long you've got to be on federal long-term disability before there's no recapture on your student loans. Because I do know they're forgiven as soon as you're approved. You have to go through a process to get them forgiven, but you need to get those to go away.

Because with MS, that's a legitimate reason, it's a legitimate disability for you to get those waived. And let's get them waived and then figure out what your guidelines are before you can break down and before you can, you know, how much money you can make and how soon. And then that tells you a little bit about your career because you'd have to make a lot of money to offset $40,000 worth of forgiven student loans. And right now you've got some limitations on what you can do. So I think you're smart to just consider all of those things and keep them all in play at the same time

and figure out what you can do with work or what kind of work you can do long-term. Because long-term, you do not want to stay just on a disability income if at all possible if there's any way you can increase your income with your limitations long-term and not trigger the student loans being for not forgiven anymore and not trigger some kind of other thing uh and not not cause yourself health problems then then that's what i would do chris is with us in new york hi chris welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave.

How's it going? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, my wife and I are in baby step two and got some credit card debt, some student loan debt, and I recently got a couple letters from the banks that own two of the credit cards offering me to settle for 10%. I'm wondering, number one, should I take it? Number two, should I be concerned about the tax implications?

Well, if you don't take it, you pay a lot more than you do plus tax implications. So you do have tax implications. Forgiven debt is considered taxable income. They will send you a 1099 for the amount that they forgive. And so how far behind are you on these cards that they voluntarily offer you a dime on the dollar? Yeah, pretty far behind. Back in around 2012, 2013, I tried to switch careers and work for an insurance company. And needless to say, it didn't work out.

And I thought, you know, I was optimistic. I tried to, you know, I figured I'll just put it on some credit cards. And then never paid them for eight years. I couldn't. I couldn't. I was so far behind. I did give up on them. So what's the balance on the cards?

And so what's the dime on the dollar? Do you mean my entire credit card debt or just the two that they offered? The two that they offered. Well, the one of them, the balance is 1,922. And the other one was a bigger one it was 16 583 yeah so 2600 bucks um i'm sorry no 1700 bucks clears up 17 000 dollars worth of debt that's a that's a play yeah you find that money and you make that happen now yeah and not worry about my credit score huh dude you haven't paid your credit cards from since 2012 you don't have a credit score yeah i guess you got a point yeah

glad i called yeah it's not time now to worry about your credit so yeah let's get let's get rid of that and um get it in writing you do have it in writing the deadline by which you can pay this right yeah it's it has their letterhead on it. It has it all. It's got the X's with the last four digits of the account number on it. It's got everything. Yeah, okay. And then no electronic access to your checking account as the method of payment.

Just get a Visa prepaid card or, you know, set up a separate account because I don't want them cleaning out your regular account because sometimes they lie. Who are the two cards with? They're with Chase. because I don't want them cleaning out your regular account because sometimes they lie. Who are the two cards with? They're with Chase. Both of them are with Chase. Okay. And they say money order is accepted.

I'll probably just do that. Yeah, that would be perfect. Okay. Hey, glad I called. Yeah, double-check with them on the phone before you send the money. And you've got it in writing, and then follow up with the money. Keep records, proof of the money, send the money, money return receipt requested certified mail so you know it came or fedex where they signed for it where at least you know they got it that way and then when the check clears you need proof that it cleared keep hard copies of that in a file for the rest of your life because this may come up

again because they have weird memories at these banks. Like, they lie. So just keep solid records on what has happened here. And now let's get about the business of cleaning up the rest of this mess. Okay? Now it's time. You got a break here. You caught a break.

Now let's use it to clean up the rest of it. Get on your budget. Get tight. Let's get things moving the way they're supposed to. Thanks for calling in. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Our thanks to James Childs, our producer. Kelly Daniels, our associate producer and phone screener.

I am Dave Ramsey, your host. And we'll be back with you before you know it. Hey, it's Blake Thompson, senior executive producer for the show. You know, you can listen or watch anywhere with the Dave Ramsey Show app on your smartphone. Catch the full show or watch the highlights and check out Dave's upcoming guests. Head to the App Store and download it today.