The Ramsey Show - App - Passion Is Empty Without Action (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 17, 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. Thanks for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Starting us off this hour is Kelly in Indianapolis.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Kelly. Hi, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I am 55 years old. I have no retirement. I'm self-employed.

I was wondering, since I'm so far behind the eight ball, if I should invest in saving some money in a couple of small real estate houses to rent out for my monthly income instead of invest into a Roth IRA or a 401k. So you do not have the money to pay cash for the rentals? No, but I would save the money. I would save the money. Well, if you save the money, you would invest the money. And so let's start investing aggressively for retirement.

If later on, once you build that nest egg, you want to take part of it and move it from mutual funds into real estate that you pay cash for, that'll be fine. For instance, you're 55. You can load up your Roth IRAs. You're self-employed. You could load up a simple IRA in addition, which is a 401K for small business. You can really start dumping some money into retirement on a Roth basis, meaning it's growing tax-free. After 59 1⁄2, if you look up and there's several hundred thousand dollars laying there and you want to buy a couple of little rentals out of that, pull some of it, move it to those rentals.

It won't cost you anything. There'll be no taxes in it. And so there's no downside of using your Roth stuff that's available to you to build wealth with now, even if your plan is to buy some real estate with it later. But just saving money in a savings account to go buy rental properties because I'm so late in the game, it's not logical. You're better off to put it in good mutual funds and let it grow, and then as you built some of that nest egg,

transfer some of it towards real estate later that you pay cash for. That's what I would do in your shoes. As a matter of fact, that really is what I have done. I just didn't start quite as late as you are. But, I mean, the first thing I did was load up everything on retirement, and then I started saving additional money in mutual funds. I took some of that money and bought real estate with it. And I've kept doing that because I love real estate.

But I don't love real estate enough for you to save in a savings account to buy it. That's going to work against you rather than for you. So get your Roth IRA started in a good growth stock mutual fund, and then if you want to do more, you need to do more, you can do more, then you start looking for other ways to do it. And a Roth simple IRA is the second thing you can do, and that's out of your small business income. There will be some match if you have employees in your business, but otherwise if it's just you, it's a good way to put another $18,000 away. That gets you to $25,000 you're putting away pretty quick. If you're putting that much away, you're going to be fine getting there.

You'll get there really, really fast. Terry is with us in Sarasota, Florida. Hi, Terry. How are you? Hey, pretty good. Thanks a lot for taking my call. I have a real simple quick question. I have about $100,000 saved in my traditional RA,

but my employer that I am now working for offers a 401K, but they're only putting in 25% of the 6% that I match, but that will not happen until a six-year vesting schedule. And then they're rethinking about another year from now, possibly going up to 3% match. So I don't know if that's even worth participating in that or just continue my contributions towards my traditional IRA. Well, if it's a Roth 401K and the mutual funds that you're putting it in are good,

there's really no downside in trying it. The only, you know, you might just get disappointed because you might not be there long enough to get the vesting. Right? Yeah, I don't know if it's a Roth 401k. It just says 401k on the paperwork. Yeah, some of them have Roth and some of them don't. So you just have to check and see if they have a Roth. If they have a Roth 401k with a match that doesn't count until six years, meaning it's not vested until six years,

you don't get the use of that money. If you leave, it's gone. In other words, the match is of no effect to you if you don't stay six years. I still would try that, and you never know what will turn out with it. And right now it's a 1.5 match, and you're saying they're going to raise it to a 3% match from 1.5%, a fourth of 6%, right? Yeah, within a year, but that's not for sure yet. They're just still negotiating that.

Now, if the mutual funds are bad or it's traditional only, then it's kind of a wash. You know, you might get the match, but your mutual funds are, if you don't get the match, your mutual funds have underperformed what you would have done in your Roth. And so, but if you can do a Roth and the mutual funds are good, Roth 401k and the mutual funds are good, I definitely would do it. And then the match is just going to be gravy on the biscuit if you get it. But you've still got Roth and good investments going on inside the 401k. There's very little difference in that than the Roth IRA.

So, you know, as long as you've got good mutual funds that are outperforming the S&P that you can select inside that and it's growing tax-free as a Roth 401k, I'd definitely do that. And I'll bet you that's there. I don't know how far behind or what they are on, how clunky they are on their retirement offering, but that's what I would do, and I definitely would get involved. Tyler is with us in Macon, Georgia. Hi, Tyler. How are you?

Hey, I'm doing good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, here's my situation. I've got $15,000 in student loan debt, but I've got a year left until I get my degree. I don't have to take any more loans, and my payments aren't due for another year and a half, but I'm trying to pay them off now to get them rid of as soon as possible. So what's the best method to use, and what should I do going from there to get rid of these as quick as I can?

I'd wait until you graduate, and I'd just pile up cash. I want you to graduate and have no more debt. And if you've got $15,000 in a savings account the day you graduate, write a check, pay it off, right? But I want the insurance policy of a big savings account, as big as you can make it from now until graduation, so there is no more debt. I heard you say you've got it worked out.

I'm not disputing that. I'm saying an insurance policy to make sure you graduate with no more debt. That's goal one. Because you're only a year from graduating. Right. And when you graduate, then just take whatever savings you built up, throw it at that student loan debt that day, and get your job, you know, get settled in, whatever.

But then as soon as you start getting your first paycheck what's your degree in it's in information technology and cyber security excellent you're gonna kill it dude well done yeah big big future for you man good stuff so yeah you'll come out and land in something making some pretty good money pretty quick um what you don't have saved you'll knock the rest of that out very quickly. I mean, you're going to be debt-free in less than a year for sure when you come out of school. So you're not really losing any ground here.

Just let's get you out of school completely debt-free. Use that as an insurance policy. Any money that's left over after you settle in, get the new job, throw it at the debt that day, and then just keep chunking at it, and you'll knock it out real, real fast. Fast and hard once you graduate. Good question, man. Thanks for calling in. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. I heard a statistic recently that absolutely blew my mind. In the U.S. alone, over 3,000 people die every day without life insurance. Now, I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but this drives me crazy. What are people thinking? I don't understand how taking care of your family

is not a top priority. Most of you probably just spent a bundle on Christmas on things you really didn't even need, and now you're making New Year's resolutions that are focused on yourself. But if you want to use the New Year as a reason to do something right, like protecting your family, then take care of it right now before it's too late. Term life insurance is something every family needs, and that's why I talk about it every day. It's not complicated, it's not expensive, and Zander Insurance is the only place I recommend. Go to zander.com or call them at 800-356-4282. Please learn from other people's mistakes and get this taken care of. That's Zander.com or 800-356-4282. Allie is with us in Denver. Hey, Allie, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.

Hi, Dave, thank you. I'm so nervous. No trouble. What's up? I am a 49-year-old stay-at-home mom. I have three kids at home. My husband passed away about a year and a half ago. Oh, my goodness.

What happened? His heart stopped in his sleep. Wow. Okay. My youngest is 12, and when he graduates, I see myself leaving the area, moving to a different area. But meanwhile, I'm having a hard time staying leaving the area, moving to a different area, but meanwhile, I'm having a hard time staying in this home with the memories and all, and I'd like to move us to a different house for the next five years, but I'm just wondering

if that's a financially responsible thing to do. What is your home worth? About $500. Okay. uh what is your home worth about 500 okay and um how are you your stay-at-home mom so that must mean there was a large life insurance policy or what yes very large i have no debt no mortgage i have cars that are paid off i have about 900 in investments and about $50,000 in the bank. That is so wonderful. That is so wonderful. I'm so glad to hear that part of the story.

Yeah, I'm more luckier than most in my situation. Well, I appreciate your statement. You're blessed is what you are. I don't think luck had anything to do with it. You guys were very intentional, and obviously he did a great job of making sure his family was taken care of that's right yeah i don't have to work um when we get survivor benefits from social security so i just use that every month to keep us going sure okay touch any of the other money okay so um if you sold the home it would bring five hundred thousand dollars cash in your hand right right can you buy another home that is what you're thinking about for $500,000?

Yes, just a lateral move. Okay. But I know there's expenses involved. Yeah, and you'll lose a little bit here or there, but you might move up or down, or you might use a tiny bit of your investments to make up the difference or something. So, you know, if you come out of pocket $50,000 or something and make this move, you're still going to get the money back because denver is a wonderful real estate

market as you know and you're gonna yeah it's gonna go you know five years from now when you get ready to resell it you're gonna make money on it agreed i believe so yeah hopefully yeah i think you will i really do i mean denver's done very, very well, unless the market just, economics just crash or something. But, I mean, it would be very unusual. I personally would be very comfortable investing if I were you in a different home, about the same price range, and, as you said, to kind of put some of the unpleasant memories behind you and um uh be in a different situation because it's it's got to be weird to walk in there every day right it is it's you can't look anywhere without yeah feeling that and it's just really really hard to live that way sure sure well it's

extending the grief it's making the grief worse is what amounts to is what you're saying for you and probably the kids as well. So, yeah, I'm moving. I'm with you. Let's put it up for sale and move. Okay. So you don't think it will affect our overall picture? Do we look okay financially?

Your overall picture is very strong. Okay. picture is very strong okay i'm very proud of what he did and how what you guys did to prepare for this uh uh unusual unusually early passing and and so forth um yeah i definitely i definitely would make the move how long ago did you say he passed a year and a half he was 48 yeah okay all right yeah yeah i the reason i ask is i try not to make major decisions in the early days after someone passes because that's when we're the most torn up. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

It's still hard to breathe, but you can breathe better than you could a year and a half ago. A little bit, yeah. Yeah. And so that way I know your head's pretty clear on this decision. But, yeah, I'm doing it if I'm you. I'm with you. Get in touch with one of our endorsed local providers at DaveRamsey.com. Click them for real estate.

They'll list it and get the most they can possibly get out of it for you. Tell them your whole story, and they'll help you find something. And you can make this move very, very easy with a good professional in your corner. And just check ELP at DaveRamsey.com for real estate. They'll help you walk right through it. I'm so sorry you guys are facing this. But I also want to tip my hat to him and to you for the great job that you all did in preparing in that he had the right amount of life insurance to where this family is taken care of.

This story changes completely, people. If he had no life insurance, it would be a real mess. I mean, it's hard the way it is. It's very hard the way it is. But, wow, that would be a real mess. Cynthia is in Fresno. Hi, Cynthia. How are you?

Hi. Fine. Thank you very much for taking my call, Dave. I appreciate it. Sure. What's up? I was hoping you could ease my mind. I have got a lot of fear going on right now. Okay. My situation, I spoke with you before when I first inherited. I inherited a good sum of money from my father, and I had physical challenges when he passed away and was waiting for my disability. So I went from the bottom of having just about nothing to inheriting over a million dollars.

Wow. And so I took that. You told me at the time I was blessed, and you were so right. I took the $1.1 million that you suggested I do, and I took it to a financial advisor, and I took it to a financial advisor and I vested it but the thing I didn't do and I think I had done this before I spoke with you is I went to him and I did not get to go through your smart investor pros which was number one mistake I should have done done that and I'd like to do that at this point my fear is just moving the money I it was

the scariest thing I ever did in my life when I pulled out that kind of money in a cashier's check, 1.1 million, and drove it over to my investor and gave it to him. It was just like the scariest thing I'd ever done other than hand my child to someone before she could talk, the baby shit, you know, at a daycare or something. It was just like so petrifying to me. I'm scared of, you know, people embezzling, stealing, things like that. And it's because it's all the money I have in the world. If I lost it, I'd be, you know, out. So what, and you know what?

The thing is, your financial advisor what? He had told me at the time, you know, that the account for FDIC insured, just like the bank, and you can check it all you want online, things like that. What did you invest in? That's the thing. This is part of the reason I want to leave him. I've heard you discuss these people and talk to them like flicksters is what you usually call them. He's not really good about teaching me what he's

doing. I just know he's putting a certain amount in and I'm getting a certain amount out. That's why you're afraid. I'm not being taught like I should be. That's why you're afraid because you don't know what the flip's going on. Right. And to pull the money out and give it to somebody new is scaring me too. Well, it wouldn't scare you

if you were making the decision on what the money was going in because you understood what the money was going in that causes your fear to drop you need to not put money in something you don't understand or know what's going on with that's how people lose money right but this blind you know you would not encouraging you to spend yeah you wouldn't pull up alongside somebody some teenager at the high school that you'd never met in your life and let them babysit for your kid. You would check them out. You'd want to know what was going on. You'd want to understand.

You'd want to give them instructions on how to operate your kid. And that's why I want to leave them right there. So leave. Yeah, yeah. Go sit down with a SmartVestor Pro and get somebody that has the heart of a teacher. But don't put money in something because the smart investor pro says do it. You're still going to be afraid. Don't do that.

Don't put money in something you don't understand and don't know what it is. It's not the person you're trusting. You're the person that I want you to trust. I want you to trust you. And if you don't understand it, then just leave the money in a stupid CD until you understand it. Take six months and study and learn and grow and meet with a smart investor pro once a month and take a class from them or whatever. Till you understand how a mutual funding works, how to look at the track record on a mutual fund. Don't put money in a mutual fund.

Don't put money in stuff that you don't understand. That's how people lose their money. And if somebody's, you know, not willing to teach you or not able to teach you, you have the wrong person to help you with your investing because their job is not to do it for you. Their job is to show you what to do and you make the choice. That way there's no fear. You're freaked out, and you should be freaked out, because you don't know what's going on. That's the thing. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. I love talking about companies that know how to do business right.

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strength and support of a belt without even knowing you're wearing one. I'm really proud of these guys. Check out this month's special offers for my listeners at Grip6.com. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions is Brittany. Hi, Brittany. How are you? I am thrilled to be here. Well, we're honored to have you. Where do you live?

Kansas City, Missouri. Very good. Very good. And how much debt have you paid off? $19,843.11. Love it. How long did that take? Six months.

Good for you. And your range of income during that time? During that whole period, I was making about $47,000 with a couple hundred bucks for odd jobs in there. Got it. What kind of debt was the $20,000? So about $200 of it was medical, $150 was an iPhone, and the rest was student loans for my bachelor's degree. Ah, cool. What's your degree in? My undergrad is in criminology and Spanish. Medical, $150 was an iPhone, and the rest was student loans for my bachelor's degree.

Ah, cool. What's your degree in? My undergrad is in criminology and Spanish. Good. Very good. Good for you. So what happened six months ago that put you on this get out of debt binge? So I have to admit, Dave, I was a gradual buy-in.

Okay. I started listening to this show about three years ago, back when I was making $26,000 right out of college. And so as I listened more and more, I heard you say that we could change our income side of the equation. So I started exploring career opportunities to increase my income. So right before I pressed go on my debt-free journey, I changed jobs to make that salary, and then here i am now cool okay so what was the jump up in salary when you from what to 47 sure um about 29 000 to 47 wow big leap yeah wow so we're changing yeah so you change direction okay yeah yeah all right good for you wow well yeah you might get this huge leap, and then you go, I'm just going to put that all on the debt. That's right.

And then some. Yep. I was used to living like a poor college student or someone poor right out of college. And so it wasn't too hard to not, you didn't have to lower lifestyle. You had to just not raise it. Exactly. And, well, you did more than that, though. I mean, you did cut.

I did lower it a little bit. Yeah, it was an interesting feeling. When I was at my previous job, I had a certain amount allocated for spending, and it definitely went down during my debt-free journey, Baby Step 2. Cool. So when I ask you what does it take to get out of debt, what's the secret to getting out of debt? Raise your income is part of it. Yes, definitely.

And what else? So I think you have to have a plan. Everyone always says the budget. I think part of your plan should be surrounding yourself with people who are going to support you, especially if you're doing this journey as a single person who's not married. I also think it's really important to sacrifice. So there was a lot of vacations I would have loved to have gone on, things I would have liked to have bought.

So that sacrifice is really key and important. And I think the big one is to be really passionate about it. So in my opinion, passion is empty without action. So, yeah, so you can be really passionate about something, but if you don't take the action on it, you're really not going to get there. Very cool. So you're 26? 25.

25? I'm almost 26. You basically had it. All right. All right. And, wow. 26 25 25 i'm almost 26 you basically had it all right and um wow and make it 47 000 single young lady and uh see you know i was just talking in the other hour about the millennials and all these wonderful millennials and here's another one right here look at this lady i mean make it 47 000 she's 25 years old she paid paid off $20,000 in six months. You can't say anything but good about somebody like standing in front of me right here.

Way to go, kiddo. Thank you. Proud of you. Very well done. So who were your cheerleaders? My boyfriend and my mom were big cheerleaders. They're here with me today. They're here with you.

All right. Cool. I had a lot of awesome friends along the way. Very good. Good. Anybody say you're crazy? Yes. Always. Yes.

I decided partway through my journey to stop advertising to the detractors. Oh. So I decided, you know, if they're not going to support me, I don't need to include them in it. So that was kind of my method. Not going to bring it up. Yeah. Right. So I just other stuff. Yep. I stayed with people who are going to support me. Yeah. Yeah. And I had a lot of support. I pretty much decided that in my personal life about politics. If I've got somebody that's going to vote the wrong way, I just don't talk to them about it.

That's right. There's not any sense in it. If there ain't any sense, I'm going to talk to them about it. Yeah. Good for you. They're not voting for you. Just don't talk to them about it. That's awesome.

Well done. Well done. Well done, well done. So how does it feel to not have any debt? You're not a victim of student loans, are you? Student loans, they were such a burden. And it's so great to be free of that. I've only been debt-free for a few months, but it already is kicking in. Just going out to eat and not having to order off the dollar menu or whatever.

Just being able to make those choices even though they're not crazy or living out of my means. Like I was able to go on vacation with a few friends. And that was really exciting. And come here and just to not have that stress weighing over you. It's so worth it. Well done. Very well done. Congratulations.

You're a hero. And you're going places. Thank you. You're going places. You know how're a hero. And you're going places. Thank you. You're going places. You know how to control you, and you know how to control money. These are two big steps to being very successful. Well on your way. Well on your way.

And passion without action. That was the line, right? Passion is empty without action. Passion is empty. That's tweetable right there. Passion is empty without action. I love it. Great job, Brittany.

Great job. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's Retire Inspired book for you. That needs to be the next chapter in your story as you continue this journey. And the next chapter is you become very wealthy, become a millionaire, and outrageously generous along the way. And I don't think there's any doubt that's where you're headed. It's in the works. I can tell. Well done.

Brittany, 25 years old, single lady, Kansas City. $20,000 paid off in six months, making $47,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I'm debt-free! I'm debt-free! Yeah!

I love it! Man, that's awesome right there. That's awesome. Wow. Very, very well done. You know, it is an interesting thing that I would venture to say. Kelly, we ought to go back one of these days. It might be too much trouble.

I don't know that we wrote it down. How many of the people that do their debt-free scream had an increase in income while they were getting out of debt? It's almost 100%. It's north of 90%. Very few times do you have somebody go, yeah, while I was getting out of debt

my income went down and uh sometimes they say well you know i'm just steady job i've made the same money but i'll tell you almost every time they increase their income now why is that why do you think it is i mean this economy is white I mean, employment in a lot of places is what we call full employment. Anything south of 5% unemployment is what economists call full employment. The state of Tennessee where we live has the lowest unemployment rate in, what, 60 or 80 years or something. It's a bizarre, bizarre situation. And that's not to say some particular areas of the state aren't hurting, while other areas have an actual labor shortage of a negative unemployment rate.

I mean, it's just nuts. But bottom line is this. If you are ever going to look at your career and say, I don't make enough money. I should do something different. Now would be the time. Be the time to think about it. And money is not everything. And I'm not saying you need to go take a job where you're miserable

and take a job that doesn't reflect your training, your talents, your passion. I'm not saying that. But maybe you need to stop and go, I'm not stuck here. I don't have to be what I am today making what I am today. The way we do it around here and inside of our company is we always ask ourselves, if we want to be at a certain level of winning by the end of the year, what has to be true that's not true now or we would already be there? What has to be true to get me to my goal? What has to be true for you to make more money? What has to be true for you to get

out of debt that's not true now? I'm not working a budget. Okay, then you need to get on a budget. You make $50,000 a year and you want to make $150,000? When? Ten years? Okay, good. You want to triple your income the next ten years. All right, good. How are you going to do that?

What has to be true? Can you stay on the current career path and get there? No. Well, you want to change careers? Yeah. I'd have to go to school. Well, go want to change careers? Yeah. Well, I'd have to go to school. Well, go to school. What has to be true that's not true now for you to excel in a certain area of your life, including your income?

And you'll see that, see, that's what happens. What has to be true for me to get out of debt faster? I've got to increase my income. That's why all these people's income goes up. That's why it happens all the time. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Our question of the day comes from blinds.com. Brand new custom blinds from blinds.com are the easiest and most affordable way to give your entire home a facelift. With blinds.com, you get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more.

Use the magic word, the promo code, Ramsey, and you get the best possible deal. Blinds.com. Heather is in New Jersey. Dave, we're on baby step two, getting out of debt, and we're using our savings to pay off debt. Then my husband got laid off. We have about $22,000 left in debt and about $10,000 in savings. Should we hold off on using more of the savings until he gets another job. Yes, when you are in the middle of an emergency, you temporarily push pause on your debt snowball or on your baby steps for that matter, and you just pile up cash

and preserve cash to get through the rough time, whatever it is, and that includes a layoff. Now, when he gets another job, you push play and you take $9,000 of the $10,000, and you throw it at your $9,000 worth of smallest debts in Baby Step 2. Mark is in Twin Falls, Idaho. Hey, Mark, how are you? I'm great, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I have a little bit of a dilemma.

I've been doing pretty good so far with life. I'm 37 years old, and I've been able to grow quite a bit of equity in two houses that I own. And my question mainly is about how I would best utilize this equity to not only help pay off a little bit of debt that I have, but also maybe give myself a step up as far as getting ahead in the baby steps as far as kids, college, because I'm rapidly approaching kids going to college. And anyways, I'm just kind of a little bit tied up right now of what to do. How much debt do you have not counting real estate? I'm sorry, what's that?

How much debt do you have not counting real estate? Oh, okay. So I have $6,000 in one car, and I have about $4,500 in taxes that I unexpectedly had to pay this year. So that kind of came up. Got it. Okay. Anything else?. Got it. Okay. Anything else? That's it.

What's your household income? Other than the house. Household income is approximately $80,000 a year with myself and my wife working. I work two jobs, one part-time, one full-time. What do you owe on your home? On my home? No, the home you live in. $185,000. Yes. Yes. Yes. um on my home uh the home you live in 185 yes yes the yes 185 000 on the home we live in okay

and what is it worth um easily uh 300 000 okay the rental is worth what uh about easily 180 000 okay And what do you owe on it? $65,000. I just refinanced for a 15-year, five years ago. Okay. So if you had $110,000 in cash piled in the middle of the table, in your kitchen table, in $100 bills, would you go buy a rental property with it, with that as the down payment that looks like the rental property that you own if you didn't own it?

Or would you use that money to get out of debt, make sure you had an emergency fund, and make sure your kid went to college? I would definitely make sure I would have enough to pay off my debt. I've usually been pretty good about paying off debt, but, yeah, I would definitely want to pay off the debt, and I'd want to be able to prepare for college for my kids. How old are the kids? 16, 13, and 11. Yeah.

Okay. I think I agree with you. I think I would sell the rental property, and I would use the money to knock the debt out, make sure you have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, make sure you're putting 15% of your income away for retirement, and then I'm going to use roughly $80,000, $90,000, whatever's left there at that point to start funding some kids' college funds very aggressively.

Okay. Well, I do have a 401K with the company I work for. I work for a big box retailer, and they have a great 401K plan, great medical insurance bonuses, all the good – they take good care of us. But I have about $180 in my 401K right now. But you're not using that. I mean, I want you to be putting 15% of your household income into the 401k after you're debt-free and have an emergency fund. Until then, you shouldn't be putting any money into your 401k because you need to clear that up. But if you're

selling this rental property, you don't have to worry about it because as soon as it's gone, we're going to take the money, pay off the debt, have an emergency fund, and then we're going to use the rest of it in baby Step 5 for kids' college, sitting down with an investment advisor. If you don't have one, click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com. It'll drop down a list of the ones we recommend in your area. You choose who you want to that's got the heart of a teacher. They'll sit down with you and help you figure out what of this money can be long-term invested, like mutual funds,

and what of the money needs to be just set aside in a money market to get ready for that 16 year old that money doesn't need to be in a mutual fund but you know that other 80 90 000 bucks after the emergency funds in place and you're debt free and you need to get on a good tight budget because you've been sloppy that's how you ended up with this debt you've become comfortable with a small amount of debt this ten thousand dollars kind of hanging around like a backache and you need to get uncomfortable ended up with this debt. You've become comfortable with a small amount of debt. This $10,000 is kind of hanging around like a backache, and you need to get uncomfortable with that and really tighten up and get better use of your monthly money as well to be able to accomplish these things. So tighten up that and start doing a written budget. Get on everydollar.com and get that thing going.

Ashley's on the line. Ashley's in Los Angeles. Hi, Ashley. How are you? I'm doing great. Thanks. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's on the line. Ashley's in Los Angeles. Hi, Ashley. How are you? I'm doing great, thanks. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, my husband has a very specialized job, and he can work anywhere in the state and in the 17 most western states of this country. And we've lived in the same town pretty much our whole lives. I would like to move. My husband wants to stay here until he retires. My husband's father and brother are trying to convince him that we should buy a house within the next couple of years.

I think that we should wait until we decide where we're going to be before we start looking for a house to buy. I think he's decided. Yes, he very much wants to stay here, but he has agreed to look with me and look in different areas and just look at different things. Yeah. Well, go look then. So I feel like we should look and just know for sure where we want to be before we purchase a house. His dad and brother keep saying, no, you should buy a house now because, you know, everything's going to go up

and you can always sell your house or you could rent it out. And I just think that's not the most financially. How long are you going to go up and you can always sell your house or you could rent it out. And I just think that's not the most financially. How long are you going to go looking? Well, I'm not sure. My husband, like I said, he's got a very specialized job, and he was actually talking about maybe just taking promotions as they come, which could put us anywhere in the state. How long are you going to be looking before you decide whether you're going to move or

whether you're going to stay? I was thinking five to ten years. You're going to look for five years? Yeah, I want to know. That's crazy. We're going to have some idea of where we really want to be. You're going to have no sense of direction for five years that don't make any sense well i didn't i i figured that we won't be like looking

just yet my husband like i said wants to stay here so he's kind of pushing against me as i'm i got that part to get him to look i got that part so but if you know it it sounds like he's playing you or you think he's playing you that's what it sounds like he's gonna go along and he's gonna go he's gonna go on this trip or two and go looking uh and you're gonna drag that out as long as you can so that he doesn't commit to staying in town so you guys are messing with each other instead of just sitting down together and making a decision one way or the other y'all just need to decide what you're going to do are you going to stay in town or not you got six months decide okay and then decide to stay and be happy or decide to leave and he be happy but at the end of of that six months, go where you're going to go, stay where you're going to stay,

and start talking about buying a house. But just dragging crap out where you two are needling each other over the next five years, he's trying to weasel around and stay and you're trying to weasel around and leave. Put it on the table and deal with it, kiddo. Get it out there. Let's solve this problem y'all are going to piss at each other if you don't for five years gee man that dropped me nuts that puts this hour of the dave ramsey show in the books this is james childs producer of the dave ramsey show

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