The Ramsey Show - App - Reset Your Focus in 2021 (Hour 1)

Episode Date: January 4, 2021

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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. You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money. Open phones at 888-825-5225. For our first broadcast live of the year, Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality, best-selling author, joins me today. We've got a lot to talk about. Of course, it is the first of the year, which means all of you are going to save money, get out of debt, stop smoking, and lose weight, right?

Yep. There it is right there. Ready, set, go. You just wrapped up the whole year. Just wrap it up just be done with it while we can that's right and grow hair that's the last one that's my other goal another new year's resolution that's right i'm gonna i might do the other three but i'm not gonna get that one going i'm i don't think you are either you you can touch your head all you

want but i don't think it's gonna work okay we're not starting off the year with baldism okay i'm gonna start off we gotta start off with an ism we are for sure but but dave you're not starting off the year with baldism. I'm going to start off. We are not. We've got to start off with an ism. We are. For sure. But, Dave, you're right. This is the year. 2020 is gone. People have been blinking.

Thank God! They've been hoping and wishing for it to go. It's gone, people. Now what we get to do is take more control than ever. Yeah. So this is the expectation. We're going to do better, Dave. Well, I tell you what.

This bunch around here, the Ramsey bunch bunch has gone to work oh yeah we're in full-on help you mode because you need some freaking help yep and uh that's the deal so uh tuesday night we're gonna be in oklahoma city that's gonna be fun that's gonna be a blast so uh craig groeschel pastor of lifechurch.tv uh and a good friend of ours for a long time, has an incredible, he's a world-class leader, arguably America's largest church right now. We're going to be broadcasting a live stream from there with Chris Hogan, Rachel Cruz, Craig Groeschel, and me. And the event is called Reset because after last year, you need a reset. You need to start again. Ready, set, go.

You need a whiteboard, blank whiteboard. Write some stuff on it. And you feel like you never save enough money? Well, we're hitting reset. And Ramsey Plus is hitting reset. They're going to help you do that. And Rachel Cruz, we've launched a new book coming out tomorrow, Know Yourself, Know Your Money. She's on book tour, and you've seen her all over America. She's on Rachel Ray playing out today.

Good morning, America, this coming Wednesday. Not to mention your television set, I promise you. The girl is doing 100 media hits in the next, literally, 100 and something media hits in the next three days. And they're all virtual, which kind of means you sort of do them. That's what virtual means, sort of. You're sort of doing a media hit. You're sitting your lazy butt at home. You didn't fly to New York.

She didn't go anywhere. It's a virtual, She's virtually working. Dave, I feel like she's sort of working. She's kind of working. You and I have hit the road before. We've done it. We've burned up the trail. We have.

And she's going to be just sitting in here. And she's just sitting here drinking coffee and talking on the TV. So that's how it works with Rachel. But you know what? I am so pumped for her. This book, you all, is going to truly dig in and give you the understanding of why you handle money the way that you do. And so it really is the psychology of it, which then is going to allow you to take more control over your own situation. Now, the beauty of this reset event, because Dave is a genius, you don't have to leave

your house. You get a chance to sit right where you are in footed pajamas, your hair curlers, or whatever else you have that I don't own, and you can watch the event. I can't see you in hair curlers or a footed pajama. Don't visualize that, Dave. You will burn your corneas out. That's right. Just thinking about it. But you get to sit right where you are and truly soak in this information.

This is the stuff that we have seen over the last 20-something years of doing this, but also in the last year. We're going to give you the information you need to really and truly take control. I'm serious. After 2020, have you not had enough? Yeah. Have you had enough? I mean, really.

It's time to change. And this is your reset moment. We're going to show you. Chris and I are going to walk you out of debt and into wealth. Craig is going to go through and give you a talk on self-discipline that will make you actually want to do it and rachel will be covering know yourself know your money and it is an incredible incredible opportunity oh by the way it's free okay so january the 12th at 7 p.m our free reset live stream event will give you motivation, the guidance you need to say goodbye to money stress for good. Sign up by texting RESET to 33789. Free. One week from tomorrow night,

January 12th at 7 p.m. RESET to 33789. It's free. Chris Hogan, Rachel Cruz, Dave Ramsey, Craig Groeschel, live from Oklahoma City. And we're going to give you the first step towards lasting financial peace. And, of course, you know, Life.Church has some in-studio audiences available, appropriately spaced or whatever they do with that stuff, and it's $20. So it's dadgum near free. The gas costs you more to get over there. And the Know Yourself, Know Your Money book is on sale. Today is the last day at midnight tonight.

It is officially launched. And so today is the last day you get $150 worth of add-ons if you pre-order the book today. So I recommend you jump on to DaveRamsey.com. You'll get the e-book. You'll get the audio book. You'll get the e-book, you'll get the audio book, you'll get videos, and you'll get a free coaching session with our guys, with one of our Ramsey coaches, our Ramsey preferred coaches, a free coaching call.

And so the biggest bonus we've ever offered with a book. So check out Know Yourself, Know Your Money at DaveRamsey.com. Check out the Reset live event next Tuesday at DaveRamsey.com or text RESET to 33789. And Ramsey Plus, running the full Ramsey Plus membership, the whole thing. You want to do a total money reset this year? This is the way to do it. They've got a 90-day plan laid out to kick you off and get you going

and make you win so you know you can win. And if you want to do that, you can start Ramsey Plus for free, a free trial. Go to DaveRamsey.com slash reset. Everything's about reset and know yourself, know your money for the next week. And I want you to hear me because I'm talking to people on my show that are really following the path to becoming everyday millionaires where they already are. The word reset does not necessarily mean start over what it does mean though is that you are going to reset expectations effort and all of the mindset and focus you have on moving forward yeah like like for instance i was you know i'd lost 37 pounds right yeah then i went to cabo

and i came back and i got on scale this morning so i have to reset they put weight on you over there you think you think they might eat a taco or seven but yeah that's rude of cabo it's rude no off button for tacos i'm just saying all right so yeah i put on four pounds i went the wrong way so i gotta reset that's right today it is you gotta do it it doesn't mean i have to go back and lose all 37 again no but 33 of them that's all that's gone i still got it yeah i gotta get it yeah how many times you're gonna lose 30 pounds dave okay so anyway yeah so finish it up finish it up finish the goal reset maybe you're halfway through your debt snowball this is your reset maybe you're uh just now starting to get to know your spouse about money and you get to know yourself know

your money book and that's a reset uh maybe you get into ramsey plus and you go through financial peace university again yep and it's a reset it's okay to have Ramsey Plus and you go through Financial Peace University again. Yep. And it's a reset. It's okay to have flunked to the class. A lot of people have. Take it again. Come on back.

Maybe you didn't do the holidays the right way. Oh. Maybe you overspent. You could have a Christmas hangover. You're going to have a Christmas hangover because those bills are coming in January and February. It's time to reset. So this is a great opportunity for us to get back on the wagon. Tie yourself to the wagon.

We're going forward this year. That's what you do. Even if it's dragging you. That's just a great metaphor. Tie yourself to the wagon. All right. Know yourself. Know your money, including $150 worth of goodies on sale through today in the pre-sale. Don't miss that.

And be sure and text the word reset for the free streaming event next Tuesday, January the 12th with Hogan, Rachel Cruz, Craig Groeschel, and me. Text the word reset to 33789. That's the whole puppy, baby. We're here to help you. It's that simple. And most of that's dadgum free or near it.

Check it out. This is dave ramsey show what if i said you could totally reset your money in 90 days last year you might have felt out of control of everything in your life, including your money. But it's a new year, and it's time for a new way of thinking. You can take back control of your money. So if you're ready for a reset this year, then join me, Rachel Cruz, Chris Hogan, and Craig Groeschel at Reset Live, our free live stream on January 12th. We're going to walk you through exactly what you can do in just 90 days to kickstart a better year with money. We'll help you dream about the life you really want and set solid goals for you to make it happen. Then we'll show you faster ways you can pay off debt and save money.

Make the Reset Live day one. RSVP for the free live stream by texting RESET to 33789. Text RESET to 33789. Chris Hogan Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Nicole is going to start off this hour in Massachusetts. Hi, Nicole.

How are you? Hi, Dave. Hi, Chris. How are you? Hi, Dave. Hi, Chris. Happy New Year to you both. Happy New Year to you. How can we help? Thank you. So I am 23 with no debt.

I'm currently saving for a 20% down payment on a house. Now, my family was really hurt in the 08 crash. It led to my parents' divorce and so forth. So that whole experience really left a scar. So my question is, how to best get over this anxiety of putting so much of my hard-earned money into such a big purchase? I'm confused why you would have anxiety over having a smaller payment. No, not a smaller payment. You would if you put having a smaller payment. No, not a smaller payment. You would if you put down a larger amount.

You mean more than 20%? The more you put down, the lower your payment is, right? Right. And the closer you are to being debt-free. Because having the home paid for would certainly remove anxiety, would it not? I think the anxiety is more about having so much of my wealth in one asset. If it were paid for, what would be the problem? Why would that cause you anxiety if you paid 100% cash for the house?

I mean, I guess it wouldn't. Okay, because what it amounts to is what you're really, your anxiety is not all your money tied up in one asset. Your anxiety is worried about losing it. Yeah, because Nicole, you connected the 08 crash with your parents' divorce, and so it sounds like psychologically you're connecting the money risk along with a past relationship issue. And two separate things here, two totally different things. And that mindset of you putting down the 20%, as Dave said, the payment's going to be lower. And then you're also going to be investing 15% in growth stock mutual funds.

So you're not going to have everything in one thing. You're going to be diversified. You've got the growth stock mutual funds and you have your home. So that's going to put you on the path at 23 years old. I mean, seriously, that puts you on a path to become an everyday millionaire in your early 40s if you don't deviate. Here's the thing. Let's say that what price range home would we be talking about, just as an example, roughly?

$300,000. Okay. Let's say that you put $150,000 down. Okay, 50% down. And you got in trouble, financially. What would you do with the house? Lose it, a foreclosure? I hope not.

Well, let me help you. You have a $300,000 house you owe $150,000 on. You could sell it, right? Right. But if you owe $298,000 on it, and you're in trouble, and it's worth $300,000, you can't get out of it. You're stuck.

Okay. So the more you put down, the more likelihood you could get rid of it in the event that there was a major problem. And the lower payment you have, so the easier it would be to float if there's a major problem. So the point is, debt-free or moving towards debt-free is always lower risk, not more risk. Does that make sense? Yes, yes, sir. And the thing is that what Chris pointed out, and you pointed it out too,

is that the 08 crash, the stress of that exposed the weaknesses in your mom and dad's marriage. The weaknesses were already there. The stress didn't cause it it exposed it money problems and large amounts of wealth both magnify what's already there they don't make it in other words mean people don't rich people don't become mean sometimes mean people become rich it's exposed by their wealth their meanness but it was there all along if they're mean now i know a lot of rich people that aren't mean don't misunderstand i'm not calling

rich people mean but i'm saying if they're if you see someone who gives a lot of money away they're a philanthropist if they're wealthy they're just generous if they're not wealthy but it's the same thing it's just exposed more because they got more money. And so the money problems bring out the stress, or the stress brings out the stress, and that exposes the problems in a relationship. It exposes character things. It did with me when I went broke. I mean, my insecurities were magnified because I was a 28-year-old father with a brand-new baby and a toddler,

and they were magnified off the chart when we lost everything. And so anything Sharon said that made me feel like she didn't respect me made me go bonkers because my insecurities were magnified by the money stress. Does that make sense? Yes. And don't confuse that with how much to put down on a house. Those are different things. What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you the first copy I've ever given away of

Know Yourself, Know Your Money. Oh. Since it comes out tomorrow. Yeah. I can start giving away now. You sure can, Dave. And that really does enter into this discussion a lot. It does, because, Nicole, remember, you're also going to follow the plan.

If you're already out of debt, you're going to build up a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses boom that's there then you're going to start to save for the home down payment maybe step 3b and then you're investing so you're putting yourself on the path to be able to have peace of mind because you're working a plan that actually works yeah you're going to be fine yes you are and take your time you're 23 if it takes an works. Yeah, you're going to be fine. Yes, you are. And take your time. You're 23. If it takes you an extra year or two to get comfortable with it, fine. Just keep piling up money. There's very few people that are debt-free and have a pile of money that are worried about money.

It just doesn't come up much. I haven't had people call me up and go, you know, my house is paid for, and I'm just freaked out. That one doesn't come up much. So it's a place to aim towards. Torrey is with us in springfield missouri hi tori welcome to the dave ramsey show hi how are you guys doing great how can we help so hopefully i can make this make sense like everyone else that calls i'm nervous so be with me um basically with our stimulus check we're you working the baby steps. We're on baby step two.

I've been the spender in our relationship with my husband and have done Dave-ish for far too long and have finally, you know, stuck to the past and really working hard to get this right. We are on the step, you know, we're paying smallest to largest, obviously. And the stimulus check is going to be for $1,200. We have a car and a credit card that are both sitting at about $1,100. We basically are trying to figure out which one to pay off first. I kind of think I know what your answer is going to be. If they're $1,100, it doesn't matter. If they're both $1,100, it doesn't matter.

Which one do you want to pay off? Well, the only difference is the credit card has interest. The card doesn't. It's someone local to us that basically was helping us out. Which one do you want to pay off? I mean, I would love to have the card paid for. What's your household income? What's your household income?

Probably about $34,000. My husband works and I stay home. So when are you going to pay off the next one if you pay off the car? When are you going to pay off the credit card? Two months? Well, we want to pile as much money into it as we can as fast as we can. How fast? Two months?

Two months after the car is paid for, right? That would be awesome, yeah. Okay. I mean, can you do that? I mean, we also have stupid tax on a couple other things. Okay, you need to sit down and do a budget and be able to answer the question. I'm not the one that needs to answer the question, but you need to answer it for you. You don't know.

You're running in circles. Okay? Right. But here's the point. If you can pay that car off in two months, or pay the car off and then pay the credit card off in two months, or you pay the credit card off and pay the car off in two months, this discussion doesn't matter. Okay.

Two months from now, they're both gone, right? Out of your life. Right. Yeah. And, Tori, not only do you pay it off the credit card, you call it and close it down. Yes. Like, close it down. Okay?

Now, what Dave said... How long has it been since you used it? Yesterday. Well... Okay, you've got to pay the credit card off, not the card. Wrong answer. The laugh is the wrong answer. You have to pay the credit card off not the car the wrong answer the laugh is the wrong answer you have to pay the credit you're not you're not in control yeah you need to get that credit card out of your life you can't hang out in a bar if you got a drinking problem girl yeah you're right so you need to cut you need to cut that thing up yep and close the account

and pay it off with a stimulus check and then pay the car off in the next two months. And unsubscribe to the email places where you shop online. They're sending you stuff. It's like crack that's pulling you into those websites. Unsubscribe. Get your life back today. Unsubscribe from the crack. I wish it was that easy.

It is that easy with money. It is. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Chris Hogan Ramsey personality is my co-host today here on the air happy new year glad you're with us open phones at 888-825-5225 if ever there was a year we want in our rearview mirror it would be the year 2020 for the first time we could say 2020 is in hindsight. So there we go. Yes. But there we go. Different way of looking at things. But wow.

Hey, and next Tuesday night, we're going to be doing this reset event with Chris Hogan, Rachel Cruz, me, and Craig Groeschel, live from Oklahoma City. It's completely free. Text the word RESET to 33789, and you can be part of that event. You'll be able to watch it from the comfort of your own home completely uh free walking you through how to reset and get started over for this year brendan is with us in massachusetts hi brendan how are you mr ramsey mr hogan thank you so much and happy new year to both of you happy new year how can we help thank you so the motivation for my call today is my future family and my future children. So I want to make sure that I love them well by protecting them right. So I know you recommend 15 to 20 year term life policies on the path to

becoming self-insured. And my fiance and I are wondering if 25 year policy might be the more responsible choice in our particular situation. So for some quick context, I'm 26. My fiance is 25. We're getting married this year. And as part of our premarital counseling, we've kind of built a vision for what we want to achieve together. And when we think about how the 20-year term policy would bring us, we don't think it would quite bring us to where we would still have a dependence in our household. Once we finish baby step two together, we anticipate 2023, 2024. And if we were to take out 20-year policies once we get married, that wouldn't quite bring us, I don't think, to when our dependence would be out of the house. So would it be wise

to go with a 25-year for both of us? Dude, you are a planner. You are a planning planner. Brendan, how old are you again? 26. 26. He's already planned out what it looks like when he's 94. You're amazing, man.

Well done. Well done. Congratulations on your marriage, man. That's awesome. Thank you so much. Are you ill? I am not, no. You have a history of family illness that's extreme.

And that is part of the issue on my father's side. I would not exactly say extreme, but I could see rates absolutely rising if I were to wait a bit longer because on my father's side there are some health things that do pop up along the way historically like what uh so uh high blood pressure oh your dad has high blood pressure doesn't cause you to have a rating you having high blood pressure will cause you to have a rating so um worrying about all this stuff might do it but um so here let me tell you the reality of you can do it if you want to okay but it won't it won't even do what you wanted it to do because you're going to end up having a kid that's going to not have left home by the 25 year mark and then you're still going to come up short that kind of a thing so what i ended up doing was i took out when i was

your age we were having babies and i took out 15-year policies and then i added 15-year policies periodically throughout the years and the strange thing is the difference in the rate between 26 and 36 is not substantial and so if three times in the next 10 years you add more staggered policies uh you know three four years from now three four years from now three or four years from now, three or four years from now, three or four years from now, and or you have other needs, as long as you don't lose your health completely and become uninsurable, that is going to be much cheaper. Because 15-year policies are substantially cheaper than 25-year policies, number one, and you're not buying insurance that you don't yet need in anticipation of worries uh and so i would unless you have a thing that says okay look my parents both died of 800 cholesterol when they were 46 and both of them died of that and so

that's gonna i i probably got that gene which by the way that's a thing okay i got a buddy who's got a 700 cholesterol and his dad died at 50 and And so that kind of stuff, that's a thing. And so, you know, if you've got that going, then, yeah, you may want to look at your 25. But in a normal scenario, a typical scenario where you're going to have a high blood pressure or a heart attack or some cancer in extended family, that's not going to keep you from getting insurance reasonably as long as you stay fit and you're not obese and you don't smoke. Those are your keys. I mean, you fit and you're not obese and you don't smoke, those are your keys.

I mean, you know, you're going to be fine there. And that's how I did it and how I honestly would recommend it. But, again, if you have a, not a vague worry, but a valid set of facts that says problem, problem, problem, problem. Then you'd look at it. Yeah. And the other side of this, too, Brendan, is remember, as you put this in place, a 15 or a 20 or even if the 25, you're working to get yourself out of debt to be able to build wealth. So the mindset behind it is your income is growing, but also so is your opportunity as you move forward. So, you know, this protects you in place.

The most important thing is to make sure you get it on both you as well as your spouse. And you know what? Go ahead and price it out now. Yeah. And ask them to price out a 36-year-old on 15-year. And look at the two and see if I'm right. And then compare your 15-year rates with your 25-year rates today. Yeah.

And say, do I really want to pay that much extra for kids that may come later and I may still not have even bought it in a long enough term to get to them at that point? So, I mean, you can't, you cannot, there's a certain amount of this you've got to go with the flow and, you know, make, you know, the decision making is somewhat fluid. The good news is that two of you are talking about money, you're being unbelievably responsible. You're amazing, really. I mean, you're thinking about taking care of your spouse, your kids already, and you don't have either one yet. And this is just, you're a about taking care of your spouse, your kids already, and you don't have either one yet.

And this is just, you're a good man. You're going to do great. Don't overthink this. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, and the main thing I would tell people out there, if you don't have life insurance, it is how you say I love you to your family. Which is what he said. It is. He said, I want to be a good dad.

You want to get that in place. I don't want to hear any more hemming and hawing. Chris, I'm waiting. I'm a little too busy. No, no, no. Don't be too busy to love your family. No. Get that in place. I don't want to hear any more hemming and hawing. Chris, I'm waiting. I'm a little too busy. No, no, no. Don't be too busy to love your family. Get it in place. And the policy you have through your job is crap.

Okay? It's not portable. If you lose or leave that job, you've left behind the life insurance. So get a term policy outside of your job right now. Seriously, don't delay this anymore. And let me tell you, Zander's going to get hit because there's two things going on that are going to drive life insurance. Go to ZanderInsurance.com and get your stuff going.

And you need to get it going quick because there's a lot of people are afraid COVID's going to mess up the rates. And there's a lot of people do this at the first of the year for some reason, like it's New Year's resolution to get life insurance. So it's a good time to jump online and get it done right now at ZanderInsurance.com. Good call, man. You're a good man. You're going to do great insurance so it's a good time to jump online and get it done right now at xanderinsurance.com good good call man yeah you're a good man you're gonna do great and relax not likely mary's in charlotte hey mary how are you hi uh thank you so much for taking my call sure how can we help my my question is um i've heard you talk about the powder butt syndrome

but i need to hopefully get some advice on how to approach my 93-year-old father. By all counts, he's still very healthy. He has built some wealth over the years year, maybe a little more, that he is starting to sell off some of his assets, which is, of course, his right to do that. What our question really is, is how to approach him and maybe be a little more involved because the last property he just sold, we found out he sold it way under value and we want to make sure no one's taking advantage of him because he's a very nice person but again we know it's his right to sell his things what if you said all of that to him that it's your right to do whatever

you want you're an unbelievably sharp 93 year old we did notice this and we love you and we're concerned we're not worried about our money. We don't need it. We're not worried about you giving it to us. I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried about you, Dad. How can I help you? What would he say, bug off?

Well, we tried. We didn't come out and say just those exact words. My one brother did say, Dad, you know, I want to sit down with you. I want to go over your will. We want to know, we want to do what you want to do. Cause we feel like maybe this is his way of trying to protect us and not having to deal with this. But we made, you know, the date back in October, we were going to meet with him. My brothers were coming out of town and then he just kind of said, well, uh, I wasn't feeling good. good. He said, I'm not feeling good.

You better not come into town. So we didn't. And then we just felt like maybe he was avoiding it. And maybe he is. Yeah, he is. I think I would just lean in continually the way you are with love. You can't make people do stuff. That's right.

You can't make them do stuff. If he's not insane or not incompetent legally, there's nothing you can do. But just love him and just say, as an act of love, how can we help you, Dad? That's right. That's all we want to do. We just want to help you. We want it to be the way you want it to be. How do you want it to be?

How can we help you do that? And if he won't do that, there's nothing you can do about it, hon. This is the Dave Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author several times over, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225 here on the Dave Ramsey Show. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. It means even if you screw up, if you mismeasure the blind and it's the wrong size,

or you pick the wrong color and it's ugly, well, they will remake your blinds for free because you screwed up now that's a satisfaction guarantee you get free samples free shipping and with the new promos they run all the time you'll save even more this is an incredible company use the promo code ramsey at blinds.com all right today's question comes from jody in nebraska she says i have 11 years in the miss Missouri public schools retirement and a 403B from when I lived in Kansas City. I moved to Nebraska and now have 12 years in the Nebraska public schools and I'm putting an extra 15% into retirement on top of the 10% the public school

puts in. My question is, is what do I do with the money that's in the Missouri public school retirement and the 403B? Do I keep it there or do I move it? Jody, roll it over. You're going to have better options yourself than just leaving it there. Yeah, do a direct transfer rollover to a traditional IRA with a SmartVestor Pro, and you pick some good mutual funds, and they'll outperform what you were doing there. Also, the 15% you're putting into retirement, I probably would include in that. I wouldn't put that all into the Nebraska program.

I would put some of that into a personal Roth IRA, and if you're married, two of them, and use up some of the 15% on a personal Roth IRA, and that way putting a little less into the Nebraska. An independent freestanding IRA will almost, I mean, with well-selected mutual funds, will always outperform a public school system retirement plan, always, without a doubt, just by the nature of the way they're managed and the way they're regulated. And so you'll always get a better rate of return there, and you'll end up better. But it doesn't mean not do it at all. It just means that when you can move it, move it.

And when you can put it in a Roth instead in your 15%, you would do that. So that's the only fine-tuning. But you're on top of it, kiddo. You're doing a good job. Well done. Bill is with us. Bill's in Pittsburgh. Happy New Year, Bill.

Almost said Merry Christmas. Same to you. Yeah, well, you know, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. That's it. How you doing? Great, man. How can we help? So my wife and I are getting ready to pay off our mortgage.

And the question I have for you, you hear a lot of people talk about, you know, protecting your home title. So I just wonder what you guys thought about, you know, some kind of protection against, you know, people stealing our home title once we pay off this mortgage the only thing i would do is something like a zander insurance id theft the other the other stuff is a rip-off it's not needed because it's very difficult to um i mean it to to steal title because it is recorded at the courthouse and someone would have to go through a detailed fraudulent process, which could be easily undone. It might cost you a little bit of money with an attorney or something, and the way to avoid that is to just have Zander Insurance's identity theft. It covers that. But the people that are out there pushing just – there's two kinds of title insurance now.

There's the title insurance that insures your title against fraudulent theft. That one I don't worry about much. In buying a home, you insure a title to insure that the title itself is clean. And that's title insurance that almost everyone has bought at one time or another that's bought a home. And I highly recommend that. The other one I would not buy. Instead, I would just have good identity theft. Yeah, Bill, what's your net worth, my friend?

Well, are you talking with retirement plans and everything? Yeah, everything. About three-quarter mil. Okay. Because another thing you might want to look at now that you're about to pay off the house is really looking at utilizing a trust, which can also give you another layer of protection because now you aren't the owner of the home, the trust is. And so it's something in looking at an estate planning attorney and get connected with a

smart investor pro first and foremost. They'll know estate planning attorneys in your area because you're well on your way to building. And if you're thinking about protecting, you want to make sure that you have all those layers in place. Yeah, very good question, Bill. So let's explain exactly what I'm talking about so that everybody knows. When you buy a home anywhere in the United States of America, a deed is recorded at the

courthouse, public record, in the name of the owner. And so you could buy it in the name of a trust, you could buy it in the name of an LLC, and you could buy it in the name of Chris Hogan, okay, in the name of the owner. And anyone can look that up. It's public record. And that is the only title. The physical deed, like a car title, means nothing. With a car title, you need the physical title to be able to transact.

You don't need a physical deed. You need it to have been recorded at the courthouse. That establishes ownership. Gotcha. So the only way that ownership could be stolen would be if someone fraudulently created a sale that didn't occur. Gotcha. Meaning a crook came in and said, okay, Chris Hogan's house, I'm a deed sign chris hogan's name signing it over to me and then he's quote unquote a crook has then unquote unquote stolen the title and recorded that at the courthouse okay so there's

multiple layers of fraud theft and things that have gone on here for instance almost ever i guess every state i'm i'm to venture and say every state, that deed would have to be notarized, the signature. That's right. And so when they signed your name, the notary's also in on it. That's right. Or that was fraudulently done, one of the two. So there's a whole, it's a very complex fraud

versus just stealing someone's identity and using it to open a credit card. I got you. But it can be done. It's being done a little bit, but it's not rampant like credit card ID theft is. ID theft is rampant. It's a problem. But the actual theft of the ownership of the home is highly unusual and fairly easy to go, nah, wasn't me.

That's exactly. Well, the identity theft protection that you talk about dave uh especially with xander not only does it protect you but it provides restoration services yeah they'll take care and that means they put everything back like it was because people could spend hours and days and months battling and digging through this and if you have the right protection you're okay but this one is so bizarre it is bizarre that it's easy to prove okay yeah it's easy to prove. Okay.

Yeah. It's much easier versus someone just opening a credit card in your name. Because if someone opens a credit card in your name, then they start sending you a bill. It shows up on your credit bureau report, right? Right. Because they stole your identity. Right. Then you call the credit card company and go, that's not me. Well, the first thing they assume is that you just don't want to pay your bill.

And it is you. And so you have to go through this whole thing of being treated like a deadbeat that didn't pay your bills in order to get through the fraud victim division with the credit card companies. Credit card companies are straight-up stupid. But, I mean, someone actually stealing the title, now you're going to walk into the Register of Deeds, which in many counties is an elected position, and it's certainly a political position at a minimum, and you walk into this governmental official and go, somebody's screwing with your whole system here.

Yeah. And that Barney Fife is going to get upset with that and help you fix that. That's a little different than the credit card. Because that's why you have to show your ID as something gets notarized. And so don't ever, even if a friend's a notary, don't ever ask them to notarize anything without you having your ID. They have to put that in their logbook. That's how they protect themselves.

Yeah, and again, it's a very complex form of fraud, and I wouldn't worry about it. I have not bought that on myself. I own a bunch of property. And, you know, it's all in LLCs and trusts and so forth. I don't have it in my personal name. But none of my properties have that type of title insurance. If that came up, I would just use some money or Zander, Zander insurances, and I would just go punch them in the nose and figure it out and get it straightened out.

It's a fairly complex thing, and so it makes it very easy to undo. Right. Because it's simply not me. Boy, there's a lot of stupid out there. Well, if people would work half as hard at working as they do at stealing, they'd be rich. That's exactly right. You know? Some of these people, if you just work at your job that hard, you wouldn't have to steal.

I mean, it's unbelievable. I mean, if they use all that intelligence, I mean, you think about all you have to go through to do that level of fraud. Yeah. You know, for, oh, well, that's it. So, but that's how it all works, and that's one of the reasons you get Xander Insurance. But that one's coming up. The other one that's coming up more often than that one is the medical. You know, there's the equivalent of a credit bureau for all your medical records.

And people are getting in and tampering with people's medical records under ID theft. Xander's covering that, too. But it's just like, God, man, people, go get a job. I mean, it's really, you know, you spend all your time stealing something. It's unbelievable. Wow.

Oh, well. You and I will never be out of business. Nope, we got people to help. Me, you, Jenny Craig. We got a lot of work to do. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life?

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