The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Accept a Car From My Girlfriend's Parents? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 16, 2018

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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. The phone number here is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Chris is on the line in Baltimore, Maryland. Hi, Chris. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Mr. Ramsey.

Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So I recently got promoted at work, and I'll be in charge of about 30 to 40 people. So I just, I wanted to know your top, uh, two or three, uh, leadership or management books that you might suggest to a new team leader. Well, I'll send you a copy of ours. It's called entree leadership as my gift.

It's the playbook of, it's a playbook of how we run this place, growing it from a card table in my living room to now a major national brand and i'll send that out to you um i don't know if i'll give you specific books let me give you guys to look up okay um most anything that john maxwell writes is going to be awesome on leadership um my favorite of his um and he's probably written 80 books i've not read all of them i've read a bunch of them he's a good friend of mine um but probably the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership yeah definitely put that on there that's mandatory reading for all my leaders by the way um then

um anything that john writes anything that jim collins writes is something else worth reading uh jim's best-selling book to date and it should be on your list is good to great okay um it's not as much leadership always as it is other stuff but i would read um uh simon cynics start with why and simon's a great writer in in the same space um malcolm gladwell is a great writer in the same space um His, I think the one to be most helpful to you, probably be Outliers by Gladwell. There's a myriad of others, but that'll get you started. But anything that those four guys write is going to be worth reading. They're solid. Collins is more of a researcher than any of the rest of them.

Maxwell will be more anecdotal stuff than any of the rest of them. Easy reads. But that'll get four or five of those will get you started and pick up any of those. The thing you want to make sure of is that, you know, you probably start changing some of your verbiage. You're really not in charge. You're in charge of 40 people. Not really. As a leader, you're there to serve them.

Right. And you are technically in charge of them, but you want to create a spirit of, I'm here to help you win and help you get better. And if that means you work somewhere else, that's part of your winning and getting better, we can do that too. But, you know, we set people free here sometimes when they suck at their job. But that's for their own good, you know, we set people free here sometimes when they suck at their job and,

um, but that's for their own, that's for their own good, you know, and they suck. And so they need to find something they're good at. And, um, you know, and so it's helpful and it uses, but you just have real candid, kind, uh, conversations and, and, you know, how, what can we do to get the, get the work done and get the organization out of your way so you can win and get, you know, what can we do to get the work done and get the organization out of your way so you can win? And, you know, how can I serve you? What is it you need to win? Let's get together and figure out what we've got to do to win. And when they get that you actually care about them, not just about what they do, then you've become a leader, not a boss.

Right. Bosses push, leaders pull. So, hold on. I'll send you a copy, Entree Leadership. You're getting ready to start an incredible journey into the world of leadership. It's a fascinating series of thought leaders and people around that. I just love the space. Zach is with us in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hi, Zach. How are you? Hey, I'm doing well. Thanks for taking my call, Dave. My dad and I, ever since junior high school, went to church and took financial peace classes when I was in junior high. And like I said, he's obviously older, but I just appreciate everything that you've taught through the classes.

And I think starting out in sixth and seventh grade and eighth grade really kind of helped me get to this point. So I definitely want to say thank you. Cool. My question is, so I have just separated from a job at a different university. And now I have $65,000 in a rollover IRA. I'm currently at the age of 27. And I'm starting a new job now and I'm working on building up my emergency fund. Currently it's got $3,000 in it and I'm completely debt-free,

no car, no student loan. I took care of all that. And so my question is, looking at the baby steps, do I continue to build up my emergency fund for the six to eight months before i roll over the rollover ira into a roth ira or should i even be thinking about that and maybe just contribute to a roth ira and leave the rollover ira where it is now we just contribute and leave it where it is i wouldn't i wouldn't make anyone turned into a roth yet when you do you're going to create um 15 20 000 in taxes and you need that extra money laying around to cover that right and so you're going to create um 15 20 000 in taxes and you need that extra money laying around to cover that right and so you're not there today um you need to get you know where you've got an extra you know splash money that's 20 grand or by the time that thing grows to 80 it may be 30 grand

that you need in taxes so um but for right, I would just let it sit there and grow and not worry about creating a taxable event. Get your emergency fund done. It wouldn't even bother me if you got your house paid off before you rolled that over into a Roth, that kind of thing. Really? It's just extra tax money. If I had $20,000 in the middle of the table, what do I want to do?

Do I want to pay it in tax money and turn this thing into a Roth, or do I want to pay it towards the house, or do i want to pay it in tax money and create turn this thing into a roth or do i want to pay it towards the house or do i want to pay it towards something else and you're just not there right now so it needs to be extra money so to speak hanging out and that's that's when you'll be ready to do that i think it's a great idea to convert it to a roth at some point but but you're premature at this stage because, again, you don't have the extra $15,000 or $20,000 laying around. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Christian's on Twitter following me. Dave, I started digging into my Workplace 403B.

There's only nine funds to choose from, and the options aren't great. Do I take the match and use the Roths for the rest? Yes, and use Roths for the rest. Yes. Yeah, take the match because even if they're aren't great, do I take the match and use the Roths for the rest? Yes. And use Roths for the rest. Yes. Yeah. Take the match because even if they're not performing great, you've still got 100% ready to return before you start it. So up to the match, do the best you can there,

and then go fund Roths up to 15% of your household income in Baby Step 4. Now, when you're in Baby Step 4, that means you're debt-free, but the house, you have your emergency fund in place. Now we're putting 15% of our income away. And if that's the context in which you're asking the question, Christian, then yes, I would go up to the 403. I'd do the 403B up to the match. Even if it's lousy options, you've got 100% rate of return on your money

before anything started. And then go do Roth IRAs until you get to 15%. Then stop, move on to Baby Step 5 and Baby Step 6 from there. Thanks for following us on Twitter, Christian. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. You know what I've learned after talking to so many people who have been victims of ID theft? They feel violated and they have a sense of fear and intrusion. It can be overwhelming. It's scary and infuriating at and intrusion. It can be overwhelming. It's scary and infuriating at the same time. People question your character. You try to figure out how it

happened, and you worry it's going to happen again. Then you have to deal with cleaning up the mess. Bill collectors, credit bureaus, even the police just make the nightmare worse. And trust me, ID theft is not going away. That's why i personally work with zander insurance to develop an id theft plan that provides the best protection and value smart strategies to help reduce your risk so you don't feel so helpless along with taking over all the work if you do become a victim and without wasting your money on gimmicks or things you can easily do for yourself. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. Do not wait until it's too late and you have to go through this nightmare on your own. Go to Zander.com. Roxanne is with us in San Antonio.

Hey, Roxanne, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you, Dave. So I've called in and talked to you before, and I appreciate the advice, and so I'm calling because I'm at another step. Overall, I've been Dave-ish for the past five years, and I have a five-year-old daughter who has been attending Catholic school for, this is the second year. And in our journey, I just started the FPU class this summer after attending your SMART conference earlier this year. So I've been trying my best to complete the baby steps and have the Gonzalo intensity.

I have had a drastic debt reduction. And because of that, I've also been looking at our commute daily to her school. Our school is in another part of town, and we're on the road a good two and a half hours a day, and I'm having to realize and admit that I think I'm a little tired. And so as I was looking at possibly selling my house, which I built eight and a half years ago, I realized that if I sold the house, I'd have enough to pay off my mortgage and pay off my consumer debt. And I wanted to get your thoughts on that. Okay. I'm not sure I would move for a kindergartner in a school. I think I'd move for school. A two-and-a-half-hour commute in San Antonio, Texas?

My God, where is she going, Austin? They'll probably be closer. So, yeah, we just live in a very high-traffic area. The area really boomed in the last 10 years, and it's just continuing to grow. So just getting around that area. What you said to me was, I want to move because I'm driving two and a half hours to my kid's school. I'd put my kid in a different school. I am limited on that because I really feel passionate about having the Catholic school education.

And so I'm just limited that there's really uh not an option closer is that is my and her school is actually right down the street from my work okay um well i mean you certainly can move i mean uh if you're going to move though yeah clear up the debt and rent until you can save up a down payment an emergency fund and then repurchase but um you know being near your work makes more sense than anything you've said but um so you know you do whatever you want to do uh but it sounds like you're selling this house if it sounds like you made the decision long before you called me so yeah in that case what i would do is clear up the debt.

And if you don't have the money to repurchase right now and be 100% debt-free and have an emergency fund in place, then that means you're renting for a little while in the new location near your job and near her school. The good news is you'll be clear, and you'll be able to start fresh and get things going. Thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Daniel is with us in Seattle. Hey, Daniel, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, Dave. Thank you so much for having me. Sure. How can I help? Well, I'm currently going to college, and I'm set to graduate next year. Congratulations.

I'm majoring in, uh, oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm majoring in psychology and pre-law. Um, I love pre-law. Um, but after I graduate, um, I don't know, I want to go to law school, but I don't know if I want to become a lawyer. So my question is, should I go to law school after I graduate, or should I get work as something like a paralegal? I'm so confused.

Why would you go to law school if you don't want to be a lawyer? Well, I really like the idea of teaching undergraduates in law at a four-year college. Okay. No, I think I'd probably be a paralegal for a little while and then decide if you want to get a PhD in the law in order to be a professor. And if you want to work that through. Yeah, I guess that's a different track i don't know that law school is the way you become a professor at law school i guess it could be

um but i would suppose that there's a phd program involved in order to do the professor idea um and but right now what is tickling your fancy is is you've enjoyed the law classes the pre-law classes that you've had you like the academic part of it that's what i'm hearing yes yes i love it and i'm doing extremely well in it so i actually enjoyed the business law classes i took a lot many years ago when I was getting my undergrad. And so I can relate. And they've been helpful to me, actually, running a business. Being able to tell these lawyers what to do sometimes is a good idea. But, yeah, I think you need to probably look at this through a different lens and say, what is the best track to become a professor?

Because it sounds like that's what you are enjoying. And then, you know, and maybe paralegal is a good way to do that. It would be if you had some actual practical experience from having been a paralegal a couple of years before you hit the classroom, it would make you more valuable as a teacher for sure, because then you're not dealing with only theory. You've actually been on the street, so to speak, doing it, which are the best. My favorite teachers were the ones that had actually done something other than just theory. And so I'm thinking with you out loud here, but I'm certainly not an expert on any of that.

I don't know. But I'd want to be real sure before I went into that heavy an investment that that's the way I wanted to go. Justin is with us in Indianapolis. Hi, Justin. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, how are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up?

All right, so I'm sitting with a car payment right now, but I was offered a free car from my girlfriend's parents. And so I'm wondering if I should just turn my car back in and take the hit of my credit to have the temporary cash influx now or the other way around. Okay. So what kind of car did your girlfriend's parents offer you? It's a 2003 Honda Civic.

It has low miles, so it'll last a long time. Pretty nice gift for the boyfriend. Well, I'm newly fiancé. Okay. All right. And what do you owe on your car? Almost $16,000. And what's your car? Almost $16,000. And what's your income? Right around $1,600 a month. What do you do?

I work in a factory. Okay. Forty? Between 45 and 50. Okay. All right. What's your long-term plan? I want to go to a police academy when I turn 21. When you turn 21, how old are you? 19. Okay. All right. Well, you can't just turn a car in and take a hit on your credit. Do you have any idea what the car is worth?

It's worth about $4,000 less than I owe. Oh, so you owe $16,000 and you think it's worth about $12,000. Yeah, that's what Kelly Blue Book says. Okay. If you turn it in, you understand they're going to sell it on a repo lot. It's not going to bring $12,000. It's going to bring $8,000, and they're going to sue you for the other 8. Yeah, I understand.

Yeah, that's not a good plan. It's a much better plan to go borrow the 4 somewhere and sell the car. I'd rather you owe $4,000 than $16,000, drive the free Honda, and then pay it off as fast as you can. And you don't take the hit on your credit. So you need to go see if you can scratch up $4,000. Or the other thing you could do is, you know, you could deliver pizzas every night for the next three or four months

and you'd have $4,000 extra above your income or take on overtime where you are or whatever. But let's kick it up to about 60 or 80 hours a week or 70 or 80 hours a week doing something that pays really well and get your four grand together and then you get it sold but no i'm not going to toss them the keys that's a bad plan hey thanks for the call Why in the world would you trust some random guy in a cube when getting your mortgage? Do you really think he cares about your long-term money goals? Well, he doesn't. Those companies care about getting you into whatever home loan program they're pushing that week.

When it comes to ordering a cheeseburger, the meal deal works fine. But let's get real, people. We're talking about the largest investment you'll probably ever make, so don't be naive and trust an order taker who pressures you into a pre-packaged loan. My friends at Churchill Mortgage have been helping my listeners for over 25 years. Call Churchill Mortgage and get custom solutions from an expert within 10 minutes. It's simple. They'll shoot straight with you and quickly show you the real way to save money. Call 888-LOAN-200.

That's 888-LOAN-200 or visit churchillmortgage.com. This is a paid advertisement. NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender. 761 Old Hickory Boulevard. Redwood, Tennessee 37027. Hannah is with us in Chicago. Hey, Hannah, welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show.

Hi, thank you. Thanks for taking my call. Certainly. How can I help? All right. My question is, I have student loans. It's all through the same company. However, it's broken down into nine separate loans and each is a different amount and each has a different interest rate.

So my question is which, how do I decide which one to pay off first? Smallest. Smallest bill? Mm-hmm. I was thinking, because I broke it down into the amount that it is costing per day, the lowest loan amount accumulates $0.06 per day, and my highest loan amount accumulates $0.44 per day. So? Well, that's the answer to my question then, because I just was feeling like if it was accumulating more. So how much is the total of your student loan debt? $19,717. Gotcha.

And what do you make? Well, I'm supposed to bring home a net of about $34,000 000 a year but i've been doing a ton of overtime so in 10 months i brought home a net of uh 36 and a half thousand very good wow you're killing it you're doubling up huh i'm doing my best what's your degree in i I actually did not finish. I am waiting to pay off my student loans before I go back. What are you doing for a living? I work for Walmart Distribution Center as an order filler. Okay. And you're just working all the time then, huh?

Yes, probably about 50 to 65 hours a week. Okay. So I predict that the student loans are gone in a year. Wouldn't you agree? Yes. And so the per day breakdown doesn't matter much. That's why I said so. Okay. And here's what's happening. As hard as you're working, you're tired and you're extremely goal-oriented and you're a detailed person. You're going to get this done. I'm very proud of you. How old are you? I'm almost 25.

Good for you. Well done. Okay. So you're going to knock this out in under a year. So what's your smallest debt, smallest student loan? It's $528. Okay. So what's the next one?

The next highest is $1,118. Okay. And so those are both gone like this month. Yep. Doesn't that feel good? Yeah. See, as hard as you're working, you need the emotional attagirl pat on the back of seeing these things melt away. And that's more important than the 44 cents a day.

I mean, let's think of doing the first, like the biggest one first, originally. And, yeah. Even though it might be mathematically correct, it just drags butt along, and it makes you even tireder, and it's harder to go to work. But when you're getting some progress and you're like, yeah, then you're going to work, right? Yep. Because you're not afraid of hard work.

We just got to keep you in the saddle. Yep. All right, you got this, kiddo. Just list them smallest to largest. Knock it out. You're a rock star. You're going to do big things. You are a person that knows how to leave the cave, kill something, and drag it home.

You are taking control of your destiny. Very, very strong. Very good. You call me if I can help you further. Honored to be in your corner. Jerry is with us. Jerry's in Colorado Springs. Hi, Jerry.

How are you? Definitely more blessed than I deserve. I hear you. How can i help well i started listening to you in 2006 and uh i'm in a situation now i'm actually i guess i'm really in a great situation now i'm 60 right now uh i'm a retired navy and a disabled. I've been out of work for 16 years because of my disability. I was so sick of being on it. I took a risk with some procedures that have worked out well.

It's going to allow me to go back to work. I went in in 2011 using my Texas Veterans Benefits to go back to school, and I got my nursing degree in 2015. Wow. Good for you. Yeah, it is great. It was a wonderful choice. Right now, between my Navy, my VA, and Social Security, which some of the VA and some of the Social Security will drop off, I've currently got about $76,000 a year. And the job I'm going to will leave me at $140,000.

Ding, ding. Well done. But here's the deal. I was sued over my father's estate. And because of the health conditions of everybody concerned, I wound up with it. A $245,000 judgment on my sister failed to kick in her part. So I'm paying $1,500 a month on that. I still owe about $200,000, but it's no interest.

I've got a small house. I sold everything else. How can I help you today, Jerry? Well, okay. Question is, which one to do first? If I pay her off month by month and apply the extra to it, there's no motivation for her to settle. But if I pay the house down so I don't take a chance on spending it or doing anything stupid with the money, I can pay the house off in about less than four years.

Then I can start either paying her or building up a war chest. And that will save me about $105,000 in interest on the house. I would rather you build up your i'd rather you build up your war chest and make her an offer to settle in cash in a lump sum and get rid of her and then go knock off the house okay all right hey that's what you meant and that's what i'll do yeah i i want her i want her out of your life don't you yeah it was a it was pretty unfair it was uh it was really unfair

and it really destroyed my relationship with my family uh because they didn't bother to kick back in and do their share but that's family what can you do yeah well yeah god god gives your friends sometimes to apologize for your family so uh yeah i think you want her out of your life so i think you get the uh get the war chest up and either go to battle or you get the war chest up and use that a lump sum to offer her a settlement uh at pennies on the dollar and um you know try know, try, try to get her gone, uh, and try to figure out, you know, what, what you think you want to offer a 50 grand or whatever, and maybe she'll go away, that kind of thing. And then, um, uh, because obviously she, it's going to take her forever to get the money

otherwise. And, uh, um, maybe you can get that part of your life sealed off and cause you got so many positive things going on, to get that negative behind you also, and then have this neat future as a nurse and all this other stuff that you've done is so good. Just the cleanliness of that, I think you'll sail right through paying off the house

as soon as you get that done. And I'm doing that based on two things. One is the house is always the last thing. It's always baby step six. And then two, I'm just sensing the depth of the emotion around this. And people are set free when they're set free, you know. And so that's what I'm trying to get for you. Hey, thanks for the call.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Well, let's take a minute and think about your future. What if you never had another student loan payment? What if you never had another credit card bill? What if instead of worrying about money, you could actually build wealth? Well, you can. And there's an easy way to get there. It's called Financial Peace University.

Our step-by-step course will teach you how to spend, how to pay off debt, how to save, how to be ready for emergencies, and big time, how to build off debt, how to save, how to be ready for emergencies, and big time, how to build wealth, investing. Right now, Financial Peace University is part of our Kickstart Bundle at DaveRamsey.com. Great gift for someone who's just starting to walk the baby steps. The Kickstart Bundle includes the one-year membership to Financial Peace University, the Total Money Makeover audiobook, the Love Youryear membership to Financial Peace University, the Total Money Makeover audiobook, the Love Your Life, Not Theirs audiobook, and the Every Dollar Guide

to Budgeting. Check it out at DaveRamsey.com and get your bundle. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Anita is with us in Seattle. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Anita. Hi, thanks for the call, or letting me call in. My pleasure. How can I help? Yeah, I have a question. So we're,

my husband and I are both new to the program. We're in baby step number two and we own two houses. And my question is if we can, if we should consider selling one of the houses to pay down our debt. Okay. I assume you live in one and the other one is what? It's a rental. Okay. All right. And how much debt do you have, not counting your houses? $120,000. On what? Student loans and cars.

Okay. How much is student loans and how much is cars? Oh, and some credit cards. Uh-huh. Okay. How much is each category? So our student loan, we actually rolled into a HELOC because it had a lower interest rate. So we have about $72,000.

Cars, we have about $16,000. And credit cards, we have about $22,000. Okay. And your household income is what? $150,000. Okay. And your household income is what? $150,000. Okay. Cool. And how much do you owe on the rental? So the rental, we owe $200,000.

What's it worth? $350,000. Okay. All right. So selling it would clear the debt then. I'm not going to sell your primary. I wouldn't sell your primary. And then the other thing I should probably know is we pay about $100 out of pocket per month to keep that rental. Why? It doesn't cash flow when you've got $150,000 worth of equity?

No, it does not cash flow. No. Okay. Well, that's a no-brainer to sell it then, isn't it? Yeah. Let me give you the figures for our flow, no. Okay. Well, that's a no-brainer to sell it then, isn't it? Yeah. Let me give you the figures for our primary, though. Why does the primary even come into play? Do you want to sell your primary?

Well, the primary has a lot of equity in it. Do you want to sell your primary? Do you not like your house? It is a bit of a fixer-upper and um selling our primary and moving into our rental would clear all debt including the mortgage on our rental where do you want to live five years from now um that's a great question uh i think that's why this it makes it a little bit difficult for us because, yeah, either house, really. No, no, no, that's not true. Where do you want to live five years from now?

Not in the condition that my primary house is in. Well, we're not... The area, yes, but not in the house that... Not in the condition that my primary house is in right now. Could you not get it in condition if you were out of debt making $150,000 a year? We could. Okay. We could. So if you sold the rental and paid off all your debt, and you learned to live on a budget,

and you chop up your stupid credit cards, and you lean in and fix up the house what's it take to fix the primary to where you want it to stay where you'd want to live there five years from now how much money about 200 000 okay and you make 150 so it sounds like that's a three-year project yeah do you want to do that? Yeah. I mean, I would love, we live in a great area. How long have you lived in this thing half-baked? In our primary? Yeah. We have lived in here for seven years. Yeah.

Well, you've been living in a half-baked mess for seven years. You're tired of it. Yes, I am. Yeah. You need a plan to fix it or you need to move forget all the other stuff forget the debt forget the rental forget everything else it's the fact that y'all are sitting there languishing without a plan in a half-baked renovation that'll exhaust anybody yeah yeah so you need a plan that says we sell the rental and we're going to lean in and we're going to be

on beans and rice and we're going to do and, and we're going to be on beans and rice, and we're going to do. And here's the list of projects on this. And the first project we're going to do is this one, and that's going to be done at the end of six months, and the next project in the next six months, and the next project in the next six months. And three years from now, we will have spent, you know, $180,000, $60,000 a year out of our $150,000 income,

and we'll have this thing fixed up and we'll like it do you want to work on that house for three years if you can do it aggressively and keep it or do you want to sell it and sell both of them and and move into something that's ready yeah so that's that's what we're considering can i give you the figures for our primary? Sure. So we owe about $265 on it, and it's worth $700. As it sits? Yeah. Even half-baked? Yeah.

Okay. All right. So if you sold both of these and you paid off all your debt, you'd still be sitting on a huge chunk of cash and just buy something that you like. Yeah. But sell everything. Okay. Here's the thing.

You need to make decisions not based on what gets me out of debt today. That's a good decision unless you're about to go bankrupt, which you're not. You've got plenty of equities, okay? It's time for you to sweep the corners out of all these areas of your life because there's dirt piled up in two or three of these corners. You've been sloppy with the stupid credit cards. The student loan's been around so long you think it's a pet. You're sick of that. The cars are just exasperating.

And you've been sitting in this thing half-baked for seven years, and all of it's just kind of stuck. And so what I want, if I'm you, is I want a plan that executes all of this. But the way to ask yourself the question is the one I asked you earlier, and that is, where do I want to be in five years? Do I want to have spent the last three years renovating this house, or do I want to just sell everything and go buy one that i want to live in five years from now great i like that one personally yeah i like you too yeah i like the cleanliness of that because i think you all aren't very good at completing renovations we're not and you would notice that if you walked in our house well it's seven years i already noticed

it in three minutes on the phone with you so yeah i i just think you're you're gonna have a great life you don't have anything hanging over your head you don't have any debt hanging over your head you don't have a rental that's losing money hanging over your head and you don't have an unfinished renovation hanging over your head and so you know, the rental basically clears the debt on this, and the $500,000 equity and the personal residence, take that money as a huge down payment or buy a house for $500,000. I don't care. That is the house you want to live in five years from now.

And then get about the business of paying it off. Let's go ahead and keep working the baby steps. Good question. Interesting discussion. Very interesting. Took me a little while to catch up with where you were. Thanks for being patient with me. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. It's all about you. But you know what? The way we were talking about there is not a bad exercise for everyone listening. We have noticed in dealing with millionaires that a survey, a piece of research I read many, many years ago has proven to be true. And that is that people who are able to build wealth when making financial decisions

ask themselves, how is this going to affect me 10 years from now, 20 years from now? People who are broke and stay broke say, thank God it's Friday, oh God, it's Monday. They make very short-term, impulsive, immature decisions. And the neat thing is, is you can just decide, whether you're 22 or whether you're 62, you can just decide right now, I'm going to start making mature, long-term, visionary decisions. And it will lead you to make the decisions like we're talking about with Anita there. Where do you want to be in 10 years, and what has to be true to get there? That's not true now. And, you know, when I buy this car, does it take me to a really sweet, cool feeling in my little boy has a big truck and Saturday,

and I just sacrifice the next decade of my life for a freaking $700 truck payment because I was an impulsive child, or I save up and pay cash for stuff because then I'm going to build so much wealth I can drive whatever truck I want to drive. See what I'm talking about here. Think long term. It leads to wealth. Adults devise a plan and follow it. Children do what feels good. It was a great discussion with her.

It was a great discussion. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, Dave's phone screener. We finished 2017 with a bang as the fourth most downloaded podcast of the year. Thanks to all of you for listening and helping us spread the word.