The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Buy a House During This Crisis? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: March 27, 2020

Rachel Cruze, Debt, Home Buying, Budgeting Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: http://bit.ly/2QIoSPV Insurance Coverage Checkup: http://bit.ly/2BrqEuo Complete Guide to Budgeting: http://bit.ly/2QEyonc Interview Guide: http://bit.ly/2BuGnZE Check out other podcasts in the Ramsey Network: http://bit.ly/2JgzaQR 

🎵 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. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. You jump in.

We'll talk about your life and your money. Joining me this hour to answer your questions, Ramsey personality, number one-selling author rachel cruz is with us and uh we just concluded last night a message of hope that rachel and ken coleman and i did if you did not watch it live from our website last night uh it ended up going uh about 51 minutes i think we were planning to go 40 but we got carried but we got carried away. Just got into what we were talking about. Good conversation. It was a good conversation. And the response has been millions

and millions and millions of people are seeing it. It's just exploded. If you want to see that message, that conversation about why there is hope without us unpacking it again during this segment, obviously. Just jump on our YouTube channels, any of us, DaveRamsey.com. You can check the Dave Ramsey Show YouTube channel.

Our Instagrams, it's on my Instagram. There's a couple hundred thousand people who have already viewed it there alone. And you can pick it up anywhere among any of our different locations of our stuff. I imagine it's on our Facebook page and everything else. So we posted it everywhere so you can see. It was free last night to view. It's free anywhere we put it to view. We just want to encourage you guys that it's going to be okay.

And that was the message, and to control the controllables. You do, one of the things that is worth talking about in this segment is that there's a tremendous power emotionally, spiritually, when you do what you can do. What you can control, you control those things. And my old friend Art Williams always said, all you can do is all you can do, and that's enough. Yeah, it gets overwhelming when you start to think about everything, even just on a higher level, right? So you start thinking nationally, what's going on in Washington to even a state level. And it's just like, oh, there can be so much to fret about and so much to worry about. But when you actually kind of let go of that control and say, okay, there are things

that I just, I don't have control over. I mean, if they're doing something, I can't do anything about it, but here's what I can do. And we kind of walk through like controlling your attitude, controlling your money, and controlling your opportunities. Like those are things that you can be purposeful in today that we really spoke into, but, man, it just, it gives you a sense of peace when you know I can do something about this. If you choose generosity in the form of a smile if you choose kindness instead

of ripping everybody in your neighborhood judgment i hate to say it we talked about it last night people have gone absolutely crazy and i and i kind of intersected last night and just talking about giving grace to people like on both extremes both sides need to look at each other other and say, you know what, that's what, that's how they're choosing to handle it. And just giving them grace because even on our next door app thing, it was like two neighborhoods down from us, there were kids playing on a playground and you would have thought the end of the world was happening. I mean, like people are just mad at each other on both sides. I mean, they're just biting each other. And I'm like, Oh my goodness. Like just take a deep

breath control what you can control those aren't your children out there probably on that playground but like it is there's an element that those children are going to bring the end to the earth that we've lost we've lost our minds so it's just lost the ability to be kind that's it it's just you ought to be ashamed of yourself well and it's just pulling back the judgment i mean it's about i think honestly in a time like this i'm like it's what you tell your kids but it's like you you know you have enough to take care of for yourself wait what's the saying um taking care of yourself as a full-time job that's it that you have a full-time job taking care of yourself and those kids those kids if they're not your kids are none yeah none you business well you would have been on that extreme on the debate yeah well i mean they're not a public

health crisis they're children on a playground. That's just asinine. Right. Well, it's just the attitudes and the unkindness that just floods out of people. So, yeah, that's it. I mean, just take a deep breath, give people grace, and control what you can control. But that stuff's happening in every HOA across America right now. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah.

It's just, I mean, every single one's got, you know, Barney Fife of the coronavirus is gone to town because Barney's afraid. And if you're Barney right now and you decided you're in charge of everybody else because you're afraid, you need to take a breath, be calm. You can only control you. You can't control all those people. Even if you're right, you can't control them. Yeah. And knowing where that's coming out of, I mean, like. I can't control all those people. Even if you're right. Right. You can't control them. Yeah.

And knowing where that's coming out of. I can't control what Donald Trump does. Right. Even if I disagree with him and I'm right. I can't control what Nancy Pelosi does. Even if I disagree with her and I'm right. They're going to do what they're going to do. No matter how angry or unkind or nasty I post on Twitter or how much I mean to my own relatives because they said

something like that or did something like that. This is just, it's ridiculous. It's gotten out of hand. And so you're right, controlling your attitude and giving grace, being generous to people with a smile and just go, you know what? I get that you feel that way, but I don't, and I'm not doing that. And so, um, you know, I, I get, I understand your concern. Um, but I, I'm looking at this view. I'm viewing this differently. That's right. Yeah. And I think that the fear is just so heightened and it comes out in anger and aggression. It comes out in so many ways. So I think that's when you can recognize that and just say. And what it does is whether it's fear on the economics side or whether it's fear on the virus side,

when you just go into hyperventilation mode, hysteria mode, you leave all the facts behind in either case. You leave all the facts behind in either case. You leave all the facts behind. And you are revealing the weakness in your character when you're mean to people in those situations or shaming people in those situations. And so, you know, our team went home. We sent them home to work from home last Friday. They've been home a week now. We didn't do that soon enough to suit some people.

And so the names that our family has been called and the things that people have threatened us because we didn't move our team home as soon as they thought we should, well, all we were trying to do is keep enough revenue coming in to be able to feed all these 1,000 families that count on us. But the way people have reacted, it's just unconscionable. And it's, I mean, the names I'm called on Twitter all the time anyway. You need to get off Twitter. To start with.

You need a boycott. Twitter is just a. It's just a hot spot for you. Yes. Get off of it for trolls you don't need it yeah but get on it get on instagram yeah as if they don't say nasty stuff on instagram they really don't instagram people are actually not not as much not as much i'll go with you they're very kind no no not always but um uh yeah but i mean just give yourself right give other folks okay that's your thing yep and this

is mine lots of compassion and um you know you can vote that way i'll vote this way and um and no one's being killed by either thing this thing i saw a thing today you know somebody ripping somebody about uh that didn't think we ought to go back to work and the guy said if we don't all go back to work there's going to be mass if we don't all go back to work, there's going to be mass suicides because of the economic stuff. Oh, come on. I mean, yeah, there's always suicides, which is horrible. But, I mean, come on.

You don't have to overstate your case to make a solid case on something. Besides that, you're arguing with somebody who's already made up their mind. Stop doing that. That's a waste of your energy. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. I get asked all the time about what people need to do to improve their family's money situation. Two of the most overlooked things are term life insurance and disability insurance. Both plans make sure that you have income to pay bills and take care of yourself and your family if something were to happen. For term life, you need to carry 10 to 12 times your income,

and I recommend 15 or 20-year plans for most families. Stay away from cash value or return of premium plans. They're just a rip-off. Disability insurance is just as critical. How are you going to pay your bills if you're unable to work? Disability is the leading cause of bankruptcies and foreclosures, and that's why I send you to Zander Insurance. They've been helping my listeners find the right plans at the lowest cost for almost 20 years. Call 800-356-1780 or visit zander.com and compare online. That's 800-356-1780 or zander.com. Annabelle is with us in Oregon. Hey, Annabelle, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can Rachel and I help? So my husband is about to graduate from college and has about $26,000 in loans that we're making a plan of attack to pay off. And so I was just calling to kind of get your opinion on how we should best pay this off. We've been saving a little bit. And so we have about 10,000 in savings right now. And so his loans haven't quite started accruing interest yet because they don't do that until they're like the subsidized ones that don't do it until about six months after graduation. So we're trying to figure out should we start making small payments right now? Should we do a, like, save up and then just pay it all off in about a year

when I think we'll be able to just pay it all off or do almost as much as we have in our savings right now? Just kind of what your take on that would be. Yeah, for sure. Are you working, Annabelle? Yes, I am. How much do you make? Well, I make about $53,000, but, I mean, the take-home is a little less than that. What would he make?

Well, he's graduating with a—I don't really know. He has a major in English communications and creative writing, so we're going to figure out where he's going to go from there. Okay. Well, the good thing is it's $24,000. That's lower than the national average, so that's good. But I would walk you through the debt snowball. Is it multiple loans or is it one large one?

It's kind of like there's like $5,000 in unsubsidized and $20,000 in subsidized. Okay. So it's just like kind of one. But is the $20 and unsubsidized and 20 and subsidized so it's just like but is the 20 and subsidized broken up into pieces it is isn't it uh yeah yeah so what i would do is i would lay out write out every single loan separately and how you guys are paying it and do it smallest to largest pay minimum payments on everything and start paying off the smallest one and i would go ahead and do it now you're're making an income. You guys have a great savings. I would keep $1,000 of the $10,000 as your starter emergency fund and then throw everything else at the debt. And the great news is, I mean, you're going to be close to halfway done

paying it off with some of the savings. You'll be short a few thousand at the halfway point. But you guys buckling down and you're making a great income on yourself. And so once he graduates, getting a job and you guys attacking this together.'s i would not wait and save up and pay for it all in one swoop i would do it gradually smallest to largest and continue uh to pay on that and pay the minimum payments on the rest okay yeah so take all your money except a thousand dollars and throw it at your little ones and knock out as many of them as you can even though there's no interest because the point is not the interest here.

The point is clearing the debt as fast as you possibly can. The good news is out of $26,000, you already got $10,000, so it's only going to leave $16,000. You're going to plow through this. You'll probably be done by Christmas. Okay, yeah, I mean, that would be great. Well, depending on his income and how quickly he gets employed, right? But, I mean, the more he makes and the faster he's employed, the more likely that is.

And, Annabelle, I'll say this. You guys are in a great spot season-to-life-wise. And so still live like you guys are in college. I mean, do nothing exciting your first year once he's out. I mean, don't go buy anything big. I mean, really, really sacrifice and buckle down because the faster and the deeper you can sacrifice, the faster you can pay this stuff off. And so the great thing is you don't have a bunch of kids running around

or, you know, I mean, life is going to continue to get more complicated. You guys are in a very simple spot. And so take advantage of that. Do it now. Take advantage of it. She's exactly right. Do it right now. Michael's with us in Ohio.

Hey, Michael, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, how are you doing? Better than I deserve. How can Rachel and me help? Well, thank you, Rachel, too, for your Instagram feed. My wife loves it. Oh, awesome. Thanks.

But my question is, right now we're sitting on about $1.15 cash, and we've been trying to find a house for a good long time. With everything that's going on right now, I have my wife, a two-year-old. We have one car. But we're just having trouble because we love the idea, Dave, when you say you can get a great deal during hard times. And in Ohio here, we're a little bit outside of Cleveland. We just haven't been seeing that much pop up on the market. And I guess at this time, we've got the 150 sitting in the bank. I'm getting a little bit worried about if anything happens with inflation because I don't understand it that well.

But how do we get a deal? Like, what should I be trying to do if we're trying to find a house, get out of our apartment, and just make the best of, I guess, this crazy situation that we're in right now. Yeah. I don't know that you're going to get the best bargain that you've ever seen, like 50% off on a piece of real estate because of this coronavirus mess or because of the shutdowns. I really don't think that real estate, at least there's no indicators yet that it's going to suffer like that. And so you might get a seller that's motivated, that's scared right now, that would rather have the money than the property that they own. And you might get somewhat of a discount if you found that.

And so in order for it sounds like your life is stable your income stable you got a big income or you got a big savings account rather your income stable there's no reason for you to not go ahead but uh but i wouldn't uh if i were going to place in your situation 150 000 a lot of money right and so i wouldn't take that 150000 out of the bank and put it into a piece of real estate in the middle of this weirdness unless I did get a deal. Your reason for looking at property in the middle of the wild times, your reason for buying a house in the middle of the wild times with that much cash is that you got a deal. Otherwise, you'd sit on the sidelines and let this pass, right? Yeah, I assume so. I don't worry about inflation.

You don't need to worry about inflation. Inflation's not going to be a problem for you. And when it comes to your house, I don't know what you think of this, but this is your largest investment, really, the largest purchase you're ever going to make in your life. And in my opinion, I don't really care what the market's doing, good or bad. Like it needs to be right for you guys. And if you guys were looking to buy a house and you have your down payment, you find something you like, it's in the price range, go ahead and do

it. If you're not finding anything you guys like, then sit on it and you're fine. And so I hate the market dictating people's decisions with a home your situation needs to dictate you buying inflation is when the value or the not the value but the cost of something begins to go up uh and when people are worrying about inflation is when it's going up a lot all right recession is the opposite of inflation recession is when the economy shrinks the total goods and services of the U.S., the gross domestic product, shrinks for two consecutive quarters. It has not yet shrunk for one quarter.

So we can't say we're in a recession until it's happened for six months. And we're a ways from that. But there are a lot more logical fears about recession than there are inflation inflation is when things are going boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom and prices keep shooting up shooting up shooting up because the economy's white hot there doesn't seem to be any end to it right any end to any and so you're the opposite of that you're the opposite of worrying about inflation right now um but could six months, could we be in a recession, which would probably affect house prices a little bit?

It probably won't affect them a ton, but could it affect them a little bit? Maybe. But I'm with Rachel. There's not anything that's happening there that supersedes you doing the deal that's right for you. And in order to do that in the middle of all this craziness, if I'm in your shoes, is it's got to be really right for me. And that means I'm going to be wanting a good price if I've got $150,000 cash in your situation. And you may be paying

cash for the property. You know, it's very possible. And so, you know, I'm standing here with cash. I can close Friday. And if you've got a seller that's going, whoa, I've got to get out. The coronavirus, I've got to get out. I've got to get out. Well, then you've got a situation where you may be able to get a deal because you're in the driver's seat. And I think having patience with this is really important because it gives you options. You're not in a rush. Slow down.

You're good. Wait for the right deal. And when it all lines up, then you know it's the right deal. If you're forcing it because of worries and you're burning a hole in your pocket, this money is, then you get into trouble. Don't do that. Rachel Cruz with me this hour. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Folks, I love telling you about well-made, well-thought-out products.

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like the way these guys do business grip six is determined to help build and modernize american manufacturing to learn more and get this month's davesey special, visit Grip6.com. That's Grip6.com. Joe and Lauren are with us in South Carolina and are debt-free. Way to go, guys. Thanks, Dave. Congratulations. How much have you paid off? We've paid off a little over $148,000.

Very good. And your range of income during this time? Our range of income was, we started at $128,000 and ended at about $155,000. Good. And how long did this take you? Just under 23 months. Wow. I love it.

What kind of debt was the $148 the 148 it was all student loan debt okay so you hardly i mean you guys just went crazy 75 i mean you've been on beans and rice or you sold something or you had some savings we lived on rice and beans we lowered our our expenses and just went crazy. You completely did away with your expenses. This is an amazing amount in two years to knock out basically $150,000 to $75,000 a year, making $128,000 to $155,000. That's amazing. You guys are wired up and fired up.

Way to go. So what happened? Tell me your story. So growing up, before we even met, Joe and I have always been frugal and known as the family tightwads. And we met in physical therapy school and got married halfway between our program. And, of course, we were making no money and relying completely on family support and our student loans. And in order to pay off the loans faster, we decided to do traveling physical therapy so we could make a little bit more money. But what's interesting is what got us connected to you was I was looking up on Pinterest

ways to get out of debt faster. And of course, your name popped up with the seven baby steps. And I thought at first, well, I don't want to take baby steps towards our debt. I want to take big steps. But, of course, it got me interested and curious, so I did more research. And after learning the principles, I was hooked and told Joe about it that same night, and he was on board too. And from then on, we started doing a real budget. We listened to the podcast every day at work to stay motivated, and we couldn't wait to do our own debt-free scream. I love it. So, wait a minute, in those two years you've been traveling,

PT, where all have you been? We started in Chico, California. We've moved to Alexander, Virginia, up to Springfield, Massachusetts, and finally we're here in Sumter, South Carolina. So four locations in two years. Yeah. Now, do you travel from each of those locations, or by just traveling just means you're willing to move? We travel to each of those locations, yeah. Okay. All right. But, I mean, like from your home there in South Carolina,

are you on the road then from your home, or are you staying put there in South Carolina to do it? We're staying put here in South Carolina. All right, I was trying to understand. I didn't know if it was like a daily thing. You went to a different city or what. That's what I was trying to get. Okay, but just by being flexible, you were able to increase your incomes considerably, right?

Yep. Exactly. Wow. And it was an adventure. It was. Yes. Yeah. You tore into this thing. Way to go, guys.

I love it. I didn't want to baby step my way through this. I love it. I wanted to be gazelle intense, and you didn't even know what that was. That's awesome. Very cool. So what do you guys tell people the key to getting out of debt is now that you've done it? Well, I'd say simply being able to delay gratification, you know,

put off getting the newest gadget or phone or going on that vacation and just stay focused on the why, you know, being deliberate with your money and able to tolerate and withstand the judgments and expectations of those around you and just being comfortable with where you're at in your financial journey and realizing that things don't bring you joy. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's so brilliant, right? I'm like, we're fed this lie that just more stuff, more stuff, more stuff. And when you actually go the simplistic route and say, actually, we're going to sell the stuff and not buy it and put money towards debt, It just gives this other level of satisfaction. Now, you guys, it sounds like you've been working as a team for a while. I mean, since day one, right? You both were on board. Yeah, exactly. So what would you say to couples out there,

how important it is to have both spouses on board? It's crucial because, you know, we're in this together. We don't consider it my debt and his debt. It's our debt. When we got married, it became our debt. And just having each other's backs is the biggest thing because the world wants to tear you apart and belittle you, but we have to build each other up, and we did that every day. And it made us stronger as a couple and better siblings. And we're excited for this next phase of our life. And when we start a family, and we just can't wait for that new phase.

Awesome. Sounds like you got some criticism while you're doing this. Yeah, yeah, we've been criticized. Just colleagues, friends, family. I don't have the newest iPhone. My wife's iPhone is cracked and and broken and it's we it's just you got to deal with it and and push forward and and stay focused yeah it's not their house but they seem to have an opinion about it i love it way to go you two we're so proud of you congratulations very very cool we've got a copy of chris hogan's book

for you everyday millionaires you're definitely on your way to that way to go that's the next chapter in your story for sure all right it's joe and lauren in south carolina 148 000 paid paid off in 23 months, making $128,000 to $155,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah! Well done, you guys. Very well done.

Man, and right now in the middle of all this, to not have $148,000 in student loan debt around your neck is a good thing. Changes the game. Find out for yourself why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you save even more. Blinds.com gives us our question of the day.

They're a great company. Be sure and use the promo code RAMSY to get the best deal. David is in Maryland. I'm a retired military veteran. I have a rental property that's paid off. Is it smart to sell the rental property to pay off the home I currently live in? Well, it's not dumb to do that. If you love the rental property and you can roll up your sleeves

and get your home paid off pretty quick and keep the rental, that's fine too. But I wouldn't say I'm going to always keep my home mortgage for the next 30 years because I refuse to sell the rental property. No, I wouldn't do that. But let's say you could pay off your home in three or four years if you just rolled up your sleeves and went after it and keep the rental property and you really like the rental property. Well, that would be an okay answer as well. But, you know, if it completely breaks the back of the debt and gets you completely free,

it's a wonderful feeling to have a paid-for home. That's a neat place to be. The grass feels different under your feet when you walk through the backyard when you own it. And it's a whole different thing to be in that situation. All right, open phones at 888-825-5225. You guys can jump in. If you haven't heard, Financial Peace University is, well, we're doing something we've never done, Rachel, a 14-day free trial. Yeah, it's pretty amazing.

I mean, we've had thousands and thousands of people already sign up for it just in the last 12 hours. But, I mean, this is it. I always direct people to go take Financial Peace University because it really is, it is the proven plan. It gives you step-by-step exactly what you need to know starting from the beginning. And it just really empowers you. Knowledge is power. And, and using that knowledge is the behavior change we talk about. So that's always, it can be, that can be hard when you actually have to put this into practice, but you have a group around you supporting you. I mean, this thing is like, it's amazing.

And so the fact, yeah, 14 days instead of binge-watching Netflix, binge-watch some FPU. Yeah, it's all online. The communities are online. The Every Dollar Budgeting app is online. The new budget, the new Baby Steps Tracker app is all online. So those of you that are quarantined or you're staying in your homes for whatever reason, you can go through Financial Peace University while you're doing that.

And it's free. It's a 14-day free trial. We've never done this in 30 years, but these are special conditions and they require a special response. And so for this very, very limited time, we're doing this right now.

Check it out. DaveRamsey.com slash hope. our scripture of the day psalm 25 and 9 he leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way louisa may alcott says the humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them. Ah, that's strong. All right, up next is going to be Shelly in Oregon. Hi, Shelly. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave.

Hi, Rachel. Thank you. Sure. How can we help? Well, I'm a teacher, and I work on a 12-month contract, though we have a traditional school year where we have June, July, and some of August off. And we're paid for our June, July, and August paychecks all come June 25th. We won't receive another paycheck until the 25th of September.

And I'm pretty new to budgeting, so I want to get this right. I don't want too much summer at the end of my money. And I'm just seeking your advice. When I get that big paycheck in June, should I divide it into thirds, put some in a money market? Should I pay all my utilities ahead? What's the best way to deal with this budget-wise? Yeah, I would still go month-to-month, Shelly, just like you were getting a paycheck, but just paying yourself instead. So I would not get ahead on utilities or any of that. I would just stick with your budget month-to-month. And since you are on salary, you know what that

amount's going to be, which is great. It's predictable. You know exactly what's going to be happening. And so the big thing will be if you keep it all just in your checking account, it's going to, it possibly could creep into spending other things because you just see that amount. So you do have to be really, really diligent to say, okay, I'm going to take a third of it, use it this month, a third, the next, a third, the next, until you get to that September paycheck. But yeah, it's going to take, it's going to take some discipline not just to dip in because you see that total amount in your account.

But I would still just go month to month, act like you're paying yourself that paycheck, and continue on. Yeah, I'd set those other two months worth over in the savings account and then just make a withdrawal once a month as if you paid yourself a paycheck. That way you keep it separate and it doesn't creep in. Yeah, you don't get a creep going on on that it doesn't creep up on you and so uh the other thing is what are you doing in the summer are you working um i take classes i i do work sometimes i um i have a um my mom has dementia and lives in another city i I visit with my mom quite frequently. I keep myself busy.

I'm just thinking you could make some real progress on some of your financial goals, like knocking off debt or building your emergency fund or whatever, if you were creating an income in addition to those one-third, one-third, one-third that's coming out. That would be like getting a raise during the summer in order to hit some of those other goals. So you may want to consider that, especially if you can do it and not interrupt some of the things you mentioned that you're trying to accomplish during the summer, some of your other goals there. All right, Jerry is with us in Illinois.

Hi, Jerry. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hi, Rachel. It's an honor to talk to you guys today. Thanks. You too. How can we help?

Yeah. Dave, hi, Rachel. It's an honor to talk to you guys today. Thanks. You too. How can we help? Yeah, long story. Try to make it short if possible. My mom had passed away back in September. She left us kids pretty well off. So what we're looking to do, I'm 52 or 56, I should say. My wife is 61. And we're looking to possibly retire or move out of Illinois down to Missouri. Now, with everything that we have, we have approximately, or I should say we're going to end up having approximately $1,252,000 in retirement. So we're wondering, would that be enough to retire on and possibly, you know, we're going to sell our house here and possibly have a house built down there.

Okay. What will the house there sell for? Our house here, probably about $2 250. Um, again, depending on, uh, where are you, where would you be moving in Missouri? Uh, down around, uh, Warsaw. 250,000. Yeah. You can buy a ton for 250,000. So you ought to be able to just use that money to buy and build your house.

Right. Right. Well, we're looking to possibly buy a house or a piece of property, build first, and then continue working up here before we sell and move down there. Why? I wouldn't do that. No? Building a house long distance sounds like a good way to have a mess.

Why? Okay. Why would you do that? Well, the thing is, with our inheritance and stuff, my sister wants to buy two pieces of property. So we're going to have like $433,000 coming in, and I was hoping to use that money to buy and build a piece of property down there. Well, you could, but is that part of the $1,250,000? Yes. Okay.

Now, my house here in Illinois is not part of that. I know. I got that part. I don't know why you're building until you move uh you know we were down there looking around at different houses and there was the houses down there we just didn't care for i don't mind you building when you get ready to move but why would you build long distance just go down there and rent something and build when it's time to retire and what are you going to do with the rest of your life if you're 56 years old? Well, you know, we like to travel.

And, I mean, travel as in hooking up the camper and going, you know, traveling that way. You know, we like hitting the state parks and stuff. We enjoy fishing. I was thinking about maybe, you know, getting a part-time job down there during retirement and that. Right now, up here, my company moved out of Illinois up to Wisconsin. It's a 90-mile round-trip drive plus tolls and gas. But when are you going to leave illinois um well we had talked to a um a realtor down there that that builds and stuff it takes a couple months we you know it's not in a hurry um i would like to possibly do something by the end of this year okay then then build next spring and rent something

down there sell your house and when you leave, sell your house in Illinois. Use that money to build, and that way you're not messing up this nest egg that you're going to be living on. Because, I mean, $1,250,000 is great. It's so wonderful you have this inheritance. But you're going to quickly find out that that's going to create $60,000 to $110,000 a year in income, something like that.

And that's if you don't allow it to grow at all. And you do want it to continue to grow because you've got 40 years or so, from 56 to 96, I mean, you know, of RVing and fishing, which I think is going to get old, honestly. But you can do whatever you want to do. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but I've had friends that do this, and it doesn't, you're awfully young to just completely quit doing anything. So you can, mathematically and financially, it's just not very fulfilling so yeah you do whatever you want and um uh the you can go that direction so uh uh i would wait and i i would sell the house

in uh illinois before i started building down there. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, building long distance would be hard. I mean, that's even why when we say about rental properties, it's hard to have rental properties even like out of state, right? You just went through building. Can you imagine building that house you just built? No.

And it being a state or two states over? No, because this is, again, one of your largest investments you're ever going to make, and you're going to need to check on progress. You're going to make sure, I mean, they can easily... You have to do a lot of selections of items. Yes, and they put things in wrong, and you're there to catch it early on, and so it costs less money to say, nope, change it out, that's wrong, versus having to start back over on something. I mean, it's a whole, it's a part-time job. I mean, it it's a big deal so no doing it out of state um would would probably not be wise not be wise jerry yeah that's not the direction i would go

uh i would just get you know and you keep your nest egg intact that way um it sounds like you that these decisions are all just coming at you because of the inheritance yeah it's given the option and so you're kind of weighing that. Do whatever you want to do, brother. I'm glad you're in this wonderful condition. Rachel, thanks for hanging out. Yeah, thanks for having me on the show today. That puts this hour of the day, Ramsey's show, in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey guys, this is Kelly, associate producer of The Dave Ramsey Show.

Did you know over 16 million people listen to The Dave Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, head to DaveRamsey.com slash show.