The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Finish College? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: April 15, 2020

Rachel Cruze, Debt, Savings, Insurance 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 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Joining me on today's show, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author multiple times, Rachel Cruz. Answering your financial questions and also my daughter. Now, Rachel, we introduced to our audience, actually a little sooner than we intended to,
Starting point is 00:01:03 because of the crisis and the emotions that were in the air around Corona. We introduced our newest Ramsey personality, Dr. John Deloney, and he's already a big hit. It's kind of disgusting how quickly. So fast. People just move right off you, Dave, on to someone new and exciting. Well, right off you. I mean, you're old school Ramsey personality now. You're just old hat.
Starting point is 00:01:31 And the new guy, the new kid in town, Eagle Song, right? The new kid in town. He's a big deal, man. I mean, the popularity, the way you folks have embraced John, we appreciate it. Dr. D, we call him around here. And if you don't know if you haven't heard him here on the show with me he's been on a couple of times and he did his own message of hope that was very very well received and he's kind of sickeningly smart I mean two doctorates
Starting point is 00:02:00 right a PhD in higher education a PhD in. He's done a lot of crisis counseling, a lot of work with families as they work with boundary issues, and he's been helping a lot of our listening audience, our viewing audience, with just the anxiety and the fear and managing that and understanding how that affects the brain and how to be clear and calm with your own decision making, but also how to deal with not being mean to other people because you're afraid. These people attacking people in grocery stores and this kind of crazy stuff that's going on. And people are angry, but it's really the fear. Yeah. And they're misbehaving towards each other. They're not treating their own family right.
Starting point is 00:02:45 That kind of stuff is going on. So John's been able to address a bunch of that. He's going to be on the show with me taking questions for the third time in the last three weeks, this coming Friday, a couple days from now. And if you are listening on podcast or you're watching on YouTube or you're listening on radio xm or main regular radio all across america that kind of a thing the um you know when you're if you're out there and you'd like to have you have a question for dr d in in the in the space of you know uh relationship
Starting point is 00:03:21 iq you know that's what he works in, helping you with your relationship with yourself and your relationship with others. You know, helping you with a question about so-and-so in this mental health kind of space. The guy is funny, he's fun, and we would love to have him address your questions. And we'll have some ready for Friday that way when he comes on the air. Go ahead and email me at daveonair at daveramsey.com
Starting point is 00:03:50 and just put Dr. D in the subject line or something. Tell us a little bit about the question you've got. Zach or Kelly, our associate producers, will get back with you and get you set up to either get a question for him on his podcast that we're getting ready to launch or just on the show friday when he's with me so for dr d in the subject line dave on air at davramsey.com the good news is it that since he's so popular he's also a great guy so we're not too mad at him about no he's just a lot of fun no but he but it is it's a totally different angle and approach specifically as a ramsay personality than we ever have before i mean he really does dive in deep below the surface of people's issues and problems and really unpacking like the emotional side and i mean it's just it's
Starting point is 00:04:36 fascinating it really is so he's he's really really smart and has some really great insights um into not just what's going on here, but I think life and relationships in general. Just ridiculously funny, too. Okay. All right. Nate is with us in Pennsylvania. Hey, Nate, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. How can Rachel and I help? How are you guys doing? Great. What's up? Hey, so my question is, I'm a new Dave Ramsey type of learner. I just jumped on board not too long ago. And I'm currently kind of in the process of motivating my girlfriend to jump on with me. You know, the name Dave Ramsey in my house right now is a cuss word. But for good news, Rachel's name isn't a cuss word yet.
Starting point is 00:05:19 Oh, that's good. Tell her great job. We'll do the sweet and sour here. Okay. Exactly. And the nice thing about the situation is I'm currently out of debt, and she's got some debt, and she graduates from her master's degree here in the next three weeks.
Starting point is 00:05:40 Awesome. Yeah, I'm super excited for her. What's her degree in? She's getting her degree? And we, she's getting her degree in clinical mental health therapy. It's kind of like Dr. D a little bit. Yeah. Good. Very good. Yeah. So she has some student loans. Um, and I was so close to convincing her to start paying some of that off as soon as she graduates, but she just recently got laid off. Um, and I am a little bit worried that that might deter a little bit from, you know, working at her student loans. Like I said, I don't want to
Starting point is 00:06:12 pressure her to start paying off on any of those while she's being laid off. Agreed. But I also want her to be motivated to know that whenever she does get work again, that we can, you know, convince her to work towards those student loans as quickly as possible. That's great. So what's your question, Nate? I guess my question is, what can I do to keep her motivated? I know she's been very down in the dumps with the layoff, and she feels like she's kind of behind on the ball, and she was ready to go, and now she feels like she's kind of delaying the process. So maybe just some motivational advice as to what we should do moving forward with her situation.
Starting point is 00:06:52 Sure. Well, when it ever comes to couples and money, we kind of have a pretty hard line in the sand that when you're not married, it's two separate entities. So you guys are running in two separate lanes. It's your debt. It's her debt. There's no we in the mix with the money situation. So keeping it kind of black and white. But we found that's the wisest route to go.
Starting point is 00:07:13 And then once you do get married, everything's combined, whether it's income, debt, all the above. So I would say being careful that those boundaries are in place because we've heard horror stories, not that this is going to happen to you guys, but of people breaking up and you've spent 20 grand of your own money to pay off her debt or something like that. So making the boundaries very, very sharp. And I think for you guys, I think it's a great conversation. And we encourage people who are dating right now, dream together and say, hey, if we want a future together, what does our life want to look like? How do we want to get on the same page?
Starting point is 00:07:46 As much as the value system can be aligned, the easier marriage is going to be, and specifically around money. And I think just encouraging her right now, she's not in a great spot, like you're saying, so I'm thankful you're acknowledging that because it's not like she has a ton of money coming in and she's just blowing it and not paying off the debt. But to say, hey, here's the value system of where I want eventually our life to look like together and getting on the same page there. Yeah, just to be really, really clear, don't you pay her debt.
Starting point is 00:08:13 This is you just walking with somebody you care about, and you're coaching them, you're encouraging them, even holding them accountable for their own good, that kind of a thing. And that's the route I would go. And then just, you know, continue to talk about not what to do, but why she should do it and the why. But you're right. Today, while she's laid off, she doesn't need to do anything. She just needs to pile up cash and survive and pay her bills and that kind of stuff. And we'll pay on the student loans once she gets back employed.
Starting point is 00:08:43 And she will be in the summer. It's not a're going to get there this is the Dave Ramsey show if you do this one simple thing that we all do you are literally at risk of being hacked and someone stealing what you've worked so hard for. Do you ever use public Wi-Fi? I'm talking about getting online at a coffee shop, a store, the airport, or even at home. Hackers can use a simple $100 device to mimic Wi-Fi and with just a little bit of skills they can take over your financial life. This means you may think you're on your bank's site or app or securely making that purchase online, but hackers could see and steal that information. That's why I trust CyberGhost VPN.
Starting point is 00:09:33 CyberGhost thinks about cybercrime so you don't have to. You can try it for free for seven days. Protect up to seven internet devices and keep all of your Internet connections secure. That's CyberGhost VPN. Download it today from your app store and be secure in seconds. Well, for about 30 years, our Financial Peace University classes were done 99.9% analog, which means you would watch a video with your group, the class that you were in, and after that, there would be a small group discussion for encouragement and for accountability. And a volunteer coordinator would coordinate the class, run the class primarily in your local church is where they've been held.
Starting point is 00:10:36 And literally 50,000 churches have held those over 30 years. 10, 12, 15,000 at any given moment are running classes. And obviously the other day that all stopped. The chances of you gathering together somewhere and doing that was over. And so we immediately pivoted to all of our technology teams and built out something we've been experimenting with, but it became mandatory all of a sudden to do virtual groups and have a virtual coordinator serving in the online space. And so we thought it would be fun.
Starting point is 00:11:20 That all started about three weeks ago, and by the way, it's been very successful. The stuff we threw up was pretty primitive because we had to do it so quickly. But we're continuing to iterate on the technologies and set the thing up. And it has been pretty incredible. So and the coordinators that have been analog coordinators for years jumped in and are helping us by becoming virtual coordinators. We thought it would be fun to talk to one of them because it's one of the many things that all of us are doing differently in this world today. Val is on the line with us in Wisconsin. Val, thanks for talking with us. Thank you for having me, Dave.
Starting point is 00:12:02 This is quite the thrill. You've been leading financial peace classes as a coordinator for quite a while. How many classes have you led? So I'm on my fourth class, and this current class is the one that I'm pivoted from the in-person to the virtual space at lesson four. Okay. Right in the middle of the dead blame class you went to virtual okay that's it so it's the people that had been in a room together are now virtually meeting uh and discussing the the lesson and uh i guess the accountability the encouragement that kind of stuff how's that going you know it is going so well that I might never go back to the in-person class. Wow. It's just been amazing.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Yeah. So it's a lot less prep, you know, before I had to go to church, turn on the heat, set up the classroom, figure out the technology. Now I prep for my hour because I always like to watch the video before I leave the class, wrap my head around questions before I ask. All I do is I put on a cute shirt, click on Zoom, and open up my workbook, and I'm ready to go because everybody's already watched the video. So they're all ready to have the discussion and do the activity. Okay, so you're having a live discussion at an appointed time with Zoom. Exactly. And they can feel my excitement and enthusiasm because they can see me.
Starting point is 00:13:23 We're eyeball to eyeball. And I'll tell you, it's the most connected I've ever felt with a class. They are opening up with questions and sharing answers themselves and brainstorming. And then after the class, usually someone will say, hey, can you stay on with me? I'd like to go over my budget with you. Or I have some other questions. So it's an immediate engagement. People are messaging me during the class.
Starting point is 00:13:50 They're sending me emails. There's just a lot more interaction. That's amazing. And I think there probably is an element when you're in your own home, even for the members in the class, they're in their own home, they're on their couch, they're at their kitchen table, and you're in a familiar environment. So I think naturally it's easier just to open up and be more vulnerable because you're already comfortable with even just the physical environment you're in, which, you know, you can't take that for granted versus being in some empty room of a church possibly you've never been in. And, you know, who knows what the situation was.
Starting point is 00:14:20 So I think that's amazing. Exactly. And people say, you know, I see the kids walking in and out, you know, of the screen. I see the pets and the attenders are telling me that their kids are picking up on the lessons. They're actually understanding now why there's a budget, why they can't just have whatever they want. So it's really influencing the whole family was before that wasn't happening because the parents would just come to the class and go home and the kids had no idea what which happened so it's really more of family experience yep well this is really good to hear because we were kind of thrown in the fire and we've got
Starting point is 00:14:53 thousands and thousands of these virtual classes operating right now and uh hearing your enthusiasm for it is a big help because we knew they were working uh but anecdotally it's not you know like you said it's three or four weeks old and uh we we obviously don't know any of the data on the success out the back side of the class yet because there's not been a completion other than some of them we were running as experiments a year ago but this is uh you know it was all or nothing uh kind of a thing about three or four weeks ago to do this, and we had to stand this stuff up and make it work. I have a question. For the members in the class, are they enjoying the virtual side better than going in person?
Starting point is 00:15:34 I think you said yes, but I just want to clarify that. How are they feeling, not just from the coordinator's side, but from the member's side? They love it. They were just saying we're on Lesson 9 on Monday night. So we just had lesson eight and they were saying how they've never had a place like this that they could safely talk about money. And I feel like the virtual space is so much cozier and welcoming and secure than maybe our church meeting room was. So, so yeah, they, they love it. I haven't't heard anybody say i wish we'd go back to in person they're eating their dinner they're having their drinks they're in pajamas you know whatever they're they're we're meeting them right where they are yeah and you know that's awesome they don't have to leave their house it's so easy that's very cool well val thank you for leading the class and thanks for the feedback and the help doing this weird,
Starting point is 00:16:26 sudden metamorphosis that we had to do to the way we do this whole financial piece thing. So, I mean, it's kind of an underhand pitch because I've already heard you say it, but it's safe to say you would recommend someone out there listening that's thinking about being a coordinator that the virtual coordinator is, you said it, you said it's easier and it's working better absolutely you know there are a lot of people hanging out there right now in our nation that don't have any sort of plan for their finances and are now in just a swirl and you know really think about it it's only two hours a
Starting point is 00:17:02 week if you prep for an hour and then you do the class for an hour online. And you can, this is investing in someone else's life. You could change their life for the better forever. I've had several class members in this particular class tell me that I have changed their life. And of course, it's not me. I'm just the catalyst because it's the program that is so good, Dave, your program, your Financial Peace University. It's just life changing. So Why not? What else are you doing during this time? You know, why not invest in other people? Yeah, you don't have to drive over to the location.
Starting point is 00:17:33 So it's saving you a couple hours a week, isn't it? It is, yeah. Yes, all the preparation to get ready for that class. You know, now I have extra handouts that I give. I just email them to them. You can do the financial, you know, the screenshots with SurveyMonkey or some kind of survey thing. So it's super easy. And I didn't know how to use Zoom. The night before the class, a friend of mine offered to have me learn it and got on with me on Zoom and did a practice. So you don't really
Starting point is 00:18:01 even have to know what you're doing with the technology because it's not that hard to figure out. Yeah, thank goodness, because I actually have learned, too, in the last three weeks. So I'm because I'm I'm an absolute primitive, non tech guy. So I would have a flip phone if I could still get away with it. But hey, thank you, Val, so much. We appreciate you, and we appreciate you leading the class. It's pretty, pretty incredible to hear the story. Thank you very, very much. You know, research that we've done has found that digital streaming and video conferencing online have all taken off in the past couple of months. Well, no duh.
Starting point is 00:18:39 And so if you're stuck inside, you're looking for a way to actually help people during these crazy times, you can do what Val's's doing you can lead a virtual Financial Peace University class and it's easy to get started we'll show you how to do it again some of the stuff we're doing is a little bit primitive right now but we'll we'll show you and help you get your confidence in the technology and in the whole process you don't have to be a have a master's degree in finance to help folks. So if you're interested in being a virtual Financial Peace University coordinator, text LEADNOW to 33789. That's LEADNOW, all one word, to 33789. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Business leaders, hiring right now may be the furthest thing from your mind, but the fact of the matter is we will recover. One of the smartest things you can do for your business is to be prepared.
Starting point is 00:20:00 I want you to know that my friends at LinkedIn are ready to help you find the right people for your business when you're ready to hire them. LinkedIn Jobs matches your role with qualified candidates so you can find the right person quickly. LinkedIn Jobs looks at things like collaboration, creativity, adaptability, and puts your job post in front of qualified candidates every day. So your job is seen by people looking for jobs just like yours. That's why we use LinkedIn Jobs when we hire here at Ramsey. When the time comes to hire for your business, you can get $50 off your first job post at linkedin.com slash Ramsey.
Starting point is 00:20:42 That's linkedin.com slash Ramsey. That's linkedin.com slash ramsey. Terms and conditions apply. Larry and Melissa are with us in Maryland, calling because they're debt-free. Way to go, guys. Thank you. Thank you, Dave. I love it. How much have you paid off? We paid off $211,000.
Starting point is 00:21:26 Wow. How long did this take? 24 months. Boom. Look at you. And your range of income during that time? Started off at $150,000 up to $180,000. Good for you.
Starting point is 00:21:42 What kind of debt was the $211,000? So we had student loans, credit cards, a mortgage. You paid off your house? Well, we actually sold the house. You sold the house. Okay. What did the house sell for? $83,000.
Starting point is 00:22:02 Okay, cool. Where are you living? We live in Odenton, Maryland. I mean, you bought a house or renting or what? Well, we're renting right now. Okay. Awesome. Good for you.
Starting point is 00:22:13 So what do you guys do for a living? Uh, I'm in the military. I'm in the army. And I'm a school teacher. Well, thanks for your service. Good news is you both got good steady jobs right now, huh? Yeah. Yes, sir. nervous good news is you both got good steady jobs right now huh yeah yes sir and how wild is
Starting point is 00:22:26 it that 24 months ago you start this and now you got zero debt in the middle of a pandemic yes it's amazing that's got to feel like you mean you got to feel like the smartest people on the planet we do we do david and actually we uh we got our stimulus check today, but we decided that we're just going to give it away. So we're now in a position, we gave it away because we don't need it. It's amazing. Absolutely amazing, you guys. Well, the journey you're on, I mean, the numbers and everything, it's phenomenal. So what began all of this two years ago? What made you guys want to go down this road? Well, our church
Starting point is 00:23:09 was hosting Financial Peace University and we've seen the announcement, I want to say two years ago in January, and we decided to go ahead and sign up. We went ahead and signed up for the online material and started the class that following week. Amazing. So throughout that journey is kind of what got you guys motivated and jumping into paying off the debt. Yes. Yes. Incredible. So what was,
Starting point is 00:23:31 what was the hardest part of all of this for, for two years sacrificing, throwing stuff to, to get this paid off? What was the hardest part? Um, I guess just kind of not being able to kind of just go out and do the things that, you know, other people were doing.
Starting point is 00:23:52 Kind of we had to scale all that back and just stay focused. Yeah. Way to go, you guys. We're so proud of you. Very well done. Who were your biggest cheerleaders outside the two of you? Our kids. We have older kids, so they were pretty much cheering us on and our parents.
Starting point is 00:24:10 Okay. Very cool. How's it feel? Amazing. It feels great. Will you ever go back? Oh, no. No.
Starting point is 00:24:20 No, sir. Had enough, huh? How long have you all been married? So we've been married for two years. Oh, okay. So that correlated with the start of this then. Exactly, yes. Okay, very cool.
Starting point is 00:24:34 Well, congratulations, you guys. Very, very proud of you. So what advice do you have for somebody that's listening? You sold an $83,000 house, and above that you paid off another $130,000 in debt in 24 months. What advice do you have? Somebody's listening, and they go, I don't know if I could ever be like Larry and Melissa. Can they do it, and what do they have to do? Yes, they can do it.
Starting point is 00:24:58 I think the key for us as a couple is just sticking together and being focused on one common goal. And we just decided that, you know, we're going to do this, we're going to stick together with it, we're going to work together. So, you know, that was the biggest key is just working together. And I would tell anybody that if you start on your journey and you start in Baby Step 2 and you're looking at the total amount, you have to lean into it and you have to start taking the steps because what we noticed is, yes, it was a big amount,
Starting point is 00:25:38 but once you start taking the steps and you really, really get into it, things open up and you see more and resources come in and and you know and so it just opens up but you have to start you can't you can't stay at the at the bottom of the mountain and just look up you have to start climbing so that's what i would say yeah way to go you guys you did it you did it you did it you did it wow this is seriously fun great job we got a copy of chris hogan's book for you everyday millionaires because that's the next Wow! This is seriously fun. Great job. We got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Everyday Millionaires, because that's the next chapter in your story.
Starting point is 00:26:11 You climbed this mountain, and now there's a whole other thing for you to do, and that's finish building wealth and be outrageously generous and so forth. You guys, we're so proud of you. All right, it's Larry and Melissa in Maryland. $211,000 so forth. You guys, we're so proud of you. All right, it's Larry and Melissa in Maryland. $211,000 paid off, including the sale of an $83,000 house in 24 months, making $150,000 to $180,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.
Starting point is 00:26:41 Three, two, one. We're debt-free! free scream three two one love it love it well done you guys very well done anthony is with us in florida hi anthony welcome to the dsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks so much for having me. Sure. What's up? Well, I needed help making a decision. I'm currently 22 years old, a college student who temporarily lost his job because of COVID-19, and I'm a little over $13,000 in debt right now. What I wanted to know is instead of me paying the minimal amount a month and accruing the interest to make it $18,000 in debt, if I should take some money from a life insurance company that I'm with, they'll give me $26,000 is what I'll be receiving in 2022. But if I get it now, I'll get $22,000. So they'll only take about $4,600 from it. And I've done the
Starting point is 00:27:55 math. So from what they take out is much, not much less, but less than what my interest would be if I make just the minimum payments a month. Okay. Well, to start with, whether you had debt or not, we tell folks that one of the worst products out there is cash value life insurance. Life insurance is not a place to do investing. And so even if you were debt-free and you had $50,000 in your savings account, I would still tell you not to have this life insurance policy.
Starting point is 00:28:29 Okay? And so if you need life insurance, go get some inexpensive term life insurance. You're a single young guy, and you don't have anybody counting on you for your income. You don't have any dependents. Am I right? No, I hope not. Okay. I hope not too.
Starting point is 00:28:51 All right. And so you don't have anybody that's in line with their handout. And so if you die and don't create an income, there's not a wife or kids or somebody, you know, that's going to be hurt by that. And so your need for life insurance is very low to zero right now. And so if you do determine that you need some life insurance, get that in place before you cancel this stuff. And then I would cancel this, and, yes, I would pay off the debt. Yes, I'd fund my emergency fund.
Starting point is 00:29:21 And then when you get ready to do investing, let's put your investments in a good investment, like some good mutual funds. And, you know, that takes him right up through baby step three and into baby step four. Yeah. And then in the meantime, Anthony, because you lost your job, go get, you know, even if it's just part-time work right now to be getting an income coming in, because there are a lot of industries hiring right now. And depending on your schedule with school, hopefully the flexibility is kind of in your favor to be able to go and actually live off of that money.
Starting point is 00:29:48 Yeah, create some income because there's tons of places hiring right this second in the middle of the coronavirus. There's a big shift to, I mean, anything with FedEx, UPS, Amazon hiring drivers, obviously. All the pizza places are hiring drivers, obviously. Lots of health care things are pulling in people, even if they're not health care professionals right now, to do all kinds of things. Certainly all the grocery stores are hiring right now. All of those kinds of things. There are places you can get some income coming in immediately, and I would.
Starting point is 00:30:25 Rachel's right. Folks, I love telling you about well-made, well-thought-out products. Today, I'm talking about Grip6 belts. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of traditional belts. They never fit right, and they're uncomfortable. Grip6 belts are unique. Owner BJ designed a truly modern, minimalist belt made of high-quality materials with no holes, no flap, and no bulk. And the buckles come in really cool designs and are interchangeable. I personally own these belts in different styles and talk about affordability, Grip6 belts come with a lifetime guarantee. And that means if you no longer like or fit the style
Starting point is 00:31:18 of your belt, you can replace them for free. Plus, I like the way these guys do business. Grip6 is determined to help build and modernize American manufacturing. To learn more and get this month's Dave Ramsey special, visit Grip6.com. That's Grip6.com. this is the dave ramsey show we're glad you're with us america on friday dr john deloney dr d will be on with me answering your questions about relationship IQ things, things where you know yourself better, things where you know how to deal with and handle other people's situations. You got questions about boundaries. You got questions about relationships. You got questions about life and, you know, in a sense, mental health is what we're talking about here.
Starting point is 00:32:24 Hey, John will be with us here answering your questions. If you want to send him a question ahead of time, he'll answer it. You can email me at DaveOnAir at DaveRamsey.com. Put Dr. D in the subject line, DaveOnAir at DaveRamsey.com, Dr. D in the subject line, and then just tell us what you're wanting to ask him, and we'll either get you lined up to do it live on the air, or we'll make sure on a podcast or something that he gets back to you and addresses your concerns, addresses what you're worried about
Starting point is 00:32:54 or wondering about or wanting to learn about. He's a new Ramsey personality and is doing an incredible job, especially in these high-stress, high-fear, high-anxiety times times he's got a lot to say yeah he's he's phenomenal i mean honestly just the what he brings to the tables unlike anything i feel like we've even had a ramsey in his insight his intellect how he asks questions and digs into people's situations and the advice that he gives uh the way he lays it out, I mean, it is. It's phenomenal. So it's really, really great content there. Christian is with us in Texas.
Starting point is 00:33:29 Hi, Christian. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Great, man. How can we help? Hi. I just find it a coincidence that there was another guy that almost had the exact same situation as me, except without life insurance.
Starting point is 00:33:46 My question to you is this. I want to see what's the best for my situation. I'm a senior at UTSA at San Antonio. I have about three classes to graduate. My goal is to basically become an academic advisor to help students. But my question, though, is that with the stimulus check that I got because of the COVID-19, I have only around $3,000 for my emergency fund. And I don't really know if it's best for me to actually keep going to school and just get my degree so I can start going to the workforce, or if I should just keep having these little side gigs because
Starting point is 00:34:25 because the fact that one of my other jobs I have two jobs and one of them is now finished so I don't know when I will be working again and so I'm not sure what's best if I should just keep continuing to school or if I should just keep stockpiling on my emergency phone in case you know there's something that happens in my family or my house. Why would you quit school? Oh, I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that. I don't mean actually quit school.
Starting point is 00:34:54 I meant, like, postpone a semester. I'm sorry about that. Why? I do not plan to quit school. Why would you postpone a semester? Well, I'm not sure. I guess that kind of answers my own question then huh yeah i'm just i don't i don't know why you're wanting to do that what was what was motivating just because you're worried about the coronavirus or what
Starting point is 00:35:17 uh yes i mean but not only that but just i want i just don't know if me spending the money of me going to my classes is going to – I think the reason why is because I'm just a little bit fearful about me spending my emergency fund that I have for my school. Because I know I can pay it off. I know that. I think I have that little bit of anxiety of, say, if I go to school and then say I have – Okay, so you lost one of your jobs, and your ability to cash flow the remainder of your school is not there,
Starting point is 00:35:48 so you're going to have to use your emergency fund. Is that the corner you're painted into? Yeah, it seems like it. If I have both of my jobs, then I can easily... So what job did you lose? I worked for Seaworld San Antonio. You worked for what? For for SeaWorld San Antonio. You worked for what? For SeaWorld San Antonio.
Starting point is 00:36:08 Okay, so how much income did you lose? I usually lose, it usually depends, but I usually lose around, maybe around $300 to $400 a month because I work part-time. Okay, so all you got to do is make up $300 or $400 a month because I work part-time. Okay. So all you got to do is make up $300 or $400 a month and this question goes away, right? I believe so, yes, sir. Because the only thing driving it is you lost $300 income. Well, and Christian, I feel like your question and your situation and the way you're talking through it is the prime example of what we're telling people is that fear is a terrible financial advisor. When you make decisions based on fear, you make bad decisions for the
Starting point is 00:36:49 short term and the long term. And that is what this is. I mean, I hear it in your voice that you're freaked out because you're like, okay, I'm a college kid. I got $3,300 in cash. I got to pay tuition. I've lost a job. Like it just feels safer just to pull everything back and be cautious about it, where the facts are telling you otherwise. And so the facts are saying exactly what he just laid out. All you got to do is just replace 300 bucks a month. You can 100% do that, Christian. I have full faith in that. And so when you start just looking at facts, it takes the emotion of the fear away. But when you just live in fear and it's all in your head, it gets overwhelming and
Starting point is 00:37:23 you get super cautious and you pull everything back. And that's what you don't need to do right now because you are in a position that you're okay. Now, we have different advice for people that have lost, you know, a salary job. They're not in school and they're full-time working. We do tell them to pause paying off their debt, stockpile some money for an emergency fund. But your situation, it's very replaceable, that money, and you can continue on the path that you're doing. Yeah, find you another side hustle.
Starting point is 00:37:50 Start delivering pizzas. Get in touch with a whole bunch of these other folks that are hiring right now in the middle of this. And I suspect you can make up that $300 plus a whole lot more and actually end up, as a result of losing that job, end up having a better income with the place you replace. The next place you go on with, you're going to make more money than you were making there. And so that's exactly where I would go.
Starting point is 00:38:21 So Rachel's right. You can do this. No, you don't need to quit. You need to go get another job or two or three or whatever you've got to do to bring in a thousand dollars a month for the 300 you lost. And then you end up in a better place as a result. Wes is with us. Wes is in California. Hi, Wes. How can we help? Um, thank you, Dave. Um Dave. I've been watching you for a long time, actually. Back when I was in high school, I took a personal finance class and you were the teacher for that. So I have a lot to thank for you. Well, thank you. How can we help today? So my question is, I'm about to graduate
Starting point is 00:38:59 college next week and I don't have any job lined up, but I do have an online business that generates me around $3,000 a month. And I was just wondering for someone who lives with their parents like me, and I don't really have a plan to move out on my own yet. What sort of emergency fund do you recommend that I have? Do you have any debt, Wes? Well, I do have, I'll be graduating with about $5,500 worth of student loans, but my parents said that they would be paying that for me. And I do, for my online business, I know you guys are against this, but I do use credit cards to finance my business expenses. Okay. Well, the conversation between business and personal, our value system is still the same across the board, but you can kind of look at those in two different places. So for your personal, I would say get an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. And with that, I would
Starting point is 00:39:59 factor in rent and get a plan, a date on the calendar for you to move out. It doesn't have to be next week after graduation, but look down the line and say, okay, you know, by this date, I want to be out on my own, self-sufficient, and work your way towards that date. And then when it comes, yeah, to the business side to generate that income with the credit cards, yeah, it's the opposite of what we teach. Yeah. So, you know, cut up the credit cards and let's run a plan on the business to cash flow your needs in the business. If the business is really making money, it should be able to support its own replacement. It sounds like you're covering inventory with it. That's what it sounds like.
Starting point is 00:40:38 And you should be able to do that with the last inventory you sold. There should be money there to do that. And then Rachel's right. Lay out a long-term budget and say, okay, if I had rent, if I had lights and water, if I had groceries because I was on my own, what would that budget look like? And I need three to six months of that. And that's a great preparation for you to move out. It gives you a lot of comfort and a lot of peace when you're moving out. You're not moving out on a razor's edge. And you do need to set a date to set yourself a goal to have that money saved to be able to leave and get on your own. That's perfect, man.
Starting point is 00:41:12 Good question. Thank you for joining us. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Solutions wants to give you some hope. For the very first time ever, we're giving you Financial Peace University free for 14 days. Go to DaveRamsey.com so you can watch from home.

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