The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Leave Law Enforcement? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 15, 2020

Retirement, Investing 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, my co-host this hour on the Dave Ramsey Show, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author many times over, Chris Hogan, joins me to answer your questions about your life and your money. The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. David is on the line in Colorado.

Hi, David. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. How can we help? Hi. Thank you, gentlemen, for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So I don't know if you guys are aware, but Colorado just passed or is going to pass a bill that puts a lot of stipulations on law enforcement. And I work for a small agency. and one of those makes potentially makes the officer personally liable up to $25,000 depending on how it plays out in a lot of politics and all that stuff. So I have taken to look at what is best for me and my family to not put them in

a bad position. Not that I'm doing anything wrong, but I still have to look at it, look at the future. Which means what? Well, the possibility is, yeah, would be that I would have to walk away. Okay. And so the current environment with law enforcement and with the legislatures is going to cause you to not want to be in law enforcement anymore.

Is that what you're saying? That is what I'm saying. Okay. All right. So what's your next chapter? Well, I have a couple things that I could potentially do. One of them would be being a subcontractor or a contractor working for a family friend of mine who runs vehicles, basically trucking vehicles from one location to the other,

and I can make money doing that. That sounds like feed your family stuff. What kind of a career will you go to now that your heart is broken on the career you thought you had and you're going to go another direction? I would ultimately like to run my own shop, rebuilding vehicles and doing restos and custom stuff like that, but I don't currently have the capital to just dive into that. Got it. Okay.

That sounds kind of fun. Yeah. I love turning wrenches. It's kind of fun. Yeah, I love turning wrenches. It's absolutely amazing. Yeah, especially on fun custom stuff and high-end stuff and things where you tool something. That's a little boy's dream right there, man. I'm with you. I could do that.

Yeah, absolutely. I could love doing that. So cool. All right. So what Ken Coleman always says is to, you know, get really clear on where you want to go and then start asking yourself, you know, what are the steps I've got to take to get there? And so if the dream is five years from now that you own a custom shop that has a great reputation and a great cash flow full of tools that are all paid for and your income is higher than it is now

and you're happier, then what are the steps to get there, right? Correct. So, yeah, I mean, the biggest part would be, you know, preparing and getting all the information I need for that and tools. And luckily, me and my wife are debt-free. That's fantastic. Good. And I guess the hard part I'm having is walking away from something I've spent so much of my time and effort into,

and I just don't know how to convince myself to do that. Right. Yeah. Well, I wish I could help you with that. I can't. I mean, I don't have an answer for a political climate that has shifted against your career the way it has. I don't – you don't embrace racism. Chris doesn't embrace racism. I certainly don't embrace racism.

But we also don't embrace this idea that all police are evil people and should be all punished and should all be treated like second-class citizens. So it's as if you have to be one or the other, and the logic is just inconsistent. But that is the environment we live in where there's all this hyperbole and drama, and it's just really sad because a lot of good people in law enforcement are having the exact same thoughts you're having. And, you know, what are you going to do, run all the good ones off? And so, you know, I'm with you. My heart breaks for you, brother, but I don't know how to tell you to fix that. And I can't

really dispute your logic. Can you get out of this? No, I can't. David, how long have you been in law enforcement? So I'm almost on three years now, and I actually work for a very small agency. So I was blessed to get a canine relatively early in my career. So I've been a canine officer for about a year. Okay. And so, you know, relatively new. And as you said, the career path just shifted for you in your heart. You know, you sitting down talking to

your spouse, looking at this, beginning to look at the options that are open to you. I definitely would not encourage you to make a knee jerk reaction, but to have a coordinated plan. But as Dave is tapping into looking at this and pursuing your passion, you're going to be a happier individual. Chasing money is fleeting and it doesn't last long. And I know you've got to feed your family, but you want to be moving in that direction. So has this bill actually passed in Colorado? So it has passed the House. I am not a hundred percent positive that the governor has signed it. Uh, but there is a pretty much no question that he will sign it if he hasn't already today. Okay. All right. So it's pretty well done deal. So basically the, uh, a liability and,

um, personal liability is put on a law enforcement officer, and what is your income? So salary is $37,650. So we pay a guy $37,000 on K-9, and then you're supposed to accept liability if someone doesn't like what you do up to $25,000, and this is the state of Colorado's best idea. Correct. I got to tell you, I think that's just straight up stupid. It's sad. And I don't blame you.

It's wrong. Racism is not right. And cops misbehaving is not right. And, you know, obviously that's, you know, obviously you can't do these things. It's not obvious to everybody, apparently, but it's obvious to me. It's obvious to people in my building. But that's just, you know, again, these are people, government trying to fix things with the wrong tools, as always. Reaching.

But I'm sorry, man. I wish I could tell you that you had analyzed this improperly, but if you were my son, I'd have to tell you that for $37,000 a year, I'm not taking that risk. Yeah, no. Not as a family man. So now how are you going to get people to be police officers in Colorado? You probably can't.

It's going to be very difficult. It's going to be very difficult. Or you're going to get a lot of young people that are unaware. It's just a bad process, and it's not a solution, Dave. It's just a bad process and it's not a solution, Dave. It's a grab in the dark. Yeah. Now I'm trying to do something to fix the broken parts, but, um, flailing around generally breaks more than it fixes. Oh, so sad. I'm sorry, man.

I know your heart's in this and the dog involved that you that you love. And it just breaks my heart for you. And I'm not telling you you have to do this. You called me and said you were doing it, okay? So, you know, we'll support you whatever you decide to do, David. That's for sure. Thank you for calling. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. families all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs whether they're anticipated or completely unexpected. For example, take the Olcheski family

from LaGrange, Texas. Jeff and Carice had just celebrated the birth of a new baby boy. Shortly after, they had another expensive medical issue come up. They could have faced a huge financial setback, but thanks to Christian Healthcare Ministries, the Olcheskis were spared from a ton of medical bills. As members of CHM, they're part of a group of believers who financially and spiritually support each other. CHM is the longest-serving health cost-sharing ministry and is a Better Business Bureau-accredited charity. It's Christians helping other Christians,

and it shared nearly $97,000 to help the Olcheskis. To be a part of Christian Healthcare Ministries, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. CHM is a proud sponsor the Dave Ramsey Show, Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author multiple times. Trent is with us. Trent's in Illinois. Hi, Trent. How can we help? Hey, Dave.

How are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I'm 21 years old. I'm on baby step number four. Wow. I got injured on deployment, so I'm really thankful that I had number three saved up. Should be able to get back to work in about six months, but I was wondering if I should

invest in my military retirement or my state retirement for my job. 401k, neither. Neither. neither yeah 401k will be better in either case you've got more control and it's more portable when you leave you can take it with you now your military retirement your military retirement the only thing you can invest in is thrift savings plan the tsp and that's portable you can it with you. But if you've got a 401K at the state, do you? I believe it's a 405B. A 403B, yeah. If you've got one there that you can go in good mutual funds, that would be my first choice.

TSP would be my second choice, but I would put nothing into the actual state retirement plan if you don't have to. Sometimes it's mandatory. Yeah, it's a mandatory 3%. Yeah, I thought so. Trent, who taught you about money? You're doing great.

I actually took my class in high school, and it was the Dave Ramsey class. So I've never had debt, never had credit cards, paid cash for my first car. Wow. And you're how old? I'm 21 now. He's 21, Dave. Hey, man, call your high school teacher and tell them thank you for doing that curriculum. Yeah, they're pretty awesome.

Oh, and you're awesome for listening to the information and actually getting out and doing it, man. That's pretty amazing. You have no idea, Trent, a lot of the hole people can dig themselves in. So I'm proud of you. What branch of the military are you in? I'm in the Army, sir, a lot of the hole people can dig themselves in. So I'm proud of you. What branch of the military are you in? I'm in the Army, sir. You're in the Army.

Wow. Well, thank you for your service. Yeah, seriously. Very proud of you with what you're doing. And at your age, at 21 years old, you plugging into that 403B, I want to give you a couple tips. Don't ever touch it. It's not used for a wedding. It's not used for a home down payment.

Put that money in there. Let it grow. And you consistently do 15%. My friend, you're going to be an everyday millionaire in about 12 to 14 years. 35 years old, I predict, if not sooner. If not sooner. Absolutely amazing. Okay, let's not blow by this.

The curriculum, the foundation's curriculum in high school. Yep. Okay. He was watching you years ago. And you probably. Yeah, I was in there a couple times. But he listened. this the at the curriculum the foundation's curriculum in high school yep okay he was watching you years ago and you probably yeah i was in there a couple times but he listened you know got out paid cash for a car avoided debt and spent investing i'm going to tell you something that makes my heart happy yeah because we can learn some useless stuff in school i've never used pythagorean theorem dave i've never used it i justorean Theorem, Dave. I've never used it. I just haven't.

But if I would have been taught about money, I'd have avoided some stupid in college. Yeah, absolutely. You know? You know what the Pythagorean Theorem is, Dave? Yeah. Okay. Do you? I don't remember.

Okay. I can say it, but I don't remember what it is. It's how you calculate the hypotenuse of a triangle. Okay, there we go. Ramsey, showing off. Well, I just did it what it is. It's how you calculate the hypotenuse of a triangle. Okay, there we go. Ramsey, showing off. Well, I just did it the other day on the project I was working on in the basement. That's why I had to look it up. I'd forgotten how to do it.

I'd forgotten it was the Pythagorean theorem. I was just trying to figure out the hypotenuse, and I couldn't. A piece of wood I was cutting. Yeah, right. Okay. Bottom line was, yeah, I hadn't made any money with that. So, but the, you know, these kids learning this stuff, that's the second story we've heard today. We heard in staff meeting this morning, one of our Ed Solutions guys read an email from a lady who had gotten married

and made her new husband go to Financial Peace University with her because she had been a student and was just like this young man here, was debt-free and had her investments going, and she wasn't going to get married unless we got on the same page. And so it was a great, great story again, the power of learning this stuff. I mean, ever since I've been teaching it, people are saying, why don't they teach this stuff in school? Well, they do, and about 48% of the high schools now in America, financial, our foundations in personal finance, our Ramsey Solutions curriculum, which is Anthony O'Neill is the main part of it.

I'm in it still. Rachel's in it. Hogan's in it still. But Anthony's our primary lead on that because he's a lot cooler than you and me put together. He's younger, too. That's what I mean. Yeah. That's what I meant yeah i mean i didn't mean cooler i meant younger he's cooler he is cooler but you've got an opportunity out there to get it inside of your school uh go over to daveramsey.com click on foundations and if your school isn't doing it

talk to them let's prepare these young people to deal with a real-life thing, and that's called money. Because if you don't have a plan to deal with it, your money will deal with you. And we all know the traps that are out there. Let's help these young people avoid them. Man, that's just fabulous. Yeah, Adam's with us in Georgia. Hey, Adam, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.

Hey, guys, good afternoon. Afternoon. How can we help? Hey, just real quick to Trent's point, I wanted to say thank you for uh running your sale as part of the schools being closed down uh I did have my son take your foundations and personal finance curriculum here at home wow since most of his studies were delayed so thank you for putting that on sale and making that available to us. You're welcome. Good. I'm glad it worked. Hey, real quick. We're a step four or five, six family. And my real question is

if, and when we pause our investing, because my wife is going to be, uh, laid off in the next two months we found out. Um, so i'm really kind of curious if we you know if and when we stop our 401 or if we pause our rough ira contributions and when we would do that well i would suspect you already figured that out it's when you have to um so what do you make and what does she make? I make about 80. She makes a little bit over 100. What does she do?

She's in telecommunications. Okay. So she's looking for a job. Yeah, she's trying to stay within, but there is a deadline. If there isn't anything found within the company, you know, the next two months, then she'll have to look elsewhere. Well, I mean, she's going to get laid off in two months. I mean, I've looked within the company for about 28 minutes, and then I'm looking outside.

Yeah. These are the same people laying you off. My loyalty is pretty low. Absolutely. Absolutely. She may find a job making $120 before the two months is up and she takes that and leaves in which case obviously we don't need to stop anything, right?

That is true. We've had that conversation where I've used your verbiage where you say that's an awesome signing bonus to your next job. Exactly. Your severance and things like that. I was just wondering if we had to pause any of our, you know.

I wouldn't until you know what's going on. Let's say we get to the two-month mark and she's had absolutely nothing and you're getting ready to lose half your household income. You may want to stop investing at that point, but today is premature because she may land a job between now and then that's making more than she makes now. Sure. Especially if she's looking for it. Yeah, absolutely.

So I think that's the thing. The part of this is she's been there a while, she likes these people, and she's still grieving the loss of this and trying to hold on to the past by finding a position inside before she gets gets uh scrappy and heads out out the door i'm gonna get her if i'm her i'm gonna get scrappy sooner like already yeah and adam you've got a great opportunity to really help her in that kind of communication and conversation about it because dave's right her loyalty may be so blind right now that she's stuck. Well, it just hurts. It does, but you can help in the conversation with it. I'm proud of you for reaching out and thinking ahead and being prepared, but you can help her move forward a little bit and say,

okay, what's next? If this doesn't work out, what are we doing? We don't want to start in two months. We want to start in two days and get the ball moving. So we're going to stop investing before investing interferes with our emergency fund or our household bills. And so if investing is going to dip into your emergency fund to invest, obviously we're not doing that. And if you can't meet your household bills, which means she got laid off and your bills, you can't make them on the $80,000 that you make. But if you can make them on that and keep investing, fine. But if you need to, you know, we're going to preserve the emergency fund, we're going to preserve the household,

and then we're going to invest beyond that. And that's how we've always done it, and that is still the baby steps, actually. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Most people's money problems come from not paying attention. That's why before I spend a dime of my money on something, I do the research and make sure it's going to live up to what it claims. Recently, I got a great pair of sunglasses from a company called Shady Rays. When you're looking for sunglasses, it feels like your options are limited. Name brand sunglasses cost too much and the cheap knockoffs are ugly and really don't protect your eyes. Discovering Shady Rays is a game changer. With Shady Rays, you can

count on premium sunglasses that protect your eyes and are affordable. They give people the best overall value in sunglasses. They also replace your shades with a brand new pair if you lose or break them from day one of your purchase. And they guarantee your sunglasses for life. Plus, they offer an exclusive for Ramsey Show listeners. Go to ShadyRays.com and use the code RAMSEY for 50% off two or more pairs. That's ShadyRays.com, code RAMSY. My co-host this hour on the Dave Ramsey Show, Ramsey personality Chris Hogan. Number one best-selling author multiple times.

On the debt-free stage right here in the lobby, in person, live human beings are with us. Tony and Robin are here from Jacksonville, Florida. Welcome, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Good to have you. How much debt have you paid off? $198,000.

I love it. Yeah. How long did this take six years six years and your range of income during that time 55 to 75 wow so i'm gonna guess and say because of the length of time that you must have paid off your house we did i'm looking at where yes, yes. That's us. I love it. So you've got a paid-for house in Jacksonville, Florida that's worth what? Oh, $550,000. Wow. I love it. Yay.

Touchdown. Touchdown. That's right. We're actually in Waverly, Georgia, a little north of Jacksonville. Gotcha. But right there in that same immediate area. Yes, yes, yes. Very cool, guys.

Yes. Congratulations. Thank you. So what put you on this journey six years ago? Well, I've known about you forever. For 20 years, he told me about you, but we just didn't get to it. But the inspiration of hearing people and seeing people on your show doing the debt-free scream, we just had to do it. Okay.

And so something got you fired back up, and six years ago you get serious. Yes. We have our daughter left for college, and she went to an out-of-state school. And after 2008 and 2009, that hurt our college fund that we had saved. So it was very hard. It was very tight around the house. So we decided it's time to get serious and get out of debt. We actually thought that she would go to this Boston school for about a year, and that's all we could afford.

And she ended up loving it and got on the dean's list, and the school helped us with it. Wow. She has her master's now. Wow. She kept going. She kept going. All right. Very cool.

I'm curious, between the two of you who was the most serious robin by far good job good job you are a smart man tony i was just told to make money make money we're getting out of debt so you need to go to work that's right that's right and we want to be able to retire and not have a house payment yes that's right how far from retirement are you uh you know we could put it in probably a two-year period, but we really love what we do. We own a business, a small business, which we run debt-free. Good.

What kind of business have you got? Flooring business. Oh, good. Yeah, a small boutique shop, and we love what we do, so we really don't have an end date. Yeah. Well, you don't have to have one. It's not required.

So how old are you guys? I am 63. And 57. All right. Very cool. How does it feel to have one it's not required so how old are you guys i am 63 and 57 all right very cool how's it feel to have a paid for house it's amazing it's the weight of the world's list i don't feel like i deserve it ah better than i deserve i like it so uh my goodness gracious that's absolutely incredible you guys very very absolutely incredible, you guys. Very, very well done. How long have you guys been married? 31 years. Have you ever been debt-free during that time? No.

Not even close. Not in my life. It's a big deal. Yes. It's huge. Yeah. You've got no payment. It says it sunk in. Like during COVID when all that crap was going on, you go, I don't have a house payment.

Yeah. You know? It did. We had several setbacks in the last six years we had two hurricanes hit in our area and um we didn't make insurance claims we just took the um emergency fund so we've hit the emergency fund money like four three four times in the six years i had to go back and put it back had to go back and put it back. Had to go back and put it back. Had a truck that I had just paid off or we had just paid off. And within a month, the engine went out.

Of course. So it was the business truck. So you can't just, you know, fix it. You've got to have something reliable. So here we went in debt again for, I guess it was five, was it a year? Yeah, almost a year. And we just put everything into paying this truck off. We hated that we had to finance it.

Will you ever go back? No. No. Never. Got to be done. Yep. Never. Well done, you guys.

Seriously. Thank you. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Stay in focus. Finished and I'm focused. Yes. Not finished. Stay focused and believe that you can do it.

It is possible. Yeah. Well, you're living proof. I mean, 31 years you struggle with this and you can do it. It is possible. Yeah. Well, you're living proof. I mean, 31 years you struggled with this, and now it's done. It's done. Done forever. Yes. I mean, let it sink in, because you did it.

That's it. You know, you did it. Yes. After all those years. And we just love telling people to inspire them, because we know it's an inspiration when somebody tells you that. That's right. You yourself said, hearing people do when somebody tells you that. That's right. You yourself said hearing people do the debt-free screams made you believe that you could.

That's right. And you're about to help some other people. Yeah. That's amazing. That is amazing. Congratulations, you guys. Thank you. Thank you. It is amazing.

We got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Everyday Millionaires. That's the next chapter in your story. If you're not already there with that house, you may be. So well done, you guys. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right. It's Tony and Robin from the Jacksonville, Florida area.

$198,000 paid off. House and everything. I'm looking at weird people. They did it over six years, making $55,000 to $75,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free!

Yeah! Whoa! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! That's good. That is how it's done right there. Yes. Man, 31 years and they've never been out of debt in hell now. Ever.

Yeah. I mean, if you're getting married and you're 22, 25, and you're listening to this right now, here's what you get to be. You can do it now, or you can do it then. That's right. And they did it. They did it. So you can do it then.

It sure is. Man, if we could get you started early. Oh. But now they're set for retirement. They got a nice home. It's all paid off. No problems. Tony and Robin, that mortgage payment that used to leave you now gets to go set for retirement. They got a nice home. It's all paid off. No problems.

Tony and Robin, that mortgage payment that used to leave you now gets to go work for you as you save up and invest more. And, Dave, here's another thing, the lesson I get from this couple. She said they had four or five times they had to reach into the emergency fund in the last several years. The key is if you use your emergency fund, America, put it back. The key is if you fall off the wagon, get back on. That's it. Don't just quit. But if you use it, make sure job one is everything else stops.

You've got to put that money back so it's always there. Michael's with us in Illinois. Hey, Michael, your question for us. Hi. I was just curious. I hear you talk all the time about everyday millionaire, and I'm not an everyday millionaire. I'm a millionaire because I have money from my parents. And I just hear you talk about people working so hard, and I kind of feel guilty using this money that I didn't work for.

And I want to hear what you have to say about that. So you don't work at all? No, I do work. I do work. I make a nice salary. I make in the 90s. And you live on that? Well, I live like I make a three or four hundred because I have the additional money. Okay. How much additional money do you have? Yeah. Right now, around 4 to 5 million. And how old are you? 41. Okay. All right.

Well, here's the thing. You call me because you felt dissatisfied with that. It's not doing it. It doesn't feel right. Is that what you told me? I feel bad using all the... that my parents and grandparents worked hard at. Now I'm getting it. I hear, I listen to your show all the time.

All these other people, they work hard. I understand. And you work hard too, don't you? Do you work hard for your 90? Sometimes. It doesn't feel that way sometimes. I don't know. Okay.

All right. I don't know. I'm better than I deserve. Well, I mean, there's no question all of us are that. So here's the thing. Number one, you don't need to feel guilty for being left in inheritance. Your mom and dad did a great job, and they blessed you. If something that you're doing and the way you're consuming it feels out of whack,

then maybe that's God tickling your funny bone and saying, hey, something's out of whack, then maybe that's God tickling your funny bone and saying, hey, something's out of whack here. I'm not saying it is, but it's bothering you. And it could just be that you're consuming more than you're actually earning by 3x. And so, I mean, you said you're living like you make $300 or $400 and you're making $90. So it could be that your level of consumption is a bit embarrassing to your soul based on your earnings. And I'm not saying that you're doing it wrong.

But if something you're doing is feeling wrong, it might be a reason it feels wrong. That's exactly right. And you need to develop a plan so you can know what you're doing moving forward. Yeah. And say, okay, I'm going to spend this much, and I'm not going to feel guilty at that level. Everything else I'm going to continue to build for yet another generation. Yep. And or outrageous generosity.

You're in a position to do that. Consumption seldom brings happiness. I think we can always say that. Nothing wrong with buying stuff, but it seldom brings happiness. And that's really the key of what you're saying. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Please hear me loud and clear. The government is not going to bail you out of your student loans,

at least not completely and not without a catch. What they're talking about only impacts federal, not private loans, and you need to take responsibility for what you owe and pay your debt down quicker. Right now, Splash Financial is offering their lowest rates ever. With lower rates and extra payments, you could just find yourself debt-free in the next five years. Visit SplashFinancial.com slash Ramsey to see if you qualify. Thanks for joining us, America. Chris Hogan, my co-host on the air this hour here on The Dave Ramsey Show. As we answer your questions about your life and about your money,

a little bit of everything comes up around here. Barry is with us. Barry's in Minnesota. Hi, Barry. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you guys? Better than I deserve. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you guys? Better than I deserve.

How can we help? Well, my question is, my company offers a executive deferred compensation plan that I'm eligible for. And I was wondering, should I include the money that I put into that into the 15% or should I just include that as like you say, gravy on the biscuit. Well, when we say 15%, we say you put in 15% of your income. Anything that they give you in addition to that is always gravy on the biscuit, whether it's a match, executive comp, whatever it is. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. And so, yeah, that's exactly what I would do in that situation.

Yeah, I agree. And that way, Barry, as you're doing that consistently, what you're doing is you know what you're putting in. At 15% of your income increases, you're just being steady at the 15 time after time, my friend. All right. Up next is going to be Jane. Jane is in Pennsylvania. Hi, Jane. How are you?

I'm good, thanks. How are you? Better than we deserve. How can we help? Good. Okay, so I'm starting to do my research on buying a used car, and I've been watching some of your previous videos about that. And so I'm going to start, you you know looking and doing the things that you recommend

as far as like the kelly blue book and that and the and the different prices but my question is if i decide to pay uh like ten thousand dollars or less for a used car does it matter if it has over a hundred thousand miles on it? Well, I think that if I were the buyer, I'm not a car expert, but I've owned a bunch of cars in my life and I love cars. If I were the buyer, it would depend on the type of car you're buying. Okay. If it is going to be a Toyota of some sort. Okay.

Well, I mean, for instance, let's just pick one. Let's just call it a Toyota Camry. Okay. A Camry would, for instance, let's just pick one. Let's just call it a Toyota Camry. Okay? Okay. A Camry would be like a Honda Accord. There are a lot of those on the road with 300,000 miles. They've been taken care of, properly maintained, proper oil changes, brakes, and so on. Okay?

Now, some of the, I mean, small, cheap cars, I wouldn't want to buy a Dodge Neon. Do they even still make those with 100,000 miles on it? That would scare me. Okay. Because I think it's probably outlived its usefulness from the day it was born. But anyway, the, but, you know, whatever. I mean, whatever little dinky butt, you know, cheap car, they're not going to have the substantial thing. But, you know, you're not going to do this at $10,000.

But I wouldn't think anything about buying a 5 Series or 7 Series Beamer with 100,000 miles on it. I wouldn't even blink a Mercedes at that. I wouldn't even blink a, you know, a good Silverado pickup truck, a Chevy pickup truck. I wouldn't think anything about it. Because those things have got 300,000 or 400,000 miles in their life if you take care of them. And so that wouldn't bother me. So it would depend on the model. But if it's a model that is known for, and you can read articles on this,

what model of Toyota has a good reputation from 100,000 to 200,000 miles? And so how many miles do you think you'll add to it once you buy it? Oh, God, that's a good question. Let's see. My work is, I think I figured out to go to work every day, it's about if I take the toll road both ways, which I don't take the toll road both ways. Do you have any idea how many miles you put on a car last year about 300 300 miles a week i know i don't whatever that comes to okay all right

well 50 weeks times that would be about 15 000 so you're probably putting 20 000 miles a year on a car okay that wouldn't that wouldn't be. That's about a normal usage. And so if you bought a car with 100,000 or 90,000 and you put 20,000 miles on it for four or five years, you're probably done with it. Yep. Okay. You're not going to get 10 years usage out of that thing unless you're a mechanic. Oh, no, and I don't plan to. Okay.

I was looking at two fours one had 80 some thousand miles but it had a big spot on the back with where some paint was missing but it wasn't rusted and the other one was two years newer and it had nothing wrong with the paint but it had over a hundred thousand miles on it yeah and it wasn't a whole lot more so that was my concern yeah it's not a big deal either way because again the 80,000 mile car is probably going to have about the same hiccups 100,000 miles as far as hiccups, because I would be more concerned about the maintenance records during the time they got to that. Yes. And Jane, one of the things you can do to help yourself is to get a mechanic to come

take a look at the car, give it a once over. That can always give you a little bit more confidence, and you can pay them a couple hundred dollars to do that and give you a fair understanding of what the issues with the car are. Usually for less than $100, if you bring it to them, have the seller bring it to them, and you pay for an inspection by a mechanic, get to know your mechanic. Also, you might ask the mechanic for advice on this. You know, you see cars coming through here all the time. Is this a model of car that's going to have some life left in it based on this you know you see cars coming through here all the time is this a model of car that has issues have some life left in it based on this mileage amount also for everyone out there that

is saving up to pay cash for a car don't forget you're going to have the tag and the title and the things that you're going to have to pay in addition to so if you're trying to spend a total of 10 000 then you're probably looking at a car that's in the $7,500 range and just leave that cushion in there for yourself as you're planning. It's very wise, Jane. Very, very good. Very good question. So, um, I'm always amazed when we're doing Q and a and people sending us notes here at the office and things, Dave, I, i have to drive a new car and uh you know you don't understand people in my family always drive new cars which means people in your family are broke is what that means but um and i'm not against having a new car you know this right we talk about

this as long as you have a net worth of in excess of a million dollars because then you can afford to take the loss in value a new car loses 60 to 70% of its value in the first four years. So Jane's very wise to do a used car. But I'm always amazed at the look on someone's face when you say, okay, the last time you bought a new car was when? Two years ago. So what are you driving? It will be called a used car.

How unreliable of you. I can't imagine that a person like you. Do they get it? Would drive. I mean, it's like they never thought about it that way. Someone like them had been driving that other car for two years when they buy it. Wow. Buy a two-year-old car.

You know, it's like, what the flip do you think you're driving if it's not a used car? Well, yeah, but I know the car. Yeah, right. Like you are God's gift to cars. Right. And proper maintenance. Give me a break. I saw the kids in the back seat with a milkshake.

I know what's really going on. Cheerios, M&Ms, all the things. But again, it's that weird, right? And we think different. And we want you driving the car. We don't want the car driving you. Amen. Well, we've heard all the excuses people use to put off making a will.

If you're busy, it is confusing. It's expensive. It's morbid. It makes you uncomfortable. Yeah, it is all of that. But let me tell you what's worse, dying without one. In fact, our Ramsey Solutions research team found that 74% of parents don't have a will. Guys, you ought to have your butt kicked. This is too important. fact our Ramsey Solutions research team found that 74% of parents don't have a will. Guys you

ought to have your butt kicked. This is too important. You need to protect your family and stop putting it off. Get it done. Say never again to worrying about your legacy. Start with our free will preparation checklist. This guide helps you think through the seven important areas, like, for instance, naming guardians for your children instead of the state doing it. Oh, there's an idea. Once you've gone over the checklist, setting up your actual will will only take about 10 to 15 minutes. So get the guide by texting WILL. It's the Free Will Preparation Checklist. Text the word WILL to 33-789. That's 33-789.

Text the word WILL. And you can begin the process to give your family peace of mind. There's something that happens when you have your act together and all your estate planning that relaxes in your family and in you. It sure does, Dave. And like you said, the last thing you want to do is have the state making decisions for you. That gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it. Yeah. No.

No. That could be wild. It could be wild. Thanks for hanging out. Thank you for having me, Dave. Chris Hogan, my co-host this hour. Zach Bennett, our fill-in producer for James Childs being out this week. Thank you, Zach.

And good job, Kelly, as well, as always, on the phones and our associate producer. I am Dave Ramsey, your host, and we will be back. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about an event, product, or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything you've heard about during this episode in the podcast show notes or head to DaveRamsey.com. Thanks for listening.

Hey, folks, there's literally never been a better time to try online grocery. My friends at eMeals make it incredibly easy for you. eMeals creates a shopping list based on the meals you want for the week and then directly sends it to Walmart, Kroger, Instacart, Shipt, or Amazon Fresh. Your choice. Head to eMeals.com slash grocery. Find what delivery and pickup providers are available in your area. Try emails free for two full weeks.

That's emails.com slash grocery.