The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Pursue My Dream Job if It Means Less Income? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: July 22, 2021

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the 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. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality No. 1 best bestselling author, is my co-host today. You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money. It's a free call at 888-825-5225. If you've not heard The Ken Coleman Show, it is broadcast on Sirius XM, 75 plus radio stations,

and a podcast and a YouTube channel every day. It's all about finding your path to your dream job, finding your path through your career. And Ken coaches people looking for new jobs, how to move up in their current jobs, how to find their giftings and align with it, and it is working. So Ken talks about the workplace all the time ken one of the things i'm seeing right now is this all this talk about burnout and coming back from the pandemic a lot of people are going back to jobs that they hated and they realize now how bad they hate them and they're quitting like crazy we're seeing a huge number of people quitting their jobs they call

some people are calling it the great resignation. But if you ask someone if they love the work they do, they oftentimes say yes, and they're lying. Why do they do that? Well, there's something about what other people think. You know, we've seen this happen more so in the pandemic than I think any time in modern history, where we just are so worried about being criticized and questioned. And so it's almost a little bit of the old golden handcuffs. You've got a good job with good benefits, good pay, and the idea of moving on to something else is almost scoffed at.

And we talk a lot about this on the Ken Coleman Show. We've got seven stages, a very clear path. And stage five is one that people really need to grasp, certainly people that listen to this show. It's called Get Promoted. And this is the idea of moving up the professional ladder. And there's two benefits, Dave, to getting promoted. Certainly, when you get promoted, most of the time, you're talking about getting more income. And that helps us with whatever stage that we're in, in the baby steps, right? That bigger shovel is applied throughout the

baby steps. We always need the bigger shovel. But the other thing, Dave, is that we're in in the baby steps right that bigger shovel is applied throughout the baby steps right we always need the bigger shovel but the other thing dave is that we long to do work that really matters deeply to us we want to be challenged and if we're not getting promoted if we're not growing professionally then we're not growing personally you're dying if you're not growing you're dying there's no there is no there is no i'm going to sit here and do the same work for 38 years that's right because your work'm going to sit here and do the same work for 38 years. That's right. Because your work deteriorates. Oh, yeah.

You cannot do the same work for 38 years. At some point, you master it. You're going to do better or you're going to do worse. Yeah. But you're not going to do the same. That's right. And so if you did that now, listen, my parents' generation, certainly my grandfather's generation, the greatest generation, they would work the same job for 30 to 40 years.

Those days are over. The job is okay, but the work's different. The work has changed. And then, you know what's really cool? These younger generations, certainly the millennials begin to introduce this, but the generation after them, these Gen Z kids, they really want to do something that matters deeply to them, personal values. And I think that's a really nice thing to see. But this idea of, well, I'm burned out and I don't want to do the work anymore. That's not true. Dave, I just posted something

last week on Instagram at Ken Coleman, and it was a clip from the show, the Ken Coleman show, where I was talking about a news article that shows there is a huge percentage of teachers that are planning to resign this year and next year because of the administrative demands on them, the focus on aptitude scores and things of that nature that have nothing to do with the kids' grades. It's all about no child left behind. They're tired of teaching social agendas instead of teaching academics. That's the third piece. Now they're being forced to teach something that is politically a real hot potato.

And so they're going, oh, I can't do it anymore. And what you have to understand there is if that's you, no matter what profession you're in, you still love the work, but the environment itself is what you need to change, not necessarily the profession. Understand that you could be what I call in the sweet spot where you're using your talent to do work you love to produce results that matter. But if you're in a crappy environment, that'll get old quick and you'll want to change locations. So Dave, in this great resignation that they're reporting that you mentioned, 40% their economists

are predicting 40% of the American workforce will change jobs in 2021. Good Lord. Don't, Don't. Please. Please, please, please. Don't just move to something else because of a paycheck. Make sure that you love the work. Because I can't tell you how many times I'll get a call from somebody and say, well, I got a promotion, Ken, and I took it, and I'm miserable.

Yeah. You've got to love the work, and you've got to care about the results of the work. Don't come to Ramsey Solutions and work here if you don't care deeply about providing hope through practical content that is transformational. Don't come here because that's what we bleed over here. And if you can't get excited about that, it's just a J-O-B for you, and we don't want you, and you won't want to be here. Yeah, that's exactly right. And it's actually a job requirement here. You've got to be a yeah that's exactly right and it is it's actually a a job requirement here that gotta be a crusader that you care yeah and so we're hiring 300 folks this

year and one of the things we're interviewing for is uh are you going to care deeply and do you care deeply about what it is you're going to be doing and how and where you're going to be doing it and so um because i the last thing i want to be giving people my money who don't care. Yeah. Because they always mail it in. Yeah. They're not creative. They're not productive.

They're not game on. It will be a train stop for them. Yeah, and I don't have time. It's too expensive to hire people and bring them in here and then move them out. It's just too expensive. It's too expensive emotionally. That's right. Because I fall in love.

I love the people, and then they leave, and it breaks my heart. And so I'd rather just get folk that actually care and are going to stay. That's right. job where I am just absolutely in my sweet spot. I'm using my top talents to do tasks and functions or fill a role that I look forward to, and it creates a result that personally connects to my values. These are the things I want to contribute. It has to be always the litmus test for what am I choosing. This idea of getting promoted, Dave, stage five, is all about moving up the ladder. Because here's what happens. We saw it with our debt-free screamer. We see it all the time. When I get focused on just the debt snowball, we see people get promoted to make more money. But what if you were focused on not just making more money, but doing work that you love? You're going to see income and impact, Dave, both of them move up.

And that's what everybody longs to do is to make a difference instead of a J-O-B. And it occurs to me that even in a given position, everything's changing so fast. Quickly. The technology's changing. The methodology is changing. The delivery mechanisms are changing. I mean, we didn't, you know, I couldn't even spell podcast a few years ago, and now 12 million of you i mean we didn't you know i couldn't even spell podcast a few years ago and now 12 million of you listen to this podcast you know uh on this show

and we've had 10 million on the radio for years but uh you know so you all of a sudden we've got young people that were broadcast people that are now podcast people all in this building working on our podcast all the time and so you could so you could have started here, and you're still doing the same job, but you're doing it a different way with new technology and have gotten, and that is a form of promotion. Absolutely. And so there is a clear path. We're excited, Dave.

We've got a big announcement coming soon, a book that's going to reveal all seven stages in the clear path to doing work you love. Very excited. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. This is The Ramsey Chef. You've got a lot on your plate, a job, your home, your marriage, and your growing family. While you're enjoying the present, you can't help but think about your future and your finances. As you explore your options, consider Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, for your healthcare. Their generous maternity program and budget-friendly monthly programs have been a blessing to members

welcoming children into their families. Visit chministries.org slash budget to see if it's right for you. That's chministries.org slash budget. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Nathan is in Richmond, Virginia. Hi, Nathan. How can we help? Hi, how are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's going on? Okay, so here's what I got going on. I'm 25 years old. I'm getting money from my father who recently passed away. It's going to be over $200,000. I'm not the best in money management.

I've heard the saying, it takes money to make money. Should I invest this money into a business? Should I save this money? What should I do if I want to become a millionaire by the time I'm in my 30s? How long ago did your dad pass away, Nathan? He passed away a couple months ago. I'm sorry. Y'all close? We were pretty close.

He had dementia and Alzheimer's, so I didn't see him too often because he was in an assisted living facility. And I lived across the country, so he was in Arizona with my sisters, and then I lived over here in Virginia. Gotcha. So you're getting $200,000 cash? It's not over that. It is just over that? Yeah.

I'm not sure of the exact number. I mean, it's not a piece of property or something else. It's just investments or cash that's going to come to you liquid that you're going to be able to do whatever you want to do with it. Yes, like my brother's going to hand me a check. Gotcha, okay. And what do you make a year now? So a year I make around, I'd say, $35,000 a year.

Okay, all right. So here's what I would tell you. You're calling very wisely to start to gather some wisdom about something you don't know anything about. You have never driven a car before, and someone just gave you car keys, right? Correct. And you go, well, I hear these things go fast. Yeah. Right?

And so, you know, and yet if you remember the first time you got behind the wheel of a car, it was both freeing because you could now go places and control your own destiny, and it was terrifying. And if you don't have both of those feelings with this process, you're not wise. Right. Right. Okay. So I'll start with it takes money to make money is not a true statement. That's a statement that broke people say as an excuse to not become broke people. Can you make money using money?

Sure. But actually, the vast majority of people who build wealth do not build it because someone handed them two hundred thousand dollars they build it because of their habits and their character okay so that's you so here's what we're going to do we're going to just what i number one i tell you do is just slow way down i would want you to move along the spectrum from exciting to boring over towards boring. Your job is to manage this money. Your job, as if it's someone else's money and you're managing it for them, your job first is not to lose it.

Your job second is to maximize it. But most people, when they get handed the keys to the car, step on the gas, meaning they think their job is to maximize it and they end up losing it. So people that end up in your situation, get money, lose it very often because they make the mistake of they think it has to be exciting it has to be sexy it has to be wild has to be crazy because if i don't maximize it i'm doing something wrong it takes money to make money we all know that and so i'm going to invest it over here and i'm going to do this i'm going to do that i'm going to do this wrong slow down number one

rule nathan don't put money in something you don't understand don't put money in something someone else tells you is a good idea and they sound like they're really smart people around the money business and i've been around it 40 years there are a lot of enthusiastic ignoramuses they mean well but they're dumber than a rock and they're excited about and they're excited about their stupidity and they will put you in stuff they'll put you in stuff man and all your broke friends also got an opinion already don't they yeah and here's another piece too i started a meat company but the thing about it when i started this meat company it's not my passion because i was so money hungry to where

i let money kind of consume my mind of, oh, I need to make money. I need to make money. I need to be this by the time I'm this age. And I chased things that weren't my passion. And then I realized as I got into it, I'm like, shoot, I don't want to do this anymore. Okay. So let's take a couple things.

Number one, we can work on your career, and that would be a good use of a little of this money. If it got you into your passion, I'll hand off to Ken in a minute and let him work on that, okay? But then thing two, here's a rule. If you were to invest this money and not touch it in good growth stock mutual funds, and if it made 10% rate of return on average, in seven years it would double. You would have 400, and you would be, what, 29 years old, right? How did you say you're 25?

25, yeah. Yeah, okay, so you'd be 32 years old. In seven more years it would double again, and it would be 800,000. And in seven more years it would double again, and it would be 1.6 million. And that is a boring, never it investment program you're probably not going to do exactly that but i want a little of that in the formula here my brother okay where you go have a life and you pretend you don't have this money and you let it grow and double and grow and double and grow and double and so here my my last piece of instruction before Ken helps you on the career side is

I want you to go to ramsaysolutions.com and click on SmartVestor. Sit down with a SmartVestor Pro, and they will teach you about mutual funds, and then you can decide how much of this needs to go into your career changes and how much of it needs to go into mutual funds changes, and how much of it needs to go into mutual funds that just sit there and just double. So, Ken? Yeah, real quick question here. Is the meat company that you started, is that what's getting you the $35,000 a year? Yes.

All right, and so you don't want to do that. What do you want to do? I know you've got some ideas or one clear idea. What is it that you really want to do? So I really want to do fitness because even in the times when I was at my lowest, I always stuck to it. And it seems like it was like introduced to me at a young age. So is that a fitness coach, trainer? Is that what we're talking about? So I want to compete in shows and I want to launch, I want to be able to get a

following through the Instagram and be able to launch in shows, and I want to launch. I want to be able to get a following through Instagram and be able to launch a business online and help people reach their fitness goals via online, because everything is online now. Sure. And also, you know, even in person, but doing it online, it gives you that freedom to do the travel. All right, so let me make sure I heard this right.

You want to be a fitness competitor and then eventually develop some type of online and in-person training business. That's a two-parter. Am I right? Yes. Okay, so here's the deal. I'm going to caution you on this. Being a fitness competitor is a whole different ballgame. We only make money when we win.

So if that's the first goal, you're going to need a day job. So you've got to sit down and go, now, what's the best strategy? Here's what I would challenge you to think through. You're clear on what you want to do. That's stage one of my seven stages. Stage two is get qualified. So you need to answer the question, what is it that I need to do to get qualified to train people online? Now, online, there's no technical qualification.

You just got to have good content that people say, all right, I'm going to watch this guy, and I'm going to train the way he trains. But if you want to do it one-on-one, there's some qualification that you need. How much is that going to cost you? How long is that going to take? We're going to have to have a day job still in all of this process. So if you've got the meet company. It could be a personal trainer.

It could be a personal trainer is where I would go into. So get qualified to do that. Get in the proximity. That's it. Start doing that and then compete. Any money we make competing in the online business, it's going to grow over time. I would get in the field, work for a gym, and have somebody else pay you to do the training so that you can move from meat company into this job and not interrupt the income.

Because, Dave, we don't want him to touch this $200,000. Nathan, I want you to take $24,000 of the $200,000 and set it aside for a year's worth of $2,000 a month. Yeah. I want you to pay yourself out of a little savings account $2,000 each month for one year. During that year, I want you to develop a real group of one-on-one personal training clients that pay you well and you use that money to eat with. Then you will also perfect your training techniques. Meanwhile, you get to work out like a crazy person for your own competition goals.

And let's build a training business, then build an online business while we're competing. And I think that's an order and a way to get at this. And use a little bit of the money to do that. And let's invest the rest of it and not, don't be spending a bunch of money on unproven business ideas or trying to buy a franchise on a business out of a box. You're not in a position to do that yet. You've got to get some more notches in your belt. This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Evan and Alyssa are with us.

Hey, guys, how are you? Doing great, Dave. Good. Welcome. Where do you guys live? Germantown, Wisconsin. Milwaukee area. That's right.

Good to have you guys. Welcome. All the way to Nashville to do a debt-free scream. How much have you guys. Welcome. All the way to Nashville to do a debt-free scream. How much have you paid off? $103,000. Just north of $103,000. Good. How long did that take you? About 36 months. Good. And your range of income during that time? It ranged from $120,000 to $170,000. Good. What do you guys do for a living? I work at, I'm a sales executive for a large insurance company. And then I was working at a bank and with financial advisors.

Okay, good. Very cool. So both of you numbers people, around the numbers world for sure. What kind of debt was the 103? The majority was student loans. We had a 2013 Camaro sitting in the driveway and a 2018 Honda Civic that we got rid of along the way as well. But the majority student loans and a little bit of credit card debt on top of it. So you sold both those cars?

We sold the Honda Civic, actually, to our grandparents. That kind of kicked us off, and we're thankful for that. I think they paid a little bit above market just to help us on the way. That's nice. Yeah, and then Cabrera ended up turning it into a 2005 Sierra that we still have to this day, paid full. Oh, wow. Okay.

Wow. Good for you. So what happened 36 months ago? What starts this journey for you all? Yeah, you know, we pretty much were just thinking, hey, we're going to be cuffed to these student loans for the next 10 years and these car payments the next five and never put too much thought to it. But the place I worked at the time, a friend of mine, Joel, I know he's listening back home. He came to me one day and said, do you ever hear this book, Total Money Makeover?

And this guy, Dave Ramsey, said, no. He said, well, I was listening yesterday and this girl paid off $90,000 of student loans in two years. And there's people paying off their mortgages in four to five years. So immediately that got my mind. All of a sudden, sudden the light bulb goes on there's a different way to do this yeah that'd be cool that's what your mind says that'd be neat how you do that so i run home and i'm all jacked up you know and uh bring the idea to a lesson you know why would we do that why we put ourselves through that stress and we went to a restaurant locally, jotted down a bunch of notes about what was coming out every month, and then on a different piece of paper wrote down a bunch of goals that we had over the next five, ten years.

We noticed we can't have $3,000 going out every month of student loan payments and debt payments and accomplish these things at the same time. So we've got to figure something out. But I'll be honest. I was not fully bought in. Sure. So I told them, I will entertain this for you, and we'll see how it goes for the next couple months.

Okay. But after these couple months, it was like, why have we never lived like this before? It was hard at first, but it wasn't a huge life change, I didn't think. It didn't kill you. No, no. We're still here. And you can see your way out.

Exactly. Yeah, if you can see your way out and it doesn't kill you, you'll do it. Yeah. So you went and picked up the Total Money Makeover book yourself after the restaurant? I did, yep, yep. And that's been passed through the family now. So that's another thing about our Midwest upbringing. It's conservative.

We don't talk about money, but Alyssa and I going through this journey has all of a sudden opened up those lines of communication our family and her family and it's just been a serious blessing for for everybody that's come in contact with us throughout the journey so it's been really special yeah you've inspired people is what it amounts to yeah that's why we're here you know we're not just here to celebrate our our debt-free scream but if we can make an impact on one person listening in i mean it's the weight of this i have a newfound respect for folks sitting on that lobby waiting for their debt-free scream we were laughing crying over the last you know hour or so so and getting nervous about getting the microphone yeah you're doing great though you're doing great okay i've

got a relationship question yeah uh because for a married couple you know it's this has got to be a joint deal and alissa i love what you said you said okay we go to the diner or wherever you go and you're just we got two pieces of paper okay and alissa i love that you said well i i wasn't bought in but i was like all right i'm open-minded would you speak to the importance of that relationship component if one of the spouses is like, I don't know yet, but giving it a chance because that seemed to be really big for you because you saw it. Yeah, I would say, I mean, you know, Evan has a lot of crazy ideas, I think.

Go, Evan. This time I was like, you know, this actually sounds like something that would help us in the future. When he brought the ideas to me, I just didn't want to have to do a big life change. I think it's scary. You know, all of a sudden I can't, you know, go get something at the store. I feel like I can't spend money. I didn't want to have to feel guilty about making purchases.

But when he really showed me, you know, and we started doing it, it was a lot easier than I thought. There was things that we didn't even know where half of our spending was going. So when we really wrote it down and having me bought in, bought our relationship even to the next level, I feel like, you know, we were both on the same page. I do know some people who want to pay off all their debt and they don't have their spouse, you know spouse bought in. And I said, it may not work. You really have to have that person that has the same drive as you. We'd both log our spending in the app. You both have to be determined to do it.

You weren't resistant, but you just wanted to prove out because he brought you other schemes and scams. Sharon says that. She says, you're scheming and scamming. No, I'm not doing either one. I'm just having a discussion here, woman. A big driving factor. One of the things on that list was she's always wanted to become a stay-at-home mom when we had kids.

Anybody that's ever seen her be a mother will tell you she's built for it. She is the best mother that you'll ever see. As a result of this program that we we stuck to over the last three years we've been able to accomplish that goal for her and um i think that got her on board you know once you start talking like that yeah there you go that's great you know here's another thing you you you made it personal for her wasn't just about your big idea and that you got fired up from the book. You tapped into her future, desired future, her dreams. Look at the tears on her.

She loves me to mama. I mean, that's what it's about. That's financial peace right there. For sure. Good for you. Not to get, I'm hoping I can get through it without getting emotional like her, but you asked the last debt-free scream, what made it worth it for you, right?

There was a situation. We were coming up towards the very end of our journey, and we had our son in daycare. She was working part-time just to make some more money so we could kind of speed this thing along. And, again, her whole goal was become a stay-at-home mother. Our second baby was due in a month at this point. Yep, so we're in stork mode, as you guys call it.

I think we had like 30 grand sitting in the bank account. And we're just working out the numbers to figure out how we can make this all happen at once. Have the baby debt-free, stay at home, you know. And about a month before we were about to pull our son from daycare, we get a call. It's a great daycare. We still have friends there to this day that we love talking to on a regular basis. And we'd go back there, you back there. They had a situation where our two-year-old was left out. They go out to the playground. They left our

son out. It was a really short period of time. It was like five minutes. He was hidden on a playhouse where they couldn't see him. I think about my boy being out there alone and scared. They called you and told you about it. They admitted it. You know, I think about my boy being out there alone and scared. We had the ability. And they called you and told you about it. They admitted it. Yep. They called us.

You know, it was a regulation put on them by the state, and they stuck to it. We appreciate that, and we're still good friends with the owner of that place. Yeah. Well, I mean, everybody makes a mistake, but that goes, okay, done. Yep. I'm done. And because of where we were. You could pull the trigger.

Yeah. I got a call at 10 o'clock in the morning. I was at that daycare at 11 taking my son out. He's never gone back. And when people ask Alyssa what she does for a living, and then my son's next to her, he says, I stay home with mommy. That's great. It's just such a – the weight was – It's really rewarding that we were able to do that.

And now he can – I can hang out with him every day. And we do fun things every day. That's worth $103,000 and anything you sacrifice to get rid of it. I'll do. Yeah, that's a check well written right there. Well done, guys. I love it. You guys are amazing.

Thank you. You're inspiring. So fun. So fun. So the key... Well, we ain't even got time. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to give you a copy of the Total Money Makeover to give away.

So somebody that's at a restaurant somewhere doing their goals probably needs a copy of that book. You're going to run into them. And we'll give you a copy of the Legacy Journey because you definitely have changed your family tree in so many different ways in this story. So inspiring. So well done, you guys. Thank you. All right, Evan and Alyssa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, $103,000 paid off in 36 months. Make it $120,000 to $170,000.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah! Yeah, baby! Woo! You want to stay home with your kiddos?

Touchdown. This is the Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That means even if you mismeasure, you pick the wrong color, they will remake your window blinds for free. They have free samples, free shipping, new promos all the time.

Always use the magic word, the promo code RAMSY to get you a deal. Today's question, Dave, comes from Javier in California. He writes in, I currently have a job in construction management, which pays $100,000 a year plus bonuses. My dream since I was a kid was to become a police officer, but the money I've been making has pushed me away from this goal. I don't get the satisfaction with my current job that I think I would have as a police officer, but I'm scared to make a change, which might be a mistake. What should I do?

Javier, you should follow your heart on this, but before we follow the heart, let's do a little bit more research, what I call clarify and verify. You've probably done this, but I'd love for you to talk to a couple police officers who really love their work. And this is over coffee, could be over Zoom, whatever, and sit down with them and learn what do they love most about the work, what do they like the least, and let's just do a little simple, almost term paper-like research with real men and women who are winning and love being a police officer. Once we get that information, that's the clarify, your heart is going to verify and say, hey, this is something I need to do. Now it's all about getting qualified.

And so you know what that journey looks like, or you need to find out from them. So what is actually involved? What do I need to do to get qualified? What's that process going to look like? And now we have a clear path to getting qualified. And so you make really good money, you save up for any kind of cost here in the qualification stage, and you go for it. You're going to make the transition. And here's the deal, Dave. I know this, that anytime somebody makes a change, even when their heart, like Javier is saying, he's always wanted to be a police officer to protect and to serve. But it's scary when we don't know what the journey might look like. And so when we go figure out what the journey is going to look like in getting qualified, and then what does the day look like?

It's not so scary. There's two pieces to that to me's going to take to get there. That's exactly right. The fear goes away. Yeah, because now we know, oh, okay, I'm going to have to get physically fit because I've got to pass a test for this. So I've got some goals I've got to hit. I'm going to have to go through the academy. Through the academy, maybe three, four months, and then maybe there's a six-month probation period where they bring me in.

Whatever that particular department looks like, that's what we're talking about. What does it take to actually get in? And then when you're doing the job, here's what the glorious parts are. But here's the inglorious parts. You know, like I know one lady that kept saying she wanted to be a nurse. And then she went and shadowed a nurse for two days. And she went, ew, I don't want to do that. That's right. That's the clarify verify once we actually see what it's like what are the best parts yeah do some ride-alongs with some patrol guys you know we had a policeman call me today

on the ken coleman show earlier today and he was wanting to transition because of the environment that unfortunately exists today in america around policemen and it's not the case for everybody, but there's certainly a really rough environment. And so I really pressed him on it. And I said, what do you love most about being a police officer? And his answer was, I really like being a part of saving someone's life, whether I'm doing it or assisting an EMT or a fireman or whatever, because it's really about protecting people for me. And I think that what he was trying to do is say,

hey, Ken, should I leave because of the environment? And I said, if you can find something else that allows you to do the work of protecting or caregiving, then yes. But if not, stay. And in this situation, before you make that move, you really want to clarify and verify, does this set my heart on fire? Am I doing work that I love? Am I producing results that matter deeply to me? Very simple questions. And if you look into it, the answers take away the fear of the unknown because we know, oh, this is what it's going to be like. And this is what it's going to take to get there. Now I can wrap my brain around it. Just like Dave for years has given you folks seven baby steps. Oh, a thousand,000, baby step one, I've got to put $1,000 for rainy day.

You know, the debt snowball. Oh, there's a plan. Absent of a plan, fear will paralyze us. Yep. Yeah. Knowledge gives you power. Absolutely. When you know what it's going to be like when you get there and you know exactly what the steps are, the fear largely dissipates.

It really does. But most of your fear comes from the unknown. Yes, sir. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rachel's in Orange County, California. Hi, Rachel. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi.

Thank you so much. This is like my fourth or fifth time calling, and I'm excited every time. Well, we're honored to have you again. How can we help? Thank you. Okay, so in January this year, I paid off two car collections that I had from about six to seven years ago. And so one of them is not on my credit report anymore. The other one for Toyota,

I had to dispute twice, and it finally shows that I paid a lesser amount than what was actually due. However, it's still showing up on my credit report, and it's saying it will be on there until February of next year. That's because that's what happened. Okay, so they keep that on record for a year after it paid off? Yeah, I mean, you settled it for less than was owed, right? Correct. I got it all in writing. Yeah, and they're reporting they're reporting it

accurately although it is a negative report okay is that correct yes okay yeah you can't do anything about something that's reported accurately okay but they're they're saying it's going to drop off in a year yeah it says on file until February of 2022. Great. Because another way they can choose to do it is seven years from the date of last activity on the account, and the last activity on the account was when you settled it. It could have been seven years from the other day. But the good news is it's about to run out anyway, so it's going to go away. But there's not really anything you can do about it, because you can only dispute things on a credit bureau report that are inaccurate.

Correct. And this is accurate. So you're stuck with it, and the great news is it's going to go away automatically in a year anyway because apparently that's seven years ago that you had this repo or had the problem or established the account or something because it's a seven-year rule. The only thing that stays on your credit bureau report longer than seven years is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which will stay on for 10 years. But everything else drops off in seven years from the date of last activity. And so it literally can be you pay an old bad bill this week,

seven years from this week it goes off. It can be. But apparently sometimes it's up to the creditor as to how they report it, but apparently the creditor here is reporting it from the date the loan was initially made or the date that it went into default or something. Yeah, Rachel, I just want to encourage you. Hey, you're walking out the baby steps, so this isn't going to be a factor for you anyway.

Number one, it doesn't stay in you. Number two, you don't need it because you're going to pay cash for things. So let this thing – I love the intensity and I love the enthusiasm and the deep passion here. But this is not a big stain that's going to hold you back. It's going to fall off, and you're doing all the right things. Really, really proud of you. Keep after it. Yeah.

Here's – to Ken's point, and it's not what you were saying, so I'm not correcting you, but I just want our listening audience to hear this clearly. We don't worship at the altar of the great fico right your your fico score is an indication of how much money you have borrowed and paid back it is not an indication of wealth let me try that again your fico score is how much the the larger your FICO score, the more you've been playing kissy face with the bank or kissy something. And so you've got to decide. You're going to play kissy with the bank all the time? You can have a big old FICO score and keep them rich.

If you were going to quit borrowing money, your FICO score literally does not matter. You know what my FICO score is? I don't have one. It's zero because I haven't borrowed money in decades. Shame. Shame. Shame on you, Dave. You have not maximized the American way.

Yes, I have. I've got several hundred million dollars that's working out for me. That's right. So, you know, this is, you know, but you're right. It doesn't matter. Who cares that it's on there? She's moving on. Yeah.

Yeah. And I think that's a good point, but also a good point to say she's doing really good stuff by watching what's going on with it and getting the proper things on there, the proper things off of there. I did all of that, too. I wanted to make sure mine was cleaned off because, you know, after I went through a bankruptcy, it stayed on there 10 years. Wow. You know?

Yeah. And so, yeah. But you know what? I never borrowed money again, so it really didn't come up. That's exactly right. It never came up. She got it really didn't come up. That's exactly right. It never came up. She got it in writing, the settlement. She's doing everything the right way.

Yeah. She's just really cleaning things up. Good for you. Good job, Rachel. Well played. Well played. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host this hour. Good hour, Ken.

Thank you, sir. Good job, Kelly and Ben in the booth. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. We will be back before you know it. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit theramseyshow.com and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.