The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Use All My Savings? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: October 30, 2023

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, host of the Ken Coleman Show and author of the number one bestselling book, Paycheck to Purpose, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Allison is in Boston, Mass. Hey, Allison, how are you? Hi, good afternoon. Afternoon, What's up? I'm calling because I have been able to save in the last

three years where I'm about 20,000 short of paying off my house. Wow. Way to go. Thank you. I have that money sitting in a online savings account earning about 4.5% and my mortgage is 4%. Um, so it's pretty much close to the, to the interest that I'm paying. However, I am a single mom, so I'm very, um, disciplined at saving this money and it's kind of been like a buffer for me, whereas I know I'm not going to touch it. I also have an emergency fund know I'm not going to touch it. I also have an emergency fund, and I'm completely debt-free. How much is in your emergency fund? About $8,000.

What do you make? I make about $73,000. Okay. And how much is in the Pay Off the House account? I'm about $70,000, and I have money in a 401K that I'm not going to touch. Right, you're not. Not if I can stop you. And so you have $70,000 in savings plus $8,000 in savings plus a 401K, and that's it? Yes.

And how much do you owe on your home i owe about 89 um maybe the payout is like 90 okay one more time what'd you say you make um well i was making 65 i'm going to be making about 73 i'm taking a promotion. Oh, good for you. Okay. Okay. Um, how old are your kiddos? I'm sorry? How old are your children? They're both over the age of 18. Oh, okay. So you're a single mom, but not one that has to pay for people's food. Correct. The youngest one just turned 18. Okay. Or not much of the food, anyway. All right.

Okay. All right. So here's what I know. How old are you? I'm 48. Okay. When you're 68, what's going to make you the wealthiest? That's the way I answer the question.

Which of these moves helps you become the wealthiest 20 years from today? Okay. Well, from listening to you, I know about all the millionaires that you've studied. They pay off their house. They don't take that money and invest it. Correct. I am still also, for the last year, I've been paying double on my principal. You're a frugal person. Yeah, they call me Frugal Fanny.

And you're self-disciplined as well. And part of that comes from just the fact that as a single mom, when the kiddos were little, you probably lived through some times that were terrifying. Absolutely. And that makes you forever frugal that was your great depression like my grandpa was in the great depression it terrified him so he pulled nails out straightened them and put them in a coffee can the rest of his life you know what i'm talking about right that's you that's you but you're just because you're a single mom i have that same thing because i went bankrupt i was 28 we lost everything terrified my wife and she never she still our refrigerator to this day so freaking full of

leftovers it's a choke a horse you know and it has nothing to do with anything because the the food's so good and it shouldn't go to waste look we're not broke anymore all right but anyways we all have these scars and they manifest themselves in our lives these ways. So very interesting. See, here I am complaining on the radio. But anyway, so what would I do in your – I don't think your emergency fund is large enough. Okay. I think I want to move $7,000.

That had been all of my emergency funds, by the way. What now? That had been all of my emergency funds. I've just. What now? That had been all of my emergency funds. I've just been. Oh, you just got lumped together. I know. But you said you had $8,000 in your emergency funds. Correct.

I'm going to move at least $7,000 over there. I think I'm going to move $12,000 over there. Because, you know, there's a part of you that's terrified sometimes. So I want you to have $20,000. Okay? Okay. So $20,000. And that means we don't have 70 it means we've got 58 and we owe 80 something right correct so how quick can you knock down 30 if we throw that 58 at the mortgage well ideally i would i wanted to have the home i've

been in there 10 years i wanted it paid off before 15. I started doing triple towards the principal. I mean, how quickly can you pay off the $30,000 remaining balance if we throw $58,000 at it today? Probably in less than a year. That would be pretty tight. You are frugal, Fannie. Okay.

I'm with you. I am. I'm with you. All right. So why wouldn't we do that? Sit with 20 in the emergency fund, throw the rest of it at it, and knock the rest out in 12 months. So one year from today, we're going to celebrate Halloween with a paid-for house. Hmm.

Real scary because I'll tell you, the momentum of looking at that money and knowing that I just won't touch it is... You know what? The momentum of looking towards one year from today is and being 100% free for the rest of your life. Right. You got to do this, girl. You got to do it. It's going to work. It's going to work. Okay. We're not leaving you broke. You got 20 grand and you're not going to touch it it's going to work it's going to work okay we're not leaving you broke you got

20 grand and you're not going to touch it and you know i know and we're sitting there with no savings it scares you a little bit right that's what you're saying is that is that fear not going to motivate you to pay this house off even faster say that again is the if we use this money and you only have $20,000 in the emergency fund, and that makes you a little bit scared, right? Correct. Does that fear, that little bit scared, not motivate you even more than your normal frugal self

to get the house paid off fast? I don't know because I have momentum right now. I think it's going to raise the probability that the house has paid off because that fear is going to drive you a little bit more in a healthy way. If I thought it was going to paralyze you or terrify you, I wouldn't do it. I would traumatize you. I wouldn't do it. But I think it's a healthy fear.

Like, get out of the road, you're going to get hit by a car fear. That's a good fear. And if I'm you, that's what I'm doing. You do whatever you want to do. You call me. Yeah, you want to do you call me yeah i want to suggest something i would say i would suggest that you just get out of a pen and paper and begin to sketch out what you think the worst case scenarios are why the 70 matters 70 matters so much 58 now because i moved 58 and i would just play with this because i think what's going on is is i think she

might find that huh 20 000 makes me feel very good i like d is I think she might find that, huh, $20,000 makes me feel very good. I like Dave's plan. She might go, you know what? This could happen. This could happen. This could happen. It's about $30,000. Okay, fine. We're fine with that. We can do $48,000. But I think that's the exercise. Take 15 months. Yeah. I don't think she's thought through the tangible fears and how much money she'd need to get back up on her feet because that's what we mean by emergency. It's got to be a full-blown dumpster fire by which we have to touch the emergency fund and she said multiple times i'd never touch it i'd never touch it so what would make you touch even when there's an emergency she doesn't touch it i'd like her to do that exercise i think she'd feel better about it

write it out by hand don't type it write it with a pencil. This is The Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Our question of the day is brought to you by Neighborly, your hub for home services. When you need to make repairs, schedule routine maintenance, or get local help for home improvement projects, go to Neighborly.com slash Ramsey. Your source to find and schedule reliable home service providers in your area. Today's question comes from Bethany in Arizona. I have a question about my current employment. I've been in health care for 29 years and have worked my way from staff x-ray tech to director of radiology.

Along the way, I have completed an associate's degree in radiology, a bachelor's in radiology management, and I'm currently working on my MBA in operations and supply chain. I've been struggling with my current role and took Ken Coleman's career assessment, which showed that I am ultimately in the wrong role in the wrong place. I'm being offered a travel technologist position that doubles my income, but of course that is a step backwards in position. Travel medical personnel do not have permanent positions, and my husband currently has a medical issue that will prevent him to work for the foreseeable future. Am I committing career suicide?

No, I don't think it's that dramatic. I think you have options. There's a lot going on here in this question, Bethany. So if you believe that our assessment helped you realize you're doing the wrong thing, radiology in the wrong place, that speaks to culture, the company itself, or maybe the opportunity within the organization, meaning you don't have a ladder, then I don't mind the travel technologist position because it doubles your income. And I don't see that as going backwards. I understand from a status standpoint in radiology, and you've been in this certain field for it looks like 29 years. So in this case, I actually would consider it. I'm not telling you to do it, but I'd consider it for two reasons. Number one, we're going to double our income. And doubling our income gives us options. More money, more margin gives me and you

options. I like that. Secondly, I think it's a nice bridge. For a season, you're traveling, you're stacking up the money. Your husband's got some long-term health issues. So the more money, more freedom seems to be in line with that health issue as well. And what I would be doing is, if I know I'm doing the wrong thing in the wrong place, I'm taking this season where I'm traveling, getting paid very, very well to figure out what is my next move. And so from that standpoint, I unequivocally disagree that you would be committing career suicide. In fact, this type of change, Dave, that has the benefit of more money and still keeping stability as she transitions, I actually think it's a good move mentally, not just financially. So Ken, I'm such a planner. If I saw this move as a

way to get me to where I really ultimately want to be which is in other words i'm going to take some i'm ultimately not going to be in radiology it sounds like that's right i'm ultimately going to be maybe uh she's working on ops and supply yeah it feels like there's a direction maybe she's moving into logistics okay or whatever uh but let's say, okay, five years from today, I want to land in a new encore, take a bow after the first act, come out, do the second act, career, an encore career that is solid, and it's not going to be travel. This is not a permanent decision. Radiology, though, is not that location. If you're going back to radiology, it could hurt you. Absolutely would.

But it doesn't sound like we're saying that. It sounds like we're going back to radiology it could hurt you absolutely would but it doesn't sound like we're saying that it sounds like we're going in a different direction but the more you know that this is a stepping stone to the new place the more you know this is not career suicide correct yeah not at all because this is a nice transition you know because you know it's not like you it's not like you went backwards or you were unemployed for a certain amount of time there's no stain by making this move but i think the clarity the clear the the hd high definition detail of the future place to land yep drawn out i know exactly what i've got to do to get there and for two years i'm going to travel and then i'm gonna land there yep the more you've got that clarified in your mind the less less terrifying this move is.

That's exactly right. So if that's vague, then there's a lot of anxiety with this. It's a bridge to nowhere. There we go. And so in this case, the bridge that I'm talking about is, all right, I'm finishing up my MBA. I've got to make some connections in this world of supply chain or operations. And I'm not enjoying where I am. I'm stuck. Let me tell you what I know,

Dave, about just humans in general. If we're unhappy, it's very hard to be clear. It just is. You're focusing all these negative emotions. It's hard to have great perspective. If you know you are in the wrong role in the wrong place and you have an opportunity to get out of the wrong role in the wrong place, I think a fresh start gives me fresh perspective. My emotions are better. I'm thinking clearly. I'm feeling confidently. And that's how we go, all right, what is my next path?

And I think that if she knows that she wants to move, to your point, into another certain direction, we know we're going to go here, then I love this move if she needs to spend more time getting qualified. It feels like she's got to get qualified and connected here. Stage two and three. I've got seven stages we unpack in Paycheck to Purpose. Getting clear is stage one. That's that where do I want to be.

Stage two is I got to get qualified. While I'm getting qualified, I'm getting connected so that I can get started. And this is a potential bridge it's hard to say without having her on the phone but this is not suicide no it's not suicide particularly it's less and less and less suicide when the the clear other end of the bridge is resting on something other than radiology correct yeah that makes sense okay here's the cool and i don't know you she said her husband has a medical issue preventing him to work for the foreseeable future i wonder if he can travel if he could go with her and you guys go stack some cash this could just be uh you know

this is a a midlife honeymoon this is a uh an adventure a two-year adventure we're gonna this is better than backpacking europe when you're 19 i mean this is going to be fun y'all go see the world and hang out and and stack some cash and then land the bridge and come back and both of you get back in gear again i agree and even more so because he's not going to be working the additional income really gives us less stress on the finances too again hard to think clearly when you're dealing with the fog of frustration or the fog of debt. Well, it's turning loose of 29 years of investment into something by saying and grieving it, saying I'm not going back there. That's right. That's what makes you think it's suicide.

I might go back. I need to go back. I need to go back. You don't need to go back. You don't need to go back there. You're going to stack cash and you're going to land on the other side of the bridge over in logistics or somewhere else that you clearly outlined. That's very cool. Good advice, Ken's in omaha nebraska hi patty

welcome to the ramsey show hi dave thanks for taking my call sure what's up uh well the the question i have is i'm buying another house um and i have some money in a Roth and i want i but i do have a HELOC that i've gotten ready. I'm selling my house. It was going to be that HELOC was going to just be a bridge loan, but now with the market slowing down, I'm a little worried about that. So I do have $111,000 in my Roth. I've always never wanted to touch that, but I think maybe I should just use the Roth money rather than HELOC money, and I wanted your opinion on that. How old are you?

69. How much is your total nest egg? I just got married in July, and together we're doing pretty good. He sold his house, got $260 for that, so we've got that going towards the new house, so we got that money towards that. And then my house is worth another $250,000 if we can get it sold. But like I said, the market is slowing down.

And on top of that, you know, we've got a good income. We've got about $30,000 in savings on top of that. You don't have any other nest egg other than this Roth? I mean, I have my retirement fund that I get off, and there are $600,000 left. Nest egg, money, investments. You don't have any money. You have $30,000 to your name after you buy this house. Well, I don't think, I mean, we have some investments. We have some stocks.

How much? And then, of course, well, well let me see he's got about 20,000 in stocks but so you're not counting my mutual fund my retirement fund that i get that i mean there's 600,000 in that oh i thought you i thought you're talking about you're getting a retirement pension you're saying you're saying you have a 401k or 403b with 600,000 in it yeah oh now that makes a difference okay that's a lot of money that's good okay i feel a lot better Do you have a 401k or a 403b with $600,000 in it? Yeah. Oh, now that makes a difference.

That's a lot of money. That's good. Okay, I feel a lot better now. That's good. Yeah. All right. Yes, use your Roth. Don't borrow money.

Okay, so if I use my Roth, now what they have said to me is I can use it and I can turn it back in. If I give it back in 60 days, then I can 60 days yeah if you give it back in 60 days but if you're going to do that just sell the house I mean I'd delay the closing if you can um but yeah versus taking out a HELOC I'm taking the Roth I'm going to use the Roth yeah even if you just use it and it's just gone I mean it's not gone because you're going to get it back out of the house when you sell it but um yeah your net worth didn't change you didn't spend it wow this is the house when you sell it. But, yeah, your net worth didn't change. You didn't spend it. Wow. This is The Ramsey Show.

Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ashley's in Greenville, South Carolina. Hi, Ashley. Welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. Ashley's in Greenville, South Carolina. Hi, Ashley. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call.

Sure. What's up? All right. So my question is a business-related one. Not this past September, but the year before, I purchased a bakery that was eight years old. It was a mom-and-pop bakery for about $105,000. It was really small. Over the year. We improved it. We did some renovations on our own dollar. We didn't pay for them. And unfortunately, it's not been successful

and I'm having to close it. I'm sorry. That's okay. It is what it is. And my question is, originally my landlord, I have five more years left on the lease. My landlord said, that's fine. You can, I'll let you out of it. And that was great. However, he called last week and asked me how things were going, how things were moving out. And I mentioned that I was moving some of the equipment out. He was under the assumption that the equipment that was built around, the space that was built around the equipment, he owned.

However, the couple that I purchased the bakery from actually sold it to me. I have purchased documents for it. And he is holding my equipment hostage by not letting me out of the lease unless I leave the equipment. I have considered, I've looked up chapter seven bankruptcy because that would give me 60 days to assume or reject the lease of which I would reject the lease. And then my assets, including the equipment would be sold to pay off my debts however i do not have any debt for the business it's an llc and i decided to get out of the business before i went into debt who signed did you sign the lease personally i did yes okay the lease is not in the

llc's name it's in your name so it is it is in the llc's name yes oh did you sign did you guarantee it personally yes okay doesn't matter it's your personal lease you're personally liable on the lease is what you're telling me okay right yes okay and uh how much is the lease payments monthly uh they are currently 622 40 they go up by a certain percentage every year starting in October. Okay. So you have five years of $7,000, so you've got somewhere around $35,000 exposure, right? Correct. What's the equipment worth?

It's less than $10,000 worth of equipment. Why do you want it? Because I'm hopeful that I can maybe start it again one day and it would relieve some of the startup costs down the road. Do you have any money? I have about $20,000 in personal savings, and that's about it. I sunk all of my life savings into the first business. If you were going to buy this equipment right now in your situation used,

what would you be willing to pay for it? Let's say you let him have it, and the next day you walked into a garage sale and you found this same piece of equipment sitting in someone's basement. What would you buy it for? Or would you buy it tomorrow or would you wait until later? That's a really great question. The one piece of equipment that I'm hanging on to is the oven because it's an old oven and the old ones are the best because they don't...

And you found it in someone's basement tomorrow at a garage sale. What would you pay for it? I would pay probably upwards of $1,000 for it. $1,000? Correct. Okay. All right. So I think you can sit.

Number one, the first thing you need to do is with this landlord, you need to sit down in person. Yes, we are. We're meeting on Wednesday. Good, good. Because you're an honorable person. I think he's not a dishonorable person. As a matter of fact, he's got a lot of mercy. He's just letting you out of $35,000.

He's already got someone lined up that he will charge. He's letting you out of $35,000. That's not a bad guy. He could have held you to it for a $1,000 oven. I mean, it's not a bad guy. He could have held you to it for a thousand dollar oven. I mean, it's not a bad trade. So at the end of the day, if I have to negotiate away the thousand dollar oven in order to get out of a $35,000 exposure, it's gone. He can have the oven. But I would ask him about it and just say, listen, we've honestly, I think you're an honest guy and you think I'm honest and we're just had

we just did not have alignment on this one subject, would you be willing to sell me the oven because it's the only piece I'm particularly interested in at whatever it's a salvage price, which is probably $500 or $1,000. That's the only thing that I care about. And the rest of it is I care about getting out of the lease. Could we work that out? Yeah, it still just gets me that I've already bought the oven, so I don't want to pay him for it. You're missing the part where you got out of a $35,000 liability. That probably gets him that the tenancy had just decided they weren't going to pay. Yeah, but he's wanted me out of there since I signed the lease

because he can charge double for the people that have already lined up for it. Okay. You do what you want to do. That's what I would do. I would consider this a blessing, and I would, in a horrible situation with a heartbreak, I'd let him keep the oven or I'd give him $1,000 or $500 for it and get the documents signed to completely relieve you of any liability, LLC or personal,

further on this lease so that he can go forward. I guess if you want to play hardball from a negotiating standpoint, you could because it sounds like he's chomping at the bit to get you out of there. And you could just say, you know what? I think I'm just going to give you another $600 to stay here a while and make him lose his potential tenant because you keep paying. Yeah. If he doesn't let you. If you won't let me have the oven, I think I'm just going to keep paying the rent

because I think the oven's mine. I've got a bill of sale for it. And, but, you know, honestly, I personally wouldn't do that. I personally would. This is a horrible thing you're going through. It's an emotional thing you're going through. The failure of a business is a crisis of identity. Anytime I close a major area that we tried here at Ramsey, it's me admitting that I was stupid, and I hate admitting that, yet sometimes I am stupid. But I get the opportunity running a business to admit it occasionally, and it's not fun.

It's really not fun. I'm sorry. It really is emotional. I wouldn't screw this whole thing up over a grand. I promise you I wouldn't. You're going to lose that the first time you meet with an attorney. They charge you $1,000 for driving past their office. Just like it's a drive-by fee, you know? I mean, it's like, yes. Well, I think you made a very good point that she fails to see. Obviously,

there's some tension there and she feels like, well, he has somebody else lined up. I found him. She mentioned that. So she feels like she's doing some good, but we cannot forget the fact that this guy is going to let her out of $35,000 contracted commitment. You can't forget that. And I could be wrong, but maybe the new tenant needs the oven. I think there's a reason. This guy is not a jerk. I think he's like, you know what?

I'll let you out of $35,000. I'm going to keep the oven. That's a pretty fair trade. You know, it's a tenant improvement, and you're walking away scot-free. And so if I were the landlord on the other side, even if I had another tenant lined up, I would think that's a fair deal. I think it's a very fair deal. So it's up to you, though.

You can do what you want to do. Let me ask you this, Dave. You can drag it out. If he's got the other tenant and he could lose the other tenant by you delaying him, that's a way to screw with it if you want to do it. But do so at your own peril. But I was going to ask you, because you've been a way to screw with it if you want to do it but do so at your own peril but i was going to ask you because you've you've been a landlord you are a landlord if she hacks him off in some way or just starts negotiating he's like wait a second i'm letting you out of

this deal and i want the stinking of it and he gets he could hold her to this contract and he could put her in some but she says she says that he's got somebody wanting to pay double. So, you know, that's the leverage back and forth. I don't know. I mean, to me, that's almost irrelevant, though. It's what the deal is to you. Yeah. The deal is you personally put your pen to paper and said,

I will pay you $35,000. And he says, hey, you brought me another tenant. I'll let you out. That's an act of mercy. It's not a legal requirement or a moral or an ethical requirement. And, you know, if he misunderstood and thought the tenant improvements became his after the act of mercy, then that's something you can discuss with him, and I'm recommending you discuss it. But I wouldn't push it too hard.

It's $1,000 for $35. it's a good trade this is the ramsey show ken coleman ramsey personality is my co-host hey guys if you like the show we need your help help click the subscribe button and follow subscribe to the show on YouTube or on podcast. Click the follow button on YouTube or on podcast. It changes everything if you do that. In addition to that, click the share button or cut the link out and share the link um i pulled a uh a a poignant thing off of instagram this morning that i stumbled into i'm not on instagram very often but i sent it to my wife and said this right here this right here see all what i do i just click the link the share button on it and it

sent it right over there so you guys can do that it helps us a bunch because we're not spending $300 million a year on football stadiums like Sovi. So, excuse me. But the, yeah, so we don't have that option. We're just regular folks doing a radio show, podcast, YouTube thing where we help you. And since you don't pay for this, one way you can help us is share it, follow it, subscribe it. Thank you. Oh, and five-star reviews are helpful too. All right. Kelly's in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Kelly. How are you? Hey, Dave. How are you? Thanks for taking my call.

Sure. What's up? So I was calling. I left the healthcare field almost four years ago, and I've been a stay at home mom since then. And my husband has been the sole income provider. And I have felt the need all these years to keep up with all my medical credentialing, paying for the licensing and the continuing education. But my husband feels like it is a security blanket that I am keeping because I really don't have a desire to return to the medical field. But I tell him that it is not, it's a low cost, well not low cost, but it's a good thing to keep investing in in the event that something were to happen to him. What do you do? You're an MD, a nurse, what?

A physician assistant. A PA, okay. What does it cost annually to maintain it? Around $400. Dollars? Correct. Yeah, so absolutely keep that. Yeah, but I want to know, is he right or is he wrong?

Is this a security blanket that if something were to happen to him, or do you have your, in the back of your mind, maybe one day when I, when I done getting the kids launched that I want to get back into it, what, where, where do you fall on that? I would, I would, I mean, I'm not, I'm not going to disagree with him, but it's a security blanket. I tell him that my concern, and maybe it's because I worked in the ER, um, is that, you know, if something happens to you, and I'm not worried about you dying, I'm worrying about you living, but being disabled in a nursing home for a long time, that's always like the argument we have. But is it both and? I think it's both and.

I think you're smart for saying that part, but I think you're open to maybe getting back into it one day, at least to the point that you'd like to have it as an option. Is that true or false? I would be open to an option, but just not the area of medicine that I left. Okay. Right. But the way I look at it is you invested a lot of time and money to become a PA.

You lose it all for $400? No way. Okay. Yeah, because it's a lot more work to go back yeah yes it's a pain in the butt you gotta go sit for the boards again yeah yeah not a chance i'd absolutely keep yeah i'm absolutely keeping it okay i kept all of my licenses for a long time the only one i now have is my real estate license. I've had it since 1978, and we actually use the real estate license. It's tied into our Ramsey Trusted program, so technically I have a need for it today. But I dropped all of my others, the securities license,

insurance license, all those kinds of things, after I got on the radio because I didn't want any of those industries or regulators telling me what I could say. So me dropping that was giving them the middle finger so I can tell a bunch of these insurance people to stick it, which is perfect for me. So it was easier for me to drop it and better for me to drop it. But prior to that, I had not been in the securities or insurance world in years. But those tests are hard.

Insurance is not. It was a joke. But the dadgum securities test is like taking a CPA. And so I didn't want to sit to that thing again. And so for $100, $200, I could keep that license active even though I was no longer in the business. The only reason I dropped it, again, was I didn't want to be regulated by those doofuses so um uh but the uh and i'm not going to be selling securities anymore obviously but the the uh that that's the same kind of thing for me i would keep it on that basis uh regardless of whether it's a security blanket regardless of whether you're going back to work or not

i wouldn't lose all the work you did for $400. Okay. If it was $4,000, we'll talk about it. Is he that tight, or is he just like, this is silly to be paying this? I think he thinks it's just silly. I mean, we've done SPU. We're on baby step seven. I mean, we're doing good, and I see where he's coming from with that. You might want to go on the mission field and the pa would be handy yes yeah absolutely i like it this is a yard sale you

know what you did just say you're so tight man we're on baby step seven i'm gonna do one yard sell a year and take care of this i'm gonna sell all the clothes you don't wear honey and pay for it at consignment sale. $400. That suit that's been hanging in the back of your closet for seven years you've not put on, darling, I'm going to sell that. That's what I think you do. I'm selling his clothes. He'll never bring it up again.

Sell his clothes. He'll never bring it up again. That's true. He's on baby step seven. I appreciate it. He's like, that dude does not like to waste money. Great discussion. $4,000 might trip my trigger, but $400 doesn't.

Eric is with us. Eric's in Oklahoma City. Hi, Eric. How are you? Hey, Dave. How are you guys? Better than we deserve for sure. What's up?

Perfect. Well, hey, my wife and I, we're kind of battling the idea of a few financial decisions between paying off our student loans, keep saving to buy a house next year, do we invest more, how much do we keep saving. And so we're really just kind of feeling a lot of outside pressures to different decisions and what we should do. And we're just not really feeling clear on our next steps and decisions. Consequently, you're not getting really great traction on any of them. Right, right.

Yeah, lack of focus does that. It disperses the energy. Right, right. And so right now we're just kind of, we have so many options. We're doing pretty good financially. We don't have any debt. Honey, you have student loan debt. Yeah, besides our student loan debt. Okay, that's uh honey you have student loan debt yeah besides their student loan okay that's dead how much student loan debt have you got two hundred thousand

good god jesus yeah we don't have much debt we're really doing good i've only got two hundred thousand that just came out of your mouth okay okay yeah yeah yeah what's your household income sir we are making about 130,000 a year combined what do y'all do so i am a film director uh i specialize in uh the film space uh video space here in oklahoma and my wife is attorney. And that's where the law, the law degrees are the $200,000? Yeah, yeah. Why does she not make any money? So she makes about $105,000 a year. Oh, so you don't make any money.

Okay. Just about. It's my first year doing this, so we're hoping for, we're seeing some good growth so far toward the end of this year. So you guys are, how old are you all, 26? I'm 30, and she's 27. Okay. All right.

Mm-hmm. Well, and you're new to this whole Ramsey thing, apparently. Yeah, we took a course through our church last year with you guys, and it's where we learned a lot of kind of – You took Financial Peace University? Yes, correct. Mm-hmm. Huh. Okay. You you flunked you got to go back um yeah because we taught you in that a thing called the baby steps and it said don't buy a house until you're out of debt you remember that one yep you do remember that and it

said uh we're not investing until we're out of debt and have an emergency fund in place because we work the baby steps baby step two's become debt free everything but the house three's an emergency fund four's investing into retirement and that gives you the focus and the clarity that you're looking for that was in that class and that's what we teach and that's what we've taught 10 million people to do and that's why it's a proven plan to financial fitness y'all have a mess dude you need to clean up your 200 000 mess yeah just a little bit that's why it's a proven plan to financial fitness y'all have a mess dude you need to clean up your $200,000 mess yeah just a little bit that's what i'd be focusing on it's not a little bad you need to quit minimizing it it's you have a dadgum big old pile of manure

right in the middle of your living room $200,000 is a lot of student loan debt so you need to work on that let's get that cleared up and then we'll build an emergency fund. Then we'll save up for a house, and then we'll start our investing. That's your order of attack. Don't think you're going to do it, but that's what you should do. This is the Ramsey Show.