The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Use My Savings to Pay Off Debt? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: October 23, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I am Dr. John Deloney, here with my good friend Anthony O'Neill, and we are taking your calls about your life, your relationships, your money, anything and everything. Give us a call at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. You can also follow us live on YouTube.

We love to hang out with folks on YouTube as well. It's good to see a packed house here in the Ramsey Studios today. It's great to see everybody. Let's go straight to the phones. Let's go to see a packed house here in the Ramsey Studios today. It's great to see everybody. Let's go straight to the phones. Let's go to Charleston, South Carolina and talk to Jaleesa. Jaleesa, how are we doing this afternoon? I'm good.

How are you guys doing today? We are doing great. How can we help? Yes. I have a question. I would say straight to the point about it. I am emotionally attached with my savings account because I'm contemplating about putting barely half of my savings down for my car loan. So right now my car loan is at $10,000, and right now I have $4,500 in my savings, not including the emergency fund.

So I was wondering, should I just pay that for the car or just pay it down as much as I can? Jalisa, is this a car loan that you're about to get right now or is this a car that you already have a loan on currently i already have the loan on current oh you just okay you just i feel better i feel better i feel much better the people in the audience are looking at me like oh anthony's about to go off they right i was about to go off uh all right so let's talk about this. Is this the only debt that you have? Ten thousand dollars? Yes. OK, OK, OK. I'm feeling better already. Now, you said you have forty five hundred dollars in the savings account, which doesn't include what's in your emergency fund.

So how much money do you currently have cash right now? A total of $5,500. Okay. Alright. So we got $5,500 total cash. Alright. And then we have $10,000. What do you make? Let's break this down like this. What do you make a month? What's your bring home monthly? $1,600.

$1,600 minimum without overtime or anything. Yes. Okay. Okay. Alright. $1,600 minimum. What's overtime or anything, yes. Okay, okay. All right, $1,600 minimum. What's your rent right now? So right now, well, me and my sister are renting. Okay. So I pay $480, and then she pays the other half. And actually, right now, we agreed to, like, she takes on more of the bill, like the Wi-Fi and everything. So she leaves me with, like, the rent, my car, and my other student loans that I have.

Okay, cool. So, wait, you have student loans? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm reading the wrong thing. For the wrong thing. Sorry. No. Do we have student loans

or do we not have student loans? We don't. We don't. I'm sorry. I was looking at it. Because you know, some people think that student loans are not debt.

That's debt. So if you have some, that's cool. I'm trying to help you out. If you have some, let's talk about that too. You got to tell Anthony the truth. Do you have any student loans?

Well, it's $14,000. It's how much? It's $14,000. It's a private one I'm still paying on through the college that I went to. $14,000 or $1,400? $14,000. And you,400? $14,000. And you was going to hide this from me. How are you going to call the show and not tell

Anthony the truth? I feel you. I hear you. I hear it in your voice. Let's walk you through the whole process. I know you're probably thinking this dude is about to go off on me. I really was, but you know, John is here and I want to be nice. It's Friday. Um, I'm, I'm feeling good. So I'm gonna be good. Um, but all debt is debt to Lisa.

So no matter what you have, if you borrow money, that is debt. All right. So he's $14,000. Um, this is what I'm going to do. This is what I'm going to suggest that you do. Take the $4,500, put that all towards your car, all right? That's going to knock you down to about $5,500. Make your minimum payments on your student loans right now, okay? Because you still have income coming in. So do not let them just sit there. Go ahead and make the minimum payments.

I want you to aggressively attack this off. So right now you're in $24,000 worth of debt. By the end of this week, you can honestly be right at about what was that about 18, 17,000, some change. And then with your income right now, you should be able to take a full six to eight months. All right. And aggressively go after it. You're going to go ahead and get some overtime hours in. You're going to, You have any kids, Jaleesa? I do not. I'm single, no kids. Single, no kids. How old are you?

24. Oh, you're a young woman. Come on, girl. Come on. So listen, you can be debt-free in six months. So get some overtime hours. Go ahead and find you a side business or a side thing that you can do to generate some money. So this way, the $1,600 that you have coming in,

you can be debt-free, all right? So the next six months, I want you to get on the EveryDollar app. Go to DaveRamsey.com forward slash Ramsey Plus, and I want you to go ahead and get on that program, the EveryDollar. Go ahead and get on a zero-based budget. Go ahead and list list all your income.

And I'm not even going to ask you do you have any other debt out there because I don't want to embarrass you if you do. But I want you to be honest with yourself. So when you go to the budget, list everything that you owe. List all of your expenses and make sure at the bottom of it, it is zero. Have you ever taken Ramsey Plus? I have. Okay, have. I'm actually currently still doing it.

Are you doing it with a church right now? No, I'm doing it virtual. Cool. Great. Great. Great. Well, that's what I recommend. Go ahead and use your savings to go ahead and pay off the debt. Keep $1,000 in there and you'll be straight. But thank you so much for calling in and yeah,

we're great. anthony you mentioned something that i want to touch on i've never heard of someone not including certain pockets of debt it didn't occur to them that that's that's actually debt walk me through that well that's because you don't do money that's right that's why i'm asking you that's what i'm asking you people think that uh student loan debt is not a bad debt. They think that mortgages are not debt. You know, this world, I can say this world, but generations, not generations, but individuals believe that there are such thing as good debt and bad debt. So a lot of people put in their student loans, mortgages, even sometimes cars. That's good debt because I have to have a car and I have to get education to be effective in this world.

I got to have a house. And so I disagree with the term of good debt and I disagree with the term of bad debt. My thing is debt is debt. Okay. I am 100% consumer debt free. You are as well. But we have mortgages. Right.

And debt. So we still have debt. That's right. Okay. But that's the only debt that we are like, okay, that is acceptable. But we want to get out of that ASAP. That's right. You know?

And so when I hear individuals say, and she was struggling, she was struggling. You know, she was like, I'm debt free. No, you ain't. You got $14,000 of student loan debt. That's right. Come on now. That's 4.5% interest rate if it's federal, but that's with private. So she's probably at about 7%. That's right.

And that's debt, man. So America, listen. Debt is debt. Bottom line. And when you're going through your snowball, take all the bricks out of your backpack and be honest with yourself. Be honest. I love it. Be honest. And if y'all call into this show, just make sure you understand. They know. Just be honest with us.

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Yeah, so my question kind of has two parts. My goal is that I would like to get into volunteering to help folks get their finances in order, get out of debt, that kind of thing, similar to what you guys do. And I'm kind of looking for steps to get into that opportunity. So my two questions are my background is more in the analytical side of things in finance. And so I'm not so great on the behavioral, you know, person to person communication side of things in finance. And so I'm not so great on the behavioral, you know, person-to-person communication side of things. And then the second thing is, you know, I don't have a certification, like say certified financial planner or anything like that. So what are the steps that I could take to get into, to basically build up my CV, to look at getting into something

like that? And then what are some areas that I could look at getting into something like that? And then what are some areas that I could look at for opportunities in that area? So are you wanting to become a financial advisor or are you just trying to like really learn in the money space and just be an encouragement to people? Like what's the actual true goal long term? So I enjoy the kind of or I think I would enjoy the kind of financial advising side of things, but, um, I'm happy with my job right now. So I'm really looking to just, uh, work in a volunteer kind of capacity, uh, with helping people, you know, get out of debt, help get their finances in order, uh, that kind of thing. How old are you, Joe? Uh, I'm 35. Okay. Okay. You're right around my age.

Okay. All right. So here's the first thing I'm going to recommend is to, are you attached to like a local church or a local community? My wife and I are fairly new to the area, so we actually aren't, not yet. Okay. All right. There's a good church out that way called Word of Faith with R.A. Vernon. i would definitely suggest that you go out to that church or find you a local church and just volunteer there start there start somewhere small in a local community that you know um because here's the thing like i don't have a financial degree but i'm passionate about helping people get out of debt but i do not want to sit down in front of numbers every single day for eight hours a day reading numbers. And so I think you have to identify what's your specialty. It sounds like you

want to do like what Dr. D and what I do, which is really we study in this space. But at the same time, we help people. We are the motivational side of things. But when it gets down to the nitty gritty, we pass people off to people who do this every single day for eight hours, 10 hours a day. And so I would find a local church. I would do some research. I would have a personal financial advisor that's advising you. And then before you start advising people on your money, I mean, really start encouraging them, make sure that you are actually practicing what you want to preach. And I think that's very, very important because oftentimes, Dr. D, I am, some people try to, you know, check me and try and figure out if I'm preaching, whether, you know, if I'm practicing what I'm

preaching and I do, I tell them straightforward, like, Hey, I don't finance cars. I don't, I tithe, I give, I'm generous. I live below my means. And so that's one thing I recommend for you, Joe. And Joe, I would follow that. You mentioned you want to be somebody who is volunteering your time, sitting with people. Don't think of people as lines on your CV. That's good. Okay?

Think of people in your community, in your local church. If you want to go to DaveRamsey.com and after you've done things, Anthony's wise, make sure you're living what you're preaching. Make sure you have your ducks in a row. Your relationships are healthy and good.

But you can lead FPU classes digitally. You can lead one at your local church or in your local area. You can become a financial coach through the Ramsey program. You can lead one at your local church or in your local area. You can become a financial coach through the Ramsey program. You can get certified here, and you can do that on the side and make a little bit extra money there. But don't think of people as CV lines. Think of people as folks you can sit with and serve.

And so you just put yourself in a position and develop relationships, man. It's as easy as that. And it's as complex as that, too. And Joe, also do some research. Go to Dave Ramsey dot com and look up our financial coach masterclass. Like we're out honestly sitting there just teaching people the basics on how to be a good financial coach without having to go through the whole four years worth of training. And so if you really want to learn that, look into that. Open up a class like what Dr. D said and you'll be good. But start somewhere within your local community,

like join a local church, maybe get involved in a local group and just start from there. Excellent. Let's go out to Crossy in Woodbridge, Virginia. Crossy, how in the world are we doing? Good. How are you guys? Outstanding. How can we help you? So my question is, my wife and I are about $55,000 in debt. And we have, depending on the market, between $100,000 and $130,000 equity in our house. So we are debating if we should sell our house to pass forward the baby steps, pay off the debt, probably have a little bit saved up to start the emergency fund and go rent for a couple of years until we save up more money for a down payment on the house. Now let me ask you this question. What's your annual income? Right now,

right about $100,000 take home. $100,000 take home in Virginia, right? Yeah. Okay. All right. How much do you... What's the house worth? What's the total price? The house is worth anywhere between

$515,000 to $530,000. So $515,000 to $530,000. All right. uh the house is worth anywhere between 515 to 530 so 515 000 to 530 all right okay how much do you owe and again uh 390 okay 390 all right so uh we take nine percent off of 515 that's 46 000 out of your 130 000 equity and so you're going to be right there so literally once you sell your house you're going equity. And so you're going to be right there. So literally, once you sell your house, you're going to break pretty much. You're going to be able to just pay the debt. I think where you are right now. Let me ask this question. Do you like the house?

Do you love the house? Like if debt was no issue, would you and your family want to live there? It was not going to be our forever home. No. I mean, we like the house. Is it your next five to ten year home? It was not going to be our forever home, no. Okay. I mean, we like the house. Is it your next five to ten year home? Probably.

That was the plan when we purchased it about five years ago. Okay. And what's the $65,000 in debt? Just about everything. What's everything? Loans, credit cards, personal loans. Okay. What kind of car do you drive?

I drive a Hyundai Sonata. Hyundai Sonata. How much do you owe? I'm actually in the process of, I'm selling it right now. You're selling it? That's one of the things. Okay, how much do you owe on it? I owe $14,000.

Okay, so you sell that. We down to $50,000, and you make $100,000. Well, actually, the $55,000 did not include the car because I was already in the process of selling, and that's just all the rest. Man, Anthony, people are holding out on you today, man. Come on, man. Wait, wait, wait, wait. So you owe more than $55,000, more than $65,000. So you owe $80,000?

I guess right around there, yes. What else you got under the bed? Oh, man. That's it. Come on. Nothing else. All right. So we're down to $65,000. So here's the thing. You can sell the house if you want. Okay? And if you're that adamant about it,

then yes, you could do that. For me, I'm trying to figure out a way, how do you keep the house and just get aggressive with just paying off the debt that that's what I would always try to go to first is okay. How can I live below my means? How can I get on an aggressive budget? How can I pull in some extra money to go after $65,000, technically $80,000, um, that in debt that you have, but you're getting rid of the car. So that's 65. So that's what I would say. You and your wife sit down. If you're very adamant and if you're ready to get out of debt today, go sell the house.

But after you get done paying your real estate fees and some of your other fees, you're going to come out with about $70,000, $75,000. And yeah, you're going to be out of debt. But I mean, at the same time, if you like the house and you want to be there for another five to 10 years, I'm talking with my wife today, John, and I'm saying, you know what? We make good money. We can aggressively attack this and be out of debt within the next 12 to 18 months and keep the house in that process. Okay. That's what I would, that's what I would do. And for two guys who have just moved, you think how good it's going to feel if you just sold your house and paid off all your debt?

I'm telling you, selling your house and moving comes with a whole set of other stresses and ups and downs, and folks will want to jump steps. They want to get there quicker, and we get that and we love it, but sometimes you just got to lock in for 12 to 18 months and knock it out. Live like nobody else. Thanks so much for your call, Crossy. And by the way, if you call

the show, be honest about all of your debt. Please! Quit hiding stuff under the bed. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm John Deloney with my good friend Anthony O'Neill, one of the smartest men on planet Earth. We are taking your calls about your life and your money at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Let's talk to our friend Tara in San Antonio, Texas.

Tara, how are we doing this afternoon? Great. Thank you so much for taking my call. Thank you so much for calling. How can we help? Just a little back story. Probably about 10 years ago, my husband and I agreed. My husband agreed to do Financial Peace University with me.

So I bought the DVDs. I took them home. I put in the first DVD. We watched half an hour. And he goes, I can't do this. You just need to watch this and tell me what to do. So I've been trying to do the – honestly, we've been very Dave-ish now for 10 years. I'm trying to work the program.

I have no help from him. So far, I have been able to work to – he is currently retired, and I've been able to work to cover our expenses. But this year with COVID, everything's kind of coming to a head. I'm like,'ve been able to work to cover our expenses. And, but this year with COVID, everything's kind of coming to a head. I'm like, we really need to get on this plan. He agrees to do a budget. We do a budget. And then he just spends whatever he wants to spend. And then when I've talked with him about, you know, we really can't afford this right now, or he's like, you're always so dollar negative. And I always feel like I'm being chastised.

So now when I'm, he's kind of coming around a little bit, but it seems so adversarial now. Anytime I try and talk about the budget, talk about our finances, I'm just trying to get some kind of help about where to go with this. What can I say? What can I do to try and help get him on board more? So this is bigger than a budget, Tara. Where else is where you're out of sync in your marriage? Honestly, that's pretty much it. So y'all are lockstep, except when you sit down to do this budget, he just can't do it.

We cannot. I can do the budget. We go through it. We have a little budget meeting once a month. He agrees. He's like, yeah, this is great, and then just kind of does what he wants to do. And times when I've said, well, where is this going to come from in the budget?

He just gets very angry, and it's just very frustrating for both of us. How long have you been married to this guy? Almost 15 years. Okay, so you know him better than anybody in the world. What about that 30 minutes? You sat down to watch that show that first time, the very first FPU course. You sat down to watch it show that first time, the very first FPU course.

You sat down to watch it with him, and he just said, I can't do this. Yeah. I don't want to listen to this guy. This isn't helpful. You know him. Where does that fear come from for him? I don't know. I don't know.

When he and I first met, he had had some financial issues, and he got that straightened out when we first started dating. So I don't know. Okay. I don't know. It sounds to me like he has a lot, for whatever reason, it could be a thousand different reasons, it could be two, but he's got a lot of shame around the subject of money. Whether he doesn't think he's earned enough over the course of his life,

he doesn't have the life he thought he was going to have at this point, and every time you sit down to talk with him about it, his I'm not good enough alarm system starts ringing. Yeah, for other reasons, yes. Of course, right. And so especially if these conversations you guys have about where's this money going to come from, and those are only happening around budget conversations

and they're about tense conversations. I've learned here from Anthony, having conversations, having hard conversations about why and where's this going to come from, when you're having hard conversations, when you're already in it, is not helpful because everybody's on edge, especially somebody who's living out of shame what you're gonna have to do is walk away from this conversation and get somewhere separate anthony loves the dinner i love the breakfast um you're gonna have to back out and say i want to start at the top and say i i want you to know husband i love you and there's something about this that scares you. Here's where I'm scared. Here's where we have got to get on the same page with this.

Here is where I want us to be. I want us to work towards something and make it less accusatory, less why can't, where isn't, why not, because that's just going to continue to trigger, trigger, shame, shame, shame. And then on the other end, I'm telling you this, Derek, because all you can control is you. At some point, he's going to have to decide I'm in or I'm out. And you can't make him do this. Your language is not we, it is I and him and him and I. I'm guessing there's something different in your marriage. There's a gulf there, Anthony, that

isn't fully formed there. They're just not on the same page. But Tara, you're going to have to get with him in a low-key setting, in what I would call a planned retreat in a time away just you and him and you're gonna have to start with I love you I know this is a painful subject I know this is brings up shame in you I know something's wrong with our money conversation and we got to paint a picture of where we're going to go what are you thinking anthony you know every time i i walk into this subject youtube world ig says i should stay in my lane because i'm single come on i don't care i'm gonna say something i think sometimes and correct me if i'm wrong james Kelly, correct me if I'm wrong.

I think sometimes ladies have a way of responding to men that pushes us into a corner that makes us feel like we have to respond back. So I would say my suggestion is when he does something you don't like, do scream at him do not yell at him ask a question well well bae why did you do this because i think sometimes men we respond because we just want to feel like the man and i think sometimes not not saying all the time i'm just saying sometimes i do believe ladies cameras and i say that because i've watched my mom do that to my dad. And then I, and I can see why my dad made the response that he made. So I think sometimes in the communication,

yes, you are right to ask a question, but if you're known for always screaming at me, when, when I do something you do not like, I'm just going to become nolan void to it i'm just going to expect to scream but if you shock me one day and say well babe what's up why why did you do that like i thought we agreed can you help me understand why you did there you go

so this way now now you're you're listening uh to learn rather than listening to respond and if you listen to learn then you can really learn what's really happening inside of the man. And now you can address that and you won't get the defensive, the pride side of us. And so that's just, that's just my two cents in it. I'm not saying that he's right, but I do believe that when it comes to communication,

it is a two way street. And I think sometimes we need to learn, okay, what role am I playing? Even if it's a small role, how can I fix my small part that can possibly help this situation? That's right. And so knowing that other people that you are in relationship with have a particular shame button, it might be around your body. It might be around your money. It might be around past relationship failures. It might be that you've got parents that you don't talk to, whatever it may be, right?

Not mashing that button, right? Not mashing that button because for you it's an intellectual exercise. We have this much money and this is all we can spend. Right. And for him it may feel like a big neon sign that says failure. You didn't make it. Right. You're not making the money you thought.

Same as if you know he or she has body image issues, and they come out wearing something, you can go, really, that's what you're wearing? See, that's why I'm single. Because I would say that. Really? That's what you're going to do? You know you shouldn't be wearing that.

That's exactly why you're single. Or I'd be like, hey, are we going to the gym? Oh, my gosh. I'll tell you what, ladies and gentlemen. There's a good chance. I'm just being honest. You are exactly right. That's why you're single.

That's right. But it's knowing those shame buttons and knowing, hey, what do I want to do here? Do I want to win?? Do I want to win? Because if I want to win, I'm just going to mash that shame button. You're going to go into your shell. I'm going to feel powerful for a minute, and I'm going to get frustrated. But at the end of the day, the budget is not going to be different. The way you feel about yourself isn't going to be different.

Or, like you said, you said it perfectly, Anthony. I can say, oh, there's a point in the person I love where they hurt. I'm going to lean into that and say, how can I support you here? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Because we have a shared goal, right? How can we go to the gym together? You're out of your mind. If you are out of your mind, you're going to get us both killed. Listen, if you're in the audience,

he's sitting on this side of the stage, I'm on this side. I'm just kidding. But yeah, Tara, listen, love the guy and sit down and have a conversation about shame, about failure, and about a joint picture moving forward, not about, well, where's this going to come from? And my heart tells me, if you give him an opportunity to be vulnerable, he will, and that's when healing will start.

This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Going out to Jeff in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jeff, how are we doing? Doing good. Thanks for taking my call. Outstanding. How can Anthony O'Neill and I help? Well, I have a question. My daughter's 15. She's in high school. She's a sophomore.

She is looking at doing dual enrollment next year, which means she'll take college courses in high school and the school will actually pay for her college courses. For her first two years to get her prereqs and everything done to get a degree, she wants to go straight out of high school, so she'll graduate at 19. I was willing to find out if that's a good idea to go that route. With a high school student, she's very bright, so I don't think she'd have an issue with the actual classes.

But I wasn't sure if dual enrollment is something that I've never heard you guys actually talk about it. So. Yeah. I recommend folks, if they can handle the workload and they've got good family support, you take as many dual enrollment courses as you can possibly get your hands on every single one. Yeah. I echo that Jeff and my book debt free degree, man. I actually spent a whole chapter actually talking about that.

And so I would highly recommend that as long as your daughter is smart, she can handle the workload. I would say definitely take advantage of it. Here's the thing that I really want you to pay attention to. I don't want your daughter to be so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so into education that she doesn't know how to be 15, that she can't enjoy being 15 to 16. So if you all can balance that, she can still go out and play sports and maybe go to her school dance and have a good Friday night with her friends. But Monday through Thursday, she's focused, she's determined. Absolutely, man, take it and run with it.

Jeff, when I was working at college, we saw an increasing trend over the last decade. Students coming in with 30, 45 hours completed already just simply from dual degree classes. Yes. And if you put that in economic terms, man, that's tens of thousands of dollars you're socking away. You're probably saving

$100,000 if you really do it right, depending on the school that you go to. Go for it, man. Yeah, and I can't, Anthony, I'm so glad you said that. Let's not forget to let 15-year-olds be 15. Absolutely. That time is finite. It goes so fast.

Let them have fun and enjoy life and laugh and be silly and do their thing. All right, let's go to Marcus in Seattle. Marcus, what is up, my man? How are we doing? Good. How are you guys? It's good to hear from you. And also my man? How are we doing? Good. How are you guys? It's good to hear from you. And also with you, how can we help? So here's the lowdown, guys. I'm 23 years old.

I started my own business a year ago, and I didn't know much about Dave Ramsey. I made a stupid decision. I bought a $13,000 car, put a grand down, and I've been making the payments on it each month 350 a month and now the business is finally making some money about 4 000 a month net profit residual income but i'm only taking a 1500 a month salary and in that business bank account there's the money to pay off the car and i want to become to baby step three this is my only debt the car and i'm just wondering about going about paying it off with all the tax things, because I'm all new to this. Like as far as taxes, paying it off

with the money in that business bank account, what do you guys think? What do you mean by taxes? As far as in taxes, you have to pay on the car or taxes because you pull it out of your bank account? Like what do you mean by taxes? I mean by pulling the money out of the bank account. Oh, no, man, no. But let me ask you this question. What kind of business is it? I provide payment solutions for auto repair shops and service-related businesses, anything with credit and debit cards. Kind of ironic. Yeah, and ironic. And you use this car for your business, correct?

Yes, sir. I drive around everywhere making cold calls, talking to small business owners all day. Yeah, absolutely. yes sir i drive around everywhere making cold calls talking to small business owners all day yeah and i pay it off that 350 each month with a uh debit card that's my business debit card okay but you pay yourself a salary of 150 uh one one thousand five hundred dollars a month yeah uh go ahead and pay off the car man you know pay off the car um and then once what you would do is after that, you're going to keep your business and your personal separate. So when you pay yourself $1,500, that's where you're going to actually build your baby set number three from out of the 1,500. Okay. Um, cause you want to go ahead and maintain and keep your business flowing and

running. I don't want you to be taking all of your income from the business and paying yourself, then that's going to hurt your business size. So since you are using this car for your business, go on ahead, cut the check today from the savings account. You're not going to have any penalties for paying that. Um, and honestly, you'll be able to get, get with us. Uh, one of our smart, best of pros, our financial advisors, they'll help you on how you can even write off some of this stuff on your taxes. But then from there, sit down and see how can you pay yourself maybe a little bit more. And then start working your three to six months from what you're paying yourself from the company. All right?

So good question, man. Thanks so much for calling in. And if there's one thing 2020 has taught us, it's about investing, Anthony. Just like you mentioned, it's this. You cannot invest alone. You absolutely need someone in your life who knows the market better than you and helps you make smart decisions in response to it. Look, I love do-it-yourselfers, but DIY investors lack the experience to make good investing decisions, especially in a global crisis. You invest in the wrong things. You get caught up in trends. You talk to knucklehead buddies.

You make rookie mistakes. You build a portfolio based on what you read on Reddit, not realizing that all it takes is one freaking pandemic to knock you completely off track. Trust me, you don't need to add unnecessary stress in your life. Stop winging it and consult an investment professional. A good investment pro like a smart investor pro will help you follow the right plan for your money so you can invest in the right things and never have to worry if you're making the right decision. Let 2020 be your wake

up call. Never again let your retirement be at the mercy of some global crisis. Text invest to Text INVEST to 33789. That's INVEST to 33789 and create a rock-solid investing plan today. So one of my friends, man, just made $12,800 in investing over the last five months. So when we say invest, you guys, this is not a game during covid because they reached out to one of our smart investor pros during covid because they invested into their 401ks and into the roth ira and because they opened up a growth stock mutual fund during covid they made over the last five months, $12,800 and something dollars. And I was like, I interviewed them on my show, on my YouTube show. You can go to anthonyoneal.com or you can go to youtube.com forward slash Anthony O'Neal. Their show will be up on in a couple of weeks.

But I sat there and I interviewed them and I was like, why? I said, man, listen, we invest. Young couple, 32 years old. She's 29. And they're like, yo, we just, man, listen, we invest. Young couple, 32 years old. She's 29. And they're like, yo, we just, we want to prepare for our future. And so I want to echo what you just said. Text word invest to 33789 because I'm seeing fruits of it from my personal life. But we're seeing other people who are following what we teach, investing 15%, sitting down with a professional saying, do this, do that,

stay away from this. Hey, this just popped up. We need to move some money over here. Let's look into that. That is saving people time. It's saving them headaches. It's saving them stress, but it's making them money. And that's how you build true wealth with having wise counsel and wise people around you that would tell you exactly what to do. I love it. Hey, I want to ask you a question on that last call. How do you decide what you're going to pay yourself when you have a new small business? Because part of me says, you know, I hear these stories about I just ground it out, right? I didn't pay myself a salary. I ate, you know, I ate dirt and mud and rocks. And then there's others that say, I'm I'm worth this. I'm going to pay myself a livable wage first.

And then we're going to go from there. What do you tell somebody who's starting off a business? You need to go talk to somebody. OK. You know, I'm saying you need to go talk to a professional that can honestly sit down, assess the situation and tell you exactly what you got to do, because for the very first thing, when you get paid for your business, you need to take taxes out. And that's right around 20 to 33 percent, depending on where you are and the bracket that you will be in. Then from there, you need to pay yourself. You know, you got to take out some salary. Then from there, you got to keep some money to keep the business running. And so I see a lot of people from the far end on the left hand side, like yourself, saying I'm not paying nothing. And then a lot of people on the far end side, I'm making everything. Sit down with someone that can give you the proper advice on what to do with your money,

and that's a financial advisor that can really sit down and tell you what to do. Thank you so much. That wraps up the first hour of TDRS today. Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you soon. This has been The dave ramsey show have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.