The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Wait and See if My Student Loans Are Forgiven? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 11, 2021

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Live 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. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Ernie Nebraska starting off this hour. Adam is with us. Hi, Adam. How are you? Not too bad. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

Good. Well, kind of in a predicament, I guess you could call it. So unfortunately, I just recently went through a divorce. Yeah, long story short, her addiction was more important than me and my little boy, our little boy we have together. But things just got toxic yeah, talks enough to where I said enough's enough. And anyways, um, that's where we're at. So my question kind of is, so I, um, going to retain the about $40,000 in student loans. I have $150,000 in mutual funds and I'm wondering, um, you know, do I just pull the money out of that, refinance the house to do some of this payment stuff?

And, you know, just kind of, I guess, advice on where to go. I'm sorry, man. Financially. That's hard. Thank you. So basically you got all the stuff, got the child, and got all the bills. Correct. And she gets $37,000. Correct correct which will be gone in 20 minutes yeah i'm sorry yeah yeah uh what was she addicted to

uh alcohol yeah i'm sorry how old are you guys um i'm 32 she's 30 okay how old's your little boy um he is two so yep it was a yeah rough two years but so you're here's what it is and reviewing the numbers there's 150 000 in mutual funds that's not a retirement account correct and you have 37 000 you owe her and you have forty thousand dollars of student loan debt no other debt except your home um correct and that's about a hundred and fifty thousand what do you know um um so i make eighty thousand in salary and then um i bring my bonus structure is is quarterly um i've made forty thousand um my bonus is this year so far with one more quarter to go. So you're a little boy in daycare?

Yes, yes, he is. Okay. All right. Well, you're in grieving mode. You're in pain mode. Right. And so it just makes it hard to do math when you're in that. And so I appreciate you calling.

What I would do is this, if I woke up in your shoes, I would write her a check, I'd cash in some of the mutual funds, and $80,000 worth of the $150,000, that leaves $70,000 in the mutual funds, $80,000 worth of the $150,000. That leaves $70,000 in the mutual fund. And I would write her a check for $37,000, and then that's done. Hands are clean, right? Mm-hmm. Yep.

And then I'd write another check and pay off your student loan. Yep. You're done. You've still got $70,000 in a mutual fund. I'd pull a little bit more out and set it aside as your rainy day fund let's call it 20 000 okay you know now i just pulled 100 out so now you got 50 in there um so you have an emergency fund and you're debt free except your home and you make 80 000 plus bonuses and then i would set myself on a detailed budget that I stick to.

The danger in your situation is that the emotions that you're going through, which are normal human things because you've been hurting, start to run your life and will ruin your life. And so you've got to put some number systems in place, like a budget, that keep you from grief spending. i've done that um you've uh i've been watching your podcast and stuff a lot too so i already uh my truck broke down too on top of it all so you know i had uh you know yeah a sixty thousand dollar truck ready to buy and stuff and then so well no that's probably not a great idea. You're going to do an emotional decision here.

Exactly. And so what did the repair cost instead? Oh, I sold it because it was going to be over half of what it was going to cost for the cost of the vehicle, the $7,000 truck, and it was going to cost $4,000 to fix it. So I'm buying my grandpa's truck who can't drive right now. What's that truck cost? About $16,000 gonna cost me 10 year old much better decision good clear good clear thinking there so you know if you're aware that you would have a tendency to do something stupid and then you can avoid it which you just did you just said i i'm in a weakened state right now and i almost did a dumb thing you just cover that that that's very, which you just did. You just said, I'm in a weakened state right now, and I almost did a dumb thing.

You just covered that. That's very powerful what you just outlined. That means your brain's working really, really good right now in the middle of a very painful and horrible situation. So just move slow other than those couple of basic moves I gave you. Pay her off. Pay the student loan off. Set $20,000 aside as an emergency fund. Get on a budget.

And then let's not do anything big for a while. Let's just kind of get the new rhythm of life with a single dad, and you're working, and you're picking him up at daycare, and you're giving him lots of hugs, and you kind of get the rhythm of this thing, and you don't have to, quote, bounce back. Just let yourself sit there and heal a little. And then maybe six months from now, I'm probably going to take that other 50 out of that mutual fund, and I'm going to continue to work our baby steps, which means I'm going to throw that at the house and start getting that house paid off.

But I'm not doing that today. Today I want that money laying around, just a buffer between you and all this pain. No debt, emergency fund in place plus 50k and a mutual fund living on a budget not spending more than you have coming in not making any big financial decisions and just get the rhythm of your life back the new changes with all the new changes that have gone on and give your heart some time to heal because your heart's broken and every time you pick your son up and look into his eyes you know you cry again because his mom's not going to be there because she chose the bottle and it's sad

and so just just give yourself some room to be human personal finance is also personal there you go doesn't mean it's unique doesn't mean the law of gravity doesn't work for everyone. It does. But your situation that you're in, you can give yourself room, margin to be human. And obviously you've done a great job with money to this point because you've got some. So that gives you a leg up as well. Good call, Adam. Appreciate you calling in. And as you're walking through this, if you need help with anything else, man, we're here for you. You just call in any time.

Keep in mind, when you're in pain, folks, your critical thinking skills shut down. Panic, fear, they're not your friend. Grief, it's not your friend. Grief, it's not your friend. Coach your brain and you go into lizard brain mode instead of your ability to do high level critical thinking. And so it's not the time to make good, solid decisions. This is the Ramsey Show. People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, is a nonprofit organization that helps members

carry one another's burdens with healthcare expenses, and they have successfully shared each other's medical bills for nearly 40 years. See if CHM is right for you by visiting chministries.org. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. In 1978, I was 18 years old. I got my real estate license. We got, when you're in the real estate business in those days they gave you uh you remember the board of realtors the multiple listing service the mls

we would get once every two weeks a book about three inches thick called the mls book and it had all of the houses in the city listed by area little tiny squares of black and white picture six or nine to a page and uh you know tiny little print of the features of the home under each one and you would thumb through those and look at new listings expired listings sold listings uh current listings and you would be able to find a house to show a buyer if you were a real estate agent. You are not allowed to let anyone see that book unless they were a real estate agent. If you did, you would get censured by the Board of Realtors. You get fined.

We protected that information and the consumer's access to that information of houses that were available on the real on the market you had to go through a realtor to find that information boy has the world changed now a house that's for sales on 62 different websites now and everything about it some of the items on the listing are wrong, but some of the pictures are even wrong. Wrong house. But it's all over the place. With the high-tech real estate apps, home browsing sites out there,

you might think no one needs a real estate agent to buy a house. That's pretty wrong. In fact, nearly 90% of buyers who bought a home last year used a real estate professional. If you've got an inexperienced, or if you've got an experienced, I'm sorry, and dedicated agent, it's their number one job to help you win, especially in a market as wild as this one. With these home prices doing what they're doing and people getting multiple offers, you can leave money on the table if you're a seller,

and you can miss an opportunity if you're a buyer or overpay if you're a buyer. This is not amateur hour out there right now. This is a weird real estate market, and you need a pro in your corner, whether you're selling or buying. Seller almost always covers the commission for a buyer's agent. If you're a buyer out there, get in touch. If you're a seller out there, get in touch. If you're a seller out there, get in touch. If you want to find some of the top real estate agents in America, we have vetted them.

And I know that market. I know that world inside and out. And we've got the high-octane, high-protein, high-performance, best-performing real estates in your area, real estate agents in your area. We call them endorsed local providers, ELPs. They're Ramsey trusted. If you want to find a great real estate agent, go to RamseySolutions.com slash agent, and you'll find a trusted pro who can help you buy a home or sell a home. RamseySolutions.com slash agent.

Louise is with us in New York City. Hi, Luis. What's up? Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can I help? So I recently got engaged to my girlfriend of almost 60 years.

We've been living together already for two years since I moved here to New York City. We're both in debt. I have just over $20,000 in student loans and a little over $35,000 in credit cards. I don't know how much she owes, but she has a couple of cards that are almost maxed out or basically maxed out. I don't think it's maybe just over 10 total. She doesn't have any student loans. We don't have a car. So any other loans?

And we make about 150 gross or, I mean, household before taxes. The question is, I've been following baby steps for money makeover, and I've tried to budget. I have the app, and I've tried to do it on my own. Just for my finances, I haven't really been able to follow through other than baby step number one, stick to the budget. What do you make? What do you make?

The question is 77. Okay. So why have you not been able to move beyond saving $1,000? I think because I haven't cut out or cut up my credit cards. Yeah, you're not living on them. You wrote out a budget, but you're not living on it. Right. You're still doing the same old crap after you wrote the budget and put it in the drawer.

Yes. Yeah, that's normal. You already know what you've got to do to fix it, right? Right. Yes. Yeah, that's normal. So you already know what you've got to do to fix it, right? Right, yeah. So my question is, I want to, I mean, since we're now engaged and we're getting married next May, I want to, and I've tried to do it together. I mean, she doesn't really manage on her own. I wouldn't. I wouldn't.

I wouldn't combine your finances until you're married. Right, but what about, like, budgeting? I wouldn't combine your finances until you're married. You shouldn't pay her bills. She shouldn't pay your bills. No, no, no, no. I don't need that. We have household expenses.

Well, that's just splitting it with your roommate. That's just splitting it with your roommate. When she's your wife, it's different. But right now, she's your roommate. So how do best discuss with her? I mean, even if we're not combining, but how do best discuss with her, I mean, even if we're not combining, but how do best discuss with her and adjust our lifestyle? Because even if we're going to be at odds where if I'm trying to do something,

but she's trying, I mean, continues with our lifestyle. Well, what it amounts to is you have to have a vision beyond Friday night. Thank God it's Friday. Oh, God, it's monday you're living short term both of you and when you start saying hey i think we could be out of debt and i think we could be wealthy and i think we could work together and and this money piece be a high level of communication and add to our relationship and i'm going to really start sticking to this budget i haven't done a good job so far but i'm going to write out my budget i'm going to really start sticking to this budget. I haven't done a good job so far, but I'm going to write out my budget.

I'm going to start sticking to it. I'm going to really do this stuff, and I'll be cheering you on. I hope you do too because when we're married, we're going to be doing that. We need to be working together to win long-term because couples who do not work together on money usually don't stay married. And if they do, they have a crummy marriage because if you can agree on your spending and agree on your money goals what you're really agreeing on is your priorities your fears the things you love your goals and you're ready to go so i think the best thing louise can do is work

on louise right now instead of fixing somebody else. Because you've got some work to do on you, brother. So get that budget out of the drawer, start living on it, cut up the stupid credit cards. Plastic surgery tonight by candlelight right in front of your fiancée. You don't have to cut hers up, you're cutting yours up. You're setting the trail, you're setting the example. Mackenzie is with us.

Mackenzie is in Knoxville. Hi, Mackenzie. How are you? Hi, Dave. Me and my husband are just a little confused on what to do next after Baby Step 3. Do we move on to 4, 5, and 6, or do we do baby step 3B where we save up for a house? Either one's okay. Either one, okay.

We had our original goal was to pay 100% for a house, and that was going to take us three to five years to save up, but I didn't know if we needed to have that entirely saved up before we started investing. It just seemed like a long time before we started. I mean, it's going to obviously, if you start investing, it's going to slow your pace of savings towards the house. So sometimes couples do both. Sometimes they just roll up their sleeves and say, we're going to do this in three years.

We're going to get her done. You know, let's just get after it here. You got to sit down and look at your numbers, but you can do 3B and go ahead and start four or not i wouldn't stay i wouldn't do zero retirement savings for more than about three years if you think you can save up the house or about be done in three years then i would probably roll up my sleeves and get after it i think that'd be great if you pay cash for a house in three years that'd be pretty neat um put you in an amazing position going forward too the wealth you'd be pretty neat. Puts you in an amazing position going forward, too.

The wealth you'd be able to build would be amazing. We'll be right back. in the lobby of ramsey solutions on the debt free stage michael and carly are with us hey guys how are you great how are you better than i deserve welcome where do you guys live tuscaloosa alabama roll tide dave all right Look at you, man. I like it. Well, welcome to Nashville. Good to have you guys. So all the way up here to do a debt-free scream, how much have you paid off? Just over $335,000.

Whoa! How long did this take? Just over three years. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? I started about $200,000 up to right around 200 up to right around 230 maybe just a little over okay cool what do you do for a living i'm a pharmacist i'm a teacher all right good for you guys all right that's a lot of money yes so was that pharmacy school or did you pay off your house

that would be pharmacy school most of it about 252 000 worth of it yeah wow okay and some was just a undergrad playing around when i first started to so it kind of led into a little of that, too. Very good. Okay, cool. What grade do you teach? I teach middle school, so I have sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. You are a brave woman. The best.

She's a brave lady. I like it. All right, so we got pharmacy school debt was some of it. What was the rest of the debt? It was a piece of property we bought. Probably a year after we got married, we had to have a piece of property. Everybody has some property, so we had to do it, too. It was about $73,000 worth of it.

Did you keep it or did you sell it? We sold it. What did it bring? We actually sold it less than we bought it for. It was not a good buy. But you know what? It was actually an eye-opening experience, and we learned from it. So we ended up paying about $8,000 left on the loan.

So it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it actually sped things up a little bit. Yeah, that got rid of a chunk of it. Yeah, very good. And you guys have a great income. Yes, sir. So how long have you been married? It'll be seven years on the 22nd. Okay.

So you've been married three or four years, and something happens. You bump into this Ramsey process. Tell me your story. How'd you get plugged into us? For myself, it was right after I graduated pharmacy school. I went over to my friend Josh's house, and I saw a book on the shelf, and I said, man, what is this right here? I was like, it looks awesome. It's got total money makeover, debt-free.

And he's like, I don't know. He said, if you want to read it, you certainly can have it. So I took it home. I read it you certainly can have it so i took it on my reddit um i read it and i thought it was a great book but you know i didn't do anything else with it and like i said i was going you know just going through the motions going through the motions and um you know one day it finally clicked you know my wife will tell you too that my student loans every month you know it, it was quite a bit every month. And we went to the accountant one day and, you know, he said,

you paid $20,000 worth of, you know, your student loans this year, but about $1,000 went to principal. I was like, God, you know, it was just heartbreaking. 200 years at that rate. Yeah. You know, all the money that you worked so hard for was going to somebody else. And, you know, really for me, that was the hardest part of it was just knowing that you worked so hard and you were giving to somebody else. Yeah.

Okay. So you guys come home from visiting the accountant and have the wake-up call, and then what did you do? Got on a budget and said, you know what, enough is enough. Like I say, when I first graduated, my idea was to just get on income-based repayment because I had roommates that did the same thing. They said, this is what we're going to do. I'd never heard of income-based repayment. So I was like, that sounds great to me. And after 10, 15 years, it was all going to get forgiven. But then after that, like I say, we started paying all this money.

And my interest rate stayed the same. But I paid so much, but the principal actually kept going. The money kept going up. I actually owed more and more and more. I was like, what in the world is going on? I was like, we were talking about it earlier today that I paid double payments, and it went up. It's a scam. I was like, what in the world is going on here?

So for me, that was it. She was going to work to pay my student loans, and basically she was working for free. Wow. I couldn't do it anymore. We had a talk, and we certainly got on the same page about it for sure. Okay. So, Carly, what was the hardest part of this process over three years? Because you guys have been on beans and rice.

Yeah. Really just kind of agreeing what needs to go in the budget, how much we're going to spend for restaurants, how much are we going to spend for miscellaneous, like if we want to go buy something. That was really it. But the more we did it, the easier it becomes. So now, I mean, it's really not that difficult. At first it was, but once you do it, it's not that bad.

Well done, guys. Well done. So what do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt is? Get a plan. Work together. Go to work. Hey, man, you're in debt. Don't think about vacation.

Go to work. Like I say, you see somebody doing all this for myself i know um when you see somebody just doing these you know 30-year financial homes zero down you know no interest rate loans for you know furniture and leasing cars that was you know for me like that that's it you know do something different be different you know don't be like everybody else anybody can take the easy way out but just like i said get up go to work don't do debt because you're going to work for somebody else. And that's why they have, like you said, that's why they have the big buildings. Yeah.

Because they're taking your money. That's exactly right. They're living off of you and you're making $200,000. That's right. And now you're making $200,000. You've got no payments in the world. Amen. How does that feel?

Good. That feels awesome. I'm telling you. You know, it feels like a chain. Like you say, you know, like you show, you see a chain zone and things like that. It really is. People don't realize that, you know, you have this money. You say you have this money in your savings account, but if you have people that you owe,

you don't have anything. You don't have anything. When they call your loan, it's theirs. You don't have anything until you get rid of it. Exactly. And now you do. Well done, guys. Who's your biggest cheerleaders?

I would think for me it would be my dad. He is very much a cash money person. If you don't have the money, you don't buy it. And I wouldn't necessarily say cheerleader, but I would say motivation because I just know I know what he's thinking when we're making these payments on things. And I just I know what he's thinking. So just just. Well, then he's proud right now. Yes, he is.

Yeah, I bet. Very cool. Well, well done. You two. Very well done. We're proud of you. Thank you. You're heroes.

You took control of your lives. Very, very cool. We got a copy of the legacy journey for you. That's the next chapter in your story to go on and be Baby Steps millionaires now. And you're well on your way. There's great income and no payment. And now you've got control of your money. Absolutely.

And you know how to work together. You've got three years in the trenches to prove that. So very, very cool. Also, a copy of Total Money Makeover for you to give away off your shelf someday. And maybe some guy will read it, and it'll start something. You never know, right? That's the way that stuff works. Always pay it forward.

Good, good job. Well done. All right, it's Michael and Carly, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. $335,000 paid off. Whoo! A lot of student loans. Three years. They did it making $200 to $230.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We a debt-free scream three two one we're debt-free yeah love it very very very well done congratulations you guys we really appreciate you that's fabulous guys uh the student loan thing continues to be out of control in America. And some of you have kind of been able to sweep it under the rug because you've not had to make payments or not had to make interest, had interest on it in the last little while with all the pandemic crap that came down out of Washington, D.C., and it allowed you to ignore this elephant standing in the middle of your living room, standing on your chest, and you could ignore it.

You can't ignore it anymore. You've got to deal with these student loans. You've got to deal with them. And if you've got a student that's thinking about getting into the student loans, jump online and watch Borrowed Future, our documentary. You can watch it at Amazon Prime, at Google Play, on Apple TV. It'll blow your mind how crooked the whole student loan thing is. $1.7 trillion in debt now,

and everybody's just being real quiet about it right now. It was a big deal about a year and a half ago. But then the pandemic comes along, and everybody's just being real quiet about it right now it was a big deal about a year and a half ago but then the pandemic comes along everybody's like oh we don't have a problem anymore no it's all still there it's all still there and they're still making these loans they run around talking about forgiving student loans forgiving student loans while they're still making them that's intellectually dishonest that's wrong How can you talk about forgiving something because it's so bad while you continue, with the other hand, to keep making the loan? See, the first thing you need to do, Congress, is stop the stupidity. Then you can talk about

forgiveness, but until then, you can't even talk about it intelligently with integrity. Oh, wait a minute. I said integrity in Congress in the same sentence. That was a bad idea. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. Mo is with us.

Mo is in Milwaukee. Hi, Mo. How are you? Dave, I'm doing good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Great to hear. Well, I do want to continue the trend from the last call and say that I'm debt-free, thankfully, as of this morning. Way to go. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. I paid off about $23,000 in the last five and a half months, all student loans. And my question for you today is, what's next? I don't know what to do. I'm really young.

I'm making decent money. And I don't know where to put it. So I'm hoping you could help, Dave. Well done. Well, by getting rid of the debt, you now have control of your most powerful wealth-building tool, your income. So what do you make, Mo? I make about $67 right now. What do you do?

I'm an engineer. Oh, good. Started about six months ago, and right out of school, I started paying off my student loans and wanted to get them done out of the way by December. And I was a month early on my plan. So thankfully it worked out. Thank you. So what are you, 23, 24?

I'm 22. Oh, wow. Still young. I'm the youngest guy in my team. You graduated early. Well, good, good, good. Good for you. Okay.

So what we teach is a thing called the baby steps, which is the shortest path between where you are in wealth. And that's the idea, so that you live like no one else, so later you can live and give like no one else. Outrageous generosity and a good lifestyle. That's what we're after here. And so now that you're debt-free, your next goal would be to have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. It's a simple savings account with some money in it just for a rainy day. And so if you're making $67,000, if we said your expenses are $3,000 a month, then you'd need $9,000.

So I'd say you need $10,000 to $15,000 in that account. That's your next goal. Okay. And if you've got that sitting there just for emergencies emergencies if you need to save and buy anything else if you need to upgrade a car if you're needing to buy some furniture anything like that you're just out of school then you would save and pay cash for that after that emergency funds is in place uh then that moves that's the plan okay then that moves us on to baby step four start saving 15 of your income into retirement. And beyond that, I would start saving towards the first house. Okay. And I guess my question for that is what percent of

the rest of my income should I put away into savings for that new house? I mean, 15% of my income and rent after I save up that three to six month expense, this still leaves me with a whole hell of a lot at the end of the month. And I don't know how much to put away for that house, how much to give, how much to invest in other accounts. Well, there's not, there's, you know, these are personal choices. Obviously, the more you save, the less you have to spend and give. The more you save, the less you have to spend and give. The more you give, the less you have to give and spend, or the less you have to save and spend. So you need to do something on all three categories.

You need to have a reasonable life. You make good money. You're a sharp young guy. You don't need to be living on ramen noodles. There's no need to. You've done a good job. Number two, you ought to always have generosity in your budget. And then number three, we're saving for a house.

And obviously, the more we put in that house account, the more money is going to be there. No kidding. And so, you know, just start messing with it a little bit. Start playing with it. You can play with one percentage one month and change it around. I'm an evangelical Christian, so I tithe. I give a tenth of my income as a baseline to my local church.

That's the first thing I do on my generosity list. Beyond that, we do other giving as well, but that's the baseline. That's a starting point for me. And so you could weave that into your equation if you wanted to or something like that. But, yeah, you're right on it. Here's the thing. You're going to be fine.

You're an engineer, which means you know numbers. You're intentional. You're 22 years old. You're calling this show and thinking about these things. You're going to be an absolute rock star. You're going to be a Baby Steps millionaire. You're going to get there. Hang on.

I'll send you a copy of the Total Money Makeover, which is the actual template, every detail and nuance of the baby steps, how to do the stuff we talk about here on the air every day, the Total Money Makeover. Hold on. Kelly will give you a copy. Congratulations, sir. Thomas is in Virginia, Alexandria, to be precise. Hi, Thomas.

How are you? Very good, sir. Thank you for taking my call. I really appreciate what you do. How are you doing, sir? Better. Thank you for taking my call. I really appreciate what you do. How are you doing, sir? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I have a student loan question since we are on the topic today.

And just to let you know, I'm just recently married a month ago. Oh, congratulations. Well, thank you. And my wife has always been very disciplined with money. And I have been the opposite of that, backing up debts from credit card to student loan debt and medical debt because I was uninsured for a while. And about a year, over a year ago, we had a tension point while we were still dating with how we spend money. And so after reading your book,, really took to the debt snowball. And I'd been paying off debt before that, but paid off about $20,000 worth of medical and student loan debt. So right now I only have the student loan debt left.

Good for you. And our question was, so when we came together, she had a financial advisor, and she has money in savings and retirement. Right now, the retirement's at over half a million dollars, and she did the entire six-month emergency fund. So with the remaining debt that I have, we could pay it off. But the financial advisor told us that, you know, with everything that's happening in D.C. and this talk of student loan forgiveness up to $50,000, that maybe it would be smart to wait a year to see if it actually happens. And I'm just wondering what you think about that. Well, I think if you think that that's going to happen inside of a year that you're dreaming. You know, have you ever heard the phrase, it takes an act of Congress, and the phrase means it takes forever, and it's not likely to happen?

Well, this takes an act of Congress, and it takes forever, and it's not likely to happen? Well, this takes an act of Congress, and it takes forever, and it's not likely to happen. This is a political disaster looking for a place to happen for somebody, and it's not going to happen in a year. If it was going to happen in a year, there would already be bills on the floor, and they're just not. They're not. All they're doing is popping their gums like they always do they just run around running their mouth just running their mouth running their mouth and

they don't ever do anything they just talk and and just get on fox news and yell at each other that's all they do and so you're waiting around on those people to fix your life not a chance dude uh i think you probably need a new financial advisor and I'd write a check today and pay off the debt. Okay. No, that's good advice, and that's what I was thinking, too, is that, you know, and his viewpoint was as well, you know, with the midterm elections, you know, maybe with, you know, something will change within the year, so just to hold off. Wait a minute.

The Republicans are not for student loan forgiveness by and large. And with the ratings of the current administration, the midterm elections are not going to bring in more Democrats unless something changes. So it's going to go the other way. It's going to move away from student loan forgiveness at the midterm elections. So once again, this guy's not a political analyst either, apparently. So, no, I'm not. You know, you do what you want to do but you call and ask me if i if i woke up in your shoes i'd write a check today i'm not sitting around wait on washington to fix my life you have a long wait

man a long wait so i i would just be done with this you borrowed the money you could pay the money back there's a neat idea and um move on with your life man let's go let's go that's what i would do thanks for calling in sir we appreciate you so um there are some extreme situations and i love grace i like for folks to get a fresh start i i the idea that some of you could have your student loans wiped out, you know, for those of you that are in pain with this stuff, I understand. But on the other hand, there's some principles involved in this. And one of the principles is we shouldn't keep making the loans

before we have a discussion about forgiving them. That's intellectually dishonest. And again, check out Borrowed Future. Give it a watch tonight. Give the old documentary a look-see. You'll see what we're talking about. It's a mess out there, y'all. It's a mess.

And Congress made the mess. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, guys. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey guys, this is James, senior producer for The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600 plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, head to theramseyshow.com.