The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Wait Until I'm Debt-Free To Start a Business? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: August 20, 2021

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Music Music Music Music Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life.

I'm Ken Coleman. I'm joined by my colleague, Christy Wright. The phone number to jump in on the conversation is 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. And we will dive in. We're going to break it down. We're going to help you see that there is hope. We're going to help you see that there's a clear path of actions

to be able to move forward, whether you're talking about your work, getting a bigger shovel, you're talking about getting time back in your life, you're talking about marriage and relationship stuff around money, you're talking about toxic leadership or you want to lead better. I mean, it's all up for conversation, 888-825-5225. Let's go to Dana who's going to join us in Kansas City.

Dana, how can we help? Hey, Ken and Chrissy. Hey. What's going to join us in Kansas City. Dana, how can we help? Hey, Ken and Chrissy. Hey. What's going on? Oh, I'm just sitting here, racking my brain, trying to figure out whenever I need to start my business. All right. Well, I like this question. What's going on?

What's the situation around it? Well, so right now, I'm an outside salesperson for a national pest control company. I do really well. I enjoy my job, but there's sometimes I kind of feel like a caged animal. So I am looking at starting my own landscaping lawn care business. I was that little kid that you saw, you know, 10, 12 years old, out there with a push mower, shoveling snow, doing all that stuff whenever I was a little kid, and that always has intrigued me. So I'm looking at doing that, but right now we're in the middle

of baby step two, and so I'm trying to figure out if I need to pump the brakes or just get on the accelerator a little bit more. Well I've got a couple follow-up questions because I think that you can do it now but we just need to figure out the numbers. So how much debt do you have? So right now we're at $23,000. Okay and do you have a reasonable level of equipment, a mower, a weed eater, the basic, you know, leaf blower, the basics you'd need to start at least just cutting yards? Don't think fancy landscaping. This is not the Cadillac version of your dream idea business. But do you have something to start getting started? So right now, no, I do have a paid-off vehicle that I would be able to sell and cash flow, you know, a truck, a trailer, mower, and all that.

Would that be one of your primary vehicles or something that's not going to hold you back as far as normal transportation? So I have a company-provided vehicle as of right now. Okay, so this is your personal vehicle. I wouldn't want to be starting up in August. This would be a startup at the soonest in the spring of this upcoming year. How much could you get for that vehicle? I'm thinking somewhere between $9,000 to $10,000. I'm going to challenge you for a second.

Why wouldn't you sell that vehicle now and put it to the 23 in debt and fast forward this deal, this whole journey and that that's the other path that i've been trying to rack my brain on is i can sell that i could put the business on hold for another year it's my work isn't like driving me out and like I hate my job. It's nothing like that. Sure. What do you make? I just feel like there's something missing.

Sure. What do you make? So right now, I'm sitting around 70 gross for the year. So if you put 10,000. You can get this debt out of here fast. Yeah. How fast would you pay off the debt? What's your debt payoff date as of right now without selling this vehicle?

As of right now, we're looking at the end of January this upcoming year. Oh, dude. I'd sell the car today because right now, I'll tell you why. Because now is probably the highest amount of money you're going to be able to get for that vehicle. I mean, we're at an unbelievable used car premium right now. So I would sell that now and cut this debt almost in half, not quite, and then you're going to fast forward everything and do the lawn care and landscaping. That opportunity is not going away. That's what I would do. Christy, do you see anything with that? No. I mean, the fact that you're going to get out of debt so soon, this is not even a question

because I misunderstood. I thought your question was, can I start the business in baby step two, which if you can turn a profit quickly, it is okay to start a business in baby step two. That's why I was trying to help you figure out how to do that. But you just told me you're going to be out of debt in January. You wouldn't want to start the business till March anyway. So starting in baby step two is not even a question. And the great news is you're going to have between January and March to save up a little cash to maybe get you a mower, get a couple of things that you need. And then you start putting business cards in mailboxes.

You start talking to your neighbors. You start, I mean, as the spring is coming, you know, leaves are getting on the trees. You're talking to people when that, that season is ramping up and you're getting that business going.

But still Dana, I want you to get it started on the side. Do not walk away from your steady paycheck, even though you're out of debt, you're going to build going. But still, Dana, I want you to get it started on the side. Do not walk away from your steady paycheck even though you're out of debt. You're going to build this business up on the side, which is a perfect business to do on the side. You can do this in the evenings, on the weekends, until the business can support you.

And then when the business can support you financially, the money's actually there. And consider the seasonality. Consider the winter in your projections, and then you're ready to stop that. So that's what you're going to do. You're going to get out of debt first. You're going to build up the business marketing and demand

and get your equipment in the spring. You're going to start your business in the spring on the side, build it up all summer, and then we'll see how that goes before you're ready to walk away from your full-time job. But I think that's an awesome timeline. I think you can totally do it. That's a very safe way to do it,

and it's a very soon way to do it. You're doing it safely, but it's also pretty quick. So that's exciting. Yeah. And I'm glad that we got this call because I think when people, when they realize that I don't have to walk away from the day job, and it's just not necessary. It's a false narrative. I can start, as you say, small and grow slow. And certainly in a landscaping, once he gets out of debt, gets that emergency fund going, he can cash flow one machine, right? And he starts taking on two, three, four yards. All of a sudden, we just stack that money. And I get this call all the time on the Ken Coleman Show. People say, well, Ken, when's the right time to move to my side hustle full time? And I go, it's not a time question. It's a math question. Once you've got, and I prefer,

six months of your income in your company, your side hustle, at least six months. Personally, and again, this is conservative, I'd like to have 12 months of my salary before I'm going to walk, but six months is probably fine if you've got a pipeline, if you've got customers. But it becomes a math thing. Once I see that the math is there, that I'm making as much or more, or if it's just a little less but with a slight budget adjustment, it's a no-brainer. Well, and the other thing, though, is that I think people forget about is that path is not as glamorous. It's not as like, wow.

It's not. You're not having this Jerry Maguire moment where you grab the goldfish and go, Who's coming with me? Like that seems so cool in the movies and in real life, it's terrifying. You don't have an income and you look crazy because you are. So instead do the less impressive, less Hollywood version where you start on the side, you're scrappy, you work nights, you work weekends, you're tired. It feels like you're working two full-time jobs because you are.

You build it up on the side to where it can financially support you, and then it's not this terrifying leap. It's the next logical step. We don't want you to take leaps. Take steps. Jerry Maguire trivia real quick before we go to break. Do you know how much the human head weighs? Eight pounds. Is that right?

I can't remember. I think it's eight pounds. Is that right? Did I get it? Yes! I'm getting a yes! Great! That's one of the greatest lines in Jerry Maguire, the little dude in the car. Great job, Christy Wright. Do you know how many pounds the human head weighs? I love that. So good. Alright, folks, we're having a lot of fun. Don't move.

More of your calls coming right up. This is the Ramsey Show. Hey, I'm Christy Wright. Listen, I know how easy it is to feel anxious in our crazy, busy world. That's why I want to tell you about an app called Glorify. Glorify is the number one daily worship and well-being app, and it will give you tools that will help you ease stress and anxiety in your life. Just search for Glorify in your app store. It's free to download and use. And if you like it, you can access their entire content library at half price by using the

promo code Christy. So download Glorify today. This is the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. I'm joined by my colleague Christy Wright, and we are here together this hour to take your calls. 888-825-5225. It's toll-free, 888-825-5225. Let's go to Indianapolis, Indiana now where Elizabeth joins us. Elizabeth, how can we help? Hi, Ken and Christy. My question is a career one.

It boils down to the opposite of your new book title, Ken. I went from purpose to just a paycheck in my job. I'm looking for some advice. Four weeks ago, I left a job that I really enjoyed for a new opportunity that I was excited about with a bigger paycheck. But in just that short amount of time, I've discovered that I feel no missional purpose behind the work that I'm doing every day. And when that happens and you lose that, the eight-hour workday suddenly becomes a really, really long one. Yes.

But I left on excellent terms with my former company. I actually learned that I have the chance to go back in a new role that I think I would, once again, feel a lot of excitement and passion about. But I'm not sure what the responsible way is to handle that, given that I just started with this new company. So I would appreciate your perspective on that. Yeah, first of all, don't overthink this. You're not a bad person.

You are not a bad person. You made a decision that a lot of human beings have made. And it feels really good, by the way, when we get an opportunity for a promotion that also comes with a bigger paycheck. So let's just take all the guilt and let's just throw it aside because it's a very normal response. There's nothing wrong with you, and you're not a flake or some type of evil person because you're going to do what I'm going to tell you to do, which is you've got to go sit down with your – first of all, I'd accept the new position at the old company. And I'd do it with some humility and go, hey, I chased a paycheck. I am beyond grateful to have this opportunity.

To me, that's a no-brainer. So accept the old one. Go back to the old company. Accept that. Now go to the new folks and say, hey, listen, I'm really sorry. This is a difficult conversation for me. And I'm grateful that you offered me a promotion to take this job opportunity four weeks ago. And I took it. And I realized that it's not right for me. And you can use, you know, the words I use. You've been listening to my show.

I can tell that. Just talk about passion and mission and go, here's the deal. I'm stealing from you if I stay here a day longer. Now, here's the deal. It doesn't mean they're going to go, oh, well, thank you, Elizabeth. You are so nice to tell us this. They may be pissed off. Right.

Okay. That's just the reality of the world we live in. But you still got to be honest. You still got to tell them what's right. That's the honorable thing to do. And say, hey, I want to leave well, whatever that looks like for you all. I want to help with the transition. I am really, really sorry, but I'm doing this now because if I delay this, it's not going to be good for me or for you.

And again, I'm sorry to put you in this position, but I got to own it. I got to be a big girl right now. But don't, you know, fall on a sword like you're a bad person just kind of own that situation and then i would move on i'll give you an example of how this has happened in the sports world before uh there's a guy by the name of billy donovan long time uh college basketball coach long time uh coach has won two national titles at the university of Florida back-to-back. And he got approached after the second title by the Orlando Magic, an NBA team. And he begrudgingly kind of listened to him and then decided he was going to take the job, Christy. Well, so he takes it.

And he goes to the whole press conference, cries, leaving Florida, a beautiful, special place in my life, and goes to Orlando, does the press conference there, wakes up two days later and tells his wife this was the wrong move. Now, this is a big deal. This guy's going to be a Hall of Famer. Yeah, yeah. But he owned it, and it was a big deal.

Got criticized, got crushed in the media by a lot of people. But he stood up and said, hey, I made the wrong decision. I got enticed by the opportunity to be in the National Basketball Association, something I've always dreamed of doing. But he stood up and said, hey, I made the wrong decision. I got enticed by the opportunity to be in the National Basketball Association, something I've always dreamed of doing. It's not right. I belong back in Florida. And he went back. So this is tough. This is not going to be an easy conversation, but I think she's got to do it. But well, she does. And what I love about your advice to her that is so key anytime, even if you're a leader, let's say there's someone listening right now, you're a leader, you're a business owner, and you have made a mistake in your leadership, whatever

that looks like. The key is owning it, period. Owning it. And so when you go, Elizabeth, and you have this conversation, you just say exactly like Ken said, you say, I'm really sorry I made a mistake. And that's like, I made a mistake. People will respect you for just owning that. And the other thing, I don't know what this new company is like.

If they have a 90-day policy, then most companies expect that in the first 90 days, they're going to figure out if you're the right fit for the position and you're going to figure out if they're right for you. And so it is so great that you're finding this out now. It's not like you're six months in and they're really starting to put some workload on you and then you pull out. You haven't even done anything yet. I mean, really, like you have not like got so integrated into this company.

They can't stand to not have you. No, no, no. This is, this is fine. You're going to do this and you're going to feel such relief afterwards because you're going to be back where you need to be doing the right thing. It's just going to take a hard conversation between now and then. And the key is humility and owning it. And you're going to do that.

So yeah, you definitely should do it. Yeah. And just a real quick warning for folks, because a lot of people now and then. And the key is humility and owning it. And you're going to do that. So yeah, you definitely should do it. Yeah. And just a real quick warning for folks, because a lot of people make this decision. When we get a new opportunity, two things are happening. Okay. One, we feel good. Feels good to be wanted by somebody else. Sure does.

Hey, throw our shoulders back. Feels good. Somebody wants me. Second thing that happens is, is when there's more zeros or there's more money involved, it all of a sudden just becomes a, this is the right thing to do. This is a good decision. So I feel good, and it must be good because it's more money, and that's a trap. So just be careful of that.

I have more of these calls than you could possibly imagine on this. And I'm really proud of you, though, for owning this, Elizabeth, and your best days are ahead. Let's go to Los Angeles, California now where Elmer joins us. Elmer, how can we help? Hi. Hey. How are can we help? Hi. Hey. How are you guys doing? We are having a blast.

What's up? Just wanted to say I'm a long-time listener and first-time caller. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I was hoping to speak with Mr. Ramsey himself, but you guys will do. Can I just tell you, Elmer, that I got to tell you, I understand I would be disappointed if I were you as well, but let me tell you something. Christy can handle this. Elmer, let me tell you, I understand I would be disappointed if I were you as well, but let me tell you something, Christy can handle this. Elmer, let me tell you, you and the rest of America would rather Dave to be sitting in these seats.

We can handle it. Thank you for your honesty. We are very aware, and we're still here for you. What's your question? Okay, so I've been battling with student debt. That's the only debt I've been battling with student debt. That's the only debt I had, you know. Anyways, I took care of $27,000 out of a private student debt. Okay.

I took care of that. And then, you know, even after COVID, I killed it in December 2020. Okay. Now I'm trying to battle the big hairy monster of the federal student debt, which is at 78K. Okay. Now my income has changed because I'm not earning the same amount that I was. Are you earning more or less? Way less. Way less. and um are you earning more or less way less way less so now um i need to attack this because it's not going away and we all know that the government's not

going to help at all why'd your income go down uh I left the country I was working at, and I returned back to the States because of my wife, who's working on the immigration process. Okay. What's your income right now? Wow. I would say it's at $21,000. Okay. $21,000 a year. So let me jump in here.

So, Elmer, listen to me. Right now, we have 10.1 million jobs available in the United States. 10.1 million available. Okay. Companies are paying signing bonuses. Companies are offering tuition assistance or full-blown tuition. What did you do in that other country? What kind of work were you doing? I was a foreign English instructor. Okay. Let me just tell you something. I want to give it to

Christy to talk to you about the debt snowball, but for you to assume that you can't make more than $21,000 in this economy, let me just tell you something. People are desperate for workers. You need to get back to work as a part of this process. Let's get the income up. That is the answer. I mean, Elmer, that is the answer. You're living in LA. You can't be okay with $21,000. And there is no strategy to pay off that $78,000 on $21,000 while living in LA. I don't know how you're eating, honestly. So you have got to get your income up. That might be a second job, third job. Might be doing freelance English teaching. It might be getting a completely different job with a promotion, with a signing bonus. Today, you're searching jobs today. Your debt payoff plan is getting your income up.

That is the only way you're going to do this. And you can do it, but it's going to take a different strategy than you had before to get that income back up. It's one of the hottest job markets that we've ever seen. In fact, folks, there are more jobs available now than there were in February of 2020, which was the previous high. It's unbelievable. If you just have a pulse and you'll show up with a smile, you can make really good money in America right now. Go to work. This is The Ransom Show. If you've got debt, it might feel like you'll have it forever.

But here's the truth. You are not as far away from being debt-free as you think. Most people who do what we teach pay off all of their debt in 24 months or less. So why not you? When you're debt-free, you finally get to enjoy your money instead of stressing about it. But what if you want to get there fast? You need the right plan. With Financial Peace University, you'll learn step by step how to pay off debt, save, and invest for the future. Then you'll put everything you learn into practice with a budget using the premium version of our tool, EveryDollar, and you get it all only in a Ramsey Plus membership. When you commit to this plan, you will become debt-free faster than you think.

To start your free trial of Ramsey Plus today, text TRIAL to 33789. Text TRIAL to 33789. this is the ramsey show i'm ken coleman joined by my colleague christy wright the phone number to jump in on the conversation is 888-825-5225 888-825-5225 okay have you ever made a dumb decision with zeros on the end because you didn't do your research? I have. So I'm telling you, don't be ashamed. Most people make choices based on feelings or opinions, especially when they're buying a house. But when it comes to the real estate market, feelings are not your friend.

Facts are. So check your facts. Find out what you can actually afford. Research what's trending in home prices. Talk to a reputable real estate pro in your area. Never buy a house without the facts. Again, go to ramseysolutions.com slash agent. That's ramseysolutions.com slash agent, and get an agent who will help you make smart decisions. That's ramseysolutions.com slash agent. All right, let's go now to Pensacola, Florida, where Nathan joins us.

Nathan, how can we help? Hey, how are you guys doing? I appreciate you taking my call. I love the show. I listen all the time. So I recently retired from the military, and I've got a new job, but it doesn't pay a lot right now at the moment. It's going to pay more in the coming years, but right now it's not paying a lot. So we're kind of, I wouldn't say on a super fixed

income, but we're kind of on a fixed income. My question would be, I stopped making any kind of investment contributions when I retired from the military. I was making a 7% contribution automatically, and that's done really well. It's continuing to grow. But my question will be, should I be taking some of my military retirement money and investing that as well based on our income right now? Now, we're doing well. Otherwise, we've got a lot of equity in our home. We've got a lot of mutual fund cash that's in both mutual funds. And then we've also got, of course, IRAs and Roth IRAs and such. So we're doing really well. If we did nothing else in our life right now, we would live

comfortably. Uh, but my question would be, is there more that I should be doing with that retirement money? Um, besides just kind of bringing into account and paying off the bills. Yeah. So what is your income from your, well, first of all, thank you for your service. What's your income from your military retirement? So with the disability and the retirement, I'm about $7,500 a month. Okay. And you're saying you don't need that to live on because with the job that you have now, you can live on that?

Yes. Okay. And then what are you contributing currently to your retirement? Nothing right now. Okay. And then what are you contributing currently to your retirement? Nothing right now. Okay. Yes. Yes, I would use your income that you don't need to contribute to your retirement. But what you want to do is you want to sit down with an investment professional.

Because if you want to end up transferring any of this, and they can help you with the tax implications in terms of what to move where you want to sit down with a really good investment professional they can actually walk you through this but you can and should be investing right now since you have the income to do it if you didn't have the income then that would be one thing but you have it and so yeah nathan i would i would sit down with one of our endorsed local providers one of our investment professionals and get them to walk you through where to put it, how much to contribute. It sounds like you should be able to be continuing to contribute your 15%. It's just coming from a different place. It's not coming from your traditional job.

It's just a little bit of a different situation because you're in retirement one but actively working in another. So you just want to sit down with someone to walk you through that. But, yeah, you can and should be contributing now. Let's go to Aaron now in Richmond, Virginia. Aaron, how can we help? Hey, yeah. So long-time listener, first-time caller. Awesome. So just trying to figure out, so my wife basically is not on board with trying to pay off debt. I'm definitely trying. That's what my goal is, is to pay off debt. We have separate debt. We have separate bank accounts and separate everything else just because we've both been burned in the past by four spouses.

So just trying to figure out a way to get her on board to pay down this debt. Wow. Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, Aaron. Where do we start on this one? Listen, so this is actually not a question about paying down debt at all, because what you said is actually the most important piece of this that you just flew by, which is we've been burned in the past. So y'all have been burned in the past, and so you're not trusting.

So you have separate bank accounts. So you have separate goals. And that is affecting everything with your finances. So actually to me, and actually that's the bigger problem. I would actually, I would care to fix that more than fix the who's paying down what debt when. I care about you getting debt free. But I think the fact that you don't trust each other in your marriage is a way, way bigger problem. And so the best thing I could advise you to do in that sense, and maybe you guys can work it out on your own with just some conversations,

but I think even just a counselor or someone in your church for you guys to work through those fears, because listen, you're not dating, you're married. And it is an oxymoron to be married to someone you don't trust. The trust is the foundation of marriage. And so for you guys to fix the trust issue will fix the bank account issue. And then you can talk to her about mutual goals. I mean, to me, that is so secondary to the trust

because you'll never be able to get her on board, as you say, or even get on the same page with goals when y'all have separate bank accounts. But the foundation of the separate bank accounts is a lack of trust. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes sense. How long have you guys been married? I was just going to ask that. Thank you. Yeah, sure. About three years. Okay. And have you ever even discussed the idea of combining accounts? We have discussed the idea in the past. Basically, it comes down to that, yeah, I don't think either one of us are 100% trusting. I'm willing to use her bank account if she wanted to.

It doesn't really matter to me. But yeah, I just don't know. She's not really down with that, you know, because she doesn't want to be like, hey, I'm using my money or I'm using your money. I'm like, no, it'd be our money together. Is she more of the spender? Oh, most definitely, yeah. Yeah, she doesn't want you telling her what to do. That's the problem. She doesn't want you seeing what she's spending things on, and she doesn't want to have anybody to report to.

And listen, she got married. She's got to get over that. Yeah, hold on a second. All right, this is great. Because actually, I'm going to come at you, Aaron. You know, you just said a second ago that you're like, neither one of us are there. So I've got to tell you something.

You might need to show her some trust before you can ask her to show you some trust. I heard just as much fear out of you. Am I right? Yeah, I would say so. But he said he's willing to share bank accounts. I know. But my point is he's got to make that step. I love that.

I love that he said that. But it's like you've got to do something about that, and you've got to say, here's the deal. But I think back to what Christy said is absolutely right. This is a counseling deal. You guys have got to really get over some of the stuff that, by the way, is very real and raw. I mean, I don't want to in any way minimize it. No. But, Erin, you both are hurting, and you need to get with a pro.

I'd stop having the conversation about budgets and sharing accounts and just go, hey, you know what? I think we just got to heal from our past hurts and let's help each other heal. Well, and the thing Aaron is that that lack of trust you're seeing it in your bank accounts and the symptom at the surface, but it is

pouring into more aspects of your marriage than you can possibly realize. And I don't even have to know you guys to know that because trust is so foundational. And so if you guys each have your individual wounds and you won't let that other person in, whether it's from a bank account standpoint or whatever, the bank account's a great tangible example. But what you're doing is you're punishing your spouse for your ex-spouse's mistakes.

And she's punishing you and you're punishing her. And what's happening is it's putting a huge wedge in your marriage where y'all can't make progress, not just financially, but in more aspects of your marriage than you realize because of that lack of trust. Because of that, oh, well, he burned me or she burned me and you can't come into this part of my life. That is a recipe for disaster in marriage. And so I just want to encourage you to get with a counselor. One of the foundational things we'll talk about is trust. But one of the first steps of that would be to combine your bank accounts and then speak into goals together. And don't even try to get her on board with a debt until you fix this.

Because you haven't earned the right to talk about debt if you don't even have the foundation of trust. But get that fixed. That's right. And then you can talk about the bank accounts, the goals, and the debt. And you'll get there, but you might need a little outside help to get it. And that's okay. That is a good thing.

Help is a good thing. Matt and I get help with things we need help with. It is a good thing. You can do it. Absolutely. Start trusting her. Lead the way. Be the leader.

And please go see a professional. Good stuff. Thank you so much for the call. Fight for this. Fight hard for your marriage. It's worth it. All right. Don't move.

More of your calls coming up. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back, America. You are listening to The Ramsey Show, where we talk about your life, your money, your work, your time, your health. We're thrilled to have you. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by Christy Wright, my colleague. Today's Scripture of the Day, in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Matthew 7, 2. Our quote today comes from Dale Carnegie. Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. Well, that's interesting that Carnegie said that because it feels like that would be great advice for anybody going on social media today. Yeah, that's a fact. It takes a lot more. Any fool can get behind a keyboard and fire a dart. That's right.

But they never say it to you in person, Christy's right although you know we had a fun moment this hour can we revisit it please it was your favorite moment oh which one i have so many earl was it earl he called elmer elmer thank you oops oh well it's perfect we take the call elmer how can we help very nice guy uh slow pace and with a little bit of uh disappointment he said well i was actually hoping to talk today here's the point i should have said well you know what we were actually looking forward to talking to somebody else besides you no i kid listen can we tell can we tell america what happens in the lobby in between segments? I'm so glad you're going to do this because this is very awkward for me, and now we get to therapeutically share it.

Listen, here's the thing about Enneagram 8s. If there's awkwardness, we just bulldoze straight into it. We don't tiptoe, sugarcoat. We're just going to call it out. Wait a second. Hold on. Are you an 8 or a 3? An 8.

By the book 8. Yeah. 8 wing 7. All right. We'll talk about it off air. Okay, great. So you guys don't know this, but here at at our lobby there is our debt-free stage you've seen this probably if you watch us on youtube and people come in well in between the breaks even when we're not having

debt-free screams we have people that come here yeah and they line up and uh we go out uh us together if it's us hosting together well they line up they line up to meet dave sure they do um and get their book signed. Yeah. And get a pic. And it's fun. We get pictures, all the things.

Well, since we've been hosting the Ramsey Personalities with Dave, we go out with him. Yeah. Because that's what we're told to do. Yeah, we're voluntold. We just voluntold

on out there. And here's what happens. So Dave goes first. He's on the right side of the stage if you're facing the stage. We're on the left side of the stage.

And if you could see me on YouTube, man, y'all, people give us such a hard shoulder. They move so far away from us that you're like, I'm not even going to try to be in the picture because you know they're cropping us out. As soon as they get home, they're cropping us out like we were never there and they got their picture with them and Dave Ramsey. This is my personal favorite. My personal favorite is Dave goes out first and they greet him and then and then then i do this number i stick my hand out hot and they're they're talking to dave they do this number they curl around and i do this if y'all the old hand of the hair move you know what i mean no i it's not all the time but some of the time it is it is it is and we're and we don't fight it like i will deliberately move away from people so that they can crop me out.

Well, he's a legend. I want to help him out. He's a legend. He's an icon. We get it. But it was really refreshing, honestly. And he wasn't being mean. Not at all.

I just want to be like, I just want to say, Elmer, I agree with you. I know. I'm so sorry. No one's more aware of that than these two people in these seats right now. We get it. We get it. We get it. You tuned in today and Dave's not here,

but we can still help you. We're here. And we did. And we're here. And we're going to be here whether you like it or not. Yeah. Yeah.

There is that. That is absolutely true. And Dave will insist we're in the picture whether you like it or not, but we will scooch away so you can crop us out because we are here for you.

Yeah. That's the deal. But people say, you know, what's it like working for Dave? You know, it really is amazing because the guy is,

he's the real deal. And he loves it. He loves doing this because he's coaching people up. So we always love being with him. So here we go. Now that we just owned all that, and it's okay, folks. You don't have to be excited about taking a picture with us. It's like I've heard our feelings.

We get it. Let's go to Wyatt in Wichita, Kansas. Wyatt, how can we help? Good. How are you? Oh, we're having a blast. Can you tell? What's going on?

So I'm 22 years old, and I'm averaging about $120,000 a year. All right. Okay. And what do you do? I work at a refinery. Nice. And I have been putting my money in my 401K. I have about $100,000 in there. Nice. And I have been putting my money in my 401k. I have about $100,000 in there.

Nice. And I was wondering, would it be smart to continue doing that, or should I start putting money into a Roth IRA instead? How much are you investing right now as a percentage? 16%, and then the company matches six. Okay. And at that income, Wyatt, you're maxing out on your 401k.

Right. So yeah, you need to be continuing to invest. Great job. So I'm guessing you don't have any debt. Or do you have debt? Oh, Wyatt! Wait a second. He tricked us.

That was sneaky, Wyatt. I see what you did there. Listen, you're doing a lot of things right, but let's talk about maybe some areas that can be improved, not investing, but the debt. What debt do you have? I have a truck that I owe $15,000 on. Okay. Anything else? I have a house that I owe $85,000 on.

Okay. Well, aside from the house, just the truck. Is that the only debt you have other than the house? Yep. Okay. We're going to knock this out. Like, how quick could you knock it out? Well, I only have $15,000 on it. Let me ask another question.

How much money do you have in savings right now? Roughly just cash. Yeah. Not retirement, just savings 6 000 i've been putting my money towards other areas yeah yeah but on that income you can knock out this debt very fast so i want you to take 5 000 of your 6 000 pay that on the debt you got about 10 left i want you to just for a few months a couple months few months pay this debt off okay um normally what we would do is we would tell you to pause retirement and you can do that you can pause retirement in order to pay this off but honestly you can get it done in a couple months if you buckle down a few months and so uh i don't even know that it's worth it to pause that in order to you know by the time it goes into effect

or whatever you could run the numbers and see if it's worth it to pause that in order to, you know, by the time it goes into effect or whatever, you could run the numbers and see if it's worth it to pause your retirement investing in order to have that extra cash. But I just want you getting it paid off quick. And at that income, you absolutely should be able to. Don't go out to eat. Don't do anything for just a couple months. Get it paid off. And then from that point for your investing, you're already maxing it out. Uh, what you want to do, you, you can start to put it on the house.

So you would walk through baby steps four, five, and six fours and vest vesting 15%. You're doing that baby step five funding kids college. Do you have any kids, Wyatt? No, I do not. Okay. Uh, so you're not gonna worry about that. We'll just pass on of that. And then you would just put the rest at the house and you just, and this is a, you're

taking the foot off the gas a little bit more than you are in baby step two where you're sacrificing everything so it would be a more of a marathon not a sprint uh you know you keep working on the house you can make extra payments and you can start to pay that down but why at your age and with your income you could have that house paid for pretty pretty you know in the next few years if you wanted to. And, man, then you're just setting yourself up for such success for anything else that you want to do. Any other goals you have in life. If you get married, have a family, those types of things.

It's just going to be so easy because you don't have any payments. How much is your house worth, Wyatt? Do you have any idea? They just appraised it at $170. Come on, man. Way to go. Come on, man. Dude, $22.

You're $22. I got a good deal on it now. Yeah, but listen. It's crazy right now. Listen, do exactly what Christy said. Don't even hesitate. And then knock that house out. Because you're going to be in really good shape if a missus comes along, and then we

want to start a family and roll that house, and that house should work for a young couple, right, and the kids. You could be in a really good situation financially. So, man, I just want you to be encouraged. You're in great shape. Do exactly what Christy said there. Knock the truck out and then walk the rest of the baby steps out because you, my friend, are way ahead of the game.

Congratulations. Yeah, you're doing awesome. What an awesome position to be in. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thanks for calling. How about that? That is cool.

22-year-old in the refinery business. And again, I didn't ask you if you went to college, but this is fascinating to be where he's at right now because now he's going to set himself up. Who knows where he's going to go? Yeah. Three years he wakes up, he goes, I want to start my own business, or I want to do this, I want to do that. And all of that freedom financially, and to be able to have capital to start something.

I mean, that's unbelievable. Yeah, yeah. You talk to a lot of small business owners. I mean, having financial freedom to where you could have some cash, and it's a calculated risk, and it doesn't even affect your income, that's a game changer. Well, not only that, but just the thought that he could be potentially totally debt-free before he ever gets married or has kids first of all that is real attractive to a woman for the record watch out but second of all kids are expensive and so you've got all this you have no payments when you're bringing uh you know a

family i mean that's just amazing well done well done wyatt christy right always fun to be with you my friend great great, great job. I want to thank our producer, Ben Hill, our associate producer and call screener, Jenna Sears, and you, America. Thank you for joining us. This is The Ramsey Show. Did you know you can listen to The Ramsey Show on your smart speaker? Just tell Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri to play The Ramsey Show podcast. Check out all Ramsey Network shows on your smart speaker today.

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