The Ramsey Show - App - Should We Buy a House From Family? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: June 14, 2023

Dave Ramsey & Rachel Cruze answer your questions and discuss:  "Should we buy a house from family?" Dr. Meg Meeker on fatherhood, "I feel like I'm focusing on too many things" Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Join a Personality-led FPU class. Click here! Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3cEP4n6 Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Interested in advertising on The Ramsey Show? https://ter.li/s64ye3 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods, moving, and storage studios, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships rachel cruz ramsey personality my daughter number one best-selling author and co-host of smart money happy hour on ramsey networks a very popular fun and funny podcast with george camel is my co-host today open phones at 888-825-5225. Nicholas is in St. Louis. Hi, Nicholas.

How are you? I'm doing good. You? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm good. Hi, yes. I just wanted to call in.

So I wanted to get your opinion on a question I had. So we make about, well, my fiance and I, she's a stay-at-home mother. I work out of the house. I make about $50,000 a year. We have about $11,000 in our loan debt, about $9,000 in other debt like credit cards. And we have a baby. He's eight months old, and we have another baby on the way.

When are you getting married? At the beginning of next year. Yeah. Why? In 2024. Why not yesterday um i think we're just nervous with the like the insurance because right now she's getting insurance um a separate insurance than i am and we're just kind of nervous there with uh how much it might cost us if she goes on our insurance. Don't be nervous. Go find out.

Yeah, we haven't asked a whole lot of questions in regards to that. Yeah, we need to do that. Well, okay. Go ahead. How can we help? Okay. Yeah, so right now we're currently renting from her grandmother. And we started to look at some apartments locally today, the past couple

weeks, actually. And whenever her grandmother found out about this, she offered us the house that we're currently living in. It's worth $250,000 for $150,000. So she's offering it to us for $100,000 less than the market value. And I'm just curious if we should take that offer and what would be the best approach to that. No. You should not buy houses with people that you're not married to under any circumstances. Okay. Okay.

This would be like later on, middle of next year, I would say. Why? Yeah. Why? Saving up for a down payment. Okay. So here's what I would do, okay? Yes.

In terms of the structure of that deal. I would offer to rent it from her for three years with an option to purchase it for $150,000 in writing. In writing. In writing. In writing. Okay. So if she dies, your crazy uncle doesn't try to undo the deal. That makes sense. How did I know you had a crazy uncle?

But anyway, yeah, so you see what I'm saying? So yeah, in writing, and then you go get married, get yourself out of debt, get an emergency fund in place, go check the insurance this week, quit using that as an excuse with a baby on the way. Okay. And let's find out what's going on. I want you to be responsible, and if the insurance gives you really crazy news and you stick with your plan, fine. But you need to be making major life decisions from facts, not feelings. That makes sense. So go get the facts.

Decide when we're getting married. Sooner rather than later is better for the kids, for the finances, for everything. Then we lean in, knock out the debt, build an emergency fund, build a down payment, and then we execute on the option, meaning we go ahead and purchase this wonderful deal. I assume your soon-to-be wife wants to live in this house. Yes, yeah, this has been her dream for a long time. It's her grandmother, is that right, Nicholas? Yeah, it's her grandmother.

Oh, I thought it was yours. She grew up in this house. Oh, so it's not your crazy uncle, it's her crazy uncle. It's her crazy uncle, yeah. Yeah, it's her grandmother. Oh, I thought it was yours. She grew up in this house. Oh, so it's not your crazy uncle. It's her crazy uncle. It's her crazy uncle, yeah. Okay. All right. So, yeah, in writing.

And if you want to get real thorough, you would record the option at the courthouse. Okay. Which keeps title from being transferred. Okay. Because you now have a cloud on the title. They have to talk to you first that's a very that's a very thorough way uh i don't know if i'd go quite that far but it's not the end of the world to do that that would be a very professional uh business way to to

transact this yeah but yeah don't close on this house while you're broke single engaged kids that's what i was gonna say just make sure you do this in order nicholas you guys you're getting married paying off debt pay off your own debt in the process as of now uh work on that and then once you guys have savings you're married everything then yep purchase the home i think think it's great. And I would, it makes things a lot less complicated in many regards. If you guys know you're together, if you know that she's the one, yeah, to get married. And obviously she's expecting, so you don't want to, I understand not wanting to mess with insurance. But yeah, be looking.

Aside from Nicholas, this is just interesting. And it's good for me to point this out. Dr. John Deloney and I were talking about this on the air the other day here on the show. Now today, more people live together that aren't married than are married in America. And so we've had this demographic shift on this issue. Professor Bill Galston, President Clinton's domestic policy advisor, a senior fellow at Brookings Institute, explained the interesting poverty statistics. If you graduate from high school, marry before having a child, and have a child after age 20, only 8% of the people

who do those three things will end up being poor, while 79% who fail to do those three things end up being poor, statistically. Wow. Same thing. 97% of millennials who follow the success sequence, different piece of research, here's the success sequence. First, earn at least a high school diploma to get a job and work three get married before having children will not be poor as they enter their mid-30s 97 of the people who follow that will not be poor as they enter into their mid-30s

and so the success sequence doing things things in order, you said, that's what popped this research into my mind. It sounds like it's old-fashioned values or moralistic Bible thumping or something like that, but there's data that says that people that don't do things in the right order have a bigger struggle. Ninety-seven percent of those who follow the success sequence will not be in poverty in their 30s wow let me tell you what it was again least a high school diploma get a job marry before having kids that's the success sequence the other piece was marry before having a child graduate from high

school and have a child after age 20 only eight percent of the people do who do so will be poor 79 who fail to do those three will be poor eight out of ten so i mean yeah you know so coach yourself up coach your kids up coach your niece and nephew up whatever it is this stuff matters because it has consequences all through. These are not standalone, compartmentalized decisions. They affect your money. They affect your career. They affect your health.

They affect everything. There's a reason for this stuff. This is The Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. And one of our favorite people in the world dropped by to hang out for a couple of segments. Dr. Meg Meeker, author of the book Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, is where I met you many, many years ago. That book was a huge bestseller. And we told all of America about it and made sure it That book was a huge bestseller, and we told all of America about it and made sure it continued to be a huge bestseller, because I just love the concept of

how important dads are in a culture where dads are not respected anymore, and it's getting weirder and weirder and all this kind of stuff. So she's going to hang out with us here. All kinds of fun stuff going on in the whole fatherhood space, isn't there, Meg? Well, there is. And a lot of things are changing and shifting. And that's why I'm really gearing up. I'm serious now about helping dads because no one else is doing it. And I really believe we're coming into what I call the new era of fatherhood.

And I'm writing about that. We've had a convergence of three things. Dads have been gutted. And I'm writing about that. We've had a convergence of three things. Dads have been gutted. And I'm done with that. You know, depression and anxiety in kids is skyrocketing. And I see that. And then finally, kids are getting bombarded with insane messages. And they're being hurt. They're confused even the surgeon general finally came out and said oh guess what people social media is bad for kids and yeah who knew and so i'm a strong believer that dads are the answer to so many of these things but they don't know it so when you say for somebody just we've got a huge segment of our audience that's brand new in the last few months.

When you say fatherhood or dads have been gutted, that was your first point. Talk about what you mean by that. Oh, sure. You know, and I have seen it, and you probably have too, with the rise of feminism. You know, we said women are important, push men aside. And then we said women can do it all, push them farther aside. And then we finally got to a point, it's like, we don't even need dads to have children. You know, we've sort of pushed them away.

We have taught dads they're not necessary. We've taught them that we don't need them financially. We've taught them that moms can meet all of their kids' needs. And now what we've seen is fathers have left. And now we're seeing men in general just being bashed to pieces. If I hear white supremacy and all this anti-masculine talk, and men feel it and know it, and I think it's really time to say, oh, enough is enough. Because what I see in kids is I see the way kids see their dads. And if dads could see themselves the way their kids see them, they'd realize that kids look

at their dads and see pure gold in there. And they want it. And dads have no idea. That's powerful. Because they do. They play such a role as a mom. I play, you know, I have a voice in my kid's life that's different than Winston's and Winston has a voice in our kid's life that is different. So talk, talk about, you know, what is that for, for a dad that feels

like, oh my gosh, you know, I'm working 70 hours a week. I'm exhausted. My kids are into sports. We're running, we're gun gunning we're doing this life um just the average dad out there like what kind of encouragement when you say when you say like your kids when they look at their dads they see gold um you know what what are things that are just like tactically that you're like yeah the average dad out there that's that's doing life and trying to be great right like I mean, I mean, like, that there's not- Working really hard. Yeah. And everybody's telling them they're not. Exactly.

Everyone's telling them they're not, you know, doing a good job. Well, I work with a lot of, you know, intense men, high power, driven. And what I tell them about is there are basically three things your kids need, affection, attention, and affirmation, and acceptance as well. But they need touchdown moments. They don't need to spend long chunks of time with their kids, but focusing on their kids and giving them attention here and there. Bedtime, you walk in a room, put your phone down. You know how much more attention you could give your kids if you just put your phone down?

Yes, yes. Spend a lot of time on emails. And when you see your kids, touch them, hug them, look at them in the face. And when you see them do something, great character, when you see good character, affirm that. And so you can fit all of these things in and around a very busy schedule and get your kids to where you want them to be. So what's the best way when it comes to engaging your kids? How much do you lean on, I'm getting really tactical here, Meg, but like how much do you lean on

like actually physically playing? How much of it is sitting down and being like, I just want to hear how you are and emotionally attaching to your kids? Because I feel like that that's a real big part. That's something even Winston, I talk about a lot with our three little ones is like, Winston is he's such a great dad, but he's like, and he's like, I just want to know, I want to know who they are, where they're at, and talk to them. Talk to them, and they will tell you stuff. You know what I mean? Even at eight, five years old,

they will talk. So how important is the run and gun, the fun, and also balance with like, I actually want to know what's going on inside of you and where you're at and be there with you. Yeah. Well, first of all, it depends on the age of a child. An eight-year-old can't look at you and tell you how they feel.

They just, they can't articulate. And they don't even know how they feel. But this is something you could do. You're sitting in the kitchen, you're doing, I'm sorry, your child's sitting in the kitchen doing their homework. You're in the living room and you say, hey, come here just for 10 minutes, take a break.

I just haven't talked to you all week. How are things? Just ask them some simple questions. Let them answer. Don't say a word. And then they'll go back to what they're doing. Let your kids know you like their company and they'll talk. If you're going on a Saturday morning to change the oil in your car, ask them to go along. If you go to the grocery store,

ask them to just come and just say, I just want to talk to you. And it's in those moments that you hear from them and you figure out what they're thinking and feeling. So is the antithesis of that what has caused this rates of depression and anxiety to skyrocket? Yes. There's disconnect. Disconnect. And here's what's happening.

It's kind of like a perfect storm. Families are living as autonomous beings under the same roof. Kids live in a very separate world from their parents. They do things on the internet, social media, their parents have no idea about. Their parents are on their screens doing their things. And there's really no connection there because kids have learned to interact with people socially very differently than you and I did. And the way they've been taught to interact is not real. It's not satisfying. They're lonely. And that's why depression is going up because there's no sitting down, talking with dad, looking him in the eye, having dinner and saying,

how's that buddy of yours at school that was doing so badly? Talk to me about that. Yeah, so net-net, Facebook friends aren't real friends. No. No, no, no, no. Dr. Meg Meeker is our guest this hour. She's been a frequent appearance on the Smart Conference with us over the years, New York Times bestseller many times over.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters was one of those. Currently, the New Era of Fatherhood video course is available now at meekerparenting.com. Meeker, M-E-E-K-E-R, parenting.com. You can also check out live coaching calls for dads there. And on June 22nd, there's a free live coaching webinar. Talk about that. Oh, that's going to be fun. It talks about how your childhood affects your being a dad.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You say, oh, yeah. But it's absolutely true because what you learned as a kid, what you experienced as a boy. Or didn't. Or didn't. Or didn't. Exactly.

Carries into how you parent in a way it drives your parenting. But dads don't know that. You know, if they had a bad relationship with mom, they have a hard time being close to their daughter, showing affection. And they know they want to, but they don't know why they want to. A lot of things they want to do in parenting, and they don't know why they can't. So let's rewind a little bit. So I'm going to be talking about that. I'm going to be taking calls.

And I'm really excited about the live coaching that I'm going to be doing for dads on an ongoing basis to groups. So good. Yeah. And that's what I love. I love being on Zoom calls with dads and just answering questions. Can you stay one more segment? Yeah. All right, let's keep talking about this.

I want to hear about this four things any father can do to make dramatic changes in their child's life. From probably the world's leading expert on that subject sitting here with us, you don't want to miss this. This is real stuff right here on the ramsey show dr meg meeker the website is meeker parenting.com author of the book strong fathers strong daughters talking about how dad's presence and dad's engagement, all the things that it does. The fatherhood crisis that we have can be tied to a lot of societal crises as well in America.

And it's not just a physical absence and not just a divorce. It's not that. It's this devaluing of the position of fatherhood that you've been so concerned about over the whole years that we've known you. I mean, you and I've been doing this together like 20 years, I think now. And so live coaching calls with dads at meekreparenting.com available June 22nd. Just a few days away, there'll be a free one week away. There'll be a free live coaching webinar. How to experience how your experiences as a son drive your parenting as a dad uh meg and meeker parenting.com the new era of fatherhood

video course available now pick up that book and uh the latest version of that you did was hero dad so it's called yes and you wrote the introduction the introduction. Oh, I did write the intro. You did. The foreword or whatever you call it. Foreword. Yeah. I don't know what you call it. Because I just, from the very first time I read Strong Fathers, and that's got to be

20 years ago, my daughters were already grown, but I started recognizing immediately what you were saying there, that the statistics of a confident woman being associated with having a strong relationship with her dad, a competent grown woman completing education, completing tasks, entering into a successful marriage and all that, had a strong connection, a strong relationship with her dad, and it just started building value in fatherhood like no one I had ever seen. You were the first one I ever saw do that. Thanks. Well, one of the things that I do is I take fathers behind their kids' eyes.

So I help them see themselves as their kids see them. And that's very different. You know, there are a lot of people writing and saying, do this, do this, do this. But I believe once you understand how your kids see you, parenting is a lot different. It's more challenging, but it's simple, but any dad can do it. Because once a dad realizes that their kid sees them as bigger than life, like I said, the man who has pure gold that they need and they want extract a little piece here and there it's transformative and and that's what I'm really committing the the next segment of my

professional life is in teaching encouraging inspiring dads how to be to their kids who their kids want them to be wouldn't you have loved it if somebody came along, Dave, and said to your mom and dad, this is how Dave sees you and this is what he wants for you, he wants from you? I mean, it would be wonderful, you know, because then they would just hopefully deliver what you needed. Yeah, it's a different thing. Okay, doing four things, any father can make dramatic changes in their kid's life regardless of the kid's age. What are the four things and is that really true? Of course it's true. I wouldn't have written it. Is that a trick question?

One of the things that I've done as a physician is I research the heck out of everything I write because we're under a lot of scrutiny. And they're very politically incorrect, which I love. The first one is you need to lead. You need to be the leader. And a lot of mothers, a lot of women in homes hate that because to them, the word leadership connotes, I'm just going to steamroll over you. No, no, no, no, no. Leading your kids well means being that great example of how to control yourself, how to be kind, how to make hard decisions, how to make life at home make sense, how to help their kids when they're faced with tough decisions like the gender identity, the sexuality thing. Dads are the ones who really make that, who really help, who really influence their daughters

in having a healthy sexuality and gender. The other one is to be the stabilizer in the home. We never talk about that. Dads are the ones who can walk into chaos and they can diffuse the volatility. They cause everybody to pause and then they regroup and finish the lesson. I'll never forget, Dave, one of the things that you told me that I thought was amazing, and you can corroborate this or not, Rachel, is that whenever you- You can tell if I was lying when I told you.

Whenever you had to reprimand your kids and they cry, you go back into their room and you'd bring them a wet washcloth. Yes. Reconciliation, yep. That's stabilizing. You go into a situation which is volatile, uncomfortable. Then you take a pause. She goes to bed. And then you regroup and you close the problem. And so many dads don't know how to do that. And that's how you stabilize a family. So lead, stabilize, number three is?

Engage. And a lot of dads don't know how to engage. And so I walk them through that. And by the way, this course is easy, simple. It's all videos, 10 minutes long. Do this, this, this, this, and you're home free. Do this, this, this. And then the last one is Remain Tenderhearted. And again, if you can even get two of these right, you're almost home free because this is what your kids need. And you begin to deliver that to kids, particularly in this day and age when kids don't know how to have healthy communication,

healthy relationships, because they're on social media all the time. And they believe healthy relationships are done over text or through social media. Or likes or follows. Likes or follows. And it leaves them so empty. So that's why I believe if we can encourage and teach dads just to move in a little bit, they're home free. Their kids will succeed.

It's simple. It's not that hard. Any dad can do it. And that's why I'm going to be starting live coaching calls with dads where I talk about a topic and then I answer questions and I love it. So good. So Meg, what would you say to the dad that says, yeah, well, my teenager, whenever I do try to engage or move forward, they walk away, they reject, they don't want, it's like they don't want any part. They're a teenager. But that doesn't mean that they really don't want you. No. Here's the thing. The snarkier the teenager, the more they're screaming,

dad, dad, dad, please come near. Here's the problem. Dads are sensitive. And when their teenage daughter looks like looks at them like get away you creepy person dads take it personally it's not about dads it's about the kid feeling so badly about themselves that's the perfect opportunity for a dad to gently move and ask questions sit and listen listen listen and you'll be amazed how much closer you get to your daughter. It's great. One of the pieces of research I read on this 35 years ago, probably, Rachel was a baby. We were working with teenagers at the church, and there was a guy named Josh McDowell who was doing a bunch of writing on it.

And he said, be sure to teach your dads as your daughters move into teenage years, you will either give them hugs or someone else will. Exactly. Exactly. They're going to fill the void. And that's exactly why they need that attention eye to eye. They need affection. Hug them. Touch them.

But that's just when dads pull away because they become afraid of their teenage girls. How many times do you hear somebody say, oh, the teenage years, oh, it's going to be terrible. Don't say that. The teenage years can be some of the most fun. And just to affirm good character. Treat your kids as though they're the person you want them to be. It's good, Meg. If you want them to have integrity, say, I am so proud of the integrity you've showed here. I am so proud of the integrity you've showed here. I'm so proud of the courage you've showed here. Don't affirm, you know, all their sports and that kind of stuff. Affirm great character.

They will grow up to be that person. It's really good. Really good. Yeah, celebrate that. And celebrating, we had the opportunity this last weekend with everybody together, the whole family. Seven grandkids, 15 dogs. It felt like there were only four, but they were everywhere. And, you know, and food flying everywhere.

It was just, it was a wild thing. But, I mean, we get the opportunity to stop and celebrate. One of Rachel's just won coolest camper at the VBS thing. And so we're like, hey, let's watch the video of her getting that. And everybody gathered around. Her little chest was sticking out. It was so cool. You bet.

You bet. Because you're there to clap for her and say, you go, girl. You can be the strong woman. And strength looks like this, not that. But that award was based on character. Exactly. Not getting an A or scoring a goal. Or being the, yep, yep.

That said kids have been failure. Meg Meeker, you're amazing. Amazing. So again, you guys, meekerparenting.com for all resources. Thanks, Meg. Thank you. We love you, Meg. Thanks for being here.

Our scripture of the day, 1 John 3, 17. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Audrey Hepburn said, giving is living. If you stop wanting to give, there's nothing more to live for. Very cool. Hey folks, finding a high quality real estate agent can be tough. It can even be tougher when you're trying to find one in another city or even another state. If you're relocating, you already got your hands full. You need a pro in your corner.

And we, for years, have vetted our endorsed local providers, our ELPs, and they're high-performing, really strong, excellent real estate agents. We call them Ramsey Trusted because our team trusts them. Yeah, they're trusted. People trust them. Get it? Ramsey Trusted. Yeah.

They're all over the U.S., and no matter where you are or where you're going, they're the top in the business, and they're going to take great care of you. They didn't get their license last week, and they're not your Uncle Charlie or some doofus at the church. They're really people that know things going on in the real estate business. They've got a proven track record of selling and helping people buy bunches and bunches and bunches of houses over a long period of time. RamseySolutions.com slash agents. RamseySolutions.com slash agents. Alex is with us in Chicago. Hey, Alex, welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hey, Ramsey, how are you doing? Great, man. How can we help? So I'm in a little situation in which I was hoping to get both your opinions on. I'm currently 22 years old. I work full-time as a data scientist. I own a business, and I'm currently getting my master's degree in computer science. And the situation I'm in right now is I'm unable to have full capacity in each three of those things in my graduate program, in my work, and in my business. With that in mind, I kind of want to drop one of those or two of those and focus on the other two full-time so I could fully reach my full potential,

either my job or my graduate school or my business. With that in mind, I was wondering which of those three you think I should drop. How much are you making in your in your business the business that you own so the we recently started making profit we're currently profiting about 20 to 27 thousand dollars a month divide that by two because i'm a partner okay so i'm making about $10,000 to $13,500 a month. And how much are you making in your full-time job? $70,000 plus 10K bonus. Okay. A year?

A year, yeah. And you're making $130,000 on your business. Twice that. Yeah, a little over. So the thing is, it's a new business. So it's still a little shaky right now. Like if it hits the fan tomorrow, like the business could close and like. Okay. When you're 30 to 10 years from now, what is going to get you to where you want to be so realistically speaking i will by 30 or the 30s i kind of want to be financially free in a way in which i could do what i want without having to look at the uh without having to pay my bills or worried to pay my bills

okay i'm i'm saying you obviously are in the computer world. You're obviously in the technology world, a master's in information systems. Your side hustle is that, and your day job is that. So what do you want to be doing when you're 32? By 32, I really want to expand this business and kind of just be a full-time business owner. What is the business? So the business is we consult companies on best ways to connect with gaming influencers, but we do that in a very heavy on data compared to our competitors,

and that's what separates us. Okay, you understand that won't be in existence when you're 32. Oh, I did not think about that. Yeah, I mean, four years ago that didn't exist. Right. Don't you think? I mean, you're on the cutting edge of all these things, the rate of change. Now, are you going to be in information systems? Yeah, but, I mean, is it on the cutting edge of all these things. The rate of change. Now, are you going to be in information systems?

Yeah, but I mean, is it going to be doing that? Oh, absolutely not. I mean, you know, a decade ago, think about what we were barely getting. There's a lot of opportunity coming up. The rate of change in your world is blinding. So all you got to do is ride the wave of change and be owning something that is consulting something in that digital world. And I think you've got the brains to do it. After talking to you, you're obviously very bright. Alex, for your graduate program,

do you feel like your degree is going to significantly change your income, your opportunities? In regards to day jobs, so in the world of data science, a lot of people in there that are in a really high position usually go to extremely well-known schools or have a master's degree in statistics, computer science, or something along those lines. So if I really want to ignore business aside, just focusing on my job, it's best for me to long run to get a master's degree. Yeah, but you don't want to work for those companies. You want to own your own thing when you're 32, you said.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. So I guess a job is more of like a backup plan per se. I mean, there's no real wrong answer here. You could dial all three back some and keep doing them all three. You could drop the day job pretty easy as long as you can keep the cash flowing on the side hustle and finish up your master's and then continue your entrepreneurial growth. And your product lines are just going to iterate over a decade in your world. And I mean, data science has become uh front and center any company that is not uh it is not in not concentrating on the management and analysis of data is going to be out of business in

the next five years it's too front and center to make all of your digital everything work i mean everything we do with youtube google analytics uh all of our spotify connections everything we're doing what you're doing there with in the gaming world but we're watching influencers and watching what our stuff does what works and what doesn't and uh and then so we don't you know it's not accidental and and so we've got data scientists in the building here that are helping us crunch those numbers and take us there. Alex, put him back on. Okay. How much do you have left in your graduate program?

So my graduate program finishes next August. The tuition is about $60,000, but I have money from the business purely set aside. My progress in the business so far is I set that aside to pay off my full tuition, but I'll graduate debt-free. Okay, so you have one more year left, basically, of school to get your master's. And you're 22. Go finish it.

I would finish it, yeah. So I would focus on that. And honestly, Alex, tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm like, your business is doing great, so I almost would put more time and effort into that. You're making more money there. And God forbid everything hits the fan. Do you feel like you have enough connections and all of that to go get another job if you needed to making 70?

In 20 minutes. I think I would say that's, I assume, yes. Would you say that's correct, Alex? Yeah, absolutely. I networked heavy in my undergrad, so I could definitely find another job. So what I would, yeah, so I almost would I almost would if you yeah I would finish the degree and work on your own business and again if something happens in six nine ten months and the business fails you can go get another job um so yeah that that's where I lean Alex when you're asking if if you should drop one or two which one would you drop I would drop that one right now but I would finish that degree because that's going to be even more marketable for you after you have that.

If your business, you know, something happens, you're going to have a master's. I'm not even worried about using the master's to get the job. I think finishing the master's will put the tools in your belt that'll help you become the successful entrepreneur you want to be because I think you're actually learning things that are usable. They have utilitarian value. And so, yeah, I think it's a good education.

It's a good education in a good field, and I would lean into it. And it's helpful in the job market, though, when you have that. You're more marketable with that, like he was saying. In that world, yes, he's right. In the data world, I don't disagree. But I don't think he's going to be working for a decade for someone else in a data science position. I think he's going to be doing other stuff. Yep.

That's great. But anyway, could be wrong. So, hey, good luck with that, brother. Thank you for calling in. I don't know that we're of any help at all, but we try. It's what we do. Good show, Rachel. Well done, Austin, Ben, James, Zach, Andrew, Will, everybody in there.

Good work. Good work. The booth dudes are at it again James, Zach, Andrew, Will, everybody in there. Good work, good work. The booth dudes are at it again. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz. If you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey baby steps, go to ramsaysolutions.com and click the Get Started button.

We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. That's ramsaysolutions.com and click Get Started.