The Ramsey Show - App - Should We Live in a Van (Down By The River)? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: July 6, 2022

Rachel Cruze & Dr. John Delony discuss: Quitting a side job to spend more time with family, Selling your house to live in a van (down by the river), Holding to your values while dating, How long to stay in baby step 3b.   Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out today Dr. John Deloney taking your calls this hour about your life your money your marriage your relationships your career anything and everything we are here for you it's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225 so to start us off this hour is Paul in Cincinnati. Hey, Paul, welcome to the show. Hey, John and Rachel, thank you. How are you guys doing today? We're doing great. How are you, Paul?

I'm feeling pretty stressed and torn with a family and money situation. I was hoping to get your thoughts and advice on it. Yeah, we'd love to help. What's going on? Okay. your thoughts and advice on it. Yeah, we'd love to help. What's going on? Okay, so I'm wondering if I should quit my side job to spend that time instead with my wife and newborn baby girl, or should I keep working the side job considering we just started Baby Step 2 this week, and we have about $245,000 in debt. Oh, jeez. What's it in?

$128,000 of that is mortgage. And the rest is student loans, personal loans, car loans, credit card. Okay. All the fun stuff. Yep. Yep. Real quick, will you break down all the debt, not including the mortgage, but break, do you have the numbers for your, for credit card? Yes.

All that? Okay. So. Shoot off. Yeah. I've got about $1,800 in credit card. We have $3,250 to a personal loan, about $3,500 left on a car. Student loan for my wife is about $11,000. A HVAC home improvement loan for about $12,000, a Parent PLUS loan that I agreed to pay back for my mom,

that's $16,000, and then my student loans are about $70,000. Wow. You got a little bit of everything, Paul. Nice little variety there. What do you do for a living, man? I am a manager at a nonprofit that provides free clothing boutique for foster children.

Oh, that's awesome. And how much do you make a year doing that? I make a little over $45,000. And then my wife is a third grade teacher. She makes about $67,000. Okay. Is she going to go back? She is back.

And she's also in grad school to be a school counselor okay we all cash flow in that which we're cash flowing cash flowing okay awesome so the side job was to kind of help pay for the cash flow in the grad school and the added cost of child care okay so when i started it was actually pretty decent paying but it's um my side is I'm a custodian at a local gym. And now that I know how to do everything and it doesn't take me nearly as long, it just doesn't pay as much because it's hourly. Okay. But you're using that side gig money from what you said for child care uh and grad school so is that money already is there anything extra that you have that's going to the debt or is that that all that money from the side

get going to um yeah with the budgeting we realized that we could essentially live on just one income and we were just kind of living in that stupid where we just were spending money that we didn't have on things that we didn't need yeah um so we're able to pay toward our snowball but i'm just i don't want to make it last any longer from the math i'm like it's already going to take five years i just what's your degree what's your degree in paul uh i have a bachelor's in family studies okay so rachel can i hop in here oh please do yeah yeah okay paul i'm gonna just cut to the chase is that cool yeah okay you're broke and you're you're scary broke okay um I know you know that, but I want to say it that starkly.

You're going to have to get a job. The place you work at right now is an extraordinary mission. And it's like you being there is a gift to the people that you serve. And you are in a financial position that you cannot afford to do that type of work right now. And support your family by doing that.

You have an emergency, your house is on fire. And inside your house, having a Bible study or cooking food for the homeless would be great, but right now your house is on fire. You need to get out of the house. Okay? You're going to have to find work where you can get this stuff paid off fast, fast,

fast. It might mean that we're going to pause grad school for a minute because the house is on fire. It might mean that I'm going to stop doing this part-time job here and I'm going to get a full-time job making $60,000 and then I'm going to go work the late shift from 5 p.m. to 11.30 at McDonald's and make $20 an hour on a sign I saw the other day. I'm going to work like crazy

for 20 months, 24 months, and we're going to get this thing knocked out so that I can spend tons of time, full presence, no anxiety, no anxiousness, no it's all coming down. The next time you have an air conditioner fail, it's going to be annoying, not alone, a HELOC, and then you're going to be able to breathe around your baby. That's what I'm suggesting, okay? Yeah. That's the level of radical life transformation your baby deserves you deserve your wife deserves your marriage deserves everybody does i mean sorry no no no it's it because because it because the math when you just look at the math right john does a great job bringing in the the reality of the emotional state and what's going on inside of you.

But also, Paul, the numbers, you guys just have a small shovel with a really big hole is kind of what it is, right? So I'm just like, how can we fill in this hole of debt faster, more efficiently for you and your family? Because that's who I want you taking care of first and foremost before anyone else. And I, yeah, whether it's, I mean, foster care, adoption, homelessness, human trafficking, all of these things in the world, when we can plug ourselves into those things and make the world better, we are all for, all for, but not at the detriment of your family first and foremost.

So even if it's for 18 months that you go and work a job that you're like all right those but it's paying a ton and i'm sacrificing what i love and what my mission is for the moment just to clear all this out and and wipe it out then i get to actually what john was saying i get to breathe and be like okay we have margin i have margin in my life now and so yeah i can take a pay cut and go work somewhere that I really feel called to because I actually can, I can do that and take care of my family. But the quickest way you're going to change the scenario, Paul, really is the income side, getting it up in the side gig. If there's something that pays more or you can do it quickly for two hours and you go over to another side gig. And I know your initial question, though, was, do I keep all of that or spend time with

my family? And I think it can be both. I think that, yes, you are in the middle of sacrifice right now, time-wise, to clean up this financial hole that you guys are in by knocking out these debts. And these are some small debts. That's why I loved it. Like the credit card debt, you're going to pay that off. You're going to stay motivated. And from someone whose dad and parents,

my dad worked all the time when I was little, all the time, Paul, doing all of this stuff. I mean, but I never felt like I had an absent dad because when he was around, he was present. Fully with you. Fully with me. So I think you can still be a great dad and work your tail off for 18 to 24 months

to clear this debt out. But I appreciate your call. I appreciate the work that you do and what's on your heart because it's incredible. Absolutely incredible. This is The Ramsey Show. You know, we did a survey recently looking for ways that we could serve you better. One of the top things we learned is that people need help when it comes to life insurance. Most people know it's a top priority, and oftentimes money's not even the issue, since term life is really just cheap.

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please take the next step. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282 and let them help. I feel like there's so many rumors and just panic around the real estate market right now. There's one truth. It's all coming down, Rachel. People think it's going to crash and the Great Depression is coming. And it's just, there's a lot of feelings, a lot of emotion around this topic. A lot of opinions around this topic. So next week, we're going to do a free live stream called the Real Estate Reality Check.

So it's a one-night event. It's Dave Ramsey, myself, and George Campbell. We're going to break down the real estate market and how it actually works so you can figure out how to navigate it yourself. Instead of listening to all these people from social media and the news and all of us that have this opinion, we're actually going to look at facts, figures, numbers. I mean, we're going to kind of get, it's going to feel like a real estate 101 class in college. Like we are going to, we're going to kind of get, it's going to feel like a real estate 101 class in college. Like we are going to, we're going to get into the details

because it's really important to have facts and knowledge versus just hype and emotion and people freaking out. So we're going to look at data and talk about, hey, what does it look like realistically for you out there? So make sure that you check it out. It's going to be again next Thursday, July 14th, the real estate reality check. And you can register for free right now and get all the answers that you need to make confident decisions. So go to ramsaysolutions.com slash reality check. That's ramsaysolutions.com slash reality check.

Find out for yourself why blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promo codes they run every month, you'll save even more. Use promo code Ramsey to get the best deal. All right, today's question comes from Abby in North Dakota. Abby writes, my husband and I are 32 years old and we have a home worth $400,000. The mortgage is $900 a month with nine years remaining. My husband has epilepsy

and has been unable to work for two years. I bought the property and have been the sole breadwinner during our marriage. He's worked on and off at so many jobs I've lost count. I would like to start a family soon, but he wants to sell everything

and live in a van for four years. I wonder if he wants to go down by the river. I don't want to start over from zero, and it seems easy for him to throw everything away when he's not the one who worked for it. He says he does not want to die having never had the chance to travel,

but that he won't do it without me. Do I sell it all and lose my dream of a stable home, or do I tell him no and live under the weight of his disappointment? Oh my gosh. Yes. Yeah, I'd be in a stable home and living under the weight of my husband's disappointment.

That's the most Rachel thing I've heard. Yeah, you can just go be a disappointed husband. I'm living in my house. I will take the emotional toll and have a roof. Yes. And not a van. No. And again, people live this life.

This is a thing. People go and get school buses and they retro- Watch a lot of YouTubes. They do it. And it's the thing that they love to do. And I think if both of you, if that was the thing you love to do and you're like, you know what? We're going to just travel the country in our van, in our bus and live the life.

Yeah, I mean, find some Wi-Fi and you can work and take your computer and it'll be great. But if it's not both of your dreams, it turns into a disaster. Yes. Okay, I want to work through this backwards. Anytime you're in a marriage and you back yourself into a corner and you create an either-or situation outside of an abusive situation, either I stay abused or I leave the abuse. That's an either-or. Short of that, do I sell it all and lose my dream or do I crush my husband who's dying of epilepsy? You've painted yourself in a corner where it's either a grenade or a nuclear bomb and i gotta

pick because we're one of us is blown up it is yeah this is the only two options in the entire world john that we have always and this goes for anybody who's in a relationship with anybody for anything do i have to stay and be miserable forever or do i quit this job and then go be home let's try a third option or maybe a fourth let's look for him right so don't back yourself into a corner here there's other options here the second thing is y'all have not as a couple dealt with epilepsy and what that means you have a world abby that you have and you've created that you want your marriage to look like you want your home to look like you have a picture of a family in your house, and you have a husband with a debilitating neurological condition.

On the other side, he has a picture of his life where he feels like he's dying. And I don't, she doesn't, I couldn't tell if he's, if this is terminal or what, but let's assume that it's not. He's created a picture of living in a van down by the river. And he like, let's just sell it all. Let's go get it. What happens when you both have different pictures of what your life is going to look like, you start using language like yours and mine and his and mine. And I did this and he didn't do that.

And all of a sudden you are sharing a bed with somebody and you're a foot apart from them, but you're 5,000 miles away from each somebody and you're a foot apart from them, but you're 5,000 miles away from each other, right? You're way on the other side of the world. This is not a finance conversation. This is not a, do we live in a van or in a house conversation? This is coming to terms with this is our marriage and this is what our life is. And when we recognize what it is, then we can decide what this marriage could become together.

Right. Abby, you have to decide if you want to be married to a man with epilepsy who is unable to work point blank. And he has to decide if he's going to continue to be married to you. And your money is y'all's money and y'all's home is y'all's home. Right. All of this stuff is we're doing this together. Yep. Right. is we're doing this together. Yep. And that's the big picture. And then tactically as you live life out, what are ways to kind of scratch that itch of him wanting to travel? Do you go get an RV and go for a week?

There are still those options in between. Multiple options. It doesn't mean that you can never, ever, ever travel. Or it doesn't mean you can never, ever have kids. You guys, there's a medium ground here to get to. Lots of roads in the middle ground. Through that, yes, on the tactical side as well. So good.

All right. Up next is Zach from Dodge City. Hey, Zach. Welcome to the show. Hey, good afternoon, Rachel and John. Thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help?

I'm just looking for a little bit of insight on a life slash financial kind of situation my wife and I are coming up on. I've accepted a new position with my current company that's going to be moving us across the country. So just kind of looking for some insight on if we should sell our house or not. We've been remotely managing it with Airbnb for about the past six to seven months without them traveling. But now we're going to be settling down a little more permanently. I'm just kind of looking for some insight on whether we should sell the house and try to buy one when we're moving, whether we should rent.

The rent's really high in the area we're moving or maybe live in a camper. Even we have a camper currently. So that's what I'm looking for. Okay. Where are you guys moving to? The Idaho Falls area. Okay. Very cool.

So if I woke up in your shoes, Zach, I could tell you what I would lean towards doing and what I would do. I would sell your house where you guys are. I would not continue to be a long-distance landlord. It just ends up being a hassle and you could still get your real estate dreams somewhere else close by.

So I would sell your house. And then, yeah, I would rent for a year. I'm always a fan of renting at least for a year. If you're somewhere new, if you're in a new area, or if you've had a big life change, right? Like if you've just gotten married or something like that. Because renting, you're just in it for that year and you're not having to like make

one of the largest financial decisions of your life, which is buying a house for majority of people. And so you're able to say, okay, we can kind of look at the area, we can figure out what we like, what we don't like, this is kind of what our family's being settled into. And then that even gives you some some bandwidth to even save to that you're not attached to if the heating and air goes out taking care of, you know of the issues that a house comes with, you're not going to have that as a renter. The landlord will take care of that. So again, there's just a little less responsibility moving to a new city when you're renting.

So I like the idea of renting or living in your, if you guys want to live in your camper, you could totally do that if you're comfortable doing that. But I would do that and then look up in a year after you've moved and say, okay, what do we want to do? Do we want to buy? Do we want to buy? Do we want to, yeah. The question I would ask is if you lived in Idaho Falls, would you get how to do an internet search and buy a rental property in Dodge City, Kansas to manage? That would be.

Probably not. I'm actually in Dodge City for work. Okay. And so it's kind of a... Yeah. Probably not. You wouldn't do that, right? He would buy houses around you, right?

And so think of it that way. Now that you're leaving, you've got some roots there. It's also tempting, Rachel, to hang on to those roots when we live somewhere. Yeah. I'd say, yeah, sell a house,

pull up the roots, and go do life elsewhere. Yep. Absolutely. Great call, Zach. Thanks for the, thanks for the question. This is the Ramsey show. Thank you. welcome back to the Ramsey show I am Rachel Cruz with Dr. John Deloney hosting today

and up next is Anastasia from Jacksonville, Florida. Hey, Anastasia. Welcome to the show. Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? So my question is about how can I protect myself and not compromise my standards in dating relationships.

Ah, great question. Sounds like relationship expert John Deloney can help. I got nothing. Is this coming from a particular issue? Something happen? Oh, yeah. Tinder, Tinder, Tinder, the apps. So I swiped right in.

What's the basis of the call? So I have had some duties of relationships and marriages. Tried my hardest to do the right thing my whole life, and it just hasn't worked out too well. But I got out of my second marriage, which was another bad marriage last year. I was on track to, and I listen. I'm not kidding.

I listen to the podcast nonstop every day. I have not missed one John Baloney show. It's clearly not helping. You should maybe listen to a different podcast. I'm not doing very good, Anastasia. Well, that's the thing. i'm having this cognitive dissonance between what i know i need to do and what i actually do okay so like i met someone i i fell for him right feeling but i had these deal breakers up front i've caved on like most of them or whatever. And I just don't know how it is that I keep falling in this trap of not like holding my boundaries in order to like either. Yeah.

What happened in your, in your last marriage? Like in, in, in one sentence, what happened? Um, got married for the wrong reasons. And there was a lot of, what does that mean for money? Good looks, he was a great kisser. Why did you get married? Basically, not to go too far into it, but there was some lying based on they didn't share things about themselves before we got married. And we were kind of, you know, not head over heels or anything, but we were going to try it. But there was

some steel breakers that happened and I had to leave for my mental health. Ultimately, you've probably heard the saying, we marry our unfinished business. Have you ever heard that? Yeah. The things that we need to work in ourselves ourselves we often subconsciously look to have that puzzle piece met through somebody else and the problem is they are doing the same thing with us and we get together and we create a dance and we realize that no external entity can fill up a hole that's inside of us. And then it implodes.

And then we go do it again. And we go do it again. And we go do it again. And until you decide that you and you alone have intrinsic value from the inside out and begin living that way, you create an identity that says, I have. Anastasia has value. Not only the way I quote unquote try to do the right thing, but I do the right thing because it's the most honoring thing to me because I'm worth the right thing. I'm worth taking care of

my body. I'm worth being a steward of my mental health. I'm worth great relationships where I can laugh and be safe. I'm worth those things. That's why I do the quote-unquote right things. Not because the right things are in and of themselves intrinsically. Right things, it's because they work, right? They make our lives better. And so I'm going to do these things because I have value. And then I'm going to meet somebody, not because like Renee Zellweger and Tom Cruise across the room.

Like you complete me. No, you're with me. And together you and I are going to create something totally new. And that's a completely different proposition. That's not about healing. That's about creation. And that's a different world.

See what I'm saying? Well, yeah, I thought I was doing that. Like I thought I was there. No, but, and I thought I was doing that. Like, I thought I was there. No, but you're still doing it with another person. You're trying to drink the right alcohol to stop being an alcoholic. Because I finally felt whole just me, and I finally felt like I was, like, feeling really good and loving myself. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And then I felt like I didn't even, you know. Yeah... You felt healthy, so then you went and got into another relationship, and then within that relationship, you started compromising your... Yeah. And then you're thinking, why do I keep doing this? Probably because... Yeah. So let me challenge you.

Anytime somebody... This is just... It's a trigger for me. When somebody says, I started loving myself and feeling good my next question is what were you doing differently because loving yourself and feeling good is very much in your head and it's the actions that heal us okay it's the things we do and we can get some space from from rage and we can get some space from. And we can get some space from rage, and we can get some space from abuse,

and we can get some space from dysfunctional relationships, and our bodies begin to breathe again, and we mistake that for healing. That's not healing. That's just not affirmatively hurting anymore. I'm not hitting myself with a hammer anymore. That doesn't mean my arm's better. I've got to do something different, okay? See what I'm not hitting myself with a hammer anymore. That doesn't mean my arm's better. I've got to do something

different. See what I'm saying? You had a chance to breathe. You had a chance to smile and laugh a little bit again. You felt good. Then you can start doing the hard stuff, like dealing with the past traumas that I know are there.

Like exercising and moving my body and getting with some friends and having some girlfriends that I can just go laugh with and hang out with. And then your body begins to heal and then you're going to meet somebody. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. You just got to decide I'm going to do it in that order. Am I guessing? I'm in so deep because I have feelings for this new person and now i feel like i don't know how to back out of it because i feel like you know do i work with them and keep on trying

but i'm having to like like all your marriage and money stuff is like not jiving too well with them and it's like trying to convince them i'm like and i'm just working too hard here yeah because in my head i'm like relationships are work but it's not from the front end of trying to put these pieces together and trying to make it like right yeah yeah i'm not the relationship expert but in my head i'm like it feels it does feel like you're trying to make something work that is not naturally working there should be a level of something naturally is connecting and that we naturally agree on values. You're putting way too much in the wheelbarrows just to get out of the gate. Just go have fun.

Go bowling. You know what I mean? Go enjoy your life. Laugh often. Find joy. Go to a movie. Without a guy? Both. Sure. Go with a guy, but it doesn't have to be like, hey, while we're here, are we going to share bank accounts?

What is your opinion? You know what I mean? But eventually she's going to have to ask those questions. That's right. And then when that happens and it doesn't jive, then you don't want to compromise. No, absolutely not. You're not sure where you're thinking, oh gosh, this really isn't. But she needs to chill a little is what you're saying.

Yes. Usually, and tell me if I'm wrong, Estesia, on the back end of multiple relationships that have imploded on you, okay? It's really tempting to try to short circuit the process and get all that crap out up front so I don't have to go through the

pain on the back end. Yeah. Is that right? That's exactly what I was trying to do. I was trying to like... You can't do it that way and I hate that for you, but that's just not was trying to like... You can't do it that way, and I hate that for you, but that's just not the way they work. You can't do it. That's like getting a new... You get fired from a job, and you get fired from another job,

and then you just show up to your third job, and you go, I want four years of salary right now. Give it to me now, and then I'll work real hard. And they're like, that's not really how that works. You can't do it like that. And it's a recipe for you being frustrated, and the person you're dating being like, I just want to go to the movies.

Why does she want my tax returns and my 401k savings? Can we just go to the movies? Can we go to the movies? I mean, I'll trade you a Ted Lasso for your FPU videos if that's going to mean something. I mean, I'll do it, right? That's what we're talking about.

I want you to just take 30% off. Take 40% off and breathe. And I want you to find some people in your life that you can be fully you with and they're going to challenge you to begin to act differently. That's good. Let that confidence grow from the inside out, okay?

You're worth it, man. You're worth it. And so is FPU. Those videos are wonderful, John. They're great date material. Jeez Louise. First date material don't compromise your values Financial Peace University Todd

this is the Ramsey Show Thank you. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz with Dr. John Deloney, and it's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. Up next on the phones is Drew from Greenville. Hey, Drew, welcome to the show. Hey, how's it going? We're doing great, doing great. How can we help? So I have completed Baby Step 3. Nice, congratulations.

Appreciate it. And I want to move on to either Baby Step 3B or should I do 4, 5, and 6, with Baby Step 6 being the saving for the house down payment? Are you guys looking to move? Are you all wanting to buy a house? Well, I'm an active duty Marine stationed overseas. Okay. We're going to be there for at least two more years. Thank you for your service.

I appreciate it. And when we move back to the States, I'll have about a year left before I retire. Okay. And so I didn't know if staying in Baby Step 3B for two years, if that's too long, or should I do like a year and then go to 4, 5, and 6, or should I just capitalize? Because we make pretty good money living overseas right now. Should I just capitalize on that two years and do the 3B and pretty much not 3B out of the way? Or I'm just looking for y'all's opinion on that. Yeah, absolutely.

So when you move back to the States in two years, you're wanting to buy a home, right? That's probably going to be happening. Is that correct? Yeah. Or when you move back for one year, could you just live on base for 12 more months and then go whenever you're,

get a more permanent residence after that? Can then you buy a house then? Right. Yes, sir. That's what it would be. So when we move back, it won't be that year before I retire. It won't be where we would like to settle down.

Oh, I got you. I got you. Okay. So you're staring down three years, right? Yeah, you got three years. Correct. Yes, sir. Okay.

And do you guys know where you want to end up? What part of the country? We'd like to end up in the upstate of South Carolina, where I'm calling from now. But, you know, I guess it depends on what the housing market looks like. Totally. If there's nothing else. Yeah. I mean, I think if I'm you, Drew, I would save something.

And I would kind of look. And again, like you said, we don't have a crystal ball. We don't know. But from the facts we've gathered, I think it's going to look similar probably in three years. It'll probably, you know, home values I think will still continue to increase a little bit. I don't think we're not going to see what we've seen the last two years. It'll probably, you know, home values think will still continue to increase a little bit. I don't think it's going to, we're not going to see what we've seen the last two years. So if I were you just kind of for the fun of it, just to get an idea is just, you know, go online and see what's being sold in that area that you guys want to live

and what kind of house you're like, okay, this would be ideal for us. Here's how much it is now. What would a 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% down payment look like? How much would that be? And kind of do the math to figure, okay, what if we just saved that, put that in a money market account, didn't touch it, and then start it and then press play on 4, 5, and 6? That's probably what I would do, and I would be curious how fast you guys could save up that down payment. Yeah, that's what I think the two years,

two years would put us right at $100,000 that we could probably save. Okay. And that would be probably 20% or more based on when we decide to settle down. So maybe it's even that you saved $75,000, so you can go ahead and start four, five, and six. It's kind of whatever you guys feel comfortable with. But anywhere in that range, yeah, where you've already done it, and you're like, okay, this is how much we can save.

This feels like the right amount of down payment for the type of house we're going to want as of what we see right now. And then, yeah, press play on that four, five, and six. Are your earnings overseas, are they tax-free? No, no, we'll still pay tax. Portions of it is based on like the cost of living that they allow us to have. That's tax free, but everything else is taxable. Okay. And you mentioned the word retirement. Do you have little kids that you're saving for college funds for? now i am i'm putting i have the gi bill okay which is going to probably take care of my daughter she's the closest one she's nine

and then my son's five but uh if he's anything like me he's a knucklehead he's not going to go to college but i'm not going to sell him short so there you go that's it so here's rachel tell me if i'm wrong on this it It feels like we got 3B, you got 4, 5, and 6, and then there's this magic moment to save, to just crash course a lot of cash over two years overseas. Some of it's tax-free, some of it's regular. Got your living expenses comped in some areas. This seems like a moment to really just stack up cash, right?

And then you come back and really begin to play with reality again. And what you want to do, yeah. And that might not be the best way to deal with that. How old are you, Drew? Oh, math in public, 37. 37, okay, okay, that's good. There you go. Yeah, I'll go with 37. 37, okay, okay. That's good. There you go. Yeah, I'll be 37 this year.

But you've got a five-year-old that suddenly turns, will be a seven-year-old. It's not like you've got a 16-year-old that's about to be an 18-year-old when it comes to how we're going to deal with college. You see what I'm saying? Right, right. And you've got the GI Bill.

So I might lean that way. Yeah, just to save. Yeah, you guys just stockpile some cash. And then got the GI Bill. So I might lean that way. Yeah, just to save. Yeah, you guys just stockpile some cash. And then once you feel good about, you know, even if you hit that $100,000 and you're okay, maybe we can open up a Roth IRA. Whatever that one year time is. Or maybe do your Roths both years, but keep on. Right, so you're doing a little bit of both. Yep, yep.

I think either way, Drew, I think you guys are going to turn out just fine, the situation. Because one year isn't going to absolutely implode your retirement. You're going to be okay even if you didn't fund retirement for these two years. But I would save up for that down payment because that's going to be a wonderful gift when you guys come back to the States. And after retirement and after living on base for that year, to be able to press play and put a good down payment on a home is going to feel great. So yeah, I would save that up for two years and then year three during retirement, I would press play on a couple of retirement investing in it.

And let me give you this one character note, Drew. Usually when we're talking to people with the character that you have, which is a person of high intentionality, you're talking about a decision you're going to be making right now. It's going to impact you in three years. That's how intentional you are. You're thinking 36 months ahead,

and you're thinking long-term for your children. You're going to be okay. It's the folks that are thinking five minutes down the road, 10 minutes down the road, 10 minutes down the road, not 36 months down the road that we are really concerned about. Say, hey, hey, hey, look out on the plan. So you're nudging at the edge of the margins here, man. You are going to be great. Yep. You're doing great, Drew. Great job. Thanks again for your service. All right. Up next is Liam from Lexington. We're right up against the clock, so go quick. Hey, Liam. How can we help?

Hey, I'm a 21-year-old, I guess, foreman at the moment at my company, and I have the opportunity to go to school at the college I want to go to for almost nothing. The military is paying for it. I'm in the National Guard. Wonderful. Right now. What's that? I said wonderful.

Thank you. Thanks for your service. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right now. What's that? I said wonderful. Thank you. Thanks for your service. Oh, yeah. Yeah. My pleasure. But right now, I have a really good paying job. I earn about $25 an hour. And I was just wondering, like, I'm kind of torn between going to college, which I've wanted to do. What's the job?

I mean, what's the career? What are you going to go study? My career is business administration with a specialization in project management. That's what I'm doing now. And so I have the practical side down of the degree, but not the actual. Credential. Yeah, the credential side of things. Rachel, you and I may disagree.

If you were my son or you were me or you were my brother, what I would tell you is go to college. I was going to say the same thing. Go get the degree. This is a remarkable opportunity to get a degree with an extensive ROI attached to it for basically nothing. And it's a school you want to go to. You're going to work hard.

You're going to get this stuff knocked out. And $25 an hour is going to go to. You're going to work hard. You're going to get this stuff knocked out. And $25 an hour is going to be way in your rearview mirror. When you combine your tactical knowledge plus this new information, you're going to learn. And by the way, go in open-minded because there's a lot you're going to learn. And then you're going to have the credential on top of it, man. I'd tell you to go to college. Yep. Absolutely. Liam, I would say the same thing. I'd go to college. I would do it. And then you're going to come out with a wonderful degree that everyone's looking for project managers. So you're picking a really, really smart degree as well.

So great job, Liam. But don't borrow a penny. Don't borrow a penny. Yes. Go debt-free. Debt-free. All right. That puts the sour of the day of the Ramsey Show in the books.

Thanks, Kelly, James, Ben, Zach, Andrew, and Austin, and John Deloney. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's John Deloney, co-host of The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? A lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, go to RamseySolutions.com slash show.