The Ramsey Show - App - Sick and Tired of Working With Nothing to Show for It (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 22, 2019

The show about you

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Yvette starts off this hour in Columbus, Ohio. Hi, Yvette.

How are you? Good, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Hi. So I went to a Smart Money event last night, and I met your daughter, Rachel. And I was super excited.

I had an awesome time. I actually won $250. Wow. And I bought the FPU for my husband and I to participate in. And when I told him about it this morning, he was really, really upset. He's aware of what the program is. We're on board with trying to get that free. But I was looking for a fresh start,

and I was wanting to come clean about a credit card that I've had that he doesn't know about. And when he freaked out about the $100 I spent on FPU when I won $250, I was just really caught off guard and like, I don't really know where to go from here. Okay, I'm a little bit confused about what he freaked out about. Because I didn't discuss it with him. If you spend $100, your husband freaks out. Yeah, because we didn't talk about it. And I have a history of not doing that. You have a history of buying stuff and not talking about it.

Right. So it really wasn't the purchase of FPU, and it really wasn't the $100. You have a history of buying stuff and not talking about it. Right. So it really wasn't the purchase of FPU and it really wasn't the $100. It was the action of you continuing to do things with money that you guys are not in agreement on. Right. And he's tired of that. Right, which he has every right to be. And that's kind of where I got up to the point last night at the event where I'm like, you know, enough is enough. Like, this is ridiculous.

I don't need to be acting like a child with money. Like, I need to, you know, like, we need to do this. And I'm ready to take responsibility for my part in this. And that's kind of, like, what I wanted to do today and come clean with him. But then when he was so upset about just like the $100 that he wants to do. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He is not upset about the $100. He's upset about your continued pattern.

Let's name this what it is. Okay. Yeah, that's fair. Because otherwise we're making him sound like a jerk, and he's not. He had a right to be upset. Because this is a continued pattern of you guys, of you just doing whatever the flip you want with money, and you guys are not on the same page, and he's tired of that.

Right. Okay. And he has every right to be, and that's kind of where my hesitation is, because basically I heard you say it before to somebody else where my hesitation is because, like, I basically, I heard you say it before to somebody else that it's like I've been unfaithful in the relationship, and that's exactly how I feel. Yeah. And I don't know how to kind of, like, air this out and then.

Well, you don't, yeah, you're not in a safe place right now with the relationship is what you're saying. And so since he, this is not going to go well right now is what you're saying. So, hmm. And so he, I think the two of you probably ought to start going to Financial Peace University, but as you're doing that, you probably need to sit down with a good marriage counselor, and you need to create an environment with that marriage counselor in the next three or four weeks where all your cards are on the table, especially this credit card.

And because you're not going to be able to go through financial peace university carrying the secret that's not going to work and every day you carry it right now it's going to get worse in terms of um his reaction but you've got also got a a thing here where he's going to have to at some point from a relationship standpoint give you a fresh start and say, okay, from today forward, we're going to go, okay? And instead, right now, what he's doing is he's looking at the pattern and all the history every time anything comes up, which is not, it's justified, but it's also not going to work going into the future if you're changing, right?

Right, right. If you're going to continue the pattern that you've done, then you're going to continue to get him upset. I mean, and as you said, he's got a right to be, and I agree. So I think the two of you need to sit down with a good marriage counselor, and then I think the two of you need to go to this class together. Do you think you can get him to go to both? No, because he's – i've gone to counseling before and and we've done the marriage

counseling before but the way he sees it is that these are my issues which i feel like they are too um but yeah they're they're not though i mean they are your issues but you guys getting your relationship put back together is both issues, both of your issues. Right. And so we cannot stay where we are with this broken trust and disrespect, and it's unraveling. Right. And so he does have issues in that regard. And whether he thinks he does or not, it's not the point. Has he done, quote, something wrong that he needs to go to counseling for does or not it's not the point has he done

quote something wrong that he needs to go to counseling for no that's not what i'm saying but the two of you have got to find you've got to map out a process whereby you can heal this and go forward and that's not just going to be oh your vet starts behaving it's not that simple because he's going to have to then there's got to be some payoff for you where trust is rebuilt and the relationship heals and you move forward and so that's where you need a good marriage coach to you know lay out the path forward between the two of you and um so yeah you need to if he won't go you need to go see a marriage counselor without without him because i'm afraid for your marriage right now it's in a real broken place and i'm afraid that this credit card

might be the last straw if you don't map it out properly um because it sounds like he's he's at the past the boiling point on this um and so if he sees this as one more time that you have violated this process and he sees no he begins to see no hope that you're ever going to stop then that's when this is going to be over and and it sounds like it's getting close to that in his head so you need someone to navigate you guys through this so you can stay together in this process and then yeah you do need to go to then, yeah, you do need to go to class together. And, yes, you do need to go to marriage counseling together. I can't make him go, though.

But you're asking me what I would do if I were in your shoes? That's what I would do. Thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Tommy is on Twitter. Dave, I heard you mention that it isn't a necessity to put down 20% for first-time homebuyers. Can you explain why?

It's not a necessity for anyone. It's just preferable. And I really, there's no excuse to not put down 20% when you're coming out of a second home, going into a second or a third or a fourth home, because you've got the equity to work with. And so, yeah. But first-time homebuyers saving up pure cash out of their check in order to put down money. And I would love for you to put down 100%.

I'd love for you to put down at least 20% and avoid PMI. But when you're a first-time homebuyer saving up the cash and getting started and getting on a 15-year fixed, I understand if you put down 5% and get started after you've got your emergency fund in place and you're out of debt. That's why. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs.

Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accredited organization organization CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years, and our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which means even if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color,

they'll remake your window blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping, and with new promos every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSEY. James is in Utah with a question. My wife and I have completed Baby Step 3 this week. That means they're out of debt, everything but the house, and they have their emergency fund of three to six months of expenses in place. It's time to move to Baby Step 4, but we make too much to contribute to an IRA.

What's your suggestion for retirement savings vehicles? Well, if you have a 401k at work, there's no income limit on that. You can do backdoor Roth IRAs if you make more than $200,000 a year, which Sharon and I do every year. And a backdoor Roth IRA is simply where you open an after-tax traditional IRA and 30 seconds later roll it into a Roth. It does not create any additional taxes, and you've got the money in there to grow completely tax-free.

And, of course, you can do one for you and one for your spouse as well. And that will not get you to 15% of your income if you're making more than $200,000. It'll only get you about 7% of the way. So you're going to need 401Ks or something else if you're self-employed. You can look at a simple IRA, which is a 401K for small business, or a SEP, a Simplified Employee Pension Plan, SEPP. Any of those will work, either one of those. And so just look and sit down with your SmartVestor Pro

and find out what avenues you've got that you can save towards retirement. But we want to get you to 15% of your income, and if you're making $200,000, that's $30,000. And a couple of Roth IRAs, you're limited on that, obviously. And you can do $6,000 a year this year, and $7,000 if you're over 50 per person. And so that would get you to $12,000 if you're under 50, two of you um out of that 30 but still got 18 to go and you can put up to 19 into a 401k if you have one available and that would get you there eric's with us in philadelphia pennsylvania hi eric welcome to the dave ramsey show hi dave thanks for taking my call. How are you today? Better than I deserve. What's up?

So I'm doing okay for myself, but I'm wondering how I can help my family out. So the situation is that my mom and uncle each own a home. They're two adjacent homes, three-bedroom homes. Only one person lives in each of them. However, the one that my uncle is in is about to go into foreclosure. He took out a mortgage on the home just to pay for his expenses. The homes were inherited from their parents, and they've used the money for the mortgage to partially pay it back on itself, and then also they've used it for frivolous expenses, you know, cars that they don't need. And so the mortgage is now in foreclosure,

and while my mom, who owns her home and gets her income from SSI and disability, what she wants to do is she will ask me to purchase my uncle's home and refinance the mortgage, and she thinks that she can pay off the home with some of the income that my uncle also earns. But I think that's realistic. And I told her that I cannot do that. So with that in mind, what she's moving towards doing is taking out a home equity line of credit on a home that she owns so she can pay off the mortgage for him. And I don't know how to dissuade her not to do that. And I think if she does do that, she will ultimately go into just a spiral of debt, and I'll end up having to support them both.

So I don't really know what to tell them or what to try and do to fix their situation. So I'll have to support them when they're old and potentially without homes at all. Well, you don't have to support them both. There's no law that says that. If your mother's doing cocaine, you don't have to support them both uh there's no no law that says that um if your mother's doing cocaine you don't give her cocaine you don't give her money so you don't support people's misbehavior that's called codependency and so um no your mother is about to make a huge mistake and it's time somebody quit bailing your uncle out he needs to just sell that he needs to sell that house is what he needs to do and move and go rent something before it gets foreclosed on.

But your mother is, you know, I would just be all up in her grill saying, Mom, you just are not going to do this. You are not going to do this. And if you do this, don't you dare call me after I've told you to do this. Don't you dare call me and ask me for money, ever. Because I'm telling you right now, this guy is misbehaving with money, and he's going to take everybody in the family down the drain with him. You're going to have to get real strong about this, because nobody in your family talks about the fact that your uncle is being stupid regularly no one says it

out loud it's the dirty little secret it's a wink and a nod it's the elephant in the room that nobody discusses is standing on the middle of your coffee table am i wrong i totally agree with you yeah so you need to have a very very very, very clear conversation with your mother. How old are you? I'm 24 years old. I'm on baby steps, 3B. I'm saving up for a down payment on a home. Yeah, she's not going to listen to you.

You're right. Yeah. That's exactly the problem that I'm having. Exactly. You've got powdered butt syndrome big time. Once somebody's powdered your butt, they don't want your opinion about money or sex. Let's see. Does she go to church?

She does go to church, yes. How's her relationship with her pastor? It's a very large church that's got about 5,000 members, so there isn't much of a relationship with her church, but she does attend every weekend. Who does she respect that you can drag into this, that would get in her face and tell her not to do this? Oh, boy.

I don't know if there's anyone that she respects. I mean, she speaks to my father occasionally but our relationship isn't that great uh i don't i don't know someone who wait a minute your father did you say yeah uh they're divorced um they don't live together yeah he has his own set of problems. Okay, so here's the thing. Your grandpa that left these two people houses, he's just rolling in his grave right now. This is killing me. Oh, yes.

This is killing me. This is not how that man lived his life. Yeah. All right, the answer is you need to, if you can find someone to speak into her life that she'll listen to that you can bring into this conversation and go sit down at her kitchen table with this person who will look at her and speak plainly to her and she will hear them because she does not need to do this no she doesn't do you think that i I could maybe get assistance of a professional, like a lawyer or a counselor or someone like that? Only if she would listen.

Is there a family attorney that did this will that caused these two people to end up with these houses that she'd listen to? Your grandpa's attorney? Potentially, yes. In a small town, your grandpa's attorney is well-respected, and he would sit down with her and go, you know, John, or whatever your grandpa's name was, he'd be having a fit right now, Martha. Don't do this, right? And if you've got somebody that can do that, that's what I'm looking for. And, look, pray and ask God to send that person into your mind or into her life,

because I'm afraid that she's not going to. It's not because I don't think you're smart. At 24, you're asking all the right questions. You've really got a pretty good handle on this. But I want to relieve you of responsibility to take care of people who refuse to do smart things just because they're in your family. That is not a moral responsibility on your part. What do you think is the best course of option for him to sell the house and rent?

Yes. He has lost the house. He lost the house and rent or for him to sell the house? Yes. He has lost the house. He lost the house by his misbehavior. It's in foreclosure. He needs to sell it before he loses it, right? Yes, definitely. He does not have a way to save this house without someone else putting all their assets at risk to bail him out,

and then he's not going to change anything, and then the next time it goes around, they're all going to lose their houses. That's what's going to happen because this guy hadn't changed a thing. And, yeah, he needs to sell his house. That's what he needs to do and go rent something. And I screwed up and lost the house. That's what it amounts to. And start again fresh, and he can start fresh. And your mom will be okay.

And let her stay in her paid-for house while she's on SSI, which is exactly what she needs. She does not need a mortgage. I'm sorry, man. I'm frustrated with you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Let me tell you a story about two families that are very much alike in a lot of ways. Both families have two working parents and a couple of young kids. Each has debt and a struggle to make ends meet. But they're starting to make headway with their budgets and smarter decisions with money.

They have dreams and plans, and the only real difference is that one family has the right amount of term life insurance, and the other doesn't. Big difference. If one of the parents die, and that does happen, their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other bills would be impossible, let alone saving for education or retirement. That's why every day I talk relentlessly about getting term life insurance. Just go to ZanderInsurance.com or call 800-356-4282 and see how inexpensive it really is.

Be the family that takes those deliberate steps to be different and responsible. It really does make you the hero of your story, and it puts you on course for better things ahead. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Todd and Carla are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Hey, Dave. Where are you guys from? Northern New York. Just say Canada.

Okay. Almost. Barely, huh? Okay. Well, welcome. Good to have you guys. And all the way to Nashville to do a debt-free scream. Absolutely.

Yes. And how much have you paid off? $164,000. Wow. And how long did this take? Two and a half years. Okay. And your range how long did this take? Two and a half years. Okay. And your range of income during that time?

We started combined gross income probably around $70,000 to $80,000. We're now around $200,000. Whoa. Nice jump. What do you all do for a living? I'm a school administrator, and Carla is a dog breeder. Ah. Okay.

Very cool. What kind of debt was the $164,000? That's our house, Dave. You paid off your house? Yes. Look at it win, people. Yeah. You guys are amazing.

Okay, now tell me the story on the shirts. Tithe it? Is that what it says? That's what it says. Tithe it. So tell me the story. What's that? I knew you were going to ask us what the most important thing was, and this was it.

Tithe it first, and then everything else follows after that. The budget for sure, but tithe it. So what's the secret to get out of that? Tithe it. That's the answer. Tithe it. Okay, gotcha. Okay.

Very cool. So what's your house worth? $400,000. It's all yours. It is ours. I love it. I own the grass. And the bushes. I love it. Yeah, good. It is ours. I love it. I own the grass. And the bushes.

I love it. Yeah, good. Well, congratulations, you guys. Very cool. And you did all that in two and a half years? We did. Tell me the story. What happened?

What got you on to this? We were sick and tired of being sick and tired. We just needed a change. And we got out of consumer debt 2014, and then we just thought this felt really great, and let's just hit the house. So we just knocked it out. Just like that? We just had enough.

Yeah, just like that. Yeah. Okay. What started you guys on this whole path? Looking towards the future, trying to figure out with these two guys how the plan for college was going to be and how we were going to pay for that. And we were really just kind of sick of working and not seeing it go anyplace. And then basically I got a couple promotions, and then Carla figured out the dog business,

and that really accelerated things from there. What kind of dogs do you breed? Golden Doodles. So it's a golden retriever bred with a poodle. And I wanted to always be a stay-at-home mom and do my mom things at home and help. So we started a business, and it just took off. And so every litter we had, we threw it at the house. People thought we were weird, but we're weird now.

You're definitely weird now. Well, you picked up a wonderful breed and a very popular breed. Yes. And expensive enough. Yes. So you can make some money doing it. That's good. Yeah.

And they're great dogs. Yes. I had a golden retriever for years, one of my favorite dogs. So great dogs. Yeah. And they're just sweet. And so very cool, you guys you guys yeah so how did you get connected to us uh i got your book in a barnes and noble years ago and read and just read it

and it just it made sense it just nobody was really teaching that in our area and i just um i would can't come home and talk to todd and let's do it we decided so the So the Total Money Makeover book showed you how to do the consumer debt, and then the continuation was paying off that. Yeah, and then just once you're debt-free, the feeling is great, and we're just done. We do not borrow money anymore. We're done. Ever, ever, ever. Ever, ever.

And our kids are like, they're not going to do that. They're going to pay cash for everything. It's just freeing, and it's God's way. It really is God's way. And he honors the way it was set up, you know, to live debt free. You've changed your family tree. Yes. More ways than one.

Yes. Well done. Very well done. Other than inside the family, who were your biggest cheerleaders? Boy, that's a tough one. We were pretty quiet about it, actually. I'd say it was really these two just going right along with it and saying, we know this is the right thing to do, and we're going to do it.

Okay. So you didn't make a big deal out of it. You just did it. We made a decision. We said we're going to do it, and once the decision is made, we're going to do it. Did it happen faster or slower than you originally thought when you first started? Faster. Absolutely faster. Faster. Accelerated.

It accelerated. It became a snowball real quick. Once the consumer debt was gone and we decided it was the house, then it just kept going. We pounded the house. When you sat down and looked at the house, though, you didn't think you were even... Then you didn't even think two and a half years. No. You're not supposed to do that. Yeah, you thought three, four, five, I'll get it done.

But then, boom, two and a half. Am I right? Yes. Yeah, that's very cool. Very cool. So, what are the kiddos' names and ages? This is Mia. She's 16.

This is Carter. He's 15. All right. Very cool. Very cool. I'm looking at some debt-free people forever. I love it. Yeah.

Very cool. Very cool. Good for you guys. Well done. Very cool. Good for you guys. Well done. Well done. Proud of you. Well, we've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, number one bestseller, Everyday Millionaires. That's the next chapter in your story for sure.

Yes. Halfway there, just on this house. Yes. So you get the 401ks loaded up. You'll be there in 20 minutes, man. I'm loving it. You're on the way. This is great.

Very well done. We're proud of y'all. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. I'm looking it. You're on the way. This is great. Very well done. We're proud of y'all. Congratulations. Thank you. I'm looking at weird people. It's a good thing. Todd and Carla, Mia and Carter, $164,000 paid off in two and a half years, making $70,000 to $200,000.

House and everything. Yeah. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're done! Woo-hoo! Love it, love it, love it.

Well done, you guys. Very well done. Man, that's good stuff. Cliff is in Greenville, North Carolina. Hi, Cliff. How are you? Hey, Dave. I'm focused and not finished.

How are you doing today? Just the same, sir. How can I help? Good, good. Look, I want to thank you for helping my wife and I pay off our debt. And now we are just normal people before we met you. And now we are in Baby Step 3B. And we are planning on building

a house which is going to start construction later this year. And we've already saved up, I guess, a pretty healthy down payment, or I think so, or we think so. So my question to you is, do we go ahead and start investing at this point, or, because I feel like we're missing out on some returns. I mean, what's your thought on that? How much have you saved towards the house? As of right now, we've got about $46,000 for a down payment.

And our house is estimated to cost around $180,000 to $200,000 range. And you're going to start building in the fall? Yes, sir, probably in November. And it'll take, what, a year? It'll probably take around nine months, I guess you could say, yes, sir. So 18 months from now you would move in approximately? Yes, sir, around that time. And, you know, we're going to be able to save, you know,

from now until we start building the house. What's your household income? Let's see. We're right around the 75, 80, 85 mark. Right around 80. And how old are you? 28 and 29. Okay.

And so if you don't start investing until you're 30 or 31 and you save 15% of your income to retirement, you'll still be a multimillionaire. Wow. Okay. That's crazy to think. Yeah. So I think you're okay. And what I would do if I were in your shoes is I would just continue to save during the 18 months until you actually move in the house and close on the mortgage.

And I would throw as much cash as I can at that. How much more could you put with a 46 if we did that? We're thinking that we could save at least another 15 to 20 by the end of the year. Well, that's only halfway there, though. So you might do another 40. So, I mean, you could put down half right i'd love that i'd love that that was pretty neat you know i just thought that you know i was kind of stuck in between a rock and a hard place with what to do you're not you got you got time and the thing is you're you're

not somebody that's wandering around out there loosey-goosey and doesn't doesn't have a plan you've got you're really watching, and you're 28 years old. I mean, dude, you're on fire. So you're going to be fine. You're going to be fine. Because as your income goes up, beginning at age 31, you're investing 15% of your income, and as your income goes up, put those numbers in that RIQ on Chris Hogan's site,

and you'll see what it does. It's going to turn into some serious bucks. So you're fine. R.I.Q. on Chris Hogan's site, and you'll see what it does. It's going to turn into some serious bucks. So you're fine. You're fine. Because I'm not fearful that you're never going to invest. I think you're going to. So I would really say, hey, let's just let's really put a big chunk down on this house.

Man, and you could put the thing on a seven-year mortgage or something. Wouldn't that be cool? This is the Dave Ramsey Show. becca's in carson city nevada hi becca welcome to the dave ramsey show hi hi what's up my question is okay so i'm legally married to the same person for the last five years. We're unable to get a divorce because there's children involved and we can't find him to serve him. So I was wondering where would I start in this whole program so that way I'm not paying off his debt? Because I don't see any of his debt on my credit. I just don't want anything to be applied to him to help him if I'm the one with the children. Okay. Well, I'm not an attorney,

but I don't think that's correct that you have to serve him. A certain period of time has gone by and the guy is just gone there ought to be a process you can use in court to walk you through this uh i think you may need a different attorney yeah we are we're already researching that part right now too um it's just been a very long process but i want to start it doesn't need to be a long process. It needs to be over. I know. Yes, I agree.

Anyway, because here's the concern, okay? Yeah, you could get your debt paid off and work yours off and build up some savings and start to build wealth and go on, and then he shows up and gets half of it. Exactly. That's the problem. That's why we need to get this final um or some kind of legal separation or some kind of uh documentation you know again i'm not an attorney and i'm certainly not an attorney in nevada so you'd want someone that knows the law

in your state but is there something where you know from this date forward, we can keep his hands out of your pockets? Because this is the kind of guy who will show up about the time you've got some money. Yes. That's exactly what I was thinking. So I don't want you to stay broke just as a protection against a potential parasite, right? But on the other hand, we need to be wise about this. So, you know, it's more of a legal battle and a legal issue than it is a financial issue. You need to do something so that you can begin your life financially.

You need to do something in the courts, whether it's a legal separation, whether it's filing, you know, whatever you've got to file that you can't find him or whatever the process is. But I can probably solve that if I'm you in about two weeks, somebody is going to get to the bottom of this and we're going to settle this. This is not going to drag on five more years. And you've gotten out of debt and built up your 401k to a half million dollars and then he shows up and and has legal rights to half of it because of marital laws in nevada i don't know but that's that's my fear so i'm not gonna i can't give you a a structure or

a process to protect you other than divorce and so that needs needs to happen in this case. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you're facing all that. But, yeah, you need to get so you can start your life, you know, and you're kind of held in limbo is what it amounts to, so that you can then work, get your debts paid off. Yeah, get yours paid off, whatever's in his name. Likely you could get it handed to him in a divorce court.

But, again, the more this drags out and the more you build wealth, the more muddy this water is going to be when you do finally get everything drawn to a head, and it needs to be. Nathan is with us in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Hi, Nathan. How are you? I'm doing pretty good today. It's Friday.

How are you today? Better than I deserve, sir. How can I help? I have just filed bankruptcy this last year before I started listening to you. I just started listening to you about two weeks ago, and I really wish I would have heard of you before then. My question for you is, I have a credit card that I got after my bankruptcy to try to reestablish my credit, and it's a $300 limit, and I have it already. Like, I can pay it off in one check. It's not that it's unmanageable.

But should I cut it up and throw it away, or what should I do with it? Because we're baby step one. Well, like you said, Nathan, you're kind of new to all of this. And what I teach is, and the way I've lived my life after I filed bankruptcy at 28 years old 30 years ago, is I quit borrowing money for anything. And for that reason, I didn't need a credit score. What about buying a house? I mean, one day we want to buy our own house.

How do we establish our credit? Or I can use my VA loan. You won't want to use the VA loan. It's a more expensive loan. You'll want to use a conventional Fannie Mae loan. It's a better deal. And, you know, it'll be about four years from the time your bankruptcy was dismissed before you'll be able to qualify for a traditional mortgage,

and regardless of how much credit you build or don't build, when you get ready to do that, if you've had four years of paying your landlord early or on time, you're steady on your job, and you have a good strong down payment, you can get a mortgage without a credit score, and you'd have a bankruptcy there in your past, obviously. But you're not going to offset a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in four years running up credit cards. Your score's not going to flip on you for that. So you do what we call in the mortgage business a manual underwriting,

which is if I were to go get a mortgage, and I'm a multimillionaire, but I'm not going to go get a mortgage and i'm a multi-millionaire but i'm not going to go get a mortgage but if i were i would have to do manual underwriting because i don't have a credit score my credit score is zero because i haven't borrowed money in 30 years and so um that that's the goal because your number one wealth building tool is your income and you don't want to go back in debt. It just got you bankrupt. Yeah. So, I mean, debt hadn't worked good for you, you know? Didn't work good for me either, brother.

My wife and I are scared. Huh? It's got my wife and I scared looking at it as a debt and wondering if we're going to get back into debt because, I mean, we already got a $12,000 hospital bill, and things are already piling back up on us. And, I mean, I have a good job, but it's just kind of scary getting back into this. Yeah, what do you guys make? I went last year for making $38,000, and I just got a new job driving a truck.

I'm making $60,000 this year. Good, good. Does she work outside the home? She's working on her disability. She's got medical issues. I'm sorry. Okay. How old are you guys? I'm 32. She's going to be 35 this year. Okay. Well, like I told you, we were 28 when we hit the wall. So let's do this.

Let's give you the tools so you don't have to live with this money thing hanging over your head. You need to make money behave and tell it what to do instead of wondering where it went all the time. I'm going to pay for you to go through our our class financial peace university if i pay for it will you two go definitely okay thank you yeah you need you need to have the all the different pieces of tools in your belt to be able to fight this and win and um you know the credit card yeah we're going to cut that up and get you a debit card and no we're not going to worry about building your credit because credit has not been your friend and instead we're going to cut that up and get you a debit card. And no, we're not going to worry about building your credit because credit has not been your friend. And instead, we're going to take this wonderful income you have.

And then when her money comes and so forth, then we'll be able to know what to do with it. Every dollar is going to have an assignment, and you're going to build wealth from this point forward. So hold on, and Kelly will pick up, and she'll get you signed up for Financial Peace University as our guest. We want to make sure you're taken care of. Folks, if you'd like to be part of this mission where we're giving hope to millions of people, check out some of the opportunities we've got to join our team. We're hiring about 200 people in the next 18 months. And everything from Ruby on Rails senior developers,

UX designers, creative directors, web designers that are experienced. We're hiring salespeople. We're hiring admins. So go to DaveRamsey.com and click the Dave's Hiring tab on the right side of the homepage. And, you know, check out what we've got going on here. We win Best Place to Work 10 times in a row. And we'd love to have you find out why,

because we're the best place to work, by the way. So, you know, it's pretty incredible. Things are growing around here. It's a lot of fun, and we'd love to have you potentially on our team. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show and the books. Our thanks to James Childs, our producer, Kelly Daniels, our associate producer and bone screener. I am Dave Ramsey, your host, and we'll be back.

Hey, it's Blake Thompson, senior executive producer for the show. You know, you can listen or watch anywhere with the Dave Ramsey Show app on your smartphone. Catch the full show or watch the highlights and check out Dave's upcoming guests. Head to the App Store and download it today.