The Ramsey Show - App - Sometimes the Problem Is the Marriage, Not Money (Hour 3)

Episode Date: May 28, 2019

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Starting point is 00:00:00 🎵 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 am Dave Ramsey, your host. You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. At the bottom of the hour, Ramsey personality and resident career expert Ken Coleman will be joining us.
Starting point is 00:00:55 Number one best-selling author. We found out this weekend the Proximity Principle, his new book, was number one. Wow. Very cool. Number one on the wall street journal hardcover advice list and we're very very proud of ken very proud of our team this is a great book so if you have career questions about finding the job you love getting into a different job making different money more money whatever the bottom of the hour for a couple segments ken will be with, and we will start holding lines open for that in just a few minutes, Madison.
Starting point is 00:01:27 The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. In the meantime, you're stuck with me. Logan is up first this hour in Springfield, Illinois. Hey, Logan, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave, how are you doing today? Better than I deserve. What's up? Hey, so my wife and I, we currently have a one-year-old,
Starting point is 00:01:50 and we are expecting our second child in October. And we're mulling over the idea of her becoming a stay-at-home mom when our second child comes. Cool. We're working baby step number two. Mm-hmm. And I just caught... Hello? Hello? We're working baby step number two. Hello?
Starting point is 00:02:08 Hello? Well, I'll put you on hold and see if you come back. Irene is with us in San Diego. Hi, Irene. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. Hey, what's up? Thank you for having me.
Starting point is 00:02:24 Sure. So my husband and i make 240 a year whoa collectively and what do you guys do for a living very blessed yeah what do you do for an engineer and i work um in business management great thank you and uh as far as debt, we have credit card debt as far as just maybe $2,000 to $3,000 a month, which we pay every month, so it never rolls over. And we also invest 15% in each of our retirement accounts. They're Roth for one case. So about a year and a half ago, we were fortunate enough to be able to buy a house, and we put 20% down. Now, as of today, we have $590,000 left in our principal. We've been able to save, on top of paying our mortgage, about $50,000 a year. So up to this point, we have about just north of $100,000. So the question is, with that excess income that we have,
Starting point is 00:03:27 should we be adding it beyond the 15% in retirement? Should we start investing and looking at investment properties, or should we be paying off our principal on the house? Well, what we teach is, and what we've proven to be true, is that the shortest distance between where you are and wealth is not income it is to get control of the income that you have and not give it to other people in the form of debt so as we studied 10 000 millionaires in a millionaire study that we did last year we found that the typical typical millionaire out of those 10,000 had it, not having an opinion about it over Thanksgiving
Starting point is 00:04:29 dinner, but actually doing it. What we found was that we developed what we call the baby steps. Baby step two is to be debt-free, everything but your house. And what we teach and what I personally live is I have no credit cards. I have debit cards. And by the way, you pay those off every month too. So I don't have the illusion that I'm somehow using this tool because you end up spending more when you're doing that.
Starting point is 00:05:00 So debit cards is what we use. We stay debt-free. Then we have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. In addition to the $100,000, do you have that emergency fund? So the emergency fund for six months would be around $35,000. So that would be a part of the $100,000. Okay, so you would have $65,000 spare money above that. Then at baby step four would be next, and that's where you're putting 15 which you
Starting point is 00:05:25 said you're doing into retirement five is kids college do you have children no okay then we would skip five for now and six is pay off the house early once you've done that then you max out retirement and other wealth building tools like buying investment property with cash and those kinds of things but if you get rid of your house payment it springs and dead on your home it springboards you into the future like crazy irene you guys are making a ton of money you are doing really well how old are you guys 30 yeah i thought so i was getting ready to say 32 okay and so you just it just felt like it and you're just you're just you know you really got a massive wonderful start in both of your careers
Starting point is 00:06:12 and you're just you're killing i mean you're making a quarter of a million dollars a year that's so cool i'm proud of you it's incredible thank you and just and so what you don't want to have are some of the stories i've met with in the last 30 years where you look back and you say, gosh, you know, we were making that kind of money. I wish we had. And you don't want to have regret, you know. Right. You know, and so what I would tell you to do is based on what we've taught all these years is I would take $65,000, throw it at your house, and everything above 15% of your income. And enjoying your life. You need to enjoy your life. You make a lot of your income and enjoying your life.
Starting point is 00:06:46 You need to enjoy your life. You make a lot of money. You work really hard. But anything above that, you said $50,000 a year. That sounds reasonable out of what you're doing or maybe a little more even towards that house. And let's get this house paid off in about five or six years. Okay. You got no house payment?
Starting point is 00:07:03 By then you're making $300,000? You're going to bank so much money so fast. It's going to be unbelievable. Perfect. So then once we pay off the house, that's when we should be able to accrue enough liquid cash for an investment or something like that. Yeah, in 20 minutes you could buy another rental house, couldn't you? I mean, think about it. Because by then, I mean, we're talking five years out you're 35 years old you're probably making over 300
Starting point is 00:07:29 household income at that point i mean or more even i mean i don't know you're just killing it but i mean you're making serious bank and you got not a bill in the world you have not a single debt i mean you could really bank some money then because Because your house payment is $70,000 a year right now. Yep. So our mortgage is about $2,800. With everything included, insurance, utilities, it comes down to about $4,000. Okay. All right.
Starting point is 00:07:58 So I missed it. So it's $48,000 a year. Okay. Instead of $60,000. But, you know, I mean, that's another $50,000 a year, okay, instead of $60,000. But, you know, I mean, that's another $50,000 a year, plus what you can already do, plus you're making more money in my scenario by the time you get there. So we're talking about $150,000, $200,000 a year to go toward investment property at that point. Okay. And that's, you know, you'll own 10, 20 houses by the time you're 45, paid for, if you want houses, if that's what you want to do.
Starting point is 00:08:26 And you're going to just be on your way. You're going to be millionaires by the time you're 35 if you do what I'm telling you to do right now. That's where you're going to be. So good job. Well done. Very well done. Wow. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. MZShop.
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Starting point is 00:09:31 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. chministries.org. Coming up at the bottom of the hour, Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, joins us. Has a new title after his name. After this weekend, we just found out The Proximity Principle, his new book, was number one on
Starting point is 00:10:25 the wall street journal list so thank you guys for your support of the proximity principle the the proven strategy that will lead to the career you love the proximity principle if you have a career question ken uh we're going to open up some lines now and let you guys get loaded up for Ken. He'll be joining us here at the bottom of the hour. The phone number is 888-825-5225. Jenny is with us in Kansas City. Hi, Jenny. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.
Starting point is 00:10:58 Hi, Dave. Thanks for talking to me today. Sure. What's up? Well, my husband was killed in an accident on his way to work last fall. Oh, no. And we are receiving some benefits, and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the money. And they're all, like, life insurance policy-type benefits.
Starting point is 00:11:18 Sure. How old was he? 42. Oh, my goodness. I'm sorry. Yes. How long were you all married? 20 years. You had children? Two.
Starting point is 00:11:30 What age? 15 and 17. 15 and 17. Yes. Okay. And how much life insurance did you receive? Well, so far, about $350,000. Okay.
Starting point is 00:11:45 There's still an insurance policy because it was an accident. The driver was driving the wrong way, the highway. And so that has not paid out yet. So that will be probably another $125,000. Okay, which is probably the max of their policy. Theirs was $25,000. Okay. Where would the other $100,000 come from? From the max of their policy. Theirs was $25,000. Okay. Where would the other $100,000 come from?
Starting point is 00:12:07 From the vehicle he was driving. Oh, he was driving? He was in a company vehicle. Okay. Yeah. And that had a max on it, too, then. Yes, yes. Oh, my goodness.
Starting point is 00:12:18 Okay. Okay, and what did your husband used to make? What was his income? $50,000 to $60,000. Were you working at that time? Yes. What did you make? $15,000 to $20,000.
Starting point is 00:12:33 And are you still doing that? Yes. Okay. I have my own salon. Okay. All right. Okay. And I still receive a workman's comp check now from that.
Starting point is 00:12:49 From his company? Yes. Why? He was in a company vehicle too? Yes. Okay, wow. And how much is the workman's comp check? It's $2,700 a month. Okay, and how long will that go on?
Starting point is 00:13:04 The rest of my life. Okay. All right. And the kids will get Social Security until they're 18 as well. All right. So he was bringing in take-home pay, about $4,000 a month. $2,700 of that has been replaced. Right.
Starting point is 00:13:24 Okay. And so we need the rest of this money to create another $2,000 to $3,000 income. Right. The only debt I have is the house. Good. And how much do you owe on your home? $98,000. Okay. All right.
Starting point is 00:13:42 So there's two ways you can go. Your house payment is how much? $800 a month. $800 a month. Like $800 something, and that's with taxes. Okay. Let's pretend that he brought home for round numbers $4,000 a month okay and um but if he if the house was paid off to you wouldn't need but three thousand dollars a month to replace his income right and you have 2700 coming in right so you're almost there you've not felt felt a huge pinch um you felt a little bit of pinch maybe 13,500 a month if you've managed the money
Starting point is 00:14:26 well in the middle of your grief, which it would be understandable if you didn't. A lot of times people don't. But what we don't want to do is to go along and not have a plan because, you know, you're married 20 years, you've got teenagers. This hurts. And when you're hurting, you can spin through money like water. You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:53 It's real easy to do. And you want to put a little system in place to protect you from yourself kind of thing. And so, you know, what I would do is say, are you going to stay in the home? Yes. Let's pay off the house and let's invest everything else and use only the income off of it and pledge to never touch the principal. Okay. okay okay but if you pull if you invest four hundred thousand dollars and you and let's just use round numbers again let's say it made ten percent that'd be forty thousand dollars a year but you only need two thousand dollars a month that'd be twenty four thousand a year
Starting point is 00:15:38 so if you invested four hundred thousand and it made ten percent and you only took twenty four thousand off a year you would have been you'd be living better income than you had slightly better income than you had mathematically when he was here income only is all i'm talking about i'm not making saying it's better it's not better but i'm saying income the math is better and um it'd be slightly better and it would still be growing you not only would not be depleting it you would let be letting it grow slightly which is an ideal situation okay so what i would tell you to do is pay off your house and let's set aside an emergency fund
Starting point is 00:16:21 of three to six months of expenses and i'm going to invest the rest of it in carefully selected mutual funds with a smart investor pro who will help you. And you sit down with them with the heart of a teacher. You learn about this stuff. You don't trust me. You don't trust someone else. It's not that they will steal from you, but you need to understand what you're doing,
Starting point is 00:16:43 and that way you have peace about it. When you get anxiety around investments, it's because you didn't understand what you're doing, and that way you have peace about it. When you get anxiety around investments, it's because you didn't know what you were doing. There's also a 401k of about $25,000. It's just sitting there. Yeah, we'll just roll that to an IRA, so we don't need to touch it either. It'll just grow. We'll just let it sit in a tax-free rollover um a direct rollover so click on daveramsey.com click on smart vestor it'll drop down a list of the smart
Starting point is 00:17:11 vestor pros in your area select which one you'd like to talk to sit down they'll have the heart of a teacher you take your time you can let the money sit in a simple cd if you want for a little while until you feel good about this. But I'm saying if you were to invest this money in good mutual funds and it made 10% to 12% and you pulled off less than that, that is ideal. Okay. So his workers' comp and a mutual fund throw in your $2,000 a month puts you at $4,700 with no house payment. Right.
Starting point is 00:17:43 And you're going to have about 400k um total after paying off the house if you get the other 125 right right exactly so that's the numbers i got so you know you should be making 40 and burning 24 that's that's what i'm thinking or or better it might turn out better than that but something like that and that'll the good news about that is the goose will perpetually lay these golden eggs. Perpetually. This can go on, as you said, like the worker's comp for the rest of your life. So I'm so sorry, honey. I'm so sorry you guys are facing this.
Starting point is 00:18:18 You call me anytime I can help. If you get confused about something or scared, you call me. I'll walk with you through this. You can do this. And click on SmartVestor and get somebody to help you in your corner with the investing. And set up a system that protects you from you. All right, open phones at 888-825-5225. Ken Coleman is up here at the bottom of the hour.
Starting point is 00:18:40 If you want to talk to Ken, this is the time to do it. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author. We'll get to congratulate him here on the air here in just a minute. I hadn't even talked to him on the phone since then. I mean, we've been yakking back and forth by email all over the weekend, celebrating, yelling touchdown and boom and everything else. But good stuff, good stuff. So if you want to talk careers, this is your time to jump in.
Starting point is 00:19:05 The next two segments, we're going to talk about careers with Ken Coleman. 888-825-5225. Thank you. Well, he's here. Number one best-selling author. That's not ever going to get old, is it? No, I had to look over my shoulder and make sure there wasn't somebody that snuck in behind me for a second. It's still very new, Dave. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, author of the book The Proximity Principle we found out over the weekend. And, yes, I've been bragging about it a lot because I'm very proud.
Starting point is 00:20:23 Very proud of Ken, very proud of our team, and thankful to all of you guys that supported him by picking up a copy of the book but the book is very helpful it's a clear path a proven strategy that will lead to the career you love the proximity principle so if you have questions about career the man is here ramsey personality ken coleman has a show on sirius xm and a podcast as well and many more announcements coming soon so uh well you never know what we're gonna do with stuff like this you get a guy's a number one bestseller you gotta do something with him then that's right i love it all right ken you ready take some calls? Let's do it. Phone number is 888-825-5225. Janice is in Dallas. Your question for Ken Coleman, Janice.
Starting point is 00:21:09 Thank you for taking my call. Sure. Okay, so I am currently in Dallas, and my husband is still in Florida. I accepted a job opportunity in aviation back in February, And I moved out here. My husband moved me out here. He's supposed to come and move out here with me. He owns a construction company in Florida, but he changed his mind.
Starting point is 00:21:35 So I'm stuck on if I need to move, if I should move back and throw away this career opportunity that I'm currently in, or if I should stay here and have come out here. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Before Ken answers, I've just got to say, you understand how weird that sounds, right?
Starting point is 00:21:54 I know. I'm going to move with my wife, but I changed my mind? Yep. Yeah. This isn't a career question. It's a marriage question. Well, I'm making $52,000. They're going to pay for my pilot license all the way to my commercial, which takes years.
Starting point is 00:22:13 His business fluctuates in income, and so I'm not sure if I should be staying here and have come out here and start his career out here and build his business, or if I just need to go back there and give up everything. You already decided that before you moved. Yeah. Why did he change his mind? What is he telling you the reason is? There's no opportunity in Texas for
Starting point is 00:22:39 real estate markets dried up. Yeah, poor old Texasxas economy it just sucks you've got to be kidding me that's absurd yeah yeah it is it's um i make 52 right now how long have you been married and how long have you been married yes um we've been married for six months. Yeah. His business right now, he's trying to get another dump truck. This is not a business problem. This is not a business problem. You have deep problems in your marriage, don't you?
Starting point is 00:23:22 I don't know. Well, you've been married for six months. Your husband is saying he can't go do construction in Texas because the economy is bad, which is a load of horse manure. There's something else going on here, kiddo. Yeah. You've been in Dallas for three months. So of the six months, you've been gone for three. You guys have been together for three months, and he doesn't want to come to Texas for a completely ludicrous and laughable reason.
Starting point is 00:23:56 Yes. Well, this is a wake-up call for you. This is a wake-up call. Yeah, I just don't know what to do. There's just, the business has so much debt and I'm just worried it's going to go into bankruptcy. He keeps adding more and more debt to the business yeah and you didn't sign on any of it did you no but my name's on the company that doesn't matter so it doesn't harm me not unless you sign for the unless you sign for stuff did you sign the debts did you sign any of the debts no no but he's adding more trucks and in this one this new one that he's wanting to get is already 132K, and he's already got over 250K in business debt. How old are you? I'm going to be 24 soon.
Starting point is 00:24:33 I'm sorry, honey. Okay. Something's going to go bye-bye. Him or you and Dallas. And it doesn't sound like he's very committed to you. If you were my daughter, I'd be putting my hands around his little throat right now. Yeah. Because he's being stupid, number one.
Starting point is 00:24:59 Number two, he's lying. Something's going on. Yeah, because my marriage is more important, but I really want to grow my career. I got this opportunity. I wouldn't choose career over marriage, but I'm afraid he may have already made the choice for you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:18 So I should stay here? Well, if your marriage is going to end, you need to stay there. If you can save your marriage, and you want to save your marriage, and he wants to, you're going to go back to Florida. And I want to, but he keeps making all these financial decisions for the business. It's not just financial decisions, honey. He abandoned you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:37 He lied to you, and he's lying to you again. There's something going on back home, and I'm afraid to say it out loud because i don't know what her name is yeah money there's no explanation for this it makes no sense at all let me just tell you i told sharon a long time ago if she ever leaves me i'm going with her that's good let that one sink in you know and so if i move to dallas she's coming or vice versa it is you know i understand deployment i understand sometimes you're separated uh by job on purpose but this is different this is this has nothing to do with your career kiddo this has to do with your marriage you need to sit down with pastor
Starting point is 00:26:20 immediately with a marriage counselor and get somebody into this it's not a couple of dupes on the radio like me and Ken because we're not qualified to help you. I'm just a guy sitting here feeling like a dad ready to strangle your little husband right now because somebody needs to knock a knot on his little head. But I smell trash a mile away here, so you need to get some marriage counseling immediately with a good pastor. And then based on what's going to happen with your marriage, you will make your career decisions. Am I missing something, Ken? No, absolutely right.
Starting point is 00:26:49 He made the commitment to go there for her. So his only reason is so crazy that nobody with half a brain would believe it. So he's got to come up with reasons why he's not honored. The economy in Texas is bad. No opportunity for those doing construction in Texas. See what I mean? I mean, it's just like, yeah. It's bad.
Starting point is 00:27:11 Oh, God. You really need to come up with a better one than that, son. You know what? He's a coward. Yeah. Because when you come up with an excuse that bad, you're a coward. Well, he's not, yeah. He's a kid. Oh,, yeah. He's a kid.
Starting point is 00:27:26 Oh, my gosh. He's a little boy. I'm sorry, honey. Please get some marriage counseling and not from my guys like us. We're not qualified. But I've just been down a whole bunch of these roads over the years with friends, family, and everything else. And I've watched it happen. And I don't think this is going to end well.
Starting point is 00:27:46 So I think you're probably going to end up staying in Dallas. That's my guess. But it's not about the financial decisions that he's making. Those are secondary. They're the symptom in this situation. You know, Ken, interestingly, and sidebar, financial problems and career problems are both oftentimes not really the problem. They're oftentimes a symptom of something else going on in it.
Starting point is 00:28:12 Absolutely the case. So if you look at this, he keeps adding trucks. He's a young guy, as you said, and he wants this business to grow. And he thinks, well, I'm going to go get more and more debt, try to build it faster. I've heard you tell us – I've heard you tell leaders, I don't know how many Entree Leadership Conferences I've heard you use this line, that you want people to be on the cover of slow company. And so there's something that drives a young entrepreneur to try to do it too quickly,
Starting point is 00:28:38 and you try to scale too quickly, and you take debt because you think debt's the way to do it, and you wake up, and you've ruined that first venture. So there's always something behind it driving bad decisions. So I did the exact same thing when I was his age, not counting the abandoning my wife part. But, wow. Ken Coleman here answering your career questions I'll try to stay out of it and let you talk Ken
Starting point is 00:29:07 that's a tough one it's going to be hard for me to do you're saying I can't do it? no no I know you can't it's your show this is the Dave Ramsey Show 1 Corinthians 10.31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Oprah Winfrey said, doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
Starting point is 00:29:59 Her own version of the proximity principle there, Ken Coleman. Jen is with us in Phoenix. Jen, principle there, Ken Coleman. Yes, well said. Jen is with us in Phoenix. Jen, your question for Ken Coleman. Hi, gentlemen. Good afternoon. Ken, I have always felt like I've been chasing this idea of trying to find my passion in my job, and I've never really succeeded. I've had jobs that I've done that I enjoy very much, but I've never felt like it's been the one thing that I was put on this earth
Starting point is 00:30:33 to do, if you will. And I'm trying to figure out, I'm 45 years old, I've changed careers widely over the course of my working time. And I'm just trying to figure out, am I chasing something that's not really there and I just need to say, hey, I'm working in a job that I like, thumbs up for me. Or is there something else that I need to look for in a different way to have that fire in my career? Well, first of all, you should be chasing it. You should be looking for that role. And I think what's happened for you is you're thinking too specifically that it's just one job. The sweet spot exists for everybody at the intersection of what they do best and what
Starting point is 00:31:15 they love to do most. In other words, you use what you do best to perform work that matters deeply to you. So within that sweet spot, if you get that intersection, there might be five, six, seven different specific careers and certainly a lot of jobs in there. So you're constantly moving and growing. So it's not just one thing. And I think when you think about it in those terms, we have a lot of callers to my show that feel that way. I want to set your mind free of that because then it's not so pressure filled that it's just one thing. What we're looking for is that sweet spot and there are multiple things you can do within that.
Starting point is 00:31:48 So what you need to be thinking about on the passion question, three simple questions. I'm going to put you on the spot. Okay. And I don't want you to think. I want you to feel your answer. And what I mean by that is don't think of financial limitations, time. I want you to just let your heart answer it. Three questions asked differently. Okay.
Starting point is 00:32:07 Same question, but asked differently. First one is what problem do you most want to solve? Second question is what solution do you most want to provide? Okay. And then who is it that you most want to help? Think of the person or the type of person, what problem they have. So it's the same basic question. What problem do I most want to solve? What solution do I most want to help? Think of the person or the type of person, what problem they have. So it's the same basic question. What problem do I most want to solve? What solution do I most want to provide? Or who is it that I most want to help? When you let those questions rattle through your head and heart, what pops up? Teaching. Teaching who? Well, I'm a chef and I've thought about possibly finishing up my bachelor's degree so I could get certified as a teacher and teach even at a vocational high school. So hold on a second.
Starting point is 00:32:53 A culinary program. Okay, great. So you would teach others the culinary arts, essentially. Yes. So what's holding you back from that? There's some fear and doubt there. Name it. Oh, boy. let me help you probably just honestly probably the fear of failure i'm a classic type a personality and i have to be
Starting point is 00:33:15 good and perfect at everything okay let me hold on a second let me say like numero one right but listen there is no progress without failure. That's true. You listen to the Dave Ramsey show. You've heard Dave's story. A lot of failure there. A lot of failure in any person who's been successful. But it's the failure early on that makes you better at what you do. So this idea of being a perfect culinary teacher or a perfect chef is nonsense. Get that out of your head.
Starting point is 00:33:41 So let's talk about the failure. What are we talking about? Failing financially? Meaning you think that if you make this switch from being a chef now or you're a chef by true trade to teaching that you're going to fail financially and be unable to recover? Then what is the fear? Financial failure is not an issue. Then what is the fear? Name it. Fear of what? not, I guess not being able to get knowledge across.
Starting point is 00:34:12 No, here's what it is. Not reaching people. That's what it is. You don't think you have what it takes to succeed at teaching others to do what you do. That's what you're afraid of, that you won't be successful at teaching it. Yeah. I know. So that's the idea of every human deals with this.
Starting point is 00:34:28 And so, Jen, you're not the only person. You do have what it takes. Do you think that you have the desire to do the studying, to do the coursework, to get the actual degree or certification, whatever it is? Do you feel that you can pull that off? Yes. Do you think if I put a student in front of you tonight, let's say I took my teenage daughter and I said, hey, teach
Starting point is 00:34:51 her how to make a couple meals. Could you teach her to effectively reproduce that? Yes, I could. Okay, so then you can do that over and over again. So the fear that you're facing is a lie, and you have to name it, and you did. Congratulations. And so now it's about the plan. What's the plan look like? How long is that program going to take? Do you know the answer? I need about another year and a half of school to finish up my bachelor's degree. Great.
Starting point is 00:35:16 Next question. How much is that going to cost you financially? It depends on the school. I've been looking at – I've actually looked at a couple of schools. I haven't narrowed down the full price yet for all of it, but I've got a ballpark on the credit hours. Great. Get really clear on that. And then you look at your current budget and your financial reality and say, how long is it going to take me to get that degree?
Starting point is 00:35:38 So if it's three years or four years, you ask yourself the question, am I willing to do what it takes to get where I want to go? And am I willing to wait as long as it takes? Which means I might have to cash flow my way through what may take a year and a half, may take me three years. Is it worth it? You've got to ask yourself that question. And the answer is? Yes. Then do it.
Starting point is 00:35:57 Yes, it is. That's how you come up with a plan. And here's the other part of the story that you said. You alluded to you're an A-type. I am too, so I related to it immediately that you kept thinking you were going to find this one thing. It's kind of like one of my daughters when she was dating, she thought there was one guy on the planet that God said was hers. And it's like, no, there's probably a pretty good selection, actually. And you can pick one of them, but we're not going to be fatalistic and say there's one.
Starting point is 00:36:27 There's not a singular career. Oh, and by the way, even on the things you're passionate about, there are days that suck, days that you're tired, days you don't feel like doing this radio show. You know, I do the show some days when I don't feel like doing it. Sometimes you guys know it. But the truth is that most days, 90-something percent of the time, it's my favorite part of the day to come in here and sit down, put this microphone on, and do this. But there are days when you're tired. Ken and I both love communicating from the stage and teaching and motivating. But there are days that you don't feel like doing that.
Starting point is 00:37:02 You're sick. You're tired. You don't want to travel. You don't want to put up with some stupid butt hotel just so I get the opportunity to speak. All that kind of stuff. So there's never anything that is rainbow and Skittles all the time. That's exactly right. Here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:37:15 She said, here's what I love. She said, I asked her, put her to the spot. She said, teach. Now, at first, you and I didn't know what she wanted to teach. Our radio listeners, they all went a million directions, or maybe they went to the classroom. But I've heard you tell people that you're a teacher. If you boil down Dave Ramsey to a core function, and you're more than one dimension. As far as what's public-facing.
Starting point is 00:37:36 Public-facing, you love to teach. Well, you just happen to teach as a nationally syndicated radio show host. And you teach through best-selling books. You teach as a nationally syndicated radio show host, and you teach through best-selling books. You teach as a keynote speaker. But the reality is when she said teach, she thought, I want to teach others the craft of cooking. And, you know, that's important to understand that what is the core role?
Starting point is 00:37:58 Well, now I can teach multiple things. And by the way, it might not necessarily be a vocational high school. I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking high-end schools. I mean, she could go do very well. It could be teaching adults in their home. Well, that too. I mean, there's all kinds of places you can teach these things.
Starting point is 00:38:11 That's exactly right. You know, you don't limit yourself to the model because you named the passion. That's right. You can do your passion a lot of different ways, and you will do it a lot of different ways. It will evolve and change. As you said, it's fine for that to happen. Very, very good information, Ken. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, number one best-selling author.
Starting point is 00:38:32 We found out this weekend. Again, congratulations, Ken. The book, The Proximity Principle, the proven strategy that will lead to the career you love. You want advice like you just heard here? Check out his podcast at KenColeman.com. The Ken Coleman Show, it is, is a podcast, and it's also, of course, one of the Ramsey Network shows on SiriusXM as well.
Starting point is 00:38:57 Thanks for stopping by, Ken. Thank you, Dave. And I want to say, too, there's about 50, 60 people on this team that are behind this number one bestseller, and I want to thank them for their role. It's not just me. Well, they were passionate about it. Yes, they were.
Starting point is 00:39:09 They were. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. We will be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there is ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Did you know you can now listen to The Dave Ramsey Show on Pandora and Spotify? For all the ways to watch and listen, check out our show page at DaveRamsey.com slash show.

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