The Ramsey Show - App - Starting Over Financially (Hour 2)

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Jade Walsh, our Ramsey personality personality author of the best-selling book money's not a math problem is my co-host today thank you for joining us the phone number is 888-825-5225 steve is in louisville kentucky hi steve welcome to the ramsey show hey dave thank you so much for uh having me on the show i'm a long-time listener fan, and you have helped me more than more ways than you know, sir. Well, thank you. I'm honored. How can we help?

Well, sir, I am going through a divorce after five years of marriage. We have four kids, four girls. Yes, one child we have together, and the other three are from our previous marriages. You know, I brought in two, she brought in one. Um, but my wife has decided to, to end it, to call it quit. She's already moved out. We just started the separation process and, uh, decided to just split everything down the middle, 50, 50, you know, to avoid court fees and all that.

So, um, it's just moved so fast within the time that she's moved out, we've already sold the house, and that was only like two weeks ago. Yeah, we posted it, and immediately it got a hit. So it's currently under contract. We sold our vehicle, our van that we had together. It was all paid for. So my question is, it's a horrible situation, but I'm just trying to clean it up and, and, uh,

make it as less damaging as possible. I have three kids to raise. Um, uh, I'm going to walk away and she's going to walk away with approximately 140 K after all the realtor fees. Um, we sold it for four 35. We only owed 150 on it. And you have no debt? No debt. I'm on baby step four through six, currently contributing 15% to my retirement. Now, I will be honest, I have not put anything away from my kids' college. I was getting around to that. So my question is, with this money, it's already an emotional roller coaster.

And I've heard what you said in the past about not making big decisions within like a year, if I get that right. So I don't want to make any big decisions. I want to protect this money from myself from doing anything stupid. So I just wanted to put it like in a CD or a high-yield savings account. Maybe just park it away and don't touch it for a year. Currently, like I said, got a 20K and just a high yield savings account right now for emergencies. But I'm tempted. I've had a lot of friends tell me, well, you need to immediately go buy a smaller house. And I've looked into

housing prices and lo and behold, even smaller houses in this area are just as, you know, the mortgage would be just as much as what I'm currently paying, you know, selling this home. What do you make? I make $70,000 gross. You've been married five years, and you both have kids. So you're 30-something? I'm 42. I kind of started your program a little late in life.

I was just trying to figure out where you were based on your kids and marriages and stuff. Okay. All right. The child you guys have together, are they primarily living with you? 50-50, ma'am. We've got a 2-2-3 split, so she's only four years old. Okay. So she's right in the middle of it.

Okay. I don't know that you have to rent something for a year. We're usually talking about a death in that situation. But I do think your life is probably going to shake out and still be reforming, still be clay on the wheel for at least six months so i'd probably just go find you a nice rental for six months and then let's see where we are you know at the end of summer and by then let's check your emotions and see where you are that 140 will be sitting there in a cd put it in a six month cd and just go about the business of earning a living and set up the rhythm of your new life, right?

And let's see where that leads you. You know, I don't know where your ex is going to land in terms of running the kid back and forth and all those kinds of things that might have, probably wouldn't have much influence on it if it was me. But, you know, I'm just thinking about what, you know, what all can happen, you know. But I would give it six months and just let it sit and kind of percolate and let's get the, let the dust settle, so to speak. Yes.

Yes, sir. Okay. There's no harm in that. The only thing that can hurt you there's a price price house prices are going to go up during that six months right now that's that's what one of my friends was telling me he said even with the interest rates now is buyer's market you need to get a house now and he's right he's right about that but the timing's not right for you okay even though the market timing is it's a good time to buy it's a really good time to buy

but uh but i i wouldn't i still wouldn't because of your situation nothing to do with the real estate market okay no that makes sense yeah just give yourself a little room to heal a little you'll make a different decision with six months of healing under your belt i think so And I think you made a good point about kind of seeing where all the cards land because he doesn't know where his ex-wife is going to end up. And there is some practicality to, I don't know. Yeah, and there's probably a relationship in his life in the future. But I don't know when. And you don't think about that right now when you're sitting in the middle of a broken heart.

Right. So I'll just take your time. Take your time. You're going to be fine. Jonathan is in Salt Lake City. Hey, Jonathan, how are you? Hi there, Mr. Ramsey and Mrs. Warshaw. Thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So I am calling. My question is, should I be looking at life insurance right now? And if so, how much and what term? The background to the question is I am currently a dental student. My wife and I have no debt. We're not taking out student loans to pay for school. And we are expecting our first child halfway through this year.

How are you paying for dental school? So before I started dental school, we actually both saved up a good chunk of money, both with our own and on our own, as well as with some help from our parents. Wow. That was originally going to be used for a down payment on our house. We decided to repurpose that money and use it to help get through dental school without taking out any two months. That's a good chunk of money. Way to go, man. Proud of you. Yes. Very cool. Yes, sir. Yes, thank you.

So if you die, how does your wife eat? So it really kind of depends on when, of course. If you die now, if you die this year, while you're in dental school, how does she eat? How does your kid eat? My wife has a job.

So she makes about, our take-home pay is about $4,000 a month. And so she does have that. We also, of course, have the money that we're using to pay for dental school, which right now, between our emergency fund and our savings account, is about $170,000. So that's what we would have right now, and that's what she would have. Okay. All right. And you're how old? I'm 25. Are you healthy?

Yes, sir. Are you overweight? No, sir. Do you healthy? Yes, sir. Are you overweight? No, sir. Do you smoke? No, sir. Go buy a million dollars in term. It's the cost of a pizza. It doesn't cost anything.

Just make sure your family's taken care of. By 15-year level, go to zanderinsurance.com. It's a 25-year-old. It doesn't cost a thing, man. It's nothing. Now's the time. This is The Ramsey Show. Jade Walsh, our Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Thank you, America. We appreciate all of your help. These Ramsey shows are shown up on all the different podcast platforms, Spotify to Apple to Google to whatever, any way you listen to them. We're also a big deal on YouTube and the number two talk radio show in America on 680 radio stations. All of that is caused by you guys spreading the word and sharing. We were number one on Apple recently on all Apple podcasts. We've had a billion downloads of this show now. Wow.

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like all those little internet things that you do you know you know those games you play and we need your help please do that billy is with us billy's in long island new york hi billy how are you i'm doing good How are you guys doing today? Better than we deserve. What's up? So I have a quick question for you guys. I've been just really starting to get into listening to you guys and really trying to hone down on my finances the past, like,

I would say the past couple of months and kind of getting a better understanding of where I'm at. Good. So my question for you guys is, I'm 27 years old. I am still living at home with my father. I have no issue with that, though, however, I also would like to move out. You know, it's kind of normal to do at this point of age. Yeah, sure.

The housing market in New York is insane. So my question for you is, I don't know what to do. I don't know when to move out. I don't know if there's a specific time. Should I keep waiting? I mean, I could certainly afford an apartment and stuff like that, but I view that as something that is fun to do, but just really just a money drainer. And it's just there's no point do you have any debt like what's your financial situation so right now i have uh i mean i have a leased vehicle but i mean that's totally under you know control no it's not it's about $300 it's under control you would have paid for it true okay. Okay. So you got the leased vehicle. But yeah, it's $300 a month.

What do you make? I make about 75K a year. Okay. Any other debt? I have about, no, I have about 75K in savings right now. Great. And I have about 25 isish in my retirement right now. So what's stopping you? Like when you get ready to pull the trigger on this, what holds you back and says, ah, I'm not going to do it? Because you've got the money. Yeah. I just don't know if now is a good time to do this.

I don't know if... Two years ago was a good time to do it. Yeah, that was the thing guys time to go definitely missed i don't know i'm not talking about the real estate market i'm talking about just life i'm talking about billy and long island when you were 25 it was a good time to move out so let's go let's go this time you're just comfortable go get you a place it's not because you don't like your dad and it's not because it's not a good idea to save money both of those things can be true but there's something that happens when you like your dad. And it's not because it's not a good idea to save money. Both of those things can be true.

But there's something that happens when you have your own place and you're paying your own light bill and you have to buy bread or there's not any. It just changes everything. Yeah. And, you know, it is really good for your personal development, your psychological, emotional development to have your own situation. And it's not about out there having a party. That's not what we're talking about. We're just talking about being a grownup. And yeah, it's good for you.

It's really good for you. My pastor says the comfort zone is a great place, but nothing ever grows there. Ooh, way to go, Dave. If you want to grow. Her pastor's name, your former pastor, Dave. His name's Dave too, yeah. Great guy. He's a good friend. Yeah, he's Yeah, his name's Dave, too. Yeah. Great guy.

He's a good friend. Yeah, he's right. He's exactly right. Nothing grows there. Nothing grows. And so get out there and scratch around. It doesn't have to be super expensive. I just want you to be standing literally on your own two feet.

And when you do that, you're just going to see things happen for you. You're going to see a different version of yourself looking back in the mirror. Confidence. And a good one, a good one. Yeah, it builds confidence, it builds toughness. And you can buy a house a couple years. You may even, it's okay, there's no requirement for you to buy a house quickly, but someday maybe you find the right person and you get married and you buy a house. That might be too. I don't know. But, um, in the meantime, yeah, I think you're going to, uh, walk differently. You're going to feel differently, uh, when you're standing on your own. And, uh, it's not a question of, can you save more money? It's not a question of his rent

wasting your money. It's not a question of do rent wasting your money it's not a question of you your relationship with your dad all of those things seem to be fine but i i would just go immediately uh within the next two or three months i'd be in a place if i were you and give yourself a written deadline by the time before the sun goes down today write a date on the calendar that's good dave write a date on the calendar and by by this date. Yeah. And tell someone about it. Yeah. And tell somebody you did that. But, you know, by this date. And that starts the wheel moving in your brain.

Your brain starts going, oh, we've got to look for a place. That's right. And, you know, you'll start running across things. You'll see a for rent sign on the way to work that you didn't see yesterday. And all that kind of stuff. And tell your dad. Tell your dad that you're moving out. Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, how much you that you're moving out. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, how much you appreciate what he's done for you so far and how much you love him and all that. That's all good because this has not got anything to do with that. Some people have to get out of the house because it's a toxic disaster. That's right. He seems like he's fine. He's very comfortable where he's at.

That's a little bit of the problem. Yeah, that is the problem. That is the problem. Jim is in Jacksonville, Florida. Hi, Jim. How are you? Hey, Jim. How are you? Hey, Dave. How are you doing?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Yes, sir. I got a question for you and a sort of what would you do in my predicament sort of question. I have a very hefty goal in mind. I do want to retire my parents by the time I turn 26 and hopefully have enough in the end to make me a millionaire as well. Did you say retire your parents? Yes, ma'am.

What's that mean? Why is that your job? Well, they've done a lot for me my entire life, and I'd like to pay them back. That's not your job. Well, I wouldn't necessarily say a job, but it's a goal of mine. You're 26. You're not 26.

How old are you? I'm 21. Well, hey, can I just put this in your mind? When parents take care of their kids kids they do it because that's what we're supposed to do it's not a debt that you owe us back later on in life yes I understand but it's still just a goal of mine in the end but right now I'm I'm 21 I dropped out of college six months in right after high school I started my own excavation company and my financial situation right now is I'm bringing in around 20,000 a month okay

and I have about a hundred in savings great it doesn't change what I said though okay so what you want to pile up cash and build wealth and be able to help your mom and dad okay so how can we help right where would you put um basically liquid funds into something that would make the the most of my return the first uh and foremost i would get in a stay debt free uh secondly I would have an emergency fund liquid in just a high yield savings account of three to six months of expenses. Then thirdly, and you got you're ready to do this today because you've already got all those things covered. I think I would sit down with a smart investor pro and open some mutual funds and start building some

wealth there. And Jim, one more time, I'm going to challenge your goal. I think you need a different one. I think you need to have a goal of making Jim wealthy. And then one of the things that future wealthy Jim can do is be of assistance to his parents. But it is not your job, nor is it a reasonable goal to retire your parents. That's their job. They're grownups. And to the extent they're unable to do that,

if you want to assist them, that's okay. But I really want you to have a goal of you being whole first and foremost. This is the Ramsey show. Thanks for being with us, America. Jade Warshaw, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. Jared and Jennifer are with us. They're on the Debt Free stage. How are you guys?

Good. Great. Welcome. Good to have you guys. Where do you live? Spartanburg, South Carolina. All right. Just over the hill.

That's a great town. Yes, sir. I love Spartanburg. Well, welcome to Nashville. Thanks for being here. Thanks. Very cool. How over the hill. That's a great town. Yes, sir. I love Spartanburg. Well, welcome to Nashville. Thanks for being here. Thanks. Very cool. How much debt have you paid off?

$255,000. Love it. How long did that take? Forever. Oh, sorry. Six years. Nice. Okay.

And your range of income during that time? Starting around 130 and a little bit over 200 now. Cool. Good. What do you all do for a living? Jennifer? I'm a pediatric bit over 200 now. Cool. What do you all do for a living? Jennifer. I'm a pediatric medical assistant. Awesome.

And I'm in sales and packaging and have a little motorcycle business on the side as well. Like it. Very cool. Yeah. $255,000 over six years. What kind of debt was that? Well, it was a house and a pickup truck. Yeah.

Everything. Yes, sir was a house and a pickup truck. Yeah! Everything! Yes, sir. 100% weird people. No debt at all. Wow. Look at that house. Wow. What's this house worth?

Probably about $450,000. Okay. That'll work. Today's market, I guess. Yeah, very good. Yeah. How much in you guys' nest egg in your retirement? A little over $300,000.

Oh, no. We're chug. So we're chugging. We're chugging. Heading towards millionaire. Way to go. That's right. Good job, you guys. Good job. So what happened that put you guys on this Ramsey stuff about six years ago?

Well, we want to go back just a little bit further. We started our marriage 33 years ago. Oh. We didn't have much financial sense or direction. But Dave, I saw you on Oprah. Whoa. In 2000. Yeah, way back.

2005. Yeah. And just your, obviously your truth and your demeanor. I had to share it with Jared. And we definitely used your tools to, you take us along the way but we really got serious the last six years wow yeah way to go way to go very cool yeah that was a bit ago it's coming up on 20 years now wow I remember Jen saying you gotta listen to the southerner he's pretty funny you're gonna like him you know but I went downstairs to actually purchase the program

we watched it at 10 30 at night because they would run oprah twice in chicago and uh i got out my credit card to purchase your program that's hilarious and it didn't work and i was like oh wow this guy's legit he's for real you don't need your money yeah i like it good for you guys i got to travel around with the cds just kind of pipe dreaming what it would feel like. And now here you are, not a payment in the world. Amazing. Amen and amen. So what made you kind of turn the switch on six years ago?

Like what made you go from 2005, I hear this message, I like it, it makes sense, but I'm not ready to turn the switch. What made you turn the key? Yeah, yeah. Well, the Lord, the Lord has a way of pursuing you in a way that for us, it was really a spiritual journey for me personally, especially. And God captivated me.

He knew how to pursue me into an intersection that I had to turn left. I should say I had to turn right. and then doing that, just everything started to come into alignment and I'm living for the first time in the life more abundantly and uh and it feels so good so here um that actually catalyst into uh ministry that we started um two plus years ago make war ministries and uh and then the business with the motorcycles i've been in motorcycles for since i was 11 i'm 54 now now. And, um, God gave me the

desires of my heart and that X, that business actually helps fund the ministry as well. So it all just ties in and it feels so good. I love it. Way to go. And Jennifer can't quit grinning, right? She surprises everybody. She's just loving this version of you and this life she's living. Amen. Amen. Very cool. Very cool. That's good stuff, guys. That's very good stuff. So when someone's listening to this and they say, how do you get your house paid off at 54?

I mean, everything is paid for. Heading towards millionaire, what do you tell them the secret to getting out of debt is? Well, the budget is a big thing. We actually contacted the kids this morning because they've been in the backseat. Now they're all adults. And listened to say, hey, what was it, Dave Ramsey? What did it look like for you guys to see it? Kind of growing up, and they're 30, 28, and going to be almost 26.

And they all called us individually, which was sweet. But they all said, you guys always went to the envelope system to grab their cash out and we remember you grabbing get 40 we're going to broncos which was the friday night mexican scene there we go so it really was you know the cash cash hurts or cash is freeing and um it was kind of funny on the way over here we came across the mountain we stopped at cracker bro we had a gift card and we paid for our dinner to the um the gift card and went shopping a little bit we went back up to buy something and we saw everybody in a panic so it kind of tied into the story is that their system went down for credit cards and they were like what are we going to do what are we going to do there's all these hostages in

the you know in the restaurant we're like we have cash what we're going to pay for the blouse and they're like oh okay and it was just I was we're going to pay for the blouse. And they were like, oh, okay. And I was like, oh, this is a perfect story that ties into the journey here. So, anyways, super blessed. Very cool. Good job, you guys. I'm so proud of you. Thank you.

Well done. Very well done. I love it. Thank you for your help. Who knew that 20 years ago me getting in an argument with Oprah would result in this? There you go. There you go. There you go. Well, one of the things my son said that I want to encourage you with, he says, he's

my oldest, and he said, Dad, what I really appreciate about Dave is, you know, he makes it practical, he makes it easy. He goes, but he always aligns it with truth when he says, if you give the first 10% to the Lord, the way he honors it. And so it's really cool to see the children mimic it now, not only through their faith journey, but even through the disciplines. And there's nothing better than that,

just to hand that off, because we didn't get anything handed off to us. We started with $82. We got married making $15 combined income. And so it's been a muster seat of faith from the beginning. So interesting, you know, whenever people come on the show and they've paid their house off, I'm just shook by that because, you know, culture says 30 year mortgage, you know, keep it for your whole life, keep borrowing against it. You may never pay it off. You paid off yours in

six years. Once you put your mind to it, like talk to that person who's thinks that that's impossible. Well, with faith, nothing's impossible. And that's really what it was for us. It was every month just seeing God be faithful. And we were faithful back in every arena. And the word says he's able to do abundant beyond what you can ask or think. And so he knew we were asking for it and thinking about it and he's been faithful and he gets a glory for it. So we're super thankful. I love it. Very cool.

Very well done, you guys. Fabulous. Thank you. Fun stuff. You guys are just beaming. It's great. We've got the Live and Give box for you. It's got the Baby Steps Millionaires book in it, which is your next step.

And, of course, Total Money Makeover. You can give that to someone as you're ministering and Financial Peace University membership as well. The new version, not the cds and and uh we can get that you need to go through it or give it away it's all for you to live and to give that's why we call it the live and give box love it way to go you guys jared and jennifer spartanburg south carolina 255 000 paid off house and everything not a payment in the world. Did it in six years, making $130,000 to $200,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. We're debt-free! All right! Woo! This is how we do it, ladies and gentlemen. Well done, well done, well done. Fabulous. This is how we do it, ladies and gentlemen. Well done, well done, well done. Fabulous.

Man, it makes a lot of difference when you just kind of get dialed in. Yep. And, you know, when you and I are running around all over America doing these media appearances, sometimes you don't even know if there's anybody watching them. That is such a good point, Dave. And you look at, you know, we're looking at a camera in a studio with a bunch of bright lights and pretty people yeah we don't know pretty because all these people are pretty they're ridiculous that we're on the air with and uh you know they're just crazy and and you know of course we knew some back in 2005 people watched oprah of course we knew we were going to have a big audience that day uh but then i did get in an argument with her

and so i didn't didn't have the desired publicity lift that the oprah appearance was hoping to have uh but she was wrong so but i'm like 18 years later you got somebody who's then i got somebody sitting here with their house paid for and god's transformed their whole life and uh you know unbelievable you never know you never know where the seed's gonna look like it's very cool stuff very cool makes you want to keep working it does that's right let's keep going i think i. I think we'll go talk to about 400,000 people tonight on that live stream. Hey, come on. Literally. That's crazy. Breaking free from brokenness. That's George Campbell's new book. Breaking the cycle is the thing tonight. Yeah,

be sure you're doing that at ramseysolutions.com. It's a free live stream, 7 p.m. Thursday the 11th. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Jade Warshaw, Ramsey personality, is my co-host. She is the author of our Ramsey Press Quick Read, Money's Not a Math Problem. Be sure you check it out on our website at RamseySolutions.com.

Mitch is with us in Dayton, Ohio. Hi, Mitch. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I had a, actually looking for some advice. Okay.

My wife and I started a business, a service business, about 15 years ago, and we built that up to about a couple million dollars a year, just under, and I'm starting to get some offers on that. But obviously, we do a little bit of investing in real estate now, but just wanted your opinion whether I should keep it. It's got a good cash flow, or if I should sell that and go buy more real estate. There's not a wrong answer to that. If you can get a good price and you want to get out of it

and move to the next chapter in your life, that's not a bad thing. If you want to keep it and run it for the cash flow and use the cash flow to buy real estate, that's not a bad thing. Sometimes when I'm looking at these things, I dial back and say, 20 years from today, which of these do I want? You want to be running this in 20 years? Probably not. Okay. Do you want to be running it in 10 years?

Do you want to be running it in 10 years? No. No, probably not. Okay. I think you've answered your question, in 10 years? No. No, probably not. Okay. I think you've answered your question, haven't you? Thank you. Is there anything else you've invested besides real estate? Because I don't have a 401k, nothing like that.

Okay. How old are you? 38. Okay. And how much will you get for the business or somebody made you an offer on it um about 2.5 million excellent way to go well all of my personal investments uh are mitch are in mutual funds growth stock mutual funds that i do through a ramsey smart investor pro and they sit down i talk through it with them, we discuss it,

they teach me what that particular fund is doing and why I might do it, and then I choose it or don't choose it based on what I learn about it. And then I buy real estate, and I pay cash for all my real estate. And I've been buying real estate for, gosh, 25 or 30 years, I guess. I've got several hundred million dollars worth. I love it. I love real estate. But not everybody loves real estate because it 25 or 30 years I guess I've got several hundred million dollars worth I love it I love real estate but not everybody loves real estate because it's a it's a hassle I mean you got to screw with it it's not people who say real estate is passive income I've never owned real estate it's nothing passive about it Mitch do you already own a couple of pieces or would

this be your first go at it no we actually have 13 doors right now, so we make about $9,500 a month off of that, but they're completely debt-free. We don't owe anything to them. Wow, great. That's perfect. If you get a $2.5 million check and you want to buy some real estate with it, I would do that. I would also have some in mutual funds. Go make sure you're fully funding Roth IRAs.

If you can look at what's called a simple IRA, which is for a small business owner. And I guess the third option for you, you have proven to be a successful entrepreneur. You might consider at 38 years old what you want to do next. It might be real estate full time, buying real estate, but you might also say real estate's kind of my side thing and I want to open a business doing X, Y, or Z. I don't care if it's an ice cream store or a beauty parlor. It doesn't matter to me. What do you want to do? And you might run it for a while because you obviously have a flair, an ability to do that. Yeah, very good. So if he's got 2.5 million, if it were you in the situation that he just described, how would you divvy that up? How much would you put into real estate investments and how much would you put into

like stock market investments? Well, I'm a real estate guy, so I would put a lot of it in real estate and I would put some of it into starting a new business if it was me. And then I, you know, I put 10 to 20% of it in mutual funds, but the rest of it, I would go to real estate and to, to you know starting something up yeah yeah because he needs something else to do using it for some seed capital yeah 38 years old you got a lot of you got a lot of runway in front of you you got a lot of stuff you can do that's great and so um and again you've proven that you can operate something and not not some people can start things and not operate them some people can operate them and not start them

yes but he's proven he did both. Yeah, that's great. Great skill set. That's a thing that, you know, not everybody's got. So a lot of people dream of having their own business. So, you know, you could go that direction in addition to that. I would consider that strongly if I were you. So good question.

Good question. Devin is in Milwaukee. Hi, Devin. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. So I'm a college student and I've got a year left and quit my main job so I could focus on school because it was taking a lot of time. And now I've got $1,600 in credit card, dead and $8,000 in a private loan. And I was wondering if I should like worry about that right now and get it squared away as soon as possible or wait until I'm making the salary that I want. It's a private student loan?

Yes. You know, if it were me, you've got one year left of school, I'd probably focus mostly on getting out of school and getting, you know, making sure you're making good grades, get out of school. Are you working at all or you're just not working full time? Yeah, no, I am. I'm working just not full time. And where are you living on campus? Or you have an apartment? I have an apartment. Yeah, I have an apartment.

I mean, do you have extra? I mean, if you have extra margin and you can, you know, throw an extra on there, I'm not mad at that, but I'd really just be focused on making minimum payments until I graduated. that then start paying down your debt if you get that much before you graduate then start paying down your debt but your job one is graduate with no more debt yep that's job one and that's a big job so as you found out so you know i think that's very very what are you gonna what's your degree what are you studying i'm a double majoring in psychology and computer science. What are you going to do? I want to develop artificial intelligence, but for the time being, software engineering. Okay, excellent. So you're going to be qualified to write code and do software engineering?

Yes, sir. You get a four-year degree or you're going to code school? Four-year degree for both, to get both degrees. How much is this next year going to cost you? Probably $15,000 just to live. Tuition is taken care of. What's your part-time job? I am a high school lacrosse coach,

and I was a tutor. I might do that again, and I do landscaping in the summer. Do you not know how to do code now? No, I do. Why in the world aren't you doing code? Well, I also do that at work right now. For money. Freelance code writing, way better than lacrosse coach freelance code

writing way better than landscaping there's a it's tough though because no it's not during the day no it's not it's contract work you do it whenever you want to do it that's fair dude you really need to get into that market you can make you can make us some serious money between now and the time you graduate and it's building up your experience for when you go for the the big talk to me about planting bushes when you can write code seriously go do that right now man start right now put your get get a hold of some of your buddies that are doing this and get your hat name in the hat on some freelance contracts and you can work a ton of hours writing code in the freaking evenings, mornings, weekends, whatever else around your class schedule and still graduate without any

trouble. And you're going to make enough to blow this debt out and cover your expenses and finish school and have some money. You got a great career you picked out. Now go stand right square in the middle of it. And I really don't give a rip about your psychology double major in terms of the income you're going to produce it's got nothing to do with your income your income is square in the middle of code software engineering you can be making two bills man in no time if you get out there and learn how to build platforms and do this that jeez come on get out there and be a dev three step yourself up if you got a four-year degree into that good lord son go make you some money yeah please starting right now ready set go getting the degree and the piece of paper doesn't signify the starting point right now go get them

get them now was i unclear say it again Get him! This is The Ramsey Show Thank you. We'll see you next time.