The Ramsey Show - App - Stupidity Will Grow Faster Than Your Wallet! (Hour 1)

Episode Date: December 3, 2020

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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. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author of the book a debt-free degree is my co-host today here on the air as we talk to you about your life and your money it's a free call at 888-825-5225 that's 888-825-5225 ruby starts off this hour in kansas city hi ruby welcome to the dave ramsey show hello dave and anthony um thank you for taking my call i'm a little nervous here but i had a question about a refinance so i just got a home about two years ago um they gave me a 30 year

fixed loan um but i'm wanting to do i just recently started listening to you guys about a month ago um i went in and looked at my statement realized that last year i only paid about 1500 to my principal um that made me mad so i'm wanting to refinance to a 15-year loan and my question is um i'm in baby step two i believe um and they're asking for three thousand dollars for closing costs they can't roll them into the loan um so i'm kind of stuck and don't know what to do it cannot be rolled into the loan because you well um correct pmi will be they'll close out pmi because um i've made up to the 20 percent value but in order to increase the loan um they wouldn't be able to do that i'm not sure why well because you owe too much on the house. House, yeah. Yeah. Well, what's your interest rate?

Currently, it's $4.75, and they will bring it down to $2.875. How much debt are you in right now, Ruby? About $20,000. Well, yeah, $20,000. No. Yeah. You owe $20,000 on your house? No.

No. I mean, that's separate. Well, to my house, it's $71,000. Sorry. So she's $20,000 total in debt right now. Plus $70,000 on the house. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

And you're going to save around 2% on the interest rate. Yep. And have they quoted your closing costs? Yes. It's $3,000. Okay, but you have to come out of pocket with that. Correct. Yeah, I would wait to do this until after your baby step three. I would not come out of pocket with money while you're trying to get your $20,000 paid off.

What do you think? No, I'm right there with you, Dave. And I know you're probably thinking, well, I'm saving 2%, but at the same time you're taking away $3,000 from your $20,000 in consumer. What's your household income right now, Ruby? $53,000. $53,000. Okay.

And if you all go aggressively after this, how long would it take you to pay off this debt? I'm hoping 15 months is what my plan is. Okay. That's good. Yeah. So I agree with Dave then. I would say, honestly, how do you all get out of debt next year? What do we need to do? Can we pick up an extra job? Can we pick up some extra income? So this way we can go ahead and tack this, get our three months set aside, and then go ahead and get this thing re-fied down to a 15-year fixed rate. But I would highly recommend that you do that and then go ahead and get this thing re-fied down to a 15-year fixed rate. But I would highly recommend that you do that and then look into Churchill Mortgage and they may be able

to help you out as well with your closing costs as well. Now, if you can roll the closing costs in, I would go ahead and do it. Yeah. Not to go from a 30 to a 15, but to go from a 475 to a 2875. I like that. That's the trick. If you had a 2875 already on your loan, I would just tell you to start paying extra on a 15 once you get your baby step two done. You don't need to refinance to pay a loan off in 15 years. You just pay it off in 15 years, and you save the closing costs for doing that.

But you've got a small mortgage, and so it's going to be a little more difficult to refinance because the ones under $100,000, a lot of the mortgage companies, they don't fool with it. And so you're fine. I would sit right where you are. If you've got to come out of pocket with a closing cost until you get you're out of debt and you have your emergency fund in place. And so that's about 18 to 24 months from now, you'll be in a position to have saved up and refinance and not be in debt and not have an emergency fund and pay cash for your closing costs out of pocket. Rates are still

down at that point where they are now or thereabouts. Still going to be a great idea. Jillian is with us. Jillian's in Knoxville. Hi, Jillian. How are you? Hi, Dave and Anthony. Thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Okay. So in December, my 13 year old car died. And so I, I had bought that car new. So I was, I've always been in the business of buying a new car and then just keeping it until it died. So I thought I was doing really good because I had just paid off about $14,000 in credit card debt. And so I went and bought a new car. But after listening to you, I realized this was probably a mistake. So I bought the car. It was about saying it's hard, $27,000 with taxes

and everything. And so after listening to you, I realized, because I'm also trying to save up for a house because I don't own a house yet. And so, but I checked my payoff and my payoff is $24,000 and the car now is only worth 19,000. So I'm trying to save up for a house. I have, um, you know, I have some money in savings, so I was just kind of, I was just always thought that a car payment was just something you always had. Um, so, but now listening to you, I'm, I'm realizing that maybe I need to pay off my car before I start saving for a house. But the first year you pay a car, it's all taxes and all that stuff. So I haven't really gotten to the principle yet. So I don't really know what to do.

Do I just continue to save for a house and build my savings account while still paying the car? Do I try to paying the car do i do i try to what's your what's your um i actually just put in for a salary adjustment i just got a seventeen thousand dollar raise so i now make 75 starting next month you make 75 you owe 24 on the car how much do you have in savings yes sir um i'm about five thousand dollars in in savings. What are $5,000 upside down? Yeah. And what other debt do you have? I have $5,000 in savings, and I have no other debt other than the car. Yeah, and you're $5,000 upside down. Yeah.

Yes, yes, sir. 24 over 19, right? Yeah. Yes, sir. Okay. Yeah, yeah. I'm paying off the car. I mean, and even as a matter of fact, I'm looking at how can I, if I was in your shoes,

how can I actually just sell the car and just go buy something cash so I could be 100% debt free? And then the next thing from there, Jillian, I'm not thinking about a house right now. I'm thinking about, okay, how do I get a fully funded emergency fund set aside six months? You know, and then I'll go into Baby step 3b where that's when we go ahead and start saving for that but you know if i was you i'm looking at okay how can i get rid of this car go buy a reliable cash car so i can get to my goal quicker um but you may say hey i like this car i can pay it off it is your only debt but i'm just saying what i would yeah either one either one is

fine we tell folks if you can be out of debt inside of two years and the cars, all the things you own with wheels and motors, is less than half your annual income, then you're okay. So you're okay. You could step down out of it if you wanted to and then go faster. Or you can just say, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and knock this thing out and be done with it. And as soon as that's done, build your emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. And as soon as that's done, then you'll start saving for a house again. But the car is between you and the house. We've got to get that knocked out, if you're smart, that is.

This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Over the years, I've seen so many families suffer by not having life insurance. It's not that they didn't care. It's just that they didn't know, so they did nothing. That's a huge mistake. Listen, husbands and wives, moms and dads, think about it. If you died, how would your family pay the bills, the mortgage, food, and plan for a better future? This is what life insurance is all about, and term life is the only way to go. It's not expensive, and it's not complicated.

Stop wasting money on cash value plans. You need 10 to 12 times your income in protection, and I recommend 15- or 20-year-level plans. I also only recommend Zander Insurance, and I have for over 20 years. These are the only people I personally use, and they only offer the plans i recommend call them at 800-356-4282 or get instant quotes online at zander.com trust me these simple steps will let your family know how much you care Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today here on the air. Author of the number one best-selling book, Debt-Free Degree. Thank you for joining us, America. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jay is with us in Columbia, South Carolina. Hi, Jay. How are

you? I'm doing good. How are you guys doing? Better than I deserve, man. How can we help? Good. So I'm in Baby Step 3B. I have 20% saved up for a home down payment. But the thing is, I'm 24 years old, and I'm a junior in college. And the job that I plan to apply for after graduation, it's a pretty competitive field. So I may or may not get into that job industry. So my question to you is, is right now a good time to maybe buy a small condo or a single family home, considering that I may or may not move within the next year and a half? No. Yeah. Clearly no. But let me say this, though, Jay, because we both responded quickly.

I do love the way you're thinking because it lets me know you're a sharp young man and you're thinking about your future and you're trying to make the right decisions. But from the practical side, no. So I was selling real estate when I was your age and going to college. And if you're selling real estate, it is really tempting to buy a piece of real estate when i was your age and going to college and if you're selling real estate it is really tempting to buy a piece of real estate yeah and i almost bought a little small single family home in the town i was selling real estate in that was adjacent to the town i was going to college in and then i would have graduated 18 months later gotten married and moved to another

town and been stuck with that stinking little house yeah yeah so i'm really really really really thankful that that deal didn't go through and that i did not follow through on that deal because that would have been more of a curse than a blessing and that's right where you are you're in a period of transition right now and a house is not going to be a blessing for you home ownership is not going to be a blessing for you when you settle in and you're going to be somewhere for a while and you can ride out the appreciation and let it go up in value some while you're living there, then you start talking about buying. But I really would tell you, please don't buy. I almost did what you're talking about.

And I've looked back a thousand times and thought, wow, God just protected me from my own potential stupidity. Because it's not stupid to buy a house. No. But it would have been stupid for me to buy a house because I would have been stuck with it. The timing of when you buy the house could be the stupid or the unwise part of it. There you go.

That's the thing that I think, Jay, what we're trying to tell you. And what I want to tell you is if you already have 20 keep putting into that yeah keep piling it up you might you might go into your first house at 26 27 with 50 down now you're really ahead of the game so keep moving man i'm proud of you bro yeah well done you the good news is you're actually thinking yes uh several people that are junior in college is the only thing they think about is the next beer pong tournament amen all right open phones at 888-825-5225 marianne is in phoenix hi marianne welcome to the dave ramsey show hi dave and anthony um i'm calling i have a 18 year old daughter who has 20 000 in the bank can she serve me a student yeah and we're trying to figure out what's the best way for her to use that money,

or where should she put it, besides just sitting in her bank account. Wow, how did it get there? That's my question. Well, she has worked since she was 16, and she just always saved her money, and then she had an unfortunate event when her car got stolen, and she just got paid from the insurance company, and so she has that money. Does she not need a car? Well, we have a car that she can use, so we're not rushing her to purchase another one. Okay.

How is she paying for school? She has scholarships that pays for her tuition, her room and board. Okay. And is this guaranteed and will it cover all four of her years in school? Correct. Okay. And then here's another question. What does she want to do after school?

Does she want to go and pursue her master's at all? She does. She would like to be a doctor. Okay. And so that's why we don't know what she should do with that money. I'm sure she's going to need it. Yes. I would just leave it sitting right where it is.

Right where it is. You can put it in a money market account if you want, but it does not need to be invested. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. It is for education. Yes. Okay. So it's fine to leave it in a checking account? Yeah.

Well, I mean, I might not leave it in a checking account just because of the temptation to spend it, although this kid is very disciplined and very careful. She is very disciplined. I can tell. I mean, she's incredible. A, she saved it up in the first place. And, you know, you guys are obviously coaching her well, too, and are speaking into her life in a positive way.

That's all great. So, yeah, I mean, I might move it over into a money market account. It might earn 1%, 1.5% or something like that. It's not going to earn much. But the big thing is it gets it kind of disconnected from the day-to-day living of a checking account, which is always just a little tempting and dangerous in that sense. And Mary Ann, start having a conversation now of where she's thinking about going to school, from med school and stuff like that. So that way, now you all can start saving and adding more money to that account. So you already have a game plan on how you're going to cash flow that.

But that's the main thing from there. Well done. Rachel's in Grand Rapids. Hi, Rachel. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for having me on. Sure.

What's up? So I just graduated this year back in april congratulations what's your degree in thank you i got my bachelor of fine arts degree and i went for graphic design which is something i've always really wanted to do so i was proud of myself that i did that um but because going through college my mom never really prepared me for the effects of loans. She always just kind of told me not to worry about it. So I graduated with like $58,000 worth of debt. So I have been working a part-time job for a while now, making like $10 an hour.

And I just got my first full-time job. Yay! Yeah, I know. I'll be making like 42 a year before taxes. So I think it's a good start, but like, I am like absolutely terrified. I don't know what to do about my loans when I'm obviously making less a year than I have in debt. So, um, yeah, I'm just kind of, kind of nervous going forward once I have to start paying back. Rachel, what are you using your graphic design degree in? Because if you're making $10 an hour on the side.

No, she's making $42 in her new job. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, I just got it. You just got it. So what I'm saying on the side, are you doing any graphic design work on the side? I was actually thinking about it before i got the current job offer um i thought about like starting an llc and like kind of freelancing on the side because i thought i mean i wasn't making enough money on my old job to even support myself so yes i thought about it for a while and

then i got the job offer and i was like i kind of took a breather because i felt like a sigh of relief but i don't know, maybe I need to... 42 is good. Yes. 62 is better. Exactly. So let's do 42, and then you don't need an LLC. You can just start freelancing.

Yes. All you do is just sole proprietorship. You just do it in your name. They can just pay you on the side. As long as you're not doing anything in competition with your existing employer, you don't want to do anything unethical. But if you can pick up some freelance gigs on the side and make another 20, the great news about doing freelance graphic arts is you can do it on your schedule, and so you can work as much or as little as you want, and you want to work a lot.

Yes. Yeah. Because the faster you, the more you work, the more money you make, and the more money you make, the faster this debt goes away. Let's do it with some math. You said 53, right? I have 58. 58.

I'm sorry. Okay. So 30 a year for 53, right? I have 58. 58. I'm sorry. Okay. So 30 a year for two years and it's gone. Yep. Okay. You could do that on 62. You can't do that on 42.

Right. 20 a year for three years and it's gone. You can do that on 42 with no life. Yeah. But Rachel, I'm telling you right now, with you being young in this influencer world right now, I believe you can honestly do in between $25,000 and $30,000 a year on the side with your graphic work. You're going to have to be real aggressive and let them know, hey, I'm here to help you.

I can help design logos. I can help do this. But you really can. I want you to stay on the line when we get done. I'm going to send you a copy of my book, Destroy Your Student Loan Debt. It's going to walk you through the process on how to really aggressively go after that. But the key thing for you is to make your shovel bigger. And I think you have a gold opportunity because especially with your age, going towards that 30 and 40 year old, tell them, hey, I can help you. You can make some good money on the side. So stay on the line.

Are you willing to live like a broke college student for two years? I've basically been living like a broke college student. Are you willing to live like that for two more years? Yeah, I mean, definitely. If you'll do that, Anthony can show you how to get out of debt in two years. There you go. You increase your income and you live on nothing. Yep.

And you can do this. Hold on. We'll help you out, kiddo. Proud of you. Well done. Very well done. This is the Dave Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Our question comes from blinds.com. Find out for yourself why blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSY to get the best possible deal. Anthony, our question. So Dave, our question comes from Rob in New Hampshire. My wife and I are working on our debt snowball. I currently have one student loan that I'm receiving extra payments towards from my employer, but it's next in the debt snowball. Do we skip it since we received the extra benefit and move to the next loan? I would.

Yeah. I'd push it to the back and take that extra money, but I'm not going to keep it around when I get to it. Yeah. If it's the last thing on the list, when you do get to it, go ahead and knock it out. But that way you're getting extra payments from your employer for a longer period of time. I like it, Dave, especially coming from a boss.

I like that. So the, well, I mean, yeah, I mean, that's what, it's a benefit. It's an employee benefit for them to help with. Yeah. So the, Anthony, the other thing that comes up sometimes is I can get my student loans. I'm in a forgiveness process where I can get so much forgiven a year for three years, which is a legitimate one, not the stupid government one that doesn't ever happen. But I'm talking about where, you know, and what we tell people in those

situations is build up a savings account equal, right? Yes, absolutely. Build it up from an equal standpoint. And then if it doesn't happen, doesn't come through, sometimes you have that money you can put all towards it. Then if it does happen, hey, you're there. I had a lady that was teaching in a special ed situation, and her student loans were being given one-third at a time for three years. But the situation became very dangerous, physically dangerous to her. And she had to get out. But she had the money saved to go ahead and pay it off

and had to walk away from the forgiveness yes for her safety yeah and so you're not handcuffed it's golden handcuffs if you got to stay in a toxic horrible thing in order to just to get in order to get the forgiveness so that's what we're after there bud is with us in salt lake hi bud welcome to the dave ramsey. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Hey, so I just have a quick question. I'm an electrician, and I worked for a company for almost two years

and then left that company for another one. So I have a small 401K with them, and my portion, if I were to take it out, is only about $4,700 or so. Is it worth either rolling that into a Roth while the taxes are, it would still be low and let it grow in a Roth? Or I have one more debt left in my snowball and it's only about $7,000 on a credit card. Or should I just take the 401K and use that with the money I have now and just pay off that last debt? Yeah, man. I'm a huge fan of you just rolling over to a Roth. I would actually probably roll it to a traditional right now.

That way there's no taxes on it. Let's not create taxes until you get your credit card debt cleared. And then you can convert it to a Roth, you know, in a couple of years here before it gets too large. But for right now, I would just roll it. I always tell people, we always tell people to take your retirement with you when you go. That's why Anthony said that. Yes. Meaning you roll it in what's called a direct transfer rollover.

There's no tax event when you do that. And you just move it from your 401k, your 401k to the other. If you take it home and use it for that credit card, the government's going to take over a third of it. Yes. So it's $2,000 the government's going to take out of your $4,700. So that's just not fun. It's not. I wouldn't do that.

It doesn't sound fun to me. All right. Lisa's in Oklahoma City. Hi, Lisa. How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm great. It's an honor to talk with you. You too. How can I help? I'm 42. My husband is 45. We have just over a million in our retirement accounts. Yay! I know. Awesome. Praise the Lord. And we would like to retire early, but so our question is, can we forego putting as much money into our 401K that we currently give

so that way we can try to bulk up money currently now so that way we can retire a little bit early and live off of that? Yeah, you're going to need some bridge money, we call it, in order to bridge to the time from now until 59 1⁄2. And so you need some bridge investing. And you're a millionaire. So yeah, you're okay. You're going to be all right.

So yeah, so I'm going to start bridge investing right now, meaning just standard non-retirement mutual funds and build that up to a million, and then you're definitely ready. Now, here's the other thing. You need to think about your definition of retirement. Yeah. Because it doesn't necessarily mean no income. Yeah.

It doesn't necessarily mean you're just going to sit on the back of a boat for the next 40 years. Right. It could mean that it just is another chapter, an encore, where you take another bow after the curtain, you know. Of course. And it could be what we call an encore career. And it's not unusual for encore careers to actually produce more money than you did in your original career. Right, right. The pressure's off.

Right, right. So it's okay to not even give to where our company matches. It's okay for us to forgo that money because we're okay. You can. I'm probably going to do the match. Yeah. I like 100% return on my money. I'm probably going to do the match.

But it's just a nerd thing. It's just hard for me to not take match. Yeah. I like 100% return on my money. I'm probably going to do the match. But it's just a nerd thing. It's just hard for me to not take 100%. Lisa, can you not do both? Are you all not in a position to where you can't do both? Well, right now my husband, his company matches at 6%, and that's exactly what he gives. My company matches at 7%, and I only give 10%. So we'd only be saving about 3% of what I bring in. And I'm not the hard worker of the family, honestly. My husband is. give 10 so we'd really we'd only be saving about three percent of what i bring in and i don't i'm

not the hard worker of the family honestly my husband is um well i'm guessing if we could yeah i'm guessing that if you're out of debt other than your home to anthony's point that you might be able in addition to the seven match and the six match you can stop the matches if you want you're okay you did it touchdown you done won the super bowl The only question is are we going back for another ring? That's all we're doing. You did it. You're there. So if you just let this money just sit there and double every seven years,

you're going to be worth $8 or $10 million just screwing around with that. So you're all right, but you're going to be okay. But if you want to step out of that match or if in addition to the match you can do it, it'd just be hard for me to walk away from the match. But you've got to do something towards bridge if you need an income before 59.5 without penalty. I'm not 59.5. I'm 35. But when I hear millionaire and I hear I'm giving 10%, they're only matching 7%,

I'm keeping that 7% and I'm going to take that 3% to start my bridge. The three and other. Yes. Other is what I'm'm looking for i'm looking for more in addition to that but you don't have to live on my point is if the only way you can get all the match and do the bridge is beans and rice well no you don't need to do that no i don't like that you just got to sit down and do some calculations here and look at your budget and and see what your best directions are. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jamarian is on YouTube. Anthony, I'm 17, and I do YouTube for income with an average of $1,500 a month. You need another job.

He's 17. He's making $1,500 a month. I'm just playing, Dick. Good Lord. Oh, my gosh. This is amazing. That's what I'm saying. I only. Good Lord. Oh, my gosh. This is amazing. That's what I'm saying. Only have $500 in the bank.

What the crap did you do with your $1,500? Right. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a spender. Oh, there it is. Yes. I'm worried I can't save for my future. What should I do with my money, Anthony? You need a new mindset.

You don't need a new job. You need a new mindset. Now, that one I'll go with. No, I'm serious. I mean, if you're young, this means that you need to really step back and ask yourself, all right, what are my priorities? Where am I going? If I'm making $1,500 at this age.

At YouTube. You know, with YouTube. Wow. Which is great. Which means you will eventually make more with YouTube. I'm sitting back and really getting a new mindset. Here's the thing, Jim Aaron. Anthony's exactly right, because I have been you.

I have always been able to make money, but I couldn't always keep it. And for a long time, people who know how to make money, and you're good at making money at an early age, can fall into the trap of thinking you can out earn your stupidity and dude you can't make enough money to out earn your stupidity stupidity will grow faster than your wallet and it will always tackle you from behind and rub your face in the mud so i know because i tried it for a long time and so that's what he's saying you need a new mindset to where okay i've been blessed with the ability to make money. Now I have to develop my skill on keeping it.

Yes. There you go, Dave. That's it. And you're asking the right question to do that. And making $1,500 a month, you should have at least $5,000. Ding, ding. You need to look up and say, I'm going to set some savings goals and hit them. That's it. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. When folks here on the air do their debt-free screams,

we always ask, who was your biggest cheerleader? Because anytime you make a big change, the hardest part is staying motivated. And the haters. Even people that love you. They tell you to do big change, the hardest part is staying motivated and the haters, the people, even people that love you, they tell you to do stupid stuff, right? So if you're ready to make serious progress on your debt and you need the motivation to make it happen, don't try to go it alone. When you join Ramsey Plus, you'll not only go through our step-by-step money plan, but you're going to do it with people who are working to get out of debt, just like you. And since our most popular class, Financial Peace University, is part of Ramsey Plus,

you'll connect directly with people who can hold you accountable, so you stick with the plan and you stay away from stupid. As a Ramsey Plus member, you get the tools and practical tips to pay off your debt fast, so the future that you're working toward will get here sooner. You can get debt out of your life, and you don't have to do it by yourself. Financial Peace University classes, Ramsey Plus members, this is the stuff that makes it happen. Start your free trial at Ramsey Plus and join a class when you text JOIN to 33-789. 33-789.33-789. Courage is with us in Los Angeles.

Hi, Courage. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave and Anthony. It's an honor to speak to you guys. God bless you. You too. How can we help? Yeah, I'm 20 years old.

I live with my mother and my younger sisters. I have a job that pays $15 an hour, but under the table, because my mom demanded me to do that, to be paid that way. My family receives government aid like FAFSA and food stamps. But I got offered a position at my current job that would raise my pay to $25 an hour on payroll. I strongly desire to take that position, but my mother won't let me. I have credit card debt that I need to pay off, but then my mother also takes about 80% of my income, so it's kind of hard to do so. How old are you? I'm 20. What was your name again? Courage. What?

Wow. Ouch. Yes, sir. Say it again. Courage. Yeah, I. Ouch. Yes, sir. Say it again. Courage. Yeah, I thought so. Yeah, man. Are you getting the message already before you finish your question? I believe so. I just, you know, I've been vocal to my mother about taking the position and also, you know, been vocal about keeping my income and also and all that stuff. But she's, she's been kind of saying that that was very selfish of me to,

to even consider that or even think about that. It's selfish for your mom to force this kind of demand on you when you're trying to establish yourself in life as a young man. And so let's, let's not talk about the word selfish because your mom is actually a lot more selfish than you are right now. But let's address the problem at hand. Are you living at home with your mom right now?

Yes, sir. Okay, all right. So right now, with you living in your mama's house, she feels as if she can tell you what to do. So the very next step is, are you in a position to leave your mother's house? I strongly desire to, and I'm actually trying to find a place to move out.

But like I said before, my mom takes about 80% of my income. Not anymore because you're moving out. Yeah, man. Do you have any friends that have an apartment? That's right, yeah. Yeah, I do. I believe I do, yeah. Would any of them let you crash on the couch for a month,

and you kept your whole income for a month, and then went and got your own place? I do, actually. A couple. That's what you need to do. Yes. Okay. I don't want to be mean,

but you need to hear this real loud and clear. Yeah. It's hard to insult a guy's mama okay but your mama is out of control yeah she's out of control yeah yeah nobody takes their 20 takes 80 of their 20 year olds money and takes government assistance this woman takes and takes and takes and takes she doesn't give anything no you need to love her from more of a distance yes yes sir i i believe so too and uh you know i'm at least i'm happy that i the only the only reason why i let her do that is because uh

i mean i i told her she can only do that if she gives 10% of it. It doesn't matter. That does not make it right. It doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it right. Let me tell you the number of times I took 80% of my kids' money when they were 20. Zero. I know that answer. Yeah.

But here's the thing, Courage. Let me just give you the process, man. You need to have courage. Tell your mom I'm leaving. Tell your mom I love you. I'm grateful for you. Ask one of your friends if you can crash on the couch for a month and then see if you have another friend out

there that you can roommate with so that way you don't have to take on a full 100% of the rent. And then from there you got to just really be aggressive on a budget, living below your means, living like you're broke. How many hours a week are you working at the $25? I currently work about 50, 55, 60 hours a week.

Would you get that many hours at $25? Yes. Okay. So you work all the time like that, and very quickly you're going to have a pile of money when you quit paying 80% of it out. Yeah. Like in a month. Yes, sir.

I mean, just add up what you'll make in a month at 60 hours at $25 and four times that for a month. Yes, sir. Okay? And you're going to have some money, dude. Yeah. Now, again, I'm with Anthony. I'm going to disrespect your mom, but I don't want you to.

Okay? I think she's a turkey, but I think you need to be kind to to okay please i think she's a turkey but i think you need to be kind to her and i think she's your mom and i think you should always be honoring of her and grateful and uh she's not gonna like it when you leave because you're one of her gravy trains and the gravy train's moving yeah this is going to be very um there's going to be a lot of conflict with this decision, isn't there? Yes, sir. It's not going to be pretty, is it? No, it's not.

But she made a mistake. She named you Courage. Yeah. So there you go. And listen, let me give you one last thing that goes with this, okay? Because of the background that you are coming out of and your 20-year-old young man trying to find your way. There was a book written years ago by a man named Tom Stanley. It was called The Millionaire Next Door where he studied millionaires.

Then Tom and I later became friends, and he later came back and wrote a book called The Millionaire Mind. And he went and studied not millionaires' courage, but people with $10 million or more, deca-millionaires they're called, $10 million, and they were making an average of $750,000 a year or more, the men and women that he studied. And as he studied them, he found 35 statistical correlations among all of them, and then he ranked them from the most important and most reoccurring of all the people that he studied down to the least reoccurring of the 35. You following me? So if I'm reading this book, when I i read this book what i wanted to know is

what are the top five things that are the characteristics of people that make seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year and people that have ten million dollars or more is that interesting information yes yes sir you know what the number one character quality was, characteristic was? Integrity. Yes, sir. And taking money under the table so that you illegally get government assistance is not integrity, sir. Yes. Courage and pride. I believe so.

I believe so. Yeah. And that's why I'm picking on your mom. She needs to quit trying to game you and game the system and roll up her sleeves and be somebody. Yeah. And that's what I want you to go do right now as fast as you can and as gently as you can. But I know, young man, that you're going to have some conflict from someone who has a lot of emotional power over you. And this is going to require courage on your part. No pun intended here, brother. But you can do it. You you can do it and if you put it off you're still

going to have to do it it's just going to be later yeah and then you're going to be forced to do it because you're going to be like what in the world eventually it's going to blow up on you yep these things do not end well they don't they don't end well so going ahead and just endure the pain now yeah and the emotional pain of her disapproval. Yeah. And if she wants to disapprove of me, I can handle that. Yeah, me too. I'm pretty good with that. Yeah. Because that means I probably gave excellent advice if someone like that disapproves of me.

Yeah. There you go. And here's the thing, too, Dave. She may even say, you know, I don't want to talk to you no more right now. Yeah. And that's okay. She'll come back around. She'll come back around.

Because she'll want money later. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about an event, product, or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything you've heard about during this episode in the podcast show notes section, or head over to DaveRamsey.com and click Dave Recommends. Thanks for listening.