The Ramsey Show - App - Teaching High School Students to Win with Money (Hour 2)

Episode Date: April 10, 2019

The show about you

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions,casting 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. Well, April is National Financial Literacy Month. And that sounds like a $10 phrase, financial literacy, but it is real. College students are graduating with an average of $37,000 in student loan debt. Our high school curriculum, foundations, and personal finance is now taught in 40% of the high schools. Over 4 million students have learned differently about money and will graduate without a bunch of freaking

debt there you go so financial literacy is a real thing it's not just a ten dollar thing it's learning about money our youth expert ramsey personality anthony o'neill joins me fresh off the road yes good to be home huh feels good to be home dave you've been gone i've been going a lot like 16 17 days straight 17 days straight? 17 days straight. In high schools, middle schools, did a bunch of FBLA and DECA and team conferences around finances and business leadership. And you also did some corporate events, didn't you? Yeah, I did. I had the opportunity to speak for the HEB grocery stores.

Yeah. 300 stores in the state of Texas. They own the state of Texas when it comes to the grocery store industry. And this is a company that is a debt-free company. They buy all the buildings and do everything debt-free. Wow. And they brought me in to speak to all of their millennial employees. And they,

they, I can say this publicly. They pay their managers, store managers, anywhere between one 10 to $350,000 a year. Wow. And they said, Hey,

we want to make sure that while we're giving them this money, we're also giving them the knowledge to keep the money and to grow the money. Yeah. And so they brought me in to be the keynote speaker and broke it down and gave me pretty much three keynotes yesterday. I spoke to all of them. And it was an absolutely great experience. But then also just to talk to these young people, 27, 28, 30 years old without college degrees, some of them and making this kind of money. Yeah, they needed wisdom and guidance. You know, there's like, hey, I'm making all this money. I'm making five thousand dollars a week. What should I be doing? How do I budget? And it's just amazing how the lack of knowledge is there, which is why I'm so excited that this is Financial Literacy Month because it's about having the knowledge to make good, solid decisions.

And so it's been great. So we're going to feature several people this hour, students and teachers and other things, in honor of Financial Literacy Month and make sure we stay tuned in on this idea that our team tackles these issues. We have the Teacher Appreciation Giveaway, sponsored by Jackson Charitable Foundation, the $5,000 all-inclusive vacation. And teachers can register at DaveRamsey.com slash teacher. You can't register for your teacher. You have to tell the teacher to go there and do it.

It's not a nomination process. It's a sign-up process. And we've had some students visiting us from Heritage Christian Academy in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, for the last couple of days. Second batch is here today. And Maddie is one of the students from Heritage Christian in Kentucky, is here in the lobby with a question for Anthony. Hey, Maddie, how are you?

Hey, Dave. So I'm 16, and I am obviously thinking of college now since I'm a sophomore in high school. And I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should major in. And what are some ways I can figure that out? Let me ask you this question, Maddie. We spoke earlier and you didn't ask me this question when we was in private. So give me a little bit of it. It would have spoiled the radio.

It would have spoiled. Yeah. And plus, I want to ask this to Dave. Go ahead. But Maddie, talk to me a little bit. it. Yeah, yeah. And plus, I want to ask this to Dave. Well, no, you go ahead. Go ahead. Hey, but Amanda, talk to me a little bit. Talk to us, Ashley. What do you like doing? What are you passionate about?

Do you know what you're passionate about right now? I'm passionate about a few things, but I don't know what I should pursue. Give me one thing. Probably medical school. Medical. So you like serving people. Okay. What attracts you to medical school medical so you like saving people okay what what what attracts you to medical school yeah um just that i can handle the stress and like it doesn't bother me and uh yeah what else would you be thinking about what other things um i'm really not sure okay that's

why all right are you good at math are you good science? Are you good at, what's your natural gifting in your academics? Probably history. I like history. But I don't see myself majoring in that ever. That's fine. That's fine. All right. And what's your second favorite class?

Math. Okay. Math. Yeah. Cool. Well, you know what, Maddie, you seem like a smart student. We spoke earlier and I want to say this, there's nothing wrong with you not knowing exactly what you want to do today. Okay. You're young. Um, but I would recommend doing as much time cause

you're a sophomore, right? Yeah. Yeah. So you have two more years to figure this thing out. And I'll say, take your time, but seek guidance from your parents. I seek guidance for your amazing teachers that we met earlier today. But then also, while you're in that, start looking at and identifying what subjects you really like and what careers can come out of those subjects and start figuring out what you're passionate about. And let's say you don't graduate high school. And this is something that Dave and I teach to all the students. If you may not may not go off to a four year university, but go to a community college, knock out your prereqs and get a job and start even filling that out a little bit more once you get older but right now i also asking your mom and dad what do you see in me that i don't see in

myself and maybe they can maybe even start guiding you down that path and that's not asking them what they would like for you to be it's asking them what they see in you yeah that's different okay because you don't want you don't want to fulfill your mommy's dream you want to do yours okay so that's the plan the other thing you might do is uh try a couple things in terms of just uh see if you can get a uh someone to allow you to shadow them um and maybe an engineering and architectural firm since you're good at math that'd be fun to walk around there a little bit. And you might shadow a doc one day if you're thinking about med school. And just go in there.

And you may figure out, you know, I don't want anything to do with this. This is gross, you know. Or I don't like this at all. And so, you know, sometimes people think they want to be in the financial world until they hang out and find out how boring we are and uh they don't really want to hang out with financial guys and gals then so wait you don't want to hang out with dave ramsey because he's boring i'm fine you're also gutsy i'll just say that so yeah i think i think some shadowing would good. Ask some of your mentors and people who care about you, who know you, what they see you doing.

And I'll tell you in just the 30 seconds that we've been together that you're unusually poised. Yes. And your communication skills are very good for someone your age. A lot of people would have just completely froze up like a deer in the headlights doing what you're doing right now, and you've carried this off. So that indicates something. And you might think, you know, in that regard, I don't know what that means, but it means that you're good with people and, you know, your spotlight stuff doesn't scare you to

the point you can't breathe and that kind of thing. So you've done well. So good job. Thanks for stopping by, Maddie. Thank you. Yeah, thanks, Maddie. So, Anthony, when you're hanging out with teens, how often do they ask you that question? Because you're in a high school 20 times in the past 18 days, probably.

I would probably say, Dave, about 50% of the students do not know what they want to do. And I try to encourage kids because I think sometimes, which I love about you, Dave, you also teach this. Don't be stressed and be forced into this situation. Take your time and ask for guidance and wisdom, and it will come. It will definitely come. And there's nothing wrong with going off to community college and starting off slow. Yeah, and Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox is not a bad idea, too, to get a hold of that and try some small business ideas.

Yes, sir. And parents, coach your kids through those. You may see some entrepreneurial stuff pop up in your child, in your young adult. It's a financial literacy theme hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show. Ramsey Personality, Anthony O'Neill joins me. He is going crazy all over the place. Books, all kinds of products, all kinds of ways to help you with your teens. Back with more of that here on the Dave Ramsey Show.

Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable biblical solution to your health care costs? Based new testament principles christian health care ministries or chm helps christian families churches and ministries join together as the body of christ to share their major health care costs christian health care ministries is the original health cost sharing ministry a better business bureau accredited organization chm members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years.

And our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. I printed up the very first financial peace book. I was carrying them around the trunk of my car. I went and spoke at a Kiwanis Club or Chamber of Commerce or something. I forget what it was. And the very first time I set the it was and the very first time i set the book out the very first time i said get on a budget get out of debt live on lesson you make

learn to give i walked to the back of the room and everyone walked to the book table and said why is this not taught in the high schools for the entire career i've had doing what i do almost 30 years people said why is this not taught in high schools? And finally, we said, we're going to teach you in high schools. Yes, sir. And, you know, we began putting together the high school curriculum, and we've worked and worked and worked, and now it's taught. The Ramsey Foundations in Personal Finance is taught in 40 percent, approaching 50 percent of the high schools in America. And, you know, what we have is oftentimes we have sponsors come along beside us. It's Financial Literacy Month, so we're celebrating this idea of teaching kids,

teaching people how to handle money, but certainly young people so that they don't, well, this stuff should have been enough. This stuff we should have been taught, you know. And Anthony O'Neill joins us, Ramsey personality this hour. But we've had sponsors come alongside us over the years to help cause these 4 million students to be able to go through this. Because some of the schools can't afford the curriculum. And that's really the biggest barrier. So businesses come alongside us.

And Jackson Charitable Foundation has come alongside us as well. And they have helped over 60,000 students. That's remarkable. That is. Go through foundations in personal finance. So while we're celebrating all of this, we thought it would be appropriate to bring Danielle Robinson on. She's the executive director at Jackson Charitable Foundation. Hey, Danielle, how are you?

Hi, Dave and Anthony. Thanks for having us on the show. We are big fans of your work. It's a pleasure. Thank you. We're big fans of you guys. Anybody who helps 60,000 students is really high on our list. That's a lot of young people.

Now, you guys do a lot of work at Jackson Charitable Foundation on the issue of financial literacy. What's your perspective on how this education impacts that generation, more than one generation? Yeah, you know, it's just like you always teach when you talk about changing a family tree. You know, we know that money behaviors are generational, meaning that the things that your grandparents taught your parents, then your parents pass on to you and so on with each generation. So for kids who are raised in a household where financial stress is present, they're learning to associate stress with money. But it also means that in households where positive conversations occur about money, parents can show their kids how to build the kind of life they want.

I remember being in junior high and my parents talking with my sister and me about their plan to pay off our home mortgage as quickly as possible. And that conversation stuck with me, and it influenced my decision to pay off my own mortgage as quickly as possible. So that's really what gets us most excited is that by providing this education, we're not just changing these students' lives but also future families. Yeah. I grew up in a – I mean, I have a friend that I was talking to the other day in the area I grew up in,

and he was talking about – he said, you know, my parents were always in get-rich-quick, so we were either driving Cadillacs or having them towed. It just – it shows up. And I mean, my dad taught me hard work. And Anthony, I know your dad taught you hard work. He taught me hard work, Dave. You know, he really did. But you know, one thing he didn't talk to me a lot about is money, you know, and unfortunately

because of that, it showed off, but he taught me how to work hard, but he didn't teach me how to really manage my money. And the truth is, if I would have had or going through something like foundations and personal finance, I may not have ended up in debt about 19 years ago and living out of my car, which is, I get so excited when I think about what Jackson Charitable Foundation is doing and helping us reach students in places that these schools and these communities can't afford it. I get really, really, really excited because one of our foundations, I want to share this with the world. One of our foundations and personal finance students wrote to us and said, my parents are not in the best financial spot.

Last time I spoke to my mom about their debt, I believe they were in about two hundred thousand000 worth of debt, my mom knows that I'm taking this course and has actually come to me, her 14-year-old son, asking questions about what they should do because of what this child is learning in this curriculum. And so I just get excited knowing that we have banks like Jackson Charitable coming along to really help us, Dave, because I needed this when I was growing up. We're talking with Danielle Robinson. She's the executive director of Jackson Charitable Foundation. It's a financial literacy theme hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show. So at Jackson Charitable, again, I said you guys are really dialed in on the whole financial literacy thing, and you're playing in several spots. Our curriculum is one of them.

Why do you guys think it's important that students start learning at a young age? Well, you know, behavioral research tells us that our money behaviors are rooted in childhood experiences. So just like some of the examples we're giving here. And so our foundation's work begins at the earliest stages with elementary school students in our signature program, Chiching Money Smart Kids. But then in the high school, that's where we team up with Ramsey on foundations and personal finance. And what I love about high school students is that they are right at that critical age

when they're beginning to make adult financial decisions. And we have the chance to positively influence those decisions, and that can change the trajectory of their entire life. Now, it really can. I mean, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way when you're starting like that. You're exactly right. I agree with you. And, of course, you guys are also sponsoring this teacher appreciation giveaway

where we're giving away a $5,000 vacation, among other prizes, but that's the grand prize. No purchase necessary. Teachers can go to DaveRamsey dot com slash teacher to register and Daniel I know you guys are you know you're the sponsor of that as well for us and and as we're celebrating that teacher appreciation giveaway talk about what you guys at Jackson Charitable Foundation want these teachers to know yeah we want teachers to know that they are incredible.

My high school economics teacher infused a little personal finance into his class, and he had us calculate the time value of investing in a Roth IRA. And even at that early age, his lessons sparked a personal passion in me for saving. So I've seen firsthand how teachers can change students' lives, and not just those students, but even future generations. Teachers do such important work, and the Jackson Charitable Foundation and I are so grateful for their dedication. That's why we're delighted to sponsor this giveaway. And so, teachers, I'll just say we appreciate you.

Amen. The good ones are life changers. The ones that mail it in are the ones you remember, too. You remember them for the wrong reasons, but the good ones are the best. They really are. And there's always those that are out there, and we get to associate with a lot of them teaching our curriculum. Well, Danielle, thank you for joining us. We appreciate you taking your time.

Thanks, Dave. And to learn more about our foundation, you can visit us at jacksoncharitablefoundation.org. Love it. Be sure and check them out, folks. They are doing really, really good work, and we're certainly honored to be associated with them. Be sure and do that. So Jackson Charitable Foundation sponsoring the high school curriculum and the teacher

appreciation giveaway. Over 60,000 students go through our foundations and personal finance course because of them. It's pretty incredible. It is incredible. I just had an opportunity to shoot a video with him, Dave, and just to see how many kids and the kids that they are impacting. It's just absolutely amazing. You have kids who are coming from single-parent family homes,

who are in low-income areas. Now they have the chance to learn, to gain the knowledge, how to be successful. And that's just amazing. Even some of those kids, Dave, have bought some of the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox. And I'm just excited about what they're doing. So thank you again, Danielle and Jackson Charitable Foundation for helping us out. So in some of the other segments this hour, we're going to talk to some of these rock star teachers that are incredible, that are teaching this stuff.

I want to hear from them. They're on the front lines. And see how this is all being received. Because I was a knucklehead when I was in high school. I'm not sure I would have been the best kind of student. If you were a knucklehead, then I don't know what I was then, Dave. Well, we're not going there. Yeah, let's not go there.

Teacher Appreciation Giveaway at DaveRamsey.com slash teacher. If you missed it, we are giving teachers some amazing prizes. A $5,000 dream vacation to one. No purchase necessary. Some $1,000 gift cards. Some free professional development as well. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey personality, joins me this hour as we are talking about financial literacy. Yes.

A very important subject. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. The last thing I want you to feel is buyer's remorse, especially when you offered thousands more on a new home to win a bidding war. If I've taught you anything, it's that blindly throwing money at a problem is a stupid plan and something you'll regret for years. The key to avoiding this rookie mistake is to call Churchill Mortgage and get certified. This easy program puts you miles ahead of your competition because you are pre-underwritten. Your interest rate is secured and yes you can close within 14 days. Don't fall into the trap of offering more money just to compensate for a poor plan.

Call Churchill Mortgage today and get certified. Call 888-LOAN-200 or visit churchillmortgage.com. This is a paid advertisement. NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender. 761 Old Hickory Boulevard, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027. It's a financial literacy theme hour this hour.

We're celebrating students learning about money. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey personality and teen expert speaking to teens all over America, joins me this half hour as we are doing that. We're also celebrating the fact that we're approaching 50%, north of 40% of the high schools in America are now teaching the Ramsey Foundations in Personal Finance curriculum. That's kind of exciting. That's huge, Dave. 40%? Over 4 million students?

That means we're changing lives. We're changing the world. And I get excited about that. So I was playing golf Saturday, and I went to check out, and the young man came up, you know, working the carts and all, offered to clean my clubs, and I gave him a nice tip. And he goes, hey, I went through your high school curriculum. And I said, cool. And he told me the school, which was Father Ryan High School here.

Okay, yeah. And I said, so you went through with Coach Carson? He said, yeah. Yeah. I said, did you know Coach Carson started the curriculum? Wow. And he said, what? Yeah, Coach, at a local high school here about a bazillion years ago.

I mean, he started the curriculum. The first time we found a teacher teaching it, you know, our stuff. Yeah. And he just took the financial peace book and said, I mean, he started it. The first time we found a teacher teaching it, you know, our stuff. Yeah. And he just took the Financial Peace book and said, you kids have to learn it. And he just started teaching from the book. And then eventually we got together. He came over and talked to us, and we actually wrote out a little curriculum. And then we, you know, of course, have iterated and changed the curriculum a thousand times over the years since then.

To the point it's probably unrecognizable to coach. But he was the first guy that did that and then one of his students yes is right there you know working at the golf course looking for tips and uh sharp young guy sharp young guy and i'm pretty sure he knows what to do with that tip too all right we'll talk to some of these rock star teachers. Amanda is with us in Bremen, Georgia. Hey, Amanda, how are you? Hi, Dave. Hi, Anthony. I'm so excited to talk to you guys.

You too. Now, your teachers know you as Mrs. Who? Miss Wilson. Wilson. Miss Wilson. Okay. And you teach at what high school? Bremen High School, right here in Bremen, Georgia.

Perfect. Okay, cool. How long have you been teaching the curriculum? I've been at Bremen for 12 years teaching business, but I picked up the curriculum eight years ago. Wow, okay. Well, thank you so much. Oh, my goodness. You've probably got some great stories.

I want to hear one. I've gotten several. Okay. Well, one that sticks out to me the most is there was a sweet senior, came from a family that didn't do really great with money. And so she came to my class and she was so excited to learn everything. I mean, you get one of those kids that's just hungry and every word, they're just soaking it up. And she graduated. She was babysitting for extra money. So I hired her over the summer to babysit my little boy and she texted me several months after graduation and

said Coach Wilson I just opened my first checking account which is huge because in our community according to the statistics from our local banks 50 percent of our adults that live in our county don't use a bank at all. They're completely unbanked. 50%. So for her to open her own checking account at 18 years old, I was so excited for her. And she said, yeah, I put $300 in. And I said, way to go, because she would spend every penny she got immediately. And she said, well, I got $3,100 for graduation. And I said, wait a minute. I said, you're telling me you grew $2,800 in two months? What did you spend it on? And she said, well,

don't be mad. I bought a car and a laptop for college. I got my Dave car. Wow, what a kid! Wow. And I said, well, if you bought a car and you bought a laptop, then $300 was pretty good for your checking account. Yeah, very cool.

And off to college. Off to college. You there? I think we just lost her. Oh, my goodness. Hello? Are you there? Yes, I'm here.

Okay, it cut out for a second. Okay. Sorry. That's okay. Congratulations. Not your fault. Thank you. Thank you.

That's a great story. I just want to say one quick thing. Dave, I am a huge enthusiast. I'm actually teaching week seven of my sixth FPU class at the church tonight. Oh, my goodness. Well, I'm so honored. I do. I do all the Dave things. We're very proud of your curriculum, of your leadership stuff, of everything that you offer. We love it out here. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, and thanks for being an evangelist

on the whole thing of financial literacy. That kid's life has changed because of you. You're the kind of teacher we want to align with. Thank you so much. Yes, sir. Thank you. All right. Goodbye, Amanda. Thank you much for calling in. Oh, man, that's pretty amazing.

Yeah, you know, Dave, and I want to say something to america it's like when they hear that wow she bought it she bought a car and she only put three hundred dollars in her savings account that's not really a big deal some people may be saying but that's a huge deal because they say that nearly 48 of the people in america cannot afford even a 500 emergency and this young lady is not even 18 years old and she has three hundred dollars in her savings account no car loan she has a paid for years old and she has $300 in her savings account. No car loan. She has a paid for cash car and she'll probably get some more money and have $500 in there and be ahead of the typical person. So what Ms. Wilson is teaching in the schools is coming through to her students and it's

impacting that local community. And I bet you this young kid is going to come back and impact that community. So that's huge. Man, I would love to go to that school honestly very cool kelly's with us she's a teacher in arupa valley california hi kelly what are your teacher what are your students know you as your miss what i'm mrs ramirez here at patriot high school in riverside california

love it very cool how long have you been teaching the curriculum? This is my first year teaching the foundation's digital curriculum, and I want to start off by saying thank you to the Jackson Charitable Foundation. They provided the funding for our students, which are primarily low-income students, to have exposure to this type of knowledge that you teach. And, yeah, we're so excited, and we wanted to say thank you. I have them in the classroom with me, so we're very excited. Cool. Well, tell them all to yell out.

Okay, right. Do you have anything that you want them to yell out? I don't care. Whatever you want them. You're the teacher. Do you want to say hi to Dave? Yes. We're very excited.

Got it. Very cool. Very cool. All right. So, Ms. Ramirez, why do you teach this curriculum? Well, I've been in depth. My husband and I have been in depth, and we went through your process of being depth-free, our snowball depth-free process, and now being on the other side, being depth-free,

and having all this knowledge, we really, we're both teachers and we just want to teach it to our students. A lot of them share the background that, you know, that they are coming from. So low income, we both grew up low income. We both experienced poverty, you know, growing up. And so now we're just so excited that we can have the tools to teach it to them, and hopefully they can be weird. They can't be the normal that you always talk about. Amen.

Yeah. So you grew up in poverty, and you end up teaching in high school, so you found your way through college. Yes. Are you showing the kids you're working with how to get to college? Yes, and I'm telling them what not to do because I did what you tell us not to do. The graduate student loan was, you know, the biggest for both of us. And so now that we've paid that off, we've paid off our car loans and everything,

you know, I'm telling the students we can do this, and we can do this without being so in-depth at a young age, which will follow you forever. And Mrs. Ramirez, I want to ask you another question. What is one thing that you think that your students are getting from the Foundations and Personal Foundations class? I think that with this Foundation, they're definitely maturing so fast in front of my eyes. They're maturing and they're learning these life lessons that sometimes we don't get exposed to until we mess up, until we sign up for a credit card and put a lot of depth into it, or we sign up for these student loans.

And so I think they're maturing, they're getting this exposure, and it's all thanks to this great curriculum. Well, we appreciate you teaching this, Ms. Ramirez. We are honored, honored, honored, honored to be part of it. And, again, thanks to Jackson Charitable Foundation. They are the ones that allowed this particular class among 60,000 other students to go through. So thanks for letting us talk to you, Kelly. We appreciate you calling in. Okay.

Thank you so much. Have a great day. You too. God bless. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey Personality, joins me this hour as we're talking about financial literacy. And one of the things we're doing is celebrating teachers. And you teachers, we're doing the Teacher Appreciation Giveaway.

It ends April the 30th. No purchase necessary to register at DaveRamsey.com for the $5,000 vacation. Anthony O'Neill Ramsey, personality, joins us this hour as we're talking financial literacy, talking about high school students learning, college students, middle school students, learning financial so that you don't learn it the hard way in the school of hard knocks and do what I do. I got a Ph.D. in DUMB, and that's not a plan. And Anthony was just telling me at the break his hometown had a catastrophe, a disaster today, this morning, right? Durham, North Carolina, gas explosion in downtown Durham, North Carolina. Whole block destroyed, and some people have been transported to the hospital. So praying for them and their families impacted.

Sounded like there was one death so far in that 15 or 16 or whatever. At the hospital. Injured, yeah. Wow. Our prayers go out to you guys over in Raleigh-Durham area. Yeah. And, whew, not good. Not good at all.

Also talking to these incredible teachers that are teaching this high school curriculum mark is one of those in bay city michigan hey mark how are you hey dave it's a beautiful spring day here in michigan so we're fantastic love it got the same thing going on in t, brother. So how long have you been teaching, Mark? I've been teaching about 22, 23 years, but I've been teaching your curriculum or our curriculum a little, right about 10. Oh, wow. You're a veteran then. So that's hundreds of students then that you have taught this stuff, right?

Yeah, we average between 100 and 125 students a year, and we've been doing that for about 10 years. Wow, very cool. What do you see as the main thing that they take away from this class? You know, I guess the main thing that most students take away from it is just the knowledge to refer back to. I think that as they mature, and I see students later down the road after they've left the school, that there's evidence that some of that curriculum has leaked into their lives.

Many of them take it like a bull by the horn right from the beginning. But those that don't, at least they have that basis somewhere in their mind that they can refer back to. So I would say that would be it. Right. Gotcha. So while we got you on the line, are you getting questions for Anthony?

Yeah, I do have a question. In fact, this question is my nemesis. I get it a lot. I get it so often that I gave it a name. I call it the voice of regret. Now, my high school seniors, some of them have planned and performed really well, but many haven't. And of those that haven't, through our curriculum, I think they now understand kind of the error of their ways, but they still ask, if I intend to go to college, but I haven't done that hard work to properly prepare, how am I supposed to do it without a student loan? That's a good question. And, you know, Mark, again, thanks so much for teaching for so long and partnering with us to impact our students over the last 10 years. But, you know, this is a

question that, and this answer is going to go for anyone who hasn't done as well in school. And for those who have done as well in school, number one thing that I always tell young people when it goes to going to school without obtaining a student loan. The number one thing is select an affordable school. An affordable school does not mean the most prestigious or four year university. Once they really identify what they really want to do, then select the right education experience for that. So, for example, if you want to go off and you get a business degree, maybe start at a two-year community college because the average community college depending on the state will be free to up to three to four thousand dollars a year so like the state of tennessee you can go to your first two years for free up in the tennessee promise program and that's a great way to start or a trade school so

i would think as a teacher we have to let's start teaching kids all the options that are out there in front of them but that's the number one thing. Select an affordable school. Harvard, Yale, great schools. But you don't have to go there. You don't have to go to a four year off the bat. And you don't have to go to a prestigious school. As a matter of fact, there's no there's zero, not a single piece of research that shows where you went to school is tied to your success no one can back up

the return on investment for spending four or five times more to go to a certain school because it's um got ivy on the walls but dave yeah you're right dave and but there are research showing that if you get two three hundred thousand, you're going to be stressed and you're going to be hurting your future. So I agree with you. I mean, I'm going to say it. Forget going to a prestigious school. Go the cheapest route. Go the most affordable route.

Well, if you've got the money, it's okay. Or if you've got a scholarship. Right. Sharon has a niece that got a free ride at Vanderbilt. She was a valedictorian. So she's, boom. Yeah, go. Go.

That's great. It's free. But, you know, an in-state school, average in-state tuition in America right now is $12,000. And community college is three. And so you can do two years of community college and a couple years there. The problem is school selection. And the other problem it gets into is I actually was going through this with one of the deans of a business college at the University of Tennessee.

We were talking about it a few years back. And they had some research that they had that showed that the amount of student loans that people come out with is the amount that they spent on lifestyle, not what they spent on tuition. That they actually had come up with the money for the tuition and books, but they go rent an apartment with a skylight and a jacuzzi and a racquetball court, and then they have to join all this other crap, and they call that their college experience, and that ends up being $37,000 in student loan debt. So it is mythology that a student loan is required, Mark, to go to college.

Work while you're in school, and don't work Minimum wage, flopping whoppers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're the minimum. We always say start a business of some kind. Mow grass. Yeah. Blow leaves. Rich people are afraid of leaves.

Yeah. You know, whatever it takes. Right. I mean, you can make $20 an hour cleaning toilets. You sure can. You can. A lot of young ladies in school are nannies. Yes.

And, you know, and you make $25 an hour doing that. Yes, sir. It's glorified babysitting. Yes, sir. And you work your way through school. You can. A lot of college students are walking dogs, Dave, and cutting grass, young man. I mean, there's a lot of ways you can pay and get through school without taking out one dime in student loans.

Mark, thank you for teaching. We appreciate you, brother. Appreciate you calling in. I hope that helps you with that. And a couple of other things you're doing is you're doing a lot of work on the scholarship front, right? Helping people find scholarships. Yes, sir, we are. And that's one thing that I'm really passionate about, Dave.

And there's a lot of resources out there that that is a waste of time. And our team is actually putting together some things down the road. we're going to come out to really help narrow that down. But I'm always telling young kids spend at least one hour a day every single day looking up grants and scholarships. And one of the best apps apps out there right now is my scholarly. And then there's a book out there called The Ultimate Scholarship Book. And I always go by the year of the school year. So for right now, it'll be the ultimate scholarship book, 2019, then August, it will be 2019 through 2020. But those are the two resources right now that our team has vetted that is the best as of right now. But we're seeing students

raise anywhere from, you know, $40,000 from getting the small loans to big loans to even just recently, we've had a couple of kids go viral that have raised about $300,000 in scholarships. Of course, getting some full rides from some schools, but then just getting down and buckling down and looking up grants and scholarships. So it is possible. Yeah. Well, I mean, they went over and above. You don't have to do that.

You don't have to. You need $30,000 or $40,000 and work. That's it. And you can get through. That's it. And you can get through. That's it. And you can do it. But it's about college selection. It's about you cannot afford a Mercedes.

You get a used Chevy. There you go. I mean, and by goodness, that'll get you to work. And Dave, you have a business here. You don't ask them, where did you start? You just want to know, do you have a degree? So it's not about where you start. It's about how you finish and where you finish.

Honestly, we look to see if they have a degree but we also in the interview process want to know that they learned something there you go while they were getting the degree yes because there are people with degrees that didn't learn anything while they were there and they and they don't know how to work right and you know they don't even know how to wear a belt and comb their hair and they come in for an interview that kind of stuff is more important than you know learning to carry yourself and learning to interact with human beings having a relational iq yeah is more important than your in your your true intelligent iq your iq and dave real quickly before we get off the air uh young people learn how to negotiate with your school i met a young

kid last week he said he got a 50 discount off of his tuition because he told the school he'll help lead and run their Instagram channel. Oh! So there goes 50% scholarship right there. And the guy I see sitting with gave him a spell Instagram. That's awesome, man. Financial Literacy Hour. Anthony O'Neill with us this hour. Be sure and check him out.

He'll be speaking at Smart Parents, the Smart Conference in May and November. You can follow him on YouTube. You definitely want to do that. Anthony, thanks for stopping by. Thank you, Dave. Thank you, America. 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.