The Ramsey Show - App - The Best Way To Get Rich Quick Is To Get Rich SLOW (Hour 2)

Episode Date: January 7, 2022

Debt, Home Buying, Career, Relationships, Investing, Retirement, Insurance, Education As heard on this episode: Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY: https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup: https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting: https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, George Campbell, Ramsey personality, host of the Fine Print podcast, is my co-host today as we answer your questions about your work, your relationships, your money, and your life. That's what we're here for, common sense for your life. Common sense is so rare in America today, it's like having a superpower. So we're here to help help you 888-825-5225 jacob starts off this

hour in chattanooga hi jacob welcome to the ramsey show hey dave how's it going better than i deserve what's up man so my wife and i are 27 we've been in our home for about a year and a half now but we've just been listening to your show for about a year. So we're trying to figure out if we should refinance our home from a 30-year to 15 based on where we are right now. No. If you pay a 30 like a 15, it pays off in 15 now you would refinance it either way and while you're at it put it on a 15 if you can save enough on the interest for that to make sense yeah and what we talk about with refinancing is doing a break-even analysis which just means figuring out when you're going to roi on this decision so what's your current interest rate

um 3.5 3.5 on the 30 year what would you go down to if you did the 15 um i think it would just barely bump down if not stay the same yeah at that point it's not no it'd be more like 2.5 right now i mean the rates this week on a 15 will be around two and a half. So you'd save around 1%. What's your balance? $120. Okay. All right. So if you save 1%, that's $1,200 a year.

If the refinance cost is $3,600, it takes three years to recoup. That's what George is talking about of a breakeven analysis. If you're saving $1,200. But if you're saving $1,200 and it takes $2,400 to refinance, then you're recouping two years. You follow me? Yep, I got you. But you don't have to do any of that.

You can run those numbers out if you want with Churchill Mortgage and see where you stand. It's borderline. I doubt it's going to make sense. I would imagine your closing costs are going to make this break even too far out to make it fun with the spread that you've got. Because it might not be 2.5. It might be 2.75, which changes it from 1,200 down to about 900. And now it gets less, you know, lengthens that break-even time out there. You don't want to break even time much more than two years.

It doesn't make sense. So the answer, the big answer to your question is you don't have to refinance just to go to a 15-year start. Get your calculator out and your payment calculator at RamseySolutions.com and do the payment on $120,000 at 3.5% on 15 years, and then do the payment principal and interest only at 3.5%. Figure out what your exact principal and interest is, and then the difference, you pay that as extra principal every month, which is making you basically pay a 15-year payment.

You see what I'm doing? Yeah, I see what you mean. And it pays off in exactly as if you'd done a 15-year. Yeah, and a lot of people, Dave, you know, obviously we recommend only getting a 15-year. If you've already done the 30, that's okay. It's usually not worth undoing that decision unless you have an unusually high interest rate

or there's some other factors at play. But I love the spirit of it. I can tell that you guys want to do this plan. And so the best thing you can do is start to make double, triple mortgage payments and get that thing paid off in 15 years or less. Yeah, because here's the thing. You're not really going to run that extra 15 very long if you're working the baby steps. Because when you get to baby steps four five and six you're putting 15 of your income away to retirement you're doing kids

college and then any extra you have you're throwing at the mortgage it's not just the 15 year upgrade right and so the 15 year upgrade but only apply while you're working uh one through uh three and i might not even do it then i probably just use that to work one through three, and I might not even do it then. I'd probably just use that to work one through three and just let it sit at 30 if you're there. So, you know, you really never actually do this because you're going to put more than the extra upgrade in Baby Step 6 when you're working Baby Step 6.

Stephen is with us. Stephen is in Charlottelotte north carolina hi steven how are you hey i'm doing well dave thanks for taking my call sure what's up i am well let's see i'm trying to navigate uh home ownership in a living situation as what will be a newly married couple i'm engaged wonderful. She's a wonderful woman. I'll be getting married in September. I'm glad you didn't get engaged to a woman that wasn't wonderful. I don't know why you would either.

I know people that do, though. That sounded close to home there, man. So we're trying to navigate what our living situation is going to be. So I i am 31 i'm on baby step three i should be able to get there by about march or april she is also debt free um and so between my 401k and our paid off cars we'll be at about a six figure net worth when we get married wow but we won't quite have what

I would like for a down payment for a house. And we're getting a lot of pressure from family that, oh, well, you can just get a first time homeowner's loan and just put 3.5% down and we can have a, you know, walk into a brand new house as a newly married couple in September. Um, and I'm getting a lot of pushback on, well, you don't want to rent. You'll be throwing your money away, and, you know, if anything goes wrong, my dad runs a heating and air company, and I've got an uncle that's a plumber, and she's got family that has experience. So I'm getting this, well, hey, don't worry about needing all of this savings because if something goes wrong, you'll have family support,

which is kind of good to know, but also in the back of my head. It's good that they're willing to put up money because they're definitely managing your life i was going to say are they going to be paying your mortgage because if so they don't get to speak exactly yeah well that's and that's where i'm at how do i push back against that because you don't you just smile you just smile and know that there's people in your family that don't agree with you welcome to being married gotcha okay yeah and it's not it's it's my side of the family and the in-laws so yeah yeah it's not just pressure from one one direction listen they don't get a vote yeah they mean well but they don't really get a vote because they're not unless they're

paying for it they don't get a vote and they're not paying for it yeah so you know i appreciate that and you know what i don't disagree with your heart and i don't disagree with that but right now what we're going to do is we're just going to do this and and and you know what i don't disagree with your heart and i don't disagree with that but right now what we're going to do is we're just going to do this and and and you know well i don't well i don't you know i'm sorry you don't but that's okay we're just what we're doing and just you know you just smile be kind and do what you want to do and you're not going to change their minds and they're not going to change your mind and so you just got to move forward with your plan so what i would do if i was in your shoes ste, is I think the two of you spend the first year of your married life getting to know each other. Don't spend time screwing with a house.

Just pour into it. Trust me, I'd love to own a house. There's a lot I'm excited about. I don't want you to not own a house. I just don't want you to own one the first 12 months of your marriage. I want you to spend that 12 months on your marriage. Pour into the relationship. And here's the thing that will happen.

You're going to have a lot more money as a good strong down payment. You're going to feel comfortable with what you're doing. And you're going to make a different house choice one year after marriage than you will while you're engaged. Because you know each other more. And you've talked it through. And we've planned this. And we've looked at open houses. And went to new housing tracks.

And talked about the features and things we wanted. And you dream together. And you know you'll build that house 63 times in your head. And you'll just make a better choice. That's what you need to do man. It continues to amaze me how identity thieves keep finding ways to use our own identities against us. Not only do they commit crimes related to financial fraud, medical ID theft, and insurance benefit fraud, but now we have to deal with home title fraud.

Thieves are using your own personal info to take ownership of your home so they can take out loans, and you end up with a pile of debt and foreclosure notices. Over 4,000 data breaches happened in 2018, exposing 3.6 billion records. So thieves have plenty of identities to use, and there's a one in five chance it will be yours. That's why Zander Insurance is the only program I use and recommend. Their plan covers all types of identity theft and it takes over all the work if you become a victim visit zander.com or call 800-356-4282 George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host today.

Wow, it is coming just a couple of days from now. The new book, Baby Steps Millionaires, will be out. If you want to learn how to be a millionaire using the baby steps like tens of thousands have done, we're going to give you the exact process. We've already given you the process. We're going to give it to you again, but we're going to prove it to you with like math and stuff and with the data from the research and with stories. I'm excited about this book. It's the first book I've done in eight years. I did not intend to do another book, major trade book like this, but we just kept seeing this thing in the

market where people were walking around. All these hope stealers were stealing people's hope, telling them you can't win today. And I don't like hope stealers, George. I punch hope stealers in the nose. They're right up there with dream killers for you. Yeah, they're hope stealers, dream killers. They're like brothers and sisters or something, or dysfunctional cousins.

Kissing cousins. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, that kind of, kissing cousins, dysfunctional cousins. I'm excited. Are you going to wake up with a little pep in your step on Tuesday morning? I got it right now. I mean, I'm excited about it you going to wake up with a little pep in your step on Tuesday morning? I got it right now. I mean, I'm excited about it. And the event you and I and Rachel are doing on Thursday night, I'm excited about it.

This is a good message of hope, which is what we do here. That's what you read on the headlines, Dave. Everyone's so hopeful. Yeah, it's so much hope out there in America right now. No cynicism at all. So I just love putting this out there and just pushing some of the trash aside that's in the headlines and some of the toxicity in people's voices and the lack of hope. And, you know, we're stuck and we can't get a hand.

I can show you otherwise, okay? This is the non-whining book is what it is. So Baby Step steps millionaires audio book and e-book is included if you pre-order the book before tuesday when it comes out so you've just got a little bit of time to do this we're also going to throw in the legacy journey audio book and e-book we're also going to throw in the ramsey smart tax filing for your federal income tax filing we're going to throw in 30 days of Ramsey Plus, which puts you into Financial Peace University and into Every Dollar Premium.

All of that is there, and it's about $150 worth of goodies. You don't want to miss all this. Go ahead and get the preorder on the book, because you're going to order it next week anyway. You might as well get it from us and get it right now at $20. It's the best deal, and you get all these hundreds of dollars worth of stuff so get it all at ramsey solutions.com and we will be um you know we'll be ready to go monday with uh bells on screaming and yelling about this book coming out next week and just excited it's been a really really fun process and um

you know doing a book is a tough thing thing, but it's a lot of work. But this one is just from the time we started it, it's got something on it. So pick it up, Baby Steps Millionaires at RamseySolutions.com. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com, a great American company with 100% satisfaction guarantee. Even if you screw up, you mismeasure, you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds free. You get free samples, free shipping, new promos all the time. Always use the code Ramsey and you'll get extra special deals. Yeah, don't miss out.

That's magic. Ramsey, put that in the promo code. Today's question comes from Shania in New York. I'm 25 years old and just finished graduate school with some student loan debt. Ramsey, put that in the promo code. Today's question comes from Shania in New York. I'm 25 years old and just finished graduate school with some student loan debt. I landed my dream job as a mental health therapist and earned about $47,000 per year. I live at home with my mom and siblings, and my mom wants to move to North Carolina next year for cheaper housing costs. I personally don't want to go because I don't want to leave my job, but I'm worried about the financial struggle I could face when moving out on my own. I could afford it, but it would be tight.

Would it be foolish for me to stay and find a place here when North Carolina is so much cheaper? I'm really conflicted here and would appreciate your advice. Well, Shania, you're 25 years old. You're a big girl. I would live on your own regardless of where you end up. And if you love New York, I would stay in New York. And if it's tight, it's tight. Your income is going to go up, and you should be able to afford something there. But if you are just in love with North Carolina, you want to be close to family,

and you can find a job over there, that's an option too. But I would not base this on where mom is going. Yeah. Shania, you don't need to go to north carolina not because north carolina is bad and not because you don't need to go to north carolina but the only reason that north carolina is on the table is you have to follow your mommy and you don't need to follow your mommy you're like a grown woman and stuff so time for you to be that hey welcome to adulthood we're glad you're here. Karen is with us. Karen is in New York City. Hi, Karen.

How are you? Hi, Dave. Oh, it's Corinne. I'm sorry. It's Corinne, isn't it? Yes. I screwed it up. They told me and I still screwed it up.

How can I help? Yes. So I have a question. My mom, my mom is 62. She's on survivor benefits with Social Security. You know, she's working part time, 28K a year. But she lives with us. She lives with my family, my kids at our place.

But she really wants her own place. And she's breaking out in hives because, you know, she feels like she wants to be on her own. She's been living on her own for so long, but she got laid off. And now she needs her own place. But she has a retirement account, about $180,000 in there, but she sees that as her death benefit. She doesn't have life insurance, so she's saying that's her death benefit. No, it's not. It's her life benefit.

Right. That's what I'm telling her, but she doesn't want to touch the money. So I just want to know, what are her options to get her own place? Touch the money. Right. It's time. I mean, you know, this is so inconsistent. I'm breaking out in hives because I want to live on my own so much because I have a broken view of this money.

Her job is not to leave you with an inheritance her job is to not be a burden right and um she she's conflicted between these two things because she's put too much of a premium on leaving you an inheritance what you guys have got to do spend some time mom mom we're fine right if you leave us your smile you did your job exactly but the other thing is she she she's only making 28k a year and no one's giving her an apartment for 28k a year well you guys are in new york city yep it's so expensive. And the basement apartment is $1,400 a month. Yep, it is, yeah. So where was she living before?

In New York, but she had a better paying job. Oh, doing what? She was working at ADT. Doing what? Admin. Okay. Well, admins in New York pay a lot better than 28k what the flip she doing now well she was getting about 60k i know they do a lot better than 28k in new york

she's doing home health aid now at 28k okay that's part-time part-time is she able to work full-time sure she is but she's also watching our kids. No, she's not. She's going to get a new job. Right. You've got to deal with your own kids. Right. This woman is trying to do too many things.

Yeah, she is doing a lot. She's trying to leave an inheritance and she doesn't have the money. She's trying to take care of your kids instead of getting her own job because she's only 62. Right. So there's too much stuff going on. She's a very sweet person is the problem. Yeah. And she wants to be everything to everybody.

And you need to let her. You guys need to have some real frank, you and your husband, with holding her sweet little hands and your sweet little hands. Look into her eyes and let her loose from some of these responsibilities. Yeah. So she's saying rent or buy a house rent rent now she's not buying anything for 180 in new york city that's true i don't i don't want her in a bunch of debt she's 62 yeah that's true so let's get her let's get her back into the 50,000 to 60,000 job being grandma on nights and weekends and out of your house and if she needs to use a

little bit of this money to make the transition whoop-dee-doop-dee and she may need to move a little further out from the city i'll get her with a smart investor pro on the 180 and let's get that creating an income it ought to create 15 to 20,000 a year in income. Right. And she could do that and not even touch the nest egg. That would help a bunch, too. So she needs to resign from some of her jobs. The I'm going to leave an inheritance job, the I'm the full-time babysitter job, and the I'm not going to use my money job, and get a new job making more money than she makes at her bad job she has now.

There's a lot of quitting jobs here. George Campbell, Ramsey personality, host of the podcast The Fine Print on Ramsey Networks. First season is in the books. You need to go listen to the season. There's, what, 10, 11 episodes? 11 episodes total. We got a bonus one in there. There you go. So be sure and check those episodes out. And we are planning now and whiteboarding where George is going to expose where the fine print is screwing you next.

We just did the we got the research back. We did a survey. A thousand of you did that survey for us. Thank you so much for that. And we got some great feedback on what people are interested in, what they want to learn about. And the words that kept coming up were this this was informative, this was honest, this was truthful, this was funny, this was entertaining. And so we hit the marks on that side. And so we're really excited to dig in some new topics for season two and help people

avoid a lot of the traps that are out there. Yeah, I agree with all that. It is all of that. So go be sure and check it out if you haven't already. The Fine Print, great podcast for you to check out at ramsey networks it's uh again everywhere great podcasts are sold josh is with us in virginia beach hi josh welcome to the ramsey show hey dave and george thanks for taking my call sure what's up hey um i have a question about long-term disability insurance um my wife stays home with our one-year-old

and she currently has a policy, but we think the premiums are too expensive for the benefit we're getting. I want to get your take on that. Okay. It's usually difficult to get disability insurance on someone that does not have an income. And that's part of the whole question. So she got the policy before she stayed home. She was working outside the home and since stayed home with our one-year-old. What was she doing? What was she doing for a living? She was a physician assistant.

Okay. Because disability pricing a lot of times has as much to do with occupation as it does with age or health. It's a little bit unusual. In other words, a window washer, high-rise window washers disability is much, much higher than someone who pushes paper around a cubicle. Sure. And even if they're the same age and the same health. And so, you know, that's the kind of thing you may be running into have you priced it with some other like gone to the ramsey solutions.com with some elps and done a pricing run

on it so like you said because she's not working outside the home anymore she's not going to qualify to get a new policy but we have this old policy still in effect yeah how much is it so the thing is the benefit on it is 1500 a month but we're paying 85 a month premium it almost seems to me like we could just self-insure through a 1500 a month hit if she were to become disabled i would yeah okay yeah that's uh that's pretty steep. I was 90% sure. I just wanted someone else's take on that. Yeah, there is actually some policies you can get now. Okay. In the old days, there was zero options for a stay-at-home mom,

but now there's actually some policies you can get. You might check with Zander or with one of our ELPs if you're concerned about it or curious, for that matter. You can get a quote for free and see what's out there. But you can do it. It's just it used to be none, zero. So that's the issue. But, yeah, I think with that small a benefit, $18,000 a year, you can probably handle it.

The question is, could we replace this income if she couldn't work? And it sounds like you could easily replace that $18,000 if you got creative, started, you know, working on the side. I don't know what your income is, but this doesn't seem worth $1,000 a month, a year in premiums to cover that benefit. Yeah, that's a good point. But it is a good time for you and I to stop and say, look, one of the most underinsured areas of the kinds of insurance you should buy is long-term disability. A lot of people don't have any. And you're actually 12 times more likely to become disabled than to die by age 65. Wow.

And everybody gets life insurance or talks about life insurance or knows they need life insurance or whatever, but they completely ignore disability insurance. The best place to get your disability insurance is through work, if you're working. That's where I get it. It's the cheapest. Well, we furnish it free. Yeah. Thank you for that, by the way. You're welcome. Appreciate that. And free to you and not free to me. But yeah, we furnish it because it's not that expensive when we buy it in a huge group like this. And so it's an easy benefit as an employer for us to provide. But even if not, if you can buy it with the group through work,

it's still going to be probably 25% of what it will be in the open market most of the time. So if not, check with your trade organization, like your real estate agent, check with the realtors if they have a plan. You know, if you're a home builder, home builders, you know, association, those kinds of things. You know, you check with your trades. That's a good way. Another thing to remember is if you are paying for it, pay and you have the option of buying it with after-tax or before-tax dollars, buy it with after-tax dollars because that way your disability payout, if you get it, will be tax-free. If you buy it with before-tax dollars, your disability payout, if it comes to

you, will be taxable. So really, really important to buy it with after-tax dollars. One of the few things we tell you to buy with after-tax dollars. Yeah, that's a good reminder there. Eric's with us in Lansing. Eric, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up?

Hey, so I'm a student at Michigan State and our administrators have gotten a little spooked by the Omicron variant. And because of that, they put the first three weeks of classes online. Now, of course, they didn't refund any of the $600 credit tuition, even partially. So we're getting online classes that really aren't as good as in-person, but for the full tuition. And really it's just kind of frustrating because there's nothing us students can really do about it. There's a certain period with most of the time that you can opt out of a class early in the semester and get your refund. Exactly.

Already gone past that? Well, so it's in February, and I'm trying to do a little bit of student Activision before that to get students to realize, hey, you don't have to get yanked around like this. You can disenroll and get a refund on your tuition. Yeah, I would. The problem is that students are really nervous about doing that because they're like, well, what do I do?

And so trying to give students some advice on where to find internships, where to find a job. I took a semester off in 2020 and worked at the hospital and put $10,000 in my 401k. It was a great time. But is there any advice that you would have for these students that are like just frankly scared to kind of make that bold move. Yeah, it's not as bold a move if you have something to do. If you decide I'm going to go do X, I'm going to go do Y, or I'm going to just transfer to a place that actually has classes. And that school just lost my business. Because if I wanted to take online, I would have signed up at an online place.

You know, and that's okay, too, if you want to do that, but I'm not going to, you know, pay for the college experience and be online. I'm not going to do it. So I like your idea, and it's not just to punish them, but there's marketplace consequences to these policy decisions for the university. Exactly. And so I don't know if this particular February it will all come home to roost, but I can promise you this.

Higher ed is – people are looking at higher ed completely different, and a lot of it is not just the student loans and just the expenses, but they're also looking at higher ed different because of the uh and not just because it's getting more and more expensive but also because of their reaction to covet and what they've done to the students and so uh you know if i'm if i'm a student there i'm gonna go i'm gonna go find a job and i'm gonna take a take a semester off or i'm gonna trade go to a school that allows me to go to class and just take my money and go over there yeah the worst thing you can do is think i don't have any options.

Woe is me. Instead of using this time intentionally, making some money, finding a different school. And I know it can be a pain to transfer, but if the school isn't giving you any more options other than, hey, you can get a refund, then you've got to make a move here. Yeah. And that's, well, and they've proven to be undependable. You know, that's the thing. You know, we now know who you are.

We know how you're going to react in these situations. That's revealing a lot about the college experience. You're probably going to do it again. And so lots of businesses and friends and family members, and we now know who you are, you know. And we know how you're going to react in these situations. And it's just disappointing. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host today. I'm your host, Dave Ramsey.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Barry is in Greenville, South Carolina. Hi, Barry. What's up? Good afternoon, everybody. I, over the years, have tried to save my pennies, and we got to the big one. And now I am about to, well, no, I am retired. I've been retired 20 years.

I'm turning 80. Oh, no one a penny, own a very nice house. We're doing fine, but I have no idea how to produce income with this cash. I have nothing in the market. Okay. And you have the big one you're talking about. You've got a million dollars in cash. Yes.

Okay. Wow. Way to go. So Barry, how much money did you inherit? Are you a millionaire because of inheritance or because you're hard work? Yes. Okay. Wow. Way to go. So, Barry, how much money did you inherit? Are you a millionaire because of inheritance or because of your hard work? No, no. My inheritance is zilch.

It's hard work and just good common sense. And I got ahold of you guys and run blue years ago and kind of followed them and so on and so forth. My kids are all gone and gone. They've all done exceedingly well. I don't need to leave a penny to them. And then since my last kid left, we have always paid 20% gross

to giving. Good. Big heroes. But anyhow, so here we are. Basically all the money we have coming in right now i sold some apartments i had blah blah blah and um we have social security and i do a little gig on the side to earn a little money that it more than covers our monthly expenses however i want to be a hundred percent retired Yeah, good for you. Well done, sir.

Impressive. Very well done. And is there a reason you don't have any of it in the market? Well, you know, I was in the market, and it went higher, and I got frightened and pulled out. And then when I get back in, it kept going higher and higher and higher and higher. Anyhow, big mistake. And now it's up at, you know, $35,000. It's ridiculous.

Can't wait. It's high, but I got out way too soon. What were you invested in? And I'm not gotten back in to appear. Yeah. Well, I kind of called it a fund by my last name. I was in some real good stuff. Okay, good.

I had some really good i wish i never sold it i would have a heck of a lot more but right now this is where i am okay all right good well what would i do if i woke up in your shoes is how i answer questions here um i i think i'm going to get really comfortable with generosity peace which you already are i'm going to get really comfortable with generosity piece, which you already are. I'm going to get really comfortable with leaving money to kids even if they don't need it and or leaving it to ministries or charities that... Listen, I know what to do with it. I have no problem there. Okay.

How do I generate some income so that I'm not living just on social security and I can't do this little gig that I'm doing? I on social security and I can't do this little gig that I'm doing. What do I do with this money? I personally would put it in the market. I would sit down with a SmartVestor Pro and pick out some mutual funds and let those mutual funds create an income. And, I mean, you're going to create, you know, $70,000 to $100,000 a year in income off a

million dollars invested in mutual funds. And even if you tear into the principle a little bit systematically in order to have the income coming in, to have the lifestyle that you want, you've got a figure in mind that you need coming in, and I would invest some of this money to do that. You don't have to invest at all. You can whatever gives you a comfort level. But I'm 61. I'm not getting out of the market.

I'm going to ride it all the way in. Yeah. If you've got nothing that you want to spend that money on right now, I would be putting as much of it as you could into the market. And working with a financial advisor is going to help with that fear that you have of what's going to happen. Am I putting my money into something conservative enough? They can walk you through all of your options there to make sure that you're comfortable. They want to make sure that you're educated here. I do think you need to maybe sit down with a smart investor pro or someone that you can develop a trust with.

Not a trust that you do everything they say automatically, but a trust that I trust their judgment. And so when they're telling me something, I can give it serious consideration. And so if you get freaked out and go, oh, the market's too high, and you call your guy or your gal, you sit down with them, have a meeting with them, a cup of coffee, and go, look, I'm having that thing again. I'm ready to pull it out again. And then they can talk you off the ledge because you have a trust level

in their knowledge base, and they teach you something that gives you a reason to get off the ledge yeah instead of just jumping off because your problem is you're jumping in and out all the time and that you told us that you told us that was your problem so that's what i would do with it that or go buy some real estate with you just get out of the apartments something that creates an income you do something that goes and creates an income sounds like you like real estate like i do, so that might be an okay thing. Very well done, sir. Congratulations.

Adam is in Houston, Texas. Adam, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Thank you, sir. It's been a pleasure talking to you today. You too. What's up? Hey, my name is Adam. I'm 34.

I came to this blessed country in cash. And I have $632,000 in total debt with all the rentals, including my primary house. So I'm just trying right now, me and my wife, to slow down and trying to pay down the debt. And we are in a deep debt right now. So instead of paying down the rentals or paying down our house rents. So we're just in the middle now. Do you owe money on your personal residence? Yes.

How much? $198,000. And you have $183,000 in the bank? Yes. What's your household income? $162,000. Okay, so you got $400,000 on the rentals and 100 and 200 on your home give or take uh that's and also including an eighteen thousand dollars card that's including six hundred thirty two thousand uh because i have i use um those credits uh what they call

like monitoring and they just count how much how how many dollars they owe, and it shows the total debt I have is $632,000. But it's including $18,000 with my car too. Do you still have car debt? $18,000. Yeah, you need to pay the car off today, and then I would work on paying my personal residence off, and then I would work on paying the rentals off. Okay.

All right. That sounds like that's what I was talking to my wife My wife was telling me We can keep the cash, it's there And we keep adding to it every month If there is an opportunity we can jump on it If it's not we just No there's not an opportunity

The opportunity right now is to get your debt cleaned up Okay And then when you got zero debt You're going to have so much cash coming out your ears Then you're going to see some opportunities And you're going to pay cash for them from this point forward. You have the opportunity to stabilize this portfolio that you've grown, and if you continue to go the other direction, you're going to continue to destabilize it and eventually lose it. Yeah.

Because you like buying real estate, and debt doesn't bother you, and it needs to start bothering you. This is going to catch up with you. Yeah. Because you like buying real estate, and debt doesn't bother you, and it needs to start bothering you. This is going to catch up with you. Yeah. You got here okay, and so far you're okay, but you're like the guy who put one quarter in the slot machine and won, and you think this is going to work every time. I've done this a long time, Adam, and I own a bunch of real estate, and I love real estate.

So if you called the Ramsey Show and you weren't going to expect to hear anything except get out of debt, and you also said, what's the fastest way I can get out of my debt? And now you're going, yeah, but you're saying yeah in a way that makes me think you're not doing any of this stuff we're telling you. Yeah, people tend to get a little starry-eyed with real estate investing, and I just got a message from a guy yesterday on Instagram who lost his shirt with this. He got a little excited about real estate investing did it before he was ready and he ended up losing a ton of money and so i was trying to help him clean up this mess and i don't think adam's gonna go there today yeah i don't think that's the issue but but what the issue is

with adam is uh when he says stuff like well i've got this money set aside for an opportunity translation i'm getting ready to go buy more real estate on debt. Okay? And as soon as I see something I like, you know, and right now is not a good time to buy real estate anyway. It's a great time to sell it. Great time to pay off your debt, though. Amen and amen.

Always a good day for that. Amen. Hey, thanks for the call, brother. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. Austin is on the phones. James Childs is our producer. George Camel is my co-host. I am Dave Ramsey ramsey your host and we'll be back with you before you know it Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit theramseyshow.com and register.

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