The Ramsey Show - App - The First Student Loan Theme Hour! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 25, 2019

Anthony ONeal, Education, Debt   Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: http://bit.ly/2QIoSPV Insurance Coverage Checkup: http://bit.ly/2BrqEuo Complete Guide to Budgeting: http://bit.ly/2QEyonc Interview Guide: http://bit.ly/2BuGnZE Check out other podcasts in the Ramsey Network: http://bit.ly/2JgzaQR 

🎵 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 student loan has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Because some of you have student loans bigger than your mortgages. A bunch of you have student loans bigger than your mortgages. A bunch of you do. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey personality, best-selling author, and a teenage expert, author of the brand-new book coming out in a week, a week and a half, called Debt-Free Degree, joins me this hour.

He and I decided we're going to do a student loan theme hour. We have a student loan crisis in America today. We've all been around Ramsey for the past six eight months been working hard on this subject it has reached the point of epidemic proportions it's a plague on the land and so we must address it as servants of yours and so we're here to serve you if you have student loan questions or uh if you went to school and you did so debt-free and believe it or not there's actually humans that have done that we'd love to hear from you this hour in either case questions comments anything about the whole student loan issue this entire hour is devoted to this disastrous situation the phone number is 888-825-5225 that's 888-825-5225 also before

we dive into the calls we're going to tell you a couple times this hour this coming monday this coming monday september the 30th we are going to do a debt-free degree town hall here at Ramsey Solutions. The free tickets to the town hall are way sold out, as if you have to sell out free tickets. But they're all taken and then some. But you can still see the town hall, the debt-free degree town hall. It's a discussion of student loans this coming Monday, 630 Central, 730 Eastern. Just go to DaveRamsey.com, and you'll be able to click on town hall or jump on our YouTube channel.

Or better yet, the best way to do it is text the word town hall to 33789. You can watch for free online, and we want you to join us. I want 100,000 people watching this thing. And so a bunch of you need to do that right now. Text TOWNHALL. It's completely free. No salesman will call. Text TOWNHALL to 33-789.

And, you know, as we get into this subject, I think it's a good idea to cover what we're going to be talking about, all kinds of different things that night. What do you see on the list? Well, we're going to be talking about all kinds of different things that night what what do you see on the list well we're going to be talking about a lot of things today we already know that there's a huge crisis out there and we have solutions not a solution we have solutions uh not only will be talking about the new book debt-free degree but dave you and i are going to be sitting down with experts in the college career field as well and we're going to be asking them for their advice of what do they see and how can they uh add some extra stuff to an event but i'm really excited because we're we're flying in people normal people who have went to school 100 debt free not just getting their bachelor's degree

but we're even even interviewing people who've gotten their master's and doctorate degrees 100 debt free and they'll be on the stage with us. They will be on the stage. And we're going to actually introduce these real human beings to other real human beings. Yes, sir. The debt-free degree town hall this coming Monday night. Yeah. We all know they're out there.

Yes. It's not really a shock, but it's almost as if when we post something on social media, the response is always like, well, you can do that because you're a white man. Or you can do that because you were raised rich. Or you can do that because, you know, whatever. They always have these stupid butt comments, don't they? You know, David, it gets on my nerves because on that night we're interviewing a black man who went to school debt-free. We're interviewing a Hispanic lady who went to school debt-free.

We've made too many excuses in this world. And as a black man, I can say that. The skin color of myself does not stop me from being successful and just making smart decisions. And so we're going to be talking about what are those decisions. But all those excuses, watch us on Monday because I'm coming hard, you're coming hard, and we're not going to hold back. We're going to give them the process on how to do it. You know, in all fairness fairness there are different challenges that everyone has absolutely racism is a real challenge for some people uh but is it is it an absolute

blockade where you can just blanket go well you guys can't say that because no we can say that yes we can because we've proven it time and time again you can go to school debt-free we're going to show you how and you should you do not want to be one of these horrible statistics we're discovering uh podcast launches soon borrowed future that thing is going to be mama don't give them too much info dave i'm not supposed to talk about it yet oh i don't know you can talk about it just you don't know i've been listening to them they're sending them to me to approve as the ceo and oh man they are unbelievable it's amazing george camel is getting ready to be like a rock star people are going to be running up to him on the street

kissing kissing all over him and asking for his autograph and oh man they're they're going to be all over the place they're going to be all over big george okay dave dave i know you're the ceo man but you can't give out all of our special treats this is why they got to watch the town hall oh okay okay i don't know this. I forget. I get excited about all this stuff. You know why I get excited is because folks have been fed a lie, haven't they? Yes, they really have. And I was just talking to a young person earlier today and walking her through the process. And the key thing she told me was that because of her circumstances, she has to take out student loans. And by the time I got off the phone call with her, she was crying because she said, I just didn't know that even me just going to community college is an okay thing.

She's been fed the lie that if you go to a community college, you're not successful. You were not successful. And I told her, no, you're making a smart decision. Or if you go to a state school, you live at home and um you know i heard some comments you were making uh in another setting about the uh and your personal story was included in this if i remember about the the the lifestyle choice of uh the number of kids that just want to live the college life and go into debt for that has nothing to do with the actual education no you took out student loans and didn't buy didn't pay tuition with a single one of them not one i don't know that story about you oh lord the ceo

didn't know what are we doing am i in trouble no you're not in trouble i just thought it's inspiring because i've suspected there were people like you out there oh man there's a lot and dave studies even what did you buy with the student loans oh you're the boss i can't tell you that yes you can my mom is listening, don't tell us that stuff. I mean, you bought some stupid stuff. Oh, man, I bought some stupid stuff. I put a sound system in the back of my car, Dave. I took young ladies out to Red Lobster, to dinner.

I mean, I just did a lot of bad stuff. I'll even tell you this much. Red Lobster? Red Lobster. Now, back in the days, Dave. Red Lobster? Well, now wait. Now you know back in the days.

You borrowed money to go to Red Lobster? Now wait. Now you know back in the days Red Lobster wasn't true. You borrowed money to go to Red Lobster? I borrowed money so I can get unlimited crab legs and unlimited biscuits. Red Lobster biscuits are amazing, sir. But

I mean, I've done it and I've been there. But studies even showing, Dave, that nearly 40% of what students are borrowing doesn't even go towards their college. It goes towards their lifestyle. Yeah. New stereo for the car. Yes, sir. A date with a girl.

Yes, sir. At least you look good. I ain't going to lie. Yeah. Well. And you took her to Red Lobster. I can't get over this. All right.

So we're talking student loans this hour. The phone number is 888-825-5225. We're going to be throwing all kinds of resources at you in the next four or five weeks to help you with this. One of them is the book Debt-Free Degree. It is on sale now. It comes out October the 7th. One of them is the Debt-Free Degree Town Hall, completely free from the Ramsey Solutions new headquarters, September the 30th, Monday, at 630 Central Time.

Text the word TOWNHALL to 33789. TOWNHALL to 33789. We will send you the link so you can watch the Debt-Free Degree Town Hall, free, live-streamed, this coming Monday. You don't want to miss this. Anthony O'Neill and I are back with your questions. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. You know, I get asked all the time, at what age should I buy life insurance?

Let me be clear. If you have a family, if there are people depending on your income, now is the time to have term life insurance. I don't care if you're 20, 30, 40, 50, or whatever. Your age is less important than your financial situation. If you have debt and a lack of savings, it makes no sense to risk your family's financial well-being based on the cost of a term life policy. Term life rates are just plain cheap, even if you're not in perfect health. And the best way to compare those rates is through Zander Insurance. Zander only sells the plans I recommend and shops among the top companies

to find the best rates and the right coverage for you. Call 800-356-4282 or visit Zander.com. You've got no excuse to put this off, folks. Bad things happen to people all the time, regardless of age. And it's your responsibility to deal with this. That's Zander.com or 800-356-4282. We're in the middle of an epic level plague in America, brought to you by the United States Congress. It's called the Federally Insured Student Loan Debacle. $1.6 trillion of slavery has been issued to the young people of America. And some of them have had it so long, they're not even young anymore.

It's a student loan debacle. We're talking about it this hour. We're taking your questions, your comments. Some of you went to school and did it without student loans. How'd you do that? Some of you are in a mess and need some help. We're not here to beat you up. We're here to help you.

We're mad at the subject, not at you. And so you jump in. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey Personality Bestselling Author, joins me, author of the new book, Debt-Free Degree. Deja is with us to start off this hour from North Carolina. Hi, Deja. How are you? Hi, Mr. Ramsey. I'm good.

How are you? Better than I deserve. Tell us your story. So I am calling in to share that I have two debt-free degrees. Wow. Wow. Yes. And what are your degrees in?

So my bachelor's is in computer and information technology, and my master's degree is in cybersecurity. Whoa, so you're making bank. I don't know, something like that. If not, you need to holler at us because I probably need your help over here. Wow, good for you. Good for you. So how did you do this?

So in high school, I was blessed enough to go to a high school that had a program that if you maintained a certain GPA, you were able to go to the local state school on a full tuition scholarship. Really? So, yes. So where'd you go to school? What was the state school you went to? Purdue University. Well, that's no slouch. Okay. And did you get both your degrees there? No, I did not. My graduate degree is from University of Maryland. Okay. And you took a job in North Carolina. That's how you ended up there? Yes. What do you make a year?

I make about $82,000. Okay. You're just getting started then? Yes. Okay. Congratulations. Now, are you the first one in your family, your immediate family, to go to school? Did your mom and dad have degrees? My mom has an associate's degree. Okay.

And so how did you know to do this? That's a tough question. Well, I always knew I wanted to go to school debt-free. Like, I don't know. I just, something about student loans wasn't appealing to me. So, when it came down to decide which school to go to, I was torn between Purdue and a private school in Chicago. And although I really wanted to go to the private school in Chicago, I would have had to get student loans, so I was like, I'm going to Purdue University. Okay, now that's an interesting thing, because here's, I have a theory, and let's see if you prove it out.

Okay. If you had gone to that private school, do you think sitting now with your master's in cybersecurity, making $80,000, at what age? How old are you? I am 26. At 26 years old. Do you think that going to that private school would have gotten you a different job or a better job? No.

That was a quick answer. You're pretty sure. Because the current employer that you work for didn't give a rip where you did your undergrad, did they? No. No. They didn't care about private Chicago versus Purdue. All they cared about was a sharp young woman sitting in front of us that's got her master's in cybersecurity. We need some help with cybersecurity.

Get your butt in here and help us. Yes, sir. That's how the interview went behind the scenes. know because i've done the same hire how many people work in the company you work for um a hundred thousand plus so you got a big time corporate job anthony this is this is it right here this this is it i mean we can end the hour right now i mean this is mic drop mic drop now days i have a question you're 26 years old uh young lady successful making um you know good good good money um do you want to have kids in the future or do you have a kid already right now i would like to have kids in the future i love it i love it i love it now what would you

say to parents listening to this right now because i'm i'm talking to parents every single day davis as well and and they're just thinking it's not possible. If they don't get scholarships, I have to take out student loans. What would you tell the average parent right now that's listening to you at 26 who has a master's degree? What kind of advice would you give them? I would just say start everything early. Start saving early and start looking for scholarships early. I started looking when I was in middle school for scholarships, believe it or not. So as long as you stay on top of it, you can find things in your community. You can find national scholarships.

You can find scholarships related to what your child wants to pursue in school. So just start early so you were 18 years old you've got a private school with student loans sitting in front of you or a free ride at produce sitting in front of you who spoke into your life and said don't be stupid um that was a conversation my mom and i had a very teary conversation on my end. So I'm like, I want to go out of state. I want to go to Chicago. But at the end of the day, we decided that Purdue was the best option. So you agree that parents play a crucial role in helping and guiding their students make

the right decision in going to college. Absolutely. You know, this goes back to what? I like your mom. I like her too. She's listening, so I'm sure she appreciates that. Well, I mean, she actually was bold and didn't listen to a whiny little 18-year-old who really didn't have a good educational reason to go to Chicago. You just thought it sounded cool.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. And I love the campus, by the way. It's a pretty campus. sounded cool. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And I love the campus, by the way. It's a pretty campus. That's so sweet. Mm-hmm. You are awesome. You are awesome.

You're a hero, kiddo. You are an absolute hero. I am so proud of you. You are a model for what Anthony teaches and what we believe around here that this can be done. Now, unusual high school that you're going to and unusual situation that you can go to Purdue Freeride. I mean, we need to put that out there. That's a leg up. But here's the thing.

The number of times you even tell a story about one girl who called you wanting to go to Yale. Yes. Had Yale in front of her or a Freeride at Fisk. Fisk University, yeah. And same exact situation. Got all teary-eyed and everything else. And so, Deja, thank you for calling in. Absolutely incredible. You are a hero.

I'm so proud of you. I know your mama is, and she should be. Absolutely. And Dave, you know, this is one thing that one of our good friends, Kevin, and I talk about is that the student loan crisis is not just that. It's a parenting problem as well. Meg Maker says it. She says it's a... And Rachel Cruz says it. It's a parenting crisis. It's a parenting issue.

And her mother said, you know, no, you're not going to do this. This is what you need to do. And we need more parents to step up and say that and say, you know what? No, you're not going to this school. You're going here. Yeah. And you and I have talked about this off air, and I'm treading on thin ice, but I'm going to go out there and walk out there because it's what I do. But the first generation, I asked her if she's first gen. Yes, sir. I'm treading on thin ice, but I'm going to go out there and walk out there because it's what I do.

But the first generation, I ask her if she's first gen. Yes, sir. The first generation going off to college, sometimes their parents are all enamored with the mystique of something that they've never experienced. And so they don't know how to advise them well. Yes. And so they fall into the trap of, oh, you need the prestige of the private school in chicago instead her mom with an associate's degree had good common sense and went quite the opposite way and said no dumb yeah there's free right in front of you you're gonna choose free i'm gonna bonk you on your little head yeah yeah and that's a good mama

yeah but uh but if the first generation regardless of race it, it's more of a socioeconomic thing, but the ones I talked to on the air, socioeconomically, that their parents were not both college-educated, then they have more of a tendency to make unwise choices because they didn't have anybody who had experience out there to guide them. Now, that was pretty good. I didn't fall through the ice. No, you didn't fall through the ice at all, Dave. You stated facts.

And I think what parents are doing is they're saying, well, I want the very best for my child. I didn't have this experience. But they don't know how to tell them. Exactly. And it's not evil. It's not evil. It's just you're falling into societal, cultural BS that where you go to

school doesn't matter or does matter. Or what you study, you can study any stupid butt thing and get a degree in left-handed puppetry and you're guaranteed to be successful and people that have not gone down the education route don't know that from experience come on dave and so they tend to lead their first generation student up up a creek is what it amounts to and it's just it's we're seeing it all the time it It's got to stop. It's got to stop. Thisselling author, Ramsey personality, author of the new book, Debt-Free Degree, the step-by-step guide to getting your kid through college without student loans. The book hits the street October the 7th.

It will be a national bestseller that day. You will have wanted your copy, and you should get it now, because if you buy it ahead of time in the pre-sale at DaveRamsey.com or AnthonyO'Neill.com, you get $40 worth of stuff thrown in, including DVDs and – or not DVDs, videos and e-books and everything else all thrown in. It's a major bargain if you buy it ahead of time. And this is aimed at parents more so than kiddos. Kiddos are okay to read it, but this is not a book for a junior in high school to read. It's a book for the junior in high school's parents to read on how to guide them, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We already have

a book out called Graduate Survival Guide that's specifically to the student, but I really wanted to help parents really know what they need to do as early on as in the seventh grade. So this is the step-by-step guidance, helping parents. This is what you do in the seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth through twelfth grade. And parents are actually really enjoying and looking forward to this subject, Dave. Yeah, they are. Because no one shows them how. They want to be good parents. Sometimes they don't know how.

And the counselors are not even helping them. My counselor didn't really talk to my parents until my senior year, the beginning of my senior year. And that was already too late. Yeah. And so now we have to – Basically, the message was you're up a creek. You're up the creek. You've got to take out student loans.

His grades wasn't perfect. So this is what you've got to do. But thankfully, my dad had a GI Bill, and I had a Parsons scholarship, and I still took out student loans. We've already established that was for cheesy biscuits at Red Lobster. We've already established that. All right. This hour is all about student loans. If you went to school debt-free or if you didn't or if you got questions about student loans,

it's all dedicated to this epic plague we have in America today. The phone number is 888-825-5225. Jerry is in Ohio. Hi, Jerry. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. How can Anthony and I help you? Hi. Thanks for having me on.

Sure. So I am help you. Hi, thanks for having me on. So I am really overwhelmed. I have $198,000 in debt, 180 of which is student loans from my two bachelor's degrees. The largest is with Discover student loans. Originally, the loans were $60,000. And when I put it in deferment to get my second degree, it grew to $108,000, and I'm now earning interest on interest, and I have no idea how to get out of this mess. I'm sorry. How old are you?

29. And you're single? Yes. Well, dating someone, the goal is to get married. We've talked about it, but we're not there yet. Gotcha. Okay. And what do you do for a living?

I'm an interior designer. Okay. And what do you make a year? I make $40,000 at my full-time job, and then I have a part-time job where I make about $8,000. Okay. All right. All right. And your two degrees are in what?

The first one was in culinary arts management, and that's the one where most of my debt is from. I went to the CIA in New York in private school. Yeah, that's a big name. And then you chose not to go into the world of being a chef. I did, but I ended up having some medical issues. I had multiple pulmonary embolisms in both lungs, and I'm now on blood thinners for life. So the doctor said it was for my best interest. There's too much risk.

We're not staying around knives if you're on blood thinners. Yeah. I'm with you. Ouch. Ohouch oh no what a horrible thing to go through i'm so sorry yeah wow um is there other stuff you can do uh with that degree in that field though that pays more than um uh what you're doing because it appears to me you'd be like an expert at running a restaurant even if you never picked up a knife um i could um i guess i guess i just never really went down that avenue yeah the cia is a big degree i mean that's a that's a known world-class event that you did there yes yeah that is that is one of the situations where the name might actually open a door. Yeah, that's true. In most cases, it isn't.

But in the restaurant world, CIE is a big deal, fine dining in particular. So as you know, you know that, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. I'm not trying to run you off. I'm just thinking that if you could make $100 running a restaurant, instead of making $40 as an interior designer, it would help this math. Yeah, yeah.

Okay. Jerri, were you the first person in your family to go to school? Quick question for you. My dad was a high school dropout. My mom did get an associate's degree from community college. From community college, okay. And what did you spend to go to CIA? About $120,000. Okay.

All right. That was the total spend. What are you doing part-time? What was your part-time gig? I actually work at Lane Bryant's clothing store. Clothing store. Okay. Okay.

Yeah. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to start thinking about your long-term day job career in a different light, and I want you to think about your side hustle in a different light. Lane Bryant is fine, but you're not making any money there. And listening to you and listening to your journey, you are better than your math looks right now. And so I see untapped potential.

Like I'm talking to a little gold mine here, but it's just below the surface. Okay? I think that's really who you are. I'm not BSing you. I really think that's who you are. And I think we've got to tap into that and cause it to make some money because we need to make some money to pay off 200 grand and so if i can get your income you can do it on on 48 but i just think you've got the potential to make double that total with a really strong uh catering managing caterers don't

pick up a knife i'm with you on that okay but uh managing catering or managing a restaurant or some kind of side hustle where you're doing consulting around that stuff um you know more than 80 of the people running restaurants out there with your formal training and so you've just got you've got really untapped potential i mean i just i know enough about that world to be dangerous but i i eat a lot that's where i learned about but but that makes me an expert but uh no i i really think income is decided is going to be the best the best source of hope for you yeah and dave she has to find she got to get him around the proximity of other people to really figure out what that is maybe we can give her a copy of ken coleman's book proximity principle there you go to help her out to really figure out how

what can we do you you know, and really answer some of the questions. And Ken Coleman is that career expert. And I believe if you stay on the line, we'll get you a copy of that book because you're right, Dave, she has to get her income up. Making nearly $50,000 a year is not enough. Jim's in Michigan. Hey, Jim, student loans.

What's up? Hi, Dave. Nice to speak to you and Anthony. Glad for taking my call. My wife and I are both retired teachers, and our son is now in the process of taking a gap year while awaiting information from his med school applications. He's a full-time worker. Otherwise, he'd be on the phone with us right now, and he's trying to double up. He's working as a CNA, and we're just concerned that now he's an independent student, and we've looked at med school tuition rates and room and board and so on,

and we're trying to help him out with advice, and he's all on board with us generally, but we're also thinking that he may have to get into a loan program of some sort, and that's what we're really worried about. We've got friends and family that are doctors, and they're telling him it's pretty difficult to work while you're in med school. It's almost impossible. We're kind of relying on you for some suggestions, information, anything that you might have in mind.

He's done very well as an undergrad. What's his GPA? 3.8. Okay. I would tell you two things that come to mind that i've seen some people pull off or three pieces of information once just to make you afraid and that is is that not everyone graduates from med school yeah but everyone that takes out med school loans has them yes so um you know there are people that start and end up with a hundred fifty thousand dollar problem yeah that's

the fear piece the second piece is uh check out the MD-PhD program, and that is where you work on campus as a proctor or as something, and you become an employee of the university, and therefore your med school is paid for. It's very hard to get in. They're like fellowship programs. They're very tough. 3.80 may not get in.

But if he can get into one of those, it's absolutely cool. The other thing is check with the big hospital corporations like HCA's and the big drug companies, and you can find scholarships and programs that they have because there's a doctor shortage and they're always looking for docs and nurses. And they may have some indentured servant type programs where you work for them for a few years after you get out. In return, they pay for some or all of it. Check out both of those. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. our scripture of the day james 3 17 but the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure then peace loving considerate submissive full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

My friend John Maxwell says a man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. It's a student loan theme hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show. We are talking about student loans, how to avoid them, those of you that have got them, how we can help, what we can do, you know, what's the process we can engage in. We are doing a debt-free degree town hall with experts and guests that have done debt-free degrees, actual humans. Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey personality, best-selling author, author of the number one, soon to be number one best-selling book, Debt-Free Degree. It comes out October the 7th. The Debt-Free Degree. It comes out October the 7th. The Debt-Free Degree Town Hall is September 30th, this coming Monday. It is a free live stream.

It is completely sold out. If you want to watch it for free, text the word TOWN HALL to 33789. And then you'll get a reminder and a link to watch it it's completely free did i mention that town hall it's the debt-free degree town hall the word town hall text it to 33 789 simon is with us in Tennessee. Hey, Simon, your question for Anthony and I. Hi, Dave. How are you doing? Good, man.

How can I help? So I'm a senior in high school and getting ready to graduate. And I was wondering, with financial aid and scholarships, I don't think that's going to fully cover the cost of college. So how could I bridge the gap between financial aid and the cost of college? Simon, what are you trying to do? What's your grades right now? What kind of degree do you want? I'm wanting to go to MTSU for audio production, audio producing and recording and stuff like that. And I'm currently making straight A's in all my classes, which is good.

Grades haven't been the best in the past, but I am working on that. Okay. So what does MTSU cost a year? MTSU costs about $10,000, give or take some per year okay and that's the tuition only yeah for in-state tuition right yes okay and you're going to live at home um well i was planning on living uh on campus because it's a it's quite a drive from winchester to murfreesboro every day yeah it's 45 minutes it's about i got a house in estill springs dude it's 45 minutes okay so anyway all right so let's talk about that let's talk about i mean i don't mind you living on campus but first we got

to get you to school right okay so 10 000 bucks here's. Let's talk about it. I mean, I don't mind you living on campus, but first we've got to get you to school. Right. Okay, so $10,000. Here's how you do it. $10,000 divided by 12 is what? I'm sorry? $10,000 is what you need per year. A year is 12 months. Divide 10,000 by 12. You get $833 a month.

If you had no scholarships and no money, that's how much you would need to earn. Wow. If you're living at home. Okay? Now, I'm just talking tuition only. Now, if you're not at home, if you're up on campus, we've got to have a new figure and divide that by 12. If you deliver pizza four nights a week, you can make $1,500 a month. There you go.

Alright. What am I missing, Anthony? Dave, you're not missing anything. But if we just actually do the math, the average if he stays on campus, that's going to add about another $10,000 to his year. So we're just going to double what you just said. From $833 to now you need $6,000.

Did you have some scholarships approved? I haven't had any yet. I still need to go and apply for a bunch of them. I'm hoping to get a music scholarship at least. Well, let me tell you, the Broadcast College at Middle Tennessee State University is one of the top ten broadcast colleges in America. It is a wonderful field of study if you're going into that area and a wonderful university to go. So it's a bargain.

It's a good deal. You've got a good track. I like your track. I like how you've done. All I want you to do is simply start doing some simple math like I just did with you. Let's figure out what your expenses are. Oh, and by the way, September, right? Like a year from now.

You have a year between now and then, right? Yes. Plus all the time you're in school, you've got to make that. So if you need $1,600 a month to live, you need to make $1,600 a month. Yeah. And also keep this in mind, Simon. to live, you need to make $1,600 a month. And also keep this in mind, Simon. I want you to go to my website, anthonyoneal.com, and go to my resources page.

I have a scholarship tool there. With you making pretty good grades right now, I want you to use that because you're saying you haven't been looking. And that's something you need to start doing right now. I need you to complete the FAFSA. Have you done a FAFSA application yet? No, sir, not yet. I'm just about to, though. Yeah. Okay. Have you taken your ACT yet? Yes. Good. What's your score? Yeah.

I didn't do so hot on it the first time. What's your score? 15. A what? 15. And you've only taken it once? Yeah. Yes, sir. Okay. Yeah. You've got to take it again and get it up just to be able to get into MTSU. right now something that's not the key thing is you need to sit down and just write a plan out for what you need to be doing for the next year number one you need to be taking the act over and over again as many times as you possibly can you need to start looking up scholarships an hour every single day it sounds like you're not really taking this seriously right now he has he's taking it seriously but he didn't know how to do it.

So the thing is, what we do around here when we're setting goals, and I'm applying this to you and you're 17 years old, so here's what we do. We set the goal in front of us, and your goal is go to MTSU next September and take broadcast. That's our goal. Okay? And then we put numbers to that, and we got $10,000 a a year and we got another ten thousand for uh if you want to live on campus or we're driving 45 minutes or hour whatever it ends up being um and uh uh then you start asking yourself

okay what else has to be true we got to get scholarships we can put in the mix we got to get our act score up what has to be true for us to be able to do these things that's good what has to be true that's not true now? One thing is you need detailed information so you can start doing divide by 12. Yeah. Detailed information, divide by 12. And minus, if I get a $5,000 scholarship, I take that off, and then I divide the new number by 12.

You follow me? Yes, sir. Okay, but you're going to have to get your ACTs up, so you're going to have to get a coach on that. Will mom and dad pay for you to get an ACT coach right quick? Yes. We actually have a free ACT coming up, and there's a boot camp the day before. You got a 15.

I want you to do more than that. You've got to get up in the 20s. We've got to get you up in the 20s probably to get you in. I don't know what the admission is at MTSU, but I'm guessing that that you probably got to make that to get in at all yeah to make admissions university of tennessee knoxville you're not getting in unless you're up in the upper 20s just to let you know uh that one i do know because i'm an alumni so uh but uh and it wasn't it was a lot lower than that when i went by the way so me and you simon we're right there together brother but uh yeah you got to do that.

Hey, Stacy, how much is ETSU? What would it have to be? Give me a number. A little higher, like 20? You got to have 20 probably to get into ETSU in East Tennessee State. So that's what I'm thinking. I'm guessing. But I'm guessing he's got to get north of 20 to get in at all.

So I got a college professor sitting out here, did her debt-free scream in another hour. Okay. So that's why I was asking her. But she's sitting in the lobby. I'm now polling people through the window. It's a whole new thing here. Brand new. Hey, that's cool, though.

Yes. Hey, hang on the line, Simon. We're going to give you a copy of Anthony's new book. Yeah. Okay? And be sure, if you want to come to the town hall Monday night, Simon, you're not far from us. You're about an hour and a half from us. If you want to drive up here and bring your parents, we'll give you a ticket. It's completely sold out.

You can't get in, but I know a guy. Yes. So you hold on. We're going to give you a copy of the debt-free degree book, and we're going to get you in the town hall. If you want to come up here, Anthony and I will sit down with you and your parents, and we'll walk you through this stuff because you can do this, man. This is the kid right there.

See, that guy right there is on the precipice of coming out with a degree in broadcasting for $50,000 in student loan debt or not. Yep, yep, yep. And it's all about a few decisions and some basic knowledge. That's it, Dave. This is why you're on fire. This is why I'm on fire because it's like clearly he just needs education. He needs the guidance. And if he gets the right guidance at the right time, he's going to make the right decisions.

It can be done. It absolutely can be done. All right. This is good stuff, man. Life is good. Life is good. Anthony, good job. I can't wait for the 30th day.

It's going to be a good hour. Town Hall. Text Town Hall to 33789. I think I told you guys it's free. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for the Dave Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.