The Ramsey Show - App - The Stupidity in Your Past Does Not Define Your Future! (Hour 1)

Episode Date: November 20, 2019

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. This is your show. It's all about you. The phone number is 888-825-5225. We'll talk about your life and your money. It's common sense for your dollars and cents. Aliyah is with us in St. George, Utah.

Aliyah, how are you, Aliyah? Good, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can I help? Well, first of all, thank you for taking my call i'm just excited to be talking to you um me and my husband have been on your program for about a year and a half um and in that time we paid off 27 000 but we've we've been very like we live on less than rice and beans. We literally, every single cent that we have, that's not our bills and groceries, goes out towards debt. Good.

And what's your household income? It's about $38,000. Wow. That's impressive. Yeah, you are living on nothing. Good. Yeah,000. Wow. That's impressive. Yeah, you are living on nothing. Good. Yeah, literally. I mean, well, you know, both of us come from humble backgrounds, so we're not used to a lot, and we're used to living off hardly anything.

So it hasn't been a big change for us. because literally we put everything besides grocery money and gas money towards our debt, things that come up, even like hygiene products or changing the oil in the car, those things are like almost sound unforeseen to us. And they come out of our emergency fund that we put away because, you know, everything else goes to that so i was wondering um do you have any advice on as far as the budget goes things that family typically should budget for um or maybe something that you you and your wife you put in your budget because it seems like every time something like fox comes up we have to take it out of our emergency fund because we didn't plan for that in our budget. Yeah, you will.

All of the things you've described are predictable. And so they're not emergencies. And they should be in the budget. Okay. Because here's what's happening, okay? You're basically, you're still taking them out of your income. Because you take them out of the emergency fund, then what do you do? You build the emergency fund back up, right?

Yeah. So it's the same thing. You just ran it in one door and back out the other is all but if it had been in the budget it just would have gone straight to the thing instead of run through the emergency fund because it's not an emergency these are things that are predictable and you know uh that that's why we you we have the budget forms. Have you got a copy of the Total Money Makeover book? No, we haven't had any of your books yet. Okay, I'm going to send you one. Everything's going to be okay. I'm going to send you one, and in the back of it are the forms, the budget forms that

we used when we designed the EveryDollar app for the budget. Okay. Okay, but use those forms, and just make copies of them or just, you know, or use that similar system. But the whole thing is there's some items on there that will remind you. You don't have to put something in every blank, but the blanks are down through there to remind you to go, okay, that's coming. I know I've got to do that, so I might as well plan for it in the budget.

Otherwise, it's going to come out of the emergency fund, then I'm going to put the emergency fund back, which is the same thing as having come out of my income anyway. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but it feels a lot more in control because it is, because you're actually planning for a known expense that's coming up. And that's why we use the budget form to look at that and go, that's a known expense.

That one I can do that. You don't have to put something in every blank. I don't think anybody but God's got enough money to put something in every blank, right? But you've done a good job, but you're fooling yourself is what it amounts to because you're acting like you're not going to do these things that you are going to do. And so you might as well plan for them. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's not doing something wrong.

So hold on. I'll have Kelly pick up, and we'll send you a copy of the book, The Total Money Makeover, which will help you put all of that together. Justin is with us in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hi, Justin. How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm doing fantastic.

How about yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up? Hey, so first of all, I want to thank you for everything you do. I've recently started listening to all your YouTube videos, and I'm ready to take control of my life. I've been stupid for the past several years, and being an impulse buying and all that stuff. So I've racked up a lot of debt over the last few years, and I've always had a really decent income.

I just recently got a new job where I'm making about $125,000 a year. Way to go. Yeah, and I'm excited, but I really want to start taking control of my debt. But the thing is, I know you said that you do debt from smallest to largest. Correct. But I do have all kinds of different kinds of debt. So I have some payday loans I want to get paid off, which are kind of recent. Like I said, up until recently I've been stupid.

As of today I'm being smart. So I also have some charges off credit card debt, student loans, and then a car note and everything. So I'm just trying to figure out, does that still apply? I want to make sure I don't have any type of wage garnishments or anything like that because there is a judgment on one of the old credit card debts, and I just want to make sure I get it in the right order and everything without making things worse with any garnishments or anything like that, especially with my income.

They would destroy me. No, they wouldn't destroy you, but they'd get their money pretty quick. So what do you owe on the credit card that went bad? About $4,000. Okay. And what do you owe on the payday lenders? There's about four of them. So about, I'd say, $3,000 total.

Okay. All right. And how long ago did you pay on the credit card? How long ago has it been bad? I'd say about three years. Okay. You're not going to get a surprise garnishment on that, so don't worry about it. Okay, and then I do have a... Have they actually sued you?

They have, and there's like a judgment and i believe and then there's also an old um car note that we uh when i was married i'm divorced i'm a single father of three kids so you have you have an outstanding uh repossession deficit yeah so it was a rep a repossession deficit that I took over in the divorce. But that one has been judgment and everything issued, but I just want to make sure that they don't. And at this point, they could garnish if they wanted to, so I want to make sure I prevent that. So that's why I'm trying to think.

Yeah, if they've been sitting on the judgment for six months or a year, they're not likely to just suddenly start garnishing. They usually will go right to execution if they're going to. So you're probably fine. Those are probably just old bad debts sitting there. So not counting those two old bad debts and not counting the payday lender, how much other debt have you got? So I have my vehicle, my primary vehicle, which I have a lot of negative equity.

How much do you owe on it? $25,000, and it's worth about, I'd say, $15,000. Here's what I'd do. I'd knock out the payday lenders right fast, and then the stuff that's current debt, like your current vehicle, I would do those things first. Then I would go clean up the old debt, the credit cards and the other stuff. And get your student loans back on. They will garnish you in a heartbeat.

So get them back on a payment plan. Start paying your payments on the student loans again. And then work your way through the debts that you're paying payments on. Then go clean up the old car deficit and the old credit card later. But get the payday lenders out of the way first. Let me tell you a story about two families that are very much alike in a lot of ways. Both families have two working parents and a couple of young kids. Each has debt and has struggled to make ends meet.

But they're starting to make headway with their budgets and smarter decisions with money. They have dreams and plans, and the only real difference is that one family has the right amount of term life insurance and the other doesn't. Big difference. If one of the parents die, and that does happen. Their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other bills would be impossible, let alone saving for education or retirement. That's why every day I talk relentlessly about getting term life insurance. Just go to ZanderInsurance.com or call 800-356-4282

and see how inexpensive it really is. Be the family that takes those deliberate steps to be different and responsible. It really does make you the hero of your story, and it puts you on course for better things ahead. Thanks for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. James is with us in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hi, James. How are you? Hey, Dave.

I'm doing great yourself. Better than I deserve. What's up? Awesome. Okay. So I've recently switched from W-2 to 1099. I fear taxes and I want to get past that fear and move on and do the best thing I can with paying those taxes or refunds, and opening a corporation, LLC. I don't know which way to go, including debt that I have with the house and the vehicle. Okay. So are you just contract labor? Yes, but it's not labor at all. It's just signing contracts and getting work for these people.

But, I mean, you're getting paid $10.99. Do you have expenses? Yes. How many? What? Gas, mileage, food, clothes, office supply, field supply, measuring tools, and things like that. Okay. All right. You need to open a separate checking account in the name of your business.

You do not need a corporation or an LLC. That will create extra expense you don't need right now. Put all of your 1099 income only, all of it only, into that checking account. Only pay business deductible expenses out of that account. The minimum that you can spend, by the way, because that maximizes your profit. Okay? Okay.

So you don't buy groceries out of that account. You got it? Yes. That was a question I wanted to ask you. Let me finish. In most cases, you can't deduct your clothes. So clothing doesn't count. That same with boots?

Because I get on roofs all the time with shoes and boots. Well, that's possible. You can ask your tax professional about that. But don't get all caught up in trying to act like something is a deductible event just so you can run it through your business account. That's what I'm saying. Thank you. Yes, I want to be as honest as possible with receipts.

Not only that, you don't want to get audited and have the whole thing taken down on you. So then, if only legitimate expenses are coming out of the account and only business income is going into the account, by definition what's left over in the account is called profit. Right? Yes. Okay. Now, then when you get ready to pay some bills at home,

like pay off your debts or eat or that kind of stuff, you take money out of that account. Every time you take money out of that account to take it home, split it 75-25. 75% goes into your personal account for you to use. 25% goes into a little savings account for taxes. Got it. Withhold 25% of your profits that you take out of that account. You don't have to pay it until you take it out,

unless you leave it in over a year end. I mean, you can't leave $20,000 over a year end, and, well, you might within the tax law right now. You might actually pull that off. But anyway, you do not have to worry about the taxes until you take it out, by and large, okay? But when you take it out, set aside a fourth of it for income taxes and self-employment tax because you've got both sides of FICA, which is 15.3, that percent right there, and then your income tax.

If you don't make over $60,000 or $80,000 net profit, you won't have income tax in excess of 10% net effective yield. So that's what you're looking at. And so 25% will cover you. And then what you're supposed to do is once a quarter, you're supposed to file a quarterly estimate with the IRS, which shows your income of the business, your expenses of the business, thus the profit of the business times your tax rate. And that tells you how much you're supposed to put in with your quarterly filings.

A fourth of your... Okay, and I do that. And I could do that with my CPA every quarter? Yep, and you should. Okay. It's really a one-page form. It's very easy to do. But the point is you will have the money to pay your quarterlies in that little savings account

because you withheld on yourself. Okay. See, and I'm already withholding 30% of every check now just to be safe because I don't know about this fully, and that's why I contacted you. Well, you're in pretty good shape. But you don't have to do it of every check because you've got some expenses coming out. And so your net profit is not the same as your income. Okay.

And with that separate checking account, it's going to be a debit card, so everything's recorded through the bank, but still save every receipt and document everything paper and pencil? Yeah. Well, no, you don't have to. If you're running a debit card on it, that's fine. As long as you've got access to the – you might hit print on your website, you know, on your bank statement,

and drop a copy of your bank statement into your file, because you might not have access to it three years from now if you got audited. And so, you know, you keep good records that way. Your CPA can advise you on how to best do your record keeping to survive an audit. You don't have to get too anal about it, but you do want to keep up with this stuff and be able to prove that you actually spent the money on something for business. That's all you've got to do. But you'll be in good shape.

You're doing good work there. And, you know, your 30% is probably too much because it's of gross, not net, and because it's 30% instead of 25%. I think you'll be fine there. But that's what I would do. And you just open it in a DBA, open the checking account under DBA, doing business as, and, you know, that's just James, so-and-so, DBA, doing business as James's company, whatever it's called, right?

And that's what's on your checking account. It's a DBA account. You open it with your Social Security number. You don't even have to have a federal ID number. You can do it that way. It's perfectly legal. And then when you file your tax return at the end of the year, it's just a Schedule C on your taxes. And, you know, you'll run that out.

And if that comes out better than the standard deduction, then you'll be, you know, you'll use your Schedule C. So your tax guy can walk you through every bit of this. It's real basic bookkeeping, but just run it as a separate entity that is a business-only entity, separate and apart from your personal. And then when you take the money home, the more you work, the more money you can take home. When you take that money home, then boom, there we are. We've now got the ability to pay bills and to pay off debts and so forth. Jennifer is in Buffalo, New York.

Hi, Jennifer. How are you? Dave, I'm feeling very blessed to talk to you. How are you? Just the same. How can I help? Well, I am a recent master's degree graduate with some substantial debt to go with at about $47,000. I currently have a full-time job, but I'm considering taking a different job that is now in my career field.

Cool. What's your master's in? Dietetics. I'm a registered dietitian. Great. What are you making in the new gig? The new gig, it's hourly, $19 an hour, and I'd be dropping from $25 an hour plus time and a half on weekends.

Why? Because I'm currently doing nothing related to my field, and I could go to work for a not-for-profit. Why? Because I want to be in my field. So badly that you'll take a pay cut yes why don't you go get a job in your field that gets you a pay raise because i i just i feel very called to do this work to the specific job yeah but you're 47 000 in debt you're in debt, and you're taking a pay cut. Right, but I do have an IRA from a prior career that would cover that if I were to empty that.

I'm 33. Yeah, if you empty it, you'll be taxed at your tax rate, which is probably 20%, plus a 10% tax penalty. So you'll be borrowing money at 30% interest to pay off your student loan debt. That would be dumb. Okay. No, I would not do that. And how old are you? 33.

Okay. You're single? Yes. Okay. All right. Well, I think I would look at maybe some other ways to skin this cat. Just because you're doing work you're called to does not necessitate a pay cut. I do work I'm called to, and I'm better paid than I've ever been paid in my life.

And we presuppose that work that has meaning has to be at a nonprofit. We presuppose that work that we're called to has to pay less or somehow it's not holy. And I really want to push back against that presupposition. It's not accurate. It's not logical. So I want you to spend some time in prayer. I'm not saying do something that you're not called to ultimately with your life. I am not saying do that.

But I just think there might be other ways to get at your calling and what you've trained for without having to take a pay cut. You just took something that somebody offered you that might be less than your worth, probably is less than your worth. And given that you've got to clean up $47,000 in debt, $19 an hour doesn't sound very appealing. Hope that helps. Thanks for the call. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Jonathan and Jessica are with us in Rochester, New York. Hey, guys, how are you? We're great. How are you?

Better than I deserve. How's it going, Dave? Better than I deserve. I see on my screen you're debt-free. Congratulations. Thank you. How much have you paid off? $102,730.

Love it. How long did this take? 3730. Love it. How long did this take? 37 months. All right. And your range of income during that time? We started out at $94,000 and currently anticipate $120,000. Okay. Very good.

Very good. Cool. Very cool. So what kind of debt is the $103,000? It is $3,000 was actually my credit card, and the rest of that were combined school loans. Student loans. What are your degrees in? I'm a nurse practitioner, so I have a master's degree in nursing.

And I have a bachelor's in business administration okay very good how long you guys been married three and a half years okay so you got married and started this it sounds like exactly so what prompted you to do this because most people get married just go further into that well it's actually a funny story dave because my parents put me in a ex-fiance through your previous 13 week fpu awkward and i failed that class and the relationship ended as well but not before getting a house together with that person oh no oh i mean you wrecked the car bad real bad oh no tell me you're out of that deal oh yeah that that's been out now for quite some time

thank god yeah for real for real so uh rest of the audience listening do not buy a house with someone you are not married to. And Jonathan yells amen. I cringe every time you talk about that, Dave, and I'm glad you speak about it. Oh, my gosh. So the engagement ended. You flunked financial peace. You bought a house with her. And then what happened? Well, then I got out of that, and I ended up meeting Jessica through a church group.

And she already handled their money very well, and she didn't have a credit card. And we got on the same page before we were married. She was already chunking off her school loan she had through her RN degree, RN nursing at the time, and we combined everything after we got married, just like you say. Very good. Okay. So did you tell her about your former class,

Financial Peace University, that you flunked out of? She knew all about that. Yes. Well, were you able to go back and pull the books out and use some of it to get out of debt? Actually, I was, and I reread Total Money Makeover before we got married because I realized I had messed up and was fired up to get on the right path. Perfect. Well, you guys are very successful.

Congratulations. Very proud of you. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? I would say kind of foregoing luxuries and different experiences now in exchange for relief of being debt-free in the long run and kind of setting up motivational points for yourself, what you think your future might look like if you're able to get out of debt. For us, or at least for myself, I've always wanted to be able to spend a few months in

Spain every year once I retire, so I kind of just kept thinking about that, and eventually we'll be able to do that if we get out of debt. Yeah, very cool. What do you tell people, Jonathan, the key to getting out of debt. Well, besides obviously marrying up, the EveryDollar app and budgeting has been huge. I tried other budget apps, and they didn't work. Spouse and you being on the same page is huge. And for me personally, I had a real struggle with contentment when we were getting out of debt and just being able to look ahead and see that there's much bigger things than you can even imagine

once you tell your money where to go. Yeah, live like no one else so later you can live like no one else. That's the only reason to do it, and give like no one else. So they're flashing a picture of one of your old credit cards up on the YouTube channel periodically. It has a black hole in it. It appears firearms were used on this particular card. That's correct, Dave.

It was some buckshot from a shotgun, a 9mm, both Jessica and I shot at that. Instead of cutting up the cards, we wanted to mix it up a little bit, and we were able to tape it back up, and we kept that on our fridge while we were getting out of that. Okay. I recognize the 9mm hole. I didn't realize the other was buckshot we were getting out of that. Okay. I recognize the 9-millimeter hole. I didn't realize the other was buckshot, but I see it now. Okay.

Yeah, well, a little violence is in order. Absolutely. Very good. Very good, you guys. Well, very cool. Who are your biggest cheerleaders? I would say both of our parents were really helpful and were the most excited for us when we got out of debt, too.

Yeah, cool. Good, good. Well, that helps to have people in your corner that love you and are older and wiser and saying, do this. I wish I'd have done it when I was your age and all that kind of stuff, right? Exactly. Yeah, very, very good. Well, we're very proud of you.

Congratulations. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired, number one bestseller. That will help you to close this chapter on debt and open chapter two, which is where you become an everyday millionaire. And you become outrageously generous along the way. Yeah, you're on your way. You guys are going to do great. Very, very good. The only thing I just wanted to add real quick is those other pictures besides my beautiful wife and child that we cash flowed his birth

were two motorcycles that I sold throughout that journey, just realizing, you know, didn't want to ride them as much, but that's why I got those pictures up there because that one older-looking bike, I spent a lot of time and a lot of effort building that up to what it was. Yeah, it looks like a cool bike. It's got a lot of character. Very cool. Yeah, that probably shed a tear when that one rolled out, didn't it? Oh, yeah.

I bet. Did some emotional eating, too. All true. Guilty! Guilty! Oh, well, good job, you guys. Very good job. Jonathan and Jessica, Rochester, New York, $103,000 paid off.

Great story. Then in 37 months, make it $94,000 to $120,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah, baby! three two one we're free yeah baby touchdown there you go i love it well done very very well done interesting so you know what the moral of that story is? Your stupid stuff you did in the past does not write your future.

If you've done something stupid with money, you've made colossal mistakes with money, do you know what that makes you? Over 12. colossal mistakes with money do you know what that makes you over 12 everyone has i mean jonathan he that was amazing i mean what a deal there's so much heartache in that story with the fiancee in the house and the breakup and I flunked out of Financial Peace University. You know, all of that. Yeah, me too, buddy. Me too. Me too.

That's how I got to sit in this seat. I've got a PhD in DUMB. The stupidity of your past does not define your future. Try that again. Make sure you hear that and you wear it. The stupidity of your past does not design or designate your future or dictate your future. The decisions you make today will affect tomorrow. So make new ones. Ready, set, go. We'll be right back. Thank you. Our question of the day is from Blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. Site-wide savings are happening right now. Plus, you can take an additional 5% off if you use the magic word Ramsey.

Blinds.com slash Ramsey. Tiffany's in Georgia. We recently completed Baby Step 3, which means they're out of debt and have their emergency fund in place, except their home. We'll be meeting with a financial advisor soon to start on our Baby Step 4. We know nothing about investing and feel very clueless how can we prepare ourselves to be a bit more knowledgeable before our meeting um i would tell you two things on that one is prepare yourself by being very comfortable with the idea that this is your money. It's your money. It's your money.

There is no reason for you to ever be embarrassed, ashamed, or afraid to demand that you understand what's going on with your money. See, what's weird is, as we go into these, you know, we go into this guy or this gal's office, and they've got on a nice tie or a nice dress or whatever, and they have financial advisors sitting, plaques sitting on their desk, and we don't know nothing. And so we feel all intimidated, almost ashamed that we don't know anything. But here's the clue.

It's your money. You're in charge of this money. God put you in charge of this money. He didn't put me in charge of it, and he didn't put that guy in charge of it. He put you in charge of it. It's your money and so i don't want you to go in there with your head bowed ashamed like i don't know anything i want you to go in there going square shoulder head up chin up it's my money and they have to earn your business by teaching you something about how to do something with your money that you didn't know before.

And if they can't teach you and the only thing they can do is intimidate you, then what you've got is the wrong person. And it's not your problem. It's their problem because you're the customer and the way they earn your business is by teaching you so i wouldn't go in there humble i mean i wouldn't go in there humiliated humble is okay but humiliated no i don't know anything and i'm just don't um please help me now you can just go and say listen i don't know anything about this stuff. Listen, I own this company, Ramsey Solutions. I sit in some of these technology meetings. I've got 200 technology people on our team here.

And they use words I have no idea what they're talking about. It's like techno cussing or something. I mean, I don't know what it is. And I go in these meetings. And if I'm supposed to understand what's in the meeting. Now, sometimes I'm observing the meeting. And I'm not supposed to be in charge and it's not up to me and i'm just letting them run in their meeting i'm not going to interrupt everything based on my ego but if they're trying to get me to drop two hundred thousand dollars into a new server or a new

program or a new whatever then it is their job to let me know why i would want to give that much money to that and if they can't help me do that then i don't feel ashamed they should feel ashamed because i own the company and i i don't listen i don't know beans about technology i know a lot more than i did two years ago but i i still i don't't, I am no technocrat. I have no, I mean, I'm starting to know what a few of these things are, the nuances between some of the different things, the basic concepts, because I've had to learn enough about the basic concepts in order to make the investments. And guess what?

I got guys here that can teach me the basic concepts because they know all the details. Same thing. You need to know enough about the basic concepts that you can make the decision intelligently on your own. And if they can't help you learn the basic concepts enough, then you've got the wrong person. You should not be intimidated.

You don't have to be a bit more knowledgeable before you go in there. All you have to be is remembering whose money it is. It's your money, not their money money and so kind of strut in there a little bit i own the place your job to teach me not my job to be beholden to you because you've got five letters after your name or less so that you know and do not put money in something because dave ramsey said to do not put money in something because somebody else said to only put money in investment if you understand it you know how these people lose their butts on stuff because they put money in something they had no idea they trusted the guy and his name was bernie madoff they trusted the guy and he was not a crook but he was an enthusiastic

ignoramus which by the way will screw you more often than actual crooks people they're enthusiastic ignoramuses you ever met them they're enthusiastically stupid they're telling you the exact wrong thing with great enthusiasm and you went well they're enthusiastic and they seem to know what they're doing and so let's just go with that instead of you understanding what you need to put your money into. That's how we work with these pro athletes. That's how these pro athletes lose their money. That's how these country music stars and these Hollywood starlets lose their money. We work with them all the time when they hit the wall.

You know, I had $10 million. I don't know where it went. Well, it's because you gave it to people and walked off and thought, well, I hope they of me you're like what do you need a babysitter when are you going to be a grown-up i got me a man one of the guys at nfl meetings we were in try to go on those rookie camps and tell those kids that nfl stands for not for long average nfl careers are 3.8 years so i try to explain to them and the guy's like i got me a man dude you got you a man what does that mean you got you a man you bought a man with your signing bonus i mean what do you mean you got a man what are you talking about i got me a money man he's gonna take care of me that's what

they say right before they say i lost all my money and i'm on the cover of sports illustrated broke you gave it to someone else to manage and you did not know what you were doing. If you don't do anything else, just put it in the bank. At least you know where it is. Do not put money in something you do not understand ever unless you understand it. Now, you need to not necessarily go in there knowledgeable, Tiffany, a bit more knowledgeable, but you need to leave a bit more knowledgeable. When you sit down with a SmartVestor Pro, their job is to have the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman, or we don't recommend them. Click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com if you want to find one.

You sit down. I'm not in that business, but I'm telling you how to do business with them. By the way, the same thing is true with anybody in the financial world. You sit down with an insurance person. They drop their glasses down on the end of their nose and act like you're an idiot. Fire their butt. Some of these insurance people actually teach intimidation selling as a technique to get you to buy without understanding what you own.

You sit down with an attorney, and he's doing your estate plan and you're paying him a bazillion dollars to do that. His job is to help you understand not to be condescending. And I've had to explain it to him because they teach condescension at some law schools. It's one of the courses, I think. And I'm just not going to listen. I'm paying you $275 an hour for you to look down your nose hairs at me. You can just stop that crap right now.

I'm not worth 20 times what yours is, so stop it, stupid. Now let's stop and talk through this again. You're here to advise and teach, not be condescending. I don't have any tolerance for that, and you shouldn't either. You deal with a real estate agent and they roll their eyes because you don't like the way a house looks, you get the wrong real estate agent. Their job is to help you find something, not intimidate you into buying something because you're scared of your agent.

Oh my gosh. But people do it all the time don't they and so these people in the these financial realms in particular insurance mortgage uh real estate estate planning certainly investing you have to demand that they teach you. They teach you. They teach you. Because you have to learn. You don't have to get a master's in business, but you have to learn to the level of sophistication so you don't lose your money. Because it's your fault if you lose your money, not theirs. If you give it to someone and didn't know what it was going into, it's your fault. You were stupid.

I've done stupid. I know what stupid looks like. That's how I do this show, because I got a Ph.D. in've done stupid. I know what stupid looks like. That's how I do this show because I got a PhD in DUMB. I'm just trying to tell you, don't be stupid. Know what your money's going into or don't put it in there. Good, good question. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. 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.

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