The Ramsey Show - App - There's No Such Thing as a Natural-Born Leader (Hour 2)

Episode Date: December 16, 2019

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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. Thank you for joining us, America. It's a free call at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Tom is going to start off this hour in New York. Hey, Tom, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thanks for taking my call, Dave. I have a question about what to pay off first, essentially. I owe about $19,000 on a vehicle, but I'm also contributing to college savings. I'm also contributing to retirement, and I just don't know whether to
Starting point is 00:01:12 use savings to pay it off right away or what to do next. Okay. Well, what we have found is the shortest path to being wealthy is to first and foremost become debt-free because your most powerful wealth-building tool is your income. And what you've got right now is you're trying to do three or four things at one time, and none of them are getting done well. You're trying to get out of debt. You're trying to fund retirement. You're trying to fund college.
Starting point is 00:01:39 And all of them are kind of anemic, kind of weak. Agreed? That's right. Yeah. So what we found is if you stop doing things and focus on one thing, that thing gets done, then move on to the next thing, that thing gets done, and so on. We call that the baby steps at our place.
Starting point is 00:01:55 Baby step one is save $1,000. You've obviously done that. Two is stop all investing and become debt-free as soon as possible, everything but your house, listing your debts, not counting your home, smallest to largest, and attacking them in that order. In that step, we would also use any money or investments that are not in a retirement account. So you told me you owe $19,000 on the car. How much do you have in non-retirement savings? About $18,000.
Starting point is 00:02:29 Oddly enough. Okay. And what's your household income, sir? That's about $120,000 a year combined. That's wonderful. Well, what a great income. And you need to get better traction with it than you've been getting. Agreed?
Starting point is 00:02:41 Yes. Yeah, because you make good money. You just need to go somewhere with it so what i would say is let's temporarily and the big word capital t temporarily stop investing and um i would use 17 of my 18 on the car today i would then next month pay off the car out of your cash flow in your budget you can come come up with $2,000 if you scrimp and watch what you're doing, and you're not putting money in 401ks, and you're not putting money in college temporarily. Then, does that make you debt-free but the house? Debt-free but the house.
Starting point is 00:03:16 That's right. We knocked off another car about, I don't know, eight months ago, and pretty much all done with credit card bills, bills too in the last couple months wonderful well then chop those cards up so they don't grow back time for plastic surgery uh get on a written budget written written game plan and uh then we're going to finish the car off the next step is a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses so we're going to turn right around then and rebuild that savings that you currently have 18 in. It probably needs to be a little more than that.
Starting point is 00:03:50 It probably needs to be up around 25. That's three to six months of expenses. Right. And then once you've got that in place, then I would start putting 15% of my income into retirement. That's baby step four. Five is kids college six is whenever we find any other money beyond all of that we put it on the house and pay off the home early what you'll find with your income is the typical family that just stays very intentional and very focused
Starting point is 00:04:19 pays off their home in about seven years doing what we're talking about. And without any house payment, car payment, or anything, well, now you're in a real serious position to build wealth. Hey, man, thank you for calling. Mariah is with us in Pennsylvania. Hi, Mariah. How are you? Hi, Dave. It's such a pleasure to talk to you.
Starting point is 00:04:39 You too. What's up? So my husband left me about two and a half, almost three years ago. And the first thing I did after he left, it was like week one of him leaving. I found an SPU class to attend. So brand new, single mom on my own, got into Financial Peace University. And I went gazelle intense. And I've been very gazelle um for the past two years but
Starting point is 00:05:08 unfortunately I was a stay-at-home mom whenever he left me and so I've been kind of trying to find careers trying to build up enough for me to um start to kind of do things on my own. Um, but the past, honestly, seven weeks have been pretty awful. I had multiple emergencies. Um, I had a cousin and an aunt who passed away. So that paid up a bit of my emergency fund going to their funeral. My car needed $600 in repairs to get through inspection, which I paid for out of my emergency fund. And then my van's brakes started to go, and we've been kind of riding around in this beat-up van since my husband stole the van we had for years now and it's starting to go.
Starting point is 00:06:08 And just last week I was in a really bad car accident and it's totaled. I am not able to work at any of my jobs. I was working three jobs and none of them will let me work because of my condition. What happened to you in the accident? I have some brain trauma right now, which makes everything really difficult. Yeah. So the car that was totaled, did you have insurance on it? Yeah, so it was paid off. I had paid it off in my deck snowball. So you're getting insurance now.
Starting point is 00:06:54 You'll be getting an insurance check to buy a car with, right? Yeah, they're saying about $3,000. Great, so you'll be able to get a car with good brakes. Well, the problem is my mom needs a vehicle.'ve been sharing um the car in the van and since i work three jobs she's kind of in charge of getting the kids everywhere they need to go so we really need the two vehicles yeah but you're getting a check from the van yes and you can buy a car with that check that i total you can buy a car with that check. The car that I totaled. You can buy a car with that check that has good brakes. Yeah, the van's the thing that's losing the brakes. The car was totaled.
Starting point is 00:07:32 Oh, the car was totaled. I got it backwards. Okay, so you buy a car. So the van still needs brakes and you're buying a car. Okay, so now, is your divorce final? That's the other part. So my divorce got finalized December 5th, and I'm no longer covered through insurance. Okay.
Starting point is 00:07:53 And I didn't realize that. And you're getting child support, right? I am. Good. Okay. Is he paying it? Yes. Okay, good.
Starting point is 00:08:03 I take it you didn't get any money out of the divorce um not really there was no asset are you are you plugged into a good church in your area honey um not anymore okay i want you to search out a friend that you know that goes to a good church and have them walk you into her past their pastor's office and sit down because this is the type of a thing that a church can come alongside you and help you with some of these basic things and help you work through the cloud right now because of the brain injury you got to have somebody sit with you longer than a minute and a half on the radio and so i'm not in a position to do that but get with a good pastor in your area they'll help you with food make sure you're okay through the holidays here and a good friend will position to do that, but get with a good pastor in your area. They'll help you with food, make sure you're okay through the holidays here,
Starting point is 00:08:46 and a good friend will help you do that. In a season of giving, what better gift can you give someone in the coming year than a new job? Business leaders, if you're looking to add to your team in 2020, get started now with LinkedIn Jobs. At Ramsey Solutions, we post on LinkedIn Jobs because we know the right person will have an impact on our company for years to come. And LinkedIn Jobs matches the right person with the right job. It's no wonder a hire is made every eight seconds on LinkedIn, and over 600 million members visit LinkedIn to make connections, learn and grow as professionals, and discover new job opportunities.
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Starting point is 00:10:19 Mandy is with us in Alabama. Hi, Mandy. Welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. It's so good Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. It's so good to talk to you. You too. What's up? So my husband has his late father left him his house.
Starting point is 00:10:33 That's about an hour and a half away from where we live. And it's completely paid off. He built it himself. But we're having a really hard time selling it. First off, my husband's very attached to it because it was his dad's. And second, everything that is inside of it is extremely high-end and expensive, and we just have no idea where to start with this. But if we sold it, we would be completely debt-free. Okay. You mean the finishes are high-end, or he left high-end furniture in it?
Starting point is 00:11:01 He left high-end furniture, high-end art pieces, high-end antiques to the collector. Okay. Well, seldom does that kind of thing sell with the house. Right. So what are you planning to do with those items? Well, we've tried selling them individually, but it's been very difficult to find people that actually want to buy such high-end items anymore, especially down here in Alabama. So we're not exactly sure what we're going to do with them, but I know we can't just leave them in there and, you know, they're rotting away.
Starting point is 00:11:35 The place has been vacant for years. So what do you think that the antique furniture is worth total? Well, from what I've seen, it's worth well over at least $15,000. Okay. Just for the furniture and artwork and grandfather clocks and all that. Oh, okay. All right. So it's not $150,000.
Starting point is 00:11:58 It's $15,000. Right, right, right. The house itself is worth about $150,000, and then the stuff on top of it. Okay. This guy builds such a small house. Is the house not selling because of the items in it? No, we haven't put it on the market because we don't even know what to do. We're not sure where to start with that. How long has this been going on?
Starting point is 00:12:18 He's had the house for eight years now. We've been paying property taxes. I'm so confused. Why does it take eight years to figure this out he doesn't want to he's not 100 sure he wants to sell it well that's the decision needs to be made first right you call me asking me how to sell a house that he doesn't want to sell he does but he doesn't he keeps going back and forth with it. Yeah. Well, he needs to paint or get off the ladder. Right.
Starting point is 00:12:49 I don't care which, but let's make a decision. Listen, there's no peace in ambiguity. Right. There's only angst in the middle and stress in the middle and worry in the middle. Indecision brings anxiety. Make a decision make a decision to put boards over the windows and keep it for the rest of your life because it's a keepsake from your childhood or make a decision to clean it out and sell it i don't care but make a decision eight freaking years is mental illness yes this has got to go some make a call make a call my gosh i mean as if the thing's going to
Starting point is 00:13:28 bring him back if you keep it something's got to go here so and fifteen thousand dollars worth of furniture and artwork is not high end honey that's garage sale stuff just get it sold put in a flea market okay high end is 150 grand i thought that's what you're going to tell me you need a new york art dealer or something to get the art moved. Yeah. But what you're telling me is you need to have a big estate sale and sell some antiques and donate the rest of it to Salvation Army, have a maid go through there, put a big fat for sale sign in the yard, and sell the crap out of this thing is what it sounds like to me.
Starting point is 00:14:00 But if not, then he needs to decide not. But not deciding is not good for you it's not good for him it's not good for your family it's not good for your mental health eight years wow it's like having a baby elephant open phones at triple eight eight two five five two two five triple eight eight two five five two two5225. Texas is calling. Kane's on the line. Hey, Kane, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. How you doing, Dave?
Starting point is 00:14:31 Better than I deserve. What's up? Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you, sir. Thank you. So I've got a construction business that I've had the past five years now, and I've kind of been normal. So I went and financed every
Starting point is 00:14:47 gosh darn thing that you could finance. I'm in construction. I do paving. And so all my equipment's financed, and I'm about $400,000 in debt on top of my $55,000 of personal debt, which I think goes hand in hand because the construction equipment I've had to co-sign on with the business. Sure. So, you know, all in all, you know, I'm probably about half a million in debt. So what's the business making? How much money are you making in the business? This year we grossed about $1.1 million.
Starting point is 00:15:19 What do you net on that? Say that again. What do you net on that? What are you paying taxes on? About $800. you net on that say say that again what do you net on that what are you paying taxes on um about 800 wow that's serious margin yeah your expenses are only 400 grand on a million two yeah holy grimoli why did you not pay off everything if you made $800,000 in one year? Well, that's the thing. We did a couple of jobs for the same contractor, and we're still waiting on, like, $400,000.
Starting point is 00:15:54 Well, you got $400,000. How much debt did you reduce with that? I've reduced a couple of trucks that I've got, but I'm kind of waiting to get the rest of that so i can pay everything off i'm sorry how much are you sitting on um probably about 325 and you're going to do what with it if the other check doesn't come in well i was i was trying to figure out what I should apply it to and go from there. Okay. Because this just kind of threw me off big time, and I'm confused on what I should do with it. So have you got new jobs going that are cash flowing, and you're going to continue making money while you're waiting on this other check,
Starting point is 00:16:40 or are you waiting on this other check to survive? Kind of, sort of i kind of had to pull money from the savings to pay the vendors and stuff and and stuff like that but um do you have new jobs going currently that are making money in the new year yes right now we're just wrapping up pretty much all the small stuff we are but the job's been completed a while you're waiting on the other 400. So in the last two months, you've done more jobs that are yet more receivables, correct? Yes, really, really small stuff, though.
Starting point is 00:17:13 Okay, what do you usually make? And what do you think you're going to make next year? Well, I'm hoping to make some more. We've got some bigger work coming up that's not guaranteed yet, but we've been told we're going to be awarded the bid. So we're probably slated to make 1.5 to 2 i would say good good all right so well what i'm going to do is hold some retained earnings in your business it's different than home okay but not much in this case i might hold 100
Starting point is 00:17:39 okay okay and that's just sitting there just for survival uh just so you don't get into trouble all that kind of stuff and the rest of it we're going to start throwing at debt and these are all personal debts you sign for every one of them so you just list them smallest to largest and start working your way through them but dude if you make 800 grand in a year and your total debt is 400 you ought to be dead free right right right right i was just confused on how to you know allocate that yeah allocated towards the debt yeah right just confused on how to, you know, allocate that. Yeah, allocate it towards the debt. Yeah, right. I mean, because we jumped from, you know, $200,000 a year to $1.1, you know, we kind of...
Starting point is 00:18:12 Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, and if, you know, I don't know what your probability of hitting that again then is. If you don't get these other two big contracts, what are you going to have? You're going to be back to $200,000 then, right? Well, I mean... But it sure would be good to be debt-free going back. Yeah, that would be good.
Starting point is 00:18:28 I mean, it's just, you know, I'd like to be debt-free all around, you know, and pay off the student loans and everything, which I should have done already. Well, I mean, you've got $320,000 sitting there. Pay off everything but the equipment today. Okay. Set $100,000 aside and put the rest of it towards some of the equipment in the business, and then when this next check comes in, be debt-free. Okay. Set $100 aside and put the rest of it towards some of the equipment in the business. And then when this next check comes in, be debt-free.
Starting point is 00:18:50 You see how that's working? Yeah. And then you're going to be cash-flowing like a bandit. Every little job then makes money because you don't have any bills anymore, man, except payroll. I know. I'm excited. Okay. Make sure you're getting a good P&L going. Make sure you're watching your numbers here. Don't be a guy that knows how to do paving and doesn't know how to run a business.
Starting point is 00:19:10 Get in there and learn how to run the business. Run the numbers. Run the numbers. You're asking the right kinds of questions here. Learn to stay on top of your numbers. Cash flow is what will kill you in the construction business. So you've got to stay ready for the cash flow binds. Good question. It sounds like you've got this thing on the run.
Starting point is 00:19:25 I'm proud of you, dude. Get after it. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. All right. All right. How often can you get the best of both worlds? Not very often, right? Well, with the Rate Secured program at Churchill Mortgage, it's possible. You can secure a low rate now to nail down your budget, and if rates drop while you're shopping for a home, they'll give you the lower rate. That's right.
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Starting point is 00:21:01 Open phones at 888-825-5225. Our question of the day comes from blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That means even if you mess up, if you mismeasure, you order the wrong color, they will replace your window blinds for free. And they've got free samples and free shipping when you're trying to figure out what to do. Always use the promo code RAMSEY to get the best possible deal. Open phones at 888-825-5225.
Starting point is 00:21:33 Our question comes from Alex in Michigan. What's the difference between a home mortgage through a bank or a credit union and getting a mortgage through a mortgage company? It might be no difference depending on how your bank or credit union did the mortgage. There are three types of mortgages that are called conforming mortgages. Fannie Mae, which is conventional, F-N-M-A, conventional loans, FHA, and VA, Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Administration. Conforming means that each of those, if any lender making a VA loan that they want the Veterans Administration to insure, has to conform to a set of Veterans Administration guidelines.
Starting point is 00:22:18 So all VA loans have conformed to a certain lending process. Then they can be packaged together and sold in blocks. So you could take five $200,000 VA loans, package them together as a million-dollar block, and sell them as a block. That's called securitizing a mortgage, okay? Same thing with a Fannie Mae loan. All Fannie Mae loans follow the same guidelines. Banks and credit unions can make FHA loans.
Starting point is 00:22:51 They can make Fannie Mae loans, and they can make VA loans if they have a mortgage department in them, and then they can sell that loan only if it is conforming to those guidelines because no one will buy it if it's not conforming if it's not predictable because it was made on a certain set of guidelines if they just simply lend you the money from their bank or lend you the money from their credit union which can happen that's just a bank. And that's what we call a portfolio loan, which means they are going to keep that loan in their bank. They can't sell it because it doesn't conform. No one will buy it. They can't sell it, so they have to keep it in their portfolio. And so they can use whatever lending guidelines they want. They can just decide.
Starting point is 00:23:46 Home equity loans are an example of that. All home equity loans are portfolio loans. They do not conform to any set standard guidelines. Each bank makes up their own guidelines, and they keep those loans in their own portfolio, meaning that bank lent that money, that bank collects that money, that bank won't sell it. But you can almost 100% of the time predict that if you have a conforming loan, it is going to be sold.
Starting point is 00:24:13 If you go to Bank X, Bank of America, and you love Bank of America, which makes you not smart, but if you do, and you use Bank of America, and you use Bank of America to do an FHA loan, don't be surprised if two weeks later, Countrywide or someone else owns that loan, because Bank of America very likely did not intend to keep that conforming loan. They buy and sell those things like you sell stock or something else. You can move those loans around easily. Now, mortgage companies almost never keep a loan, like 99.99% of the time. Like Churchill Mortgage that we endorse, they do not portfolio anything.
Starting point is 00:24:50 100% of the loans that they make, they have an investor already lined up to take that conforming loan. So if you go to them and you get a conventional loan, 15-year fixed, where the payment's no more than a fourth of your take-home pay, like we talk about all the time, Churchill Mortgage will own that loan for about 30 seconds after you sign all the paperwork. It will already be lined up to be dumped into someone else's bucket. And so don't expect Churchill to collect payments from you. They're not in that business. They set up the loans, sell them into the deal. And that's simple. It's that
Starting point is 00:25:29 simple. So, you know, and this is what gets people in trouble. If you remember back in 2008, when the housing market crashed, what happened was a bunch of people were violating those conforming loans, and some of the appraisers were lying on the appraisals. And so some of the conventional loans that we had all come to count on as kind of the gold standard were bad. There was a whole bunch of them were bad because the houses were overvalued. And so when people quit paying and walked away from them, it started crashing in on the security side of the business, and these banks that were holding blocks of these mortgages, $10, $20, $30 million blocks of these mortgages, started caving in.
Starting point is 00:26:12 And that's what happened out there, was that people were not following the conforming guidelines, and some of the appraisers were jacked up in the middle of it. And so the appraisal world got a lot more regulation out of that. The banking world and mortgage world got a lot more regulation out of that. The banking world and mortgage world got a lot more regulation out of that so that we don't end up with another bubble based on falsehood. And that's the background on that. But that's the deal.
Starting point is 00:26:36 So you can get your bank to make a loan of any kind if they keep it. Whatever you can dream up and they dream up, and that's the deal, you have that deal. As long as they're going to keep it whatever you can dream up and they dream up and that's the deal you have that deal as long as they're going to keep it in their portfolio if you can talk your credit union into it do it that's why i send you to the credit union a lot of times for uh paying for a very small mortgage like if you're getting a fifty thousand dollar mortgage on a two hundred thousand dollar house because you got a big downstroke, you probably can get that with no closing costs, no points on a fixed rate better than you could get a conforming small FHA loan or small Fannie Mae loan because the mortgage company is going to tag you with a bunch of stuff.
Starting point is 00:27:15 You don't really need to do an appraisal on a house from a common sense perspective if you're looking at a $200,000 house making a $50,000 loan. You can kind of go, I think that's safe. But if you're doing a Fannie Mae loan, you still have to do the appraisal. You still have to do a survey. You still have to do all this stuff because you have to conform to their guidelines. And that creates a bunch of unnecessary closing costs on a super small loan like that. And so if you're getting a little dinky loan on a big old house like that,
Starting point is 00:27:40 always do that at your credit union and just say, hey, I'll take it like a car payment, right? We'll set the thing up on five years, fixed rate, no points, no appraisal, no closing costs, no nothing. Just make me a car loan, $50,000 car loan on my $200,000 house. And as long as they're keeping that in their portfolio is whatever you can talk them into and they agree to, that becomes your deal. Mortgage business has become a a very very interesting business in the last few years well it is the giving time of year merry christmas i love christmas i have thoroughly enjoyed this particular christmas it's been a lot of fun i got six grandbabies six and under wow magical christmas and i love giving and talking about giving and learning about giving, and we are going to be doing our annual giving show this coming Friday,
Starting point is 00:28:30 December the 20th, and we teach you to live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else. And, hey, we want to hear from you. If you have a giving story and you want to be part of this Friday's giving show where you receive something or gave something and it was, well, it was a good story. We want to hear good giving stories. That's simple. Just email us at Dave on air at Dave Ramsey dot com. Put giving in the subject line.
Starting point is 00:28:58 Dave on air at Dave Ramsey dot com. Put giving in the subject line. Ashley is with us in Missouri. Hey, Ashley, welcome to the Dave Ramamsey.com, put giving in the subject line. Ashley is with us in Missouri. Hey, Ashley, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up in your world?
Starting point is 00:29:14 Well, so we are in Baby Step 1, and we just had a medical debt that we were on a payment plan with, but we were having difficulties making the payment. And so it went to a collection. And I just got my first, like, phone call with them. And I tried to kind of go the Dave route and figure out a settlement with them. And it still seems like it's really high. So I guess I'm just curious, like, how do I continue playing hardball, or should we just put this at the top of our snowball? How much do you owe them?
Starting point is 00:29:56 We owe them, like, right around $5,000. And what's your household income? The household income is about $90,000. Okay, and what did you offer them? Well, they offered us a settlement of $2,600. Fifty cents on the dollar is not bad. Yeah, so I told them that I had $1,000 cash. I could see them and be done with it, and they said no. Yeah, just tell them you can call them back next month with $2,600. And I'd take the $2,600, but you've got 60 days to pay them or something.
Starting point is 00:30:26 No payments, but a single payment. And scratch together the money and take the 50 cents on the dollar deal. every time i go to the hospital see a new baby they always come out the doctor says it's a boy or they say it's a girl they never say it's a girl. They never say, it's a leader. There's no such thing as a natural-born leader. Don't exist. Leaders are people who make a decision to have the character and the attributes of a leader.
Starting point is 00:31:21 So if you want to be a leader, just decide. I'm going to start doing the types of things that people will follow. I'm going to start leading people. Leaders are built. They are not born. You do get to decide what kind of leader you're going to be and if you're going to be a leader. Well, I could never. Yes, you could. It's just a matter of if you want to or not. You don't have to. It's okay if you don't. But it is a decision. There's no DNA issue involved here.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Yes, some people are loudmouths, and some people aren't loudmouths. I get that. But some of the best leaders aren't loudmouths, and some of the best leaders are loudmouths. So it hasn't got anything to do with your mouth. It's got to do with whether you can lead, whether people will follow you, they love you, they trust you, and whether you are a person of substance, a person of character. And if you want to take your leadership to the next level, join me and a couple of thousand other business leaders who have already grabbed their seats
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Starting point is 00:33:00 That's Orlando to 44222. Or call in here at 888-22-PIECE, and our guys will help you. 888-227-3223. Eric is with us in Florida. Hi, Eric. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Let's see.
Starting point is 00:33:22 I currently have three rental properties that I'm paying on and one house. The rental properties all have positive income. I owe in order 50, 50, and 58 on the rental properties plus 91K on the house. I currently have $95,000 in savings and a $65,000 stock fund. And the stock fund makes me a little nervous just because of the overvaluation of the stock market. So I was just wanting to get your advice on what I should pay off, what I should pay off in order, how much I should maybe take out of savings to combine it, just getting your thoughts. Cool. And what's your household income, sir?
Starting point is 00:34:02 120. Good. You've done real well. So your goal is to eventually have all these paid off, I assume? Yes. Okay. All right. I like your goal, and I like your question a lot. If I were in your shoes, I'll answer this question. Of course, you get to do what you want to do.
Starting point is 00:34:19 You're in charge. But I certainly would cash the $65,000 out because you're not excited about it, and I'd take enough of the $90,000 to put with it, and I'd pay off my home. A strange thing is going to happen. A strange thing is going to happen when you pay off your home. You don't even anticipate this because you are a numbers guy, I can tell by talking to you. You really knew your numbers. You had them dialed in. You knew how to present them in a concise, precise manner here on the air.
Starting point is 00:34:42 I didn't have to drag them out of you, and you didn't have to make them up here on the air you know exactly what's going on you're a detail guy aren't you i try to be i thought so i mean you're very very good it's a great great question was couched perfectly by the way so thank you what's gonna what's gonna throw you off because you're a nerds a numbers nerd like i am it blew my mind. I didn't grasp this. When I paid off my home, I did not anticipate feeling different. Because you and I fix things with our head, and your heart is where it releases when you pay off your home. You're going to feel different, and the result is going to be you're going to make better decisions going forward from this point
Starting point is 00:35:22 because your home's not technically at risk. It's technically at because your home's not technically at risk it's technically at risk it's not actually at risk factually at risk because you could pull these accounts and pay it off at any moment if something went sideways so and you've had that so you kind of had that piece and yet there's that still a mortgage there and something weird happened so i would pay off your house because you're going to get an unpredicted a result you don't predict and probably won't grasp until it occurs. Take off your shoes, walk through the backyard, the grass feels different under your feet. Now, once you've done that, I would just pick out one of these and go ahead and try to get it, too. I think you've got enough to do both, one of the 50s and your home.
Starting point is 00:35:59 No, you probably don't have any other money, do you? Not that I can really touch right now. Yeah, you need an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. So we need to set aside $20,000 out of this for that. So we're going to pay off your house, and then we're going to start working on you pick a rental. They're all about the same. Which one do I want to pay off first? And let's just start pecking away at it with any money above the $20,000 and after your home is paid off.
Starting point is 00:36:24 But, see, we're going to increase your cash flow $1,000 a month when you pay off your house or more, right? Exactly, about $1,100, yeah. Yeah, so that gives you another $12,000 a year to throw at this deal. And then when you pay off that other rental, that's going to increase it another $600 a month. And then when you pay off another rental, it's going to increase it by another $600 a month. So you're going to be able to just hit these things pretty hard, depending on how old those mortgages are is what the payments are on them but um either way uh making 120 you're going to pay off 150
Starting point is 00:36:54 probably going to do that in a couple of years it might be three but it's probably going to be two and some change if you just start saying extra cash i find in my budget, I throw at these mortgages. And house number one, click, click, click, click, done. Click, click, click, click, done on number two. And just work your way right down. Very cool, man. Very cool. That's what I would do.
Starting point is 00:37:19 And I mean, you being 100% debt-free in two and a half or three years, house and everything, sounds pretty cool to me. And by then, i suspect you'll probably be a everyday millionaire all right chrissy is in illinois hi chrissy how are you i'm good dave thank you good how can i help my husband and i are on the cusp of a very huge life change. He has totally been killing it at work over the last couple of years and has been offered the opportunity to join the global team at his company. And they are moving us to Dublin, Ireland. Wow. Yeah. So we're super excited, and we're able to even consider this opportunity because we are completely debt-free.
Starting point is 00:38:11 Well, I say completely. We're on steps four and six. I say that because we have no kids, so we're not on five. Easy. Okay. Yep. How long are you going to be in Dublin, do you think? Two years at least.
Starting point is 00:38:26 It's not a project-based role. It's long-term. So long story short, I guess, we've been meeting with our financial advisor to figure out, like, what do we need to do as far as retirement planning and money and stuff for the next couple years and maybe a longer future. And he actually recommended a lerp and life insurance retirement planning made my neck tingle and i don't know if it changes anything whether it's whether you need a new financial planner yeah okay um he's trying to sell you he's trying to sell you cash value life insurance i mean no we don't need to do life insurance retirement planning. It's just BS.
Starting point is 00:39:09 None of those products are good for you. Always do my investing in good mutual funds, real simple, real clean, and without getting caught up in all these fees. He's making a ton on that product. Bad suggestion. Dublin's awesome, by the way. Yes. product bad suggestion dublin's awesome by the way yes so since we're not paying and we won't be paying into social security for our time over there and there's not really a 401k because it's out of the country like what oh so you don't stay on you don't stay on u.s payroll when you do this
Starting point is 00:39:36 no no okay well you can just buy mutual funds you can just buy mutual funds with some of your savings okay get with a smart investor pro they can get you set up on what to do you don't need a life Mutual funds. You can just buy mutual funds with some of your savings. Okay. Get with a SmartVestor Pro. They can get you set up on what to do. You don't need a life insurance product to do this. Okay. You were right.
Starting point is 00:39:53 Good call. Your neck served you well. You can trust your tingly neck. It's a good one. Yeah. And Dublin, I've been there a couple times. Wonderful town. Wonderful city. World-class stuff.
Starting point is 00:40:07 Home of Guinness, of course. Most famous for that. Enjoy your time there. Just invest in mutual funds. Sell your home here unless you're going to come back in a very short period of time. And pile up some cash and have an adventure. I love it. This is The Dave Ramsey Show.
Starting point is 00:40:36 This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Once again, you made The Dave Ramsey Show one of the top five most downloaded podcasts last year. To get your daily dose of motivation and inspiration, subscribe today.

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